klisemfg Chapter 434: Three Acts
Chapter 434: Three Acts
They passed through the gate smoothly. The corridor was covered with bright red carpet. Screens on both sides showed photos of the heads of the Pinoconi family, which were somewhat similar to the projected photos on the Black Tower Space Station.
There was nothing strange at the end of the corridor, just a door with a red curtain. There were no special security measures inside the theater, not even a single guard.
Perhaps the family thought it was impossible to break into the theater, so they didn't deploy patrol personnel or install those cumbersome access control systems.
But it’s strange that the Harmony Festival is about to open, but the Grand Theater has not yet opened to admission.
Not to mention the audience and performers, they didn't even see a shadow of the "one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals" that Sunday had mentioned. The entire theater was unusually quiet, almost silent.
Xing Sao looked around the entire theater, which seemed to be empty. She felt more and more that this was the Hongmen Banquet set up for her on Sunday. Although it looked like an empty city plan, the 100,000 swordsmen and axemen were real!
"Are we late? Why is there no one here?" March 7 wondered in his heart as he looked at the empty theater.
New problems arose. There were neither audience entrances nor ground staff to guide the audience. The interior of the theater was complex and intricate, with every intersection leading to a different place.
In such a huge building, it is usually easy to get lost and fall into the illusion of being in a maze without the guidance of the site staff.
The current situation is very bloody. The brave man relies on a little wisdom and luck to overcome all the obstacles and avoid the evil minions, and finally arrives at the castle where the devil lives.
At this time, more than a thousand forks suddenly appeared in front of you. The system prompts you to defeat the devil and save the world. Do you want to take the first road? Or the second road? Or start from the third road...
Moreover, they have not yet explored the entire map, and every time they take a fork in the road they have to face something unknown.
It could be a treasure chest filled with spoils, or it could be thousands of shirtless, ferocious-looking Oak family members standing there, or you could walk into a dead end and end up getting lost and starving to death.
"Oh my god! Whose are all these life-like dolls? Don't throw valuable things around!"
Walking into a hall that looked like a ticket office, a silver-jointed puppet was placed on the side near the door with strange movements, and when it turned around, it occupied Xing's entire field of vision.
The ticket hall was empty, but filled with silver articulated dolls, all posing in different weird postures, like stage models, or more like the scary dolls possessed by evil spirits in some horror games.
Maybe when they turned their backs to the dolls, the dolls that looked like stage models would turn their heads and stare at them, ready to pounce on them at any time.
"I have a strange feeling... Could we have come to the wrong place?" March 7 asked them.
Ji Zi shook her head: "There shouldn't be another big theater in this dream."
"Yes, this is a real theater." Xing nodded silently.
She had actually walked the roads inside the Grand Theatre, but now her mind was blank, like the three-second memory of a fish.
The last time she and Jiang Fan came, they were invited VIPs, and were served by artists from the Iris family who were wearing uniforms, black stockings and high heels. They would run into a service staff every few steps.
At that time, Xing was so busy praising the Tongxie family for the way they entertained their guests that he didn't even think about memorizing the terrain structure here.
She winked at Jiang Fan quietly, asking if he still remembered the way he came last time.
Jiang Fan shook his head silently, thinking that when he came here, he was only busy looking at the long skirt and white lace of the robin's skirt. Who has the time to memorize those terrains...
"Is Sunday trying to trick us? We agreed to have a showdown on the stage, but why is everyone gone?" March 7 looked around.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Miss March 7." Sunday's voice suddenly popped out like a ghost.
San Yue Qi was startled by the sudden voice and almost jumped up, "You scared me! Where... where are you talking?"
"I'll be waiting for you behind the scenes. Before the ceremony begins, following the ancient tradition of Asdena, I would like to invite you to watch three prologues together." Sunday said gently.
Xing looked left and right and found that there were indeed three doors with red curtains in front, behind, and on both sides of them. They were closed tightly, leaving no gap for her to peek behind the curtains.
“History is a mirror that reflects the truest face of the universe. We can also take this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the history of Pinocchio and the Star Gods.”
"The outline of the future is naturally revealed in it." Sunday said softly, "Why not start from the beginning of the world..."
"Are you trying to teach us a history lesson?" Xing said in a low voice, "You're overestimating us, aren't you? Do you really think all the nameless guests are eager to learn?"
"The creation of the world? I remember that in Xianzhou's picture book novel, it was the Dragon Ancestor who created the world? His scales turned into stars, and his blood turned into the sea of stars..." Sanyueqi scratched his head.
"Since the Twilight War, the sky is empty and the earth is in chaos. This is the first day..."
Xing sighed in her heart and followed Jiang Fan and the others into the hall behind the first curtain. She thought that her teammates were all more eager to learn than each other, which was really killing her, the only intelligent person.
I thought Jiang Fan couldn't stand Sunday's nagging and would open the theater.
But unexpectedly, Jiang Fan was quite submissive. He said nothing along the way and just followed the process obediently. It was hard to imagine that he was a person bound by rules and justice.
What? You, Jiang Fan, have transformed yourself into a law-abiding, polite, and fair person, leaving me alone as a scoundrel? Xing thought viciously.
"He took the nebula and made a plectrum, and built a harp with black and white keys. When he struck the white keys, the sun rose, and when he struck the black keys, the moon rose."
Xing was stunned, and all her complaints suddenly disappeared. She vaguely remembered hearing Bai Lu tell such a story when she was bragging to her.
It was raining in Luofu at that time. Bai Lu stared at the rain outside the window, patted his chest and said, "You know, when grandfather opens his eyes it is day, and when he closes his eyes it is dark."
Xing sneered at that time, thinking, do you think your grandfather is Pangu of the multiverse? He created the world in the storybooks one moment, and now he's opening his eyes to day and closing his eyes to night here?
What? Is your grandfather a Star Ocean Superman? Is the setting all based on imagination?
You just put in whatever setting you can think of, and the next second you're going to tell me that the train of the pioneer star god Akivali is the toy car left by your grandfather when he created the world?
But now Xing couldn't laugh anymore, because she vaguely felt that she seemed to have discovered something incredible.
"Oh my god... How could I know this?" Xing stared at Jiang Fan's back, her heart was in turmoil and her face was complicated.
There was a picture frame placed horizontally on the huge observation deck in front, with dozens of puppets kneeling on both sides. There was no road as far as the eye could see, and the picture frame seemed to be the only entrance.
There was a sense of uneasiness in the air. San Yueqi took the lead and walked in front, fully focused on the dangers that might arise at any time. Jiang Fan and Ji Zi followed closely behind, and Xing walked at the end to cover everyone.
Passing by one white light after another, and walking past one pile of broken and floating rocks after another.
I feel that this place is like an abandoned church and also like an infinitely extending maze, giving me the feeling that I will find a hidden boss at the end of the maze.
"The puppets are gathered around the picture frame. Do they want us to go in?" San Yue Qi pointed at the picture frame and turned to seek everyone's opinions.
"Isn't it too risky? There are only a few of us. What if there is some kind of trap inside? We can just sit back and wait for us rabbits to run into the wolves." Xing said.
"Then you should stay. We'll go in and explore the way. You can find a corner and have a good sleep. Maybe when you wake up, we'll have finished the job." Jiang Fan said lightly.
"How ridiculous! Am I such an unkind and unjust person? Can I just watch you guys going into dangerous situations and remain indifferent? Don't say anything! I'll go first!" Xing said righteously, pushing aside Sanyueqi and stepping into the frame first.
Of course she couldn't stay here. Not to mention those puppets that looked like they could infiltrate, only by staying with Jiang Fan did she feel a little safe, as if she was holding a nuclear bomb detonator in her hand.
Otherwise, when everything is over, March 7 will definitely tell everyone about that night when Jiang Fan, Sister Ji Zi and I broke into the Pinocchio Theater and confronted Sunday...Oh, you asked me what Xing was doing?
I don’t know, she said it was the Hongmen Banquet, and a man was hiding outside and sleeping soundly!
Stepping into the frame, the view suddenly becomes clear. There is a wide expanse of space. Outside it is dark, and countless rocks are fixed in the air in some posture, like the center of some vortex.
"Where are we now?" March 7 looked around and found that this place was like a different dimension.
"The atmosphere of this place... is very similar to Sunday's inner world. Perhaps this so-called prelude is also a similar ability." Jizi observed the surroundings and said softly, "The name of this play is "Ode to the Prisoner". Combined with the surrounding atmosphere, I'm afraid that what will be performed next is Pinocchio's past."
San Yue Qi hesitated for a moment and said, "I didn't go to jail during my recent pioneering trips. I thought my luck had turned! But I still couldn't escape this disaster..."
Xing's eyelids twitched, and she thought to herself, what the hell was that pioneering journey you guys had taken before? You actually got thrown into jail. Did you also turn all the trash cans in the city upside down?
"You are guests who have come from afar. After all, I don't want to engage in war, so I have arranged three plays before everything becomes irreversible." Sunday's voice sounded from all directions.
"Where should the story begin? Let's start from when Pinocchio was still a frontier prison."
After a pause, he continued, "In the 2147th year of the Amber Calendar, the prisoner Hanunu started a massive war and won. The company called it the Border War, while the Asdena people called it the War of Independence."
"Mr. Hanunu was a great man, but we should not hide the fact that he was able to bring freedom to prisoners but did not know how to give them true freedom."
They walked along the stairs, with broken rocks all along the way. Occasionally, when they passed a place where they needed to activate a mechanism to walk onto the wall, they could also see the inky black blocks that were close at hand.
Sunday is like the tour guide for a certain group of senior citizens’ tour groups. Every time they pass a few puppets along the way, Sunday can always tell them the story of Pinocchio’s past as soon as possible.
"Three unknown guests stayed here, trying to pass on the teachings of pioneering to the border prison, but unfortunately, to no avail."
"Asterna is once again engulfed in war. This time the enemy comes from within. Prisoners remain prisoners until death. They only know how to fight for freedom, not how to live for freedom."
"Oh? If you are a prisoner for one day, you will be a prisoner for the rest of your life." Xing said calmly with a crooked mouth, quite like General Duanmu.
"Their sentences have long ended and the company's jailers have been expelled, but these prisoners are still slaves because they are imprisoned not by external things but by their hearts," Sunday said softly.
“Freedom exists everywhere except in weak souls. It helps no one but those who believe in it.”
Xing nodded and approached the puppet with a candle on its head, wanting to carefully appreciate the details of the workmanship. Unexpectedly, the puppet, which was supposed to have a fixed action, suddenly spoke:
"Prisoners! I command you to learn freedom and teach your brothers to fight for their lives!" The puppet raised the chimney-like crutch and was about to chop it down from top to bottom.
Fortunately, one of Xing's few advantages is his well-developed limbs. He jumped back and took out a baseball bat with his backhand and used a vibrating knife. He was confused and said, "Damn it! Why do we have to fight just to watch a show?"
"Because I not only want you to enjoy the play, I also want you to... help me complete it." Sunday explained softly.
"That was the first scene. Amid the raging flames of war, the border prison gradually became a place of exile."
......
[There was a pure black sky above their heads, and several mighty spirits were reaching from heaven to earth. The entire world was obliterated by the violent wind and rain.
Under the low-pressure black clouds, the strong wind cut her face like a knife.
She stood quietly in the knee-deep rain, with the locked bronze door behind her. Her dim bright red eyes stared across the rain, but she could see no one, only the low-flying broken sword.
The raindrops fell on her hot body, evaporated and turned into white mist, which was blown away by the wind, but then tens of thousands of raindrops fell again.
Her vision gradually blurred, and her head seemed like a water and land Taoist ceremony that was about to end, with the sound of flutes and drums competing fiercely.
"If I could go back to the past and let you do it again, would you still do it? Luofu's sword head." Wei Ling's pupils were like an eternal lighthouse in a rainstorm, glancing at her indifferently.
She was still wearing the beautiful blue-purple dress with light armor, but in everyone's eyes she had transformed into a traitor and protector who had fallen into the devil's body, wearing a blood-red robe.
The dull red pupils no longer had that unstoppable power, but were instead filled with the exhaustion of a desperate determination.
She closed her eyes as if she was asleep, her face was pale from blood loss, but bathed in the moonlight after the rainstorm, it had a layer of bright white glow.
Amid the thunderous roar of the Xiedang drum, she pulled out the hairpins that bound her hair in the biting cold wind and pouring rain, and her long hair, soaked by the rain, fell down like a waterfall.
At this moment, incredible life burst out from her tired body. She stepped forward, swung her sword, and the raindrops under the dome suddenly bloomed and turned into dazzling ice crystals.
"I swear by this sword that no one can hurt him in the slightest."】