His Eyes
Hearing these two words, the crowd stopped their footsteps simultaneously.
"This is far enough." Master stepped on nothingness, slowly walking out from the other end of the curtain. "You all go back... Leave the rest to your Master."
The next moment, Master, draped in his 【Theatrical Robe】, instantly disappeared from everyone's vision, as if one step had already crossed thousands of miles.
Secret method, 【Cloud Step】.
The crowd at the original spot looked at each other in blank dismay.
"...Let's just go." 【Mo Jue】 sighed. "This is indeed not a place we should come to..."
"Besides Master, it seems only 【First Senior Brother】 has been here before?"
"I also only brought him back occasionally when Master drank too much." Ning Ruyu shook his head. "Normally, I don't have permission to enter the depths either."
"With Master following him, he definitely won't be in trouble."
"【First Senior Brother】, what exactly is inside here? Can you say?"
The gazes of the remaining three people all turned towards Ning Ruyu. After a brief silence, Ning Ruyu still answered vaguely:
"Inside... there's actually nothing much. It's just a room almost exactly the same as 【Fifth Brother】's, that's all."
"Just a room?"
Everyone nodded slightly and tacitly didn't continue pressing for answers. Instead, each of them lifted the curtain of empty space and disappeared into this barren desert.
...
Deep in the barren desert.
A flash of red clothes rapidly swept across the wind and sand, a black smiling face silently malevolent.
On this impoverished cultural barren desert, no creatures or water sources could be seen. It was like an endless prison cage, trapping humans as tiny as ants within it.
It wasn't until "Chen Ling" used 【Cloud Step】 to cross nearly tens of kilometers that a black dot gradually took shape at the end of the barren desert in the distance.
As he constantly drew closer, he saw clearly that it was a building standing erect in the center of the barren desert. Its footprint was a bit larger than the one on 【Clown Peak】. When the distance between the two was no more than three kilometers, the appearance of an 【Ancestral Shrine】 finally became gradually clear.
"Chen Ling"'s speed was incomparably fast. Just as he was about to enter the 【Ancestral Shrine】, a voice rang out from high above:
"Freeze."
The instant this word rang out, the red-clothed figure suddenly stagnated, maintaining the posture of half a foot stepping over the threshold of the 【Ancestral Shrine】, as stiff as a sculpture... But if one looked closely, they would discover that he wasn't actually completely frozen, but rather bound by some kind of power. His muscles were constantly trembling, seemingly about to break free very soon.
In front of this Natural Enemy of the Theater Dao, the effects of secret methods were all substantially weakened. Just like lines in a 【Performance】, even if they were highly infectious, it was very difficult to influence "【The Audience】" for a long time.
Master stepped forward and walked in front of "Chen Ling", looking at that pitch-black "【The Audience】" 【Opera Masks】, and spoke slowly:
"Chen Ling, you need to wake up a bit."
"Even if the 【Bewilderment】 swallowed your past, there must definitely still be something that can serve as your 'anchor'..."
"Those past events that left a deep impression on you, those people who changed the trajectory of your life, it is their existence that created the you of today... Find it, grab onto it, I know you definitely can."
That pitch-black 【The Audience】 【Opera Masks】 began to struggle again, and "Chen Ling"'s physical body started to tremble incessantly.
In the pitch-black world.
Chen Ling hugged his head with both hands, endless 【Bewilderment】 impacting his cognition. He didn't know what exactly these were, nor did he know how he could have so much 【Bewilderment】. But he could faintly guess that behind this 【Bewilderment】, there must necessarily be a world-shaking secret hidden...
"Anchor... Do I still have another anchor?"
Enduring the pain, Chen Ling struggled to open his eyes. In a daze, he saw a figure slowly walking towards him through the heavy snow.
The makeup of a "【Female Lead】" role covered his face. That exact same 【Great Crimson Theatrical Robe】 swayed gently in the wind and snow. He stood in the frost-white world, his red, apricot-like eyes looking at Chen Ling's face.
"【Brother】, I'm here." He spoke softly.
"【A-Yan】...?"
Chen Ling's pupils contracted slightly.
"Regardless of whether 【Brother】's past is true or false, our feelings are real." 【Chen Yan】 smiled faintly. "We knew each other the earliest, and my influence on 【Brother】 is also the deepest. Master used the 【Mirror of True Self】 to awaken the instincts of this body precisely because he wanted me to become your first anchor...
Your 【Bewilderment】 is too powerful. Only I can anchor your cognition."
Chen Ling was stunned.
Numerous details surfaced in Chen Ling's mind, and everything seemed to connect. Just after he entered the 【Ancient Vault of the Drama Path】, Master made him learn the basic secret methods. Whether it was "【Singing】" or "【Speaking】", it was all to lay a foundation for the lyrics he would need to use when mastering 【Painting the Vermillion Face】... And his encounter with the 【Mirror of True Self】 was also no coincidence, but a preparation specially made by Master to awaken 【Chen Yan】's consciousness. After all, in this world, there was likely no one who understood the terrifying power of "【Mockery】" better than him...
From the first day he stepped into the 【Ancient Vault of the Drama Path】, Master had been preparing for this day... No, even before he entered the 【Ancient Vault of the Drama Path】, Master had already begun planning.
This also precisely proved that the importance of 【Painting the Vermillion Face】 far exceeded Chen Ling's imagination. This was not only to dispel the 【Bewilderment】, but perhaps also related to the "【Mockery】" 【Calamity】!
Chen Ling immediately asked:
"【A-Yan】, what should I do?"
【Chen Yan】 smiled and shook his head in the snow. "【Brother】, you don't need to do anything... Do you remember, you said before that you wanted to teach me how to do makeup?"
"...En."
"I actually also know that I'm not very good at makeup, but at least every time for the eye makeup, I can do it very satisfactorily." The corners of 【Chen Yan】's mouth curled up, seemingly very happy. He continued to say,
"The first stroke of makeup on 【Brother】's face... let me draw it."
【Chen Yan】 gently swiped both hands at the corners of his own eyes, and a smear of apricot red transferred to his fingertips, as if taking off a corner of the makeup that originally belonged to him. He slowly walked in front of Chen Ling...
"【Brother】, close your eyes."
Chen Ling froze for a moment, then consciously closed his eyes.
【Chen Yan】 raised both hands, his two thumbs reaching towards Chen Ling's face... In this pitch-black world, that pure white 【Opera Masks】 was still unstained by even a speck of dust. As 【Chen Yan】's two fingers fell and gently wiped, a pair of apricot-red eyeshadows was eternally left on the surface of the 【Opera Masks】.
With this stroke falling, this dull, monotonous pure white 【Opera Masks】 finally possessed its first bit of color. It was exactly like drawing a dragon and dotting its eyes, bringing it to life. A smear of white color frantically spread outward from beneath Chen Ling's feet!
This small boat sailing on the surging surface of the sea finally dropped its first "anchor". The hull, which originally could have shattered at any moment, gradually stabilized. The endless 【Bewilderment】 was like the dark night being driven away in one corner by the ship's lights.
That was the mark 【Chen Yan】 left for him, that was the proof of "Chen Ling"'s existence...
That was the 【Opera Masks】 uniquely belonging to Chen Ling. Perhaps in the future, this face would become increasingly complete because of his experiences, but this stroke of apricot-colored eye makeup would forever be his pillar and starting point.
Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes. Unlike the delicate and gentle eye makeup on 【Chen Yan】's face, Chen Ling's pair of apricot-colored eye corners hooked upwards like a phoenix tail. While being demonic, it also carried a uniquely sharp and murderous intent...
At the same time, Chen Ling could feel a profound sensation rising from his eyes. He seemed to be able to see more things than before. Even the 【Secret Eye】 began to be absorbed by this smear of eye makeup. Some kind of even more powerful eye technique was about to be nurtured and born!
"This then is... my '【Vermilion Countenance】'."