Chapter 27
Walking through the dark and cold corridor, he came to the innermost cell of the dungeon. Under the flickering candlelight, Zhuang Wei saw Yin Huanian, who was shackled and chains piercing his bones and was dying.
With disheveled hair and blood all over his body, he didn't have the noble appearance of the Young Master of Yuecheng at all.
"This is the fate of betraying me." King Nanling glanced at Zhuang Wei, who seemed to be trembling with fear, and added with a smile, "Don't worry, Master Zhuang. As long as you sincerely surrender to me, I will also treat you with respect."
As he spoke, King Nanling walked towards the torture rack beside him, took down a long whip with barbs and blood on the barbs, swung it in the air, and then King Nanling turned his wrist.
"Snap." The long whip with the sound of breaking through the air hit Yin Huanian's chest hard.
"This thief is now deaf and dumb, unable to hear anything. I had to wake him up myself, but out of kindness, I spared his eyes."
"I want him alive, so he can see me reign with his own eyes. Then I can torture him to pieces, only then can I appease the hatred in my heart."
In the numb pain, Yin Huanian's eyes slowly opened and saw King Nanling in front of him. There was no expression in Yin Huanian's eyes until King Nanling pinched his face and made him look at Zhuang Wei who was standing in the corner, half of his body hidden in the shadows.
The close-up shot allowed the audience to see Yin Huanian's subtle expressions. The chains clashed and made noises. Yin Huanian, who had been quietly accepting the whipping before, suddenly struggled.
"Hahaha." King Nanling laughed loudly. Zhuang Wei's presence could indeed stimulate Yin Huanian.
"Master Zhuang, come here quickly." King Nanling handed the blood whip to Zhuang Wei. "When 'old friends' meet again, Master Zhuang should show some appreciation."
After a moment of silence, Zhuang Wei took the blood whip and whispered, "Your Majesty is right."
Gu Jie gripped the long whip so hard that it turned white. He raised the whip and lashed it down.
The chains vibrated more and more violently. Yin Huanian struggled like a madman, his eyes red as he stared at Zhuang Wei's face. King Nanling's laughter echoed throughout the water prison. It was destined to be so. His former enemy was high and mighty, while he, Yin Huanian, had become a prisoner, an ant that could be humiliated at any time.
"Master Zhuang is a musician, but you're completely exhausted. Do you want me to send someone to help you?"
"Your Majesty, please give this opportunity to Zhuang Wei."
Another whip fell, and Zhuang Wei also laughed out loud: "Yin Huanian, you claim to be noble and upright, and the world respects you as Qinglian Duzhu, but you acted as an assassin and harmed my king. How foolish!"
Fool, Yin Huanian, you are a fool.
What does the world have to do with you, a mere zither player who can play music? You went there alone, and you entrusted Yuecheng to me. Did you ever ask if I was willing to take it on?
The chains collided, and Yin Huanian shouted silently.
Why are you here? Why are you here!
"You, the assassin, deserve to die. You deserve to be killed. I will destroy your high and mighty status and make you fall to the bottom of the valley like a puddle of mud. There will no longer be a Master Qin in the world. From now on, I, Zhuang Wei, will be the world's number one music saint."
Why are you here... To make a bet with a dead man.
…
Zhuang Wei stayed in the Nanling Palace. With his flattery of the Nanling King, he soon became the most favored musician of the Nanling King. In addition, Zhuang Wei had superb playing skills. Even the Nanling King would occasionally have some leisure time. He would send away the dancers and let Zhuang Wei play some music for him to enjoy seriously for a while.
During the past six months, King Nanling sent out his troops as promised. The army was unstoppable and the coalition forces of Li and Rui were defeated. Amid the laughter of the Nanling army, the holy city in the hearts of the former musicians turned into the ashes of history.
Back at the Nanling Palace, at the celebration banquet, the Nanling King looked at Zhuang Wei and asked, "How do you feel about this great victory, Master Zhuang?"
"Your Majesty is valiant and your army is invincible."
"Hahaha, I just love to listen to Master Zhuang talk. However, there should be many of Master Zhuang's acquaintances in this city, including your master. Now they are all dead. Master Zhuang will not blame me, right?"
Zhuang Wei finished his glass of wine, his voice flat, as if those people were strangers. He spoke coldly, "They deserved it. Your Majesty has shown mercy by allowing them to have their bodies intact."
"What I admire most is Master Zhuang's ruthlessness and viciousness."
"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. By the way, Your Majesty recently wanted to hear a new piece of music. Zhuang Wei pondered for several days and finally composed a masterpiece. I am ready to play it for Your Majesty at any time."
"That's great."
Sitting beside the table, the young man in white clothes wavered the bamboo in his hand, and the ancient zither made a sound. Since the fall of Yuecheng, King Nanling has trusted Zhuang Wei more and more. Of course, before entering the mansion every time, Zhuang Wei still went through layers of inspections, and even the inside of the musical instrument was not spared.
This time, it was King Nanling who heard that Zhuang Wei had created a unique piece of music.
"I want to hear what song made Master Zhuang so boastful."
The music wasn't particularly impressive at first, but as it continued to change, King Nanling, who closed his eyes and listened, also felt the changing images along with the artistic conception. That was—
The trance and confusion of Zhuangzi's dream of a butterfly, the persistence of King Wang's desperate pursuit of spring love, the vast loneliness of the mermaid's tears in the vast sea, and the warm and hazy joy of the warm sun in Lantian...
Before the song even ended, Prince Nanling couldn't help but applaud. Never one to behave himself, he sat up from the couch and asked Zhuang Wei in the distance:
"This piece of music is wonderful, and its artistic conception is quite rich. Master Zhuang is truly a great talent. The previous Yin Huanian was just a name with a false reputation. This king says that Master Zhuang is the world's foremost musician. With this piece of music, he can be deified. I wonder if this piece of music will be famous?"
"This piece of music is called 'Jinse'. I hope Your Majesty likes it. I composed it with an old friend."
"Old friend?"
Zhuang Wei smiled without saying anything, but King Nanling smiled meaningfully, pointed at Zhuang Wei and shook his head. He thought he understood. Zhuang Wei was unwilling to let his friend share the credit and wanted to monopolize the credit of creating Jinse. This also fits Zhuang Wei's image as a "villain".
He was truly immersed in the artistic conception of the Jinse music. Zhuang Wei had no weapons that could threaten him. King Nanling simply beckoned to Zhuang Wei, "Come closer and play. I want to savor this Jinse music more carefully."
"Yes, my king."
Unexpectedly, when the second zither was played, King Nanling was immersed in it halfway when the sound of the zither suddenly stopped and a string broke without warning.
"Your Majesty, calm down."
Prince Nanling didn't dwell on it, and even showed Zhuang Wei his rare patience for his trusted confidant. "It's not your fault, but I'm not satisfied yet. Hurry and finish the job, and continue playing for me."
Zhuang Wei knelt on the ground and whispered, "This zither is a legacy from my master. It's very old, and each peg was painstakingly crafted. Replacements are rare. Your Majesty, please forgive me. I've been hiding something from you. If I were to play it with all my might, truly unleashing the artistic conception of the zither, I'm afraid a string would break with a single sound, and only by shedding tears of blood could I achieve a truly stunning piece of music."
"Now that the string is broken, it seems it was a divine will, allowing Zhuang Wei to present this complete piece of music to the king."
Prince Nanling sat up straight, curiously saying, "Such a marvel actually exists. Master Zhuang, please play well. I'd like to hear how amazing it is. As for the broken strings, that's fine. Yin Huanian's qin is still gathering dust in the warehouse. I heard that the qin and zither from Yuecheng share a common origin. When the performance is over, I'll have the best craftsman remove the strings and replace them for your ancient zither."
Zhuang Wei's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he lowered his head: "Thank you... Your Majesty."
Zhuang Wei began to play again, and just as he said, every time he played a part, a string on the zither would break. It was obvious that Zhuang Wei was playing with all his strength, his movements were wide and open, his wide white sleeves fluttering, and gradually, red plum blossoms bloomed on his sleeves.
Blood beads fell along Zhuang Wei's fingertips, the string broke, and red blood beads splattered.
Against the background sound of the zither, a narration sounded, and an ancient poem, each blood-stained sentence was typed on the right side of the screen.
"Brocade Zither" (Li Shangyin): The brocade zither has fifty strings, each string and each pillar recalls the prime of life. Zhuangzi dreamt of butterflies in the morning, while King Wang placed his spring love on the cuckoo (note)...
Sometimes the scene shows Zhuang Wei playing the piano in the courtyard, sometimes the ruins of Yuecheng, sometimes a rushing waterfall and an uninhabited boulder, and sometimes it switches to the young man in the water dungeon, his life or death unknown...
Finally, the scene switches back to the courtyard, focusing on the face of King Nanling who is listening with half-closed eyes and enjoying himself.
With elegant tunes playing in his ears and Zhuang Wei's ten fingers breaking the performance, King Nanling, who already liked bloody killings, became more obsessed. Instead of calling for a stop, he unconsciously stood up from the couch and approached the performer in the courtyard step by step, sniffing the scent of blood with a morbid excitement in his eyes.
Finally, the playing ended, and all twenty-five strings broke. Prince Nanling stood beside the zither and couldn't help but applaud: "What a beautiful zither, what a wonderful performance, Zhuang... Ho, ho, ho..."
Zhuang Wei, whose hair had been loosened at some point, suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with hatred that was no longer concealed. He grabbed a thin string of the zither with both hands and tightened it around King Nanling's neck.
As Zhuang Wei exerted force with his palm, the slender but not fragile strings cut into the flesh, and red lines flowed from the neck of King Nanling and the palm of Zhuang Wei at the same time.
"Let me go! If anything happens to me, do you think you'll survive?"
Looking around, Zhuang Wei laughed out loud. He continued to increase the strength in his hands, feeling the Nanling King's struggle from tense to weak. His voice was hoarse, "Zhuang Wei came here only to kill people. Even death is enough for me."
The palace guards who were not allowed to carry weapons finally got their equipment. The courtyard walls were filled with archers, with their arrows pointed directly at Zhuang Wei.
Zhuang Wei's grip on Prince Nanling loosened, and he slowly collapsed beside the dilapidated ancient zither. In his final moments, Zhuang Wei's gaze seemed to pass beyond the palace walls and into the depths of the dungeon. His lips moved slightly as he silently said, "I win."
Suddenly, shouts and cries of killing were heard outside the palace. The coalition forces lying in ambush outside took the cessation of the zither sound as a signal and attacked the palace.
In the chaos, no one cared about King Nanling who had already died. The zither string almost broke half of King Nanling's neck. This was the deepest hatred in the world.
The movie ends, and the last scene shows King Rui unifying the country and rebuilding Yuecheng.
In the back mountain of Yuecheng, there is a small wooden house and courtyard. With a creak, the wooden door opened.
Zhuang Wei, dressed in black, slowly walked out of the house pushing a wheelchair. In the wheelchair sat Yin Huanian, dressed in white.
Next to the familiar waterfall, Zhuang Wei leaned against a boulder and listened with his eyes closed, while Yin Huanian was playing the guqin with his sleeves waving.
After the song ended, Yin Huanian looked at Zhuang Wei and gestured with sign language: Does it sound good?
Zhuang Wei jumped off the boulder and said with a smile, "Of course the music I composed is absolutely stunning."
As Zhuang Wei spoke, he raised his stiff palms and gestured hypocritically: It's just so-so, I'm sure it would sound better if I played it.
Yin Huanian showed a helpless expression. He knew both sign language and lip reading, which meant that he understood both of Zhuang Wei's expressions.
Yin Huanian raised his hand and praised: You play better.
During the assassination attempt, Zhuang Wei and Yin Huanian were rescued by the coalition forces during the chaos. However, no matter how famous doctors treated them, Yin Huanian's voice and legs could not be restored. Zhuang Wei, whose palms were also strangled when King Nanling's neck was broken, could never play the piano again.
However, it doesn't matter to the two of them.
Yin Huanian couldn't hear, so Zhuang Wei was his ear.
If Zhuang Wei cannot play, Yin Huanian will also be Zhuang Wei's hand.
Yin Huanian used sign language again: Have you thought of a name for this song?
With the green mountains at his feet, Zhuang Wei tilted his head to look at the turbulent waterfall and smiled. "I've decided, let's call it—High Mountain Flowing Water."
[The show is over. Wow, I was so scared in the middle. Luckily, both of them are fine.]
[The heavens are broken and the earth is incomplete, why must we be so matched? But, as long as we are alive, that's enough. ]
[Finding candy in broken glass, with a knife wrapped in candy wrapper. Okay, okay, you really have to play this way, right?]
[It's complicated. I don't know whether to call him Huan Daodao or Huan Tiantian.]
[Huan Daodao, if you ask me why, didn't anyone notice that the image quality was a bit foggy when the two young masters appeared at the end? Did anyone notice a butterfly landed on the ancient zither when Lao Zhuang was listening to the music?]
[Thinking carefully, it is terrifying. Zhuangzi dreamed of a butterfly, a dream of a yellow millet. Could it be that this was a beautiful dream that Laozi and Zhuangzi had before their death?]
I disagree! The turbulent times are over, and both have survived and retired to the mountains. Warm colors are perfectly fine. The butterfly that symbolizes beauty lands on the broken, blood-stained ancient zither, telling us that everything is over and good times are about to begin. Families, don't scare yourselves! QAQ!
The release of "Jinse" has ended, but the audience's discussion has just begun. What the audience is most concerned about is Jinse's true ending.
Are Zhuang Wei and Yin Huanian alive or dead?
Is this drama a he or a be?
Those who believe that the ending will be be provide sufficient details and also raise a logical question: Even if chaos occurs, can the coalition forces really rescue Zhuang Wei and Yin Huanian safely from Nanling City?
Even if King Nanling is dead, his soldiers are still there.
For the "he" party, the reason is very simple: in addition to the fact that butterflies symbolize beauty, Director Huan filmed it that way, so we believe it.
Even without any solid evidence, the two are still alive, living in the drama and even more in the hearts of their fans!
No rebuttal is allowed.
Professor Gu also asked Huan Xu about the ending of the plot.
Even to Professor Gu, Huan Xu didn't give a direct answer. He just smiled and said, "What you see, what you think, and what you wish for is what you get. When you asked me, you already had a preference in your mind."
"That's the best outcome for you."
Although Huan Xu's "open" ending soothed the sensitive and fragile hearts of some fans, fans' acceptance of the ending does not mean they will pay for Huan Daodao's stabbing behavior.
An emotional fan shouted threats under Huan Xu’s blog:
"Let me put it this way. If you dare to shoot the next Huan Dao Dao movie like this, tell me in advance. No matter how well you shoot it, how charming the protagonist is, or how exquisite the costumes and props are, I won't watch it!"
"Additionally, go shoot a hey drama for me. A truly sweet drama. Huan Daodao, you definitely know what I'm talking about."
“Second!”
"The banner of resistance has been raised. Families, gather here and boycott Huan Daodao together!"
"Honestly, brother, if this doesn't work, we can just forgo the emotional drama. Please, brother, let the child be happy."
This building soon piled up to hundreds of layers. Of course, despite the fans' current fierce resistance, everyone knew in their hearts that this was just a temporary gratification. If Huan Xu dared to shoot his next drama like this, they would definitely not be able to help but watch it.
The original training group has now been changed into a group of Huan Dao’s mother fans. Don’t ask, the answer is that Huan Xu is the one they “trained” from being a newcomer, so there is nothing wrong with being a mother fan.
Blue: Even if I got stabbed silly in the middle, I still couldn't help wanting to go for a second try. Who understands?
Dadabai: There’s nothing you don’t understand, you’re just a cheapskate.
Blue:?
Dadabai: I am also despicable, simply poisonous. I couldn’t help but continue to kneel and watch the movie while crying bitterly qaq.
Love eating oranges: I hope Huan Daodao can see the voice of the people.
Qian Duoduo: My experience tells me that the more talented a director is, the more likely he or she is to have his or her own ideas.
The training group fell silent for a moment. What Qian Duoduo said made sense, but the problem was that it made too much sense. They had not yet recovered from the shock of the ordeal and now just wanted to be quails. They did not want to face up to this cruel and cold world so quickly.
Is Huan Xu someone who can be easily threatened? The answer is of course no.
"So, the next one?" Gu Chen had a tense face and his voice was a little hoarse. Although he had watched the internal channel in advance and just watched it again after the official release on the entire network, his emotions were still affected by the plot.
Huan Xu raised his hand to stroke the depressed puppy, whose ears and tail seemed to be drooping. Under Xiao Gu's suddenly bright gaze, he curled the corners of his lips and said, "Well, it's time for a happy ending in the next movie."
Although he does not accept threats or inducements, Director Huan is willing to meet fans' small requests to a certain extent.
Moreover, he is not a professional director of sad stories. Even tragedy can sometimes be filmed in a comedic way. Huan Xu did not like to stick to the rules in the past, and he also likes changes now.
To put it simply, not only do the audience want to see something Su Shuang, but Huan Xu himself also wants something new.
"Have you got any inspiration for the next one?" Gu Chen asked impatiently, with a hint of admiration for his powerful brother on his face that he himself had not noticed.
Huan Xu smiled and said, "I guess so."
Huan Xu didn't reveal any spoilers, and Gu Chen didn't ask any more questions: "I'm going back to my room to do my homework. You should go to bed early."
"Well, it's finally the weekend. Xiaochen, you should go to bed early. It's not too late to do math problems during the day."
"Okay." Gu Chen agreed quickly. He hadn't planned to do advanced math problems tonight as he still had tasks to complete.
Returning to the room, Gu Chen carefully locked the door and sat at the desk. While rewatching Jinse, he opened the memo and deleted and revised his thoughts on the movie over and over again.
The number of clicks on Jinse is increasing. Some viewers who decided to take a break and rewatch the show after watching it, ran to the film review section that was set up earlier, and began to wait for the reviews of professional film critics, and kept a small notebook ready to take notes at any time, and replaced the signatures they had used for a while with new ones!
"Do you think Teacher Taihang will comment on Jinse again this time?"
"Of course. Although Teacher Taihang used to have a very cold and willful style, who is our Director Huan? I guarantee that Teacher Taihang will also think Director Huan is good!"
"There's no need to mention Teacher Xingchen. Like me, she's a die-hard fan of Director Huan. By the way, I'm here to read Teacher Xingchen's long review."
"Just what I said, Teacher Taihang updated his status, and two of his posts were related to Director Huan. Hahahaha, this is love."
The film review was forwarded and shared by fans immediately to more like-minded people.
Taihang posted two comments less than a minute apart, still with the familiar cold style of fans. The few words were concise and insightful, and those who didn't know might have thought they were the official slogan of the film.
Taihang: Boya and Ziqi, a friendship between gentlemen; high mountains and flowing water, a distance of thousands of miles.
Taihang: It is the place with the most romantic feelings and writes all the untitled poems.
Undoubtedly, "High Mountains and Flowing Water" is Jinse's film review, and most of the fans who have been influenced by Huan Xu's strong cultural output also understood the second comment of Taihang in seconds.
New doubts arise: who are Boya and Ziqi?
A quick-handed fan thoughtfully attached in the comment section the story of Boya and Ziqi from the history of the mother planet that he had just searched for.
The rest of the fans also quickly browsed. The musician and the woodcutter, different identities, the same love for mountains and rivers, the same hardship of finding a true friend.
"Teacher Taihang has an astonishingly rich cultural heritage, and he can quote stories from his home planet with ease. I'm really curious about his identity."
"The signature has been changed. Thank you, teacher."
"In one word: 'good'! Director Huan's movies are good, and the teacher's film reviews are also good! Teacher Taihang really understands Director Huan. Copy the link. It seems that Teacher Taihang and Director Huan can be considered close friends!"
The link copied by this fan was a post by Huan Xu on his space, which was a small activity to interact with fans.
Huan Xu: The inspiration for Jinse comes from a story about a close friend on our home planet. Fans who know about this story can tag it with the keyword downstairs. After 24 hours, Xiaohuo will draw 20 lucky viewers and give them lucky gifts.
As a result, Huanxu's event had just begun, and fans were still downstairs asking Huanxu to give more clues, but Taihang announced the answer almost at the same time.
The fans who saw it immediately reposted it, and other fans followed suit, copying and pasting the top student's homework, hehe.
Huan Xu didn't mind the fans' opportunism. It was originally a small event, and the purpose was to mobilize fans' attention to the culture of the mother planet. No matter what the process was, the result was achieved anyway.
However, Huan Xu did not expect that Taihang's film review could directly quote the story of Boya and Ziqi.
Clicking into Taihang's space, Huan Xu also liked the comment saying that he and Taihang were close friends.
Yan Ze did not log off immediately after posting his comment today, so after Huan Xu liked it, he immediately received a system reminder: Dear Taihang, Huan Xu, whom you pay special attention to, just thought your comment was very good. Keep up the good work to attract more attention from him.
Yan Ze: ...Where did this artificial idiot come from?
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