Chapter 34: Clown

"Done, let's go."

The two patted the mud and water off themselves, confirmed the pit was filled, and turned to leave.

The torrential rain poured down on countless desolate graves, dark red blood mixed with mud and water rolling down the cliff. Dozens of seconds later, two more figures in raincoats struggled up from the foot of the mountain.

"Right here..."

The two carried glass kerosene lamps, their eyes scanning the surroundings. They didn't notice the dark red mud flowing in the darkness and walked straight toward the pit that had just been dug.

They placed the bag they were carrying on the ground, took out shovels, and began to dig bit by bit beside the dark red pit.

"...Ah Yan will get better, right?"

The rain hit their raincoats, making a pitter-patter sound. The woman's hands inside her sleeves were clenched white, her voice somewhat hoarse.

"He definitely will." The man shoveling the soil said in a low voice. "The heart has already been sent over, the surgery should have started... Tomorrow, tomorrow we can go to the Second District to see him!"

Hearing this, the woman's expression softened slightly. She glanced at the black bag at her feet, her eyes full of guilt.

"It's just hard on Ah Ling..."

"We must keep this matter buried in our stomachs."

"Then when Ah Yan comes back, what if he asks about his brother?"

"Then we'll say he passed the enforcer exam and was transferred to the Seventh District... he can't come back."

"Will he believe that?"

“……”

The man didn't speak, just silently inserted the iron shovel into the bottom and lifted a large chunk of soil with force.

"Just bury him in like this." He said.

The two worked together to throw the black bag into it and buried it bit by bit.

The woman hesitated for a moment, picked up a wooden sign from the side, and seemed to want to write something, but was stopped by the man.

"What are you doing?"

"We were mother and son, after all... let's set up a monument for Ah Ling."

"No, if we set up a monument here, what if the enforcers or someone else sees it?"

"Then..."

"I said, from now on, keep this matter buried in your heart."

The woman was silent for a long time, then threw the wooden sign aside. Seeing this, the man comforted her softly:

"It's okay... when we wake up tomorrow, everything will be over."

The two took one last look at the land and turned to disappear into the rain curtain.

The heavy rain washed over the dark red soil, as if trying to wash away their hatred and resentment. The two lonely graves were connected, separated only by a thin layer of sand.

Just as everything was about to sink into the rainstorm, a strange gray color spread from the void...

Gray Realm, intersection.

……

"Ah Yan... Ah Yan!"

Tears couldn't stop rolling from Chen Ling's eyes. He dug through the mud and sand like a madman, until his fingertips were blurred with blood.

He didn't know what happened after the Gray Realm intersection, why only he survived... No, Chen Ling didn't survive either; he just became himself...

But at this moment, who he was didn't matter.

The world played a joke on Chen Ling, letting him die at the hands of the Chen couple who raised him... But at the same time, the world played an even bigger joke on the Chen couple.

Chen Ling's vision was blurred by tears. In his mind, the scenes of the past two days flashed crazily.

Gray Realm intersection, a figure struggling to crawl out of the mass grave, the wound on his chest gradually recovering, countless scarlet eyes opening behind him, the rain on the ground converging into a line of characters... [Audience Expectation Value: 17%];

On the broken branch stuck in his fingernails, a broken peace charm swayed gently in the wind;

The second Calamity that attacked Ice Spring Street might not have existed at all. From the beginning, that was Chen Ling himself... or rather, it was himself, having lost his mind after his [Expectation Value] dropped below 20% upon resurrection.

He was controlled by the Audience, slaughtering half of Ice Spring Street until the Audience was satisfied, then walking unhurriedly toward the Third District...

"No, it can't be like this..." Chen Ling muttered to himself. "Is it impossible that from beginning to end... it was only me?"

On the back mountain, he washed the opera robe by the stream and handed it to Chen Yan... but when he was questioned by Jiang Qin, the robe appeared strangely in his arms again;

The Chen couple, being taken away by the enforcers, looked through Chen Yan's body, staring fixedly at him, roaring and cursing;

On Frost Street, the enforcer Jiang Qin followed his finger and looked toward the darkness in the corner of the street, but only saw a blurry shadow;

Chu Muyun stood at the door of the house full of holes, holding a letter, and said to the empty room: "I heard that Mr. Chen needs a [Doctor], so, I'm here..."

The empty room was being repaired;

The holey cotton coat was mended;

But from beginning to end, not a single person had spoken to Chen Yan.

Everything seemed to indicate that Chen Yan had existed... like a ghost by his side, or perhaps, just his own bizarre delusion.

Chen Ling kept digging, the soil below gradually seeping blood. Just as he was about to continue digging, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist...

Immediately after, a bright red opera robe was gently draped over him, covering the sky full of wind and snow.

Chen Ling froze.

He looked up and saw the familiar boy squatting in front of him, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Brother, stop digging... I beg you, please stop digging, okay?"

"...Ah Yan."

Chen Ling stared at him blankly. His hands, full of blood and mud, lifted up, seemingly wanting to touch Chen Yan's cheek... He touched it.

"Ah Yan... are you alive?" Chen Ling's voice trembled. "You are alive, right?"

"I..."

Chen Yan looked at the blood-colored soil, lowered his head, and dared not look into Chen Ling's eyes.

"I'm already dead, Brother..."

"But you're clearly right here!"

"I'm here because of your power."

Chen Ling was stunned. "Me? I don't have that kind of power, I..."

Before he could finish, a surging blizzard drowned Chen Ling's vision. The next moment, Chen Yan's figure disappeared again, as if he had never appeared at all.

[Audience Expectation Value +5]

[Current Expectation Value: 63%]

Chen Ling's gaze was uncontrollably drawn to the two lines of characters appearing in the snow, and as he thought of something, his pupils contracted slightly.

The "Audience" possessed the power to influence reality.

After he transmigrated, they had influenced things around him more than once: the water stains in the kitchen, Dr. Lin being pranked, the bone-cutting knife being gnawed... But ever since Chen Yan appeared, they seemed to have stopped interfering with his life.

So, the appearance of Chen Yan in his eyes was also a masterpiece of the "Audience"...?

"...It was you."

Chen Ling clenched his blood-stained hands tightly. He glared at the void in front of him, the veins on his neck bulging one by one:

"It was you who made me see him... It was you who made me get used to him... From the beginning, you just treated him as a prop to deceive my feelings, and then you destroyed him with your own hands..."

"You've been waiting for this moment for a long time, haven't you?"

[Audience Expectation Value +5]

Another line of small text appeared, completely igniting the anger suppressed in Chen Ling's heart. He climbed up from the snow, his red clothes roaring in the storm like a furious lion!

"Are you satisfied now?!!"

"Have you seen enough of this play?! Is it fun?!!!"

"Do you think I acted well?!!!"

"Fuck you!!!"

Chen Ling seemed to imagine that in that dim grand theater, countless scarlet eyes were looking through the curtain, watching him talk to Chen Yan for the past few days, watching him promise to perform at the school's New Year's Eve party, watching Chu Muyun standing alone and thoughtful...

They designed everything, they knew everything, they watched him pour all his emotions into his performance on stage, and the corners of their mouths in the darkness couldn't help but rise...

He felt like a clown, a clown intoxicated by a fake performance, used for people's amusement.

His chest heaved violently, the flames of anger seemingly wanting to burn through the heavy snow. He searched frantically in the snow, trying to find a knife or a gun that could end this absurd life.

He didn't want to be a clown, and he didn't want to be a tool for the "Audience" to play with.

Just then, his foot slipped, and a few things slid out of his pocket, falling onto the white snow and reflecting a silvery shimmer...

Nine silver coins.

This was the "pay" that Qian Fan had handed him with a smile this morning.

The moment he saw these silver coins, Chen Ling's pupils contracted. He stopped, a glimmer of clarity appearing in his angry eyes, followed by an even more intense hatred.

He stood silent for a long time, then bent down to pick up the silver coins one by one.

"...Alright." Chen Ling's voice was extremely hoarse. He slowly raised his head and looked toward the Second District, his eyes flashing with unprecedented killing intent and madness!

"You want to see a good show, don't you..."

"Then I will..."

"Perform one more for you."

Chen Ling smiled. His smile in the ice and snow was like that of a demon.