Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 62 - 58: The Hardest to Eliminate is National Hatred!

Chapter 62: Chapter 58: The Hardest to Eliminate is National Hatred!

Time passed, second by second.

Many members of the opera troupe turned their eyes towards Su Xianjun’s room, unsure whether they were anticipating Su Xianjun to perform for the Eastern Barbarian invaders and save the lives of the citizens of the entire city.

Yet no matter how Yang Xinyan tried to persuade him, Su Xianjun remained unmoved.

It was then that a small door opened, and a scholar-like figure made his way to the theater’s backstage.

Everyone tensed up in an instant.

However, the scholar stepped aside, letting out Wang Jinhui, who was behind him.

"Mr. Wang, please."

Wang Jinhui’s complexion was ashen, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead, his left hand stiff and trembling slightly in front of him, his little finger wrapped in a piece of white cloth, stained with traces of blood.

The people backstage all looked over with faces of surprise. Wang Jinhui seemed to hardly dare meet the gazes of the people, as he came to Su Xianjun’s door, knocked gently, announced himself, and then entered.

The eyes of the scholar swept over the people backstage—all of them hurriedly lowered their heads to avoid his gaze.

The scholar couldn’t help but laugh heartily, randomly taking a seat, waiting for Wang Jinhui.

Zhao Haiping felt like going over and kicking him right then and there.

A petty man in power!

Sure enough, no dynasty was without such treacherous spies.

Obviously, the scholar was somewhat psychopathic, having sided with the Eastern Barbarian invaders because he felt unrecognized and mistreated by the Great Sheng Dynasty and now sought to be someone important among the invaders.

Now, leading the invaders into the county town, simple looting and plundering couldn’t satisfy him; he wanted to listen to the finest music and enjoy himself like a man above men.

After a scolding by Wang Jinhui, this scholar had thrown Wang Jinhui into a dungeon, planning to break one of his fingers every hour, wanting to make Wang Jinhui, a man of some renown, as miserable as himself.

Zhao Haiping had been expecting something from Wang Jinhui, but was it that just less than an hour passed and after having a finger broken, he gave in?

Even though getting a finger broken was indeed painful, but...

Considering the experiences of the players in the Literati instance and the historical records of Yang Yan, such a disparity seemed too vast.

In fact, Zhao Haiping now had a high chance of launching a surprise attack and successfully killing the scholar, but that would be pointless.

Zhao Haiping had to keep reminding himself that this was just the Trial Illusion, that everything in history had already happened, and what he was seeing now was nothing but a bunch of virtual data.

Moreover, killing this lapdog wouldn’t mean he’d beat the instance directly.

Some time passed before Wang Jinhui finally came out from Su Xianjun’s room, his already pale face now showing a trace of red from shame, probably from being thoroughly reprimanded.

But to everyone’s surprise, Wang Jinhui approached the scholar and said, "Boss Su has agreed."

The scholar’s brow arched, showing a look of delight, "Oh? Boss Su has agreed?"

Wang Jinhui nodded, "Yes, but he said he won’t perform ’Farewell My Concubine’, nor will he sing alongside Boss Yang.

"Boss Su said... he disdains to associate with the likes of us."

The scholar couldn’t help but snort with laughter, but still nodded, "It doesn’t matter, Boss Su singing ’The Peach Blossom Fan’ is also unparalleled. As long as Boss Su is willing to grace us with his voice, everything else can be arranged according to his wishes.

"I’ll go tell the General the good news right away. I leave the backstage entirely to you folks. Please have Boss Su prepare quickly, I await the performance in anticipation."

Having said that, the scholar turned and headed back to the theater’s front stage.

The people backstage looked at each other with varying expressions.

Some were puzzled as to why Su Xianjun had had such a firm stance before but was now persuaded by Wang Jinhui; others glared at Wang Jinhui, seemingly unable to understand why even he would submit to the invaders.

Wang Jinhui looked somewhat uneasy, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze.

Moments later, Su Xianjun’s room door opened. By then, he had redone his makeup and changed his attire.

He was handsome, and having been trained in female roles from a young age, his movements carried certain feminine traits, yet his expression was now one of determination and loss.

Su Xianjun glanced at Wang Jinhui, then at Yang Xinyan.

"There’s a hidden door backstage, for those who are afraid to die and want to live, you can scram now."

It was nearing midnight, and the invaders were drinking heavily in the front stage, eagerly awaiting Su Xianjun’s performance—it was clearly their most relaxed moment.

Yang Xinyan seemed to have more to say, "Xianjun..."

But Su Xianjun glared at him, "Scram!"

Without another word, Yang Xinyan lowered his head and walked to the backstage’s hidden door.

Wang Jinhui was also pale; he glanced at Su Xianjun but perhaps saw how Yang Xinyan got rebuked and thus, in the end, didn’t say anything, following Yang Xinyan out.

Other members of the opera troupe followed suit, one after another, a small group leaving.

Everyone knew that staying in the theater spelt more danger than good fortune.

The Eastern Barbarian invaders might start a massacre anytime; it was, of course, best to escape as far as possible with hopes of surviving.

Still, over half of the troupe remained behind.

Zhao Haiping found himself in a dilemma, clearly, leaving or staying would lead to different paths.

"Only Su Xianjun knew about the hidden door in the theater? Why didn’t they escape earlier? Was it because they were too obvious of a target at the beginning, and even if they left, they would still be caught? Or was it that Su Xianjun stayed with some other plan in mind?

"Leaving the theater might not necessarily mean escaping; perhaps, there could be another development...

"Never mind, I’ll choose to stay for now, to understand what happens in the theater."

After some indecision, Zhao Haiping ultimately decided to stay.

By the time most of the people had walked away, it was then that Su Xianjun turned to look at those who had decided to stay.

Under the lamplight, he seemed to want to make out everyone’s faces clearly. Indeed, those who remained were all people he knew well and trusted completely from daily interactions.

This included the member of the theater troupe portrayed by Zhao Haiping, obviously just the same.

After a moment, Su Xianjun finally said, "Since you all are willing to stay, it appears that you have resolved to face death.

"We may be actors, looked down upon by many, but we should understand the greater good of home and country.

"I have already arranged with Mr. Wang. After his departure, he will gather the local militia and acquire kerosene from the storehouse to set the entire theater on fire. However, to avoid raising the enemy’s suspicions, we must finish this performance.

"So, please, everyone, join me in completing this final act."

Everyone’s faces showed the same expression of deep sorrow, but no one left. Instead, they all nodded and said, "Yes, Boss Su!"

Zhao Haiping couldn’t help but be startled; was there really such an unfolding of events?

This instance indeed had numerous connections with the theater!

Staying was indeed the right choice!

Zhao Haiping had already ascertained the strength of these Eastern Barbarian raiders and was well aware that the few people present had no chance of victory.

The only solution he could think of was to gather more local militias, to find a group of able-bodied men from the county, at least three to four hundred, to stand any chance of wiping out these raiders in one fell swoop.

But with so little information about the entire instance, even if he left the theater, he wouldn’t know where to go to find help.

Now, Su Xianjun had provided him with a new solution—to use fire!

It was late at night, the moon was dark, and the wind was high, and the raiders, sated with drink and food, were not on guard. If they could truly distract them with the performance and then set a great fire, there might actually be hope.

Could this be the correct solution for this instance?

But... wasn’t it going a bit too smoothly?

After all, he hadn’t unlocked any special identities, and his role in this instance was not entirely zero, but it wasn’t much more than that.

Just passively watching the characters inside perform and expecting to clear the instance?

Clearly, that wasn’t the nature of this game.

For the moment, Zhao Haiping couldn’t think of any other approach and had to start getting ready along with the other members of the troupe.

Since about half the troupe had left, Zhao Haiping also had to take care of the musical accompaniment. Thankfully, he had already acquired the talent for understanding operatic music, so he wouldn’t be completely lost in the performance.

Soon, the curtain slowly rose.

The Eastern Barbarian raiders were already drunkenly swaying below the stage, and now that they saw Su Xianjun take the stage, they all laughed with cheers and applause.

The scholar who had drunk quite a bit, looked up at Su Xianjun on the stage with satisfaction. However, he was somewhat annoyed by the uncultured and ill-mannered raiders who had never seen the world before.

Su Xianjun began to sing, and the lingering notes enveloped the beams.

"With ample time to appreciate the ancient rivers and mountains of the Southern Dynasty, revisiting tales of past romances, twilight dims the windows of the tower amidst rain-drenched pavilions, as my heart’s blood is vomited to no avail. Each day, playing the zither to the wall, appreciated by connoisseurs, this... this moment..."

Initially rowdy, the raiders also quieted down, and only Su Xianjun’s voice sung melodiously through the theater, the echoes remaining unending.

Su Xianjun, true to his reputation as a leading actor, could captivate the audience even with a solo performance.

Zhao Haiping originally had no understanding of operatic music, but having acquired the talent this time, he too found himself entranced.

Of course, while he was listening, he never became fully absorbed and was constantly on the lookout for what was happening outside the theater.

When would the fire be lit?

He instinctively felt that even if they did start a fire, it might be difficult to burn all the raiders to death. But if chaos ensued, he might be able to kill a few more raiders by exploiting their drunken state.

Especially that Wandering Warrior—he must find a way to kill him to avenge the previous arrow!

Of course, he couldn’t be too obvious about it, as he knew the Wandering Warrior had an incredible intuition and any abnormality might cause suspicion and ruin everything.

Zhao Haiping grew to admire Su Xianjun even more.

Knowing that he was prepared to die, he could still perform so calmly and skillfully on stage. If such a person played "Dark Sand", they might well become a top player without much practice.

As he sang on, Su Xianjun suddenly changed the tune.

"... Personal hatred can be excused, but national enmity is hardest to quench!"

Others raiders didn’t react much, remaining deeply engaged, but the scholar suddenly came alert, his expression drastically changing.

Because he realized that this line was different from the original lyrics!

The original should be "National enmity can be excused, but personal hatred is hardest to quench." With Su Xianjun’s change, the meaning was completely altered!

Zhao Haiping also felt his blood boiling, as by the prior agreement, at this moment outside the theater, a blaze should have instantly erupted, leaving no place for the raiders to find refuge!

"Light the fire!"

Su Xianjun’s voice echoed through the theater, full of resonance, audible even outside it.

The Eastern Barbarian raiders beneath the stage instantly changed expression, standing up swiftly.

However, nothing happened.

Su Xianjun on stage was also shocked, clearly just as puzzled by what was happening.

Seeing the raiders below pulling out their broadswords, Zhao Haiping’s face darkened.

"Damn it!"

His last attempt to snatch a sword from one of the Eastern Barbarian raiders was unsuccessful, and he perished.