37 Ghost Market (Part 2)
Li Jintang hesitated for a moment, but finally followed him in and sat down on the chair next to him somewhat stiffly.
The curtain hadn't even risen yet. She stared at the empty stage and asked curiously, "When did you start liking the theater?"
He rested his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair in a casual manner. "Now."
“…”
Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the curtains parted. Smoke filled the stage, and several shadowy figures emerged from behind a small door. Li Jintang followed them around until she felt a little sleepy. She couldn't get up and leave, but it was too boring. She rubbed her eyes, forced herself to lean back against the chair, her eyelashes drooping slightly.
The play ended, but she had no memory of it, simply clapping along as everyone applauded. The man next to her sat, fiddling with a patterned teacup. Li Jintang watched for a moment before asking, "Didn't you say you were going to look for them? Why are you here?"
Xie Changyan glanced at her sideways, then his gaze returned to the stage. After a long pause, he blurted out, "Do you suspect I'm lying to you?"
"No," she denied immediately. After all, she didn't doubt him, and they were now in the same boat. Li Jintang thought for a moment, trying to find the right words: "I'm just worried your intuition might be wrong."
As they were talking, the curtain was drawn back again. This time, after the smoke cleared, the stage was still empty, without even a single person in sight.
The audience in the audience initially thought that this was a pre-opening atmosphere buildup, but after waiting for a long time, and even after adding two large pots of tea to the table, no one came out.
Everyone immediately started whispering:
"What kind of performance is going on today? Could it be that they tricked us into coming here just to stop us from doing business?"
"What's this Spring Song? It would be better to call it 'Empty City Strategy'!"
“…”
A man dressed in white slowly emerged from behind the stage. He wore a smile and bowed to apologize to the crowd. "Please be patient, everyone. The masters are preparing backstage and will surely present an even more exciting performance."
"Just be patient again. How many times have you said that tonight?"
No one appreciated it at all, but he didn't get angry. He kept smiling and walked out with his body hunched.
As soon as he left the stage, his expression changed immediately, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Why hasn't anyone come yet?!"
Before he could finish his words, two masked men walked out of the small house. One of them was holding his abdomen and was supported by the other, his face full of pain.
It was Qu Lingfei.
"This..." The man changed his expression to a servile one again and stepped forward with concern, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
Qu Lingfei raised one hand, shaking it for a long time before he managed to say, "I... my stomach hurts so badly. I'm afraid... I'm afraid I won't be able to go on stage."
"How can that be?" The man blurted out, then realized his mistake and reached out to support him, "Master, can you let me take a look..."
Seeing him reaching out his hand, Qu Lingfei was afraid of being exposed, so he staggered back quickly. Qiu Yan also cooperated by turning around and blocking in front of him. She held her breath when the man reached out his hand, so the other party did not sense her breath.
"It's okay, it's okay," Qu Lingfei rolled his eyes and continued in a weak voice, "My illness is special and I'm afraid it can't be cured in this area. Could you point us to a way out and have a look?"
"go out?"
"Ouch," Qu Lingfei pressed his forehead against his chest again. His superb acting skills left no doubt in the other party's mind. "I'm so sick that I even forgot how to get out. How about you lead the way?"
The man looked at the noisy crowd outside the stage, frowned, and said pleadingly, "Of course, this is no problem. But could you two please go on stage first? Otherwise... otherwise it will be difficult to give everyone an explanation."
Can we leave after the performance? This task is much easier than those previous escapes. Qu Lingfei immediately raised his head, straightened his collar, and waved to Qiu Yan beside him: "In that case, let's go on stage first."
"Hey, two masters, you haven't received your manuscripts yet!" A man held up a piece of paper covered with words and shouted loudly, but the two men walked too fast and the voice could not be heard after all.
The white-faced man knocked him on the head in frustration: "What do you know? Does the master still need to read the manuscript?"
"How can I know what to act without reading the script..."
The white-faced man gazed at the two figures from behind with admiration and sighed, "I've long heard of these two great names, and I'm delighted to meet them today. I just didn't realize they'd reached the point where they could improvise without a script. It seems we should practice harder..."
The two 'masters' had no idea that they had been touted as gods, and they strode out on their own.
"Brother, didn't you say you couldn't do it?" Qiu Yan took two quick steps to follow him and asked in confusion.
He was saying he wanted to run away not long ago, so why is he going on stage now without hesitation?
Before Qu Lingfei could answer, two people suddenly appeared from the corner. Although they were wearing masks, he recognized them at a glance.
"Nangong..." The last word was swallowed back. His outstretched hand was suddenly held by another little red-faced girl, and something cool was applied on it.
The little red-faced girl said sincerely, "Master, our shopkeeper has ordered that you use the best medicines, so I will do my duty for you!"
Qu Lingfei: "..." He watched Nangong Xiu turn around and leave without even glancing at him.
Soon after, Qiuyan was also pulled over and forced to "enjoy" this service.
The two little red-faced people let go of their hands, moved sideways to welcome the two people into a small path, and cast admiring glances at them from time to time.
When they reached the front of the stage, the two men finally couldn't hold back and said with admiration in their eyes, "The play 'Spring Song' you're going to perform is not only moving in plot but also quite a few lines. I'm really impressed that you two didn't even look at the script."
When Qu Lingfei and Qiu Yan heard this, they were stunned: "What Spring Song? Where did the manuscript come from?"
But the two men only said this, then turned and left, leaving the two of them standing there in a daze.
No, no one told them that they have to memorize the words for this thing!
The curtain was drawn aside with a whoosh. Qu Lingfei was sweating profusely. He was clearly panicking, but he still pretended to be calm and comforted Qiuyan: "Don't panic, Junior Sister. We have Brother Nangong here. He will definitely cooperate with us."
The lights on the stage came on, making everyone's face glow. As soon as the masked man walked onto the stage, the audience cheered.
The first scene of "Spring Song" is about a young girl from a fisherman's family who hums a little song on the beach while she is out washing clothes in spring. The young master of an official family who is passing by hears her and falls in love with her at first sight.
Qu Lingfei and Qiu Yan naturally played the roles of the young master of an official family and the daughter of a fisherman respectively. The first scene went quite smoothly. The two of them didn't know what their lines were, so they made some up on the spot, which actually won them rounds of applause.
After the first show ended, everyone on stage retreated backstage. Qu Lingfei watched anxiously, but where would he get the chance to see anyone else? Even Qiu Yan had disappeared. Now, the only people sharing the room with him were the two little red-faced girls who looked just like him.
When the big red curtain opened again, the scene on the stage changed - Qiuyan was tied up with several ropes and sitting on a wooden chair, with despair in her eyes, while the kidnapper leader played by Nangong Xiu was holding a big knife and standing in front of a group of kidnappers dressed the same way.
Qu Lingfei roughly understood that this was a scene of a hero saving a beautiful woman—but he really didn't know how to act next. Who could tell him how they could have been so sweet and loving in the previous scene, and now they were fighting a gangster?!
With no other choice, he had to bite the bullet and go on stage, trying desperately to wink at Nangong Xiu. However, he was wearing a mask that covered his face tightly, and the other party was short-sighted, so he didn't recognize him at all.
Nangong Xiu flipped his wrist, pointing the prop knife straight at him, and shouted, "If you want to save people, give me that thing in exchange!"
The audience was completely silent. Everyone was watching with fear and trepidation, feeling worried for the male protagonist.
The original script had the male character poisoned, no match for the kidnappers, and returning home to outwit and rescue the female lead. However, Qu Lingfei hadn't read the script, so after a brief brainstorming session, he concluded that a scene like this would involve the male lead stepping forward, fighting the kidnappers to the death, rescuing the female lead, and ultimately, the two of them happily marrying.
After thinking about it, he suddenly picked up the wooden stick placed aside and chopped directly at Nangong Xiu.
Nangong Xiu and the people watching the show behind the scenes were all stunned.
Qu Lingfei was completely unaware and started hitting fiercely with the wooden stick. Although Nangong Xiu didn't know why this guy didn't follow the script, he still instinctively raised his knife to block the weapon when it came in front of him.
The audience in the audience had not read the script of this play, so naturally they didn't know what the original plot was. But when they saw that the male protagonist was poisoned but still fought hard to protect his friends and was able to fight the kidnappers on equal terms, they couldn't help but admire him.
The two young ladies behind the scenes were amazed and said, "He's truly a master! He can deliver such a brilliant performance even without the script!"
However, the kneeling 'kidnappers' were completely dumbfounded - the protagonist had changed the plot without authorization, so should they turn a blind eye and continue kneeling, or cooperate with this master?
Nangong Xiu raised his sword to block while cursing in his heart: "How can someone like this be called a 'master'?" He thought that the other party would pretend to be defeated so that the rest of the plot could proceed normally, but unexpectedly, the man's speed was getting faster and faster, making it difficult for him to resist.
On the other side, Qu Lingfei was also very angry - he deliberately used the same sword technique twice that he used against Lu Chengfeng in Lu Zhuang that day, but Nangong Xiu still couldn't recognize it. In a moment of anxiety, he increased the strength of his hand, and with a bang, the big knife was knocked to the ground.
“…”
"Good!" The audience applauded loudly.
On the stage... I don't know how to proceed on the stage.
Being dragged here for no apparent reason to perform a certain show was already annoying, and now this guy was refusing to cooperate. Nangong Xiu was furious. How could he continue the show? He walked over to Qiuyan and quickly untied the rope. "Here you go, let's retreat!"
The group of 'kidnappers' on the ground had already been confused by this sudden change. Now, hearing his orders, they had no time to think and stood up one after another and followed him out.
The applause from the audience gradually faded, and everyone was stunned - they thought it would be a major event, how could it... end like this?
Qu Lingfei couldn't wait for this ridiculous performance to end so he could leave this place. He quickly stepped forward and took Qiuyan's hand, not forgetting to perform the final closing act, "I finally got you out safely."
“…”So corny.
Qiuyan smiled awkwardly, avoiding his 'loving' gaze.
Does her senior know that his acting skills are terrible?
The curtain was suddenly lifted, and the pretty boy who had just spoken walked out with a face full of anger, pointing at the two people on the stage and asking, "Who the hell are you?"
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