Chapter 70: No One Knows How to Silence a Room Better

Translator: CTCTRANS Editor: CTCTRANS

Qi Wu shook her head.

“The stars may be hidden, but their beauty remains. We can still see much from them.”

All one needed was the Eyes of Clarity.

Qi Wu silently added in her mind.

Everything could be seen playing out in the vast sky with stars twinkling and fading away, representatives of the stars’ life and death.

In the empty temple, Qi Wu had silently gazed up into the night sky to deduce the fate of the world around her, accompanied only by flickering candlelight.

For some reason, what she said made Song Qi want to keep pushing with the conversation.

With his hands behind his back, he calmly stated, “Since you’re so insightful and influential, you must have been through a lot. Why be an actress? Have you not been through enough?”

From the moment Song Qi saw Qi Wu, he could tell she was different.

She had not gone through a normal life of slowly learning to speak and stumbling through life until she was able to be part of society.

“While all five of our senses may be connected, that does not mean all that we see and hear can be touched.”

Qi Wu looked calm without a hint of sadness on her face.

She wanted to experience life, to abandon the shackles of her identity, to become someone else, and to experience a different life. That was the only way to prove that she was truly part of this world, that she was no longer the priestess trapped in her temple.

Song Qi was frozen on the spot as he contemplated her words while Qi Wu eventually turned and walked into the villa.

After some time, he could not help but chuckle as he stared at the villa. “She’s quite an intriguing person.”

The next morning, when Qi Wu woke up, she found Jiang Xuxu sitting by her bedside.

This was the complete opposite behavior Jiang Xuxu had exhibited in the past when she would stay in bed until the very last moment.

Qi Wu silently stared for a moment before gently poking Jiang Xuxu’s cheek.

“Xuxu, you startled me.”

Jiang Xuxu dazedly shook her head a few times to snap herself awake.

“I’m sorry, Sweetie,” she cried out. “I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep. What if I can’t choose the song I want, or if I can’t perform it well? ‘

As she spoke, Jiang Xuxu threw herself into Qi Wu’s arms.

Qi Wu blinked. When she saw Jiang Xuxu looking up at her pitifully, she gently patted Jiang Xuxu’s shoulder, as if offering comfort.

“It’ll be fine as long as you put your heart into it.”

Jiang Xuxu understood that Qi Wu was only trying to comfort her. Still, it worked in calming her down. Nothing felt overwhelmingly large with that gentle gaze trained on her.

Since she was already here, she would deal with whatever came her way.

As long as she gave it her all, she would have no regrets.

With that realization, Jiang Xuxu quickly composed herself.

In the lecture hall where the contestants were gathered.

As there were now 40 fewer contestants, there was a noticeable gap in the crowd.

Recognizing that they might be the next to leave the competition, the remaining contestants felt a sense of urgency.

When Song Qi and the other two mentors entered, all eyes turned toward them.

Song Qi picked up the microphone and addressed the contestants, “I trust you all know that you will be choosing your first song to perform soon. This will be the preliminary contest. The last 4 contestants of every category will be disqualified, so please cherish every performance you give.” Essentially, only 16 out of 20 would be moving on to the next round.

Thanks to Song Qi’s warnings, the contestants did not panic much.

After Song Qi’s speech, 3 LED screens appeared behind the mentors that played every song and clip that the contestants would have to perform.

Almost every new clip elicited surprised exclamations from the contestants.

“That’s Ms. Tang’s ‘Refinement’! My goodness, are we starting off with something that challenging?”

‘”A Tranquil Path’? ‘Love in the City’? Weren’t these the songs that appeared in the game? Mr. Song was preparing us for this!”

“Whoa! The Actor contestants will have a tough time. They’ll have to act out Mr. Song’s ‘City of Loneliness’. Who would dare to take that on?”

After everything was announced, Song Qi grabbed the microphone once more and looked at the contestants buzzing with excitement as he declared, “There are only a certain number of spots for each song or clip to be performed.” Upon hearing that, Jiang Xuxu anxiously gripped Qi Wu’s wrist.

When Qi Wu turned to her, Jiang Xuxu whispered, “I don’t know how I’m going to compete for these songs later. I really want to perform ‘Love in the City’ though.”

Qi Wu looked at her and softly reassured, “We’ll find out soon enough.”

Song Qi’s voice echoed through the hall once again. “The order for song selection is simple. You’ll be playing a simple zame.”

“You’ll be fighting for the right to have the first choice through arm wrestling competition as the ultimate winners of every category will go first.”

The contestants were speechless.

That was the game?

Even if the contestants tried to conceal it, their expressions revealed their disgruntled urge to complain about the announcement.

Even Tong Luo could not help but mutter, “No one knows how to silence a room better than Mr. Song.”

Jiang Xuxu seemed on the verge of tears as she lamented, “This is my worst nightmare.”

“Xuxu, turn around.”

Qi Wu’s voice broke the anxious wails.

Jiang Xuxu turned her head with a puzzled expression.

The people around her were in the Idol category, which meant they were all her opponents.

Before she could understand what Qi Wu wanted, she heard Qi Wu say, “Look at your opponents. They seem even more nervous than you.”

There was a moment of silence.

Jiang Xuxu suddenly understood Qi Wu’s intent as she looked at the anxious faces around her.

When it came to honesty and heartfelt reassurance, no one could compare to Qi wu.

Jiang Xuxu chuckled in response to Qi Wu’s statement.

She composed herself and looked at Qi Wu who looked so calm that she could not resist asking, “Aren’t you worried?”

Qi Wu calmly shook her head. Genuine confusion flashed in her eyes as she asked in return, “Why should I be worried?”

Tong Luo’s lips twitched when she heard Qi Wu’s response.

Recalling Qi Wu’s incredible strength when catching the statue, she knew that there was no need for Qi Wu to be worried. In fact, Qi Wu’s opponents should be the ones worrying.

The crew swiftly brought a few tables for the arm-wrestling competition as the contestants were randomly assigned to their opponents. Every matchup was displayed on the screens.

Qi Wu soon spotted her opponent who was an energetic girl with two ponytails.

The young woman was initially surprised to see Qi Wu, but then she became nervous.

Why was she so unlucky to be matched against the bigshot from the get-go?

However, as she looked down, she noticed how slender Qi Wu’s wrists were. Now, she was starting to wonder if they were perhaps evenly matched in strength.

“Can we start now?”

Qi Wu asked as she calmly rolled up her sleeves..