Most of the people in the audience listening to Yun Jin’s performance were her loyal fans...
But loyal didn’t an blindly devoted—they weren’t the kind of brainless fans who praised everything without question.
When it ca to Yun Jin’s new opera, they voiced their opinions honestly and directly:
"Well, it’s true... it does seem like Master Yun was a bit rushed when writing this new play."
"The rhyming, the tonal balance, the depth of the lyrics—there’s definitely room for improvent."
"Ah co on, Old Li—everyone knows you’re a scholar who loves nitpicking words and quoting the classics..."
"Just because you don’t like it doesn’t an I don’t! I don’t want your opinion—I want my opinion!"
"I work on a construction site. All I have is strength, not much education. Honestly, the lyrics are too sophisticated—I can’t really understand them!"
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Good lyrics or not, can we all agree Master Yun’s singing is amazing?"
"That’s without question. Her vocal skills are second to none in all of Liyue!"
"Most of Master Yun’s plays in recent years are based on real-life stories... they always have so kind of origin or inspiration."
"I wonder who the inspiration for this current opera is?"
"What’s the point in guessing now? The show’s not even over yet—maybe sothing important is still coming. Just keep listening carefully!"
As the accompanying music faded, Yun Jin took a deep breath and continued:
"The tides rise and fall, day after day."
"The hero and his companions have overco countless hardships together."
"Though the journey to slay the dragon was fraught with peril, together they made it through."
"The hero believes—the day of peace is at hand."
"For once the evil dragon is vanquished, the world shall know harmony again!"
After finishing the verse, Yun Jin gave a deep bow to the audience and said:
"If the tale of the hero slaying the dragon were to end here, it would be nothing more than a grand beginning with a hollow end—a cliched and tired old tale."
"But today, I shall add one more brushstroke to this story, and sing it for you all to hear!"
Hearing this, Su Yuan imdiately frowned and fell deep into thought...
Yun Jin... don’t tell you’re about to turn this into one of those ’the dragon-slaying hero becos the new evil dragon’ stories...?
To be honest, this is also a pretty cliched twist...
Yun Jin took a deep breath and continued to sing:
"On the dragon-slaying journey, the hero sotis lost control, disturbed by a sense of unease."
"In the final battle, after slaying all the dragons, he realized—
the last evil dragon was hidden within himself."
Hearing these lyrics, Su Yuan found himself at a loss for words...
The general aning was clear: the dragon-slaying hero would sotis lose control of his body and feel disturbed by it.
Then, after finally defeating all the evil dragons, he discovered that there was still one dragon left—hiding inside himself?
Oh great, Su Yuan thought.
So it really is going this way...
Maybe it wasn’t exactly "the hero becos the evil dragon," but... it sure felt close enough.
And considering the earlier lyrics said the evil dragon could corrupt people’s hearts and control their bodies...
Now that there’s a dragon inside the hero—wouldn’t that an the dragon would soon take over his body and start killing off all his companions?
Su Yuan shivered involuntarily.
Why did this "hero" in Yun Jin’s play feel... eerily familiar?
anwhile, Neuvillette and Zhongli, after listening to Yun Jin’s lyrics, exchanged a glance, clearly having thought of the sa thing.
They then subtly turned their eyes toward Su Yuan...
As for Yun Jin—after finishing that part of the play, she suddenly fell silent, standing motionless on stage.
Soone in the audience couldn’t help but call out:
"Master Yun, what’s going on? Why aren’t you continuing the story?"
"After the hero discovers the final evil dragon is within himself, what does he do? What becos of him? And what about his companions—what’s their fate?"
"Also, we all know that the plays you write always have real-life inspirations..."
"So in this Dragon-Slaying Hero story—who is the hero? And who is the evil dragon?"
But Yun Jin didn’t respond directly.
She simply gave a gentle smile, made a graceful bow of thanks, and said:
"The story of the hero slaying dragons shall pause here for now..."
"If you wish to know what happens next—please look forward to the next installnt."
As soon as she said this, the crowd let out a collective groan:
"Aaaahhh! Master Yun, what are you doing?!"
"This is a stage play, not a serialized storytelling session!"
"Why are you doing the whole ’to be continued’ thing like Iron Tongue Tian and Tea Master Liu Su?!"
At that mont, Zhongli stood up and addressed the group:
"Let’s go. There are so questions I think we need to ask Yun Jin in person..."
"Indeed," Neuvillette nodded, speaking calmly.
"While Yun Jin’s performance was truly remarkable, what I find strange is—none of us contacted her. So how does she already know about the Eerie?"
"Yun Jin? Knows about the Eerie?" Lyney asked in confusion.
"Didn’t she just sing a story about a hero slaying an evil dragon? What does that have to do with the Eerie?"
"Ugh, dumb brother, I think your brain’s actually rusting..." Lynette tapped Lyney’s head, pouting a little as she teased:
"Didn’t you catch on? In that play just now, the ’hero’ and the ’evil dragon’ were clearly symbolic of real things—or people."
"The hero is Su Yuan... and the evil dragon represents the Eerie."
"Huh? Is that what it ant?" Lyney scratched his head, laughing awkwardly:
"Master Yun’s singing, her presence on stage... it was all so captivating that I got totally imrsed. I didn’t even think about the deeper aning..."
"Looks like I’m the only one here who completely missed the point."
anwhile, Su Yuan could only put on a polite yet awkward smile in response...
Actually, if Lynette hadn’t pointed it out, Su Yuan realized he probably wouldn’t have connected the dots so quickly himself...
Although he’d had a vague sense that the story of the hero slaying the evil dragon felt oddly familiar, he had dismissed it as just another cliché plot from his previous world—never imagining it would have anything to do with his current self.
But the "hero who crossed into another world" described in the play... that was him.
The part about "using clever tricks to gain trust and finding kindred allies" must’ve referred to when he first earned Neuvillette’s trust.
And the "evil dragon hiding everywhere, skilled at concealing itself" clearly symbolized the Eerie—lurking within the crowd, hiding deep within people’s hearts, disguised in plain sight.
What shocked Su Yuan most was that Yun Jin even knew his body occasionally acted on its own, doing things beyond his control...
Yet at the end of the opera, the hero and his companions supposedly defeated the Eerie—only to discover the final Eerie still remained, hidden within his own body.
What was that supposed to an?
If the earlier lyrics seed to summarize his past experiences, then the latter half... almost felt like a prophecy.
In any case, one thing was certain: he had to find Yun Jin and ask her directly—how did she know all this?
--------------
Exclusive access : 450 ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz
Reviews
All reviews (0)