Chapter 148: Wrath of the Dance God

Three days later, on the way to the stage of the Xuanwu Pavilion. It was already night outside, and the entire corridor was ablaze with brilliant lights.

As they walked, Yue Xiaotian wore a proud expression. The result of his discussion with Hongmei over the past two days was that Ziwei's performance would proceed normally.

He cared little about how Zhao Dezhu had negotiated with her, or what Hongmei's true thoughts might be. His sole concern was Ziwei's performance; as long as no one came to make trouble, everything was negotiable.

At this moment, Ziwei, wearing light makeup and preparing to sing *Heartbeat*, had a face full of tension. "Director... Weiwei is a little scared."

Holding Ziwei's right hand, Yue Xiaotian gave her a reassuring smile. "No need to be scared. Although you still have some distance to go before reaching the realm of perfection, as a performance for an audience of a million level right now, you already possess the strength to make them cry and shout."

Before Ziwei could retort, Yue Xiaotian had only taken two steps before his pace halted. The sound-phone in his pocket began to ring.

Slowing his pace, he answered it. "Who is it? Speak quickly if you have something to say, I'm busy."

The other end of the line paused for a moment before Xiaolan's voice came through. "Brother Xiaotian? Sister Ziwei is next to you, right? Can you let her take the call?"

Realizing it was the little sister he had met while eating barbecue that day, he smiled. "Sure." With that, he handed the sound-phone to Ziwei.

Taking the device, Ziwei placed it to her ear.

Perhaps Xiaolan knew about Ziwei's stutter, so she took the initiative to speak first. "Sister Ziwei, I'm sorry. We have to leave shortly, so Xiaolan won't be able to come and watch your performance. But I'll be watching the live stream, hehe."

Adjusting her breathing, Ziwei said gently, "It doesn't matter... have a safe trip."

"Hehe, don't worry, Sister Ziwei. There are dozens of us."

"Mhm."

"Then I'll hang up for now? Cheer on, Sister Ziwei."

"Okay."

Taking back the sound-phone, Yue Xiaotian asked, "I heard just now, Xiaolan and the others aren't coming to watch you perform?"

Ziwei nodded.

Thinking of their situation, he dismissed it nonchalantly. "It's fine. We don't have any real connection anyway. You've got plenty of other audience members."

Amidst a hearty laugh, Yue Xiaotian and Ziwei arrived at their destination. The circular lifting platform was already positioned underground. At the same time, the voice of the gold-medal host and a noisy, bustling commotion drifted down from the dance hall above.

Stepping onto the stage, Ziwei looked as stunning as ever today. However, she was now gripping Yue Xiaotian's hands tightly, her face full of anxiety. "Director... are you really not going to come up with Weiwei? I'm scared."

Pulling Ziwei into his arms, Yue Xiaotian gave her a warm embrace and gently kissed her forehead.

Immediately after, he pointed his left hand toward the sky, his expression domineering. "Tonight, this Xuanwu Pavilion is a stage exclusively for you alone. The Phoenix Nest will shine because of you! You don't need to worry; I'll be watching you from down below. Just act like we usually do when we practice."

She desperately wanted to say more, but looking at his smiling face, Ziwei's parted lips closed. Instead, she obediently replied, "Mhm."

Without hesitation, Yue Xiaotian released Ziwei and stepped off the lifting platform, watching as she slowly rose. "I'll be watching you."

As she slowly ascended, Ziwei gazed at the smiling Yue Xiaotian, his figure growing smaller and smaller in the distance...

When the entire lifting platform rose into the Xuanwu Pavilion, his figure completely vanished from her sight.

Simultaneously, Ziwei was assaulted by a fierce wave of thousands of astonishing roars, screams, wolf-whistles, and cheers that crashed into her ears.

*Boom, boom, boom!*

With a metallic roar, a circular stage apparatus suspended above Ziwei instantly activated, casting thirty-two beams of light upon her, making her stand out starkly against the slightly darkened surrounding background.

Not only that, but the host's screaming voice echoed through the air. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Star Soul Tianyan Star God, Ziwei, has taken the stage! Now, she will bring us the Blue Star pop song, *Heartbeat*! Where are the screams? Where is the applause?"

"Ooh-ooh-ooh!"

"Woo! Woo!"

Seeing the transcendent dancer appear, realizing how incredibly beautiful Ziwei was, and most importantly, knowing she was Yue Xiaotian's musician, the audience offered their most enthusiastic applause, accompanied by excited roars, screams, and whistles.

Suddenly, the backstage staff began playing the accompaniment. Yue Xiaotian's piano performance poured forth, resounding through the entire Xuanwu Pavilion. The people were instantly captivated by this divine execution.

At the same time, hearing the deafening roar the moment she stepped onto the stage, Ziwei was inevitably overcome with tension.

The intense lights beat down on her body like roasting heat; it was stiflingly hot, and breathing became difficult.

All around her were blurred figures, along with the flashing lights of sound-phones and glow sticks, stinging her eyes with pain.

The next moment, Ziwei frantically scanned the surroundings in a panic, searching for Yue Xiaotian's figure. Regrettably, neither the massive stage nor any of the hundreds of exits held his shadow.

*Director, where are you? Weiwei is scared.*

Nervous and short of breath, a fine layer of sweat gradually covered Ziwei's delicate face.

Spinning around and around, searching endlessly, she still failed to spot Yue Xiaotian in her field of vision.

Every passing second felt as agonizingly long as a century.

Meanwhile, standing near one of the exits, Liu Qingxin let out an inner cry of distress. She had failed to sing when it was time; Ziwei had stage fright!

Ever since Yue Xiaotian had flown into a rage and made threats three days ago, Department Head Zhao and Heavenly Queen Hongmei had held discussions. The Heavenly Queen had taken it lightly, even developing a trace of curiosity.

How much impact could a three-minute song possibly have? If the other party insisted on such a performance, they could just let her make a fool of herself. Those had been the Heavenly Queen's exact words, laden with the pride of a generation's supreme diva and a natural, effortless disdain.

From a personal standpoint, Liu Qingxin still favored Ziwei. After all, while Heavenly Queen Hongmei was formidable, Ziwei was no slouch either.

More importantly, *Heartbeat* was the song she had approved and submitted.

Unfortunately, Ziwei had developed stage fright! This meant Liu Qingxin would never be able to hold her head high in the review department again.

Just as Liu Qingxin felt a wave of disappointment, the audience also noticed something was amiss. After all, the host had announced this was a song, not an instrumental piece. Ziwei should have been singing.

Yet, she remained silent, looking nervous, flustered, and on the verge of tears.

"Sing! Don't be scared!"

"Damn it, I said it wasn't worth coming to listen to just one song. Look at this mess now."

"Are you going to sing or not? If not, we're going to go watch the Heavenly Queen!"

"What a waste of time."

Amidst the uproar, many audience members had already begun leaving their seats, and the scene felt increasingly on the verge of spinning out of control.

Returning to Yue Xiaotian.

After sending Ziwei up on the lifting platform, he had excitedly sprinted from the underground corridor toward the exit.

However, although the Xuanwu Pavilion could not compare to the Water Dance Pavilion, it was still a giant venue capable of holding 80,000 spectators—several times larger than Earth's largest colosseum. How long would it take to run half the perimeter of such a place? Even for Yue Xiaotian, at top speed, it would take tens of seconds.

Crucially, as he raced through the winding passages and neared a certain exit, throngs of spectators began streaming out.

Perhaps sensing something was wrong, his face turned gloomy as he vaulted from the top of the corridor to clear the human wall.

When Yue Xiaotian finally emerged, a dense sea of light points greeted his vision.

While it looked like there were still many spectators, Yue Xiaotian's expression abruptly darkened. The Xuanwu Pavilion was not packed!

Only a few rows out of the ninety rows of spectator seats were occupied. Sweeping his gaze around, the entire pavilion was the same.

If the Xuanwu Pavilion could hold 80,000 people, there had only been about 50,000 at the start. And now, people were leaving one after another.

Furious, ferocious, mad.

As various emotions triggered within him, Yue Xiaotian suddenly felt a wave of tension. He didn't dare look toward the center of the stage!

Yet, the moment the thought arose, he ruthlessly crushed it.

Step by step, he took heavy strides, his face as dark as a volcano on the verge of eruption, as he slowly walked toward Ziwei.

At this moment, memories of past scenes flashed through his mind.

The scene on the bench: "If you aren't nervous, don't choose the same event as me, and you'll win the world championship."

The barbecue scene: "Brother Xiaotian, my name is Xiaolan!"

"Lately, there are more world champions, but fewer performance opportunities. More importantly, Heavenly Queen Hongmei has arrived!"

"We rehearsed bitterly for a year or two just for the chance to perform. And now it turns out like this—I'm not resigned to this."

"Exactly, why should our performance be canceled just because the Heavenly Queen arrived? Why?"

"If we hadn't been chosen in the first place, we'd accept it. But the current situation is a forced cancellation!"

Ziwei: "The director pities me and will agree to all of Weiwei's requests. So, Weiwei doesn't want to make things difficult for the director. However, Weiwei wants the director to know that I hope you can lead them in performance and give them a chance. Because I can understand how they feel."

At the recruitment site, Ziwei poured her heart out: "I don't dare inherit the throne of the Empress because I stutter, and I don't want my subjects to suffer."

At the Skymark Hotel, Ziwei wept bitterly: "I'm willing, wuwuwu."

In the Heavenly Sound Piano Room, Ziwei rejoiced: "Can I perform now?"

At the Skymark Hotel, Ziwei said gently: "Let's yield to her."

Before the performance, Ziwei showed fear: "Director, Weiwei is scared. Are you not going to come up on stage with me?"

And his own ridiculous promises!

"Phoenix Nest, this will be the first station of your legend!"

"No one can bully you, or else I will become extremely ferocious!"

"Alright, you can go on stage and perform."

"What, make my Weiwei yield to her? Who the hell does she think she is!"

"I'm not going on stage; your director is amazing. If I go up, you won't have any audience."

"Don't worry, the director will watch you."

"Don't worry, you sing very well."

When Yue Xiaotian had crossed halfway across the stage, Ziwei, who had been searching frantically in the center, finally locked eyes with him.

In an instant, all the grievances in her heart transformed into two crystal-clear teardrops. Ziwei wept.

Yet, the body that had just wanted to rush toward him halted, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Yue Xiaotian.

After a moment, Yue Xiaotian—who felt as though he were trampling the dance hall to pieces—finally reached the stage, arriving right by Ziwei's side.

Looking at Ziwei, who had buried her head like an ostrich while her entire body trembled slightly, those muffled sounds of sobbing felt like bombs dropped into the thousands of miles of magma rivers flowing deep within Yue Xiaotian's heart.

Gazing at the empty spectator seats and the figures wandering about, a flame of furious rage surged into Yue Xiaotian's eyes.

His fists clenched so tightly they creaked. The taut skin strained as if it might tear, and the veins bulged as though they would burst.

"Hah," exhaling a long breath, Yue Xiaotian walked up to Ziwei.

His hands, trembling slightly, reached toward Ziwei's shoulders, paused halfway, and twitched as if to pull back.

The next instant, however, those hands moved forward with a slow yet unyielding determination, pulling Ziwei into his embrace.

The familiar embrace, the familiar scent, the familiar body temperature—these allowed Ziwei to find her anchor.

Clinging to him tightly, she burst into loud sobs, "Director... Weiwei let you down... Weiwei... wuwu..."

Feeling the trembling of Ziwei's entire body and listening to her increasingly urgent sobs, Yue Xiaotian felt a pain in his heart as if it were being torn apart.

It felt as though a ten-thousand-jin sledgehammer was pounding his heart: *Thud! Thud! Thud!*

It felt as though a dark gold blade was slicing his heart: *Slash! Slash! Slash!*

It felt as though a sharp spear was wildly piercing his heart: *Pierce! Pierce! Pierce!*

Suppressing the searing pain in his chest and the raging fire burning within, Yue Xiaotian forced his tone to sound as gentle as possible. "You did nothing wrong. It was my fault."

At this point, unable to hold back the eruption of fury in his heart any longer, Yue Xiaotian threw his head back and roared with a ferocious expression: "Heavenly Queen, you little bitch! I'm going to pack this Xuanwu Pavilion to bursting, and I'll make sure you don't have a single audience member left!"

Meanwhile, among the crowd gradually making their way out, people successively noticed Yue Xiaotian and Ziwei in the center of the stage.

Because of the slow pace of exiting, coupled with Yue Xiaotian's sudden appearance and idle curiosity, quite a few people stopped in their tracks.

After an unknown length of time, Yue Xiaotian picked up the microphone from the ground. "Today, the audience is too sparse. We aren't performing."

Seeming unwilling to compromise himself any further, he fiercely smashed the microphone down hard onto the unyielding ground. "Perform for your fucking lives! If you don't come today, then when you want to come in the future, I'll make you break your heads trying to squeeze in!"