Chapter 68: Twin Expansions, Three Altars Reflect the Journey!

"Alright! What filling do you want?"

"Our place uses only time‑honored craftsmanship and genuine ingredients!"

"Salted egg‑yolk lotus‑seed paste, red bean, pepper‑salt, snow‑skin… we have everything!"

Inside the shop, the owner wearing a white apron greets warmly.

"What filling…"

Su Ming looks at the dazzling array of mooncakes, feeling a bit dazed.

"Kid, it's your first time, right? Not sure what to buy?"

"Listen to me, the salted egg‑yolk lotus‑seed paste is our signature, the best‑selling!"

"Buy some to take home for the family to try; I guarantee they'll all like it!"

"Family…"

Su Ming chews on those three words, and his movements pause.

"Owner."

"Give me more of the salted egg‑yolk, and also some pepper‑salt and red bean…"

His gaze sweeps over the five‑nut mooncake in the center, the one with the richest filling and the highest price.

"No five‑nut."

"The five‑nut… my parents can't get used to it."

"Alright!"

The owner swiftly packs it up.

Su Ming pays, lifts the gift box, and walks into the bustling Night Color Bar.

The streetlamp stretches his shadow far behind him.

Then the next lamp shortens and swallows it.

Again and again.

He doesn't know how long he's walked.

The surrounding lights gradually become sparse.

The air begins to fill with the unique humidity of the countryside.

He stops, tears open the packaging of a box of mooncakes.

He pulls out the mooncake exuding a rich salty aroma of egg‑yolk lotus‑seed paste and bites a huge mouthful.

His taste buds explode.

The familiar flavor makes his eyes inexplicably warm.

"It's still that taste…"

When he was very young, his favorite was the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

Because of his parents' jobs, they were always apart more than together.

But only on this day.

No matter how busy, they would gather.

Silly dad would wrestle a live fish in the kitchen, making a mess everywhere.

His stubborn retort is a knife skill honed by the troops.

Genius mom would laugh, shake her head, roll up her sleeves, tie on an apron, and effortlessly dominate the scene.

And he, standing beside them, peeled garlic and washed vegetables.

Occasionally he would sneak a piece of freshly stewed pork.

At night, the family squeezes onto a small sofa.

Eating mooncakes, watching the Mid‑Autumn gala…

The moon then seemed brighter than now.

The curve at Su Ming's mouth softens unconsciously.

Other people's homes are warm.

But his… isn't exactly cold.

"At least, he once had it, right?"

Su Ming murmurs softly.

But in the next second—

The Smile Mask on his face freezes suddenly!

"What did I just say again?"

Mid‑Autumn… gala?!

The gala needs a performance.

The performer is… an Artist!

And before a large gala begins, an indispensable part is…

Rehearsal!

Hiss!

Su Ming gasps a cold breath, and the chill surges upward.

The letter paper spat out by the 【】 altar flashes wildly in his mind.

Those Artists are already impatient, doing the final rehearsal!

"Alright, alright… this is how you play, right?!"

A few more flashes of enlightenment appeared in Su Ming's eyes.

"Especially her, she really wants to see you!"

"Who is she?!"

Su Ming looked up at the cold round moon, his thoughts whirling.

"I really don't know any women who do art!"

At that moment!

"Hm?!"

A faint, almost imperceptible, weeping‑like singing.

Carried by the chilly night wind, it drifted eerily into his ears.

The voice was exquisitely mournful and plaintive.

It shattered the moonlight above, seeping bit by bit into the cracks of his bones.

This tune—too yin! Too evil!

"Who?!"

Su Ming flicked his wrist, and the Soul Dagger slipped into his palm, a cold killing intent instantly locking onto the surrounding empty wilderness.

Yet there was nothing.

Only weeds half a person tall swayed like waves in the night wind.

The singing drifted unpredictably, breaking and resuming.

It seemed to come from all directions.

Or as if an invisible woman pressed against his nape, blowing endless resentment into his ears.

In this death‑silent outskirts…

It resembled a wronged female ghost weeping at a gravesite on a full‑moon night!

"Pretending to be a deity or ghost!"

An inexplicable fury rose in Su Ming's heart.

Not only because of fear.

The sorrowful loneliness emanating from that voice.

Shockingly resonated with the desolation he felt now, longing for his parents.

"Damn, I finally managed to get a bit of mood…"

"Running out here to sing this lamenting tune, sincerely adding to the trouble, huh?!"

Su Ming inhaled deeply, and expressionlessly placed the half‑bitten mooncake back into the gift box.

The last trace of warmth in his eyes was replaced by bone‑deep cold.

Go trace the source of that voice!

Go tear open this spectral veil with his own hands!

To see whether what's hidden is human or ghost!

"Whatever you are, since you dared to disturb me…"

"Then be ready to make my Xiao Heizi my midnight snack!"

Su Ming lowered his stance, merging into Night Color Bar.

The singing continued unabated.

A few minutes later.

Su Ming brushed aside the last half‑person‑tall weed before his eyes, his pupils narrowing slightly.

"What… what is this?!"

An abandoned open‑air Theatre, eroded by time into an unrecognizable ruin, lay quietly prostrate beneath the cold moonlight.

The Audience seats were empty.

The broken chairs were twisted, resembling a cluster of death‑silent tombstones.

But Su Ming felt that on those chairs…

were filled with unseen Audience!

The oppression made it hard to breathe!

The Theatre's Unique spotlight was the temperature‑less round moon above.

Moonlight poured down, bathing the empty stage in a ghastly pallor.

"Huh…"

Su Ming calmed his spirit and listened attentively.

The mournful singing grew ever clearer.

The source… was right at the center of that hazy stage!

It seemed as if an invisible figure in blue was dancing alone under the moon.

Addressing the heavens full of deities, it wept its eternal sorrow.

The whole world vanished.

Only…

that gut‑wrenching singing.

"Hm?!"

Wrong!

Suddenly, Su Ming's complexion changed abruptly.

He discerned it!

Up there, there isn't just one melody!

But three completely different, stylistically distinct voices!

They came from three different positions on the stage, each singing its own tune.

Yet they oddly don't interfere, harmonizing in a way that's chillingly eerie!

On the left side of the stage is a bleak, heroic Wu Sheng melody!

"Forge a sword for the nation… the sword points at oneself…"

Golden spears and iron horses, a spirit that swallows ten thousand miles like a tiger!

The aria is full of battlefield‑blooded heroism.

Yet beneath the heroism lies a suppressed, overwhelming grief and resentment!

At the very center of the stage is the mournful, desperate Qingyi tune he first heard!

"Use love as a medium… the medium scorches the body…"

Every word weeps blood, every sound breaks the heart!

A peerless beauty in splendid robes weeps to the lone moon, lamenting a fate beyond her control!

And at the far right of the stage, the laughter is sharp and eerie.

"Laugh as guests perish… I too become a corpse…"

There is not a hint of joy in the laughter.

It is yin‑yang odd, full of merciless mockery toward worldly affairs.

"This is…"

Su Ming swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his hair standing on end.

He heard it!

This is… opera!

【Wu Sheng】!

【Qingyi】!

【Clown】!

Corresponding to 【Sheng】! 【Dan】! 【Clown】!

"So, these are three…"

"Altars related to opera?"

Dual lives expand the realm, three altars reflect the path!