Chapter 1092: Leaving, and Moving Forward

Wind and sand rose and fell, and the dust turned from the domain danced lightly on the barren earth. Two theatrical robes stood on the dust, silent and still.

I don't know how much time passed,

Chen Ling seemed to have lost all his strength and slowly closed his eyes.

"One last question..." Chen Ling opened his mouth, finally asking the question deep in his heart, the one he was most confused and afraid of, "To you... am I a disciple, or a chess piece?"

Ever since Chen Ling learned his identity, this question had always been in his heart. From the beginning in the Third District of the Aurora Domain, where the Red King intentionally set a trap to merge Yao and Chen Yan with Chen Ling, to later instructing Chu Muyun to recruit him into the Dusk Society, and then appearing in the Red Dust Domain to bring him back to the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path to become a disciple... In places Chen Ling couldn't see, the Red King's hand had always been secretly manipulating his fate.

Even the persona of "Chen Ling" was given by the Red King... He was like a tool created by the Red King himself, a tool used to check and balance the Mocking Calamity.

Chen Ling knew very well that Ning Ruyu and the others had genuine feelings for him. But for this mysterious Master, with whom he hadn't even had a few face-to-face conversations, he really couldn't tell if he was a disciple or a chess piece...

Hearing this question, the Red King fell into silence.

Chen Ling closed his eyes, not looking at the Red King's eyes. After a long while, a calm voice sounded slowly:

"Whether it's you or Ruyu and the others, setting aside the master-disciple relationship of the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path, you are all members of the Dusk Society, and the goal of the Dusk Society... have you forgotten?

Reverse the era, restart the world. Whether it's you or your four senior brothers and sisters, you should first move toward this goal...

After that, we can talk about master and disciple."

Chen Ling smiled miserably.

Yeah... he had almost forgotten.

The Red King was first the Red King of the Dusk Society, and only then his own Master... Whether it was him, Chen Ling, Heart 6, or the four senior brothers and sisters with 【K】 cards, they were all just chess pieces used by the Red King to complete this goal. As for the master-disciple relationship, it was just because everyone was of the Opera Path, and bringing him into the sect made it more convenient for the Red King to control him.

Having received the answer, Chen Ling was already deathly pale. He didn't ask another half-sentence, but stumbled and turned to walk into the distance alone.

No anger, no venting, no turning against each other, no breaking up on the spot...

There was only a heart as silent as dead ash.

Chen Ling was tired.

His vision was blurred, his body was swaying... But he didn't look back, nor did he seek help from the Red King. Instead, he gritted his teeth and walked forward, as if he would never look back again.

"Zhao Yi!!!!" Chen Ling took a deep breath and shouted with all his might!

"Ah... eh!!"

Zhao Yi was stunned, then came to his senses and immediately ran up.

"Chen Ling, are you okay?"

"Lead the way!"

"...What?"

"Lead the way! To your Fusionist school!" Chen Ling gasped heavily,

"Haven't you always wanted me to join the Fusionist school? I'll go with you... whether it's for experiments or dissection... as long as I can annex the Mocking Calamity in my body, I'm willing to do anything."

Zhao Yi scratched his head. He looked back at the Red King not far away, then at Chen Ling, who was full of determination beside him, and was momentarily at a loss...

Jiang Xiaohua was also stunned. He subconsciously wanted to run up and pull Chen Ling, but was stopped by Sun Bumian beside him.

"Square, what are you doing?"

"I know you want to keep Heart... but don't go now." Sun Bumian lowered his voice, his eyes glancing at Chen Ling and the Red King, "Can't you see their master-disciple relationship is having a spat..."

"But..."

"Don't worry, when someone wakes up, they'll be more anxious than you."

Sun Bumian used his toe to nudge Jian Changsheng, who was lying on the ground like a dead pig. The latter reached out and scratched his butt, making a grunting sound, not knowing what he was dreaming about.

Zhao Yi waited for a full dozen seconds. Seeing that the Red King in the distance still had no intention of keeping him, he tentatively spoke:

"Chen Ling... are you really going?"

"Go!!"

"No problem!! No problem!!!"

Zhao Yi became excited instantly. He hugged Chen Ling's shoulder and said excitedly, "Chen Ling, your buddy here really has influence in the Fusionist school. I guarantee to arrange everything for you perfectly... And those beast-ear girls, if they knew, they would definitely be thrilled..."

Zhao Yi had been worried just now that he might get beaten up for poaching Chen Ling, the apple of the Dusk Society's eye, right in front of their boss. But now it seemed that not only did Chen Ling want to leave, but the Red King himself had no intention of keeping him...

In this way, hadn't the task assigned to him by the organization been successfully completed?!

Truly, "what you seek far and wide is right under your nose." The Fire-Tamperer is finished, the Silver King is finished, the Wuji Domain is finished, and even the Dusk Society is having a hard time... In the end, it was his Fusionist school that picked up the bargain!

The figures of Zhao Yi and Chen Ling gradually disappeared at the end of the horizon. As for the Skeletal Gray Wolf, he had already gone to wake up the other Fusionists who had followed, preparing to escort them away.

Chen Ling just hung his head and listened to Zhao Yi chattering all the way, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"...As for accommodation, if you're not used to the room they arranged for you, you can stay in my super 270° Gray Domain panoramic balcony presidential suite. My room has a great view, and the place is spacious, and..."

"——Pfft!!"

The moment he stepped out of the Wuji Domain, Chen Ling, who had been holding on, finally couldn't take it anymore. He spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsed to the ground, supported his body with his hands, and retched frantically.

Physical pain, mental exhaustion, his head feeling like it was being torn apart by two consciousnesses, the emptiness and collapse after activating the God-Sacrificing Dance, and that bone-deep grievance and bitterness...

"Ugh... ugh...!!!"

Chen Ling felt like his heart had been shredded. The double torture of body and soul made him unable to breathe, and he could only lie on the ground like a dog, gasping in pain.

Zhao Yi beside him was startled. He hurriedly said a lot and asked a lot, but Chen Ling had no heart to listen.

The dazed Chen Ling raised his head, only to see a glimmer of dawn rising from the east at the end of the dark world...

"Little Junior Brother, the day is about to break..."

"Senior Brothers, take you home."

Mo Jiao's voice lingered in his ears. In Chen Ling's hollow eyes, deep sorrow and bitterness emerged... The last time the day broke, he had possessed the whole world, but this time, he was accompanied only by loneliness and pain.

The world is so big, now, where is home?

"Chen Ling, are you okay, Chen Ling?!"

"Oh my, your physical condition... when we get to the Fusionist school, I'll definitely find someone to take a good look at you!"

Chen Ling lay on the ground and retched for a full dozen minutes before slowly stopping. He gritted his teeth and stood up staggeringly... He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said weakly but firmly:

"Let's go... it's time to move forward."

"Eh, you..." Zhao Yi wanted to say, why don't we rest a while longer, but Chen Ling had already started walking on his own.

The bright red theatrical robes stumbled forward under the blood-like morning sun, leaving a long and lonely trail of footprints in the barrenness that no one noticed.