I Am Chen Ling
The "human" figure struggled frantically in place, but those four White Paper Shackles seemed to grow tighter and tighter...
It glared angrily at Master, and then its body visibly changed. The surface of the pitch-black shadow began to show the luster of skin, and those scarlet eyes also faded and disappeared, replaced by three-dimensional human facial features...
That was Chen Ling's face!
"Master..." It seemed that its vocal cords hadn't completely recovered yet, and the voice was somewhat indistinct.
In just a few short seconds, the original "human" figure had disappeared. Yet Chen Ling, wearing the Great Crimson Theatrical Robe and the four White Paper Shackles, stood blankly on the ravined earth, looking around.
"Master!" He looked at Master, his eyes full of incomprehension. "Master... where is this? Why am I here?"
"What is this thing on my hands?"
Master watched this scene quietly, his eyes growing colder and colder;
"Stop pretending." Master said in a deep voice. "You're not my disciple... Who are you?"
"What are you saying, Master? I am Chen Ling, I am Old Six!"
"You are not him."
"I really am Chen Ling! Master, please help me... these pieces of paper are strangling me so uncomfortably, I feel like I'm about to suffocate... Where's First Senior Brother? If you don't help me, I'll go find First Senior Brother to help me!"
The veins on "Chen Ling"'s neck bulged, and his entire face turned purple, as if he truly couldn't catch his breath.
He looked at Master's expressionless face, glared at him aggrievedly, and turned his head to walk elsewhere. But after taking two steps, he clutched his own neck as if suffocating. After struggling violently for a bit, he fell headfirst to the ground...
Master remained unmoved, just watching quietly like this.
One second,
Two seconds,
Three seconds...
"Damn it!! You actually really won't save me!!"
"Chen Ling" abruptly jumped up from the ground, pointing at Master and cursing loudly, "You Old Fella!! Quickly untie this thing for me!! Otherwise I'll slap myself, I'll slap myself... I'll slap myself..."
Slap, slap, slap—
"Chen Ling" slapped the left, then the right. Every single slap was incredibly forceful, even slapping off a few of his own teeth. His face instantly swelled up.
A gentle breeze brushed past his face. Master's hand gripped his neck like lightning, lifting his entire person into the air like a chick. Master's complexion was so gloomy it looked as if water could drip from it!
"Who... exactly are you??"
"I am Chen Ling!" The figure wearing the Great Crimson Theatrical Robe shouted loudly. "I am Chen Ling! Whoever stands on this Stage! That person is Chen Ling!!!"
Seeing this, light flashed in Master's eyes, not knowing what he was pondering over.
He released his grip on "Chen Ling"'s neck.
"Chen Ling", wearing the White Paper Shackles, fell to the ground with a thump. He struggled to climb up, then spread his legs wanting to flee into the distance.
Master watched this scene coldly. He didn't take action to stop him, but calmly turned around... He felt around in his chest with his hand, and a crude black handcart flew out from the Optical Disc, landing on the ground with a clang.
Master unhurriedly raised his hand and tossed the dead fish-like Jian Changsheng onto it.
At the same time,
"Chen Ling" wearing the white shackles, gritted his teeth and walked back.
"What? Not running anymore?" Master spoke faintly.
"Chen Ling" just looked at him viciously like this, not saying a word.
The white shackles on his body were transformed from the Spirit Tablet of [Nameless Actor]. In the whole world, only Master could untie them... No matter how he ran, he couldn't get rid of this thing.
"What exactly do you want?"
"I want my disciple."
"I can also be your disciple. I am exactly the same as him. Whatever he can do, I can do... No, I am him to begin with, and he is me to begin with." "Chen Ling" took a deep breath, his tone full of sincerity,
"As long as you are willing, I can kneel down and kowtow right now to take you as my master. I promise to treat you like a father. The other senior brothers and senior sisters will also be my relatives. No matter what you need me to do in the future, I can lend a hand at any time..."
"No need." Master rejected coldly with two words.
"..."
The respect and sincerity on "Chen Ling"'s face were swept away. He cursed furiously,
"I give you face and you don't want it. Do you think you're really that awesome? If it weren't for these broken Spirit Tablets, you would have been killed by us eight hundred times already!"
"Also, I wanted to say it earlier when watching the performance. You Old Fella, at your age, still using a child's face here. Why the fuck are you pretending to be young?!"
Faced with these malicious verbal attacks one after another, Master's expression didn't seem to change much. Only after pondering for a moment did he lightly reply with one sentence:
"How about this... You come with me to a place. After going there, I'll untie your shackles and return your freedom."
"Chen Ling"'s cursing abruptly stopped.
"... Are you serious?"
"I swear an Oath in the name of the Theater Dao."
As Master solemnly made the Oath, something in the unseen world seemed to respond. Seeing this scene, "Chen Ling"'s expression finally softened.
"Where are you going?"
"Right in the Gray World. You'll know when you get there."
"... What scheme are you planning now?"
"Scared? In this Gray World, is there still a place you dare not go?"
"In this whole world, there's no place I dare not go." "Chen Ling" sneered. "What territory of a World-Ending Calamity, what human Nine Monarchs Domains, what Divine Dao Ancient Repository... They are nothing but a group of Worthless Dregs."
"Is this the confidence of being 'The Audience'?"
"Heh heh."
"Chen Ling" let out a cold laugh, noncommittal.
Master raised his hand, pointing at the crude handcart holding Jian Changsheng. "Go, drag him along and let's go."
"Why is this dumbass unlucky bastard here?"
Master: ...
"And on what basis should I be the one to push it? Are you flaunting your seniority?" "Chen Ling" looked at Master viciously, not concealing his malice in the slightest.
"Do you still want me to untie the shackles or not?"
"..."
"Chen Ling" let out a cold snort, swallowed his anger into his stomach, walked sullenly in front of that handcart, grabbed the handles, and roughly walked towards the distance.
Clang— Clang—
The handcart passed over the uneven ground without slowing down in the slightest. It directly bounced the unconscious Jian Changsheng on it up and down like stir-frying vegetables. One moment his head bumped, the next his butt hit. In no time, his nose was bruised and his face was swollen.
Seeing this, Master didn't say anything more. Instead, he walked straight towards a certain direction in the Gray World...
"Chen Ling" dragged the handcart, following behind him with cold eyes. The four White Paper Shackles locked his power. His mouth continuously murmured softly, as if cursing something under his breath;
Clang— Clang—
On the handcart, Jian Changsheng, who had already been bumped flying up and down, blankly opened his eyelids a crack...
"Damn it... did I reincarnate into stir-fried meat with chili peppers..."