Return to the Theater House
"Guernica".
Chen Ling looked at the miniature Realm in his hand, his eyes narrowing slightly.
As if he had guessed something, he looked up at the patterns of the Grand Relief Gate suspended above, understanding dawning in his heart.
"So this is the authority of this door..."
Eight of Clubs had said that through this door, one's consciousness could descend to every corner of the Red Dust Domain, but this kind of authority was only possessed by the Second and Third Hall Masters... And now, Chen Ling had obtained the Dao Base Shard of "Guernica", which was equivalent to holding the key, so naturally he also possessed a portion of the authority.
Chen Ling's consciousness overlooked the entire Realm, and only then did he truly understand how vast the extent of the Red Dust Domain actually was.
Hundreds of small towns dotted the Realm like stars, connected by roads between them. Even though nearly half of the area in the main city had already been reduced to wasteland with countless casualties, these small towns remained tranquil and peaceful, with no atmosphere of an impending war at all.
Surrounded by these scattered small towns, the Red Dust main city was like a behemoth. Except that now, this behemoth was riddled with scars, and billowing thick smoke rose from the ruins. On the streets, apart from the members of the Floating Life Painting and Police Officers, almost no pedestrians could be seen. Most of them were hiding in their homes, everyone feeling insecure... However, Chen Ling's gaze couldn't penetrate the walls to see more specific situations.
The position of the Red Dust main city, relative to the other towns, was indeed exactly in the center. But if compared to this flower bud, it was slightly off to the east... The true central position of this flower was a seemingly inconspicuous small town. The stem of the flower was connected there, and below it was the green leaf where the Red Dust Base was located.
"The Heart of the Red Dust Realm is indeed Willow Town."
In fact, when Yang Muquan led Chen Ling from Willow Town through the "Staff Passage", Chen Ling had some guesses, but it was only finally confirmed at this moment.
With a sweep of his gaze, Chen Ling saw an ink afterimage flash across the horizon. It was a white-clothed youth, carrying an eight-foot ink brush on his back, his speed no less than a supersonic jet, crossing nearly half the Realm in moments.
"What a strong Aura!" Chen Ling was secretly shocked.
This was Chen Ling's first time seeing Lü Liangren. Unlike the unfathomable and mysterious temperament of the Second Hall Master, Lü Liangren did not conceal his sharpness and overbearingness in the slightest. The Rank 8 Aura surged endlessly in the sky like an earth-shattering tsunami.
Just as Chen Ling's gaze fell on him, Lü Liangren seemed to perceive something and looked up at the sky, appearing somewhat doubtful.
He noticed?
Chen Ling was slightly startled and immediately shifted his gaze away.
Fortunately, Lü Liangren didn't get suspicious either, only thinking that the Second Hall Master was overseeing the overall situation, and lowered his head to continue speeding forward... After all, who would have thought that besides him and the Second Hall Master, someone else could use the authority of the Grand Relief Gate?
From a bird's-eye view, Chen Ling roamed above the Red Dust Domain a few times. Not finding anything noteworthy, just as he was about to withdraw his consciousness from it, he suddenly remembered something and looked towards a certain street in the Red Dust main city...
This street could be considered the most well-preserved street during the Gray Realm Convergence. Under the sealed gray firmament, a Theater House was still brightly lit.
Chen Ling overlooked this Theater House, but his gaze couldn't penetrate the roof to see what was happening inside. He couldn't help but sigh helplessly...
"If only I could just move over there directly through the Grand Relief Gate."
As his words fell, the Small Flower in Chen Ling's hand swayed gently. The power within the authority surged into Chen Ling's palm, and a strange feeling swelled in his heart.
"Eh..." Chen Ling felt this power and slowly closed his eyes.
With a thought, the next moment, the consciousness he had spread over the Red Dust main city actually split off a small piece and plummeted downwards. Like a wisp of a divided soul carrying Chen Ling's consciousness, it floated down amidst the howling wind and eventually stabilized on the ground.
Chen Ling opened his eyes again and was already standing on the street where the Jinghong Theater was located.
He looked down somewhat in surprise, only to see that he was still wearing a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe, but his figure was in a translucent state, like a soul without a physical body.
"Not only can it let consciousness cover the entire Realm, but it can also separate a part of consciousness to walk within it... The crystallization of the first generation of Floating Life Painting Hall Masters is truly miraculous." Chen Ling muttered to himself.
Chen Ling's main body was still trapped in "Guernica", but after controlling the authority of the Grand Relief Gate, he could let his consciousness descend to any corner of the Realm. However, it was merely consciousness. In this state, Chen Ling didn't possess a physical body, nor could he use any skills, no different from a ghost.
But this was already enough for Chen Ling. He just wanted to return to the Jinghong Theater once more to see how Li Qingshan and the others were doing.
Chen Ling walked straight towards the main door of the Jinghong Theater.
...
Jinghong Theater.
Drip, drop— Drip, drop—
Pattering rainwater rolled down along the hollows of the Jinghong Theater's roof and eventually fell into the wooden buckets already prepared On Stage, causing ripples.
The large red Lanterns swayed slightly in the wind. Perhaps due to the wind and rain, the Lanterns that originally could illuminate the entire Theater House brightly had already dimmed by more than half at this moment, barely diffusing a wisp of light in the dead silence.
At this time in the Jinghong Theater, it was so quiet that only the sound of falling rainwater remained.
Huang Suyue and Uncle Quan were still sitting in the audience chairs in front of the stage. They looked at the center of the Theater House's lobby with incomparably complex gazes...
In the open space of the Theater House's lobby, the faint Lantern light swayed slightly in the wind. A short young boy was kneeling on the ground. In front of him was a figure wrapped in a white bedsheet.
"Baosheng..." Li Qingshan stood behind him, seeming to want to offer some words of comfort, but not knowing how to speak.
Kong Baosheng seemed unable to hear his voice, just kneeling there blankly, like a sculpture that had lost its soul. Only the tear stains remaining on his face remembered that hysterical crying from just now.
Huang Suyue pursed her lips slightly and still couldn't help but stand up from the audience seats, walk over to the young boy, and crouch down.
She spoke softly:
"Baosheng, lymphoma is a very painful and tormenting disease... To these patients, death is also a kind of release."
"But... but when she left, she was clearly in a lot of pain." Kong Baosheng's pale little face turned stiffly, his cracked lips trembling. "Grandmother she... at that time, it was as if she was being drawn out alive by someone, rolling all over the floor in pain..."
Huang Suyue opened her mouth, not knowing how to console him for a moment. Looking at Kong Baosheng's almost collapsed eyes, her heart also involuntarily throbbed with pain.