Feng Huai and Yu Rui went back to the stage hall where the debut show was held in 2005.
The stage hall had been converted into a sunken staircase stage area, and was one of the few remaining parts of the former Sife’s site.
–And that was where they’d be performing tomorrow.
The lighting in the stage area was soft, with dim aurora borealis flow tubes, and the dozens of starburst spotlights on the walls were more decorative than functional.
Thus, at night, this sunken staircase stage was like a valley before waking up in the morning, translucent and hazy.
What clues could be found here after more than ten years?
There was an old saying, “The net of justice is wide open.” In the real world, there were cases that hadn’t been solved for 20 years.
It was a little creepy to think that all the artists in that debut show were dead, the pianist died in a construction accident, what about the others?
There was a lot of chatter in the live room. Feng Huai and Yu Rui, on the other hand, smelled something unusual in this silent performance hall.
“The temperature here is lower than anywhere else.” Feng Huai said, he wore a gray shirt and black pants today, which was just right in this big theater with constant temperature, but at this moment, he clearly felt the coldness.
Yu Rui responded with a sniff and shook Feng Huai’s palm, “The magnetic field of ghosts can cause the temperature to go out of whack. In most of the urban legends, the appearance of ghosts is accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature and power disruption.”
As he said that, he clearly felt that the light around him had dimmed by a tiny bit.
Both of them looked at the dozens of small starlight-like spotlights on the wall at the same time.
A few of them were completely extinguished, while the remaining spotlights flickered from time to time, as if they were blinking their eyes, staring at them.
Feng Huai pointed, “Electrical disorders, like this?”
Yu Rui nodded slightly at the sight, and said quickly in a low voice: “There is not much time left for us.”
“Before, the night watchmen came out to patrol and drove away all the living, it should be for the protection of the living, of course, at the same time, it is also protecting certain existences in the old Sife Theater.” Yu Rui explained as he walked.
“Last night when we trapped him in the iron frame, didn’t he say that disturbing the dormancy of the theater would lead to judgment sooner or later? In that case, he should have been hinting at it.” Feng Huai followed Yu Rui and nodded in agreement, “The night watchman starting to patrol means that the old theater is awakening, and something here is starting to become active, so I’m afraid that this place is going to be even more dangerous.”
He was sure that the “game” proposed by the pianist last night was also designed to make them realize the hidden rules of the game.
“So let’s start with the backstage where the pianist’s accident happened and make it quick.” Yu Rui said.
At this time, the backstage naturally had long since lost the chaotic pile-up look it had back then, and all the miscellaneous items had been tidied up neatly and categorized into corners.
At first glance, it was completely impossible to imagine the situation the pianist encountered back then.
“If it were you, where would you take a picture with the fans?” Yu Rui stood in the middle of the backstage and looked at Feng Huai.
Feng Huai froze, then whirled to Yu Rui’s side, looked forward and back, and said, “Here.”
He pointed to the top of his head, “The light is hitting over, this angle is the best, neither too bright and overexposed, nor too dark to see the faces.”
“I think our pianist, who pays attention to appearance and details, would have done well to find a suitable angle for himself to take the group photo.” Feng Huai realized the reason why Yu Rui asked him and narrowed his eyes.
Yu Rui smiled in agreement.
“Those building debris and garbage were probably disposed of long ago, and the only place that could have left traces of the accident back then may be here… ” Feng Huai’s gaze fell on the floor under his feet, as he crouched down and gently stroked the wooden floor with his fingers.
Because of the age, the original tightly sealed floor, began to show bulging cracks.
Feng Huai tilted his head to look at Yu Rui: “Did you bring any guys?”
Yu Rui lost his smile, “This isn’t the same as the grave digging, what kind of equipment do I need to bring?”
Despite saying that, he still took something out of his pocket.
A folding knife.
“After all, it’s someone’s opera house, it’s best to keep a low profile.” Yu Rui said, spinning the tip of the knife and crouching down to plunge it into a crack in the floor to pry it out.
[I’m curious what the newcomer’s last guide copy was about, how come it’s still so exciting to dig a grave?]
[Great god should keep a low profile, this is prying the floor of someone’s backstage!]
[One robbed the NPC’s clothes and accessories, one is damaging the game scene, these two are worthy of the relationship between the newcomer and the guidance mentor …… deeply true]
[Hey, I remember god Yu’s previous partner was also like this, he was especially skilled at destroying game dungeons. Every time they finished a game instance, the system had to fix it for several months before it could be played by the next batch of players . Hahaha]
[That one is also an ancient god …… I haven’t seen since that incident, right?]
[I think the newcomer’s eyes look a little bit like that ancient god.]
[Don’t touch my god! That’s my white moonlight, my vermilion sand mole …… oooh oooh oooh].
Yu Rui and Feng Huai knew nothing about the things that were about to get loud in the live room, they were about to pry up a floor.
“Well?” Yu Rui pried open a gap and motioned for Feng Huai to come closer to observe.
Feng Huai shone his flashlight into the gap between the floor and the concrete and looked carefully.
“Wait, there’s something.” Feng Huai suddenly spoke, his eye brows raised, “Come and take a look, right at the position closest to your feet, there’s something.”
Yu Rui bit the flashlight and lay down on his back, the beam of the flashlight focused on the spot Feng Huai said, and he saw a small piece of dark traces that had completely seeped into the cement, only a little edge was exposed.
Yu Rui saw this and whirled around, “Pry open those two pieces of flooring as well.”
Feng Huai nodded, and the two of them divided their labor, and soon lifted the other pieces of flooring.
On the concrete floor under the two floors, was a large pool of dark red blood stains, it was almost black and was deeply printed on it, and it seemed that no matter how much one rinsed it with high-pressure water g.uns, they wouldn’t get rid of so many blood stains.
“We found the place where the pianist died.” Yu Rui said in a deep voice.
Feng Huai took a deep breath, they had only pried open three wooden boards, so how many more areas of blood were hidden under the boards? God knew how much blood was shed at the scene that day.
“The murder weapon still hasn’t been found.” Feng Huai looked at Yu Rui.
Yu Rui squatted in front of a nearby piece of concrete and gently tapped his finger on the ground, “What is something that has three sharp protruding spikes and leave a square mark on the ground, piled up like this towards the sky, but won’t cause anyone to be alerted?”
Feng Huai sniffed and went over to look, and saw that in the bloodstains on the concrete floor, there was a spot that stood out as if it had been isolated by a vacuum, and was not stained by the surrounding bloodstains.
He quickly reacted – this square place, completely blanked out in the pile of blood, was the location of the murder weapon that was penetrated when the pianist fell down.
The shape of the murder weapon, a square base with three spikes ……
[…… socket?]
[What kind of socket is so long that it can be pierced right through the neck?]
[What else is long like this ah …… nothing else, right?]
[The pianist is really miserable, somehow falling down and being zapped to death …… the god of Death really came!]
Yu Rui and Feng Huai were mulling over the possibility of the murder weapon, when they suddenly heard a gentle sound of a bell chime hitting from outside.
The theater was closing.
The two of them looked at each other with some reluctance, but neither of them wanted to attempt another thrill like last night.
The game quest didn’t give them a set length of time, and they didn’t need to risk being eliminated.
“There has been progress.” Yu Rui said, “It’s already considered good luck to have new progress every day.”
Feng Huai looked at Yu Rui and asked rhetorically, “What about your previous missions? How long does it take to complete a game?”
“If it’s fast, a few days or a few months.”
Feng Huai asked again, “And if it’s slow?”
Yu Rui paused and looked deeply at Feng Huai, “You can hardly imagine.”
Feng Huai froze, suddenly thinking of that past letter he wrote to himself, he frowned and pursed his lips hard.
The two still chose to leave the place first. They quietly moved past the patrolling night watchmen and slipped out the door of the opera house.
The third day after coming to the game copy was the day of the official performance.
According to the system’s prompts and requirements, all players were required to appear in the opera house during the daytime to participate in the daytime media interviews and make-up preparations, etc., just like a real-life official performance.
“Seriously, being interviewed by the media before the performance? Won’t your mind be affected? That’s not scientific!” Ji Jian yelled.
“Unless you’re one of those world-class masters who can play big and refuse to be interviewed.” Mu Zi glanced at the other party, her face even worse than yesterday.
She didn’t remember anything from last night to this morning at all, it was as if she had drunk herself out of her mind, and when she regained consciousness again, she was already in the rehearsal hall.
She was the first one to arrive at the rehearsal hall, and even the lights were not turned on in the rehearsal hall, the pitch-black surroundings made her fall into great uneasiness.
Fortunately, within a few minutes, the lights were turned on, and Ji Jian was surprised and he asked her how she arrived so early and didn’t turn on the lights.
Mu Zi couldn’t answer, she could only pretend to be cold and indifferent.
“All makeup and make-up is done, right?” Zhang Xiaofeng asked, “Then let’s go out for the interview.”
“Yu Rui and Feng Huai haven’t gotten their makeup done yet, right?” Ji Jian said, he looked around and asked, “Have any of you seen Brother Tan Lin? Didn’t he say he would be here today?”
“Maybe he triggered some hidden branch alone and is doing a quest.” Mu Zi said coldly.
Ji Jian scratched his head at that and said nothing more. After all, the topic of hidden side quests was too sensitive, and he only wanted to simply complete the game’s objectives and take a guaranteed settlement reward.
They were standing right in front of the stage’s curtain, but none of them thought to look behind the curtain.
If someone lifted the curtain at that moment, they would have found a pool of sticky, deep red blood that was slowly seeping down to the floor.
On the backstage roof, the person who was originally hanging disappeared.
Yu Rui and Feng Huai walked out of the dressing room and met up with the others.
“Ready to go.”
The group shifted to the front of the foyer of the opera house where they were being interviewed by the media, and they weren’t the only ones being interviewed, there was also an older man who looked to be in his fifties or so.
“Mr. Luo Haonan, you are the financier of the Opera House, may I ask you what you think about the Sife Opera House being asked to move to a different location?” The media was interviewing the other.
“It’s a good thing that the government has decided to build a public subway that’s convenient for the people, and as a citizen, I think we should cooperate with the city government’s arrangement. Relocating the Sife Opera House for this reason is certainly a decision of last resort, but I think the newly built Opera House will surely satisfy all opera and classical music lovers.” Luo Haonan said.
Feng Huai and Yu Rui exchanged glances at the words.
Feng Huai said softly, “I’ve always wondered that if the legend of the Phantom of the Opera has always existed, why did it not become active until recently, and now I’ve found the answer.”
“Because this place is going to be demolished, whatever they want to do, they don’t have much time left.” Yu Rui nodded and whispered in response.
“Ah the artists have come out, great, I was just about to interview the teachers on what they think about this.” The media person saw Feng Huai and the others come out and immediately turned the microphone over.
The media person snapped, “I still remember that last time after the reconstruction of the Opera House, several of the artist teachers who were invited to the theater had been quite critical and opposed to the reconstruction, and this time it was so coincidental that they once again encountered the relocation of the Opera House, and I would like to ask you all what you think of this?”
Ji Jian froze, not knowing what to say, the media saw this and turned the microphone back to Zhang Xiaofeng.
“My opinion, is just like my teacher, the previous owner of the trumpet in my hand.” Zhang Xiaofeng said with lowered eyes.
The media sniffed and focused on the trumpet in Zhang Xiaofeng’s hand, “That’s the trumpet of the deceased trumpeter, Mr. Fang Wenmei?”
Zhang Xiaofeng nodded.
“It turns out that you studied under Mr. Fang Wenmei, who also mentioned his objections in that performance interview fifteen years ago, but alas, Mr. Fang also passed away due to illness not long afterward.” The media person said.
Yu Rui slightly raised his eyebrows and looked towards Zhang Xiaofeng and the trumpet in his hands.
It was actually a relic of the artist who was once in that show as well?
The media person once again turned the microphone to the financier Luo Haonan, “So many artists’ teachers did not look favorably on your previous remodeling, I wonder if the views of these teachers have negatively impacted you operationally?”
“Of course not, the teachers’ opinions are all very good, and I have listened to them with an open mind. The Sife Opera House after the relocation will surely be the best masterpiece after absorbing the essence. I welcome all media friends to come and witness it together then.” Luo Haonan smiled and looked at Zhang Xiaofeng and the others.
He quickly left the stage, and the two of them, Yu Rui and Feng Huai, looked at each other and quietly followed.
The man was seen taking out his cell phone and answering the call, “How’s it going? Has the compensation in the terms of the relocation promise been finalized? …… Sixteen million dollars? Heh, that’s more like it.”
“Tell them that I agreed to move the site.” Luo Haonan said, hanging up the phone with satisfaction.”
He stood in the promenade, sneered, and muttered in a low voice to himself, “No one can affect my remodeling and operation anymore, no one!”
He stood in front of those event pictorials, staring at the pictures dead on, for a long time before striding away.
Yu Rui and Feng Huai came out from their corner hiding place.
Feng Huai stared at the man’s back and said in a cold voice, “Who do you think will benefit the most from the death of those artists who used to oppose, or criticize his actions?”
“Naturally, it’s him.”