Chen Ling clearly remembered that the last time The Audience intervened in the performance, his hand could still barely pass through the Grand Curtain.
Although the process was incredibly difficult back then, at least his hand could still move within the Grand Curtain. This time, when his hand touched the Grand Curtain, it was like hitting an unimaginably hard wall. Even though he had used all his strength, he could only insert less than half a finger...
The last time he tried to reclaim his body, the Expectation Value had only dropped to 14%, but this time, it had broken through the bottom line and reached 13%.
Although it was only a 1% change, the difficulty of passing through the Grand Curtain had skyrocketed.
Chen Ling looked at the increasingly berserk blood-colored manor behind the Grand Curtain, feeling somewhat anxious... He saw hundreds of figures being devoured, and even the Paper Puppet Master was torn to shreds by the bite of two buildings. If this continued, the commotion here would eventually attract high-level Enforcers.
"Is there no one in the Stars Chamber of Commerce who can step up?" Chen Ling couldn't help but complain. "It would be great if someone could just distract it a little!!"
As he spoke, he began to frantically grab the corner of the crack with both hands, trying to use pulling force to expand it little by little until an arm could pass through. Even though this process was as difficult as ascending to the heavens, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it. If he couldn't pass through this layer of the Grand Curtain, he would be completely dead.
Now, he could only pray that someone would contend with the red paper monster to slow down the drop in Expectation Value. If the Expectation Value ultimately fell to 12%, it would be absolutely impossible for him to reclaim his body.
The tear on the Grand Curtain gradually expanded under Chen Ling's efforts, but it was still far from being able to let an arm pass through. Underneath the Great Crimson Theatrical Robe, Chen Ling was already dripping with sweat.
Stars Chamber of Commerce.
Dungeon.
Boom—!!
Continuous explosive sounds came from above, and a large amount of dirt and debris began to fall. This space buried underground seemed to be teetering on the verge of collapse.
By now, the guards who originally manned the Dungeon had all gone to the surface. They were either dead or had fled. In the empty underground, only Jian Changsheng was left alone, locked in his cell, pacing back and forth in anxiety.
"Damn it, what exactly happened up there?"
"Is there no one who can come and care about me?!"
There was a ventilation window on the ceiling in the center of the cell. Jian Changsheng could hear the continuous wails and explosions outside. He knew something major must have happened out there, but he was stuck alone in confinement, as if forgotten by the whole world.
"Nobody cares, huh?"
A ruthless look flashed in Jian Changsheng's eyes. He bit his tongue directly and spat a mouthful of fresh blood forcefully out of the cell!
Amidst the splattering blood drops, his figure instantly disappeared from his original spot, and in the next second, he appeared outside the cell door.
Since all the guards had left, absolutely no one cared about Jian Changsheng's prison break. He made his way all the way back to the surface, and upon seeing the utterly chaotic and maddening manor before him, he stood dumbfounded.
Swish, swish—
Jian Changsheng abruptly dodged sideways, avoiding two bricks flying wildly in the sky, and finally came back to his senses.
He wiped his fingertip across his broken tongue, picking up a drop of blood, and flicked it forcefully into the distance. In the blink of an eye, he teleported over a hundred meters away. In the next moment, his previous location was lashed by more than ten willow branches, sending gravel flying.
"What is this situation? A circus?" Jian Changsheng spoke in shock while fleeing frantically through this absurd manor.
If he couldn't still feel the pain coming from the tip of his tongue, Jian Changsheng would even suspect he was dreaming. Otherwise, what were all these messy things? Crawling buildings, swaying trees, freely flying bricks... He even saw the servant's quarters he used to live in transform into a giant crab, rampaging through the manor.
Everything before him felt so unreal, and when Jian Changsheng subconsciously raised his head, he saw the source of all that unreality...
Above the churning red clouds, a hollow eye pupil, much like the sun, was overlooking the earth.
The moment Jian Changsheng looked up at it, it seemed to sense something. That eye slightly turned and locked onto the fleeing Jian Changsheng as well... At this instant, their gazes met.
Jian Changsheng's heart skipped a beat.
He had merely glanced up, never expecting that the eye would also look at him... A hair-raising feeling surged into Jian Changsheng's mind!
In the next moment, the red cloud holding up the eye churned violently. Densely packed red paper strips drooped down from the sky like tentacles, rushing rapidly toward Jian Changsheng's position!
At the same time, the architectural behemoths wandering around the manor all seemed to receive some kind of command, turning their directions simultaneously to tightly surround Jian Changsheng's location...
With just a meeting of gazes, Jian Changsheng became the target of the entire chaotic manor!
Jian Changsheng only felt a chill shoot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull. He widened his eyes in disbelief, his face deathly pale.
"Why are they all coming at me???"
Jian Changsheng felt like dying. He directly picked up a short sword from the ground, slashed his palm forcefully, and used the Blood Drop Top to start fleeing desperately within the manor...
He didn't understand. He had only exchanged a glance with that eye, not violated some heavenly law. How did he suddenly become the target of public wrath?
When he was running just now, he also saw a man wearing a Woolen Overcoat and Silver-Rimmed Glasses fleeing frantically just like him, and there were people alive in other places too. Why did that thing come after him without a word?
As a large number of non-human living creatures shifted their targets, Chu Muyun, who had been maneuvering around the manor, could finally stop and rest a little. He looked at the continuously teleporting and fleeing Jian Changsheng, his eyes full of astonishment.
Who was that person?
Facing the red paper monster that had already reached the Sixth Stage, Chu Muyun did not consider himself a match. Thus, even if he wanted to help Chen Ling, he couldn't. He could only barely maneuver within this manor... All he could do was send out a distress signal, hoping that the high-ranking members of the Dusk Society hiding in Aurora City right now could receive it and come to support.
But bizarrely... his distress signal failed to send.
It was as if something within this manor had completely cut off communication with the outside world. At first, Chu Muyun suspected it was the red paper monster's doing, but after careful identification, he realized it was not...
What was even more bizarre was that logically speaking, with the red paper monster causing such a huge commotion, Aurora City should have noticed it long ago. There should already be a large number of high-level Enforcers rushing here by now, but strangely enough, up until now, not a single shadow of an Enforcer could be seen.
"Could it be..."
Chu Muyun adjusted his Silver-Rimmed Glasses, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings, not knowing what to think.