As night fell, the second live broadcast of the "Vocal Creation Chapter" program began.
At the very beginning, Xu Wei announced Mu Li's withdrawal from the competition.
However, this news did not seem to cause much commotion; only a few fans holding Mu Li's support signs were somewhat agitated, but under Xu Wei's calming words, the program quickly returned to normal.
To avoid being discovered by fans, Mu Li and Fu Peiyao both wore masks and found a spot to watch the stage.
"How is it? Is there any difference between being in the audience and being on stage?" Fu Peiyao suddenly asked.
"Honestly, there's no difference," Mu Li shook his head and sighed. "When I first came to participate in this program, it was quite novel, but after watching two episodes, I found it wasn't very interesting. The opponents are too weak."
For some reason, Fu Peiyao didn't feel that Mu Li was arrogant at all; instead, she felt it was perfectly normal, as if Mu Li should be such an outstanding person: "This program is also new. Those truly talented creators are unwilling to participate, which means the program's quality can't be elevated. It can only attract mediocre creators and newcomers. But you've benefited; you gained 400,000 fans after only two episodes. Even I'm a bit envious of that fan growth rate."
Mu Li retorted, "My fan count isn't even a small fraction of yours."
"Oh, isn't it easy for you to gain fans if you want to?" Fu Peiyao chuckled.
As the two chatted happily, a person with somewhat graying hair, accompanied by a staff member, quietly walked to the very back of the audience.
"Teacher Fei, aren't you going closer?" the staff member asked.
This person with somewhat graying hair was Fei Lang.
"Right here is fine. You go about your business," Fei Lang found a seat and began watching the program.
Originally, Mu Li was supposed to perform the opening act, but after the music director heard Mu Li's song, he immediately rejected the idea. In his words, "If your song is performed, what will the remaining people do? Look like a joke?"
So Mu Li's performance was directly scheduled for last.
Fei Lang hadn't been sitting long when Zhao Ning, the program's chief producer, came to his side.
"Teacher Fei, would you give us your evaluation?" Zhao Ning asked, seeing Fei Lang frowning.
Fei Lang sighed, "To be honest, I wasn't optimistic when you first decided to do this program. A good song needs to be polished. How can a week be enough time?"
Zhao Ning also sighed, "I was too naive at the beginning, thinking a week would be enough time for the contestants to create, but I didn't expect the quality of the songs to be so poor."
"The creation of a song first requires inspiration, and inspiration is a very mysterious thing. Some people can write a song in ten minutes, while others need a year," Fei Lang explained. "However, writing a song is just the beginning. Arrangement, mixing, recording, and so on—which of these doesn't require time to refine? To produce this quality in a week is already very difficult for these kids."
"What about Mu Li?" Zhao Ning suddenly asked.
"Mu Li?" Fei Lang suddenly laughed. "You're the chief producer; you must have heard his song, right? What do you think?"
Zhao Ning suddenly paused. After a long while, Zhao Ning finally uttered four words: "A heaven-sent talent."
"Haha..." Fei Lang laughed, "You said it yourself, he is a heaven-sent talent. How many people in the entire Huaguo can bear this title? You compare him to these kids? That's a bit too unfair."
Fei Lang sighed again, "But speaking of it, if he had more time, his performance could definitely reach another level."
Zhao Ning chuckled, "It's already incredibly stunning. You haven't seen his live performance; that feeling truly gives you goosebumps."
"Is it really that miraculous?" A hint of curiosity appeared in Fei Lang's eyes. "I thought you were just exaggerating?"
"Let's put it this way, what we said might even be an understatement," Zhao Ning sighed. "It's a pity he's not performing with Pokémon today."
Hearing this, a hint of disappointment also appeared in Fei Lang's eyes: "That's quite a shame."
"It's not exactly a shame. Although there's no Pokémon, he has another surprise," Zhao Ning said mysteriously.
A glint flashed in Fei Lang's eyes, and a curious expression appeared on his face: "What is it?"
"Let me keep you in suspense for now," Zhao Ning smiled. "You keep watching; I'm going to check on the live situation."
With that, Zhao Ning slipped away without waiting for Fei Lang to speak.
"A surprise?" Fei Lang murmured, his gaze fixed on the stage.
Soon, all the contestants had finished their performances, and just as everyone thought this round of performances was over, Xu Wei suddenly said, "Although contestant Mu Li has withdrawn from the competition, he has created a brand new song with 'suspense' as the theme. Do you all want to hear it?"
"Yes!!!" The stage immediately erupted with cheers and Growls.
It must be said that while Mu Li might not be widely known outside, within the "Vocal Creation Chapter" program, Mu Li was undoubtedly a top-tier figure. Anyone who followed the program for a long time knew Mu Li.
What's more, because of Mu Li's sudden withdrawal this time, even Mu Li's fans didn't know about it. Many of his fans had even traveled from other places specifically to watch Mu Li's performance.
But they didn't expect Xu Wei to announce Mu Li's withdrawal at the very beginning. Of course, the fans were very disappointed, but this was a live broadcast, and the audience had signed a contract with the program team upon entering, agreeing not to leave midway. That's why the fans had stayed until now.
They didn't expect that at the last moment of the program, Mu Li would have an encore performance.
This was a true surprise.
As the stage lights went out, the fans' voices immediately erupted: "Mu Li! Mu Li!"
"Oh, I didn't expect you to have so many fans," Fu Peiyao's voice came through Mu Li's earpiece.
"Hehe, fifty cents a head," Mu Li chuckled.
As the smoke from the dry ice rose, Mu Li's figure appeared on a common park bench, with a pale yellow streetlamp beside him.
Although it was a song paying homage to Sherlock Holmes, Mu Li did not choose Holmes's attire. Instead, he opted for a white suit, creating a sharp contrast with the surrounding mist and black background.
The Growl of a crow suddenly sounded, and the concerto of cello and violin gradually emerged, making the atmosphere on the entire stage exceptionally eerie.
At this moment, Fei Lang, who was sitting in the back row of the audience, suddenly sat up straight, his eyes no longer showing any weariness, only shock: "Marvelous! This sense of suspense created by the intertwining of cello and violin."
Fei Lang felt his hairs stand on end; just this short prelude had already completely excited him: "Just looking at the score didn't give such an intuitive feeling; the live atmosphere is simply soul-stirring."
The subsequent sound of a typewriter instantly filled people's minds with vivid imagery.
"1983 alley, December clear, the seventh chapter of the night, the typewriter continues to push towards the next line closer to the truth..."
Mu Li's voice began to emerge, feeling like someone who had been hidden in a dark corner suddenly appearing from the darkness. His deep vocal line, combined with the slightly eerie background music, instantly plunged people into that alley hidden in the darkness.
Following that, the images of "missing pistol," "charred cane," and "melting wax figure" appearing in the lyrics once again made people's hearts sink, as if they had entered a misty, dark city.
In this city, there was no sunlight, only darkness, and everything seemed to oppress people, making them unable to breathe.
When people's emotions were suppressed to the extreme, a faint, almost ethereal soprano chant appeared.
This chant was like people in the depths of hell seeing the dawn of heaven, instantly creating a sense of redemption, as if a crack had appeared in the originally overcast sky.
This crack grew larger and larger, and at this moment, an angelic voice descended.
"If evil is a magnificent and cruel movement, I will personally write its final chapter..."
Fu Peiyao appeared in the center of the stage, wearing a classical European black gown. The spotlights shone on her, making her skin appear exceptionally fair, like a white swan in black attire.
In Mu Li's heart, Fu Peiyao at this moment was as graceful as Irene Adler in the Sherlock Holmes novels, like an angel fallen to earth, making people afraid to approach.
The detective, who fought against darkness his entire life, represented light, just like Mu Li's white suit. But only the detective knew that he walked on the edge of the abyss; how could he possibly escape the darkness?
The detective spent his life catching criminals, and was this not also a source of his own redemption?
No one knew that the detective's heart had long been assimilated by the abyss in this process.
He yearned for a holy light of salvation to appear, to pull him from the endless abyss, until he met Irene Adler, that angelic woman.
More than romantic love, the emotion between the detective and the woman was one of awe and reverence.
In the climax of the song, the detective and the woman danced and chanted together, darkness and light intertwined, and the detective's heart constantly wavered between light and the abyss. Mu Li and Fu Peiyao's voices also repeatedly merged, pulling at people's last nerve.
But this ray of holy light ultimately came too late; the young detective's mind had already been shattered by the abyss. Perhaps it was for this last glimmer of salvation that the detective chose to fall into the waterfall with the criminal.
In Mu Li's heart, this might be the most perfect ending for Sherlock Holmes.
"The light of dawn dries the last line of sorrow, black ink stains on serenity."
As the male voice finished the last section, the music seemed to return to its original form, yet with a subtle difference.
It seemed to foreshadow that this was the end of the story, and also the beginning of the story, where darkness and light would once again return, repeatedly staging this drama.
The performance ended, but no sound echoed in the studio. Everyone was immersed in the performance, which resembled a classical opera.
The studio was quiet, but people's hearts were clearly not so calm; the entanglement between darkness and light had shifted from the stage to their inner selves, lingering for a long time.
The contestants backstage were the first to recover. Qiao Bo smiled as he looked at Mu Li on stage and suddenly said, "Is this Mu Li's true strength?"
Qiao Bo shook his head, sighed, and then left with a smile. His smile was like a needle pricking the hearts of the other contestants.