The Unicorn Purse
"Who is singing opera?"
"I saw in the newspaper, wasn't there only one Famous Actor invited to sing? Why is there another opera piece at the end?"
"Don't even mention it... this person's voice is so nice to listen to, completely different from that old man just now."
"This is simply a world of difference, okay?"
"No accompaniment, relying purely on a capella to have this level... There shouldn't be many people in the Main City who can do this, right?"
"Damn it, why can't we see inside? I really want to know what kind of person can sing with this kind of voice... I feel like he shouldn't be very old."
"..."
The sound of opera coming from inside the manor made the crowd who originally wanted to leave unconsciously stop their steps. They looked at the manor lingering in misty water vapor, seeming to forget for a moment that they were still standing in the rain.
...
"Brother Lin... and you still said you didn't know how to sing opera?"
In the shadows of the corridor, Li Qingshan looked at that red figure On Stage, shock surfacing in his eyes.
Even Li Qingshan, who had been exposed to opera since childhood, was shocked by Chen Ling's Singing voice at this moment. Having listened to so many operas, he could almost be certain that there was no living Dan Role who could sing better than Chen Ling!
"If only Brother Zhou and the others were here... If they heard Brother Lin's play, they would probably regain their confidence in the Theater Dao, right?"
Li Qingshan remembered the several Thespians who had shared joys and sorrows with him, who were still suffocated by the Beidou Consortium's contracts, and let out a long sigh.
He silently lowered his head to pray, praying that everything could proceed as Chen Ling wished, destroying those unfair treaties and returning freedom to everyone.
On the Stage, Chen Ling's peripheral vision reflected Li Qingshan's figure as he continued to sing melodiously in the rain:
"There are never only the rich and wealthy in the world.
There are also those who embrace hunger, cold, and sorrow,
There are also those who wail in frustration.
The person in the sedan chair plays a different tune,
There must be a hidden story in their heart..."
...
Creak—Creak...
Bursts of crisp sounds rang out from the blood-red cocoon. In the dead silent office, Zhong Qi stared fixedly at the cocoon wrapping Mu Chunsheng within it, so nervous he was almost suffocating.
In front of the cocoon, the corners of the black-robed Six Claws and Feijia's mouths curled into a smile simultaneously.
"It succeeded..."
Click!
As the last soft sound transmitted, a pair of arms so fair there wasn't a single flaw broke out from the blood-colored cocoon!
Immediately after, those hands grabbed both sides of the cocoon and tore forcefully. The blood-colored fragments fluttered down in the office, and a brand new body slowly walked out from it...
Naked, he stepped over that corpse that only had bones left, his soles stained with blood as he stepped on the ground step by step. He stopped in front of the tightly closed curtains naked, looking down at his tender hands, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curling up.
"I'm cured... I'm really cured... Hahaha... Hahahahahahaha!!!!"
A person who had been sick for a long time abandoned the Walking Stick that had supported him for half his life, gaining new life from its corpse... His wild laughter didn't stop, his desire was like a prairie fire, burning endlessly.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, the rain hit the window, and faint Opera Vocals came from outside:
"Hearing this sorrowful cry, my heart feels as if it's being pounded,
Why does a fellow traveler wail like this?
Could it be that the husband is ugly and doesn't match the wife's beauty?
Could it be a forced marriage, A Crow Usurping the Phoenix's Nest..."
...
"I'm going to die, I'm going to die..."
"If I had known, I shouldn't have gotten involved!"
"When those two spies came to me, I should have directly refused! Chased them out the door... Now it's great, helped them play matchmaker for my Maternal Uncle, and had to throw myself in as well!!"
"As soon as those two guys came, [Floating Life Painting] also arrived, and Mu Haowen is dead... How much longer can my little life last?"
In the room next door, Li Ruohong was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth frantically, wishing he could slap himself twice on the spot.
The faint sound of opera echoing outside the window made Li Ruohong even more annoyed. He abruptly pushed open the window and cursed:
"Sing, sing, sing, sing your mom?? This bunch of opera singers is really annoying..."
The sound of opera outside the window grew even louder, as if chuckling lightly, and also seeming to carry a hint of Mockery:
"The fool's questioning is too careless,
Inevitably bringing suspicion to the heart.
You shouldn't show off your pride in front of others,
Shouldn't waste words in a torrent..."
...
At the edge of the crowd in the venue, the chief's spirit was completely taut, his gaze constantly searching the surroundings.
He furrowed his brows tightly and murmured:
"Damn it, Six of Hearts... where exactly did he go?"
"No, this guy can change his face. He might have already changed to a new identity and mixed in with the crowd..."
The chief's gaze was like a sickle, scraping over those guests in front of him one by one, seemingly wanting to find even a trace of incongruity on them...
His gaze landed several times on that red figure On Stage, then subconsciously moved away, searching bitterly in the crowd again.
If he had to find a person in this venue who absolutely couldn't be Six of Hearts, that person could only be the Jinghong Theater Thespian "Lin Yan"... So, the target must be hiding Off Stage!
On the Stage wetted by rainwater, red sleeves flicked gently.
Chen Ling looked at the chief pacing back and forth below with a smile, his voice melodious and tactful, like immortal music:
"...This is the unpredictability of life~
I didn't expect a reunion today.
Looking back, prosperity is like an illusory dream,
A thread of a remaining life entrusted to the terrifying waves."
...
This song, The Unicorn Purse, tells the story of a Unicorn Purse filled with jewelry that a wealthy young lady gave to a poor woman when she got married. Then, an accident happened a few years later, the wealthy young lady fell into distress, but was rescued by this poor woman. It lamented the mysterious and impermanent fate of the human world, as if there was some kind of existence in the unseen world arranging everything.
Chen Ling choosing this song was also on a whim. Although the lyrics told a story, they seemed to correspond with everything happening right now, so he sang it out.
The heavy rain poured over Chen Ling's figure. Crystal clear water droplets rolled down his black hair, and that already soaked Theatrical Robe danced On Stage, like a fluttering red butterfly, making it impossible to tear one's eyes away.
Looking from Off Stage, the red figure was in the play.
Looking from On Stage, how were these living beings in the rain not also in a play?
Water sleeves rose, water sleeves fell. The threads of fate were woven in the red figure's dance music. In the reflection of those wet eyes On Stage, the curtain of a grand play fell with his Performance, only to slowly open...
The Opera Vocals had stopped, but the crowd hadn't yet recovered from that breathtaking Performance just now. The world was so quiet that only the soft sound of rain hitting the umbrella brims and the final echo of the Opera Vocals lingering in the sky remained.
"The Performance, is over."
On the Stage, the corners of that Red-Clad Performer's mouth curled up slightly. The soaked Theatrical Robe slowly opened its arms, as if to embrace this sky.
A murmur that only he himself could hear sounded simultaneously,
"The Performance... begins."
...
Inside the gorgeous and exquisite gift box.
On the surface of the bomb resting in darkness, a handwritten sticky note fluttered without wind.
——[The Thespian's Curtain Call, A Grand Firework].