Chapter 1621: Watching Spring Terrace

The faint light of early morning shone through the window onto the floor of Jinghong Tower. Chen Ling, with his theatrical robes scattered across the bed, slowly opened his eyes.

After a night of rest, Chen Ling's broken feet had completely recovered. Coupled with spending the whole night relying on coins to rapidly restore his mental energy, his state had returned to the peak level he was at before being hunted by the Calamity of Mockery.

Chen Ling stood up, his feet touching the ground. As his gaze swept over the familiar room and the morning light outside the window, he suddenly felt a bit dazed...

He had slept very soundly this night, just as he did back in the Red Dust Domain.

Chen Ling took a deep breath. First, he held a "remote meeting" for about half an hour via Thought Storm with Liu Qingyan, who was far away in the Changdao Ancient Treasury, to handle some Dusk business and also hear some relevant intelligence from the outside world, most of which concerned the Lingxu Domain.

It was said that under the "tyranny" of Lingxu-jun, the reconstruction of the Akashic Tower was proceeding faster than expected, and they were recently preparing to reopen it again.

But at the same time, Chen Ling also heard some other news...

In the current Lingxu Domain, under the oppression of Lingxu-jun, there seemed to be signs of internal division.

Chen Ling wasn't surprised by the restarting of the Akashic Tower; he just didn't know if this restart would bring any good news... If it failed again this time, I'm afraid the powder keg that is the Lingxu Domain would undergo earth-shattering changes.

Chen Ling walked down the stairs with light steps. The entire Jinghong Tower remained quiet; Kong Baosheng seemed to still be sleeping, and Li Qingshan didn't know where he had gone.

With nothing to do, Chen Ling found a broom from under the counter and began to clean the theater at a leisurely pace... The swishing sound of the broom echoed through the building. Who would have thought that at a time when the outside world was full of undercurrents and panic, the Red King of the Dusk Agency would be leisurely doing chores in a theater?

Sweeping, mopping, wiping tables and chairs...

As Chen Ling pulled open a drawer in the counter, a script caught his eye.

[Watching Spring Terrace].

Chen Ling could be considered well-read in both ancient and modern scripts, but he had certainly never heard of this one. And judging by the handwriting, it should be the script Kong Baosheng had mentioned earlier that he had written himself.

Chen Ling opened the script and took a rough look. It told the story of a pair of close friends about to part ways at a place in their hometown called "Watching Spring Terrace," against the backdrop of enemy troops invading the country and the mountains and rivers being shattered.

The two friends were named Zhao Ziqian and Li Muyun. Li Muyun, worried that the Hu soldiers were about to charge into Watching Spring Terrace, hurriedly packed his bags, preparing to leave his home and wander in exile. Zhao Ziqian, however, firmly believed that General Lin could repel the enemy and restore a peaceful land to them, so he tried to persuade his friend to stay, hoping he wouldn't leave.

The story wasn't complex, nor did it have any particularly stunning parts, but since it was Kong Baosheng's first time writing a script, it was quite good to have reached this level.

Chen Ling put the script back in the drawer, picked up a shovel from the corner, and walked toward the entrance of the theater.

In the flower beds on both sides of the theater entrance, there were only withered branches and leaves left. Just as Chen Ling was about to dig them all up, he suddenly felt something and his hand paused in mid-air.

"This aura... is it the Turbid Calamity?" Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

Not long ago, Chen Ling had just been swallowed into the belly of the Turbid Calamity, had countless seeds planted in him, and was then sucked dry to death... In a sense, Chen Ling had been a part of the Turbid Calamity, so he was extremely sensitive to its aura. Even the tiny seed remnants left in his body could resonate with the aura in the flower bed, as if they were one and the same.

There was indeed a trace of the Turbid Calamity's aura left in the flower bed, indicating that it had indeed passed through the ground beneath it...

But now, it was gone.

Even so, Chen Ling could infer that the Turbid Calamity hadn't passed through here long ago—only a day or two... And it must have been very weak when it passed through here, and its movement was very hurried, as if it were... looking for a safe place?

In the previous great battle, the Turbid Calamity had been blown apart by the combined efforts of Su Zhiwei, Yao Qing, and himself. At the time, Chen Ling thought the Turbid Calamity was truly dead, but it seemed it had split off a seed and fled in a panic. Now it seemed this guy was likely hiding somewhere in the Cangyun Domain.

Just as Chen Ling was frowning and thinking, a weak figure walked out from inside the theater.

"Is that Mr. Lin..."

"Baosheng?" Chen Ling immediately stood up, went over to support the boy's weak body, and said in a deep voice, "You're not resting in bed, why did you come out?"

"I heard someone cleaning outside... so I thought I'd come out and see." Kong Baosheng groped for Chen Ling's arm with both hands and grabbed the shovel in his hand. "Mr. Lin, I can do these chores, you don't need to..."

"The most important thing for you right now is to get some good rest."

Chen Ling didn't give the child a chance to touch the shovel at all, grabbing his hand directly. "I had nothing to do, so I was just cleaning up... Don't wander around outside, I'll help you back to rest."

To his surprise, Kong Baosheng shook his head. "It's too stuffy inside, I wanted to come out for some air."

Seeing this, Chen Ling didn't say anything more. After glancing at the thick clothes on him, he helped him sit down on the steps at the entrance of the theater.

"I've found a doctor who is researching a way to solve the virus... Give him some more time, and your illness will be cured." Chen Ling said gently and proactively.

"...Mm."

Kong Baosheng nodded with a pale little face, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. "Thank you, sir."

Just as Kong Baosheng was about to say something, a rumbling sound came from his stomach. He was slightly startled, then scratched his head in embarrassment...

"Hungry?" Chen Ling smiled slightly.

"...A... a little."

"I'll go get you something to eat."

Chen Ling stood up and walked to the kitchen. Following what Kong Baosheng had said yesterday, he found the "dry rations" in the cupboard... They were a few pieces of hard, stale bread and one or two cans, but looking at the production date, they seemed to have already expired.

Chen Ling's brow furrowed slightly. He brought these things to the theater entrance and couldn't help but ask:

"Is this what you usually eat?"

"Sir, there really isn't much food left in the Cangyun Domain now." Kong Baosheng smiled bitterly. "And since I can't see, I can't compete with the other citizens... These few cans were only obtained by Mr. Li using his connections."

Chen Ling looked at the thin, weak boy in front of him, feeling an indescribable sensation in his heart. After a moment of silence, he squatted down beside him:

"Is there anything you want to eat? I don't mean this bread and such... I mean something you truly want to eat."

"...Anything is fine?"

"Anything is fine."

Chen Ling responded earnestly.

Kong Baosheng tilted his head, thought carefully for a while, and then spoke cautiously:

"Sir... I want to eat a birthday cake."