Chapter 216: The Mad Estate

"Young Master! Young Master!!"

The old butler shouted, calling out to Yan Xishou beside him, but the latter could no longer hear anything. With a hideous expression, he clutched his ears and scrambled up from the ground, rushing toward the twisted, deformed door.

Seeing Yan Xishou get up alone, the old butler's face changed drastically. He tried to grab the hem of his clothes to stop him from running around, but his hand only grasped at empty air.

"I can't die here... I don't want to die!!" Yan Xishou's mouth opened and closed, roaring amidst the thunderous noise. His eyes were filled with a desperate desire to survive as he looked at the twisted door. He didn't know what was happening in this hellhole; he just wanted to get out!

He crossed the writhing paper floor and finally reached the door. He tried to pull the handle, only to find that it had been reduced to two dimensions, drawn onto the thin door, and impossible to grasp.

In a fit of rage, he kicked the door. The paper-like portal was easily kicked open, leaving a large hole. He stood there, stunned.

Behind the portal was not the familiar hallway and main hall, but a dark red passage leading to nowhere. The surface of the passage was covered in writhing red paper, looking exactly like the esophagus of some beast in the middle of swallowing...

"No... this is impossible! This is impossible!!"

Terror surfaced in Yan Xishou's eyes. He stared blankly at the esophagus that seemed to be welcoming him, instinctively wanting to retreat.

Just then, the writhing paper floor suddenly rose up like a giant tongue curling rapidly, wrapping around Yan Xishou's retreating body and shoving him into the dark red esophagus!

Yan Xishou flailed his limbs in terror, desperately trying to grab onto the inner wall, but finding no purchase. He could only scream as he plummeted down the esophagus...

And then, his screams came to an abrupt halt.

The kicked-open door gradually repaired itself, covering the dark red esophagus behind it, as if nothing had happened... The old butler, still crawling on the ground, having witnessed the entire process, was deathly pale!

"It's gone mad..." he muttered to himself. "Everything in this world... has gone mad..."

Whoosh—!

Before he could finish, the writhing floor curled up again, wrapping around his form and tossing him into the esophagus... It all happened so fast that, in the blink of an eye, the entire building fell into a deathly silence.

……

Beneath the red clouds, the Paper Puppeteer watched everything, his eyes filled with deep terror and confusion...

He was already hovering in the air, stepping on a paper figure. As he looked down at the Star Chamber of Commerce below, he discovered that all the buildings had come to life, growing heads, torsos, and fangs, slowly twisting within the devastated estate.

No, not just the buildings... even the flowers, grass, and trees growing by the roadside began to sway their bodies frantically, like evil ghosts baring their fangs and brandishing their claws in a gale.

Under the gaze of the eye suspended high in the sky, all inanimate objects seemed to have been imbued with life. In just a few seconds, this estate, once dominated by humans, had turned into a mad stage for a non-human carnival!

Large crowds of people fleeing in all directions were devoured by these living buildings, trees, stone steps, and even falling leaves. Blood flowed across the estate, and shrill screams echoed incessantly. The entire Star Chamber of Commerce was stained with blood!

And that hollow, eerie pupil hung quietly above the red clouds, overlooking everything below, like an audience member.

"I can't stay in this place anymore..."

The Paper Puppeteer was terrified. He was a powerhouse from another realm who had seen all kinds of storms, but the scene before him exceeded his understanding... That eye suspended above the red clouds was definitely no ordinary Calamity!

Just as he turned to flee, a sharp pain suddenly shot from his feet!

The Paper Puppeteer screamed and looked down, only to see that the paper figure he was standing on had split open to reveal a mouth full of fangs, biting down hard on his ankle. The sound of bones breaking echoed, and the intense pain nearly made him faint on the spot!

Even his paper figures were affected?!

The Paper Puppeteer didn't have time to think. He roared and slashed down with a paper blade in his hand. After the paper figure was cut in two, it released his ankle, and he plummeted, crashing heavily onto the estate grounds.

"Damn it!" The Paper Puppeteer was shocked and immediately tried to crawl up and run, but as soon as he tried to support his body with his feet, he collapsed headfirst to the ground.

His feet had been crippled by the paper figure; the idea of walking out on his own was a pipe dream, let alone running... His face was as pale as paper. Without hesitation, he folded a sticky note, instantly turning it into two crutches, and began to inch his way out.

Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. His hunched body now looked like a crawler struggling through a pool of blood. The shrill screams still echoed from all directions, making his heart race!

Thump—!

A dull, heavy sound came from directly in front of him, and a gust of wind smelling of blood brushed against his cheek.

The Paper Puppeteer's body shuddered. He slowly and stiffly raised his head. At some point, two massive, living buildings had appeared before him, like two ferocious beasts crouching in the blood-red estate, completely sealing off all his escape routes.

And now, the Paper Puppeteer had lost all his paper figures; the only combat tool he possessed was the sticky note that had become his crutches...

As the two ferocious beasts roared and charged toward him, deep despair surfaced in the Paper Puppeteer's eyes.

……

The Stage.

Thump—Thump—Thump!!

The black shadows in the audience seats were constantly stomping their feet on the theater floor, creating a thunderous sound. Their scarlet pupils stared at Chen Ling on the stage, filled with anger and questioning!

At this moment, there were more and more empty seats in the audience. A large number of spectators were choosing to leave their seats and intervene in the performance in reality...

Chen Ling's expression was grave. He looked back, and behind the drawn curtain, the scene of reality continued to unfold... He seemed to be standing at a great height, overlooking everything in the Star Chamber of Commerce. Blood and fire occupied most of the estate, and a mad performance belonging solely to non-human entities was in full swing.

"It's much worse than last time..." Chen Ling walked to the curtain without hesitation and reached out toward the other side of the image.

But this time, when his fingertips touched the image, they encountered terrifying resistance, as if there were a hard, thick wall in front of him, making it difficult to move forward...

Chen Ling stood there, stunned.

He... seemed unable to go back.