Chapter 473: Spirit Tablets

【Audience Expectation -1】

【Audience Expectation +1】

【Current Expectation: 69%】

As Chen Ling’s apricot eyes opened, a heavy "anchor" dropped into his world of consciousness. The confusion receded from his side, and the tearing sensation in his mind vanished without a trace...

He took a deep breath, his apricot pupils climbing with a touch of coldness and majesty, his thunderous voice roaring:

" 'Mockery'—!"

"When did it become... your turn to take the stage?!"

The moment this voice sounded, a theater rapidly took shape around Chen Ling. He felt as if he had fallen back onto the stage of that theater that only existed in his dreams. Countless spotlights lit up above, like brilliant suns, sweeping away the darkness!

Under these lights, they flowed like water across the edge of the stage, returning to the audience seats and turning back into scarlet, grinning faces, staring straight at Chen Ling on the stage.

Chen Ling jolted awake on the stage. It felt like he had just had a dream, his back soaked in sweat... He stood up and looked at the many "audience members" in the seats, his expression uncertain.

To be honest, Chen Ling didn't know what had just happened. It seemed that after Master’s brush touched his brow, his consciousness had fallen into a state of chaos... even deeper than a dream, so much so that the theater in his dream hadn't even appeared.

That chaotic state must have been what Master called "no form, no self," where even the theater and the audience were temporarily blocked. But when he kept digging into the memories deep within his heart, he accidentally dug up the deepest "confusion," causing the audience to crawl out through the gap and briefly occupy his consciousness and body... Fortunately, after finding an "anchor," he reclaimed a small part of his consciousness, re-summoned the theater, and used its power to force the audience back.

Only when the expectation value is below 20% can the audience intervene in the performance—this is the rule of the theater. Now that the audience had seized a loophole and broken the rules, they were naturally forcibly suppressed by the theater.

"After having the 'Red Face,' the audience’s suppression of me seems to have lessened a bit..." Chen Ling looked at his hands, saying uncertainly.

If before, when the audience occupied his body, Chen Ling had no power to resist, then just now, in the process of forcing them back, Chen Ling clearly felt that he had gained a little power to contend with the audience... Of course, just a little.

Even so, it was a qualitative leap for Chen Ling. If one day his "Red Face" approached perfection, it might mean he would have the capital to confront the audience head-on. Even if the expectation value dropped to 13% or lower and he was completely occupied, he could snatch it back!

As the order of the theater returned to normal, Chen Ling closed his eyes, his consciousness gradually detaching from the theater, as if waking from a dream...

……

The pitch-black mask on Chen Ling’s face gradually faded, and two touches of apricot red appeared at the corners of his eyes.

An unfinished, simple mask replaced the audience’s face. This face fit Chen Ling’s perfectly, as if a vivid eye makeup had been drawn onto his original face, natural and seamless.

Chen Ling opened his eyes slowly and was stunned by the scene around him.

"This is..."

Only then did Chen Ling realize he had left the stage of the 【Performance Area】 and arrived in a desert. Before him was an ancient ancestral hall. Looking inside from the doorway, he could barely make out four spirit tablets displayed within.

At this distance, Chen Ling would normally never be able to see the words on the tablets, but now he was in the "Red Face" state. The eye makeup Chen Yan had painted for him merged with his 【Secret Pupils】, seemingly granting him stronger ocular power...

In that instant, Chen Ling seemed to see the names on the four tablets.

——【Nameless Actor】.

Four 【Nameless Actor】 tablets were displayed in the center of the hall. Even in such a desert, these tablets and the interior of the hall were spotless. Candlelight flickered in the dimness, casting a mysterious veil over the four tablets.

Chen Ling was stunned, and before he could look closer, a figure blocked his view, completely cutting off his gaze.

"Master?"

Seeing the person, Chen Ling spoke instinctively.

"You succeeded." Master looked at him calmly. "Although it’s just a prototype, you have indeed acquired your own facial makeup. How far you can complete it in the future and what kind of power you grant it depends on yourself..."

Chen Ling raised his hand, touched the corner of his eye, and then seemed to remember something:

"Master, what is this place? How did I get here?"

"You forgot how you came here?"

“……”

Seeing Master’s expression, Chen Ling had a bad premonition... In fact, he had guessed it just now. After all, every time the audience occupied his body, they never did anything good. It seemed this time they had likely used his body to cause trouble in the Theater Path Ancient Treasury.

"...This time, I didn't break anything, did I?" Chen Ling asked cautiously.

He still remembered the last time he accidentally broke the 【True Self Mirror】, which had caused Master immense heartache, and for several days after, Master had looked at him with resentment.

Master snorted coldly and said unhurriedly, "Do you think your master and senior brothers and sisters are just freeloaders? You’re still years away from being able to wreck the Theater Path Ancient Treasury."

Chen Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Master, then this ancestral hall..."

"This is not a place you should be." Master interrupted Chen Ling. "Go back, they are still worried about you."

Seeing that Master didn't want to talk about it, Chen Ling tactfully didn't ask further. After thanking Master, he walked straight back... Master didn't leave either, just stood at the door of the hall, his stage robes dancing in the wind and sand, quietly watching Chen Ling walk away.

Master lives in a place like this?

Chen Ling walked through the desert, the image of that narrow, strange ancestral hall recurring in his mind. He could feel that this was the core of the Theater Path Ancient Treasury, equivalent to that sword in the Weapon Path Ancient Treasury... But he never expected the core of the Theater Path Ancient Treasury to look like this.

Chen Ling walked in the desert for a long time, knowing he couldn't walk out on foot, so he simply raised his hand to pull open a void curtain, his figure vanishing from the desert.

After Chen Ling had completely left, the figure in stage robes before the hall closed his eyes slightly.

"Sigh..."

Master let out a long sigh and turned back into the hall. The wind and sand of the desert danced outside, emitting a low, wailing sound, and the stage robes flickered in the dim candlelight.

He looked at the four tablets in the center of the hall, his gaze complex. As he opened a secret compartment under the tablet table, a USB drive lay quietly inside.

He muttered to himself:

"This time, we will definitely succeed... right?"