161. "Left Hand Pointing at the Moon" Shocks the Entire Audience

The bullet comments flowing across the livestream room paused blankly for a good while before any movement stirred.
[Holy crap! I've seen this episode!]
[A... A double blessing?]
[Move aside, the person above, you won't do—let me handle this! Good things come in pairs!]
[Happiness upon happiness!]
[An eye for an eye!]
……
On the stage, Ji Fanxing, clad in a light blue gown, looked like a silent mockery of Qu Feiyang.
"You old codger, you kept this under wraps tighter than a drum!" The president of the Dragon Kingdom Conservatory of Music patted Fang Zhijing on the shoulder, his tone filled with disbelief.
Fang Zhijing stroked his beard, chuckling, "When the Ji lass came to me wanting to temporarily add a piece to her set, I was startled too."
"This girl, truly..." Admiration filled the principal's eyes. "Just like you in your youth, utterly restless."
Fang Zhijing, however, shook his head and sighed, "Not quite. She is much smarter than I was back then."
In those days, he was a hot-headed youth, arrogant and proud, and had almost lost his life before finally seeing reason.
Though the Ji lass's actions seemed similar to his back then, her heart was exceedingly astute. She understood the perils of human nature and knew how to protect herself.
She was a hundred times better than him.
Zhou Fangran, the president of the Music Association, turned pale with anger upon seeing Fang Zhijing and the other man chatting and laughing, cursing inwardly:
*It must have been arranged by Fang Zhijing! Hmph, I bet it's just a hasty piece cobbled together to counter Qu Feiyang, the quality can't possibly be anything special.*
At this thought, he felt a bit more at ease. To say the least, that high-pitched segment in *The Nightingale* wasn't something anyone could surpass on a whim.
When he noticed the stage background—unlike the meticulously designed sets of the previous two performances, this one featured only simple lighting and a projected image of a bright moon—his suspicions grew even more certain.
Inside an ordinary apartment complex, Zhou Ying was so excited she nearly jumped up.
"Mom! Come look! Mom!!!!"
"Ji Fanxing is on stage! She's going to beat Qu Feiyang to a bloody pulp!"
Zhou Ying's mother hurried out. "What do you mean, beating someone to a bloody pulp? It's a competition, not a war!"
With that, she sat down next to her daughter with keen interest.
"Whether she wins depends on the quality of her work. Going on stage without genuine talent is just asking to be humiliated."
Refusing to yield, Zhou Ying made some room for her mother on the couch. "Hmph, just wait and see. Mandopop is absolutely the ultimate best!"
The prelude of *Left Hand Holding the Moon* echoed from the television, instantly capturing the mother and daughter's attention.
"My left hand grasps the earth, my right hand grasps the sky,
Palm lines fracturing into lightning bolts across ten directions.
Time is hastily traded away for years,
Three thousand realms as if never seen~"
Ji Fanxing sang softly, her ethereal vocals drifting down slowly from the highest heavens, carrying a cool detachment, a touch of solitude, and an otherworldly grace.
"This pitch..." Zhou Fangran sat up straight abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief.
On the audience seating, Yuan Bingbing's grip on her thermos tightened.
Using such a high pitch right from the very first line—what about the rest...
On the stage, Ji Fanxing stood with an alluring posture, resembling a fairy descending from the moon.
Under the spotlight, her eyes seemed to shimmer with starlight. Every single glance, smile, and movement radiated an irresistible charm, as if she were naturally born to stand at the center of the stage, bathing in the adoration of the masses.
In the audience, Lu Tianyu stared infatuatedly at Ji Fanxing on the stage, as though bewitched, his vision narrowed down to that solitary light-blue figure.
"Tch, show-off," Chu Hao curled his lip in disdain. Yet, those cold, piercing eyes looking toward the stage involuntarily softened the moment they touched Ji Fanxing's figure.
[Ahhhhhhh! Wife, slay me!!!!!!]
[This damned charm! I officially declare that starting today, I am a loyal devotee of Goddess Ji's face!]
[Tch, you people are far too unsettled. Look at me—I'll just be Goddess Ji's microphone, so peaceful and quiet, wouldn't that be nice.]
[Then I shall be the moon behind Goddess Ji...]
"My left hand points to the moon, my right hand draws the red string,
Bestowing upon you and me a fated romance we wished for~"
Ji Fanxing's voice was clear and ethereal yet possessed an immense, latent power that pushed the song's emotion to a crescendo.
"In the moonlight, ahhh~
You and I, ahhh~"
The high-pitched segment arrived as expected. Every single note seemed imbued with life, circling and leaping in the air before finally soaring straight into the clouds, piercing through everyone's eardrums and striking the deepest depths of the soul.
Below the stage, the audience held their breath, terrified of missing even a single note.
"Goosebumps all over. Is this really something a human can sing?"
"These lyrics have a hint of Sanskrit chanting to them. I feel like my soul has been cleansed entirely."
On the top floor of the Tenghai Film & Television Building, lights blazed brightly.
Bi Deng sat at his desk, diligently putting in overtime work.
"Damn that accursed Qian Huanxi! I'm stuck here working overtime while you're out gallivanting and having fun!"
Irritated, he tossed the documents onto the desk, stood up, and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the brilliantly lit city nightscape as he thought viciously to himself:
*One day, I will wrest Tenghai out of your hands!*
Suddenly, a melodious singing voice drifted out from his phone.
Bi Deng picked up his phone and glanced at it. It was a message from Liu Qi in the company, urging him to watch the livestream of the "National Music Exchange Convention."
*Wasn't Ji Fanxing already firmly in the palm of my hand? What sort of trick is Liu Qi pulling now?*
He tapped on the livestream link. On the screen, a girl in a light-blue dress stood at the center of the stage, unleashing a soaring high note that pierced the clouds.
Bi Deng's body jerked violently, and his phone nearly slipped from his grip.
This voice...
He widened his eyes in disbelief, staring fixedly at Ji Fanxing on the screen.
On stage, Ji Fanxing's singing approached its final movement.
"My left hand picks you up, my right hand puts you down,
When palms are pressed together, you are entirely gathered into my heart.
A single stick of incense, ahhh~
You and I are without distinction~"
Every note seemed laced with magic, intoxicating listeners and leaving them utterly powerless to pull themselves away.
The high notes were immensely difficult, yet she handled them with effortless grace, as if plucking them straight from the air without a shred of strain.
"This lass..."
A complex expression flashed across Bi Deng's eyes.
"No wonder Liu Qi holds her in such high regard. Aside from composition, her vocal prowess is top-tier even on a global scale."
He opened his computer, pulled up the contract prepared for Ji Fanxing, and modified Tenghai Film & Television's revenue-share percentage right back to its original terms.
"This girl—arrogant and presumptuous though she may be, she genuinely has the strength to back it up.
Giving up thirty percent of Tenghai's shares to reel in a talent like Ji Fanxing is a fair trade."
He gazed at the contract in his hands, a glint of shrewdness flashing through his eyes.
At the program venue, within the audience seating.
Qu Feiyang's previously smug expression was now shrouded in gloom.
He stared intently at Ji Fanxing on the stage, feeling a sense of suffocation,
as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping his throat.
What on earth was the background of this girl?
Why could she sing such soul-shaking music?
Why could she so effortlessly crush the song he had meticulously prepared?
A wave of intense unease suddenly surged within Qu Feiyang's heart.
In the livestream room, bullet comments fluttered like snowflakes.
[Scalp tingling, my skull is opening and closing repeatedly.]
[First time realizing my braincase has a flip-top lid...]
[Listening to this song feels even more exhilarating than *Wind and Moon Can't Escape*. Absolutely stellar, Goddess Ji.]
[Who else! I ask you, who else!!!!!]
At the program venue, apart from music industry luminaries, the gathering was also attended by top executives from various entertainment and music production companies. They gazed at Ji Fanxing on the stage with intense excitement.
Finally, one of them could no longer restrain themselves and stood up.
"To hell with whether she stays independent! A freak of nature like this is worth partnering with even if it's just a cooperative tie-up!"
The others hurriedly stood up as well, waiting simply for Ji Fanxing to finish her performance so they could swoop in and recruit her...