Chapter 161: The Second Slash!
Chapter 161: The Second Blade!
"My favorite is Lin Huiyin. I think she's so cool. She never talks..."
"I think Benben is much cuter..."
"Tang Xin is the coolest. Did you guys see Tang Xin's performance at the Pearl TV Anniversary Gala? Oh my god, how can she be this cool? If she were a man, I'd marry her on the spot."
---
Outside the Huanglong Stadium, countless people were chatting eagerly, discussing their favorite celebrity idols.
Amid the anticipation of countless fans, the concert finally curtain-raised.
Not yet six o'clock, long lines had already formed outside the stadium gates.
At seven o'clock, the stadium staff finally began tearing tickets.
Those flushed with excitement, about to encounter their idols up close, entered with their tickets, preparing to indulge in a dual feast for the eyes and ears.
In the beginning, the massive Huanglong Stadium was filled with a chaotic buzz of noise. People were talking, chatting, whistling, and shouting their idols' names—this was the norm for any concert, nothing unusual.
At eight o'clock, the concert officially commenced.
The lights in the audience seating went dark. The lights on the stage went dark too.
Knowing the idols were about to make their entrance, the crowd immediately erupted into a sound akin to roaring mountains and overturning seas.
Ahhhhh-------
Deafening, almost threatening to blow off the roof.
The majority of the Butterfly Combination's fans were young people, full of energy and overflowing stamina, venting their excitement and joy to their hearts' content.
Then, a single lonely spotlight illuminated the center of the stage.
Silence.
A prolonged silence.
Three, two, one-------
As the stage director gave a forceful downward wave, passionate music suddenly blasted through the air. Dressed in leather jackets and leather skirts, Lin Huiyin and Zhang Heben were lifted onto the stage by a hydraulic elevator from beneath, immediately swaying to the rhythm of the music the moment they arrived.
Awooo------
The atmosphere of the entire venue ignited instantly, like fireworks shooting straight into the sky, blooming in breathtakingly graceful postures.
Who says demons only love the pitch-black night?
The feathers torn away are stained with fresh blood.
Clutching the corner of your clothes,
Desolately approaching your face,
Greedily kissing the tip of your nose,
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"Demon," an older song by the Butterfly Combination that enjoyed extremely high popularity and hit status. Because of its passionate melody and explosive choreography, it instantly drove the hardcore fans in attendance into a frenzy. They screamed and shouted, clapped wildly, and some even swayed to the music, singing along at the top of their lungs-------
Everyone who comes to a concert can find what they are looking for.
As the upbeat singing and dancing of the first verse came to an end, Lin Huiyin and Zhang Heben suddenly stood frozen on the stage like powered-down robots.
The stage lighting dimmed once more. Like the darkness before dawn, the calm before a storm.
It was also the ultimate silence before the pinnacle of joy.
Clap, clap, clap-------
The stage lights blazed, every single light capable of ignition being switched on in a single instant.
Illuminating the entire stage as bright as day, every person and every object on the stage felt as though they were being grilled bare under the scorching sun.
Boom-------
A loud explosion echoed through the air as a shadowy, dark figure was catapulted straight up from beneath the ground.
Mid-air, several meters high, the figure was actually executing a series of tumbling acrobatic flips.
Such a maneuver had never been seen nor heard of before.
Indeed, it was impossible to have seen or heard of it. If the real Tang Xin had been standing on the stage at this moment, she would have been utterly incapable of pulling off such a move, nor would anyone have dared let her try.
However, the person stepping onto the stage right now was Tang Chong.
After deliberating with Bai Su, he had decided upon this grand entrance style: "A loud bang in the sky, and yours truly makes a dazzling entrance."
Knowing that his physical conditioning far surpassed that of ordinary people, Bai Su had forced Tang Chong to practice nearly a hundred backflips before finally nodding in agreement.
During rehearsals, when Bai Su first proposed this creative idea, she had frightened the choreography director out of his wits.
"This is completely insane. No, no, no, absolutely not," the choreography director had shaken his head like a rattle drum. "The difficulty of this move is simply too high. No one can pull it off. Even those professional dance kings couldn't do it. You're going to get Tang Xin injured... and you're not even going to use safety wires? Then it's out of the question. I disagree. If an accident happens, who takes the responsibility? You guarantee it? Even if you guarantee it, I cannot agree."
Yet, when Tang Chong—or rather, "Tang Xin" as they perceived him—truly executed such a maneuver, it filled them with absolute elation.
Even Guo Chengcheng, hailed as the Dance King, and Li Jianfeng, the Mainland Chinese version of the "Michael Jackson Successor," wouldn't have been able to pull off a stunt of such extreme difficulty.
Explosive!
Wildly explosive!
Blazing hot to the extreme!
They knew that based on this single move alone, the Butterfly Combination was guaranteed a phenomenal opening. Furthermore, once the concert concluded, the media was bound to report on "Tang Xin's" entrance method, and fans would undoubtedly spread this entrance posture far and wide.
Before a medium with such astonishing dissemination speed as the internet, the Butterfly Combination's popularity would surge once again, elevating their artistic careers to an even higher plane.
True to their expectations, things unfolded precisely as they had envisioned.
When Tang Chong soared through the air, every single head in the entire audience tilted upward, all gazes shifting toward the sky, unblinkingly fixing on the tumbling Tang Chong as he prepared for his landing.
Some people dropped their jaws, forgetting how to cheer. Others were drinking water, completely forgetting to swallow. Still others accidentally swallowed the chewing gum and betal nuts they had been chewing, choking back tears of pain-------
Having reached the apex of his flight, Tang Chong executed another series of tumbling maneuvers for his descent.
Clang-----
When the heavy black leather boots on Tang Chong's feet slammed hard against the wooden stage flooring, the audience finally remembered what they were supposed to be doing.
"Awooo, awooo, awooo--------"
Tens of thousands of spectators in the Huanglong Stadium stood up spontaneously, regardless of gender, regardless of age, roaring at the top of their lungs.
Forsaking social status, disregarding their images, discarding every single restraint and taboo of "thou shalt not." They simply had to shout, to roar at the top of their lungs, to release the frantically colliding factors and uncontrollable emotions trapped within their chests.
They were going crazy. This flamboyant visual impact had them on the verge of total explosion.
A woman, catapulted from beneath the ground to several meters up in the air, without any safety wires, without the protection of ropes, tumbling vertically down to land squarely on the ground.
Was she even human? She was practically a superhero.
"Tang Xin! Tang Xin! Tang Xin! Tang Xin! Tang Xin--------!"
Across the entire venue, everyone, countless mouths, chanted nothing but those two names.
Tang Chong snapped his fingers, and Lin Huiyin and Zhang Heben instantly "came back to life."
The music struck up. Lin Huiyin and Zhang Heben closed in. "Tang Chong," attired in a black suit with a bowtie around his neck, portrayed the masculine role, while Lin Huiyin and Zhang Heben exuded the sultry and fiery side of womanhood. The three of them broke into a passionate routine.
Thunderous applause erupted once more.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the city, a completely different celebrity concert was also kicking off simultaneously.
T4, four long-legged beauties dressed in Playboy bunny outfits, took the stage, revealing slender legs and voluptuous bosoms. Their very arrival similarly incited waves of passionate audience cheers and applause.
For women in the industry, one must either sell their talent or sell their body; there was always an option tailored for you.
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You wear a dress of pristine white,
Yet flap a pair of black wings.
You smile as you take my heart,
Yet call it my predestined trial.
You wear a dress of pristine white,
Yet stain it with bright crimson blood.
You silently tear apart my flesh,
Yet leave my eyes untouched.
In the beginning, Tang Chong had felt somewhat nervous. He worried that the "spy equipment" that Ah Ken had purchased for eighty thousand US dollars might suddenly malfunction, exposing his true voice to the audience, or that someone might notice his strange vocal timbre and question his identity.
However, the moment he opened his mouth to sing, producing a smooth, slightly smoky, neutral vocal tone, not only did the audience fail to find it odd, but they responded with even more fervent shrieks, making him realize one thing—being a celebrity is indeed quite simple.
You raise a hand, they shriek. You flash a smile, they shriek.
You speak a word, they shriek. You pick your nose—they burst into hysterics.
Realizing that no one had detected anything amiss, Tang Chong completely let go.
He was hardly unfamiliar with the Butterfly Combination's songs, and coupled with the intensive training over recent days, he was able to deliver them with ease and proficiency.
The most crucial point was that Bai Su had told him not to deliberately imitate Tang Xin's voice—something he wouldn't have been able to pull off even if he tried.
All he needed to do was sing with his own flavor and express his own style.
At this moment, Tang Chong felt entirely free-willed, devoid of any constraints.
Interpreting these songs through his own understanding and feelings instead lent a refreshing, novel vibe that caught the live audience delightfully off guard.
What could be done? Who could blame a world where androgynous styles were currently all the rage?
As a song drew to a close, the live fans expressed their support and adoration with the utmost enthusiasm and stamina.
"Butterfly! Butterfly! Butterfly! Butterfly-------"
This time, the audience didn't exclusively chant "Tang Xin" alone; instead, they cheered the name of the stellar group as a whole: "Butterfly."
Tang Chong, Lin Huiyin, and Zhang Heben exchanged a three-way glance, all three feeling a simultaneous wave of relief wash over them.
They had succeeded. The audience had accepted this stylistic shift.
Lin Huiyin signaled Zhang Heben, prompting her to say a few words to thank the fans for coming. This was an essential interactive segment between the concert's stars and their audience.
Just as Zhang Heben was about to part her lips to speak, an extremely discordant scene erupted from the spectator stands.
"T4 is the absolute best! We love you!"
"T4, T4, flawless posture! T4, T4, the ambition of kings!"
"Butterflies can never fly across the vast sea, because they're flat-chested and have no milk-------"
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Everyone's expressions turned unsightly.
This was the Butterfly Combination's concert, yet slogans cheering for T4 were ringing out. Once malicious media outlets seized upon this to fan the flames and distort the narrative, Butterfly would become the laughingstock of the entire industry.
This was a dull, heavy blow, piercing straight into the heart of Butterfly.
(PS: The second blade, the second chapter, and I'm asking for your second vote as well. Mm, those who diligently vote are good students.)