Watching the Fire From Across the River
"Ahead is Willow Town."
Chen Ling looked at the familiar outlines of the houses in the distance and spoke calmly.
"Finally arriving." Jian Changsheng rotated his shoulders. "Does this count as us crossing more than half of the Red Dust Domain? If we didn't arrive soon, I would be tired of walking."
"But this Willow Town looks like it's no different from other towns..."
"No."
Jack of Clubs' eyes narrowed slightly. His gaze landed on the nearest withered tree. If one looked closely, they could find extremely fine threads fluttering in the wind on its surface.
"Although the Red Dust illusion here has been shattered, there seems to be something hidden beneath the skin of the illusion."
Bai Ye nodded slightly:
"What's special about this place? To make the Chief specially leave behind means?" Jian Changsheng furrowed his brows slightly. "Also, we won't be treated as enemies and attacked directly when we enter, right?"
"Probably not. These threads seem to have a special triggering mechanism. As long as we don't act rashly, we'll be fine."
"It seems Six of Hearts guessed correctly, this place is indeed the safest."
Everyone advanced slowly along the dim bluestone road. The surrounding houses were all empty, and the entire town lacked the slightest bit of vitality.
Chen Ling's gaze swept across the surroundings, his expression somewhat complicated.
This was his third time entering Willow Town.
The first time he came, Chen Ling had just escaped from the hell-on-earth Aurora Domain. Seeing the beautiful scenery and peaceful serenity here, he was very surprised that there was actually such a pure land in this chaotic wasteland; the second time he came, he was already a prisoner of Floating Life Painting. Although the beautiful scenery remained, mysteries were revealed within it; the third time he came, everything was completely unrecognizable.
Chen Ling personally witnessed the blade of the era peel off the Red Dust's masks layer by layer, ultimately exposing the cruel truth beneath the beautiful skin... In a sense, he was a witness to everything.
"The situation over at the Red Dust Main City isn't looking good."
Chu Muyun looked at the sky-high sea of fire in the distance, his brows furrowing slightly.
"Floating Life Painting only has that many people. Facing the Witchcraft Association and the attacks from those Silver Phantoms, how can they parry them?" Bai Ye shook his head. "Even if they gather their Combat Power as much as possible and use the Main City's terrain to defend, it'll be hard to hold on for too long...
Unless the Floating Life Painting Chief suddenly erupts and kills the Lord of Wuji, the extinction of the Red Dust Domain is already a foregone conclusion."
"This Realm Funeral is going to be another big job..."
"Let's find a place to rest our feet first. When things are about done on the Main City's side, it'll be time for us to work."
Everyone came to an empty courtyard with open doors and rested directly inside. Compared to the Main City where flames soared to the sky in the distance, this place was as quiet as an isolated island cut off from the world.
Liu Qingyan didn't enter the courtyard. She looked towards a certain direction in Willow Town, her face full of worry and unease. After temporarily bidding farewell to Chen Ling, she hurriedly headed there.
Regarding Liu Qingyan's background, Chen Ling also knew a bit. In her early years, her family went bankrupt due to poor management and incurred huge debts. Her parents fell ill and were unable to repay it. Liu Qingyan's income in the Red Dust Main City was basically all used to pay off her father's debts. And the reason she followed the Dusk Society group all the way to Willow Town was also because her home was here.
With Eight of Clubs, Nine of Hearts, and Liu Qingyan leaving one after another, the originally massive Dusk Society team suddenly felt a bit deserted, and Chen Ling had no mood to sit and wait here.
Wearing his Great Crimson Theatrical Robe, he stood at the courtyard entrance, his gaze drifting towards the direction of Li Qingshan's home.
Chen Ling and the others had consumed a lot of time on the road. Without any accidents, Li Qingshan, Huang Suyue, Kong Baosheng, and the others should have arrived in Willow Town long ago and gathered at Li Qingshan's home.
"I'm going out for a bit."
Chen Ling walked into the misty drizzle.
...
Chen Ling walked forward alone along that familiar bluestone road.
He remembered this road. When he fainted in the forest and was rescued by Li Qingshan, the creaking pushcart passed by here... It seemed that the 'Red-Maned Fiery Steed' casually sung by that cyan-clothed figure still echoed in his memory, but everywhere he looked, only desolation and deathly stillness remained.
Red Dust, had already gone and would never return;
Just as Bai Ye said, the extinction of Red Dust was almost a foregone conclusion. From Chen Ling's perspective, this also made Eight of Clubs stepping forward at this time seem even more meaningless.
Knowing full well that a war was extremely difficult to win, knowing full well that even if he intervened he couldn't change anything, why still rush to do it? As the number one genius of the Path of the Arts, his future was clearly smooth and broad, yet he insisted on risking his own life... Chen Ling truly couldn't understand.
Sitting back and watching Red Dust's extinction, retrieving the corpses of the Nine Monarchs, completing the mission step by step, and finally Reversing the Era... This was the most efficient, most direct, and most reliable way.
Chen Ling didn't care about the life or death of those people in Red Dust, nor was he willing to be bound by emotions like Eight of Clubs...
He only wanted to advance towards his final goal with the highest efficiency.
Drip, drop—— Drip, drop——
Drizzle rolled off the withered treetops, causing ripples in the puddles.
Chen Ling stopped in front of the door of Li Qingshan's home.
Chen Ling looked around, his brows furrowing unconsciously...
"What's going on... Hasn't Huang Suyue arrived yet?"
As the Chairman of the Huang Consortium, Huang Suyue wouldn't flee over here all alone. At the very least, she should bring Uncle Quan, bring a few bodyguards, and some assets... Chen Ling thought she would come by car, but looking around, there wasn't a single car in Willow Town now.
He temporarily suppressed his doubts in his heart and knocked gently on the door. The crisp sound echoed in the courtyard, shaking off a section of withered treetop beside the door.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
After waiting for half a minute, there was still no movement behind the door.
Chen Ling's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. He directly forcefully pushed the main door open. Amidst a low creak, an empty and deserted Courtyard unfolded before his eyes.
"...No one?" Chen Ling froze.
Chen Ling subconsciously looked up at the sky. Calculating the time, even if Li Qingshan and the others were slow, they should have arrived by now... How could there be no one?
Li Qingshan had already stepped onto the Path of the Actor, fleeing with Kong Baosheng wasn't a problem; Huang Suyue should also have Divine Path bodyguards by her side, so they shouldn't have met with disaster...
Could it be that they encountered something on the road and were delayed?
Chen Ling hesitated for a moment, then still sat down on the wooden chair in the Courtyard, looking outside the Courtyard gate, and began to wait.
Chen Ling felt that he had told them Willow Town was the safest, and now that flames of war were flying everywhere in the Main City, they had no reason not to come.
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes...
The distant sky burned in the flames of war,
Willow Town's drizzle fell in tranquility,
A Great Crimson Theatrical Robe swayed silently beneath the withered branches. He walked from Jinghong Theater to Willow Town, from a Thespian On Stage to arriving here step by step, becoming an Audience watching the fire from across the river. He always maintained absolutely correct Rationality,
But unknowingly...
He was already all alone.