Break a leg, Yin Yu!

19. All the world's a stage

It was the opening night for the play at the Butterfly and Flower Pavilion; it was the first time Ghost City was seeing that imposing and glamorous building on the other side of the lake, just opposite to Paradise Manor, its lord Hua Chengzhu's residence. Down the road, a food market had appeared from out of nowhere, to cater for the theatre crowds.

Esteemed reader, of course, Ghost City being Ghost City, a market with dubious food would show up!

And they kept coming: ghosts, mortals, gods, dressed in their best attire – everybody knew theatre was a cultured and civilised thing to do – and raw excitement filled the air as much as gossiping.

"Did you hear? Apparently the main couple on this play are an item..."

"I heard they actually hate each other, and have dressing rooms as far as each other as possible..."

"It seems the director will go into secluded cultivation after this play. It was too much for him..."

Standing outside appreciating the movement, at overhearing the passers-by, Shi Qingxuan chuckled, and tapped He Xuan's chest with his closed fan, "Well-done Ming-xiong! You managed to spread such outrageous rumours! Gossiping is just what we need to spice up things for our play!"

He Xuan flashed him a look and smiled enigmatically as he usually did, "Spending some time in the Heavenly Court taught me one thing or two about gossiping..."

Shi Qingxuan was admiring the banners hanging down the pavilion's façade: white, with the actors' faces painted in black, and crimson stains at the bottom, indeed looking like dripping blood.

"These banners", he commented, "I love it! Aren't your water ghouls a clever bunch!"

He Xuan snaked an arm around Shi Qinxuan's waist and replied, "Anything for you, Xuan-xuan..."

Shi Qingxuan slapped his hand away, "I told you not to call me that! And everybody's looking too!"

Reader, do you really believe Shi Qingxuan's annoyance at He Xuan's advances? Because I don't...

He Xuan removed his arm, but the way he kept looking at him made Shi Qingxuan blush deeply.

He cleared his throat as to hide his confusion, and continued, "I, hum, thought the programme good too, describing the play and the characters. This must be the first theatre experience for many..."

They looked at a band of monks and cultivators passing by, following their leader, Heaven's Eye. For what Shi Qingxuan could apprehend from their bits of conversation, they were as excited about seeing this play as the next man, not caring about the essence of evil all around them in the least!

Dear reader, I'm not surprised! He Xuan did well: in all The Three Realms the only talk was this play...

Mortals were passing by too, and Shi Qingxuan even recognised a few familiar faces from Puqi Village – Xie Lian must have invited them, to make up for all the fake blood and other horrifying experiments he did in his shrine as part of his Director of Props & Costumes duties. Shi Qingxuan's fellow beggars from Royal Capital also came by, looking slightly cleaner than usual.

And naturally, the whole of The Heavenly Realm was there. Everybody was dying to see such event – and with such distinguished figures as General Xuan Zhen and General Nan Yang taking part, not to mention the legendary General Ming Guang as the play's villain! Truly unmissable.

"I can confidently say that Hua Chengzhu's plan for boosting tourism in Ghost City was a stunning success", Shi Qingxuan commented, "And this play worked like a charm!"

He turned to He Xuan and smiled, "Come Ming-xiong, let's go inside".

I wish I was there at The Butterfly and Flower Pavilion... 😭😭😭

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