CHAPTER 122: CHAPTER 121: A BOLT FROM THE BLUE

The storytelling stalls on Damen Stone Street won’t open until the Yao Bell Tower rings five times.

Who would come to listen to stories early in the morning when everyone is busy living their lives?

No one comes at noon either; it’s both sunny and hot, plus most people are at work.

It’s only in the late afternoon that people finish work, earn their wages, come to Damen Stone Street to have a good meal, and listen to some storytelling.

Storytelling has never been a profession sustained by tips—living solely on tips would lead to starvation; in any era, freeloading is far more common than genuine support.

Most storytellers are affiliated with nearby eateries, where some place their dining tables outside, and some invite storytellers to perform inside the establishment, primarily to attract customers.

After all, people at that time couldn’t watch videos or play on their mobiles while eating, and eating alone can indeed be boring, so storytellers, as entertainment for leisure moments and meals, naturally began to flourish.

As a storyteller, Luan Jiba’s dream was to perform in the central seat on the second floor of the Jinbi Grand Restaurant. The Jinbi Grand Restaurant on Damen Stone Street has four floors: the first floor is a large hall, the third and fourth floors are private rooms, but the second floor is a grand hall.

The storytellers employed by Jinbi would sit at the tea table in the center on the second floor, holding a fan in one hand and a teacup in the other. While storytelling, the whole hall could hear them; during famous scenes, the whole audience would cheer, and during sad tales, the crowd would shed tears, thus earning the title of central seat.

Currently, Jinbi’s central seat is occupied by Master Hu Luan, known for integrating three streams, along with his three apprentices. Master Hu is now fifty-two, mastering various techniques from ’Xinyi Men,’ ’Rouge Studio,’ and ’Jade Melody School,’ even innovating by integrating the techniques, summarizing into one called ’Hu Liu,’ founding a school, incorporating sound, plot, and intent in storytelling, making him the first storyteller in Xuanzhu County.

Master Hu doesn’t spend all his time at Jinbi; he tells stories five days a week, four of those are in high-end restaurants inside the city, and only one day at Jinbi. But on that day, Jinbi would be packed, with countless people eagerly waiting just to hear Master Hu’s gavel strike.

Master Hu has been storytelling for thirty-six years; the previous Governor praised him, saying ’there are voices within the book, emotions within the voice,’ and the current Governor Yun Qinghe even wrote a large inscription for him: ’Tongue unfurls golden lotus,’ cementing Master Hu’s position as the founder of storytelling.

Reaching Master Hu’s level in storytelling is indeed worthwhile in life; in Luan Jiba and other storytellers’ eyes, Master Hu is their idol.

Luan Jiba certainly isn’t arrogant enough to want to replace Master Hu, but Master Hu only comes to Jinbi once a week; the rest of the time, Jinbi is held by Master Hu’s three apprentices. Talents like Master Hu are rare; his three apprentices are not bad, but they cannot inherit the integrated skills of ’Hu Liu,’ merely considered ordinary storytellers.

If it weren’t for Master Hu, how could the three apprentices hold the central seat at Jinbi?

But Master Hu is getting old now, likely only having a few more years of storytelling ahead. Luan Jiba feels he has some hope to compete with the three apprentices for Jinbi’s central seat.

Luan Jiba is currently affiliated with a restaurant named ’Loader People,’ whose owner was formerly responsible for operating loaders during the construction of the outer city, learning culinary skills while cooking for workers.

Luan Jiba lives right next to the ’Loader People’; as he passed the entrance, the owner’s wife, busy cleaning inside, glanced at him and said, "We made less lunch today, no share for you; look for food elsewhere, or pay, your choice."

Luan Jiba felt a bit awkward, then the owner came out of the kitchen, shouting, "What nonsense are you spewing; if you don’t want to clean, go inside to prep vegetables, go, go."

"Why shout so loud, just to argue with me. Apart from raising your voice, what else can you do? I never see you shout so loud to attract customers." The owner’s wife retorted without any fear, throwing the broom and heading into the kitchen.

"Brother Chen..."

"Don’t mind that hag’s words; come eat later." The owner waved, saying, "If I have a bite to eat, you won’t miss yours. She’s hot-tempered lately, don’t take it to heart."

"No, no, no." Luan Jiba quickly replied, "I can manage on my own at lunch, need to prepare for the new book later, Brother Chen, don’t bother prepping my portion."

"New book?"

"Yes, the sixth volume of ’Legend of Fire God,’ I asked the boss to buy it back."

The owner happily patted Luan Jiba’s shoulder, saying, "Good work, life is full of ups and downs; just get through it. I’ll save a meal for you, send it over later, reading on an empty stomach won’t do!"

Without waiting for Luan Jiba to decline, the owner turned into the kitchen. Hearing the owner and his wife bicker again inside, Luan Jiba smiled wryly and went back to his little room.

His room wasn’t big, filled with books and manuscripts, messy and dirty, only the blue and white robe hanging on the wall was clean—that’s his stage costume, he couldn’t be careless about it.

Luan Jiba’s collaboration with ’Loader People’ included meal provision for him, with them splitting earnings sixty-forty if daily revenue surpassed a certain amount. But the new competitor poached many of Luan Jiba’s listeners, causing the restaurant’s revenue to drop steadily, making profit-sharing, much less sustaining operation, rather challenging.

He didn’t blame the owner’s wife for her unkindness—he quite literally eats for free these days. There’s no attendance bonus these days; if customers don’t show up, speaking till his lips are dry won’t help.

He was betting all his hopes on the sixth volume of ’Legend of Fire God!’

Luan Jiba quickly skimmed through the sixth volume, deciding to narrate the first five Chapters today before diving into intensive reading. Their ’Jade Melody School’ demanded profound understanding of the characters; dialogue was the winning tactic of Jade Melody, so he had to rehearse several passages, tweaking his voice to better resonate with the book’s characters and allocating distinct voice lines for every character appearing, enabling listeners to distinguish between different roles.

Time flew by, and after a while, the owner’s wife abruptly pushed open the door, leaving a bowl of covered rice and soup on the table before leaving. Luan Jiba thanked her, swiftly finished the meal, and continued studying.

By 4 PM, Luan Jiba mastered the first five Chapters of the sixth volume, swiftly rehearsed them once, confident of surprising those rich kids and elders tonight.

Exhausted from sitting all day, Luan Jiba stepped outside for a walk.

As he walked a few steps on the street, he suddenly overheard two passers-by saying, "Let’s quickly grab a spot; otherwise, it will be packed later."

"I didn’t expect ’Legend of Fire God’ to finally release a new volume; I’ve waited until the flowers withered!"

’Legend of Fire God’!?

Luan Jiba’s gaze flickered; though he knew ’Legend of Fire God’ was a must-compete work among storytellers now, he didn’t expect anyone else to crash his plans—even having a lead of one or two days would be nice!

But Luan Jiba wasn’t that anxious; after all, there are many storytellers, ’Xinyi Men,’ ’Rouge Studio,’ ’Jade Melody School,’ all have loyal audiences. If someone from another school tells ’Legend of Fire God,’ it wouldn’t affect Luan Jiba’s business.

Yet, Luan Jiba felt an unease coming over him and followed the two to see who might also be telling ’Legend of Fire God’ today.

However, the farther he walked, the stronger Luan Jiba’s unease grew. When he watched the two enter the ’Cold-Faced Maiden’ restaurant, the unease reached its peak!

He saw an announcement hanging on the wall outside the ’Cold-Faced Maiden’:

「At 5 PM, Xia Che will start narrating the sixth volume of ’Legend of Fire God,’ broadcast by Jade Melody, covering ten Chapters in a row!」

Xia Che, it’s you again!

Luan Ji Ba didn’t even know how he made it home. His mind was filled with one thought—it’s over!

Xia Che, that fellow in the same business of Yuyin storytelling who was younger, more dedicated, and even had a more alluring voice than him!

He never imagined Xia Che would also get "Legend of the Fire God" today!

How can he compete now? He says five Chapters, the other says ten; he reaches the tenth Chapter by tomorrow, the other has already finished a third; he’s only halfway through, the other finishes the sixth volume.

They are both part of the Yuyin school, and there’s not much difference between Luan Ji Ba and Xia Che, except for a few die-hard listeners, everyone else would surely go chase after Xia Che’s latest progress!

Even if he studied Chapters six to ten right now, his voice wouldn’t allow him to narrate ten Chapters in a row!

It’s over, it’s over...

Luan Ji Ba lay dispiritedly on the bed and turned over, suddenly spotting the "Youth Daily" he bought and set aside.

Looking at the heroic yet tempting cover of "Yanjing Policewoman," Luan Ji Ba couldn’t help but fantasize about the streets of Yanjing having such a charming policewoman patrolling.

If there were such policewomen, the crime rate in Yanjing would definitely be high; who wouldn’t want to be arrested by her!

As he thought about it, the young man, full of vigor yet having faced setbacks, Luan Ji Ba kept gazing at the cover, then loosened his belt...

Just as Luan Ji Ba was about to get his hands busy, a breeze came through the window, flipping the newspaper to another page. He clicked his tongue, about to reach out to turn back to the cover, but his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the contents of the second page of the newspaper.

...

...

At five in the afternoon, the Yao Bell Tower chimed five times, most workers finished their busy day, either heading home for a family meal or finding a restaurant to fill their stomachs.

Main Stone Street was undoubtedly the choice for low-income individuals: cheap, plentiful, tasty (from a poor man’s perspective), with plenty of entertainment around, where people can watch others play cards, or listen to storytelling.

The news that Xia Che at the "Cold Noodle Girl" shop was going to narrate the sixth volume of "Legend of the Fire God" had already spread across Main Stone Street, and many workers rushing off work hurried to the "Cold Noodle Girl" place.

Lei Bu was a loyal fan of "Legend of the Fire God," having listened to the first five volumes many times, knowing famous quotes by heart. Hearing such good news, he barely glanced at other shops and headed straight towards the "Cold Noodle Girl."

Passing by "Loader People," Lei Bu glanced at the storytelling tent outside. He recalled this storyteller also narrates "Legend of the Fire God," but at a slow pace, only a few Chapters a day, nowhere near the "Cold Noodle Girl" where they could narrate more than ten Chapters a day, although Lei Bu felt "Loader People" had better food, listening to the story was more important.

At this moment, Lei Bu heard a voice from inside the storytelling tent, penetrating and deafening, along with the sharp sound of a gavel:

"If tomorrow is the end of the world, what would you do!?"

Lei Bu and the nearby diners and passersby were stunned, staring blankly at Luan Ji Ba inside the storytelling tent.

Taking a sip of tea to soothe his throat, Luan Ji Ba said, "The first respondent is named Zong Si, a female swordsman of the Yanjing Patrol Execution Guard. Her answer to this question was—"

Luan Ji Ba covered his face with a fan, imitating a weak yet strong youthful girl’s voice:

「To me, this is not a question but an answer.」

「I greatly hope tomorrow is the end of the world, where everyone can receive a just and fair final judgment—death.」

「In this place called Yanjing, ’doomsday’ is not an ethereal existence but a tangible reality—the existence of wealthy merchants, powerful officials, and the nobility is the doomsday for the people at the bottom.」

「I initially joined the Yanjing Patrol Execution Guard because I felt there were too many evildoers and too few good people in this world, so I wanted to kill the wicked and protect the good. Over the years, I have indeed killed many evildoers and protected many good people; but more often, when facing wickedness, I have to stand by helplessly, and when facing goodness, I had no choice but to strike them down.」

「The captain told me this is to protect the big picture. The captain is a good man, I believe in him and understand what the big picture means—the political struggles in Yanjing are extremely intricate, sometimes, even if someone is utterly corrupt and evil, they cannot be moved, or else their downfall would affect the national overall situation; sometimes, even if someone is correct, they have to be imprisoned and executed, or else it would not satisfy other powerful nobles.」

「Killing one less person, killing one more person, can protect the peaceful lives of more ordinary people and spare more from war, indeed it is worthwhile.」

「Moreover, I am just an ordinary Patrol Execution Guard, a gravely ill Martial Artist, besides obeying orders, what else can I do?」

「Therefore, if tomorrow really is the end of the world, then I will sincerely look forward to tomorrow’s arrival.」

「If by then, I haven’t died of illness on my bed, I would take up my Qiushui Sword and see if I can kill those untouchable powerful nobles.」

「After all, if tomorrow is the end of the world, then there’s no need for the big picture. And they are but a group of sinners.」

By now, the tables outside the storytelling tent were already full of people.

The audience was shocked speechless by this crazy discourse. In Luan Ji Ba’s vivid and lifelike imitation, they seemed to see a weak yet mad female swordsman. She originally had a loyal heart, serving the nation and protecting the good, but reality hit her hard, putting her in a daze, shackled, executing good men, and protecting treacherous officials, yet she hides extreme violence deep within, just waiting for a reason to unleash.

If everyone were to die tomorrow, she wouldn’t be afraid; she might even hope to kill the sinners before everyone else dies!

What madness, what violence, and what... justice!

’So it turns out Yanjing... is not much different from Xuanzhu County...’ Lei Bu couldn’t help but sigh.

Bang!

Luan Ji Ba struck the gavel and said, "The second respondent is named Nietzsche, a linguist, cultural critic, composer, philosopher, and his answer is like this—"

「A man arrived at Star Engraving, just off the train. To this question, I’d like to ask first, when you close your eyes and fall asleep, do you feel you are ’asleep,’ or ’dead’? The person who wakes up the next day, is it really ’you,’ or a ’newcomer’ possessing all your memories?...」

This statement, akin to a thunderbolt on a sunny day, exploded in all the listeners’ hearts!