The video on the screen continued, with the three characters immersed in their love and hatred, completely disregarding the impact on their surroundings.
Meanwhile, the helpless mortals were bewildered, crying, screaming, and shouting, but the three on the screen couldn't hear their voices. They continued their back-and-forth, each move causing people to vanish like ants. The small village, built through generations of hard work, was left in ruins, a scene of utter devastation.
The three on the screen finally ended their drama of two men fighting over one woman. They didn't even look at the destruction they had caused. The white-robed figure flew away, while the black-robed one left with the woman.
...
As the performance ended, the lights dimmed.
The venue fell silent, and even the danmu (live comments) were empty for several seconds. However, the number of online viewers skyrocketed within a few minutes, as if people had come rushing in upon hearing the news.
The director and producer were already sweating profusely.
Why did this happen again?!
This show is going to be the death of us, seriously.
If you're going to push it this far, why not just use recordings of the "Male God Group's" stage performance as your supporting material?
This is so difficult to handle! It's not like they've offended you or anything!
Even the backstage staff were anxious because they were responsible for the limited stage effects, using almost the same props as in the previous group's performance.
It seemed like they were helping to target the "Male God Group." Would they be killed by the fans of the "Male God Group"?
The staff were trembling, but the audience was dumbfounded, their hearts racing.
How to put it? It was as if their perspective had been forcibly turned 180 degrees.
The love story that had just seemed so moving suddenly took on an absurd quality.
Whether in the audience, backstage, or in the waiting area, everyone was struck by a kind of shock.
At this moment, Sun Mo, Yang Hong, and Xu Meng all wore extremely unpleasant expressions. They stared at the big screen, their eyes almost on fire.
Have they gone mad? Targeting them like this? Trying to step on them to rise up? This is too despicable.
It felt like they had been set up, like they had unwittingly paved the way for others.
Finally, the danmu began to react.
The controversy began.
"What does this mean? It's clearly targeting us, using our brothers' performance as a foil to highlight their own. How can people be so vicious?"
"I originally wanted to support friendly competition, and I even liked you guys before. I never thought you'd resort to such means to win."
"The Top Flow Group are just contrarians, deliberately seeking out angles to mock others' performances. It's disrespectful to the other party's performance. You're trash with no artistic ethics!"
"Aren't the fans of the Male God Group being too sensitive? It's just using the most common tropes in xianxia. If you can use them, why can't we?"
"Exactly, if you've got the ability, tell your brothers not to perform such boring scripts! This kind of plot is purely coincidental if there are similarities!"
"I'm a neutral party... I think there is a bit of targeting, but as far as the plot goes, I'm on the Top Flow Group's side."
"What they performed is correct. While you're up there talking about love, people down below are dying because of your actions."
"That's right! I wanted to criticize this earlier. The Top Flow Group is killing their 'thinking of the mortal world' trend!"
Various topics of discussion began on Weibo, and related hot searches gradually rose again, but at this point, attitudes towards the two groups were still split half and half.
Meanwhile, the performance on stage continued.
...
The lights came up, seemingly showing villagers returning from a long journey, unable to find their relatives, lovers, and friends. Their homes had been destroyed, and even those they could find were severely injured or disabled, with no hope for life.
Coffins, funerals, wailing - the entire world seemed to be filled with endless pain.
The immortal magic and demonic arts had caused rivers to dry up, the earth to collapse, and farmland to be destroyed, bringing famine. With so many deaths, plagues followed.
Countless refugees finally gathered near a temple.
"Brother, I'm so cold and hungry. What are we doing?" Ji Fei asked, kneeling beside Qin Zhao, her face full of confusion.
Qin Zhao, his lips trembling, said, "We're praying to the immortals. This is our faith. As long as our hearts are sincere enough, the merciful immortals will surely come to save us from our misery."
"I miss Mom and Dad so much, and Sister Erhua, and little Yellow Dog. I miss the tanghulu from East Street and the tofu pudding from West Street. I miss..." Ji Fei said with a sob, as if thinking about these things made her less cold and hungry. These were all happiness that had been within easy reach not long ago.
"Brother, are we sinners? Is heaven punishing us like this?"
"We... probably are. That's why we need to be even more devout."
Qin Zhao pulled Ji Fei along with the crowd to bow solemnly.
At this moment, the big screen lit up. In a place that looked like the immortal realm, no immortals were looking at the situation below. They were all watching a new round of love and hatred.
"Let go of me." "You can't go with him." "Tell me you love me!" "I don't love you!" "Forget about me." "Let her go!"
Only a few voices were saying:
"Emperor Lord, you shouldn't be obsessed with personal feelings. The prayers from the mortal world are increasing, they need protection. Emperor Lord, you are their faith, they need your response..."
But these voices were weak and still couldn't stop the two men in conflict.
On the screen was an exciting drama of emotions.
But off-screen, on the stage, people were numbly kowtowing, then falling one by one, a scene of desolation and tragedy.
Until Qin Zhao fell, and finally Ji Fei murmured, "Isn't it their duty to protect us? Do they really exist? If they exist, why don't they come? Aren't they our faith? Then why do we believe in them?"
Ji Fei fell.
But this wasn't enough.
Because of the fight over a woman, a great battle between immortals and demons began. Smoke appeared again on the stage.
A series of stage scenes flashed by quickly.
There were people getting married, studying peacefully, mothers nursing babies in bed, shopkeepers who had just prepared to open their stores after working from dawn to dusk, and intense discussions in the imperial court about future national policies, how to stabilize the country, and how to make people's lives better and more peaceful.
In just an instant, there was lightning and thunder, heaven and earth in turmoil.
The sky was a battlefield, the earth a purgatory.
In the sky, they were still fighting and professing love amidst jealousy and bitterness. Some turned to evil, some became disheartened, some sacrificed themselves.
On the ground, families were torn apart, the country was in ruins. Unable to resist the power of the gods, they were affected at will, their lives turned upside down in an instant.
Even the mortal emperor could only cry out hopelessly: "Where are the gods we believe in? Who can seek justice for us? If you can't protect us, by what right do you have the power to destroy us? You don't deserve to be above us, you don't deserve our faith, you don't deserve it! Heaven is unjust!!!"
The stage lights dimmed, but the screen remained bright, showing the tragic figure of the white-robed man holding the woman and leaving in pain, as if he had lost the whole world.
