Chapter 96: "Empty City" (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

The dazzling stage blazed with lights.

Yet for a single moment, both the live audience and the millions watching the stream felt as if time itself had frozen.

Only the director's team remained alert.

The director, staring at his monitor, eyes gleaming with a hungry green light, said in an excited, almost strange tone: "The real show, at last, begins!"

Then he started yelling.

"Keep every camera locked on them."

"All lights are ready."

"Watch the audience, watch the guests' faces."

"Switch to close-ups at any moment!"

"Don't miss a single detail."

"I'm going to capture every expression from this point on! They're the key to whether the next episode explodes in ratings!"

Ever since The Singer Vibe was announced to air.

Because of one poster, the production team and Hao Mingxing were dragged into a whirlpool of public opinion.

Hao Mingxing had been somewhat saved by a trending topic tagged "Pity the Cannon-Fodder Hao Mingxing."

But the director's team of The Singer Vibe had been savagely cursed out by countless music fans.

And from this moment on.

Their show was finally about to have its moment of glory!

The net they had cast for so long was, in the next few minutes, about to reap a bountiful harvest!

...

At the center of the stage.

Hao Mingxing still wore a faint smile on his face.

But the host had been completely stunned.

Fortunately, his deep professionalism let him snap back to his senses in just a second or two, yet his face still held thick disbelief: "You... you mean, you're going to sing a new song next?"

"Yes."

"What... what song is it?"

"You'll find out soon."

The host took a deep breath. "Alright. I hope your new song can bring us a brand-new feeling. Now, the stage is yours."

With that, he quickly walked offstage.

The audience below was already in an uproar.

In the live stream, the barrage of comments suddenly surged.

"Did I hear that right?"

"Hao Mingxing is singing a new song?"

"What's he playing at?"

"No wonder Hao Mingxing's been so calm—he has a backup move."

"But can a new song change his fate? Don't be ridiculous. If you sing an adapted old song, it's easy to resonate with the audience. But if you sing a new song, unless it's absurdly good, there's no way the audience will accept it in such a short time. It's more loss than gain."

In past music variety shows, people had tried new songs before, but the results were never good.

Because singing a new song was a high-difficulty challenge.

Unless you had overwhelming confidence that the new song could resonate with the audience in the shortest possible time, singing an old song was always the safer bet.

Did Hao Mingxing have that kind of confidence?

The audience was still buzzing with whispers.

At the center of the stage.

The previously calm lights suddenly flared into brilliance.

A cascade of percussion instruments rose along with the piano melody, opening the song's prelude.

The audience fell silent, their gazes gradually focusing on Hao Mingxing onstage.

Dressed in simple casual wear, Hao Mingxing looked into the emptiness, a trace of inexplicable emotion flickering in his eyes. He raised the microphone and began to sing.

The voice was still his alone—a husky, smoky timbre.

"Maybe it's loneliness, the air growing thin,

The neon lights of the city bloom into a wasteland.

Still waiting for you, my heart is about to die,

What can possibly stir my soul?"

Below the stage.

The audience's expressions gradually grew fascinating.

Hao Mingxing's voice was so distinctive that whether a song was good could almost be judged from the very first note.

And this song.

It seemed...

From his performance, it was actually pretty good?

At the very least, when the music reached everyone's ears, they felt a sudden freshness after having grown tired of the ordinary songs before it.

Especially the several guests sitting nearby—astonishment was written all over their faces.

A new song!

It really was a new song!

Every guest was deeply accomplished in music: some were top-tier singers, some were renowned lyricists and composers. Their appreciation far surpassed that of the average audience.

In their view, the lyrics and melody of this new song Hao Mingxing was performing were quite impressive. Combined with his unique voice, just a few lines were enough to reveal the song's charm.

"Interesting."

"This is getting exciting."

The guests exchanged glances, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.

From the looks of it, Hao Mingxing might not be cannon fodder after all.

Onstage.

Hao Mingxing's timbre grew clearer, carrying a hoarse, weathered quality, transforming the sorrowful lyrics into a voice that seeped into people's hearts, gripping every heartstring.

A veil of melancholy settled over the audience without warning.

"Too deep, too much, love turns into obsession,

Letting you, freely, waste away in my bitter joy."

Ordinary songs are heard through melody.

Great songs are heard through atmosphere.

Many in the live audience had already sunk into the unique mood the song conjured.

A loneliness that felt like another lifetime.

The emptiness of prosperity returning to stillness.

An empty city... everyone harbors an empty city within themselves, and in the depths of that city hides their deepest heart, unknown to the world.

The netizens watching the live stream couldn't even think of what barrage to send at that moment.

"A new song like this?"

"It hits me so hard."

"It's beautiful, even better than 'Whatever.'"

"Hao Mingxing's voice is really so distinctive."

"This song, this voice—they've created an unprecedented loneliness for me. Incredible."

"..."

And then, at that moment.

Hao Mingxing's voice rose into something that seemed soaring yet not quite soaring, an almost unprecedented falsetto ringing out.

"This city is so empty, these memories are so fierce,

The streets are bustling with traffic, but who can I hold?

These brows are so heavy, this longing is so thick,

Alone,

This feeling, I follow it."

As the singing pierced through the stage, the audience felt their hearts wandering with the melody, drifting through this empty city.

Like a release of the soul.

Suddenly, it felt as if an electric current passed through their bodies, that tingling numbness nearly impossible to describe in words.

Every camera captured the scene in close-up.

It was the suffocation of the soul.

Before televisions and live streams, all the viewers saw a series of exaggerated facial expressions.

Some had pupils trembling.

Some stared in shock.

Some had mouths hanging open.

Some sat utterly stupefied.

The guests who had been seated nearby rose almost simultaneously.

They could no longer remain seated.

Then, once more!

"This city is so empty, a hollow without you,

Even the wind drawn by each breath roars deafeningly.

I stand in the darkness, my heart can no longer beat,

Alone,

Loving again is useless."

For the first time, Hao Mingxing's voice let out a low rasping cry, venting the emotion and sorrow buried deep in his body.

He bent his body low, pouring all his strength into the microphone.

Until...

He dropped to one knee at center stage, motionless.

Whoosh!

All the lights converged above his head, dim yet bright.

The rest of the stage fell into pitch-black darkness.

At this moment.

The entire hall was silent, yet every face in it wore a different expression.

The lines Hao Mingxing had just sung were like lightning that utterly tore through everyone's hearts. The song turned into wave after wave of roaring tides, crashing into the depths of the audience's souls, resonating inside their bodies.

Many people stared at the kneeling figure onstage and felt their whole bodies trembling uncontrollably.

What song is this?

What kind of performance is this?

At last...

Hao Mingxing slowly raised his head, just before he stood.

Rustle---

A few of the judges who were still standing began to applaud.

Those claps were like a fuse, instantly igniting the entire venue.

Countless audience members rose one after another and joined in the applause.

In an instant, the huge studio erupted into a boiling frenzy, reflecting the excitement and heat in everyone's hearts.

The well-prepared director's team had already switched all cameras to the perfect positions, capturing the exaggerated expressions on people's faces.

Amid the applause.

The audience finally released all kinds of screams and shouts.

"Oh my god!"

"So cool, right?"

"Holy crap!"

"What is this song?"

"I'm about to lose my mind."

"Especially the climax—it's insane."

"Ahhhh! I'm going crazy!!!!"

"..."

Of course, those were just the reactions of the audience inside the show.

The millions of viewers watching the live broadcast right now reacted thousands of times more intensely than those on screen.

Countless minds were still almost completely blank.

Some stood in front of their computers, clenching their fists hard, their faces flushed crimson.

Some screamed and yelled along with the audience on television, completely forgetting that it was already deep into the night.

As for the live stream's barrage.

At that moment, it had become a snowy, static-filled screen, impossible to make out what the netizens were posting.

Backstage.

The group of singers waiting there all sat frozen in place, staring blankly at the figure onstage.

Was that still Hao Mingxing?

Was that still the cannon fodder they had imagined?

Just a few minutes ago, none of them had taken Hao Mingxing seriously. Their only rivals were one another. Hao Mingxing had already been written off.

And a few minutes later, well... they still weren't treating Hao Mingxing as a rival.

Because!

After Hao Mingxing finished singing, they all already knew: there was no longer any suspense as to who would take first place this round. Why treat him as a rival? That would only be asking for humiliation.

Then, suddenly.

One of them shuddered and murmured: "Whose song?"

Those few words sent a violent tremor through the other singers' hearts.

Exactly.

Who wrote this song?

Who gave it to Hao Mingxing?

Wasn't it said that someone with a voice like Hao Mingxing's could hardly find suitable songs? Let alone a song so perfectly in tune with his very soul.

In everyone's eyes, Hao Mingxing's voice was indeed distinctive, but the reason it had caused such a tremendous reaction onstage was entirely thanks to this extraordinary new song.

It was the true key to Hao Mingxing steamrolling the entire arena.

Onstage.

The host had already returned, and he asked the very question everyone was dying to know: "Hao Mingxing, what's the name of this song?"

"Empty City."

"Who wrote it?"

"Wu Yan."

(End of chapter)