You Are A "Person"
"The Fourth Wall", began to waver.
That Theatrical Robe only sang four lines of the ballad, and the black clouds around Chen Ling had already dissipated for the most part. But he didn't continue singing, but looked at Chen Ling with complex eyes and slowly spoke:
"Old Six..."
"Do you still remember how to sing next?"
Chen Ling stood amidst the black clouds, his brows furrowing unconsciously, as if trying hard to recall something.
Past memories flowed before his eyes like movie scenes, but his perspective was like a watching "third party", familiar yet foreign... As if the one who experienced these wasn't him, but someone else.
He saw the sky full of stars twinkling under the black firmament, the prairie breeze blowing the colorful flags on the roof to flutter. Mo Jiao had one hand behind his back and the other holding a Songbook, earnestly teaching "Chen Ling" the correct tune.
Chen Ling pondered for a long time, his lips parted lightly, and continued singing following Master's ballad:
"'Frost, snow, and the setting sun are your heavy makeup';"
"'I will weave hope into dancing kapok flowers',"
"'Until the rocks remember the fragrance of flowers'..."
Unlike Master's ballad, this time, [Requiem Ballad] was sung from Chen Ling's own mouth. Not weakened by "The Fourth Wall", it lingered incomparably clear by his ears.
As the ballad sounded, the memories in Chen Ling's mind gradually cleared up. He began to project himself into the Role of "Chen Ling". He saw Ning Ruyu fighting him with a Long Spear, saw Luan Mei slowly walking down the snow mountain stepping on Cloud Steps, saw Wen Renyou bringing dishes in front of him, Mo Jiao teaching him the singing method of [Requiem Ballad] face to face, saw Clown babbling and dancing in front of him... It was as if all the various things in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path were his personal experiences.
The scarlet pupils in the void behind Chen Ling closed one after another. The "Audience" seemed to lose interest and faded without a trace. The red embers at the corners of his eyes slowly retracted into the depths of his pupils, leaving only a faint black mark, but still concealing the face of "Painting the Vermillion Face".
"'Crying Child',"
"'Please gently close your eyes';"
"'When dusk falls in the darkest era',"
"'I shall promise you rosy dawn clouds and blue skies'."
The moment Chen Ling finished singing the last word, the resentment and unwillingness surrounding him completely dissipated. The entire "Guernica" was completely empty, leaving only endless void and dead silence.
Chen Ling rubbed his swollen and aching temples, only feeling that his head was like paste, his eyes full of confusion and bewilderment.
"Just now... what happened?"
Chen Ling couldn't really remember what happened just now. He felt his consciousness had turned into smoke, floating out from this body and falling into the sky full of scarlet pupils behind him... This feeling was very bizarre. He was like a bystander, watching everything numbly and stiffly, yet couldn't perceive any emotions.
Even now, Chen Ling still hadn't completely shaken off this feeling.
"Master?"
Chen Ling saw the curtain in the void and that familiar figure behind the curtain, and immediately spoke, "Master, why are you here?"
"My main body isn't here, it's just that I felt something for a moment and divided a trace of my spirit to take a look." Master glanced at the corners of Chen Ling's eyes. "Fortunately, I came, otherwise, all our previous efforts would have been wasted..."
Chen Ling was stunned, "What previous efforts wasted?"
Master shook his head, didn't answer, but asked instead:
"Old Six, how are you feeling now?"
"Feeling... I can't put my finger on it. It's like a layer of gauze is draped around. Although I can see everything clearly, it always feels... unreal."
Chen Ling hesitated for a long time, but still used the word "unreal". Besides this, he couldn't find a more suitable description.
"That's not gauze, that's the remnant 'Fourth Wall'."
"The 'Fourth Wall' in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path?" Chen Ling's brows furrowed even tighter. "Why would it be on me?"
"Because you are actively turning yourself into an audience. When you see everything in the world from the perspective of an audience, all things have nothing to do with you and are just a 'story'... At this time, 'The Fourth Wall' will naturally appear."
"I actively turned into an audience..."
Chen Ling recalled everything he experienced just now. When receiving the impact of the soldier's emotions, he was indeed constantly giving himself psychological suggestions to lower his empathy... But Chen Ling couldn't understand. Could just some psychological suggestions cause such serious consequences?
"Old Six, remember Master's words."
Master stood behind the curtain, his expression more solemn than ever before.
"No matter under what scenario, you are not an audience, but a real, existing 'person'."
"Your existence is defined by yourself. If even you yourself abandon the characteristics of being a 'person', then no one can save you..."
After speaking, Master raised his hand and tapped his fingertip at the corner of his own eye.
Chen Ling was stunned.
He subconsciously reached out and touched the corner of his own eye too, speaking with half-understanding:
"...I'll remember."
Seeing this, Master nodded in satisfaction. "I still have matters to attend to over there, so I have to go first... As for the matters here, act as your heart dictates."
"Master, with the Red Dust Domain in such chaos, aren't you going to take action personally?"
"Me?" Master smiled.
"I am not the protagonist of this grand play... However, when the time is right, I will come."
After speaking, Master gently swept his sleeves and turned to walk behind the curtain.
As the curtain gradually closed, Master seemed to remember something, and his voice came from within again:
"Oh right, remember to keep that flower for me... That is a Dao Base Shard of the Path of the Arts, I will have a use for it in the future."
The theatrical curtain completely closed, and the next moment faded and vanished into the void.
Chen Ling held the Broken Sword in one hand and looked back towards the original direction of the soldier's corpse. In the void world, only a Small Flower was left floating silently...
"This is the Dao Base Shard?"
Chen Ling stepped on Cloud Steps, went straight forward, and reached out to grab the Small Flower...
Now "Guernica" had been cleared out by Chen Ling, and there was no one left to stop his movements. The moment Chen Ling's fingertips touched the stem of the Small Flower, an indescribable feeling surged up Chen Ling's heart along his palm!
Buzz——!
In the pitch-black void, the light cast by the Grand Relief Gate suddenly brightened. Strands of glowing lines hung down from the projection, converging into a light beam and connecting with the Dao Base Shard in Chen Ling's hand.
The connection between the key and the door came with some kind of powerful authority. Clasped in Chen Ling's palm, a myriad rays of light spread in his pupils.
A massive miniature of a Realm hidden among the flowers slowly bloomed in the void before him!
"This is..."
Chen Ling muttered to himself.
...
"Hmm?!"
Before the heavy Grand Relief Gate, Rank 8 Oppressive Aura continuously impacted the patterns on the door like a tide.
The abstract face of the Second Hall suddenly seemed to perceive something and abruptly looked at the scroll that was slowly opening the door. Dense shock surfaced in its triangular eyes!
"...How is this possible??"