Chapter 43: The First Play

Chen Ling’s gaze swept over the opening lines. As the pages turned, he saw many familiar scenes and sentences, as if everything he had experienced over the past few days had been compiled into a play and recorded there.

【"It's you." Behind the wooden table, a man in a white lab coat turned slightly. "Here to get medicine for your brother again? Didn't he transfer to the District 2 hospital?"】

【……】

【"A-Ling, you're already dead; you shouldn't be here." Chen Tan’s eyes were bloodshot. He gripped the axe tightly and spoke hoarsely, "Whatever is occupying your body... I will grant you release."】

【Low thunder rumbled across the dim sky...】

【……】

【"Don't be afraid, brother." Chen Yan said softly, "I'll help you bury him."】

【……】

【"Hello everyone, I am Law Enforcer Chen Ling... Are you ready to answer my questions?"】

【……】

【Rather than being a marionette for the rest of his life, Chen Ling would rather choose death.】

【……】

【"Monster... Monster!!" a Law Enforcer roared in terror, "He's not human! He's a monster!!"】

【……】

And the final line was a descriptive sentence:

【He stood alone in a sea of blood, the dagger slipping gently to the ground. As a wisp of cold wind blew past, his entire body collapsed backward like withered grass.】

Seeing this, Chen Ling felt his scalp tingle.

Although he had long been aware that he was "being watched," it was only now that he truly felt the eeriness of it all.

The most critical part was that Chen Ling could only see his own scenes; everything that happened when he wasn't present was blocked out by thick black lines... Even he, the "protagonist," did not have full review rights over this play.

"So, it's compiled into a play based on my personal experiences..." Chen Ling muttered to himself.

As the last line finished, these pages automatically bound themselves into a volume in the void and landed in Chen Ling’s palm. Several lines of text on the cover were particularly conspicuous.

【First Play】

【Initial Chapter—《Heartless》】

【Starring: Chen Ling】

【Other Cast: Chen Yan, Han Meng, Chu Muyun, Chen Tan, etc.】

At the same time, in the corner of the stage, a wooden bookshelf appeared out of thin air.

Chen Ling stared deeply at the play in his hands. After a long while, he walked toward the bookshelf... He placed the play on the leftmost side of the first shelf, with the characters 《Heartless》 on the spine facing outward, visible at a glance.

Just as Chen Ling was about to turn and perform his second designated draw, a familiar voice rang in his ears:

【Intermission over, please continue the performance】

The black curtain slowly rose.

Chen Ling’s consciousness detached from the theater and drifted into the void...

……

"You're awake?"

As Chen Ling opened his eyes, Chu Muyun’s voice drifted over from the side.

The heater was running in the room. Chu Muyun had already taken off his wool coat and was wearing a shirt and vest, sitting quietly in a chair by the window, reading a medical book.

Before he could say another word, a short blade was already pressed against his throat like lightning, the chilling murderous intent instantly extinguishing the lamp!

In the dim room, Chu Muyun’s eyelids twitched as he looked at the red-clad figure before him and spoke slowly:

"It seems that divine path really has affected your personality... Is your intent to kill always this heavy?"

"You knew A-Yan was fake, yet you pretended everything was fine and stayed for so many days... What is your goal?" Fierce light flickered in Chen Ling’s eyes.

"I am a doctor. I came to District 3, of course, to treat your illness."

Chu Muyun closed the book. "If I had any malice toward you, you would have died countless times already."

Chen Ling stared at Chu Muyun.

"How much... do you know?"

"Unfortunately, I know everything."

"How much is 'everything'?"

"What do you think?" Chu Muyun’s lips curled into an arc as he leaned slightly toward Chen Ling. "I'm curious... how are you able to maintain your sanity while merging with an 'Extinction-level' Calamity? Or rather... how are you being balanced?"

Hearing this, Chen Ling’s pupils contracted sharply.

Ever since they first met, when Chu Muyun tried every way to stay, the man must have already sensed something was wrong.

In the days that followed, he had been observing him, even taking the initiative to probe for Chen Yan’s characteristics... This man, wearing silver-rimmed glasses and looking so refined, was the one with the deepest schemes.

But Chen Ling hadn't expected the man to point out his identity as a merger, and even the "Audience" rank, the moment he spoke.

"So... what do you plan to do?" Chen Ling countered. "Split my brain open to take a look? Hand me over to the Law Enforcers? Or use this to blackmail me into doing something for you?"

"To be honest, I'm very interested in the first option." Chu Muyun spread his hands helplessly. "Unfortunately, my superiors won't allow it... As for the second point, that's even more impossible. If I went to the Law Enforcer headquarters with you, I would definitely be the first one arrested..."

"Your superiors?"

Chen Ling keenly grasped the key point. "Aren't you the Divine Doctor of Aurora City? Who are your superiors? The Dean?"

"The 'Divine Doctor' title was just an identity I fabricated to infiltrate Aurora City."

"Then what is your true identity?"

"...Have you heard of the Twilight Society?"

Chen Ling shook his head.

"The Twilight Society is a secret organization established outside the nine... no, it should be eight human domains now. All members are numbered by playing card ranks, secretly infiltrating major human domains to conduct covert activities."

"Doesn't sound like a righteous organization."

"No, we are the righteous organization." Chu Muyun adjusted his glasses and smiled. "It's just that in the eyes of the world, our justice represents absolute evil..."

"Sorry, I have no interest in joining a cult."

In his past life, Chen Ling had heard countless brainwashing tactics from such cults or pyramid schemes; they were nothing more than instilling twisted ideologies to control people's minds. Even though he carried a "Calamity" in this life, he had no intention of falling into depravity.

"That's why I said we aren't a cult... our philosophy just conflicts with this era." Chu Muyun explained patiently. "Besides, our salary is very high, about ten times that of a Law Enforcer."

"Ten times?" Chen Ling glanced at him in surprise, then shook his head. "But money doesn't have much meaning to me... Even if you have money, you need to be alive to spend it."

If it were his past life, Chen Ling would definitely have been tempted by ten times the salary, but things were different now. Chen Ling’s biggest goal was to escape the control of the "Audience"; everything else was just fleeting clouds to him.

"We also have plenty of resource channels. If you encounter a bottleneck while climbing the divine path, you can ask other members for help."

"Do you have many members?"

"Currently, there are about twenty or so still alive."

“……”

"Let's talk about your justice instead..."