Chapter 209: Skin, and the Actor

The middle-aged man who came out of Wen Shilin’s house, the extra performing a one-man show in the abandoned factory, the reporter Lin Yan, the stranger who gorged on chicken, the bit-part player in the Military Dao Ancient Treasury, the Fire-Tamper No. 13...

Dozens of faces were torn off by Chen Ling. Looking at those changing identities, Chen Ling felt somewhat numb. Without realizing it, he had already played so many roles... For a moment, he even doubted who he really was, what he even counted as?

A clown who constantly plays others, or a desperate actor trapped on a confusing stage?

Finally, when the face that belonged to him, to Chen Ling, appeared in the clock’s reflection, Chen Ling’s heart relaxed slightly...

It was the face he was incredibly familiar with, his most authentic appearance. His 【Faceless】 only traced back to here; beneath this face, there were no others.

Sure enough, I am me... I am Chen Ling.

Chen Ling took a deep breath, as if wanting to exhale all the doubt and fear that had been lingering in his mind... The farce was over; it was time to leave.

Chen Ling was about to turn and leave when he discovered that as he returned to his original face, the brown coat on his body had also turned into that bright red opera robe.

"Did I accidentally change back... I should restore Yan Xishou’s appearance and leave first."

Chen Ling muttered to himself. He turned and took a step, then suddenly froze in place.

He looked at himself in the clock’s reflection, draped in the bright red opera robe. A question he had forgotten for a long time suddenly surged into his mind...

Why,

was he wearing this opera robe in the first place?

This robe should have been A-Yan’s... When A-Yan died, his parents used this robe as a burial shroud and buried him with it... But, but why was it on him?

From the rainy night when Chen Ling first regained his memory, this robe had been draped over him... But before that, he and A-Yan were both buried in the ground. When did he put on this robe?

And... this robe clearly wasn't his. Why did it reappear with him every time he died??

The moment this question appeared, Chen Ling felt the hair on his body stand on end. He stiffly turned his head to look at himself in the clock’s reflection, his pupils uncontrollably contracting...

Driven by an impulse, he reached out his fingertips and touched his chin again...

His 【Faceless】 could only trace back to here. Beneath this skin, there shouldn't be another face... But Chen Ling did it anyway.

His fingertips rubbed gently against his slightly rough chin, as if searching for something. Suddenly, at the very tip of his finger, he seemed to touch an imperceptible bump... like a wrinkle appearing on a perfectly applied mask.

Chen Ling’s body jolted as if struck by electricity!

His Adam’s apple bobbed. His fingertips pinched that tiny bump, and then he tore hard...

An extremely thin layer of skin slid from Chen Ling’s fingertips.

The humming of the pendulum clicked in the dead-silent room. On the smooth glass, a delicate young face appeared... It was a face Chen Ling would never forget. Upon seeing this face, Chen Ling’s breathing stopped.

It was Chen Yan’s face.

Seeing himself in the mirror, Chen Ling’s mind went blank. He stood there motionless like a statue... At the same time, the scene before him seemed to twist suddenly. The original study disappeared, replaced by a crooked, twisted divine path leading from the abyss to the firmament.

Chen Ling seemed to remember something. He stiffly looked back, only to see a line of small text he had previously ignored on the very first step of this divine path, reflected in his pupils:

——【Lose the one who loves you most, and become him】

His pupils contracted sharply!

【Audience Expectation +10】

【Current Expectation: 64%】

Then, as if remembering something, his eyes widened involuntarily, and he laughed loudly as if seeing through everything:

"I know... it’s you! You’re playing with me again?! It’s been quiet for so long, so this is where you were waiting for me?!"

"You tampered with the names on the transaction records, tampered with these photos! And you changed my face! Right?!"

"You saw that Yan Xishou made a mistake, so you came up with this idea on the spot! You want to drive me crazy with this method... Not everything can be tampered with by you! I definitely have a way to prove who I am, I definitely do!!"

The figure in the bright red opera robe frantically grabbed his hair, pacing back and forth in the room as if trying to think of something.

A buzzing alarm sounded outside the window, numerous figures were running outside, and beyond the closed door, there seemed to be a large number of footsteps approaching...

The eyes of the man in red fell on the distant dungeon. A thought flashed through his mind, and his dark, struggling eyes lit up as if he had found hope.

"I know... Soul-Shattering Evidence Gathering! Soul-Shattering Evidence Gathering!!"

"You can tamper with things in reality, but you can’t change the memories carved into my soul... As long as I perform Soul-Shattering Evidence Gathering on myself! I can see with my own eyes what happened that night!"

The man in red, like a drowning person who had finally grabbed a straw, smashed the window without hesitation. His lithe figure, like a fluttering red butterfly, leaped from the fourth floor and floated straight toward the interrogation room next to the dungeon.

At the same time, the study door shook twice and exploded into pieces!

The old butler stood outside with a dozen people, his face looking incredibly ugly. Behind him, the Paper Puppeteer carrying a paper doll and a man in black stood on either side.

If the man in red were to look back now, he would see that the man in black was the powerhouse of the 【Book Divine Path】 who had tried to force him into Aurora City after he snuck out of the Military Dao Ancient Treasury, only to be blocked by Han Meng on the train.

Now, the two stood beside the old butler, their faces as dark as water as they watched the red-clad figure leap from the window.

"To think he dared to disguise himself as me... He’s truly courting death."

The Paper Puppeteer snorted coldly. The paper doll on his back immediately floated out, skimming past the shattered window like a ghost, chasing in the direction the man in red had left.

The man in black beside him also glanced in that direction and snorted coldly. His figure dissolved into countless "horizontal, vertical,撇, and捺" strokes like ink, quickly disappearing from the spot.

The old butler hurried into the study and searched around. He soon found Yan Xishou knocked unconscious in the cabinet under the bookshelf. After trembling as he confirmed that he was still breathing, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately after, anger and chilling murderous intent appeared on his face.

"After escaping from prison, he actually dared to circle back and attack the young master... If he doesn't die today, the Star Chamber of Commerce will have lost all face!!"

"Don't worry," the Paper Puppeteer said calmly, standing beside him.

"This time, he won't escape."