Chapter 57: Haimofen’s Demonic Sound
Xin Junmao used the comb as the small dwelling shop assistant had instructed, but he stayed in the room for a whole day without feeling any anomalous commotion.
Even just feeling a bit of something unusual would have been fine.
Xin Junmao felt somewhat depressed. Could it really be that difficult to fulfill his wish to find a job?
Suddenly struck again for no reason, Xin Junmao sighed and walked out of the room.
Standing in the dim corridor, he glanced at his parents’ room and heard his father’s snoring as he slept soundly. He couldn’t help but think: If only his wish could come true sooner.
He changed into his outdoor shoes, planning to go for a night run to clear his mind and work up a sweat.
On days when he couldn’t find work, he often emptied his brain through running to relieve stress. The effect was pretty good, it also exercised his body, and unknowingly, he persisted in something he couldn’t do for four years at university.
Xin Junmao ran out of the home gate and out of the neighborhood, then straight ahead toward the Civic Sports Center two kilometers away—this was his regular running route.
When he had run about a kilometer, Xin Junmao gradually noticed that there were far more cars and pedestrians on the road tonight than usual. Normally, this long-distance running route had hardly anyone, and even fewer at this time of night.
However, tonight was a bit strange. It couldn’t be called bustling with traffic or surging crowds, but it was still fairly continuous—every few meters, he could see several people walking on the road.
Out of curiosity, he closely observed those passersby and secretly eavesdropped on their communication, finally understanding the reason for the dramatic increase in the number of people on the road today.
Today was Haimofen’s first concert in Cuizhu City, held at the Civic Sports Center where Xin Junmao was heading.
By the time Xin Junmao reached the vicinity of the Civic Sports Center, which normally had few people coming and going even at night, he already saw a long dragon of cars and crowds. For a moment, he couldn’t help but marvel even more at Haimofen’s influence.
He had never attended any events held by celebrities or stars, such as concerts, book signing events, or art exhibitions. This was also the first time he witnessed the scene of a concert held by a celebrity, but even so, he immediately appreciated the power of the name Haimofen.
“It’s making me suddenly want to listen to his music too.” Xin Junmao was infected by the enthusiasm of Haimofen’s fans and suddenly felt an impulse to hear it live, but he knew he didn’t even have a ticket and couldn’t get in. Even standing on the outskirts of the stadium, he probably wouldn’t hear any notes.
But Xin Junmao knew where there was a gap for “free listening.” Though he couldn’t see the scene, he could at least hear the sound.
If nothing else, the stadium at the Civic Sports Center was indeed excellent in sound insulation. Before Haimofen held his concert here, many singers and bands had already held concerts here.
Back in high school, Xin Junmao had a girl he pursued. Without money for a ticket, he decided to use his romantic pursuit method, claiming to his beloved girl that he had a way to listen to the songs without buying a ticket. So in that winter, he brought his beloved girl to that gap, where they bathed in the cold wind together and listened to a few songs by her idol girl.
Then the girl left before hearing the whole thing, after which she quit her idol and, by the way, quit Xin Junmao too. In the end, she got into a key university in the gaokao.
At the high school graduation celebration banquet, the girl, drunk and tipsy, thanked Xin Junmao for bringing her to listen at the gap that day. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known her idol’s songs were so lackluster live, and how dream-shattering love is with just a little romance but no material foundation.
It was by abandoning those adolescent distractions that she finally understood why she needed to study hard, and only after striving did she get into the university she hadn’t dared to dream of before.
Thinking of that gap, Xin Junmao naturally also thought of his first love, feeling a surge of emotion in his heart.
He bypassed the crowd, bypassed the surveillance camera, climbed onto the dome of the stadium’s outer staircase passage, walked up the slope, and finally flipped into an empty layer on the second floor of the stadium outskirts, sealed off by metal panels.
Now it was empty here, with only him present. He walked in the empty layer and then saw a narrow strip of light. His eyes lit up: “Hey, it’s still there.”
He took a few steps forward to the wall with the leaking gap and sat down leaning against the wall.
It was still just autumn now. Though there was wind, it wasn’t strong, and it wasn’t cold. Sitting on the ground didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
Xin Junmao didn’t know exactly where he was at the scene. Reluctantly, he tried to peer through the gap, but unfortunately, the narrow gap had very limited visibility—he couldn’t even see half a person’s shadow. He could only tell from the crowd voices coming through the gap that the concert scene was still very lively, with all the audience entering.
“Might there be a live stream?” Xin Junmao couldn’t help but think. He felt it was possible, so he opened the popular short video live streaming platform. Without needing to search specifically, the top hot live on the home page was this concert’s live stream.
Xin Junmao turned off the live stream audio, watched the scene image, and listened to the live sounds from the gap. It felt quite immersive, as if he were at the scene, and this was much more interesting than being there. He believed that most of the audience seats bought by the majority on site couldn’t even see what the concert protagonist Haimofen looked like.
“If only live streaming had been as hot and convenient back then as it is today.” Xin Junmao couldn’t help but think of his academic star first love again, feeling a pang of regret in his heart.
Soon, Haimofen appeared in the live stream image. Dressed in an elegant and noble black suit, he entered with his band for tonight, smiling warmly as he carried his violin to the core performance stage.
“So good-looking, really even better looking than women.” Seeing Haimofen make his entrance, with that yin-soft and charming face, Xin Junmao said with immense admiration, “How can someone be so good-looking and also so talented?”
Thinking that he was still an unemployed drifter, Xin Junmao couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“Dear guests, welcome to the first stop of my regional tour, the new work concert in Cuizhu City…” While listening to Haimofen’s opening remarks, Xin Junmao watched the barrage messages scrolling in the live stream.
In the barrage crowd, Xin Junmao accidentally saw a small segment that suddenly clustered, then suddenly calmed.
“Ears a bit weird?” Xin Junmao saw a few fleeting barrage messages saying this, and he too began to curiously focus on Haimofen’s ears in the video. After some careful gaze and observation, his eyelids twitched as he made a discovery.
He believed it wasn’t an illusion, because he observed that Haimofen’s left ear had an unnatural fitting gap, looking somewhat split.
Plus, possibly due to rushing around these days, Haimofen’s skin color had some change, which contrasted sharply with Haimofen’s strange left ear.
A music genius had actually lost his left ear and was wearing a fake ear!
The live stream viewers also gradually discovered this bombshell. As fans of the genius Haimofen, with some of their madness and loyalty, it was impossible for them to be completely unaware of their “brother’s” physical condition.
Someone even dug up an old photo of Haimofen in the comment section from four years ago at his mentor’s concert. It was a goofy ear-pulling photo taken while interacting with his mentor afterward. In that photo, Haimofen’s left ear was pulled high, with obvious natural elasticity that a fake ear couldn’t imitate.
Therefore, everyone speculated that this was the injury Haimofen suffered during his years of silence.
Some guessed that Haimofen had his left ear cut off due to a plot by rival enemies in recent years, while others guessed that Haimofen, in his obsessive pursuit of creation, gradually lost rationality and cut off his own ear.
This kind of ear-cutting behavior wasn’t uncommon among artists. A famous painter had done something similar, and that painter indeed suffered from mental illness at the time, which lasted a long time. Suddenly, as if possessed, he cut off his own ear.
Everyone seemed to associate it with that famous painter’s incident, so the fans in the live stream all began to worry about Haimofen’s mental state, hoping he hadn’t truly “suffered a malignant disease.”
Meanwhile, Haimofen at the scene didn’t know about the fans’ concerns in the live stream. He continued smiling warmly and elegantly with his opening remarks until getting to the main topic: “So now, let’s officially begin the first performance of the concert!”
“This first piece is called 《Demonic Sound》. I hope everyone likes it!”
Haimofen positioned his violin, gave a look to the conductor, who immediately understood and got into position.
At this moment, the audience at the concert scene felt immensely curious and full of expectation, all distractions swept away.
Although the performance hadn’t started, everyone already had the feeling that the conductor wasn’t the one in control—Haimofen was the true dominant force of this concert.
Buzz—
As Haimofen sawed the bow, emitting the first string resonance, that eerie first note that didn’t seem like it could come from a violin instantly captured everyone’s attention.
Was this the sound a violin should make? Was it a mistake?
However, before everyone could think, Haimofen continued playing calmly. Gradually, they marveled in discovery that it wasn’t a mistake, but a special resonance deliberately created by Haimofen. Though the sound was very strange, it wasn’t unpleasant. Instead, it had a strange magic power—the longer you listened, the more you sank, slowly unable to extricate yourself, trapping people in the eerie forest muddy swamp Haimofen had constructed for everyone.
Soon, no more barrage appeared in the live stream. Everyone was immersed in the strange music of Haimofen’s performance, trapped in the fantastical music world Haimofen had constructed for everyone.
Xin Junmao was the same. He had never imagined that he, with almost no music taste, would be so obsessed with this type of music. It could be said that from this moment, he was completely in love with Haimofen’s music, especially this piece.
True to its name, it was indeed demonic sound—magical timbre, devil-like melody, bewitching music.
Listening to Haimofen’s violin performance, whether at the scene or watching the live stream, everyone gradually felt an inexplicable strange sensation surging from the bottom of their hearts. This bloodline-boiling, sweat-pouring, body-chilling feeling… wasn’t it fear?
As the piece progressed, Xin Junmao gradually noticed that the melody seemed to have changed, and the world before his eyes began to feel somewhat unreal.
But when he shook his head fiercely to try to stay clear-headed, Xin Junmao found that the melody hadn’t veered into the bizarre, so why did it slowly feel like the melody was becoming increasingly eerie?
“Has my brain changed? Has my mental state changed?” Xin Junmao suddenly thought this, then felt it absurd. How could a single violin piece possibly achieve such an eerie effect?
But soon, the music pulled his spirit away again. Xin Junmao gradually gave up thinking, reasoning: Just settle the mind and savor it carefully, think of nothing else.
In a daze, Xin Junmao realized the world he saw was becoming less and less real—one moment it was a world of flowing lights and radiant colors with shining stars, the next it was the usual scenery.
“So beautiful…” While Xin Junmao was lost in thought, his spirit somewhat floating, a familiar orchid fragrance assaulted his nose, and a voice like powder cake dispersed his increasingly lost spirit.
Xin Junmao blinked and found the world had stabilized in that abnormal prismatic form. He was now somewhat unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. When he saw the red-eyed qipao beauty suddenly appear before him, he actually felt like he was dreaming and foolishly smiling reached out to stroke the qipao woman’s face, whiter than winter snow.
“Hehe, how are you here?” Xin Junmao felt as if he were drunk, “drunkenly” asking.
Facing Xin Junmao’s frivolity, the qipao woman didn’t mind and instead seemed to remember him, smiling as she said: “I followed the sound here. Hearing it live now, it’s indeed captivating.”
Xin Junmao chuckled and said: “Being able to hear such wonderful music and see you again tonight, I’m really indescribably happy.”
“Do you really want to see me?” The qipao woman pursed her lips in a light smile, her fingertip lightly touching her lower lip, even more charming and alluring, even though she had no eyes at all…
His brain was like it had been overloaded with electricity; the world before his eyes flashed dazzlingly. The flowing lights dotting the world gradually emitted unsettling colors.
Clearly just a violin performance with no vocals added to the concert, yet for some reason Xin Junmao began hearing chant-like prayers from a group of people, starting small and sparse, but gradually the voices multiplied, stacking into a deafening roar that struck the soul.
It seemed… it seemed like they were calling the name of some being…
Xin Junmao’s breathing gradually quickened as he slowly saw the truth hidden beneath the gorgeous world: the hazy halos floating in the air weren’t light, but bizarre fleshy balls with needle-like spines. The earth underfoot was full of flesh and blood vitality, pulsing like a heartbeat. Walls, ceiling, all buildings were covered and devoured by flesh and blood and tubes.
The voices were changing, the environment was changing, the only constant was the qipao beauty before his eyes, as stunningly beautiful as when he first saw her.
Two chapters combined, please collection and tickets and such.
