The atmosphere at the individual round rehearsal was heavier than the team battle. Without teammates to rely on, each contestant felt like a lone soldier fighting in their own musical domain.
Gu Ying stood center stage, adjusting his earpiece. His gaze subconsciously drifted toward the mentor seats. Ling Zhao still sat there, looking down at the flow sheet in his hands, as if the lightning-fast fight in the alleyway last night had been nothing but a hallucination.
But Gu Ying knew it was real. The feel of Ling Zhao's cold, strong grip—the one that had pulled him away from a sneak attack—still lingered on his wrist. That sheer disparity in strength, coupled with Ling Zhao's indifferent attitude afterward, had left a colossal stone in his heart, the ripples of which were still unsettling him.
A favorability rating of -60. Gu Ying himself found it absurd. He still couldn't see through Ling Zhao; he still found him cold, unapproachable, and even a little frightening. Yet, he couldn't deny that this person had given him the flash drive, the stage, found him a lawyer, and even… appeared like a phantom in a moment of crisis, effortlessly shattering the conspiracy against him.
This contradictory feeling made his attitude toward Ling Zhao incredibly complex. Fear, gratitude, curiosity, and a hint of a fledgling, almost dependent reliance he hadn't even recognized himself.
"Gu Ying, are you ready?" The director's voice came through the intercom, jolting him from his thoughts.
Gu Ying took a deep breath and nodded. The song he was performing today was a re-composed fusion piece based on the old manuscripts Ling Zhao had found—"Mirror Shadow." The song stripped away the outward anger and accusation of 'Breaking the Cocoon,' moving toward a deeper self-analysis and interrogation, exploring the boundaries of reality and illusion, memory and reconstruction. The arrangement heavily utilized classical polyphony combined with the distortion of electronic sound effects, creating an elusive yet intensely tense atmosphere.
The music began.
It wasn't an aggressive release, but a prelude that was low, repressed, like an undercurrent in the deep sea. Gu Ying's singing changed too; it was no longer a scream, but a chant with a cold texture, like murmuring in a dream, or an interrogation of the soul.
"Who in the mirror, spies my outline…"
"Fragmented memories, splice illusory flames…"
"Stealing light and shadow, smearing the colors of truth…"
"Am I me, or just the puppet in your script?"
The lyrics were obscure but struck at the core; the melody was bizarre yet captivating. The mentors and audience members below showed expressions of astonishment. This was completely different from the Gu Ying they remembered—the one who was either gloomy or explosive! This was a more internalized, and more dangerous, temperament.
Ling Zhao finally lifted his head and looked at Gu Ying on the stage. His gaze was focused, carrying a sense of appraisal.
Gu Ying was entirely immersed in his musical world. He felt split in two: one singing, the other watching with cold detachment. The voice seemed to emanate not from his throat, but from a deeper place. The pain of betrayal, the stolen efforts, the self-doubt, the pursuit of truth… all emotions, catalyzed by the music, surged, intertwined, and sublimated.
Just as the song reached its most intense instrumental climax—a battle between electronic sound effects and classical strings—the abnormality struck.
Gu Ying felt his consciousness violently slammed by something, and a fierce wave of dizziness washed over him. The stage lights morphed into a kaleidoscope, and the music in his ears became distorted. He struggled to maintain control, but his body stumbled uncontrollably, and his singing faltered and slipped noticeably off-key.
A subtle stir arose below the stage.
In the mentor seats, the renowned music producer, known for his sharp critique, frowned.
Ling Zhao's eyes instantly sharpened. He clearly sensed a familiar, chilling mental force field suddenly expanding from Gu Ying! Although extremely faint and fleeting, he couldn't mistake it—it was Qin Jin's primary consciousness! He was interfering with Gu Ying!
Was it because Gu Ying's song touched upon a core issue? Or did he simply not want this fragment to garner too much attention?
On stage, after that momentary loss of control, Gu Ying abruptly bit his own tongue. The sharp pain momentarily wrested back command of his body. He forced his breathing steady, cleverly weaving the off-key moment into a tearful, ripping sound. It unexpectedly aligned with the song's theme of "Shattering and Reconstruction," rendering the sense of struggle vividly!
The music cut off abruptly with an electronic sound effect like shattering glass.
Gu Ying