Chapter 14
Rebirth of a Nation's Darling – Prince Charming
Prince Charming, The Savior
The audience was silent. Every ear was captivated by his voice. Every eye was bound to the soulful singer on stage.
Due to the height and lighting, half of his face was covered by his cap. However, his slightly-squinted eyes were shining so brightly in the dusky darkness that no one could ignore them. Despite the obscurity preventing them from seeing his entire face, he was 100% handsome and mysterious, especially his eyes. Everyone who looked at him would think that he was looking right back at them, pouring endless feelings into his song.
âIf only he loved me! Iâd never cheat on him!â This sudden thought resonated in the deepest recesses of the minds of many people there. This wasnât limited to women. Even men felt the same way.
Si Huang was oblivious to the inner thoughts of everyone around her and ignored Wu Baoâs gleeful cheers, which were echoing in her mind. She kept her eyes open so that she could find the shadow she had been looking for, and she was very lucky. Thanks to her heightened senses after the power-up, she finally found her prey among the sea of people.
The corners of her lips curled up.
The spotlight burned bright as the sound of the guitar continued to soar and the chorus was reaching its climax again.
That smile made the hearts of everyone who saw it skip a beat.
They just couldnât describe this feeling, or rather, this feeling was so all-consuming that no one knew how to describe it.
âAaaahhh! I wanna be your girlfriend!â A random womanâs crazed screams pierced the air as the song reached its climax.
This outburst was followed by a stream of screams from both men and women. There were even faint sounds of choked sobs among the crowd, which was shouting, âDonât be sad, prince charming! Cheating on you will be the biggest regret of her life!â
Despite the crowdâs frenzy beneath her, Si Huang was not affected. She sang the high notes of the chorus with ease, bringing every note higher and higher and sending the crowd into an even greater frenzy.
This was a stark contrast to the absolute silence in the beginning, surprising a small group of people in the dark. However, everyone present could feel Si Huangâs live performance deep in their very bones. They also felt that this was all perfectly logical. This young man on the cusp of adulthood had been born with amazing charisma that was enough to drive people wild!
Realizing that the song was about to end, Xia Qitong, who was standing in the dark, pulled his intense gaze away and told the manager next to him, âSign him on.â
Xia Qitongâs warm voice held his usual swift, decisive tone. It was clear that he was a superior who was used to ordering people around.
The manager was about to agree when he spoke up again. âYou may listen to his conditions.â
The managerâs heart leaped. It would seem that his boss really liked this kid, and he probably wouldnât mind paying any price to get him.
Xia Qitongâs tall, slender, celebrity-like figure disappeared around the corner before he knew it. The manager immediately turned to the still dazed Zhou Li and said, âYou brought this sapling here, didnât you? Iâm sure you must be close. Make sure you are nice to him when he gets off the stage.â Even though he knew that this kid was probably here because of his desire to join them, he wouldnât dare hinder his bossâ orders.
Zhou Li, who had just come back to his senses, mumbled as if he was in a trance, âOh, r-right.â
Suddenly, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He absent-mindedly took it out, saw a few messages, and tapped to read them.
Li Zhou immediately widened his eyes when he saw this. His expression turned increasingly stranger.
He immediately lifted his head and turned toward Si Huang on the stage. Just as he was about to speak up, Si Huang happened to finish his song. The spotlight over his head was turned off and everything went black.
This was Nightâs usual process. They would turn off all the lights for a few seconds after every act to prepare for the next performance.
If the next performance wasnât extravagant, one second of darkness would be enough.
This time felt extremely short to the audience, but no one knew that the object of their desire would disappear when the lights came back on.
âWhere is he? Where is he? Come on, sing another song!â
âDid he go off stage to prepare something?â
âWhere has he gone? The guitar is still here! Was I hallucinating?â
âPrince charming! Prince charming, where are you? I want to have your babies!â
The crowd was beginning to riot.
The lonely guitar had been left on the stage. Si Huang had taken advantage of the momentary darkness to jump off the stage and then duck to find her prey.
The spectators werenât the only ones getting anxious. The manager was panicking too. âWhere is he? Call him right now!â he screamed at Zhou Li.
Zhou Liâs expression looked twisted. âS-Sir⦠There was a mistake. I d-donât⦠have his number,â he stammered.
Then, there were the contents of the message on his phone screen tooâ¦
âWhere are you, Brother Li? Why arenât you at the meeting spot? Iâve called you many times, but you havenât answered. The security guard wonât let me in if you donât meet me outside!â
The impatience of the person behind the message was clear judging by the number of questions he had sent. He seemed to be restraining himself to avoid throwing a tantrum too.
The sender was the person that Zhou Li had planned on introducing tonight.
Si Huangâs prey was a punk who was relatively well-known on this street. His nickname was Poison Eyes. He was 30 years old and was a minor team leader of a subsidiary branch of the Sickle Gang. True gang members wouldnât pay someone like him any attention, but he was considered a bigshot among most petty street thugs.
Poison Eyes frequently loitered around this street all year round. Night was his favorite haunt. Si Huang wasnât surprised that she had managed to find him today.
She had noticed Poison Eyes forcibly dragging a waitress out of the back door during the chaos while everyone in the crowd had been occupied, just as she had been about to finish her song.
She may not have had time to catch up to Poison Eyes, but she managed to find Poison Eyes and his thugs by using her foggy memories and heightened hearing.
She arrived at an abandoned warehouse with only a dim, flickering street lamp within a 100-meter radius. No one would be bothered to hang around this place except Poison Eyes, his thugs, and the waitress. There were eight of them in total.
Si Huang could see Poison Eyesâ movements very clearly, even though she was around 100 meters away. She could even hear their conversation. She knew that this was the product of Wu Baoâs power-up and rejoiced in it.
âYouâre lucky that you caught Brother Poisonâs eye, girl. Do you really think youâd be able to stay in Night without Brother Poisonâs protection?â one of Poison Eyesâ underlings sneered.