Seeing Eight of Clubs Again
The anxiety of being lost and the pressure brought by the Audience Expectation Value made Chen Ling's brows furrow tightly.
The good news was that after he continued moving forward for a distance, another giant object floated over from afar... It wasn't the previous large face, but a roaring and galloping steed!
Saying it was a steed, it was actually just a cluster of 3D paintings outlined by geometric lines. Pinky-fingernail-sized eyes were unevenly arranged together, and an exaggerated horse mouth twisted in mid-air. It didn't rush straight at Chen Ling, but swiped swiftly past like a meteor in another direction.
As it approached, Chen Ling's emotions were infected once again. Panic and fear surged into his heart, even making Chen Ling's eyes unconsciously widen, as if he too was about to turn into a frightened horse, turning around to gallop wildly into the distance with it.
Fortunately, Chen Ling eventually suppressed this emotion. Looking closely, he saw that on the horse's butt, there was also a rotating "arrow" and the mark of Clubs.
It was just that because this horse was running too fast, the rotation speed of the "arrow" was also much faster than the one on the large face, but indeed, from beginning to end, it pointed in the same direction.
Seeing this, Chen Ling immediately followed this "arrow" to correct his direction and continued moving forward.
In the ensuing process, Chen Ling successively encountered two more giant objects: one was a twisted human figure dragging deformed legs, frantically crawling in the void; the other was a woman hugging what looked like a child's corpse, speeding past him.
Unsurprisingly, there were also "arrows" pointing on these two giant objects. With their help, Chen Ling completed two more corrections.
Time seemed to lose its meaning in this world. Chen Ling also didn't know how long he had moved forward. He could only see the Audience Expectation Value slipping from the initial "44%" all the way down to "35%".
After correcting his course and moving forward several times, Chen Ling finally saw something different in this nothingness.
That was a house.
In this void world with no earth, no sky, and no material existence, an ordinary house floated quietly there, just like a product of realism suddenly appearing in a massive abstract painting, disconnected from the surrounding environment, carrying an inexplicable sense of abruptness.
Single-story, single door, a pair of windows; not a shred of light shot out from the windows, like a black abyss.
"Is this where the arrows point to..."
Chen Ling looked at the house before him. Without much hesitation, he stepped on the void and arrived at its door.
This house had colors and wasn't as abstract as those other giant objects. Undoubtedly, it wasn't a product of "Guernica". Coupled with the Clubs symbols and arrows seen along the way, Chen Ling could vaguely guess who created this room.
Chen Ling took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock——
In the nothingness, a dead silence fell.
A figure in a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe stood at the door, waiting quietly. In his sleeve behind his back hid a Bone-Stripping Knife, to prevent any unexpected situations from happening...
After about a few seconds, the doorknob slowly turned, and it was opened from behind.
The opening of the door didn't make any sound. As the door was half-opened, a figure stood there like a ghost, silent and wordless.
It was an unkempt youth with a sallow complexion, his eyes full of bloodshot veins, looking exactly like a patient with neurasthenia... Every inch of skin on his entire body seemed exhausted to the extreme.
He looked at Chen Ling behind the door, and after a long while, spoke hoarsely:
"I thought the one opening this door would be Li Shangfeng... I didn't expect it to be you."
Chen Ling sized up the youth before him, his brows unconsciously furrowing... He recognized Eight of Clubs at a glance. After all, the two had met in the Aurora Domain before, and even arrived at the Red Dust Domain together. But to his surprise, the Eight of Clubs before him was like a completely different person compared to before coming to the Red Dust.
If back in the Aurora Domain, Eight of Clubs was a high-spirited genius youth, the one standing before Chen Ling now was like a lifeless prisoner, haggard to the extreme.
Especially the look in his eyes when he looked at Chen Ling. Facing such a sudden guest, there wasn't a shred of surprise in his eyes, only intense sorrow and pain... Chen Ling remembered this kind of look; it was almost exactly the same as those giant objects that floated past just now.
"Eight of Clubs." Chen Ling frowned and asked, "What... did you experience?"
"...Come in to talk."
Eight of Clubs' pale fingers let go of the door and took half a step back, gesturing for Chen Ling to enter.
Chen Ling walked into the room, only then carefully sizing up the environment here. The furnishings in the room were extremely simple: a bed, a chair, a table, and paintbrushes scattered messily all over the floor;
If one had to point out any difference between here and the prisons Chen Ling had seen, it was probably the curtains here, which were colorful and had fluttering cartoon butterfly patterns on them, counting as the only warm place in this narrow room.
"Sit." Eight of Clubs pointed at the chair, seemingly too tired to say another word.
Chen Ling sat down on the chair, then as if remembering something,
"The Li Shangfeng you just mentioned, who is he?"
"Oh... you don't know his real name." Eight of Clubs said lightly. "Nine of Hearts, you should know now, right?"
In Chen Ling's mind, Nine of Hearts' careless appearance flashed by immediately. He just couldn't associate this elegant, hero-like name with that goofball.
"...I know."
"Is he here?"
"He'll be here soon, I came to scout the way."
"To dare to come alone to scout the Floating Life Painting Headquarters... As expected of the monster harboring 'World-Ending'." Eight of Clubs slowly sat down on his bed, his figure leaning against the wall, his voice somewhat weak. "You've met the Second Hall?"
"Yeah."
"He actually didn't kill you?"
"No, I traded some intelligence with him... Although he looks a bit strange, he seems to be quite principled."
Eight of Clubs seemed to remember something, and a faint arc curled up at the corner of his mouth:
"Indeed, although that guy plays with 'abstraction', in terms of doing things, he never does abstract things."
"So what exactly is this place? And what is 'Guernica'?"
Hearing this question, the smile at the corner of Eight of Clubs' mouth gradually faded.
He sat up straight and spoke hoarsely:
"'Guernica' is a painting."
"A painting?"
"To be exact, it's an abstract cubist painting... This is something the Second Hall found deep within the Path of Azure Ancient Vault back in the day." Eight of Clubs lifted his chin toward the window.
"On your way here, did you see those abstract 'monsters'?"