Chapter 445: Fragments of Memories
The abrupt transformation of heaven into hell caused everyone to become disillusioned and cry out in alarm. The present modern world in front of everyone changed to a fairyland full of birds’ twitter and fragrance of flowers. Then it was abruptly changed into heinous, fiery and wicked Ashura Hell.
It was dreadful, terrifying, shuddering!
On the side of the stage, Han Qingwu’s body shook as she swayed and suddenly fell to the floor. Although the scene before her turned into a terrifying hellish inferno, yet it was not this scene that caused her to fear. It was a fragment of memory that sprang inside her mind.
The desolate mountains filled with the chilling cold wind! The snow-capped white glaciers!
A familiar yet unfamiliar face unfolded. A path and a silhouette with the power to destroy the heaven and ruin the earth came together. Yet, she couldn’t distinguish whether it was reality or illusion. She didn’t know why would these fragmentary images appeared inside her mind.
In the boundless sky, in the wake of the terrifying lightning flash strike, along with the violent and powerful thunderstorm, the fiery violent wind amidst the fury rains, the roar of thunders, and the raging spark of electricity. The horrifying and terrifying scene constituted the end of the world.
There, she saw it.
At this end of the world, she saw a stalwart figure standing high up in the sky as sword lights swept in the sky, destroying the siege of wind and rain, sweeping off the waves of the end of the world.
No…
Han Qingwu saw herself and several men attacking the man whose power could tear the heaven and earth asunder. At this moment, she didn’t know why she felt anguished, wishing herself to die in that instant when she attacked the imposing stalwart figure.
Clang…
Finally, the last thunder-like sound blasted in Han Qingwu’s ear. As she was inundated by the painful tide of suffering, the memory fragments in her mind changed into specks of starlight as it then dissipated. The infernal hell before her was also torn to pieces as darkness filled her consciousness and she fainted.
Inside the auditorium, the audience shut their eyes, as deep sorrow painted their faces. Tears fell streaming down their faces. Their wrinkled brows slowly stretched, yet the entire scene was as though dead, engulfed by a silence after the zither music had completely faded out. At this time, one could hear the sound of a falling needle on the floor.
After keeping the Jadewind Zither, Tang Xiu slowly raised his head. As he subconsciously raised his arm to touch his face, he found two lines of tears unexpectedly falling down his face. His gaze slowly swept the audience in the auditorium. He instantly released his spiritual sense and saw a familiar face.
“Huh?”
Tang Xiu suddenly creased his brows and immediately picked up the Jadewind Zither. He walked toward Han Qingwu on the side of the stage. While everyone had yet to realize and notice the situation, Tang Xiu’s finger pointed at several acupoints on Han Qingwu’s body. Then, he quickly vanished through the side door of the backstage.
What happened to me?
In the corridor behind the auditorium, it was Chi Nan who came to her senses first. When she opened her eyes, she couldn’t wipe the tears from her face. She looked up to the stage and was slightly startled, for she couldn’t see her Boss’s figure there.
What kind of power was that just now?
Chi Nan shuddered. Awe and fear flashed in her eyes. She was certain that there was something bizarre in her Boss’s zither music. She had experienced innumerable battles, yet she fell into an enthralled state after hearing this zither music. She even though that if she heard it again, she would simply become a lamb to be slaughtered and wouldn’t be able to fight back.
Previously, though she was in awe and venerated Tang Xiu, but it was only because of his identity. Now, however, the awe, fear and veneration she felt toward Tang Xiu were because of his new terrifying method.
At the same time, in another place on the side of the stage, Zhang Xinya also sobered up. She quickly glanced at the stage, but Tang Xiu’s figure was no longer there. At the moment, she could hear the thumping of her heartbeat and felt somewhat chilled.
She had seen Tang Xiu’s terrifying side once in Hong Kong. There, Tang Xiu’s ruthless and brutal methods in killing his enemies had long been deeply carved inside her heart. Tonight, after experiencing the beauty and wonder of the Immortal World, she experienced the horror of the infernal hell yet again. She couldn’t disperse the deep sadness and sorrow inside the heart for a long time.
In the past, she had never thought that playing the zither could actually reach this realm. The world created by the zither music and lyrics was seemingly real, causing people who heard it to face it as though reality.
Among the audience inside the auditorium, Yue Kai, Hu Qingsong, and the others slowly woke up. However, they discovered that Tang Xiu had disappeared from the stage, as they brushed the tears from the corner of their eyes.
“Why am I feeling so grieved and uncomfortable?” Hu Qingsong groaned lowly. His voice was full of a northeast accent.
“Yeah, it’s very depressing and feels so sad.” Xue Chao nodded.
Yue Kai looked around and found that the others around him were also just like him. Almost everyone wiped away their tears, and the sadness on their faces had yet to subside as well. He pressed his hand to his chest and murmured, “To think that zither play could reach such a level, Eldest Brother Tang seems to have achieved an unprecedented level, right? Previously, I never believed that music could shake people’s soul, neither did I believe that music could make people see illusions. But now I believe it.”
Hu Qingsong, Xue Chao, and the others turned their heads to look at Yue Kai’s expression. Hu Qingsong then said, “Me too. Big Bro Tang truly played awesomely. He made me feel the realm of the immortals as well as the infernal hell.”
“Me as well! Boss Tang is an idol from now henceforth!” Xue Chao nodded repeatedly and game his thumbs-up.
In another direction, Jiang Feiyan erased the tears on her face and grabred Li Xinjie’s arm. With a sobbing and choked voice, she said, “Xinjie, why do I feel pain inside me?”
Looking at her, Li Xinjie had a complex expression on her face, and there was also a bit of sadness in her voice, “We have been affected by the zither music. I saw the others around; everyone is the same as us. Tang Xiu’s skill in playing the zither is really too amazing. He’s simply the Zither God.”
God?
Silently and calmly sitting at the side, Mu Wanying’s heart intensely palpitated. She suddenly felt that Li Xinjie’s description was suitable. It was true. Tang Xiu was indeed a godlike existence in zither play.
Besides that … he was also a deity in painting and calligraphy.
How could there be such a skillful man in this world? A man whose abilities are like a god’s? After running into him in this lifetime, can I still have a liking for other men? Mu Wanying let out a bitter smile. There was an indescribable feeling she couldn’t explain that appeared in the deepest place of her heart.
In another place, Yi Lianyan’s eyes filled with mist. She had experienced the taste of the heaven and hell. She suddenly realized that what she knew about Tang Xiu was far too little.
The zither music. The lyrics.
She didn’t how to describe it. Her wish to rush out and seek Tang Xiu turned especially more intense at this time.
On the stage, the hostess wiped away the tears on her face. She quickly adjusted her emotions as she walked over and took the microphone. While looking at the campus’ leaders and students who still had not recovered, she was silent for a few seconds before slowly asking, “Everyone, how was Tang Xiu’s performance?”
More than ten seconds passed by.
Yet, no one responded. The audience was still adjusting their emotions, savoring and pondering the scenes they had just experienced.
Finally, the leader of Shanghai University got up from his chair and said in a deep and heavy voice, “It was good. Amazing. I heard countless of songs with zither music, yet none of them can be compared with Tang Xiu’s level.”
He then began to applaud.
Immediately afterward, everyone else immediately began to applaud unceasingly as well. Within just ten seconds after, the auditorium was filled with extremely loud noises of applause. Everyone was applauding and exclaiming in praise.
The applauses had woken Han Qingwu from her stupor.
What happened to me?
After opening her eyes, Han Qingwu found herself in a dark place, but the shaking applauses were loudly reverberating inside the entire auditorium. She propped herself on her arms and sat with difficulty.
Suddenly, a sad emotion surged inside her heart. At the same time, her body turned stiff and upright as fragments of memories continued to flash inside her mind. It was the memory fragments she saw when she listened to the zither music during the play. She saw many scenes; she saw many people whose appearances were vague; and she also saw herself.
However, these fragments were not coherent, as though she was seeing pictures. The pictures were very familiar, yet they felt very strange at the same time.
What are these scenes, exactly?
Han Qingwu felt like her head was about to split. The splitting headache was so unbearable that she covered her head with her hands. She desperately wanted to see more of those memory fragments. Yet, when the series of pictures disappeared, she only felt an uncomfortable headache and couldn’t remember what the pictures were all about at all.
She slowly got up. Her complexion was pale when she headed to the backstage. At this moment, she hadn’t realized that she was already soaked in sweat, and her legs were slightly trembling.
Inside the male student dorm building.
Tang Xiu was leaning on his Land Rover as he looked at the approaching Chi Nan, who was coming after he had phoned. He handed the Jadewind Zither over to her and said, “Keep this! And give it back to Wei Jiangping tomorrow!”
When Chi Nan’s complex eyes met with Tang Xiu’s indifferent expression, she hesitantly replied, “Boss, you played really well, but I’m a bit confused.”
“Tell me what you feel!” Tang Xiu said.
“Your music play and singing voice were full of happiness and joy at first. But why did the mood change greatly in the last part? With a ‘Fairy Dream’ title, wasn’t the artistic concept and mood to be related with happiness?”
“My heart was stirred up by emotions to some extent, hence the play strayed from the intended line.” Tang Xiu said indifferently.
Chi Nan suddenly realized something, causing her fear to grow. She didn’t understand exactly what had happened to Tang Xiu, but she was certain that it was absolutely tragic; the story behind it extremely sad.
“Then I’ll go back first, Boss!”
“Off you go!”
Tang Xiu waved his hand, as he then pulled out a cigarette. While watching Chi Nan disappear in the darkness of the night, he suddenly let out a self-deprecating smile, I thought I had suppressed those emotions. Fortunately, zither music doesn’t have offensive intent in its artistic mood, otherwise everyone in the auditorium tonight would have turned into an idiot!
He shook his head. Just as he was thinking of leaving with Zhang Xinya to the Bluestar Villa Complex Area, he finally recalled that he had given the car’s keys to Yue Kai, so he turned around and walked into the dormitory.
The threads of feelings and affections.
He had sheared them constantly, yet its inner essence still made him fall into that chaotic mood.
Hence, he must put them aside for the time being. He must stop thinking about them. One day in the future, after he had enough strength to solve this problem, he would awaken Han Qingwu’s memories to make everything clear, as well as to finish everything.