Chapter 344: White Ash

"Fifth!?"

Seeing that the Clown still "wouldn't give up," Plum K immediately reached out to grab his collar.

But the Clown didn't even look at her, nimbly rolling into a ball and slipping under Plum K’s hand. His movements were so agile that Plum K grabbed empty air again.

"Yi-hahahahaha..."

The Clown laughed while rolling down the steps in a ball, his speed incredibly fast.

The veins on the back of Plum K’s hand bulged. She gripped the hilt of her zanbato, her aura rising steadily, as if she were truly enraged!

She took a step forward, her lips parted, her breath resonating and overlapping in her chest. The next moment, a sharp, domineering opera vocalization rang out under the sky like a thunderclap!

"The barbarian king and his clown are not worth discussing~ With one blade, I can block a million soldiers!!" (Note 1)

The zanbato in her hand was thrown out with a whistle!!

The moment the zanbato left her hand, a sonic boom exploded from the tail of the blade. Invisible air waves rippled out of thin air, and as the blade split the void, bolts of bright red curtain fabric emerged from it!

In the Gray World, the color of the curtains appeared an eerie black. They seemed to come alive, circling the zanbato and stabbing straight at the Clown. The blade hadn't arrived yet, but the curtains were already there!

The Clown, rolling down the mountain path in a ball, seemed to sense the crisis. He suddenly extended a short leg and stomped hard on a step, leaping up and precisely avoiding a curtain that moved like a swimming snake!

"Yi-hahahaha!!"

In mid-air, the Clown spread his limbs, looking like a "big" character flying in the sky. On his face, stained with white ash, those dark, narrow eyes darted around and locked onto the red-clad Chen Ling, who was close at hand.

Immediately after, hundreds of bright red curtains surged from all directions!

The Clown tapped his toes in the void, his short body agile to an incredible degree. He was like an acrobat, dancing in the air to avoid the pursuit of all the curtains, forcibly carving a path out of the absolute blockade!

This scene also fell into Chen Ling’s eyes. Even with his [Secret Pupil], he couldn't keep up with the Clown’s movements.

He was dancing on the edge of a blade!

That short figure broke through the blockade of curtains filling the sky and fell straight toward Chen Ling. Even though Chen Ling had already had his chest opened, he couldn't compete with him in speed, even with the enhancement of [Blood Garment]... The Clown was like a monster with maxed-out agility, his white-ash face rapidly enlarging in Chen Ling’s vision!

"Fifth!! Stop!!" Plum K’s angry reprimand came from afar.

Chen Ling could see from the corner of his eye that the curtains filling the sky were rolling toward him, and before them, a palm slowly reached out, only a fraction away from grabbing his head!

Chen Ling wanted to move, but it was too late. His speed was almost stagnant in front of the Clown.

Just then, several curtains tightly wrapped around the Clown’s ankles, forcibly dragging him to a halt in mid-air. The Clown’s sesame-sized eyes widened to their maximum, probably becoming the size of pearls. That white-ash face, close at hand, looked like a vivid "囧" character...

His fingers brushed lightly against the tip of Chen Ling’s nose.

Chen Ling narrowly escaped his grasp again. At full speed, he opened up a distance of hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.

Boom—!!

The zanbato descended from the sky, smashing the Clown into the mountain body along with it, sending a sky full of dust and smoke rolling out!

Chen Ling broke out in a cold sweat. He had already left the Ugly Peak and his feet were back on the earth of the Gray World, so he looked back.

The Ugly Peak was shaking violently, as if there were an earthquake, as if someone were fighting inside. The Clown’s figure had just jumped out of the dust and smoke with a "Wula" sound, preparing to continue hunting Chen Ling, when he was smashed back into the mountain by the following zanbato!

Plum K’s angry voice rang out from the mountain:

"I don't know what kind of madness the Fifth has fallen into... I can't hold him for long!"

"Chen Ling, you go first! Go find Master!! Only Master can suppress him!"

"They are in the Red Dust Boundary. If you really met us back then, Master should be able to sense the mark on you! They will come to find you!"

"Wula!!!" The Clown rushed out of the curtain blockade, claws bared, only to be suppressed by Plum K with a kick.

"Go quickly!!"

Seeing this, Chen Ling knew he couldn't stay here. His current Audience Expectation was nowhere near enough for a rebirth. If the Clown truly broke free from Plum K and killed him, it would be a disaster...

Moreover, the Clown was the gatekeeper of the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury. If he didn't agree to let him enter, even if Plum K won, it would be useless; he would just be waiting in vain at the Ugly Peak.

The only one who could resolve the situation was that mysterious Master.

Once Chen Ling realized this, he turned and sprinted in the direction he had come from. A flash of red robe streaked across the barren earth, and the Ugly Peak receded rapidly behind him.

At Chen Ling’s current speed, after about a minute or so, the Ugly Peak was already out of sight.

"Damn it... Why on earth does he want to kill me?"

Chen Ling couldn't figure it out at all. The people he had met in the Theater Dao Ancient Treasury so far, whether it was the End Role or Plum K, had very good personalities. Only the Clown had tried to kill him on sight... Did he offend him somewhere? Or was it because of something else?

As Chen Ling pondered, his pace gradually slowed, and his body felt heavier and heavier.

[Audience Expectation +1]

"...Hmm?"

Chen Ling felt something was wrong and looked down in confusion.

At some point, his legs had lost the strength to maintain his previous running speed. The enhancement brought by [Blood Garment] had completely vanished, and even the hollow wound on his chest that had been slowly healing had stalled...

[Audience Expectation +1]

"Something’s wrong... I am..." Chen Ling muttered to himself. Before he could finish, his mouth suddenly opened automatically!

"Yi-hahaha!!"

After laughing, Chen Ling slammed his hands over his mouth, astonishment appearing in his eyes.

He looked around sharply but didn't find any trace of the Clown. In such a short time, he should still be suppressed by Plum K at the Ugly Peak... But what was happening to him?

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Chen Ling’s forehead. He felt his state becoming increasingly strange. His mental energy felt as if it had dried up, and [Blood Garment] gave no response. He stumbled across the barren earth, his body feeling heavier and heavier, as if... something was gradually draining his body.

At the same time, his face began to heat up, as if something was about to grow out!

[Audience Expectation +1]

Seeing several lines of text appearing on the earth, Chen Ling felt a sense of foreboding. He felt as if he could see pairs of scarlet pupils staring at him mockingly from the void.

"Damn it... What has happened to me? Am I... Yi-hahaha... is this the Clown’s... haha... method?"

Chen Ling felt his nose getting hotter and hotter. As his mental energy and physical strength were exhausted, his consciousness blurred...

Just then, he saw a puddle on the black earth ahead.

He gritted his teeth and persisted in walking toward it. Parched, he longed for water. But just as he reached the puddle and was about to cup his hands to drink, he froze in place.

On the shimmering water surface, Chen Ling’s pale face was reflected, and at the tip of his nose, a smear of white ash had appeared at some point...

"Yi-hahaha..." Chen Ling covered his mouth tightly, his eyes filled with astonishment!

He knelt half-way before the water. A breeze blew, shattering his facial features on the water surface.

He looked like a "Clown" wearing a red robe.

[Audience Expectation +5]

…………

Note 1: "The barbarian king and his clown are not worth discussing, with one blade I can block a million soldiers." Taken from the Peking Opera "Mu Guiying Takes Command" — "The barbarian king and his clown are not worth discussing, with one sword I can block a million soldiers."