Violent Dan Role
Chen Ling and Li Qingshan walked forward all the way. Aside from occasionally appearing Calamities, they didn't see anyone else on the road.
At this critical juncture, all residents of the Red Dust Domain wished they could hide in cracks in the ground. Walking on the road was undoubtedly seeking self-destruction. This originally bustling and lively street had now become barren and desolate.
Along the way, one or two Calamities did appear, but they were glared at by Chen Ling with a single look and turned to run away. The journey was completely unhindered.
"Fortunately it's Brother Lin. If Baosheng went to the pharmacy by himself, it would probably really be fraught with grim possibilities." Li Qingshan couldn't help but sigh.
"Speaking of which, his Grandmother suddenly falling ill at this time is also a bit fishy." Chen Ling frowned slightly. "We've stayed in the Theater House for so long, and his Grandmother's condition has always been very stable. Yet it suddenly deteriorated right when the Gray Realm Convergence began..."
"You're saying... his Grandmother's illness is related to the Gray World?"
"The Gray World itself won't affect the human body. Whether the Scarlet Heaven Cult will cause an effect, I'm not clear. I just suspect this matter isn't so simple."
"Right, what illness did Baosheng's Grandmother have again?"
"Lymphoma... That's the same illness my father had back then."
"Your father also had lymphoma??"
"Yes, he got this illness when I was eight or nine years old, and passed away within a year. Later, my mother also suffered from organ failure, and both of them passed away." A hint of bitterness flashed in Li Qingshan's eyes.
"..." Chen Ling's frown deepened. He suddenly remembered Mu Chunsheng, who had skin cancer before and was half-dead. He subconsciously said,
"There are a bit too many people getting cancer here."
"Many?" Li Qingshan was startled. "Isn't this very normal? As people get older, they'll always get some illness."
"No, it's not normal."
Chen Ling had stayed in the Aurora Domain for so long and hadn't seen many people get cancer. Yet in the Red Dust Domain, it seemed that anyone with some age had to be tainted with diseases like cancer... Perhaps, this was the reason why the average life expectancy in the Red Dust Domain was only fifty years?
While the two were talking, the end of the street gradually approached in the distance. It was an empty Crossroads. The gray sky seemed to be divided into two here. The side closer to Chen Ling and the other was the normal night sky, while the other side of the road was the eerie gray sky.
One red and one green, the two Theatrical Robes stopped in their tracks on one side of the Crossroads.
"Is the Gray Realm Convergence area up ahead..." Chen Ling's gaze swept over the Crossroads and landed on the pharmacy at the opposite street corner.
"That's the Gray World?" It was also Li Qingshan's first time seeing the sky of the Gray World. The lead-like heavy and oppressive clouds shrouding the bustling Red Dust gave him an instinctive sense of fear.
At this time, across a street on the opposite side, dense thick smoke rose from among the city, and from time to time, the terrifying roars of giant beasts could be heard, as if it had already been reduced to a living purgatory.
The street where the Jinghong Theater was located hadn't even been converged by the Gray World yet, but Calamities like the Skeletal Giant Eagle had already appeared. How many Calamities were in those places already covered by the Gray World, and how many casualties they had caused, was simply unimaginable.
"The pharmacy is right there, we have to be a bit faster."
Chen Ling walked straight across the unmanned Crossroads towards the dilapidated pharmacy.
The pharmacy's signboard had already gone out. The Outer Wall was full of scorch marks and bloodstains from an unknown source. The Glass on the upper half of the main door had all completely shattered, leaving only crystalline fragments covering the ground. Even so, this door was still tightly locked.
Looking inside through the shattered Glass on the upper half, the pharmacy was pitch black, and there was no one at the counter. Shelves full of medicine were crookedly displayed inside, extending all the way into the depths of the darkness.
"There's no one inside... Did the store clerk just run away when the Gray Realm Convergence happened?" Li Qingshan took a look inside and murmured.
Chen Ling didn't answer. He looked down at the main door locked from the inside, his brows unconsciously furrowing.
"Brother Li, step back a bit and protect yourself."
"Ah? Oh..."
Li Qingshan nodded and took several steps back in succession.
Chen Ling reached one hand into the sleeve of his Theatrical Robe, and a Bone-Stripping Knife flashing with cold light landed in his palm. He flipped a sharp knife flower with his fingertips, and then hid his hands behind his back.
Li Qingshan was startled. "Brother Lin, where did you conjure that knife from??"
"I snagged it from the Kitchen earlier."
Chen Ling stepped back half a step with his right leg. After a brief pause, he suddenly whipped his leg out forcefully. The massive force sliced through the air with a slight hum, crashing into the tightly locked main door like a cannonball!
Bang—!!
The pharmacy's main door instantly twisted, flew several meters away from the door frame, and only clattered to the ground after knocking down a patch of shelves.
Dust flew up. The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe returned to calmness, but the Dan Role accessories on Chen Ling's head were still swaying slightly. Seeing this scene, Li Qingshan behind him couldn't help but say,
"No, Brother Lin... Isn't this Dan Role of yours a bit too fierce? Even Mu Guiying isn't as awesome as you."
Chen Ling walked straight into the pharmacy. The lighting in the store was completely paralyzed, and coupled with the fact that it was night outside, the pharmacy was so dark you could hardly see your fingers in front of you. Fortunately, Chen Ling had the eyes of [Painting the Vermillion Face], and could vaguely see a portion in the darkness...
This pharmacy covered a considerable area. Visually, there were at least over twenty shelves displayed inside. Chen Ling slowly walked past the few shelves near the door. The hem of his Great Crimson Theatrical Robe brushed through the dim dust, and the surroundings were so quiet that only his slight footsteps could be heard.
As Chen Ling approached the depths of the pharmacy, a rich smell of blood rushed against his face, and the vigilant color in his eyes grew increasingly dense.
[Audience Expectation Value +1]
After Chen Ling passed through several shelves consecutively, the space in front of him suddenly widened. Over a dozen shelves seemed to have been deliberately arranged into a circular arc, surrounding him from all directions. Crooked bloodstains in the center connected into a ring on the ground, with small, bizarre symbols outlined in the corners, mysterious and eerie.
At this time, in the center of this blood-colored ring, a figure draped in a red robe was kneeling on the ground, holding a Short Blade in one hand. The blade rested on a position slightly below the left chest, only stabbing about a centimeter deep, and trickling fresh blood was rolling down the blade to the ground...
In front of him, there was also a small hammer, a pair of Scissors, and a saw, like some kind of torture instruments for cutting open the stomach.
Seeing this scene, Chen Ling's pupils shrank slightly!
"Brother Lin, careful!!!"
Li Qingshan's loud shout came from behind, followed closely by a whistling sound of breaking air from behind Chen Ling's ear. Chen Ling bent down to dodge forward without hesitation, and a blade flashing with cold light almost brushed his scalp as it swept past!
Almost simultaneously, the red-robed figure kneeling in the center of the blood ring also jerked his head up, backhanding the small hammer on the ground and smashing it towards Chen Ling's face!
Boom—!
All this happened too quickly. The pincer attack of the two people front and back was unstoppable like thunder, instantly sealing all of Chen Ling's escape routes. Hearing only a muffled boom, Chen Ling's head in the darkness was hit by the oncoming small hammer, his whole person flying backward like a sandbag, crashing to the ground along with a shelf!