Chapter 536: Chapter 273: Creating Momentum, Part 2
Suddenly, she lifted her tiny feet and kicked open the box she brought with her. Inside were the martial actress’s horse whip, the general’s swords and spears, and a curved bow for shooting swallows!
At this moment, it seemed as if there were thousands of troops and horses on stage. The flower costumes, swords, spears, bows, and horses were manipulated with ease, displaying the majestic demeanor of a Daomadan!
In the end, she hobbled and stumbled, delivering the old actress’s mournful singing that pierced through the realms of the living and the dead, recounting hardships and sorrows from eras past!
The performance of the troupe master playing the Overlord wasn’t even finished when he was so startled he retreated three steps. Looking around at the shadowy ghostly figures and ghostly singing sounds, they all fell silent.
Across the entire opera troupe, who could rival the person in the flower costume?
These opera ghosts, holding grievances and obsessions for decades, were forcibly subdued by this woman’s transcendental singing skills!
"The real strangeness came later," Guo Dongyang said nervously. "Since that night, no one has heard ghostly opera singing in the broken theater of the West Market anymore!"
"Do you know why? A gamble is a gamble! These opera ghosts, though fierce, were all performers in their lifetimes. They valued their word and their craft more than their lives! Since they were outmatched, they willingly let go of their grievances and entered reincarnation, heading to the next life!"
Underneath, a tea guest was so absorbed that he couldn’t help but ask who the person in the flower costume was.
"You mean the opera master in flower costume? I actually know, because I saw this with my own eyes!"
"Who is it? Don’t leave us hanging, or your son will be born without an anus!"
Guo Dongyang smirked, playing coy: "Have you heard of the Linjiang County opera troupe?"
The old man chuckled and said: "The person in the flower costume was none other than the pillar of the Linjiang County New Opera Garden, Boss Liu, Liu Su’e!"
Huh? Who, me?
In the private room, the person involved, Boss Liu, looked bewildered.
Had she not escaped the Ghost Realm, or was there some lingering aftereffect, making her hear things?
"Older Brother Xu, your storytelling friend..." Liu Su’e was eager to ask if he was drunk or possessed, spouting nonsense.
Xu Qing was prepared: "Does Boss Liu remember I said I had something to ask in the opera house a few days ago?"
"This matter is somewhat related to the story Dongyang is telling today."
Then, Xu Qing explained his shop’s upcoming anniversary celebration, inviting the opera troupe to perform for the people of the Jin Sect.
"Everyone is familiar with the old operas. I’ve arranged several new ones, one called ’Banner Unfurls, Mountains and Rivers Stand’, dedicated to the Eight Banner Marshals; another for the Bao Sheng Temple on Purple Cloud Mountain, composed for the Mother of Life, called ’Guarding Infants’; and one for the Family Guardian Immortal, called ’The Cat God’..."
The Cangyi Group uses vile means, disregarding morality and law, spreading heretical teachings daily, deceiving people for incense and offerings.
Xu Qing couldn’t stand their behavior and decided not to hold back anymore.
The Cangyi Group are fraudsters, but these operas are reality-based performances. As long as they’re performed well, the grateful believers will spread the word. Who in the whole of Jin Sect will remember the ’Evil King of Decay’ who never did anything right?
"Older Brother Xu can also compose operas and write opera lyrics?"
Liu Su’e blinked in amazement.
Xu Qing took out the written lyrics and music score from his pocket, saying: "As a Funeral Master, I often witness people setting up spirit opera stages. After hearing so much, I’ve picked up a thing or two."
Liu Su’e hadn’t thought much of it at first, but when she took the script and saw the lyrics, she was instantly captivated.
"Nine Heavens hold the ledger and control the universe, guarding the mundane within the Palace of Rooms!
In the left hand, a maternal vase grants fortune and prosperity, in the right hand, a ruyi protects children and grandchildren."
Upon seeing the lyrics about an evildoer harming others, causing difficulty in childbirth for a second wife, and the Mother of Life’s apparition, Liu Su’e felt like timely rain appeared:
"Blossoming and withering are destined by the heavens, how can maternal suffering and child peril be left to fate?
Take my willow sweet dew cup, stabilize her fetus and protect her soul!"
Then came the crying of a newborn and the Mother of Life punishing the wicked and blessing the second wife.
This was the first act, with four or five more acts of vastly different stories to follow. The key was that these episodes were interconnected, not seeming fabricated, as if these events had truly occurred outside the opera.
The lyrics for ’The Cat God’ and ’Banner Unfurls, Mountains and Rivers Stand’ were equally captivating; as for the latter’s opera for the Eight Banner Marshals... The beginning was rather realistic, but the later part where the Marshals became Gate Gods scaring away petty villains seemed somewhat exaggerated.
Nonetheless, even in contemporary times, these were exceptionally splendid lyrics.
"Older Brother Xu intends for me to sing these operas?"
Xu Qing pondered: "’Guarding Infants’ and ’The Cat God’ will be sung by you and the embroiderer, as for the Eight Banner Marshals opera... I’ll do it myself!"
"Older Brother Xu can sing opera too?"
Xu Qing shook his head helplessly: "A horse should be shown in its truest form. I can’t force men to act as women, or women to act as men like some troupe master..."
Throughout the years, Xu Qing had performed funerary rites for tens of thousands of bodies, including some notable performers, and with the Celestial Heart Sect’s Qing Luo and the fake Overlord siblings also having gone through his hands, playing the Eight Banner Marshals wasn’t difficult.
As they conversed, the sixty-year-old Guo Dongyang came up to the second floor, panting.
"Younger Brother Xu, once this opera is recounted for a few more days and the reconstruction of the West Market opera house becomes known, Boss Liu’s name will be renowned in the Jin Sect!"
Xu Qing clasped his hands with a smile: "Thank you for your help, Brother Guo. In a few days, I have another message for you to share."
"What message?"
"In half a month, on the seventh day of the seventh month, in Linjiang County’s Vegetable Market, Boss Liu along with notable performers from the opera troupe will perform for free. Besides classics like ’Farewell My Concubine’ and ’Locking the Chest’, three new operas will be premiered..."
Having explained everything, before leaving the teahouse, Xu Qing handed a few talismans to Guo Dongyang.
"Brother Guo, these are protective amulets I obtained from the temple. They ward off disasters and are quite effective. I hope you wear them close and remain healthy."
Watching those around him, such as Wang Lingyuan and Guo Dongyang, age little by little, Xu Qing felt a sense of melancholy.
These people were already old, unable to enter the path or practice Xuan Sect techniques. Besides, in these times of the Five Filthy Evil Worlds, there were very few righteous practitioners, and Xu Qing mostly knew Demon Techniques and Evil Techniques unsuitable for passing on to the common folk.
Even if he were willing to teach, others might not be able to learn.
In the Celestial Master’s Mansion, to find disciples with exceptional talent, they would use mirrors to reflect people at the city gates. In nearly a century they’ve only accepted seven true disciples and one spiritual child.
"The Celestial Master’s Mansion judges talent by the number of shadows. Two shadows aren’t true disciples; only three or more earn the Celestial Master’s favor. I wonder how many shadows the Elder Celestial Master who guards the mansion has..."
Xu Qing had a profound understanding of the Celestial Master’s traditions. Ling Yangzi had three shadows due to gambling with the Celestial Heart Sect’s Jin Luo, leading to his parents’ death. Li Heyi had two shadows because he didn’t eat roasted cakes and went on to wrongfully accuse his mother, resulting in her death.
The world is full of troublemakers, but harming one’s family and severing mortal ties to enhance one’s aptitude for cultivation is rare in Xu Qing’s experience.
"The Celestial Master’s Mansion boasts of practicing the righteous path, yet their actions are far from those of a genuine sect. It’s a pity that though I walk the middle path, the methods I practice aren’t the righteous path."
Xu Qing sighed internally. All he could do was gift some elixirs and talismans, wishing his old friends a life with little illness and misfortune, for there was nothing more he could offer.