"Done, let's call it a day."
The two patted the mud off their bodies. After confirming the pit was completely buried, they turned and left.
The torrential rain poured over countless desolate graves. Dark red blood mixed with mud rolled down the cliff. Dozens of seconds later, two figures cloaked in raincoats struggled up from the foot of the mountain.
"Right here..."
Holding glass kerosene lamps, the pair scanned their surroundings, oblivious to the dark red mud flowing in the shadows. They walked straight toward the recently dug pit.
They set the cloth bag on the ground, took out shovels, and began digging beside the dark red pit.
"...Ayan will get better, right?"
Raindrops pattered on their raincoats. The woman's pale hands clenched in her sleeves, her voice hoarse.
"Definitely," the man replied as he shoveled soil. "The heart's already been delivered. The surgery should have started... Tomorrow, we can go see him in District 2!"
The woman relaxed slightly. Glancing at the black cloth bag at her feet, her eyes filled with guilt.
"It's just so hard on Aling..."
"This must stay between us forever."
"What if Ayan asks about his brother when he comes back?"
"We'll say he passed the Law Enforcer exam and got transferred to District 7... He can't come back."
"Will he believe that?"
"... "
The man stayed silent, silently driving his shovel to the bottom and prying up large chunks of soil.
"Just bury it here," he said.
Together, they heaved the black bag into the pit and began covering it with soil. The woman hesitated, then picked up a wooden plank from the side, as if to write something, but the man stopped her.
"What are you doing?"
"We were mother and son, after all... Let's set up a tombstone for Aling."
"No. If Law Enforcers or others see a tombstone here, what then?"
"Then..."
"I said, from now on, we bury this in our hearts."
After a long silence, the woman threw the plank aside. Seeing this, the man comforted her softly:
"It'll be okay... When we wake up tomorrow, it'll all be over."
The two took one last look at the ground before disappearing into the rain. The downpour washed over the dark red soil, as if trying to erase their hatred and grievances. Two lonely graves, separated by a thin layer of sand, lay side by side.
Just as everything began to fade into the storm, an eerie gray mist spread from the void... The Gray Realm converged.
...
"Ayan... Ayan!"
Tears poured from Chen Ling's eyes as he frantically clawed at the sand and mud, until his fingertips bled.
He didn't know what had happened after the Gray Realm converged, why only he had survived... No, Chen Ling hadn't survived either. He had just become himself...
But in this moment, who he was didn't matter. The world had played a cruel joke on Chen Ling, making him die by the hands of Chen Tan and his wife, who had raised him... Yet at the same time, the world had played an even crueler joke on Chen Tan and his wife.
Chen Ling's vision blurred with tears as images of the past two days flashed wildly through his mind. When the Gray Realm converged, a figure had struggled to climb out of the mass grave, the wound on their chest gradually healing. Countless scarlet eyes had opened behind them, and the rain on the ground had merged into...
As the Gray Realms converged, a figure struggled to rise from the mass grave. The wound on its chest gradually healed as countless scarlet pupils opened behind it. The rain on the ground pooled into a line of characters... Audience anticipation: 17%
A broken safety amulet dangled from a twig lodged under its fingernail, swaying gently in the wind.
The second calamity that attacked Ice Spring Street might never have existed. From the start, it was Chen Ling himself... or rather, the version of himself who had lost his mind after his anticipation value dropped below 20% upon resurrection. Controlled by the audience, he massacred half of Ice Spring Street until their satisfaction was met, then leisurely walked toward District Three...
"No, this can't be right..." Chen Ling murmured. "Could it be that all along... there was only me?"
In the back mountain, he had rinsed the opera robe by the stream and handed it to Chen Yan... But when Jiang Qin questioned him, the robe bizarrely reappeared in his arms.
Chen Tan and his wife, dragged away by Law Enforcers, stared past Chen Yan's body at him, roaring curses.
On Frost Street, Law Enforcer Jiang Qin followed his pointing finger to the dark corner of the street, only to see a blurred shadow.
Chu Muyun stood at his bullet-ridden doorstep holding a letter, speaking to the empty room: "I heard Mr. Chen needs a doctor, so here I am..."
An empty room was being repaired.
A torn cotton coat was mended.
But throughout it all, no one had ever spoken to Chen Yan.
It all seemed to prove Chen Yan had existed... like a ghost by his side, or perhaps just a strange delusion.
As Chen Ling dug frantically, the soil below began to seep blood. Just as he reached deeper, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist...
A bright red opera robe was gently draped over his shoulders, shielding him from the swirling snow.
Chen Ling froze.
Looking up, he saw the familiar youth crouching before him, tears streaking his face.
"Ge, stop digging... I'm begging you, don't dig anymore, please?"
"...A Yan."
Chen Ling stared at him, raising bloodied and muddy hands as if to touch Chen Yan's cheek... and he did.
"A Yan... are you alive?" Chen Ling's voice trembled. "You're alive, right?"
"I..."
Chen Yan glanced at the bloody soil, head bowed, unable to meet Chen Ling's gaze.
"I'm already dead, brother..."
"But you're right here!"
"I'm here because of your power."
Chen Ling froze. "Me? I don't have any power, I—"
Before he could finish, a violent blizzard engulfed his vision. The next moment, Chen Yan's figure vanished again, as if he had never been there.
Audience anticipation +5
Current anticipation: 63%
Chen Ling's gaze involuntarily fell on two lines of characters appearing in the snow. As if realizing something, his pupils constricted slightly.
"Audience" possessed the power to influence reality. Since his transmigration, they had repeatedly meddled with his surroundings—the kitchen water stains, the pranked Dr. Lin, the gnawed meat cleaver... But since Chen Yan's appearance, they seemed to have stopped interfering in his life.
So, Chen Yan's presence in his eyes was also the "audience's" doing...?
"...It's you."
Chen Ling's blood-stained hands clenched tightly. He glared at the void, veins bulging on his neck:
"You made me see him... You made me get used to him... From the start, you only treated him as a prop to deceive my feelings, then destroy him with your own hands..."
"You've been waiting for this moment, haven't you?"
Audience anticipation +5
Another line of text ignited the anger suppressed in Chen Ling's heart. He suddenly rose from the snow, his red robe howling in the storm like an enraged lion!
"Are you satisfied now?!!!"
"Have you had enough of this play?! Did you enjoy it?!!!"
"Did I perform well?!!!"
"Fuck you all!!!"
Chen Ling could almost imagine countless scarlet eyes in a dim theater, watching him converse with Chen Yan these days, watching him agree to perform at the school New Year's party, watching Chu Muyun lost in thought alone...
They designed everything, knew everything, and watched him pour his heart into the performance on stage, their mouths in the dark unable to hide their grins...
He felt like a clown, intoxicated in a false performance, a mere amusement for others.
His chest heaved violently, rage seeming to melt the snow. He frantically searched the snow for a knife or gun to end this absurd life—he refused to be a clown, especially a tool for the "audience" to toy with.
Just then, he slipped, and several objects fell from his pocket onto the white snow, reflecting silver light...
Nine silver coins. The "payment" Qian Fan had handed him with a smile that morning.
At the sight of the coins, Chen Ling's pupils shrank. He stopped, the anger in his eyes giving way to clarity, then deeper hatred.
After a long silence, he bent to pick up the coins one by one.
"...Fine." His voice was hoarse as he raised his head to look toward District Two, eyes blazing with unprecedented killing intent and madness!
"You want a good show...?"
"Then I'll..."
"Put on another performance for you."
Chen Ling smiled, his grin in the swirling snow like that of a demon.