Abnormal Movement from "The Audience"
"Miss, are we really not going back?" Uncle Quan looked at the empty Theater House and the gray sky surging with wild wind outside, his eyes full of unease. "The Calamity Bell has rung, it's not safe to stay outside..."
"Go back? Is it safe if we go back?"
Although Huang Suyue was also somewhat nervous, she wasn't flustered. She raised her hand and pointed under her feet. "Where else can be safer than being by Lord Special Envoy's side?"
Uncle Quan opened his mouth, truly not knowing how to refute, and could only nod helplessly.
The gray sky surrounded the Theater House, weighing down on everyone's hearts like lead. A cold wind of unknown origin brushed under the eaves of the Theater House, sounding like an endless sigh.
"Mister, it's very dangerous outside right now... Are they okay going out?" Kong Baosheng's face was also somewhat pale as he asked cautiously.
"It's fine, they are 'professionals'."
Now Jack of Clubs, 10 of Diamonds, 9 of Hearts, and Jian Changsheng had all been dispatched. Except for Jian Changsheng, everyone was a senior member of the Dusk Society. Safety shouldn't be something he needed to worry about. As for Jian Changsheng... well, as long as he doesn't die, it's fine.
The slightly bitter coldness flowed down his throat. His gaze stared at the howling wild wind outside the door and the white ashes dancing in the wind, a doubt suddenly welling up in his heart.
Chen Ling had had several encounters with the Gray World by now. Whether it was the "Ghost Mockery Abyss" entrenched with various shadow monsters or the "Forbidden Sea" inhabiting the frozen sea of the extreme north, they were all different territories from the Gray World... I wonder which territory in the Gray World the Scarlet Heaven Cult has summoned this time?
"Strange... where did the Bone-Stripping Knife in the Kitchen go?" Kong Baosheng walked out of the Kitchen blankly. Seeing Chen Ling drinking cold water, he couldn't help but say,
"Mister, your tea is cold. Shall I brew a new cup for you?"
Chen Ling nodded slightly, letting him take the Tea Cup from his hand, but his mind was still on the previous question.
The cold wind from an unknown source, the strange ashes dancing with the wind... While Chen Ling was lost in thought, a wisp of white catkin-like ash floated lightly into the Theater House with the wind blowing past the window. After Chen Ling's gaze caught it, he subconsciously reached out to catch it.
At the same time, Kong Baosheng hurried over holding a steaming hot teacup:
"Mister, your tea is here."
At the moment Chen Ling's palm touched that white ash, an inexplicable chill suddenly welled up in his heart!
In the nothingness behind him, pairs of scarlet eyes suddenly opened, staring fixedly at that wisp of white ash. The originally teasing gaze instantly transformed into coldness and sinister intent, and an eerie Aura drifted out from Chen Ling's body...
Bang—!!
The teacup Kong Baosheng handed him suddenly shattered without warning!
Amidst the boy's exclamation, the shattered teacup splattered outwards, and the boiling hot tea splashed all over the floor of the Theater House, steam rolling up.
Chen Ling was startled. He turned his head abruptly, but the gazes of those eerie The Audience had already disappeared. The other people present didn't seem to see them either, and were now turning their heads to look here in confusion.
"Are you okay?! Were you scalded?" Huang Suyue sprang up from her seat and ran quickly towards Chen Ling, her face full of anxiety.
Li Qingshan also quickly walked down the Stage and approached Chen Ling.
Chen Ling's palm was indeed flushed red from being scalded by the boiling water, but this was simply not worth mentioning. He casually shook off the water stains on his fingertips and looked down at his feet with furrowed brows...
He saw the boiling hot tea spilled on the ground, which at this moment had perfectly intertwined into a line of ferocious and twisted small characters, displayed before Chen Ling:
——[Sighing Wilderness].
...
Under the gray sky.
Numerous pedestrians sprinted along the street, their gazes constantly glancing around in panic from time to time, as if deeply afraid that something would drill out from a corner.
"It's a Police Officer! A Police Officer is here!" The figure running at the very front saw Wang Jincheng walking over from the opposite side. A look of joy appeared on his terrified face, and the few people behind him also swarmed up in one breath.
Wang Jincheng, who was holding a Walkie-talkie in one hand and searching the street with a solemn face, was forced to stop upon seeing this.
"You're a Police Officer, right?! What exactly is this situation?"
"Didn't they say it's a Gray Realm Convergence? But we ran so far and still couldn't run out of the range of this gray cloud... Do you know which direction to run is safe?"
Under the rising and falling questions of the crowd, a hint of helplessness flashed in Wang Jincheng's eyes. He said, "The range of this Gray Realm Convergence is extremely large, and because of the Scarlet Heaven Cult, the nearby intra-city trains and cars have all stopped operating... Trying to walk out relying on two feet is unrealistic."
As soon as these words came out, the crowd immediately panicked.
"Can't run out? Then what should we do??"
"Doesn't the safety manual say that after a Gray Realm Convergence, those Calamity monsters might pop out at any time? If we can't run out, won't it always be dangerous?"
"Will you protect us? You will protect us, right??"
"..."
"Sorry, I have other things to busy myself with, I can't protect all of you." Wang Jincheng's expression was extremely serious. He paused for a moment and spoke again, "The best way right now is to hide in your homes or other buildings, the more hidden the better. Running on the road is too conspicuous."
The crowd's faces were pale, but there was no other way. They simply looked around briefly and then sprinted towards the nearest restaurant.
This restaurant was a detached single-family building, and the facade was also built with piled stones, looking very sturdy. At this moment, at least a dozen pedestrians were hiding inside. Pairs of eyes looked outside through the window, full of terror and unease.
The vast majority of the residents of the Red Dust Main City were experiencing a Gray Realm Convergence for the first time, and it just so happened that the range of this convergence was so vast. It was normal to be terrified and panicked in their hearts... Wang Jincheng witnessed that group of pedestrians hiding inside and finally being able to sit down and catch their breath before withdrawing his gaze and continuing to walk forward along the street.
"This is Wang Jincheng, no traces of Calamities have been discovered yet..."
Boom—!!!
Before Wang Jincheng could utter the last word, the detached restaurant beside him exploded with a bang!
A pale giant shadow carrying terrifying kinetic energy easily smashed the heavy stones into powder filling the sky, along with dozens of residents inside instantly trampled into bloody mud, and then continued to charge straight forward. After consecutively smashing through a three-story small building and a bank, it continued to sprint forward!
Flying dust swept past Wang Jincheng's face, his pupils shrinking slightly...
All this happened too suddenly. The Red Dust residents who had just asked him for protection didn't even have time to let out a scream before being trampled into a bloody mess on the ground, and a dozen buildings were instantly leveled to the ground... Even Wang Jincheng failed to see clearly what that white shadow was.
Wang Jincheng's chest heaved violently, and a burst of anger rapidly climbed in his eyes.
He let out a low growl, the earth beneath his feet instantly tore off a chunk, carrying his body, and wildly swept out towards the direction the white shadow left!
After his departure, in a corner of the city under the gray sky, mysterious alchemical arrays gradually lit up. From among the mutilated corpses that had already turned into bloody mud, numerous souls seemed to be pulled by something, slowly drifting towards a certain direction...