The city competition ended.
Weibo was filled with discussions about this episode.
The most talked-about was that Ting Yu had released another song in a completely new style.
He also showcased his incredible suona talent.
Among all instruments, the suona reigns supreme.
Many young people were not interested in ethnic instruments like the suona and erhu, but after listening to this song, they discovered the piercing power of the suona and how it could send shivers down one's spine.
#Ting Yu's "Xi" - Eerie Theme and God-Tier Suona!#
#Scary!! Ghost Marriages Can Be Written Into Songs Too!!#
#Rap, Opera Vocals, Ancient Style - Ting Yu Has Once Again Mastered Them All!!#
#Talented Scholar of Ancient Style, Melancholy Producer, Auntie's Heartthrob - After These Titles, Ting Yu Has Gained Another: "Yin Yue Jia" (Underworld Musician)!#
#Are Fans from the Living World No Longer Enough for Ting Yu? Is He Now Trying to Win Over Fans from the Underworld?#
"Ting Yu is truly the first to dare write about ghost marriages!"
"Haha, this song is very realistic, after all, marriage is a tomb."
"Master, I have attained enlightenment..."
"The suona is truly amazing, a single brass instrument expressing great joy and sorrow!"
"What else would you expect? Otherwise, why would people say the suona is a rogue instrument that plays from your full moon to your seventh day after death..."
"Actually, Elder Zhou's erhu is also excellent, it's just that Xu Ming's compositions aren't great. It would be good if Ting Yu wrote a piece for him, after all, Elder Zhou is the ceiling of erhu in China."
"Today's live broadcast was so satisfying, I saw both erhu and suona up close and deeply felt the charm of ethnic instruments. There's no one an erhu can't make cry, and no soul a suona can't send off!"
"Listening while sitting isn't enough, so I lay down to listen again. I still felt something was missing. After thinking about it, I bought a coffin and lay inside to listen. Ah, that's the feeling."
"Haha, strange listening methods have increased."
"At first, I didn't understand the meaning of the song, now I am the one in the coffin. My ears hear nothing outside the coffin, my heart only dances to the underworld's beat."
"Good poem, good poem..."
The online discussion about the song was extremely fervent.
Moreover, after Ting Yu defeated the master performer Xu Ming, he added another ethnic instrument style to his repertoire.
As Ting Yu's musical styles grew more diverse, so did his titles.
After single-handedly defeating so many master performers, he had truly shown everyone that his claim of "knowing a little about everything" was not just boasting!
The charting speed of "Xi" was not as fast as before.
An hour after the show ended, it was still outside the top twenty.
However, while its playback count was not high, its comments were several times higher than songs in the top ten!
"Dia Da, please tell me, is this song really that scary?"
"I didn't watch the live broadcast. I heard this song was very stimulating, and I spent a long time preparing myself mentally. I don't dare to listen."
"Don't worry, listening to the song alone isn't as terrifying as people say online. You need to be there in person to get that immersive feeling. It's not really a horror story, but a very beautiful and tragic love story. Once you understand it, you won't be as scared."
"That's right, everyone, don't be afraid, let's go!"
"Don't let Ting Yu Da's charting speed slow down because of this reason!"
Many people didn't have the time or opportunity to watch the live broadcast. Upon seeing so many people online saying the song was scary, they hesitated to listen.
However, after netizens provided explanations, those people began to listen with cautious belief.
The playback volume started to increase faster and faster.
Without stage effects or the immersive experience of a live performance, just listening to the song, it wasn't particularly frightening.
But when the suona played, goosebumps would still involuntarily appear.
This instrument was truly rogue, its infectiousness was unparalleled.
...
Xinghao Hotel.
In a luxurious private room on the ninety-eighth floor.
Liu Qiliang, Hu Yang, and the ace producers from the fifth competition zone were all engrossed in eating.
Although Xu Ming hadn't won, a celebration banquet had already been booked, and it would be a waste not to eat. Liu Qiliang and his group happened to be nearby, so they came.
After a couple of rounds of drinks, Xu Ming went to the floor-to-ceiling window of the private room to sober up.
He stood by the window, looking up at the night sky. It was mid-August, and the night air still carried a slight heat, yet his hands and feet felt somewhat cold.
In his mind, the suona melody of "Xi" lingered, refusing to dissipate.
The few stars in the sky, in Xu Ming's eyes, connected to form a smiling face.
And not just any smile, but that "funny" meme face.
"Sigh..."
Xu Ming rubbed his eyes, sighed, and took out a pack of Huanghelou from his pocket.
Upon opening it, he froze.
Not a single cigarette was left?
He crumpled the cigarette pack in annoyance.
He thought about asking Liu Qiliang and the others for a cigarette.
As he turned around, he saw the King of Singers, Zhang Wenqing, standing behind him.
"Holy crap!"
Xu Ming jumped up startled.
It wasn't entirely his fault; it was mainly because the song from earlier was so eerie that his reaction was overly exaggerated.
"Do you walk without making a sound?" Xu Ming coughed a couple of times and said irritably.
"Uh... I've been standing behind you for a while," Zhang Wenqing twitched the corner of his mouth.
Then, he took out a pack of Soft Chaos from his pocket.
That's right, despite being the King of Singers, he liked smoking these cheap cigarettes, not for any particular reason, but because they were potent.
He pulled out a cigarette and handed it to Xu Ming.
Xu Ming took it, lit it, and took a puff. "What are your plans now?"
"What plans can I have? I just lost a competition, and losing to Ting Yu isn't embarrassing." Zhang Wenqing walked to the window, glanced down, and quickly stepped back two paces.
These floor-to-ceiling windows on the ninety-something floor, did they ever consider people with acrophobia?
"You say that, and it clearly doesn't affect you, but it affects me a lot more," Xu Ming said with a wry smile.
He had been pretending to be cowardly and playing it safe, but before the competition started, he thought he had the help of a veteran artist and was sure to win, so he couldn't help but show off in the group chat.
Being ridiculed by people in the group chat was one thing, but what he feared most now was that mysterious organization, the Divine Hidden Ones!
This organization was utterly ridiculous, capable of being everywhere!
Thinking of this, Xu Ming put the cigarette between his lips, narrowed his eyes, glanced at Liu Qiliang and the others who were still drinking, and then took out his phone.
He opened Weibo.
The trending searches were all about Ting Yu's new song.
However, among the top ten, there was one trending search that stood out.
#Divine Hidden Ones' Bible: I Booked a Celebration Banquet at Xinghao Hotel!#
That's right.
This trending search was posted by "Divine Hidden Ones," Ting Yu's exclusive organization that specialized in calling him out!
It was precisely about the one time he couldn't help but show off.
Xu Ming scanned the comments below, his mind racing.
Something was wrong.
He hadn't intended to post these words initially; he wanted to play the role of a pig to eat the tiger.
He frowned and flipped through the previous chat records.
He straightened out the logical connections.
It was a trick!
That's right, Liu Qiliang and Hu Yang, those scoundrels!
They egged him on in a coordinated effort, making him get ahead of himself and say that sentence.
"Liu Qiliang! Hu Yang!"
He rushed up to the two of them.
Liu Qiliang and the other were startled.
"Which one of you is a Divine Hidden One!" Xu Ming asked sternly.
The crowd exchanged awkward glances upon hearing this.
Then they said something that instantly stunned Xu Ming: "Actually, we all are..."
After a long time, Xu Ming finally came back to his senses.
"Holy crap, you guys set me up like this, and you can still eat my food???"
He never would have imagined that he thought the Divine Hidden Ones were just one or two people.
Who knew that everyone present was part of it!!
Liu Qiliang, Hu Yang, Zhou Peng, Jin Lei...
They were all people who had been defeated by Ting Yu in previous seasons.
"Oh, we're all brothers, why bother with such things."
"You treat us to a meal, and we'll treat you to a foot massage."
"Let's go, we'll take you to our base."
"Heh heh... Welcome to the Divine Hidden Ones."
...