Chapter 605: Expectation

“Opera singing??”

The crowd was stunned and listened carefully. Sure enough, there was opera singing approaching. And after this “Sheng” role finished singing, another clearer, more transparent voice sounded beside it—there must be two of them.

“At a time like this, who cares about opera singing??” a man pointed at the skeletal giant eagle diving down from above and said in terror,

“That thing is coming over!!”

The crowd looked up abruptly, only to see the skeletal giant eagle had spread its wings again, falling straight toward them like a meteor. The hurricane pressed them down so hard they couldn’t even straighten their waists, leaving them pinned to the ground with no possibility of escape.

However, just as it was rapidly approaching the ground, two figures—one red and one green—walking calmly on the street to the side caught its attention.

They were two young people in opera robes and makeup, walking steadily toward this place despite the howling wind. The hems of their robes danced in the gale, making them stand out sharply against the chaotic ruins around them.

Although the one in green had a slightly pale face, as if feeling immense pressure, his steps didn’t falter in the slightest;

And the one in red beside him merely swept a calm glance at the skeletal giant eagle, while pairs of eerie scarlet eyes opened quietly in the void behind him…

Chen Ling in red stopped his singing, and after a brief silence, parted his lips…

“——【SCRAM】.”

Under the effect of the secret technique of the word 【Command】, this simple word was like a bullet, easily breaking through the sighing wind and echoing across the entire street.

At this moment, the skeletal giant eagle felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. In its field of vision, the figure in red seemed to instantly transform into some kind of terrifying monster. Just one look made its entire body tremble!

The skeletal giant eagle, which had been diving rapidly toward the street, flapped its massive bone wings desperately, slowing down frantically in freefall, and finally forced itself to fly up, almost grazing the street.

The sweeping wind blew away the small buildings on both sides. The people shivering in the underground warehouse watched with their own eyes as the skeleton of the giant eagle swept over their heads, then flew away from the figure in red without looking back.

The crowd sat blankly on the ground, their backs already soaked with cold sweat… Even now, they hadn’t recovered from the daze of surviving a disaster.

“Who… who was that who shouted just now?”

“I don’t know, it seemed to come from the street.”

“He shouted once, and that monster ran away?? Who exactly is he?”

“Is it a lord from the Floating Life Painting?!! Please save us! We’re here!!!”

“……”

Cries for help echoed from the underground ruins of the restaurant. Chen Ling just glanced at it casually and continued walking forward without looking back.

He walked two steps, noticed Li Qingshan hadn’t followed, and looked back in confusion.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Brother… Brother Lin, did we really scare that disaster away?!” Li Qingshan’s face was full of disbelief.

Just a moment ago, he was asking Chen Ling if dressing up like this would scare others, and Chen Ling said it would be best if it could scare the disasters… As a result, Chen Ling said “scram,” and it really scared the disaster away?

“Oh, you mean that.” Chen Ling smiled faintly. “Didn’t I say? If a disaster comes, don’t be afraid; if the Jiangtian Sect comes, that’s just right.”

When he was in the Aurora Realm, Chen Ling discovered that as long as he wore this bright red opera robe, he would inexplicably exert a deterrent effect on disasters. When Aurora City was finally occupied by disasters, he relied on this red robe to move freely among the disasters of the Forbidden Sea…

And if he changed out of this bright red opera robe, the disasters wouldn’t feel any deterrence from him and would attack him just like any other ordinary person.

Chen Ling didn’t know the principle behind this either, but he guessed that perhaps after putting on this bright red opera robe, he became “Chao” in the eyes of other disasters?

Li Qingshan looked Chen Ling up and down for a long time before taking a step to follow, unable to help but sigh:

“Brother Lin… you really are a strange person.”

Li Qingshan had seen Chen Ling return from the dead, and this time he saw Chen Ling scare away a disaster with a single “scram.” In his eyes, Chen Ling’s image became increasingly mysterious, but he didn’t ask too many questions. Everyone had their own secrets, and as a friend, digging into them wasn’t a good thing.

Li Qingshan followed by Chen Ling’s side, heard the cries for help from the underground warehouse, and spoke again,

“However, aren’t we going to save them?”

“It’s not like they can’t crawl out themselves; why save them? After saving them, they’ll probably just beg us to protect them. We don’t have time to be babysitters right now.” Chen Ling said calmly, “Saving them from the disasters is already doing our best.”

“……That’s true.” Li Qingshan took one last look at the underground warehouse and sighed helplessly.

“But Brother Li, why did you follow me?”

“Didn’t I say? It’s safer for the two of us to walk together than for one person… Although I’m only Second Order, I can still help. At least I won’t hold you back, Brother Lin.” Li Qingshan paused for a moment,

“Besides, Brother Lin, you didn’t just come out to buy medicine for Baosheng, right? If I go with you, I can take the medicine back early, and you can go attend to your own business as soon as possible.”

Chen Ling was startled. He turned his head and saw Li Qingshan, still dressed as a “Sheng” role, looking at him with a half-smile.

Chen Ling was silent for a long time, then smiled helplessly,

“Brother Li, you could even tell that?”

“Actually, it’s fine. Mainly, I’ve known you since Liu Town, and I know what kind of person you are… and I know why you opened a theater here and kept those ‘professional teams’.” Li Qingshan smiled slightly. “And after singing opera together for so long, there’s bound to be some tacit understanding, right?”

Li Qingshan had known about Chen Ling’s identity as a member of the Twilight Society back in Liu Town, and he had even witnessed Chen Ling slaughter the judges and kill the Floating Life Painting members in return… In the Jinghong Theater, he was perhaps the person who understood Chen Ling best.

“That’s true…”

“But honestly, with your personality, Brother Lin, it must be hard to have friends. Most people really find it hard to understand what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah.” Chen Ling paused for a moment. A figure in a law enforcement trench coat appeared in his mind involuntarily, and he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh,

“However… there are still some exceptions.”

“Oh? Could it be that someone can guess Brother Lin’s thoughts?” Li Qingshan asked in surprise.

“Guessing isn’t the word; it’s more like… a lingering ghost.”

“If I have the chance, I’d like to meet them.”

“He’s still buried under the ice and snow of the Far North. Getting him out probably won’t be that easy.” Chen Ling looked up involuntarily, glancing in a certain direction in the void,

“But… I’m actually quite looking forward to that day.”