Ch53 - You Have a New Client, Please Collect with Caution

“Hello everyone, we are the ‘Ability Assault Force’! The performance we are going to show everyone is ‘Pink Summer Dream’. We hope everyone will like it!”

Lan Gaojie stood with his teammates on the stage, smiling brightly. Their pink performance outfits made them look clean and lively, full of youthful vigour.

The music started. As the centre position in the team, Lan Gaojie stood up from the sofa set up in the middle of the stage and began singing softly towards the camera. “That summer I met you, was the most charming pink dream…”

The boy who usually had a cold expression on his face now had a smile in his eyes as if he were whispering to his lover.

The boy-next-door in love concept was very cute; their pink outfits didn’t make them seem girlish, and instead, it looked sweet.

The moment he opened his mouth, the entire audience’s attention was unconsciously sucked in.

As the boys on stage sang of their first love, the audience’s minds were filled with thoughts of pink that they almost wanted to get a taste of this sweet, sweet love on the spot.

“Fuck this is too strong!” Even though he didn’t like Lan Gaojie very much, Xu Haoming couldn’t help but admit that he was glowing on stage tonight after watching the performance. His stage presence was really strong; even he didn’t know how he would rank compared to Lan Gaojie.

It was also because of this that Xu Haoming couldn’t help but be worried for Lu Xu. He really didn’t want Lu Xu to lose, but in choosing such a heavy song compared to Lan Gaojie’s strong group, Lu Xu really might not be able to win this time.

The Ability Assault Force’s performance ended in the midst of Xu Haoming’s fears. The audience gave thundering applause.

“Lan Gaojie, Lan Gaojie!”

It wasn’t clear who started it. Slowly, there were more and more audience members who were calling out Lan Gaojie’s name.

The entire studio was immersed in Lan Gaojie’s performance’s pink ocean. It was evidently extremely popular.

Xu Lele couldn’t help but tsk as he watched this. “Is this performance really Lan Gaojie performing with his team? I feel like when he’s on stage he doesn’t even pay attention to others. So if he’s this strong, how come he got F-rank in the first evaluation.”

Almost everyone felt very shocked after watching this performance. As the ability team’s mentor, Gu Wenan even looked towards Ji Xiunian and the others and gave them his condolences.

Anyone who watched would think that Lan Gaojie’s group was super strong. If there were no anomalies, they were basically guaranteed to win.

Even Shen Chengyu couldn’t help but sigh. “They sent out such a strong opponent at the start. Ability team, you guys are really out there.”

But Ji Xiunian remained very calm from beginning to end, merely silently glancing at the Little Effort Team that was about to go on stage. Seeing the camera pan over Lu Xu’s face, he unconsciously leaned forward, clearly anticipating their performance.

Lan Gaojie stood on stage, his chest heaving violently.

To be honest, he could feel that his body’s condition wasn’t as good as it was before. But as long as he could shine on stage even once, even as a chorus, he could be forever kept in the audience’s memories.

He bowed to the audience with his teammates and walked off the stage under everyone’s cheers. When the next-up Little Effort Team passed by, Lan Gaojie thought he would see an impatient and nervous Lu Xu. However, he hadn’t thought that the opposite team would become even more enthusiastic upon seeing him.

He completely couldn’t understand Lu Xu’s line of reasoning. When they faced each other, Lan Gaojie couldn’t resist making a dig at Lu Xu and told him softly, “I’ve won for sure.”

Lu Xu saw the steadily darkening death energy on his body but didn’t contest him. Instead, he curled his lips up in complete happiness. “See you later!”

Lan Gaojie could not understand at all what Lu Xu meant by this. Did he mean that he was completely confident that he wouldn’t lose?

“He’s coming, he’s coming!” The F4 stood under the stage waiting for Lu Xu’s performance. As the representative ghost fan of Lu Xu, He Xinghua had been appointed as the ‘station sister’ and was in charge of broadcasting the performance to the ghost fan’s group.

[Car Accident—Xiao He: The performance is starting, aaaaaaaaaaaaaa Master Lu Xu is going on stage!]

[Car Accident—Xiao Bai: We are all car accident ghosts but how come you’re lucky enough to see the performance live. I’m so envious I’m going to cry. I really want to see the master dance aaaaaaa]

[Drowning—Xiao Ge: @Car Accident—Xia He Where is he, where is he? You said you’d broadcast it! I’ll give you ten million dollars for you to explain!]

…

Inside the ghost group chat, everyone was calling on He Xinghua for live commentary, but after seeing Lu Xu walk onstage, He Xinghui was entirely focused on Lu Xu, and instantly pushed his own ghost friends to the back of his mind.

“Hello everyone, we’re the ‘Little Effort Team’. The song we’re performing today is called ‘Monster’.”

“Monster? The one by Zhang Jiamu?”

“No way, I heard that after Zhang Jiamu released this song he jumped off a building. That’s too scary, I don’t want to listen.”

“Fuck, Lu Xu and the others are so inauspicious. Can I ask baby Jie and the others to return to the stage?”

…

The audience judges’ first reaction when they heard the name of the song was to frown. Some even leaned back in their seats in disinterest, thinking that Lu Xu had chosen the wrong song.

Very quickly, the lights on the stage went dark.

When the music started, everyone was stunned––

With such a nice sounding prelude, was this really the ‘Monster’ they were familiar with?

After the rearrangement, the music sounded lazier than the original, but it was this kind of languidness that made people’s hearts itch even more.

Just as they were doubting their own memory, the stage lit up brightly. The boys in black suits stood in the centre. Their white and slender fingers held onto withered roses, and there were bright red roses all around, like a demon from a fairy tale enticing people to crime.

“They all say I’m a god and worship me in the name of love…”

The boys lifted the corners of their lips in a shallow smile, their expressions carrying arrogance and love.

They were obviously two different kinds of vibes, but Lu Xu had blended them together seamlessly.

When he loved you, his eyes dazzled, but upon looking closer one would notice that this love was nothing but his game. The monster was passionate yet ruthless. He wanted your love, wanted your soul, and he made you sink.

When you meet his gaze, even if you notice the danger, it was difficult to escape––

He was that kind of elegant, charming person. Just one glance was enough to make people willingly offer up sacrifices to him, even in the worst possible scenarios.

The spotlights chased after the steps of those six boys. They wore slim-fitting suits, their shirts unbuttoned to reveal delicate collarbones. They made no secret of their bloodthirsty desire, but no one was able to resist this graceful corruption. The more dangerous it was, the more charming it was.

If Lan Gaojie’s group was made up of angels, then Lu Xu and the others were basically devils.

The audience judges liked the sweetness of ‘Pink Summer Dream’, but also couldn’t help but be charmed by ‘Monster’.

They watched, with a wild fire in their eyes, as the monsters extended an invitation to them, and they seemed to be shouting from their bones––

I can do it, I’m willing.

The music stopped. The stage was lit up. The entire area entered a short moment of silence.

It was Lu Xu who curved the corners of his lips upwards at the camera, his smile bright and like sunshine. “Our performance has ended, hope everyone liked it!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

The audience that had been frozen as if a pause button had been pressed, suddenly regained their senses, and nearly overturned the roof of the studio.

He Xinghua and the others were squeezed in between the living people, howling and crying and wildly hitting call for Lu Xu.

No matter if it was the audience or the trainees, nearly everyone was shouting Lu Xu’s name.

Xu Haoming who had initially even been worrying for Lu Xu was screaming until his voice broke, as though he hadn’t come here to compete. “Lu Xu is amazing! Guaranteed win aaaaa!!!”

“That’s really too strong, I even thought we would win for sure.”

“Right right, Xu ge is really strong. Even if we lose, I’ll still respect it.”

The teammates beside him were all lamenting Lu Xu’s capabilities. When Lan Gaojie listened, he only had a sullen feeling in his heart.

How was this possible, how was it possible!

This was the stage he had been fighting for. He had even dedicated his life just so he could stay and give a perfect performance.

He could have succeeded, but who would have thought that he would meet someone like Lu Xu.

Lan Gaojie was getting more and more livid. His fingers curled into fists until his knuckles turned white.

“The two teams’ performances have finished. Audience judges, please pick up the voting divide in your hand, and vote for the contestant that you like. The votes of each member added up will be the team’s score, so, which team will be the winner for this PK round?”

Lan Gaojie stood on the stage, waiting for the counting of votes to be over with complicated emotions.

Even if he didn’t want to accept it, what was going to happen would still happen.

“After the audience’s voting, the team that wins this round of PK is––” They saw Liang Da walk towards Lu Xu’s side as he spoke. The result was self-evident. “The Little Effort Team!”

The whole place flared up, the applause was thundering.

Lan Gaojie didn’t even know how he came down from the stage. He felt exhausted without even taking one step.

Why was it like this, how could it be like this?

If only Lu Xu weren’t here. If there wasn’t a Lu Xu, he could have at least won tonight.

“Gaojie, what’s wrong? Do you feel unwell?”

His teammates were still lamenting their loss in the competition, and had caught a glimpse of Lan Gaojie’s expression and were frightened––

In the few minutes, it had taken to come down from the stage, Lan Gaojie’s face had become pale and haggard, as though he had grown much, much older.

Lan Gaojie wanted to say that he was fine, but before he could even open his mouth, he collapsed face-first to the ground.

In the last moment, before he fainted, he thought if it was possible, that he never wanted to see Lu Xu again.

Not because of hate, he just didn’t want to.

“Someone fainted!” Chaos followed after. Someone came over to assess the situation, and some others were busy calling for an ambulance.

At the same time, a new message came from the grim reaper app––

[Your appointed client is about to go to heaven, please take note and collect it.]