Chasm
The dining hall fell into silence.
Jian Changsheng, Sun Bumian, and Jiang Xiaohua stared blankly at Chen Ling's face, only recovering their wits after a long ti.
"Hearts, what happened to your face?" Jian Changsheng frowned and asked.
"Just so side effects after accepting Mockery." Chen Ling smiled faintly. "But other than looking a bit scary, there's no other impact..."
"Aren't you able to change your face? Change to another face?" Sun Bumian imdiately followed up.
"It's useless... this face, it can't be changed back."
The three fell into silence once again.
"If you can't change it back, then you can't change it back." Jian Changsheng patted Chen Ling's shoulder, speaking without caring at all. "So what if it's scary? The docunt doesn't say that you can't enter the Hanging Jade Domain if you're scary! At worst, you can just wear a mask when going out, like you just did... You don't think this face of yours can scare the few of us brothers, do you?"
"I don't think Hearts is scary." Jiang Xiaohua responded imdiately.
Sun Bumian nodded. "Indeed. We already saw this face before when you experienced a Loss of Control in the Wuji Domain... Looking at it now, it's actually quite amiable, at least much kinder than that murdering Calamity of Mockery."
"I know you won't be afraid. I wore the mask just because I was worried it might affect your appetite later."
"..."
"Then isn't that it? Put on the mask and co back to the Hanging Jade Domain with us!"
"I can't go back, and it's not because of my face."
"Then what is it because of??"
"Is it that Vow Gu-Insect?" Sun Bumian was thoughtful. "I heard Teacher Ye ntion it briefly before, saying you were forced to swallow so Vow Gu-Insect... Is it related to that thing?"
Jian Changsheng's trio had heard of the Vow Gu-Insect, but didn't know exactly what this thing was, nor did they know how it would affect Chen Ling.
"En, it's partly related..." Chen Ling briefly explained the function of the Vow Gu-Insect.
The faint candlelight flickered in the dimness.
After listening, Jian Changsheng's and Sun Bumian's breathing gradually beca heavy.
Jiang Xiaohua didn't have much of a reaction. Firstly, because he didn't need to breathe, and secondly, because... he didn't understand.
He just stared blankly as Jian Changsheng silently clenched his fists, and then, without saying a word, turned his head and walked toward the outside of the Underground Palace. His black leather jacket was enveloped in a trace of ferocity in the firelight.
"Where are you going?" Chen Ling spoke in a deep voice.
"I'm going to find that bitch Chu Changqing and make him hand over the antidote!" Jian Changsheng said without looking back. "If he doesn't, I'll kill him!"
Before Jian Changsheng could even walk out of the dining hall, a palm stopped him.
"Just relying on you? Can you kill one of the Nine Monarchs?"
Sun Bumian spoke unhurriedly.
Jian Changsheng glared at him, opening his mouth as if he wanted to argue a couple of sentences for himself, but couldn't utter a single word... The gap between him and the Nine Monarchs was still too big.
"I'll go." Sun Bumian said.
"? If I can't kill a Nine Monarch, you can?? Your Rank isn't even as high as mine!" Jian Changsheng was unconvinced.
"... Hehe."
Sun Bumian pushed the small Round Sunglasses on the bridge of his nose and smiled slightly.
For so unknown reason, the mont this smile appeared, Jian Changsheng felt that Sun Bumian seed a bit different from before, but he couldn't exactly say what was different.
"If you are all going, then I will go too." Jiang Xiaohua followed at a trot.
"Enough."
Chen Ling's deep voice rang out from the other side of the long table. "Even without the Vow Gu-Insect, I won't return to the Human Domains."
"Why???"
"Don't you understand yet? Whether the Vow Gu-Insect exists or not doesn't matter at all. What truly blocks outside the Human Domains is people's prejudice... or rather, the barrier between 'humans' and 'Calamity'.
As long as I am still the Calamity of Mockery, no matter which Domain I go to, it will always cause panic. Do you think that with that governnt docunt, I could really live peacefully in the Hanging Jade Domain?
No...
Even if the governnt acknowledges , the citizens won't. Once they know that a World-Ending Calamity is living in their Domain, they will live in fear every day. Citizens living near will move away in panic. More and more people will hold protests against the governnt. They will unite with the governnts of other Domains to pressure the Hanging Jade Domain together, forcing to leave.
No matter how low-profile I keep, no matter how harmless I pretend to be, it's useless. My weakness will only spawn their malice towards , making them even more unbridled, and might even implicate you guys...
For over three hundred years since the Calamity Invasion, how many people have died at the hands of Calamities? Their hatred, their fear, is not sothing that can be offset by a single docunt.
And I, as the Calamity of Mockery, as long as I spend one day in a Human Domain, I will forever be the greatest hidden danger to all humanity. Without Chu Changqing's Vow Gu-Insect, perhaps there would be so other black Gu or white Gu to restrain and expel !"
Chen Ling's voice echoed in the dim dining hall. A trace of pain gradually climbed onto that pitch-black and bizarre face, and then his pupils began to flash with a hint of red, as if a second personality within his body was restless.
Chen Ling felt the changes in his own emotions, imdiately forcing himself to take deep breaths and calm down...
"I'm living very well in the Ghost Mockery Abyss... Why go to a Human Domain to bring contempt upon myself?"
"Between and the Human Domains, there is already an insurmountable chasm."
The entire Underground Palace fell into dead silence once again.
Jian Changsheng, Sun Bumian, and Jiang Xiaohua looked at the figure in the Great Crimson Theatrical Robe standing alone amidst the flickering candlelight at the end of the long table, speechless for a ti...
Chen Ling's answer was very realistic. Even if Jian Changsheng could use this docunt to get him a legal identity in the Hanging Jade Domain, the "law" was ultimately only the "law" of the Hanging Jade Domain governnt. It couldn't represent the attitude of all residents, let alone the will of all humanity.
Since that was the case, whether the Vow Gu-Insect existed or not made no difference... Chen Ling wouldn't return to the Human Domains.
Jian Changsheng fell silent for a long ti. His fists first clenched tightly, and then loosened helplessly. He took a deep breath and walked back towards the dining hall:
"What dog-fart Human Domain... If we're not going back, then we're not going back. I see this Underground Palace of yours is also pretty good. It's big, has lots of rooms, no need for air conditioning in sumr, and there are a bunch of Poisonous Insect guards outside... Here, no one can bully us."
Us.
Hearing these two words, Chen Ling's heart trembled slightly...
"Forget it, forget it, let's let Chu Changqing off the hook then." Sun Bumian also shrugged, turned back, and sat down at the dining table.
Jiang Xiaohua, without saying a word, also obediently returned to his seat and sat down.
Chen Ling quietly looked at the three people in front of him.
Then,
He suddenly burst into laughter.
The Torchlights on the walls and the candlelight on the dining table abruptly burned violently, making the entire dining hall even brighter:
"Hahahaha! Now that's right!!"
"We 6-series mbers have reunited after a long separation. Let's not let those ssy, broken matters spoil our mood... This is my ho turf, the Ghost Mockery Abyss. You've co from afar, tonight we must enjoy ourselves to the fullest!!"
The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe stood at the main seat of the long table, waved his sleeve vigorously, and shouted loudly:
"Soone co!! Serve the wine and dishes for this King!!!"
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