Chapter 649: Stage

Chapter 649: The Theater Stage

"Alright, alright, I'll stop laughing. Master, don't leave." Tugged by Luo Juanhua, Scholar Lü finally settled into the armchair.

An armchair was a bit tight for two people to recline in, but neither of them minded.

"Master, to tell the truth, I don't regret marrying you. You might be a bit of a coward, but you have a good heart."

Scholar Lü just lay there, listening to his wife open her heart to him.

"If anyone else struck it rich, they’d definitely look for a concubine, but you wouldn't."

"Back when Xiu'er was born and it turned out to be a girl, your father's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, but you were grinning like a monkey."

Speaking to this point, Luo Juanhua suddenly remembered something; she propped her neck up, a trace of slyness appearing on her face.

"Hey, did your father ever say that after he dies, he'll definitely leave this theater to you? Like a written deed or something?"

"Ahem." Scholar Lü coughed lightly and rolled over. "Why bring my father into this?"

"Tsk! How can you not be meticulous about this? Let me tell you, that younger brother of yours may look dumb and dense, but he's actually very sharp inside. Don't end up letting the younger one take all the good fortune."

Scholar Lü suddenly sat up, his expression becoming somewhat bewildered.

"Don't try to run away every time this topic comes up. Without this theater, are we going to beg on the streets when we're old?"

"No, listen, why has the opera outside stopped?"

Hearing this, Luo Juanhua immediately strained her ears to listen, realizing that the singing in the theater ahead had indeed ceased, replaced instead by a commotion. "What's going on? Could they have botched the performance?"

"Take Xiu'er and stay here, don't move. I'll go take a look."

Saying this, Scholar Lü got down from the rocking chair and walked toward the side door.

Yet just as his hand was about to touch the door latch, the entire wooden door was kicked open in an instant, and a large crowd wearing white headbands and black cloth over their shoulders charged straight in.

Charging at the very front was an old beggar with sores on his face, whom Scholar Lü had seen at the entrance of the vegetable market.

At this moment, holding a kitchen knife in his hand and brandishing it triumphantly, he rushed up and slashed it directly into Scholar Lü's chest.

Hearing Scholar Lü's cry of pain, the old beggar laughed with vindictive satisfaction.

"You wealthy people who have been pampered and well-fed since childhood actually know what pain is! Do you know what hunger is? Do you know what suffering is! Do you know what it feels like to be humiliated and looked down upon?"

"Heaven is unjust, so today we shall change Heaven!! Let you taste what it feels like to be poor!!"

Feeling the agonizing pain, Scholar Lü looked at the crowd before him; he, who had always been meek and cowardly, suddenly shoved the old man away and turned to shout at Luo Juanhua on the lounge chair: "Juan'er!! Run!!"

Having shouted at her, Scholar Lü was about to turn back to try and block these people, but right at that moment, a blacksmith's hammer smashed brutally against his head.

Bones were destined to be no match for iron; Scholar Lü's head was caved in, his body stiffening as he collapsed to the ground.

"Master!!!" Luo Juanhua screamed in despair, rushing toward Scholar Lü's corpse on the ground regardless of the Fa Cult followers.

A stout old woman rushed out from the crowd, raising the scissors in her hand, her eyes filled with hatred as she gritted her teeth and plunged them straight into her neck.

"I'll teach you to enjoy a good life! I'll teach you to enjoy a good life! We are both women! Why must I only suffer while you get to enjoy a good life!"

Watching the light in Luo Juanhua's eyes gradually dim, the old woman picked up the scissors and walked toward the loudly weeping Xiu'er on the ground.

Seeing that she was about to strike, the old beggar who had just been pushed onto his backside by Scholar Lü rushed up and scooped Xiu'er into his arms.

"What are you doing! How old is she! Is your heart made of flesh or not! You'd even lay a hand on such a young child!"

"Get out of the way!"

"I won't!"

While the two were at a standstill, the others rushed into the backyard and began to loot.

Seeing this scene, the two immediately dropped their dispute and hurriedly rushed in after them, terrified of being a step behind and missing out on the good things.

However, before long, everyone returned to the street looking thoroughly disgruntled.

Evidently, there weren't many valuable goods in the backyard of the theater.

"I know where their mansion is! Everyone follow me!"

Hearing this, the crowd swarmed toward the street in a chaotic mass.

A ruffian with dragons tattooed on both arms even casually set a fire inside the theater.

The old beggar walked at the very back of the crowd, carrying the crying and shouting Xiu'er.

Having lived hand-to-mouth in the past, his stamina was poor, and carrying a small child made it increasingly difficult to keep up.

He wanted to set Xiu'er down, but glancing at the chaotic surroundings, he ultimately bit his tongue and continued to push forward.

Yet right at that moment, he suddenly heard a commotion ahead.

"A monster!"

"It's a monster!"

"Don't be afraid! The Yu'er God possesses vast divine powers, what is a mere monster to fear! Let's charge! Kill him!!"

Before the old beggar could figure out what was happening, he suddenly saw a cloud of blood mist burst instantly within the distant crowd.

Following that, these people collapsed section by section, like stalks of wheat in a field.

Finally, he saw what that thing was.

It was a red-robed Taoist priest covered in strips of black flesh.

The Taoist wore a copper coin mask over his face, and his single eye actually contained two pupils. Coupled with the bloodied sharp weapons hanging from the tip of each black flesh strip, he truly looked no different from a monster.

The moment he saw this thing, the old beggar had no time to make any other move; he merely raised the bloodied kitchen knife in his hand, turned to fling the child in his arms behind himself, and in the next instant, his entire body split apart.

Amid the pouring blood, Li Huowang was suddenly stunned when he caught sight of the weeping Xiu'er.

He had not expected to see someone from the Lü Family Troupe under such circumstances.

Her face flushed red from crying, Xiu'er walked to Li Huowang's side, pulling hard on his hem while pointing one hand toward the direction of the theater.

A tentacle wrapped around Xiu'er, and Li Huowang leaped across the roof tiles, rushing in the direction she pointed.

Before long, Li Huowang saw the signboard of the Lü Family Troupe's theater.

The wood that was once inlaid with gold and wrapped in silver was now entirely enveloped by raging flames.

Looking at the collapsing structure inside, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and dashed in.

The theater stage of the past was likewise enveloped in flames, where a hoary-haired old man now stood upon the gradually crumbling stage, half-crying and half-laughing in a state of madness as he loudly sang operatic verses.

And beside him lay the corpses of his son and daughter-in-law.

"A bright moon rises early in the east! It reminds me of my old mother in the high hall! Accompanying the sovereign is like a sheep accompanying a tiger; fulfilling loyalty makes it hard to practice filial piety. The stars shift and the constellation turns as the second watch ends; I sit in unrest and sleep without peace. Guxian County has never failed its people, so for what reason does the golden plaque summon me? Hearing the watchtower strike the third watch, a bright moon illuminates the courtyard hall!"

Master Lü had gone mad.

(End of Chapter)