Deterioration
"Bureau Chief Wang?"
Seeing Wang Jincheng appear at the door of the Theater House covered in blood, Kong Baosheng and the others were all startled... Everyone knew what the situation outside the Theater House was right now. Wang Jincheng's appearance was highly likely inseparable from the Gray Realm Convergence, and everyone's hearts became increasingly panicked.
Chen Ling, on the other hand, had an extremely subtle expression. He didn't seem that willing to go help Wang Jincheng.
No matter how you put it, this was also a temporary stronghold for the Dusk Society. It didn't matter on normal days when there was a Performance to act as a disguise, but now the "professional team" had already gone out, and Calamities were rampaging outside. He might even have to take action and clash with the Calamities... Wang Jincheng appearing here was undoubtedly a trouble.
Moreover, he was still entangled with "The Audience" right now. If he revealed any flaws later, things would be bad.
But reluctance was reluctance. Since Wang Jincheng had already arrived and his consciousness was clear, Chen Ling had to help him if he wanted to continue pretending. After all, even a heavily injured Sixth Stage wasn't someone he could easily deal with. Feeling helpless, he still stepped towards the door of the Theater House.
"Bureau Chief Wang! What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?" Chen Ling exclaimed.
Wang Jincheng saw Chen Ling freeze for a moment, thinking he was frightened by his appearance, and spoke as calmly as possible:
"No!" Chen Ling answered without hesitation.
"...Then bring me a few pieces of clothing, and casually take apart two wooden boards."
Chen Ling helplessly looked at Kong Baosheng. The latter immediately understood, quickly took two pieces of clothing and wooden boards from behind the Stage, and handed them to Wang Jincheng.
Thud thud.
At the same time, a slight sound came from upstairs, like the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
Kong Baosheng froze. He suspiciously glanced in the direction the sound came from, suddenly realized something, and his expression suddenly became panicked.
"Mister, I'll go upstairs to check on my Grandmother first!"
After saying that, he picked up a Lantern from the table and quickly ran up the stairs.
Seeing this, Chen Ling didn't speak to stop him, but refocused his attention on Wang Jincheng.
Wang Jincheng was heavily injured. If his own physique wasn't sturdy enough, coupled with using stones to buffer the rhino's impact at the last moment, he would probably have already been shattered into bloody slag all over the ground... These things could only temporarily stop the bleeding and immobilize the broken bones. If delayed for too long, there would still be danger to his life.
Chen Ling just watched Wang Jincheng bandage himself like this, while pretending to be confused and asking:
"Bureau Chief Wang, what exactly happened outside? Didn't you say it's a Gray Realm Convergence? Why did you also mention the Scarlet Heaven Cult just now?"
"This Gray Realm Convergence was originally actively triggered by the Scarlet Heaven Cult." Mentioning the Scarlet Heaven Cult, hatred flickered in Wang Jincheng's eyes. While bandaging his wounds, he said hoarsely,
"Those guys summoned the Sighing Wilderness, and actively guided a large number of Calamities here... And they are too insidious! They actually disrupted my Divine Path while I was fighting the Calamities, even more despicable and shameless than the Dusk Society!"
Chen Ling: ...
"That sounds really dangerous." Chen Ling said worriedly, "They won't attack Ordinary People like us, right?"
"...Hard to say."
Wang Jincheng paused for a moment. "They themselves might not take action to kill people, but I'm worried they are still plotting something else..."
"What?"
"If it's just ordinary Calamities, the Floating Life Painting can still handle it... I'm worried they are determined to destroy the Red Dust Domain, directly summoning the 'World-Ending' tier Calamity to descend at any cost." Wang Jincheng's brows furrowed tightly. "If that's the case... the Red Dust Domain will probably not escape a calamity."
Summon "World-Ending"?
Chen Ling's heart jumped, as if he thought of something.
Whoosh—!
An inexplicable cold wind brushed past. All the Lanterns in the venue were instantly extinguished, and the entire Theater House plunged into darkness.
This sudden turn of events startled Kong Baosheng, Huang Suyue, and the others. Even Wang Jincheng, who was bandaging his wounds, frowned and looked outside the door, vigilantly glancing around.
Chen Ling swept a glance at the Lanterns overhead, his expression in the darkness gradually becoming solemn.
Chen Ling pondered for a moment and spoke again:
"Where are these Scarlet Heaven Cultists? Are we safe here?"
"If I knew where they were, I would have already killed my way over." Wang Jincheng sighed helplessly. "However, you guys should be safe here in the short term..."
...
Step step step—
Kong Baosheng hurried upstairs, arrived before a dim room, and forcefully pushed the door open.
The swaying candlelight illuminated a corner of the room. He only saw the bedding on the bed all messily twisted into a ball, but there was no one there. A figure with graying hair was painfully curled up on the floor, letting out bursts of painful whimpers.
"Grandmother!!" Kong Baosheng dropped the Lantern and anxiously ran to her side. "Grandmother! Can you hear me? Where does it hurt??"
The Old Man didn't speak, just curled up in pain on the ground. A pair of aged eyes stared fixedly into the nothingness, as if something was tearing at her consciousness. Her eyeballs unconsciously rolled up, exposing a large amount of whites to the air.
Kong Baosheng was terrified. He had taken care of his Grandmother for so long, and had never seen this kind of situation. He hurriedly got up to find medicine.
His hands trembled as he searched through all the cabinets, finding the medicine his Grandmother took on normal days. Pouring the last two pills into his hand, he ran to her side and knelt down, carefully feeding them into his Grandmother's mouth.
"Grandmother, quickly take the medicine..."
Kong Baosheng prayed while feeding his Grandmother water. When the pills were swallowed, he only slightly breathed a sigh of relief.
But as time ticked by minute by minute, his Grandmother's condition didn't improve in the slightest, but instead became increasingly painful. Watching her face gradually pale, Kong Baosheng's heart was beating so fast it was almost jumping out of his chest from anxiety.
"Grandmother, don't scare me Grandmother... You've obviously been taking your medicine properly, why is this happening??"
Kong Baosheng forced himself to calm down, beginning to think about what exactly went wrong. But after thinking and thinking, he could only think that maybe she didn't take enough medicine... But after taking those two just now, there was no more extra medicine at home.
He gritted his teeth and carried his Grandmother back to the bed.
"Grandmother, bear with it a little longer... I'll go buy a few more boxes for you, and see if there are any painkillers along the way. I'll be back soon!"
After saying that, he carried the Lantern and quickly rushed downstairs.
In the first-floor hall at this time, Chen Ling was still talking with Wang Jincheng at the door. Huang Suyue and Uncle Quan were sitting on chairs. Li Qingshan was still wearing that Performance outfit and standing to the side, his gaze full of worry as he looked out the window.
Kong Baosheng strode directly across the lobby, about to rush out of the Theater House alone. The moment he stepped over the threshold, Chen Ling's voice suddenly sounded from behind:
"Baosheng, where are you going?"