Chapter 606: Violent Dan Role

Chen Ling and Li Qingshan walked all the way, and besides the occasional disaster, they didn’t see anyone on the road.

At this critical juncture, all the residents of the Red Dust Realm wished they could hide in a crack in the ground. Walking on the road was undoubtedly courting death. This street, which was originally bustling and lively, had now become desolate and lonely.

A disaster or two appeared along the way, but they were scared away by a single glare from Chen Ling, and the journey was completely unobstructed.

“It’s fortunate it’s you, Brother Lin. If Baosheng had gone to the pharmacy by himself, it would have been truly ominous.” Li Qingshan couldn’t help but sigh.

“Come to think of it, his grandmother suddenly having an attack at this time is also a bit suspicious.” Chen Ling frowned slightly. “We stayed in the theater for so long, and his grandmother’s condition was always stable. It just so happened that as soon as the Gray Realm intersection started, it suddenly worsened…”

“Are you saying… his grandmother’s illness has something to do with the Gray Realm?”

“The Gray Realm itself doesn’t affect the human body. I don’t know if the Jiangtian Sect causes it, but I just suspect that this matter isn’t that simple.”

“By the way, what illness does Baosheng’s grandmother have?”

“It seems to be lymphoma.”

“Lymphoma… that’s the same illness my father had at the time.”

“Your father also had lymphoma??”

“Yes, he got it when I was eight or nine years old, and he passed away less than a year later. Later, my mother also developed organ failure, and both of them passed away.” A bitterness flashed in Li Qingshan’s eyes.

“……” Chen Ling’s frown deepened. He suddenly remembered Mu Chunsheng, who had skin cancer and was half-dead, and spoke subconsciously,

“There are far too many people here with cancer.”

“Too many?” Li Qingshan was startled. “Isn’t that normal? When people get old, they always get some illnesses.”

“No, it’s not normal.”

Chen Ling had stayed in the Aurora Realm for so long and hadn’t seen many people with cancer. But in the Red Dust Realm, it seemed that anyone who was getting on in years had to have some kind of cancer-related illness… Perhaps this was the reason why the average life expectancy in the Red Dust Realm was only fifty years?

As the two were talking, the end of the street approached in the distance. It was an empty intersection where the gray sky seemed to be divided in two. The side closer to the two of them was a normal night sky, while the other side of the road was a weird gray sky.

The two figures in red and green opera robes stopped at the side of the intersection.

“Is the area ahead the Gray Realm intersection…” Chen Ling’s gaze swept across the intersection and landed on the pharmacy at the corner of the street opposite.

“Is that the Gray Realm?” This was also Li Qingshan’s first time seeing the sky of the Gray Realm. The leaden, heavy, and oppressive clouds shrouded the bustling Red Dust, giving him an instinctive sense of fear.

And at this moment, just across the street, dense smoke rose from the city, and the roars of grim and terrifying giant beasts came from time to time, as if it had already become a living hell.

The street where the Jinghong Theater was located hadn’t been intersected by the Gray Realm yet, and already a disaster like the skeletal giant eagle had appeared. It was unimaginable how many disasters there were and how many casualties had been caused in the places already covered by the Gray Realm.

“The pharmacy is right there. We need to be quick.”

Chen Ling walked straight across the deserted intersection toward the dilapidated pharmacy.

The pharmacy’s sign was already dark, and the outer wall was covered with scorch marks and bloodstains of unknown origin. The glass on the upper half of the door was completely shattered, leaving only transparent shards covering the ground. Even so, the door remained tightly locked.

Looking inside through the shattered glass on the upper half, the pharmacy was pitch black. There was no one at the counter, and shelves full of medicine were set up crookedly, extending into the darkness.

“There’s no one inside… Did the clerk run away directly when the Gray Realm intersected?” Li Qingshan looked inside and muttered.

Chen Ling didn’t answer. He looked down at the door locked from the inside, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

“Brother Li, step back and protect yourself.”

“Huh? Oh…”

Li Qingshan nodded and took several steps back.

Chen Ling reached into the sleeve of his opera robe, and a bone-carving knife flashing with cold light landed in his palm. He flipped it with his fingertips, creating a sharp blade flower, then hid it behind his back.

Li Qingshan was startled. “Brother Lin, where did you pull that knife from??”

“I swiped it from the kitchen earlier.”

Chen Ling took half a step back with his right leg. After a brief pause, he swung his leg out with force. The immense power tore through the air with a faint hum, slamming into the locked door like a cannonball!

*Boom—!!*

The pharmacy door instantly twisted, flew off its frame for several meters, knocked over a row of shelves, and then fell to the ground with a *clang*.

Dust flew up. The bright red opera robe returned to calm, but the Dan role headpiece on Chen Ling’s head was still swaying slightly. Seeing this, Li Qingshan behind him couldn’t help but speak,

“No, Brother Lin… isn’t your Dan role a bit too fierce? Even Mu Guiying isn’t as tough as you.”

Chen Ling walked straight into the pharmacy. The lighting inside had completely failed, and with it being night outside, the pharmacy was almost pitch black. Fortunately, Chen Ling possessed the eyes of 【Painting Vermilion】, allowing him to see vaguely in the darkness…

This pharmacy covered a large area. By estimation, there were at least twenty shelves set up inside. Chen Ling walked slowly past the shelves near the door, the hem of his bright red opera robe brushing through the dim dust, the surroundings quiet except for his light footsteps.

As Chen Ling approached the depths of the pharmacy, a rich smell of blood hit his face, and the vigilance in his eyes grew stronger.

【Audience Expectation +1】

After Chen Ling passed through several shelves, the space in front of him suddenly widened. Over a dozen shelves seemed to have been deliberately arranged in an arc, surrounding all sides. Crooked bloodstains on the ground connected into a ring, and small, weird symbols were outlined in the corners, mysterious and grim.

At this moment, in the center of this blood-colored ring, a figure in a red robe was kneeling on the ground, one hand holding a short knife, the blade pressed against the lower left side of his chest, having only pierced about a centimeter deep. Gurgling blood was rolling down the blade onto the ground…

In front of him were a small hammer, a pair of scissors, and a saw, like some kind of torture instruments for disembowelment.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ling’s pupils contracted slightly!

“Brother Lin, watch out!!!”

Li Qingshan’s shout came from behind, and a whistling sound of something breaking through the air followed from behind Chen Ling’s ear. Chen Ling bent forward without hesitation to dodge, and a blade flashing with cold light grazed his scalp!

Almost simultaneously, the red-robed figure kneeling in the center of the blood ring also raised his head abruptly, backhanded the small hammer from the ground, and smashed it toward Chen Ling’s face!

*Boom—!*

Everything happened too fast. The pincer attack from the front and back was as unstoppable as thunder, instantly sealing off all of Chen Ling’s retreat paths. With a dull, loud noise, Chen Ling’s head was struck by the incoming hammer in the darkness, and he flew backward like a sandbag, knocking over a shelf as he fell to the ground!