Chapter 382: 挑滑车

As if hearing Li Qingshan's call, the figure in red turned his head slightly, a look of surprise also appearing on his face. “Li Qingshan?”

In this mysterious place, suddenly seeing a familiar face, Li Qingshan felt his heart settle considerably. He stepped towards Chen Ling and asked in confusion: “Brother Lin, did you also receive an invitation?”

“Yes.” Chen Ling nodded slightly. “You too?”

“That’s right. When I returned from Furong Bridge, I found someone had delivered an invitation. It seemed to be a young boy… but I didn’t see him; my grandmother received it.” Li Qingshan took a seat beside Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was thoughtful.

It wasn't just him who received an invitation. This didn't surprise Chen Ling, as it wasn't his first time witnessing a performance of the Ancient Art of Drama. When he and Chen Yan were in District Three, several others were also seated, watching the performance. However, back then, it seemed no one received an invitation; whether it was him and Chen Yan, or the porters and beggars, they were all drawn in midway.

Only the teacher from District Two seemed to have known about the performance in advance and had specifically rushed over. Whether he received an invitation, Chen Ling didn't know.

“Brother Lin, is this… is this truly a performance of the Ancient Art of Drama?” Li Qingshan asked, holding the invitation, his voice uncertain.

Chen Ling turned to look at him for a moment and nodded affirmatively. “Yes.”

It was conceivable that Li Qingshan must have been confused and struggled when he received this invitation, but his eventual presence here was proof of his connection to the Art of Drama. Moreover, the one who delivered the invitation was that mysterious handsome youth.

Chen Ling already had a faint guess about the youth's identity. If it was true, it meant the Ancient Art of Drama had high hopes for Li Qingshan, and he indeed possessed the potential to embark on the path of the God of Drama.

Li Qingshan had witnessed Chen Ling's abilities and had guessed that he must have some connection to the Ancient Art of Drama. If Chen Ling said it was the Ancient Art of Drama, then it certainly was.

Li Qingshan suddenly felt a surge of apprehension. “What should we do then?”

“Nothing.” Chen Ling leaned back in his chair, gazing at the simple stage shrouded in mist and rain, and spoke calmly. “Just… wait for the performance to begin.”

“Oh… alright.”

Li Qingshan took a deep breath, trying to relax. After all, this encounter was too impactful for an ordinary person like him; his body was still tense.

The torrential rain swayed with the wind, creating a faint white mist on the ground. Two figures, one in red and one in green, sat amidst it, as quiet as two statues.

Time passed minute by minute. When the clock's hands pointed to 3:00 PM, a sudden change occurred!

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—A muffled sound emanated from the simple stage. The strings of light bulbs wrapped around the stage lit up, one after another.

Orange-yellow light pierced through the wind and rain, like miniature suns suspended in the mist, illuminating the faces of Chen Ling and Li Qingshan in the front row. The stage, which had been dim and lifeless, suddenly seemed to come alive, bathed in light.

Seeing this, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. Beside him, Li Qingshan immediately adjusted his posture, sitting upright and attentive in his seat.

They knew the performance… was about to begin.

“It seems this performance only invited the two of us.” Chen Ling glanced at the empty seats behind them and spoke softly.

“It seems so.” Li Qingshan licked his lips, his face betraying his barely concealed nervousness.

Light enveloped the stage. After a brief pause, a crisp gong sound came from backstage!Clang—!

The large red curtain on the stage slowly parted.

A powerful, resonant voice rang out from behind the stage: “Lads! To the great camp we go!”

“Ah!” Several distinct voices overlapped, responding in unison.

“I am Ha Tielong, Grand Marshal of Saibei! Due to the Fourth Prince Wuzhu besieging King Kang at Niutou Mountain, a letter has been sent back to our country to hasten the troops. The old king has ordered me to escort the iron sliding carts, named Futu. Once deployed, even a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses will be crushed to dust! Look ahead, we are not far from the main camp. Lads!”

“Ah!”

“Hurry and advance!”

The series of dialogues left Chen Ling in the audience completely bewildered. Accompanied by the sound of drums and music, the performance seemed to have begun…

But wasn't there supposed to be an announcement before the performance started?

Li Qingshan, beside him, heard this dialogue and let out a soft exclamation: “The Battle of the Iron Carts?”

“What?”

“This play,” Li Qingshan said, raising a finger to point at the stage. “It’s a wusheng (martial character) play. It tells of the early Southern Song Dynasty, when the Jin army invaded Jiangnan. Yue Fei and Jin Wuzhu battled at Niutou Mountain, and Jin Wuzhu, repeatedly defeated, deployed iron sliding carts to obstruct Yue Fei. Gao Chong, acting on Marshal Yue Fei's orders, led his generals to decisively defeat the Jin army, pursuing them in victory directly to Jin Wuzhu’s main camp. With no other option, Jin Wuzhu urgently ordered the iron sliding carts to be brought out. But Gao Chong, utterly fearless, single-handedly overturned eleven iron sliding carts in succession… It’s considered quite a spectacular martial arts performance.”

Chen Ling was not familiar with these details. After hearing Li Qingshan's explanation, he only knew that a formidable person had successively overturned eleven iron sliding carts, and that the play seemed to focus on martial arts. But why would the Ancient Art of Drama choose this particular play?

Chen Ling sat in the front row, deep in thought.

Three figures passed through the circle and entered Willow Town.

“Willow Town isn’t big, but it’s not small either… Elder He, where should we begin our search?” one of the figures, wearing a black headscarf, asked.

Among the three, Elder He was the most senior and the most powerful. The other two did not dare to offer opinions lightly, but waited for his answer.

Elder He's eyes narrowed into slits. He didn't answer. Instead, he raised the staff in his hand and gently tapped it on the ground.

Thump—!With a muffled thud, the white crane patterns on the staff's surface seemed to come alive, flapping their wings and flying out from the staff, like surging white waves, spreading in all directions, covering everything.

“Searching inch by inch is too slow,” Elder He said slowly. “The white cranes will guide our way.”

The two members of the Ephemeral Scroll Society behind him were also seeing such a scene for the first time, their eyes filled with surprise and reverence.

As the white cranes soared and fluttered in the wind and rain, covering the sky over Willow Town, Elder He closed his eyes, as if sensing something…

A moment later, a faint glow flickered in his eyes.

He tapped the staff in his hand again. A white crane flew out from the staff, supporting his form as he slowly rose, and then it flapped its wings, flying off in a certain direction.

Seeing this, the other two members of the Ephemeral Scroll Society dared not delay, and immediately pursued the white crane at full speed, venturing deeper into Willow Town.