Chapter 466 The Fourth Wall

The next day.

Chen Ling got up and washed up, then walked out of the house early.

Knowing that the master would teach him the secret method today, a sense of expectation and novelty diluted Chen Ling's sleepiness. Although he was familiar with several senior brothers and sisters now, he had no deeper intersection with the master except talking and eating every day.

In his cognition, in addition to being unserious and unreliable, "mysterious" was the strongest label on the master.

"Junior brother!"

As soon as Chen Ling opened the door, he saw Mojiao coming from a distance.

"Fourth senior brother, why are you here?"

"Master asked me to pick you up."

"Pick me up? Where to?"

"Master chose a place specifically for you, saying that he was afraid of accidents." Mojiao looked at the time and did not explain too much, but directly reached out and lifted a curtain in the void,

"Let's go."

Although Chen Ling was confused about what the so-called "accident" was, he still followed Mojiao into the curtain. After a slight sense of space reversal, his feet fell back to the ground.

Chen Ling looked around, with a flash of surprise in her eyes.

This is a theater.

A theater in the ancient collection of Xidao.

Chen Ling was standing in the aisle of the auditorium at this moment, surrounded by endless empty seats. The strange thing was that the appearance and age of these seats were different. Some were hard chairs made of wood with ancient shapes, some were comfortable and atmospheric red chairs in modern theaters, and there were also white round chairs in Western style, and even a large number of small benches of strange shapes...

It was as if countless audiences from different eras, with their own chairs, gathered here neatly, looking forward to a wonderful performance across time and space.

Going forward along the aisle, there was an ordinary stage, not too big or small, without luxurious decorations, nor too simple, just like a simple and pure "stage" itself stripped of all additional attributes.

"Here is..." Chen Ling said puzzledly.

"Performance area." Mojiao explained, "This area has two functions: 'performance' and 'watching performances.'"

"Performance is on the stage. All the plays, scenes, and props recorded in the ancient collection of Xidao can be used here at will. It is usually used for creation and rehearsal. We occasionally come here when we want to arrange some new operas or performances.

Watching performances is in the audience seats. Whether it is opera performances, dramas, or sketches and crosstalk, they can all be visualized on the stage. You can adjust what you want to watch...

In addition, there is a 'fourth wall' between the stage and the audience seats."

"Fourth wall?"

Chen Ling, who was born as a director, naturally knew what the "fourth wall" meant. This is a theatrical term, which refers to a dividing line between the stage and the audience on a traditional proscenium stage. It separates the actors and the audience, allowing the actors to focus more on the shaping of the characters when performing, and the audience can immerse themselves more deeply in the world of drama.

The meaning of "wall" is "insurmountable". The performance on the stage will not affect the audience, and the audience cannot intervene in the performance.

Just like the program played on the TV screen, no matter how big the earth breaks, it will not affect the people watching TV. The same principle can also be applied to novels, comics, movies, and stage performances... In other words, as long as the fourth wall exists, the "story" is just a "story" after all.

"What does it mean to have a fourth wall?" In Chen Ling's cognition, the existence of the fourth wall is just a concept, a term, and an illusory thing.

"It means literally." Mo Jiao pointed to the stage, "There is a 'wall' between the stage and the audience seats in the [performance area]. Even if you detonate a nuclear bomb on the stage, we will not be affected in the audience, because the fourth wall has divided us into two different worlds."

"So... here, the fourth wall really exists?"

"That's right."

Chen Ling was shocked. The wonders of the ancient collection of Xidao were beyond his imagination.

Mo Jiao led Chen Ling through the aisle and soon came to the bottom of the stage. At this moment, there were already several figures sitting in the first row of the audience seats, and they were Ning Ruyu, Wen Renyou, and Luan Mei.

Ning Ruyu was about to explain something when a voice rang out from the stage:

"The master asked them to come and serve as your assistants."

Chen Ling looked back and saw a young man wearing a stage robe, sitting leisurely beside the stage. As he waved his hand gently, waves of sound echoed in the theater.

Thump, thump, thump——

The lights around the stage lit up one after another, and soon the entire theater was brightly lit.

"Master." Seeing the master appear, several brothers, including Chen Ling, stood up from their seats and spoke respectfully.

The master nodded slightly and continued:

"Sixth Brother, how much do you know about facial makeup?"

Chen Ling thought for a moment, "In drama, facial makeup is a concrete manifestation of the character's personality and identity. Different colors and patterns have different meanings, allowing the audience to know the relevant information of the character at first glance."

"Not bad."

The master looked at Ning Ruyu and others, "Come, show it to your junior brother?"

Ning Ruyu and others looked at each other, then stepped onto the stage. The four of them stood in the center of the stage. The bright lights hit them, and they instantly became the focus of vision.

"Junior brother, you have to watch carefully."

After Ning Ruyu finished speaking, the four people's eyes slowly closed, and four completely different auras began to spread on the stage. A terrifying sense of oppression was like an unshakable mountain, pressing on the stage.

But perhaps because of the "fourth wall", Chen Ling did not feel the slightest discomfort under this pressure. He stared at the stage intently. After a while, the four senior brothers appeared with completely different facial makeup. Senior sister's face!

Ning Ruyu's face is very delicate. In addition to the light color embellishments that make it more handsome, there are also a few lines and lines, which bring a hint of coldness and chill like a sword's edge to this gentle and jade-like face.

Luan Mei's facial makeup does not have complicated colors and lines. It seems that it is just some light colors on the original face. It has a fresh and refined beauty, like the cold plum blossoms in the twelfth lunar month, aloof and cold.

Among the four, the one with the most fancy facial makeup is the third senior brother Wen Renyou. He has rough lines and bright colors. His burly figure and his majestic face make people feel fearful at a glance and dare not look directly at him.

There were no sharp lines on Mo Jiao's face, and Chen Ling couldn't even tell what was special about it. The moment he looked away from Mo Jiao's face, he seemed to have forgotten what that face looked like. …

At this moment, all other details about them seemed to disappear, only four faces with different styles, like labels, represented their respective roles.

It was as if all the four corners of [Sheng], [Dan], [Jing] and [Mo] in human history had gathered together and condensed into these four faces, displayed in front of Chen Ling.

…

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The text is stuck (?_?), wait for me to slow down and smooth it out, two updates for now~