On stage.
Pufferfish finished singing.
After the judges gave their feedback, they went straight to guessing Pufferfishâs identity:
âYou are Zhao Ying Ge!â
Pufferfish laughed and said, âThatâs right, I am Zhao Ying Ge!â
Holy cow!
He confessed so quickly?
He didnât follow the script!
The panel of judges was momentarily taken aback.
It was the first time a singer had confessed so bluntly who they were, everybody couldnât quite believe it.
Without wasting any more time.
The second singer to perform was Vagabond.
Vagabondâs performance was quite similar to the last one, very decent but ordinary.
The reactions from the judges and audience were muted.
The third singer immediately brought the audience back to life.
Swan took the stage!
What surprised many was that Swan was playing and singing herself in this performance!
She had prepared a piano!
After Swan finished singing, the four judges joked, âStarting to pull out new moves, you play the piano quite well! Definitely better than most singers.â
âNot bad at all.â
Swan responded confidently: âI was just giving it a small try. My real skill is yet to come.â
She still had many tricks up her sleeve!
After a little more interaction, the host took over the stage.
The next performer was Robot.
If it were someone else, they might not be able to follow up after Swan.
But Robot would!
He was King of Singing!
However, when Robot started his performance, the audience was amusedâ¦
Piano!
Itâs piano again!
The King and Queen of Singing, unexpectedly prepared the same kind of performance, both involving self-singing and piano playing for todayâs competition!
Andâ¦
Just like many people predicted before the show.
Robot exploded!
He played the piano at a swift pace, the big screen focused on his piano playing, giving off an incredibly cool vibe!
The rhythm of the song was fast.
The melody was extremely catchy.
After he finished the song, the audience broke out into the loudest applause, Robotâs performance was the best so far!
âNo need to guess anymore!â
âIf heâs not King of Singing, Iâll eat shit!â
âMy God, his piano skills are incredible!â
âSwanâs piano playing canât compare to his, this round seems to be dominated by Robot.â
âIf Swan had known the competitionâs piano skills were this good, she probably wouldnât have chosen to play the piano this round.â
âA perfect combination of voice and piano!â
ââ¦â
Including the judges, everyone gave a thumbs up!
Wu Long exaggeratedly touched his own heart: âThis is a counterattack against us judges. Last round we all agreed that you were first-rate, this round you used your real skill to tell us, you were intentionally hiding your power last time!â
âOh boy!â
Robot laughed proudly, speaking in a quirky dialect: âHow does Teacher Wu Long know that Iâm not hiding any skills this round?â
The audience got excited!
Heâs this good, and heâs still hiding his skills?
Anyway, Robot was still quirky, but with this sentence, the King of Singingâs domineering aura had indeed been revealed!
âI get it.â
Mao Xuewang winked and said, âThe big trick always comes last. However, your piano skills have given you away.â
Robot shook his head: âDonât scare me, not many people know I can play the piano.â
The audience laughed heartily.
Next to him, Liu Xu commented: âSwanâs piano skill is in the upper-range among singers, but your piano skill is excellent even among singers, itâs almost professional.â
Thatâs high praise!
Almost professional level!
Over ninety-five percent of singers donât have this level of skill!
This round, the show reached its peak!
Backstage waiting area.
Piggy Qiqi covered her masked face: âI thought it was a good thing that I drew the fifth out of the hat, but why did I have to follow Teacher Robot!â
Piggy Qiqi is in the same situation as the Magician from the last round!
Sheâs having a hard time taking over the stage from the King of Singing!
However, there is no other choice; when push comes to shove, she just has to plough through it.
After she finished her song, all the judges were shaking their heads.
âYou were nervous.â
âYour heart wasnât strong enough.â
âYou were clearly affected by the presence of the robot.â
âYou performed a bit off today.â
Piggy Qiqi started crying. Even though her face was obscured by a mask and her tears were invisible, her shaky voice couldnât hide her emotions.
A good session of evaluation unexpectedly turned into a large scale consolation session.
However, this is quite a common scene in variety shows anyways.
â¦
Backstage.
Tongtong sighed, saying: âThe Magician was right. Drawing lots is a form of metaphysics. If she was following the wandererâ¦â
Tongtong suddenly closed her mouth!
My goodness, that was a close call to offend someone!
If my words were broadcasted, I would have offended so many people!
However, Lin Yuan naturally added: âIf she followed the Wanderer, Piggy Qiqiâs performance would have been better. But, this is no big deal. The only solution when this happens, is to catch up with him.â
Tongtong was silent.
Still so daring, thatâs just like you!
But arenât your words a bit too arrogant?
Catch up with him?
Is it that easy to catch up after the King of Singing finishes his song?
Okay then.
Prince of Lanling has already demonstrated to the audience in the last episode how to take over after the King of Singing finishes his song.
So, while the words are crude, the logic isnât.
If you drew a bad lot and your previous opponent is too strong, then you just have to keep up with him.
âPlease prepare, Prince of Lanlingâ¦â
The programme teamâs reminder came through the loudspeaker.
Lin Yuan and Tongtong both stood up to go to the waiting area.
And with the introduction by the host, Lin Yuan finally stepped onto the stage.
âPrince of Lanling!â
âPrince of Lanling!â
âPrince of Lanling!âDespite the various voices online, there was still a large portion of the live audience who supported Prince of Lanling.
Not everyone blindly follows the crowd.
Some audience members genuinely love Prince of Lanlingâs magical falsetto!
Howeverâ¦
What the audience didnât expect was that before Prince of Lanling even started singing, a piano was slowly raised onto the stage through a lift.
The four judges laughed.
The panel of judges exchanged glances.
The audience was a bit stunned.
A piano?
Another piano performance?
The Swan played the piano, the robot played the piano, and now Prince of Lanling wants to play the piano too?
Did they agree to make this a piano-special episode today?
The problem isâ¦
If weâre talking about piano playing, the robot had already performed exceptionally well!
Even the Swan was overshadowed by the Robot!
The judges had publicly commented that the robot had a close-to-professional level of piano skillsâ¦
And yet, Prince of Lanling dares to play under these circumstances?
Backstage.
The Swan shook her head:
âHe has no choice. Before the competition, no one knows how the other singers would perform. The piano was pre-rehearsed, itâs hard to change plans at this point.â
The Swanâs agent consoled: âYour piano playing was also great!â
The Swan shrugged: âIâm not so ungracious. I admit when Iâm beaten. Had I known the Robot would play the piano so brilliantly, I wouldnât have attempted to âshow off my slight skill before an expertâ.â
The agentâs assistant said: âSo, this round isnât looking good for Prince of Lanlingâ¦â
The Swan laughed: âEven if his piano playing is not up to par, it doesnât really matter. Prince of Lanlingâs level of falsetto is undeniable. Advancing should be a piece of cake. At least in the initial rounds, no one can easily eliminate him.â
Did Prince of Lanling reveal his trump card in the first round?
What does it matter? Some peopleâs trump cards are such that even if you know about them in advance, you still canât think of a way to deal with them.
ââââââââ
PS: Many thanks to [Under the Moon, a Dance and a Song with Luili]for becoming the 36th Alliance Hierarch of this book. Flying feather, I know itâs your alternate account!