Ye Chen ceased his sword practice and turned to the large screen behind him. The massive display was playing a highly realistic CGI sequence depicting a tyrant launching a war, ravaging the people, leaving rivers of blood and fields strewn with corpses wherever he went.
Gu Qiuyi’s lyrics shifted to sing of a world in chaos, with Ye Chen unwilling to stand idly by.
Another prompt came through Ye Chen’s earpiece, “Backup dancer, please bid a tender farewell to the heroine.”
As soon as the words were spoken, Gu Qiuyi walked over to Ye Chen and threw herself into his arms.
Following the cue, Ye Chen dropped the longsword to the ground and gently lifted Gu Qiuyi’s face with both hands.
At that moment, Gu Qiuyi was still singing, her lyrics expressing her reluctance to let her beloved leave, yearning to live in seclusion with him in these wild mountains.
Pointing to the screen showing the suffering masses, Ye Chen gently pushed Gu Qiuyi away, then picked up the longsword from the ground and walked resolutely backward.
Gu Qiuyi chased after him from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist, her lyrics still pleading for him to stay.
But Ye Chen could only prise her hands apart and stride forward.
Following the directions, he approached the large screen, where the scene had shifted to a battlefield. The tyrant was personally leading the charge, watching with glee as the masses were slaughtered in droves.
At that moment, a group of professional dancers took the stage, led by enemy soldiers, with the tyrant standing arrogantly behind them.
Following the prompts, Ye Chen charged forward, cutting down the enemy soldiers one by one.
Then, the song’s tone suddenly shifted.
It was Tawana taking the stage to sing.
The lyrics of this song were designed to push the story forward, with no repetition of earlier segments.
From the moment Tawana began singing, the lyrics turned to Ye Chen’s struggles in battle and the hopes all the people placed in him.
Ye Chen continued to perform combat sequences with the dancers until he had slain them all, leaving only the panicked tyrant standing before him.
The tyrant, now stripped of his earlier ferocity and bloodlust, was visibly trembling with fear.
He knelt on the ground, pleading with Ye Chen, likely offering endless riches and beauties in exchange for mercy.
But Ye Chen’s mind was filled only with thoughts of his beloved and the tormented people. With a swing of his longsword, he beheaded the tyrant.
After slaying the tyrant, the scene on the screen behind him transformed from a battlefield littered with corpses to rolling wheat fields, shaded rows of trees, and a fragrant forest alive with birdsong.
The people were working peacefully in the fields, children running and playing joyfully among them, some even flying kites shaped like swallows.
Following the instructions, Ye Chen turned and slowly walked from the screen back to the centre of the stage.
Tawana was already waiting there.
Per the directions, Ye Chen was to interact warmly with Tawana. Overcome with excitement, she leapt into his arms with unrestrained joy, hugging him tightly.
She pressed her ample figure against Ye Chen without the slightest intention of loosening her grip, thinking to herself, “The lyrics here are about my lover returning alive, and I’m supposed to be absolutely thrilled, so I’ll perform that joy and excitement to the fullest. The tighter I hold him, the more it fits!”
Being held so tightly by her, Ye Chen felt a bit uneasy.
But considering the stage effect, he didn’t dwell on it.
Tawana, however, felt a pang of regret. Ye Chen was wearing a hard mask that didn’t even reveal his mouth, otherwise, she thought, tipping up to kiss him in that moment would have been perfect, wouldn’t it?
