A raucous cheer erupted from the audience as Dongfang Xue came to the conclusion of her song.
She did not immediately leave the stage as she usually did, instead remaining on the stage to make a grand introduction for the next singer.
All the concert-goers were very surprised.
The collaborative singers at Dongfang Xue’s concerts were usually announced by the staff at the concerts.
Dongfang Xue normally disappeared like the wind immediately after finishing a song.
But today, she had gone as far as to make a personal introduction for the next singer. This was very bizarre.
The whole audience was abuzz with curiosity, curious as to just what type of singer could justify a personal introduction from Dongfang Xue.
And then, the audience immediately developed a direct impression of the singer soon to take the stage from Dongfang Xue’s introduction.
He was a new rising star, one that had a lot of potential!
The song he was about to sing would bring surprise to the audience!
Dongfang Xue exited the stage, handing the microphone to An Lin while casting her gaze on him with encouragement in her eyes. “Go for it!”
An Lin nodded with a slight smile on his face before striding out onto the center of the stage.
His appearance was immediately met with raucous applause and cheers.
If you didn’t experience this yourself, there was no way that you could understand just how thrilling it was to be cheered on by so many people.
The collective cheers of eighty thousand audience members had adrenaline pumping through An Lin’s veins.
The scorching gazes of eighty thousand fans made him anxious to the extreme.
Countless white glow sticks waved rhythmically in the night, creating a vast expanse of white like a majestic world of snow and ice, or like the endless expanse of a white ocean, creating a scene to be remembered.
This was the first time An Lin had been the center of so much attention. Only now did he know what it felt like to stand atop a stage facing an audience of eighty thousand.
“Hello everyone, my name is An Lin.
“I am going to perform a song called ‘Daoist Scripture’ tonight, without any accompaniment.”
An Lin looked out toward the sea of white and unhurriedly introduced himself whilst calming his nerves.
His words immediately stirred up a massive commotion amongst the audience.
“My God, did I hear that right? He’s going to perform without accompaniment at Dongfang Xue’s concert?”
“This is the pleasant surprise she promised us? It’s not going to be a startling fright, right!?”
“Who is this An Lin? Is there even a singer with such a name in the Hua Nation?”
“I’m more interested in what kind of song ‘Daoist Scripture’ is. It’s not gonna be some sort of religious propaganda song, right…”
“To sing without accompaniment, let’s see just what he’s got up his sleeve.”
…
Not only were the audience members all discussing amongst themselves, even Dongfang Xue, who was looking at An Lin from backstage, received a fright.
Why did An Lin choose a song she’d never heard of? And he was planning to sing without accompaniment… what the f*ck was he plotting!?
“Ms. Liu, what’s going on here?” Dongfang Xue asked coldly with her brows tightly furrowed.
Ms. Liu had an awkward expression on her face.
“This was arranged by strong request from Mr. An, and he said that he can hold down the crowd…”
“Hold down the crowd without accompaniment?” Dongfang Xue gazed at the figure on stage, a hint of worry appearing in her eyes.
This was not some middle school singing competition… This was a concert with an audience of eighty thousand, could he really just fool around like this?
An Lin stood atop the stage at this very moment.
He completely ignored the raucous chatter erupting from the audience. He took a deep breath and slowly began to sing.
“To maintain a calm and empty heart is the key to seeking Dao in this ever-changing world, the world is diverse and convoluted yet everything originates from the same roots, all those around me engage in various ceremonies and rituals to wish for luck and prosperity, but I am like an innocent child with no aspirations nor intentions to join them…”
A clear yet magnetic voice slowly sounded, flowing to all corners of the concert hall.
An Lin began to sing and all eighty thousand audience members heard his voice.
Just like that, the eighty thousand audience members at the concert were collectively stupefied…
“Oh my God, what the hell is he even singing, I can’t even understand a single sentence…”
“Well, you’re not alone there!”
“I feel like I’m listening to some sort of heavenly scripture… Are these really song lyrics?”
At this moment, a knowledgable member of the audience yelled in surprise.
“I know these lyrics, they really are excerpts from the ‘Daoist Scripture’!”
The audience erupted into a frenzy as An Lin began to perform, their voices forming an unceasing crescendo.
This was not because they were rude and disrespected singing…
It was truly because the song lyrics were too peculiar!
However, when they heard the lyrics and experienced the song’s rhythm, all of them began to calm down without knowing why.
“Hmm, the rhythm is actually not bad.”
“Shush… don’t interrupt me, I’m trying to listen!”
“…”
An Lin’s voice, accompanied by a mesmerizing rhythm, floated throughout the concert hall.
Although most people did not know what An Lin was singing, each and every syllable and note really seemed to flow through their hearts, drawing them into a special enlightening frame of mind.
The concert hall began to quiet down as the audience began to cease talking.
The only voice in the concert hall belonged to An Lin.
However, right at this moment, the sound of a zither suddenly began playing.
The sound of the instrument was like a pure stream flowing peacefully through the mountains, acting as a perfect accompaniment to An Lin’s singing, elevating the song to different heights.
An Lin looked toward the source of the music to find a girl in white garments playing a guqin [1. A type of zither].
The mesmerizing sound of the guqin seemed to flow from her fingers.
It was like a lightly flowing stream, coursing through one’s heart, soft and beautiful.
This was the sound of the Daoist Scripture, playing in perfect accompaniment to An Lin.
The girl blinked at An Lin cheekily.
An Lin became slightly dazed.
The beautiful girl in white was none other than Xu Xiaolan.
They both smiled at each other at the same time, as if their hearts were in tandem.
The singing and the sound of the guqin sounded once again.
The sound flowing from Xu Xiaolan’s fingertips were like Dao-seeking butterflies, lightly flapping their delicate wings, traversing across the boundaries of life and death.
An Lin’s clear and melodious voice seemed to tell an endless story, forever searching for Dao, the years seeming to flash by before everyone’s eyes.
It was impossible to describe just what kind of rhythm this was. It was extremely beautiful, seemingly out of this world.
The beautiful melody flowed into the audience’s ears. It purified the hearts, spirits, and souls of the eighty thousand audience members.
Not only were the audience members mesmerized by the music, even Dongfang Xue and Tian Lingling sitting backstage were absolutely entranced.
After what could’ve been an eternity or a fleeting moment, the final note came to an end.
The song came to a conclusion, the last syllable disappearing with the wind.
Just like a butterfly flying lightly into the distance, or like the conclusion of a journey to seek Dao gradually coming to a close.
The song may have ended, but it continued to echo in everyone’s mind.
All of the audience members were still mesmerized in their own thoughts, sitting in silence.
An Lin and Xu Xiaolan held hands and bowed to the audience.
“Clap, clap, clap, clap…”
Someone suddenly began to clap in the audience.
Immediately afterward, the audience all set aside their glow sticks and began to applaud.
There were no waving glow sticks and no raucous cheers.
Everyone in the audience seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another.
They did not want to ruin the lingering effect of the song with their glow sticks and cheers.
Everyone expressed their emotions through the purest of actions.
In no time at all, the concert hall was filled with applause!
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