After Ling Zhe's call ended, a strange silence settled over the private room. Gu Ying leaned back in his chair, his chest rising and falling slightly, as if the simple act just performed had drained all his strength. He looked at the note on the table bearing Ling Zhao's handwriting—the sharp strokes felt like an incantation, endowing him with unprecedented courage.
"He… he won't give up easily," Gu Ying's voice was hoarse, edged with the relief of a narrow escape.
"Expected." Ling Zhao's tone held no surprise. He picked up the note, casually tore it into pieces, and dropped them into the ashtray. "Fear and desperation are the last resorts of a loser."
He looked up, his gaze fixing on Gu Ying's still-pale face. "Are you afraid?"
Gu Ying instinctively wanted to deny it, but meeting Ling Zhao's eyes, which seemed to pierce through everything, he pursed his lips and finally nodded with difficulty. "…A little." He was afraid of Ling Zhe's underhanded tactics, afraid that the sliver of hope he had just glimpsed would be crushed again.
"Fear is useless," Ling Zhao's voice was cold and objective, as if stating a law of physics. "It interferes with judgment and leads to mistakes. What you need to do is anticipate his actions and be prepared."
He took out his own phone, tapped a few times, and turned the screen toward Gu Ying. It displayed the profile of a person—a stern-faced, sharp-eyed middle-aged woman whose ID photo exuded an intimidating aura.
"Su Qing, Chief Lawyer at Xinghan Law Firm. Specializes in intellectual property and reputation rights cases, with a 92% win rate. Strong-willed, unafraid of authority. Drawback: extremely high fees," Ling Zhao introduced. "She will contact you tomorrow morning at nine. After that, all legal communication with Ling Zhe and related parties will be handled entirely by her."
Gu Ying felt a slight easing of tension as he looked at Lawyer Su's profile. Ling Zhao's efficiency was staggering, as if everything had long been part of his plan.
"I'll cover the fees for now," Ling Zhao said plainly, as if mentioning a trivial matter. "It will be deducted from your future income."
Gu Ying was stunned. He hadn't expected Ling Zhao to go this far. This was no longer something that could be simply explained by "utility value." A complex emotion welled up inside him: gratitude, confusion, and a hint of dependency he dared not examine too closely. [Target Character 'Gu Ying's' Favorability toward Host: -75.]
"Thank you… Teacher Ling," he whispered, this time the gratitude tinged with sincerity.
Ling Zhao did not acknowledge the thanks, instead asking, "Have you decided on the song choice and arrangement for the next individual round?"
Gu Ying was immediately pulled back to reality, his brow furrowed. "Still brainstorming… time is tight." After the emotional turmoil and sheer effort of the team battle, he indeed felt a little creatively drained.
Ling Zhao pulled a thin folder from his bag and slid it across the table. "Look at this."
Gu Ying took it, perplexed. Inside were photocopies of several old handwritten music scores, along with theoretical analysis notes on the fusion of classical music modes and modern electronic music. The handwriting bore some resemblance to his own, yet was wilder, more unrestrained. These were drafts and ideas he had published on niche forums years ago, when he was obsessed with experimental music—ideas he himself had almost forgotten!
"Where… where did you find these?" Gu Ying looked up in shock.
"Your past is not only defined by plagiarism and stigma," Ling Zhao's voice remained flat. "Find your original passion and exploration for music, instead of being bound by hatred. For the individual round, show them something different."
Gu Ying looked at the yellowed pages, as if seeing the dedicated, music-obsessed self from years ago. A long-lost creative urge began to faintly stir in his heart.
For the next two days, Gu Ying practically lived in the rehearsal room provided by the production team. With Lawyer Su as his legal shield, he temporarily cast aside the fear of Ling Zhe's revenge and devoted himself entirely to the new song's creation. Ling Zhao's old manuscripts acted like a key, unlocking his long-sealed well of inspiration. He began to attempt a fusion of the solemn tragedy of classical music with the cold, fragmented sensation of electronic music, crafting an experimental piece about "memory" and "reconstruction."
Ling Zhao occasionally visited the rehearsal room. His guidance was still sharp and merciless, yet always managed to pinpoint the logical flaws in Gu Ying's arrangements or the inaccuracies in his emotional expression. He no longer mentioned Ling Zhe, nor did he care about the further escalation of public opinion (in fact, negative voices against Gu Ying were diminishing as Lawyer Su intervened and Ling Zhe encountered his own troubles). It was as if the only thing left in his world were the technicalities of music itself.
This singular focu