Book 3, Chapter 256: Prelude

At 1:30 p.m., Chen Chuan and his group arrived at the ticket inspection counter. The inspector told them that since they had second-class tickets, they needed to wait a little longer and could only enter the hall at 3 p.m., when the show officially started.

“We have to wait another hour?” Pan Xiaode grumbled.

Tan Zhi couldn’t do anything about it. He wasn’t the one who bought the tickets, but Ms. Wei. There were only a limited number of seats, so the tickets were hard to get. Having even second-class tickets was already a great stroke of luck.

Most of the people on the square were spectators, just like them. Only those who were obviously important political figures didn’t have to wait and could just go in through the VIP corridor.

Just then, Chen Chuan remembered the tickets Advisor Pei had given him. If he recalled correctly, they were different from the tickets Tan Zhi showed to the ticket inspector. He took them out to check and said, “I have a few tickets with me too. A friend of mine gave them to me some time ago. Take a look.”

Tan Zhi took them, and his eyes lit up upon seeing them. “These are first-class tickets!”

With great excitement, he said to Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin, “We don’t need to wait behind the barrier ropes. We can go in straightaway.”

“That’s great. I thought I had no need for those tickets, but brought them along just in case,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

Tan Zhi, Pan Xiaode, and Qi Huixin were delighted. Not only could they go in ahead of time, they could even sit in a private booth. This was much better than their original arrangement.

The four of them made their way out of the crowd and went to another ticket inspection counter. Once they showed their tickets, they could walk in through the VIP corridor, and an usher led them to their private booth.

As they walked past the hall, they saw political figures and company executives gathered in small groups talking with each other.

These people hadn’t come just for the theater production. They were treating this as a large-scale social event and judged based on Chen Chuan’s group’s outstanding demeanor that they were children of some important family. This garnered them some attention.

The martial artists with the company executives and political figures all tensed up.

One of the politicians noticed his security advisor acting strangely and asked, “What’s wrong, Lao Liu?”

“Mr. Ai, those youngsters are martial artists,” Lao Liu whispered.

Mr. Liu watched them for a bit before saying in an admiring tone, “Is that so? They’re all outstanding youngsters.”

Martial arts were popular all over the world. Even if some children couldn’t become true martial artists, the middle- and upper-class families would all hire martial arts teachers for them. Because of this, it was inevitable that talented, young martial artists often emerged, so it wasn’t at all strange for there to be some martial artists among the elite.

“Mr. Ai, the leader is a Third Limit martial artist, and he’s dangerous,” Lao Liu said.

“Is that so?” Mr. Ai was so surprised that his smile fell away. Then, he looked around before saying, “Verify their identities, but don’t attract attention.”

Security in Majestic Light District was great, and usually, no one dared to cause trouble here, but recently, violent crimes were happening a little too frequently. The politicians were also passing certain safety policies, so he couldn’t just ignore the youngsters’ presence.

“Got it.” Lao Liu nodded.

***

The moment Chen Chuan and his group reached their private booth, a security guard came forward to ask their identities in a polite manner. After all, those who could enter private booths were no ordinary people, so it was in his best interest not to offend them.

Chen Chuan showed his ID, and the security guard verified it through his Realm Pass before saluting him respectfully. “Sorry to bother you, Captain Chen. Please enjoy the show.”

Tan Zhi, Pan Xiaode, and Qi Huixin hadn’t noticed the difference between them and Chen Chuan before, but at that moment, they could clearly sense it. Aside from his strength, his status was also different from theirs.

Even though they were often in touch with people from middle- and upper-class families, so it was nothing special to them, Chen Chuan was in the same age group as them. It was a whole different kind of experience.

Chen Chuan also didn’t come from a rich family like they did. All that he had gained was through his own hard work. A huge wave of respect and longing rose in their hearts.

***

Soon, Mr. Ai received a report from the theater’s security guard and was quite surprised. “A squad captain of the Resolution Department? But he’s so young!”

Who is the boy’s father? Still, as long as he’s not a safety risk, it’s alright, he thought.

***

After entering their private booth, Chen Chuan and the others sat down in comfortable chairs. From where they sat, they could see the entire stage, so the private booth had a great angle.

There was even a small bar counter and a beverage display cabinet. An usher stood outside each booth to serve the guests food and drinks at all times.

Chen Chuan and his group could see people entering and exiting the booth across from theirs. They shook hands and talked to each other. Some of them even gave their group nods as a greeting.

Pan Xiaode pouted. He didn’t like such occasions and had always hated being brought to gatherings.

Once he joined Martial Valor University, he seldom had to bother with such functions anymore, especially after both he and Qi Huixin went under the knife to look like siblings. His family seethed when they looked at him now, while he enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Chen Chuan sipped at his warm drink and logged onto the theater’s platform. It showed a lot of recordings from past theater productions and dramas. Of course, they weren’t as exciting as live.

There was some time before the start of the show, though, so he decided to browse through some shows.

Just then, people in one of the booths started arguing. A young man went up toward an impeccably dressed middle-aged man and started shouting at him, causing the people from the other booths to stare at them.

Pan Xiaode looked over and gasped. “Hey, isn’t that Lu Miao?”

“You know him?” Tan Zhi immediately asked.

“Not really. I’ve met him a few times before. His dad is the deputy director of the Defense Department, so he started practicing martial arts earlier than we did and thinks he’s better than everyone else. That middle-aged man he’s shouting at should be Bao Yun’s uncle and his dad’s assistant,” Pan Xiaode supplied.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at them. The City Defense Department had a higher rank than the City Patrol and the Resolution Department. The department director worked directly under the mayor and had a high rank. This meant that Lu Miao’s father was Chen Chuan’s superior.

Based on what they were saying, it seemed like Lu Miao’s father had caught someone, but Lu Miao was demanding that Bao Yun release that person. Whether he could actually do that or not, it was impossible after Lu Miao had asked for it in such a public area.

The theater’s security guards quickly went forward and dragged Lu Miao out.

Bao Yun looked like he had suffered great humiliation. He apologized to the people around him before going outside to take care of this matter. Once they left, the people started gossiping in all the booths.

There was still around ten minutes before the start of the show when Chen Chuan heard fighting outside. Then, a graceful old man with an elegantly dressed woman walked in hand-in-hand.

The man was dressed in a suit and appeared advanced in years, but his footsteps remained steady, and his gaze lively. When he entered, some people stood up, clapped, and greeted him.

The old man waved at them as a greeting. As for Chen Chuan, he noticed the person who had come in almost at the same time as the other two did—Chen Bitong.

When he looked over, Chen Bitong, too, cast his eyes in Chen Chuan’s direction. The moment their gazes met, Chen Bitong gave Chen Chuan a nod, which Chen Chuan returned.

“That must be the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his wife,” Tan Zhi commented.

Pan Xiaode noticed Chen Chuan’s gaze and asked curiously, “That person beside them looks really strong. Do you know him?”

“I met him once not too long ago,” Chen Chuan replied.

Mr. Quan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, exchanged a few words with the people who had waited for him and headed to the private booth on the second floor. It was located at the very center and was the best spot in the theater.

Since it was almost time for the show to start, Chen Chuan did not pay any attention to Chen Bitong. Instead, he put on the Realm Pass the theater provided to watch the show and quietly waited for the start.

A few minutes later, the theater turned dim. Then, the lights on the stage lit up to show an uneven, green plain.

The backdrop wasn’t entirely shown through the Realm Pass. The theater used real objects and light for things near the actors. Only the scenery in the distance was shown through the Realm Pass. This alone was worthy of mentioning.

Soon, an ethereal female voice drifted into the hall, as if it had come from the wild and the soul itself. It sounded so divine that it could stir people’s spirits.

It contained a power that could affect the mind, but based on her aura, the singer wasn’t a martial artist.

This didn’t mean that only martial artists could go through mental training. In the old era, plenty of religious believers walked down this path, but they were different from martial artists. Their minds were usually flighty and not concentrated, which meant that they didn’t have any real power. However, in certain situations, they could affect other people’s minds and even resonate with them.

This should be the prelude. The mute shepherdess was going to pick up the fallen knight. It was the beginning of the act and the first stanza of the divine song.

Chen Chuan listened to it closely, but couldn’t hear anything special, though he didn’t know whether it was because of the singer or because he couldn’t understand the language.

However, based on the description, they would be able to understand the contents of the song as the plot progressed. More of it would be sung as time passed, and the most essential part of the show was its second half, which was also where the conflict was at its fiercest. Chen Chuan was looking forward to it.

As the singer continued, a young woman with long, platinum hair walked onto the stage. She wore a windproof hat and an ankle-length, multi-layered skirt. Her face was a little dirty, but her light green eyes left a deep impression on the spectators. They reminded them of clear lake water.

The shepherdess went to a tree and pushed aside a bush to find the fallen knight lying on the ground.

He was a young man wearing old armor. His exposed chin showed a well-defined jaw.

Just then, Chen Chuan noticed something strange. He turned off his Realm Pass, but didn’t find anything off. However, when he had his second self absorb all the domain signals, he raised an eyebrow. There was no young man on stage. It was just an empty suit of armor.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep