Chapter 469: The Sixth Face

The surrounding scenes changed crazily in Chen Ling’s eyes. Before Chen Ling could recover from this immersive memory, another roar came from above.

"Not accepting my fate? Then what else can I do... continue to be a plaything for them? What's the point of that?"

“……”

"Even if I don't die, I have nothing! Even if I survive, they will constantly interfere with my life. They can create one of you, they can create a second, a third... One day, I will be driven crazy by them."

“……”

"You are afraid!!"

"You know that if I die one more time, I will die completely!!"

"You are afraid that if I die, no one will be able to perform for you anymore, so you conjured his appearance, trying to trick me into living, right?!"

"Give me an ethereal hope, watch me chase it with my life, and when I'm about to reach it, let the so-called hope vanish... That's what you want!"

In the heavy snow, Chen Ling knelt in a pool of blood, roaring angrily at the pair of scarlet pupils in the void behind him!

Chen Yan’s phantom stood beside him, already in tears.

The countless scarlet eyes in the void were like countless audience members under the stage. Not only did they feel no guilt because of Chen Ling’s anger, but the mockery in their eyes became even more intense...

——[Chou].

As all the scenes dissipated, Chen Ling could feel that the experiences of his past life were being peeled away like silk, turning into countless tiny fibers, condensing into ink, and sketching rapidly in the surrounding blank world!

The face makeup that belonged to him was taking shape.

Just as Chen Ling was immersed in the magic of this secret technique, an strange feeling surged into his heart!

He frowned and looked beneath him. In this vast white world, it seemed there was something else being stirred by [Painting the Crimson Face], about to emerge...

"There's a sixth face?"

The appearance of the five faces—Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou—had already surprised Chen Ling greatly. He hadn't even thought that he was involved in every category... But as all five face makeups merged, it seemed there was more, stirring restlessly.

From that thing, Chen Ling couldn't feel the slightest familiarity... On the contrary, strangeness and fear surged in his heart involuntarily.

"What is that?" Chen Ling muttered to himself. "I don't remember having this kind of past..."

Before he could finish, a touch of pitch black stained his feet, like black ink spilled on white paper, spreading to the surroundings at an astonishing speed!

With this spreading blackness, the lines and color blocks just sketched by [Painting the Crimson Face] were swallowed crazily. Under this absolute blackness, all colors were assimilated and stained, and the specificity that originally belonged to "Chen Ling" was disappearing rapidly!

The snow-white world was collapsing. A pitch-black giant beast, as if from the netherworld, was opening its abyss-like mouth bit by bit, swallowing Chen Ling’s tiny body!

"This is..."

Chen Ling’s pupils contracted sharply!

[Audience Anticipation -1]

[Warning! Warning!]

[The audience has begun to intervene in the performance!!]

……

Opera Path Ancient Treasury, [Performance Area].

In the first row of the audience, Ning Ruyu and the others looked at Chen Ling’s back, which was as motionless as a statue, as if waiting for something.

"Master, is this really okay?" the Mo role couldn't help but ask.

"Okay? That depends on how you define 'okay'," Master shrugged. "The sixth one has mastered the trick of [Painting the Crimson Face]. Whether he can successfully paint this face depends on himself."

"So what will the face makeup the little junior brother finally paints look like?"

"I said, everyone is a composite of personalities. The final face definitely won't be a pure category; at most, it will be close to one."

"I guess the little junior brother should be closer to me," Luan Mei said calmly. "His limbs and voice are nearly perfect; he is a natural 'Dan' role."

"That's not necessarily true. The little junior brother’s temperament is more like mine, and he can fight well. I guess it's a 'Wu Sheng' (Martial Sheng) face," Ning Ruyu said, pulling a folding fan from somewhere and speaking leisurely.

"Actually, the little junior brother also has the appearance of a Hegemon," Wenren You muttered.

"What if he's actually like me... uh... it's better if he isn't."

The Mo role let out a long sigh.

Just as everyone was guessing, a breeze suddenly rose on the stage. Chen Ling was sitting cross-legged, the hem of his bright red opera robe began to dance lightly in the wind, and on that pure white initial face makeup, lines began to emerge rapidly!

The first to appear was a [Sheng] face, red and blue colors intertwined, the lines sharp. Just as Ning Ruyu said, it was a Martial Sheng face.

Ning Ruyu’s eyes lit up. "Look, I said the little junior brother is like me... eh?"

Before Ning Ruyu could finish, the Martial Sheng face dimmed and disappeared, replaced by a delicate [Dan] role face makeup. And this face didn't last for more than a few seconds before another flamboyant [Jing] role face makeup emerged...

In just ten seconds, the five face makeups of Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou changed one after another. When the last face disappeared, Chen Ling’s body shook violently!

Thump——!

A muffled sound came from the stage!

Ning Ruyu and the others were stunned at the same time, not understanding what had happened, and turned to look at Master in confusion...

At this moment, Master’s face was extremely gloomy. He stared at the stage with a grave expression, as if guarding against something.

"This aura..." the Mo role looked at Chen Ling’s back on stage, his brow furrowing involuntarily. "So strange... I've never felt this kind of aura. Which face makeup is this?"

"Indeed, looking across the Opera Path Ancient Treasury, I have never felt this kind of aura," Ning Ruyu knew that some kind of accident must have happened to Chen Ling.

"The little junior brother... probably ran into trouble."

The entire performance area fell into a dead silence.

Suddenly, Chen Ling, who was sitting cross-legged on the stage, moved.

Under the gaze of Ning Ruyu and the others, that bright red opera robe, with its back to the stage, stood up slowly... Due to the angle, they couldn't see Chen Ling’s face, but a bone-chilling coldness spread to the surroundings like a roaring wave!

The spotlight shone on the bright red opera robe. The vivid crimson turned slowly, and a pitch-black face was exposed to their field of vision... It was a face like an abyss, with scarlet pupils slightly curved, mocking and eerie, and exaggerated corners of the mouth raised like hooks behind the ears, as if grinning.

A face makeup belonging exclusively to the "audience" descended upon the stage!

……

……

The Sanjiu urging-for-updates festival is coming soon. Although there are no extra updates this year, there will be many activities~ Everyone can follow the Weibo "Sanjiu Yinyu w" for a lucky draw. There are free Twilight Society poker card peripherals to give away~ And that night, Sanjiu will be live-streaming on Douyin. In the future, I will also release the character designs and materials for the Opera God. Everyone is welcome to follow Douyin "Sanjiu Yinyu" to interact with me~