Chapter 132
"wait--!"
The beauty seemed to sense something in Xie Xubai's words midway through his speech, and exclaimed in surprise, trying to dissuade him, but it was too late.
As soon as he spoke, the ticket in Xie Xubai's hand suddenly burst into flames without any fire, but he found that the fire did not harm anyone, so he did not let go.
Flames licked the ticket, specks of black ash drifting into the air, resembling a thick, oppressive black haze that made it hard to breathe. The ticket wasn't burned; instead, it seemed to have been cleansed of its impurities by the orange-red flames, revealing its original appearance.
Below the words "Tangzuo" in the very center, there is a large blank space, which now appears as if someone has written it stroke by stroke, revealing the title of the play in vermilion ink.
—The Great Shadow of the Desert River
At the very moment the fire started, a scene he had never seen before flashed into Xie Xubai's mind.
The image is from a side view, with perfect proportions, ingenious composition, and image quality so clear that every detail is exceptionally beautiful, even giving the impression of being deliberately crafted.
The entire scene is divided in two by the surging river in the center.
Above was a thin, small child who looked to be in his teens. He was kneeling on the riverbank, his upper body lowered, his face very close to the water, as if his head would be submerged in the water at any moment.
His fingers were clenched, knuckles tense, as he pressed them forcefully into the dirty mud on the riverbank. His hair and clothes were covered in mud, and his chest was soaked through. His eyes were wide open, his neck stretched out as far as he could, his eyeballs bloodshot, staring in terror at the rushing river.
A giant shadow appears beneath the river.
Pitch black, with raised edges, a large mass occupying the entire riverbed, its nature indistinguishable. It stared intently at the child, as if constantly approaching, as if silently inviting him.
Pei Yuheng and the others' expressions changed slightly at this moment, and they suddenly stood up, because they noticed something strange downstairs.
The woman who had been singing in the center of the stage had already left. A troupe of opera performers, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, took their places on either side, each holding an erhu, a moon lute, and large and small gongs.
Their faces were painted with bright red and green, thick greasepaint, covering their true appearances. The corners of their mouths were strangely upturned, and they stared enthusiastically in Xie Xubai's direction, as if he were the only guest left in the entire theater.
The area in front of the stage had also changed. Xie Xubai was puzzled when he entered, wondering why such a good spot for watching the play was empty without tables or chairs.
Even now, the inverted triangular tiered seats appear out of nowhere, with only one seat in the front row, level with the stage, showcasing its unique prestige.
Once everything was in place, the beauty knew she couldn't change anything anymore. After a moment of silence, she glanced at Xie Xubai with mixed feelings.
His voice was androgynous; it had been so sweet and tender that it could melt a person's bones, but now, probably annoyed by Xie Xubai's presumptuousness, his tone suddenly rose and became a bit deeper: "The show is about to begin. Please choose a good seat among those seats and take your place."
Xie Xubai's theater ticket had a designated seat, but the beauty let him choose for himself, her gaze fixed on the only seat in the first row.
Upon seeing that the tickets had been used, the attendant's expression changed drastically. His enthusiasm vanished, replaced by a gloomy and resentful look. He immediately cried out in a shrill voice, "No! This is against the rules!"
His shouting caused the others to become restless as well.
The beauty glanced at him coldly, and the servant immediately seemed to have been choked, choking back his words, and lowering his head in a mixture of hatred and fear.
The beauty chuckled and said, "He's the only audience member here. Where he chooses to sit is none of the theater's business, so who can object?"
"Besides," the beauty said casually as she walked downstairs, "he can produce one ticket, and who knows, he might produce a second or a third. You can't help but show your true colors and start making a fuss. Do you want the guests to hate your ugly behavior?"
The servant's contorted, resentful expression froze on his face. As if only now realizing what had happened, he looked at Xie Xubai in a panic, hastily explaining, "No, sir, just now, I was..."
Xie Xubai could sense other people's emotions. From the moment he saw these servants, he knew that they had ill intentions. He didn't know exactly what those intentions were, but he chose to trust his intuition and judgment, as well as the beautiful woman's words, "They are not worth pitying."
Ignoring the servant's explanation, Xie Xubai followed the directions on the theater ticket and was about to go downstairs when Xie Kaile called out to him worriedly, "Teacher."
Xie Xubai turned around. The young man pursed his lips, seemingly worried and wanting to stop him from doing something dangerous. Finally, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, no one can cause trouble."
Pei Yuheng didn't speak, but just looked at him and nodded. Ping An wagged its tail, its eyes filled with the same trust and support.
Xie Xubai met their gazes, smiled slightly, and then went downstairs to his seat in front of the stage.
Their conversation was neither too loud nor too soft, yet it seemed as if everyone could hear it.
Upon seeing that Xie Xubai's ticket had been used, the staff members cursed in unison, their expressions changing faster than the actors on stage.
Upon hearing the beauty say that Xie Xubai might still have tickets, an extraordinary fervor rose in the eyes of this group once again. Overjoyed, they rushed towards Xie Xubai and reached out to grab them.
"Guest, guest, please request my performance next time!"
"Don't leave, guest! Look at me!"
"guest--"
Ping An called out from upstairs, and three pairs of eyes coldly looked at the staff. An invisible pressure pressed down like a tsunami, and all those who tried to approach Xie Xubai staggered, their eyes filled with fear.
Some people turned pale and dared not go up.
When Xie Xubai sat down in the first row, they seemed to be bound by some inescapable restriction, their legs stuck in front of their seats, unable to move any further.
But some people were still unwilling to give up. Their hair was turning gray, their faces were haggard and unrecognizable, and they pleaded with tears streaming down their faces, almost kneeling down before Xie Xubai: "Guest, look at me, please choose my role! I still have my parents and children outside. My father is paralyzed and disabled, and my child is only a few years old. How can I, an old mother, survive? I must leave this damned place. Please have mercy on me!"
Xie Xubai subconsciously looked at him, his bloodshot eyes filled with tears, in extreme pain.
At that moment, the beauty stepped onto the stage, and the resounding music began, suddenly bringing the once silent stage to life.
He looked down, glancing subtly at Xie Xubai, a fleeting, indescribable emotion flashing in his eyes.
Red silk and gorgeous dresses danced, and amidst the shimmering light, the beauty stepped to the rhythm, opening her mouth to sing a song with a thousand turns and twists.
"That weasel dons a sheep's skin, wiping away tears and sobbing to evoke pity, but little do people know that beneath that skin lies a filthy heart and black lungs, reeking of stench. Sir, please be careful, lest you be deceived, eat its liver, and have your bones buried at the bottom of the river—"
Xie Xubai was still looking at the man who was pleading with him. The man stretched out his hand until the very last moment, crying out sincerely and sorrowfully, "Please...!"
The next second, his vision blurred.
The man's crying face suddenly became blurry, as if covered by a rough veil, no longer clear.
"In this world, cause and effect are predetermined. If it doesn't concern you, then stay out of it and don't get involved; otherwise, you'll only get yourself into trouble."
The beauty's singing voice grew fainter and fainter as it faded into the distance.
Xie Xubai felt a sudden wave of drowsiness for no apparent reason, and his thoughts became abnormally stagnant, much like the harbinger of the opening of the previous instance.
His experience kept him calm; he remained seated, allowing his consciousness to drift away.
Suddenly, a sharp child's cry exploded in his ears, overlapping with the unfinished singing and the man's pleas, instantly drowning out all the noise, extremely mournful.
Man: "Please choose my role. I have parents at home, please..."
Child: "I don't want to go! Please, please spare me! No! Dad! Mom! Help me, I want to go home—!"
Xie Xubai's unfocused pupils suddenly regained their light.
He focused his gaze, and the first person he saw was still that man, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a round face, and a kind and prosperous appearance.
But now, the tears that had covered his face disappeared, and the man narrowed his eyes, revealing a shrewd and ruthless coldness.
When the child cried and screamed, he simply raised his hand and slapped him across the face.
"You beastly brat! It's your good fortune that I chose you to serve me, and you still dare to cry and make a scene!"
Xie Xubai instantly realized that the crying was coming from his own mouth, and that the man's slap, accompanied by a whooshing sound, was very close. Without hesitation, he stepped aside.
The man's slap missed its mark, and he was momentarily taken aback, probably not expecting Xie Xubai to have the audacity to dodge.
The surprise quickly turned into anger, and the man pounced to grab Xie Xubai. Who would have thought that the previously stupid child would suddenly become clever and as agile as a cat, circling him several times without even touching his sleeve.
The man was several sizes bigger than the theatergoer, and looked like someone who didn't move around much. He quickly became out of breath and yelled at the burly men dressed as thugs next to him, "What are you all watching! Grab this little punk!"
Xie Xubai had roughly figured out the situation here while he was on the run.
What you see now is a dilapidated courtyard. The old house behind it has peeling paint, and the wooden windows are covered with rusty iron bars. The house door is wide open, and a group of thin, emaciated children are sitting huddled together on the ground.
They were filthy, their faces covered in mud, and their ankles were bound with chains, the ends of which were fixed to the wall.
Seemingly noticing the commotion Xie Xubai had caused, several pairs of timid eyes looked at him, filled with numbness and emptiness.
Xie Xubai's heart sank slightly, and he turned to look around.
The wall here appears to have been reinforced and heightened multiple times. The trees along the wall have been deliberately cut down, leaving only bare wooden stakes. From a child's perspective, the wall appears as high as a three-story building, making it impossible to climb over.
The only way out was through the courtyard gate, but it was guarded by several burly men, blocking the way completely.
Xie Xubai tried to circulate his mental energy and, unsurprisingly, encountered resistance.
But unlike the limitations he had faced before, this resistance was something that could be overcome; his power was sufficient to break it!
The problem is that Xie Xubai has a premonition that if he uses his power to break through the limitations, the next second this place, which is either an illusion or a newly opened instance, will be destroyed by his power, just like a box of fixed size will be squeezed and burst by constantly added filling.
He had encountered a similar situation before; the small tentacles of the Jiang family altar were enraged, and their powerful pressure almost crushed the entire instance.
Glancing at the group of children, Xie Xubai withdrew his spiritual power without hesitation, thinking of other ways to escape. Practice makes perfect, and encountering a ghost while watching a play was within his expectations. That's why he was able to remain calm even though the hideous thugs brushed past him several times.
Suddenly, a commotion arose at the entrance of the courtyard, as if someone was being surrounded by people to watch the excitement. Xie Xubai raised an eyebrow and looked over.
This courtyard is a den of child traffickers, and he guessed that the person who came was probably the man's accomplice.
To everyone's surprise, a boy dressed in fine clothes appeared. He was about twelve or thirteen years old, with red lips and white teeth. He wore a furry fox fur scarf and held a copper hand warmer covered with cashmere. His demeanor and manners exuded an indescribable air of nobility, and it was clear at a glance that he had been carefully raised by his family.
He stood lazily at the door, and no one stopped him. Xie Xubai dodged and weaved, while the man beside him cursed and jumped up and down, as if amused: "Uncle Mo, how come I didn't know you had a talent for performing monkey shows? Why don't you do the next show yourself? It'll definitely be a hit."
Xie Xubai also looked at the boy uncontrollably, because before the play started, the image that suddenly popped into his mind was of a child looking at the bottom of the river in terror, and the child had the same face as this boy!
Xie Xubai's scene with the beautiful woman must be related to her. Although she is wearing a mask and her demeanor is very different from his best friend, he intuitively feels that the beautiful woman is Lü Xiangcai in disguise.
So, could this suddenly appearing boy be Lu Xiangcai when he was a child?
Before the thought had even faded, the boy seemed to notice Xie Xubai's gaze, and looked over with a sly smile, his tone cold as if hiding a sharp knife: "Why bother getting angry with this clueless person?"
"I've got a great idea. No matter how many steps he runs, once you catch him, you can hit his legs that many times with a stick. Break his leg bones until they're shattered and bone fragments are stuck in his flesh and can't be cleaned out. That's when he'll know what pain and fear are."
Author's Note:
Updated before 5 PM, will write a little more.
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