Chapter 1400: Unexpected Visitor

The thought storm gradually subsided beside Chen Ling. As the theatrical robes were stained red again, he slowly opened his eyes.

He had already warned Jian Changsheng, and presumably, Jian Changsheng would soon notify the Xuanyu Realm and other realms to enter a state of combat readiness for the final battle in advance... In fact, if he hadn't been worried about Jian Changsheng and the others being ambushed and injured by the world-ending territory, he wouldn't have done such an unnecessary thing.

He wondered how the Twilight Society members scattered in the other major realms were doing. He hoped this world-ending war wouldn't affect them.

And the Fusion Faction in the South Sea Realm... but the South Sea Realm had two demigods sitting in it, so it should be the safest.

Chen Ling took stock of the people he cared about one by one. In short, standing from the perspective of "Chen Ling," he had done everything he could; the rest depended on the human realms themselves.

Just then, a small centipede hurriedly crawled in from outside.

"What is it?" Chen Ling asked in a deep voice on the throne.

【Great King, a human has broken in from outside, saying they want to see you.】

"A human?"

Chen Ling was somewhat surprised. He had already had Wu Yi change the surrounding terrain, so even if Jian Changsheng and the others wanted to find him, it wouldn't be that easy... And he had just connected with the three of them via the thought storm; they should still be in the Xuanyu Realm.

What other human would come to the Ghost Mockery Abyss to find him?

"Did he say who he is?" Chen Ling asked.

【He said his name is Ning Ruyu.】

Chen Ling stood up abruptly from the throne!

……

"Senior Brother!!"

The red theatrical robes streaked across the sky, and Chen Ling’s eyes were filled with surprise as he saw a figure beneath the cliffs of the Ghost Mockery Abyss.

At this moment, beneath the cliff, a man in white was curiously poking the belly of a comatose small toad with his finger.

Surrounding him, a dense circle of poisonous bugs watched the man in white with vigilance and fear. The Toad Poison Head was among them; it could feel the terrifying aura radiating from the man before it, and even as an eighth-order Poison Head, its gaze was full of wariness.

Hearing Chen Ling’s voice, Ning Ruyu looked up, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Junior Brother, long time no... hmm?"

Ning Ruyu looked suspiciously at Chen Ling’s pitch-black face. "Junior Brother, what happened to your face?"

"Had a little accident, but thanks to [Painting Rouge], it should return to normal in the next two days." Chen Ling’s figure landed before Ning Ruyu.

Although Chen Ling’s face was still peeling off like a pitch-black wall, compared to a few months ago, the thickness had been reduced significantly. After Chen Ling’s day-after-day scrubbing with Painting Rouge, only a layer as thin as an eggshell remained.

"Senior Brother, why are you here? Is your injury okay?" Chen Ling didn't explain much about his face, instead changing the subject directly.

"Haha, that little injury is nothing to me. It’ll recover after a while." Ning Ruyu waved his hand and said half-jokingly,

"Everyone was quite worried about you, so they sent me as a representative to see how our Junior Brother is living... What, not welcome?"

Everyone...

At these two words, numerous figures appeared in Chen Ling’s mind: Second Senior Sister Luan Mei, Third Senior Brother Wenren You, Fourth Senior Brother Mojiao, Fifth Senior Brother Choujiao... When the graceful youth who also wore theatrical robes appeared, Chen Ling’s heart trembled slightly.

Everyone... does that include him too?

"How could that be? Of course, you’re warmly welcome." Chen Ling looked back at the numerous poisonous bugs behind him. "What are you still standing there for? Disperse... You guys, go prepare some Five-Poison Wine, and make it plenty!"

Receiving Chen Ling’s order, the surrounding poisonous bugs immediately scattered. Several small centipedes hurriedly went to prepare the wine, and the Toad Poison Head "croaked" at Chen Ling before hopping away.

Ning Ruyu watched the departing back of the Toad Poison Head and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Junior Brother, your subordinates have decent strength."

"Did Senior Brother just fight it?"

"When I came down from the cliff, I happened to run into it, so I had a brief clash... But I figured it was likely your subordinate, Junior Brother, so I didn't go too hard and let it go to report."

"No wonder..."

"Junior Brother, want to take Senior Brother around this Ghost Mockery Abyss?" Ning Ruyu looked around with curiosity. "It’s my first time here... It’s not quite what I imagined."

"No problem, Senior Brother, this way."

Chen Ling led Ning Ruyu directly into the depths of the Ghost Mockery Abyss.

From the centipede cave to the scorpion den, from the snake nest to the gecko wall—things that Chen Ling had long since grown tired of seeing, Ning Ruyu watched with great interest, occasionally reaching out to touch a gecko on the wall, but before he could touch it, the gecko would scurry away as if it had seen a ghost.

"These poisonous bugs are actually quite interesting." Ning Ruyu couldn't help but exclaim.

"Senior Brother, how did you know I was in the Ghost Mockery Abyss?" Chen Ling asked, pretending to be casual.

"Of course, Master told me." Ning Ruyu replied. "Come to think of it, it’s strange. A few months ago, all of us brothers dreamed of you... It was the same face, but back then your theatrical robes were black.

At the time, we intended to come find you, but later Master said you were temporarily safe in the Ghost Mockery Abyss, so we gave up...

This time, it was also Old Four and the others who pestered Master for a long time before he allowed us to come see you. However, Master only allowed one person to come, so he sent me as the representative."

"Oh..."

The faint light in Chen Ling’s eyes dimmed rapidly.

Sure enough... he knew everything.

He had left the South Sea Realm and started slaying calamities after arriving at the Ghost Mockery Abyss. How much time had passed since then? It was estimated that even the other human realms hadn't received news of his return to the Ghost Mockery Abyss, yet the Red King, who had always been closed off in the Theatrical Dao Ancient Treasury, already knew everything...

He even knew he was slaying calamities and was certain he would succeed.

He clearly knew everything, yet he still stood by and watched coldly, or rather... was his being schemed against by the Calamity of Thought also part of his plan? He had already escaped to the Ghost Mockery Abyss, yet he still hadn't been able to escape the fate of becoming his "pawn"?

Ning Ruyu noticed the subtle change in Chen Ling’s expression and, after a moment of hesitation, spoke:

"Junior Brother, I feel... Master isn't the kind of person you think. There must be some misunderstanding here..."

Back in the Wuji Realm, when the Red King and Chen Ling were confronting each other, Ning Ruyu and the others had already been injured and unconscious, so they had no idea what had happened, but over these past few months, they had probably guessed some of it.

"Perhaps."

Chen Ling didn't want to talk about this topic anymore. "Senior Brother, want a drink?"

"I can drink." Ning Ruyu nodded slightly.

"Let’s go." Chen Ling pointed to the underground palace in the distance. "I have good wine here. Tonight, we won't stop until we’re drunk!"