The remaining Chinese people watched the magical scene before them, completely at a loss as to how to react. They felt their understanding of the world, built over many years, was slowly crumbling.
Present at the scene, besides these Chinese people whose worldviews had been shattered, was a professional musician named Chester Bennington, currently the lead singer of a band called Linkin Park.
While not the absolute hottest, Linkin Park was considered an A-list rock band across the United States at the time, so Chester Bennington was quite mindful of disguising himself, doing his best to avoid being recognized.
Chester Bennington's presence there was purely coincidental. He was in New York for a job related to the music department of the Transformers film production. The负责人 had invited Chester Bennington and the Linkin Park band to create a theme song for the movie.
This was a very significant undertaking for Chester Bennington, and he approached it with great seriousness. However, he just couldn't find any good inspiration and was unable to compose a song that he was satisfied with.
To relax his mind, Chester Bennington decided to take a stroll through the streets of New York, imagining scenes of giant Transformer robots battling across the city and contemplating what kind of music would perfectly capture the atmosphere of such a grand conflict.
As he walked, Chester Bennington found himself in Times Square, only to be surprised to discover that he had unconsciously wandered into a bustling celebratory event.
Chester Bennington wasn't particularly interested in such occasions and also risked being recognized, so he initially planned to turn around and leave. However, at that moment, a sound reached him that made him incredibly excited.
Michael Jackson, his idol, was actually at the venue, singing his heart out! It had been so many years since Michael Jackson had held a concert.
With such an exhilarating event unfolding, Chester Bennington certainly couldn't leave. He stayed, feeling as if he were on a pilgrimage, and listened to all six songs Michael Jackson performed. Afterward, he completely forgot about Transformers, so moved that he was almost brought to tears. This, he felt, was true music and true singing. His own previous compositions seemed insignificant in comparison.
Then, Chester Bennington witnessed Leng Zhiwen's sword dance performance. Chester Bennington was actually a loyal fan of "The Misty Journey" and deeply yearned for the feeling of freedom in the universe, pushing oneself to unimaginable limits. Chester Bennington had even considered creating music for the television adaptation of "The Misty Journey," but the band's manager advised against approaching the company unprompted, which had left Chester Bennington feeling disheartened.
In any case, after watching both Michael Jackson and Leng Zhiwen perform, Chester Bennington, whose mind was already in a state of chaos, found it spiraling into complete disorder under the impact of these three different emotional experiences.
Just then, everyone around began to shout "Xian," and Chester Bennington also heard a preacher inviting him to experience Taoist cultivation, while also explaining the path of cultivation to him.
These myriad wondrous experiences were like a colossal axe cleaving Chester Bennington's chaotic mind in two. He suddenly jumped up, clutching his head, and exclaimed, "I've got it! I've got it! I've got it!"
Chester Bennington's actions startled everyone around him. But at this moment, Chester Bennington paid no mind to their gazes. All he wanted was a pen, a piece of paper, and a guitar so he could quickly capture the melody in his mind, fearing he might forget it.
Fortunately, there were indeed guitars and stationery available at the venue. Chester Bennington, disregarding the strange looks from those around him, rushed to the edge of the central stage and snatched a guitar from a guitarist who was coming off the stage.
"What are you doing!" the guitarist exclaimed in fury. Chester Bennington then grabbed the disguise from his face, revealing his true self, and said to the guitarist, "Lend me yours! I'm Chester Bennington!"
Others might not have heard of Chester Bennington, but anyone who played guitar would surely know of the band Linkin Park and Chester Bennington.
The guitarist immediately fell silent and watched as Chester Bennington quickly and skillfully strummed the guitar, producing a melody that was both eerie and captivating upon first listen.
Two minutes later, Chester Bennington finished playing. The guitarist, whose guitar had been taken, excitedly asked Chester Bennington, "What's this song called? I've never heard it before!"
Chester Bennington didn't answer. Instead, he directly asked, "Do you have paper and pen? Can you write musical notation? Can you help me record it?"
The guitarist was completely bewildered by these questions. He quickly replied, "I don't have paper and pen. While I can write musical notation, I can't really write it down in a short time. However, I have a vivo music phone, which can record this music, and then I can listen to it later to write the notation!"
"Then I'll trouble you!" Chester Bennington said. The guitarist quickly took out his vivo music phone, and Chester Bennington began to play the melody again.
Compared to the first time, this melody had improved significantly, sounding more powerful than the first rendition.
The guitarist, filled with excitement, recorded the music. However, Chester Bennington wasn't satisfied and played it again... a second time... a third time... until the fifth time. Chester Bennington felt as if his very soul had been drained, and he collapsed onto the ground. However, he was finally satisfied with the music recorded on the last take and said to the guitarist, "Lend me your phone for a night, and I'll give you two phones back tomorrow!"
"No, it's yours to keep. This is a phone that will go down in music history!" the guitarist said excitedly. He now understood that Chester Bennington must have been inspired by the atmosphere and spontaneously generated musical inspiration, creating the soul-stirring melody before him.
Even without lyrics or mixing, the guitar solo alone was profoundly moving.
If this song were released in reality, who knew how much fan frenzy it would ignite.
"Sir, has this song been written with lyrics?" the guitarist asked curiously.
"Not yet," Chester Bennington shook his head. After a moment of hesitation, he added, "But I'm sure this song will have one word in its lyrics!"
"What word?"
"Xian!"
Ultimately, Chester Bennington left with the guitarist's phone. The guitarist even forgot to leave his contact information for Chester Bennington... well, actually, his phone was in Chester Bennington's possession, so there was no need to leave contact details.
Fortunately, the next day, Chester Bennington called the guitarist's girlfriend and returned the phone through her.
Chester Bennington was able to find the girlfriend's number because that night, he had received over thirty calls from that number. Fearing that the girlfriend might literally consume her boyfriend, Chester Bennington finally answered the call, apologized for borrowing the phone, inquired about the address, and promised to return it the next day, even gifting him a brand new vivo music phone.
Later, this phone was permanently housed in the World Music Museum because, a month later, Chester Bennington released his new single titled "Xian."
It's worth noting that the melody of this song is identical to a song called "Numb" by Linkin Park in another world, but the lyrics have undergone a complete transformation.
Historically, this song was born in 2003. However, in this world, perhaps due to the butterfly effect caused by "Boss Huang," Chester Bennington did not create this music in '03.
Consequently, due to the absence of Linkin Park's most significant breakthrough hit, Linkin Park's fame in this world was far less than in the other.
As fate would have it, this song, lost due to "Boss Huang," had now returned to Chester Bennington's hands.
However, while the melody remained identical, the lyrics had changed.
The song "Numb" in the other world, translated as "Mù," described a person who, under the strong control of their partner, became numb and lost their sense of self, eventually erupting and crying out to reclaim their identity.
But in this world, the lyrics of "Xian" depicted a person who, under the world's pressures, became numb and lost their self, ultimately resorting to shouting "Xian," hoping to become an immortal to escape all suffering.
In fact, about half of the lyrics in both songs were the same, with only half undergoing changes. The most significant alteration was Chester Bennington's powerful, soul-stirring cry, which in the other world was "I," but here became "Xian," a desperate plea for salvation.
Upon its release, the song inevitably soared to the top of all music charts, outperforming almost all other songs at the time, even completely overshadowing the reigning pop sensation, Britney Spears.
Of course, some attributed this to Mark Zuckerberg's actions, suggesting that this future "Four Heavenly Kings of Taoism" in the United States used his influence on Weibo to forcefully promote the song's widespread popularity.
Regardless, "Xian" became the first wildly popular song in the United States to incorporate Chinese into its lyrics, setting a new direction for the development of music in America.