"What... what's going on here?" A law enforcer was dumbfounded. "Can [Divine Favor]... be revoked?"
If the simultaneous descent of the three great divine paths with [Divine Favor] was still within their comprehension, the situation before their eyes had completely exceeded their cognition...
In all their years of life, they had never heard of anyone who obtained [Divine Favor] only to have their divine path severed later.
"As expected."
Outside the courtyard, the shadowy man nodded slightly.
"It's a pity that he finally obtained [Divine Favor] in a desperate situation but can only watch them retreat..." Having stayed at Chen Ling's home for so long, Chu Muyun naturally knew how much Chen Ling yearned for the divine path, and couldn't help feeling compassion.
"Pity?" The shadowy man gave him a strange look.
"There are thousands upon thousands of people in the world with divine paths, but he's the only one who has fused with a 'World-Destroying' calamity and still maintains his sanity... He's already a unique existence in this world. What's there to pity?"
Chu Muyun shook his head and remained silent.
In the courtyard.
Chen Ling stared at the three divine paths retreating rapidly and froze in place...
He had been abandoned by the divine paths.
That might have been the only hope in this world for him to break free from the control of the "Audience".
He didn't know what had happened, but he could sense fear from the divine paths. He turned to look behind him and vaguely saw those pairs of eyes gradually disappearing into nothingness.
"...It's you again." Chen Ling smiled miserably.
"Right, I should have thought... Once I step in the divine path, it means there's a possibility of breaking free from your control. How could you let that happen?"
"You wish I would forever stay on the stage, a marionette for your entertainment..."
Chen Ling's smile gradually turned cold, and deep despair welled up in his blood-rimmed pupils... Even the divine paths had retreated under the deterrence of the "Audience". As an ordinary person, he couldn't fathom how to escape them.
Rather than being a marionette for life, Chen Ling would sooner choose death.
The favor of the gods ebbed like a tide;
Chen Ling, clad in red, stood alone on a pile of bones, laughing despairingly and maniacally.
"Come on, Qian!" Chen Ling roared wildly. "Don't you want to kill me? Do it!! Shoot me in the head! Remember, to kill me completely, you need two shots!!"
Qian Fan was stunned for a moment before coming to his senses. Looking at the seemingly insane Chen Ling, a flash of killing intent passed through his eyes.
"Although I don't know what's going on... Now that you've lost your [Divine Favor], just wait for death!"
He raised the gun again, aimed at Chen Ling's head, and pulled the trigger!
Bang——!
This time, no miracle occurred.
The bullet pierced Chen Ling's skull, instantly ending his life. Half of his head shattered, spilling red and white matter onto the ground.
The courtyard fell into dead silence.
Qian Fan and the others looked at Chen Ling's half-headed corpse, and the tension in their hearts finally eased...
It wasn't that they were cowardly; everything about Chen Ling was just too strange, making them wonder if this guy was even human or if he could die.
But now, whatever he was, he was dead.
"This kid... was too eerie." Qian Fan put away his gun, spat on the ground, and turned to walk into the house.
As soon as he turned around, he saw the other two law enforcers under the eaves staring in horror...
"What are you doing?"
"Fan, Fan..." One of the law enforcers trembled and raised his hand. "H-h-h-him..."
Qian Fan frowned and looked back along the law enforcer's pointing direction, his pupils suddenly contracting!
The scarlet corpse propped on the bones strangely straightened its body. The drooping half of its head slowly lifted, and the shattered skull and flesh began to squirm wildly!
The remaining half of the eyelid suddenly raised, and the bloodshot eyeball stared fixedly at Qian Fan!
"Qian!!
Didn't I tell you to shoot twice?!!
One shot can't kill me!! Can't kill me!!!!"
The broken vocal cords rubbed frantically, emitting a teeth-grating sound. Even the seasoned Qian Fan and his men were terrified, nearly collapsing to the ground from weakness!
"Monster... monster!!" One law enforcer shouted in horror. "He's not human! He's a monster!!"
"Shoot!! Shoot now!" Chen Ling roared wildly. "Aim at the other half of my head! Come on!!!"
As this bizarre scene unfolded before the three, Qian Fan's hands began to tremble...
"I get it... It's you!" Qian Fan seemed to realize something. "You're the calamity that descended that night!!"
Hearing this, the other two law enforcers also snapped out of their daze, their faces turning paler.
They were truly terrified.
After all, the two calamities that crawled out of the Gray Realm were a Third Order and a Fifth Order—neither was something they could handle...
Grimacing, Qian Fan drew another gun from his waist and tremblingly aimed at the red-clothed monster imprisoned in the bones.
There was no choice left but to shoot.
But the moment he pulled the trigger, the pistol seemed to be gripped by something, and the barrel was brutally twisted into a knot!
Qian Fan felt a huge force slam into his chest. He flew backward like a broken kite, crashing through the house's door and slamming heavily to the ground.
The other two law enforcers stared wide-eyed at the void ahead, but saw no sign of the attacker!
There was nothing there.
But in Chen Ling's eyes, it was different.
A familiar red-clothed youth stood in the swirling snow, slowly turning to look at him... tears welling in his eyes.
"Brother..." he said. "Brother, you can't die like this. You can't accept this fate!"
Chen Ling's head was slowly repairing. His scarlet eye stared blankly at Chen Yan, the madness fading slightly.
He croaked,
"Don't accept fate? Then what can I do... Keep being their entertainment? What's the point?"
"But if you die now, you'll have nothing left."
"I have nothing even if I live," Chen Ling murmured. "Even if I survive, they'll keep interfering. They created you, so they can create a second, a third... One day, they'll drive me crazy."
"Brother! As long as you're alive, there's always hope... right?"
"...Hope?"
Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan's bloodshot eyes. After a long silence, he suddenly laughed.
"I understand now." Chen Ling turned to look behind him, his bloodshot eyes seeming to stare at something.
"You're afraid!!
You know if I die again, I'll be completely gone!!
You're scared that without me, there'll be no more performances, so you disguised yourselves as him to trick me into living, right?!!"
"Brother..."
"Offering me vague hope, making me desperately chase it, then shattering it when I'm about to reach it... That's what you want!"
"Brother!"