Chapter 642: Empathy

In the void world, a red-clad figure was carrying the Jack of Plum Blossoms and speeding along!

All the "arrows" were spinning out of control, and the burning woman roared ferociously, following closely behind the two. Even though Chen Ling pushed his cloud-step to the limit, he could barely keep pace with her.

Hum——!

A hum came from the void, and in the darkness above Chen Ling's head, strands of light gradually rippled out.

These halos condensed into lines, gradually spreading in all directions, bit by bit outlining mysterious patterns, like reflections projected from a great distance, as if they were close at hand, yet unreachable.

Seeing these patterns, Chen Ling suddenly felt a bit familiar.

"This is... the relief on that door? How could it appear here?"

"It's the Second Hall." As a member of the Halls, the Jack of Plum Blossoms naturally understood what was going on. "He is borrowing the Green Divine Path foundation of 'Guernica' to open the entrance to the domain left by the Chief. No wonder it made the entire painting chaotic..."

"That door actually needs a foundation to assist in opening it?"

"Don't underestimate that door; it was forged by the Chief together with the first batch of Floating Life Painting Halls... Without the key, even a demigod couldn't open it easily." The Jack of Plum Blossoms looked at the relief patterns outlined in the void and continued,

"This door can be considered the crystallization of the first batch of Halls. Not only is its defensive power extremely strong, but after activation, it can also cover the entire Red Dust Domain with consciousness. However, generally, only the Second Hall and the Third Hall have the authority to do so."

Hearing this, Chen Ling's eyes showed understanding.

In the Red Dust Domain, there was a saying that there are gods three feet above one's head, and residents in the domain seemed to associate the sky with the Floating Life Painting... Chen Ling clearly remembered that when they encountered the Gray Realm intersection in the main city before, the Second Hall's gaze seemed to have fallen from the sky, and he used it to seal all the intersection points in one go. Even if Floating Life Painting members were in any corner of the Red Dust Domain, as long as they reported their coordinates, the Third Hall's ink thunder could strike precisely...

Now it seems that this relief door itself is the secret weapon for the two Halls to macro-control the Red Dust Domain.

"But I don't understand..." The Jack of Plum Blossoms frowned. "What kind of thing could have happened outside that would require the Second Hall to open the door so urgently?"

"About that, I should know something..."

Chen Ling briefly described the news of the Domain War to the Jack of Plum Blossoms. Since arriving in the Red Dust Domain, the Jack of Plum Blossoms had been locked up here and knew nothing about the Wuji Domain. After hearing it, he was shocked.

"Domain War?! Is Lord Wuji crazy?!"

"Now is not the time to discuss this." Chen Ling's gaze swept across the surroundings, and he saw that besides the burning woman, two other out-of-control characters were pouncing toward them. "Now we need to think about how to save our lives."

"'Guernica' has fallen into disorder, and the painting itself has begun to reject us. We have no other choice but to drag out the time as much as possible."

Chen Ling locked onto several characters surrounding them at the same time, passing through the extreme gaps. A red opera robe swept across the void like an afterimage, and several huge shadows roared and followed closely behind!

"Aren't you sixth-rank? Can't you deal with these things?"

"They are transformed from the souls of pain and resentment in the painting and are not affected by any external force. Let alone me, even if the other Halls came, they couldn't hurt them at all."

"Damn it... then there's no other way? At this rate, we'll be surrounded sooner or later."

The Jack of Plum Blossoms stared at his palm for a long time, then gritted his teeth:

"I'll lead the way for you."

"Where to?"

"There is a character whose existence is very special... It doesn't move, and it has a suppressive effect on other characters. Other characters don't dare to approach it easily. Although its emotional influence is the strongest here, if we enter its area, at least we can ensure we won't be torn to pieces."

"Good, which direction?"

Chen Ling didn't hesitate at all and chose to believe the Jack of Plum Blossoms' plan. Compared to some ethereal emotional influence, saving his life was definitely the most important thing. He didn't have enough audience expectation value right now, so he absolutely could not die.

Under the guidance of the Jack of Plum Blossoms, Chen Ling while dealing with the characters chasing behind him, rapidly approached a certain place in the void.

And the Jack of Plum Blossoms was clearly on the verge of collapse from mental torture. Despite being sixth-rank, he didn't even have the strength to run in the void at this moment, and could only obediently lie on Chen Ling's back, like a boy whose oil lamp had run dry.

"By the way, why aren't you affected by the emotions of those things?"

"Who said I'm not affected." Chen Ling focused on fleeing for his life, while responding, "It's just not as serious as you."

"But this is the normal reaction of a person in 'Guernica'."

"Are you saying I'm not normal??"

"You..." The Jack of Plum Blossoms paused, but still spoke, "You are indeed not very normal, at least in terms of emotions."

"...Perhaps it's because my empathy is poor." Chen Ling thought for a moment. "From the moment that thing appeared in my body, I rarely empathized with others... Perhaps this counts as being 'naturally cold-blooded'?"

"No wonder." The Jack of Plum Blossoms glanced at Chen Ling's opera robe attire and said with a half-sarcastic tone, "You really are 'heartless as an actor'."

"I wouldn't say heartless. My other emotions are fine, it's just that it's hard for me to resonate with other people's emotional changes... It's like... it's like..." Chen Ling tried to describe his feelings to the Jack of Plum Blossoms, but couldn't find a suitable description.

"Like an 'audience'?" The Jack of Plum Blossoms suddenly said.

This sentence fell into Chen Ling's ears like a flash of lightning. He was stunned for a long time before nodding stiffly,

"Yeah... right."

The Jack of Plum Blossoms didn't ask any further. He just lay on Chen Ling's back and looked at Chen Ling deeply, his gaze incredibly complex.

"Regardless, your 'natural cold-bloodedness' is our lifeline now." The Jack of Plum Blossoms said. "I tried to approach that character, but failed... I couldn't bear its emotions, nor could I leave a mark on it. If I faint in a moment, it will be up to you."

"I'll try."

While the two were talking, two or three more characters surrounded them. Now, behind the red opera robe, there was already a dark mass of abstract characters following closely. Some were horses pierced by spears, some were giant faces with ferocious expressions, some were mothers holding children... They gathered together in ferocity and pain, their surging emotions like a monstrous wave, about to drown the two.

Finally, just as Chen Ling was about to exhaust his strength, a massive figure gradually appeared in his field of vision.