Chapter 342: Clown

"You'll know when you get there," Plum K replied lightly.

Chen Ling: ...

Chen Ling was naturally unsatisfied with this answer, so he continued to ask:

"What about the End Role? Is he your senior brother?"

"No, he is my fourth junior brother."

"Fourth junior brother... Does that mean there are many people in your sect?"

Plum K thought carefully. "Not really. Including Master, there are only six people in total... But if we count you, there are seven."

Excluding the mysterious Master, there were five brothers and sisters...

Chen Ling didn't consider himself a member of the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury. After all, he firmly believed he was Chen Ling, the Chen Ling who had traveled from the past... Even if he suspected deep down that the person talking to the Master was himself, and that he might be Chen Yan, he still hadn't accepted all of this, and thus wouldn't identify with the "sect."

"The End Role... Is he alright? Is his body okay?" Chen Ling recalled the End Role who had died at the Star Chamber of Commerce and couldn't help but ask.

"He is fine, you don't need to worry," Plum K seemed to guess Chen Ling’s concerns. "The End Role can create clones at extremely long distances. The one you saw was just a clone he had left in Aurora City. After all, in the original plan, he was the one supposed to perform the Boundary Funeral and recover the Aurora Lord’s corpse...

However, to save you, that clone was exhausted in Aurora City, which is why I rushed to Aurora City."

Hearing this, Chen Ling finally connected the two events. No wonder the End Role had appeared so suddenly; he had been hiding in Aurora City all along.

"However, if you want to see him, you probably won't be able to these next few days."

"Why?"

"Master took them out to play... no, out on a tour," Plum K paused and continued.

"Because the location of the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury is special, almost no one can cross the Gray World to enter it and receive the recognition of the Theater God Dao. Coupled with the decline of traditional opera, there are almost no God-favored ones who can be chosen by the God Dao stars... Therefore, there are very few people in the world who can step onto this God Dao. The Theater God Dao has almost become the fifth 'lost' God Dao."

"So, to reverse this situation, Master occasionally takes the brothers and sisters out of the mountains to travel through the Nine Boundaries of the human world."

"Everywhere we go, we hold performances, looking for people with talent for the Theater God Dao among the audience, secretly guiding them to discover their potential, and recording them. When these 'seedlings' grow up, we go to find them and formally guide them to step onto the Theater God Dao."

Chen Ling suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something.

Plum K turned back in confusion. "What's wrong?"

In Chen Ling’s mind, a detail suddenly surfaced—a memory that originally belonged to the owner of this body... Eight years ago, a poorly equipped opera troupe had come to the Third District. They set up a stage outside the district and performed for free.

He remembered that he and Chen Yan had gone to watch. There were only five audience members under the stage, and before the two plays were even finished, he had fallen asleep, but Chen Yan had listened with great interest from beginning to end. It was also after that that he began to take an interest in opera and self-taught a considerable amount of knowledge.

Could it be... that he had actually met the Master and the others eight years ago?

"Eight years ago, did you meet me? My younger brother was there too," Chen Ling asked tentatively.

Plum K glanced at him and turned to continue walking forward.

"There are too many tours, and I can't remember how many audience members there have been. However, Master usually leaves a mark on audience members with potential. Whether he has met you or not, he should know."

Chen Ling hid this doubt in his heart for the time being. If the opera troupe he met back then was truly the sect of the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury, then fate was truly miraculous.

The two walked in the Gray World for a long time. Perhaps because of Chen Ling’s red robe, although they encountered many eerie high-rank Calamities on the road, they were not attacked by a single one.

Chen Ling was still injured, so he didn't walk fast. Although Plum K never looked back, her pace always remained consistent with Chen Ling’s.

The two figures, one black and one red, walked through the Gray World. By sunset, Chen Ling finally saw something different in his field of vision...

It was a mountain.

A sharp, lonely mountain that rose abruptly from the flat ground.

The surrounding terrain was incredibly flat, with hardly any hills, making the appearance of this solitary mountain particularly striking. Not a trace of vegetation could be seen on it, only various strangely shaped rocks standing upon it, completely out of place with the surrounding environment.

Plum K stopped in front of the mountain.

"This... is the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury?" Chen Ling looked at the bare mountain peak, feeling it was not quite what he had imagined.

"No, this is the Ugly Peak. You can understand it as the 'gate' to the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury," Plum K said calmly. "Anyone who wants to enter the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury must climb over this mountain. The Fifth is here."

"The Fifth..."

There were five brothers and sisters in the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury. This "Fifth" should be the youngest. But to entrust such an important task as guarding the gate of the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury to the youngest junior brother? Chen Ling felt a bit puzzled.

"You'll see him when we go up. Although his appearance is a bit... his nature is pure and kind."

"Did he not go on the tour with the others?"

"The Fifth has a congenital defect; he cannot speak. And he has the important task of guarding the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury, so he has almost never left this place."

Chen Ling nodded thoughtfully.

He followed Plum K up the mountain path. Since it hadn't been developed by humans, it was basically a very steep and dangerous road. Fortunately, with Chen Ling’s current skills, climbing a mountain was a piece of cake.

After about ten minutes, the two reached the summit of the Ugly Peak.

Just as he had seen from below, there was no vegetation on the summit. Among the bare rocks, only a dilapidated, simple stone house stood.

At this moment, a short figure was sitting on the stone ground at the entrance, with a dozen marble-sized stones in front of him. He was resting his large head on one hand and tossing the stones with the other, as if seriously pondering something.

Seemingly hearing footsteps, his body trembled slightly, and he turned his head in confusion...

"Fifth."

A rare, faint smile appeared on Plum K’s face as she walked toward him.

Seeing Plum K, his dark eyes lit up like gemstones. Only then did Chen Ling see his appearance clearly.

He was very short, about the height of an average child, but he was not young. From a distance, he looked like a shrunken old man, or perhaps a dwarf. His wrinkled, almost collapsed facial features gave off an inexplicable sense of horror...

On his nose, there was a patch of white ash that almost covered half his face, adding a touch of comedy to his otherwise ugly and strange face.

The moment he saw this face, Chen Ling guessed his identity:

[Clown].