Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Lu Mingfei turned his head to look at Liu Miaomiao. Liu Miaomiao pursed her lips, nodded, and said with a firm gaze, "Ready."

This was the first time in Liu Miaomiao's life that she had done something so rebellious. If you told her from last year that she would dare to secretly change the song she was going to perform on stage without telling the school and her parents, she definitely wouldn't believe you.

Liu Miaomiao secretly glanced at Lu Mingfei, who was talking to Chu Zihang beside her, and thought that this boy she liked was too amazing. He always changed her without her noticing.

Although Liu Miaomiao felt that doing this was a little bit wrong, she also felt a tiny bit of excitement and thrill.

But after all these years, it's okay to be willful just this once, right?

Having found a reason for yourself means that you actually want to do it.

"Shall we go and rehearse the stage?" Chu Zihang said, "Although it won't really make much of a difference."

"At least experience it." Lu Mingfei nodded.

The afternoon rehearsal was indeed not very meaningful, as they wouldn't be performing any of the programs on the program for the gala.

More than anything, they were just getting familiar with the stage structure and quietly discussing how to enter when it was Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei's turn to go on stage for fencing.

The two fencing performers copied the video of Grandpa Yu, the domestic two-handed sword master. In Lu Mingfei's memory, Chu Zihang was a master of the knife; his sword "Yushin-tō Murasame" and Caesar's famous sword "Dick Tudor" were both legends in Kassel College.

That blood-stained demonic sword accompanied him through countless battles, even slicing through countless Dead Servants.

What he didn't expect was that his expressionless senior brother had actually started learning swordsmanship, and not from any famous master, but from the local youth palace.

Lu Mingfei still remembered that Chu Zihang asked him if he knew how to dance with a sword. If not, he could recommend his teacher from the Children's Palace to him. With his aptitude, he should be able to learn the moves in three to five days.

Lu Mingfei quickly waved his hand, saying he knew a little about sword dancing. Chu Zihang then asked if he had learned it at the Children's Palace. Lu Mingfei said no, he learned it from his father in Hawaii. Chu Zihang nodded, presumably oblivious to the joke Lu Mingfei was making.

……

Later that evening, it started to rain.

The party officially started at 7:30, but because of the rain, people started arriving around 6:30.

The entrance was wet, and colorful umbrellas were piled up on both sides of the passageway.

After finishing dinner at five o'clock, the group immediately returned to the backstage area. Liu Miaomiao was immediately taken to the dressing room to change clothes and put on makeup.

Lu Mingfei was neither a performer nor a support staff member on the program, and was originally prohibited from entering. However, almost everyone at Shilan Middle School had heard the rumors about Lu Mingfei and Liu Miaomiao, so they tacitly allowed Lu Mingfei to enter.

This year marks the 44th anniversary of Shilan High School. According to the program schedule, Chu Zihang's performance is scheduled for around 9:10 PM, making him the 21st act, while Liu Miaomiao's piano performance is scheduled for the 43rd. The 44th act is a choral performance, symbolizing Shilan High School's 44th anniversary.

The chorus must end promptly at 10:30, followed by a fireworks display.

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, if there's one more program for every year that's added, does that mean the school anniversary celebrations of the first two years only had one or two programs? When Shilan Middle School becomes a century-old prestigious school, won't there be hundreds of programs to perform?

Since it was still early before their performance, Lu Mingfei and Liu Miaomiao, dressed in formal attire, were led by Chu Zihang to the director's room located directly above the stage. From there, they could see the entire stage and the audience seating area.

"I think I saw my parents," Liu Miaomiao whispered in Lu Mingfei's ear.

Lu Mingfei also noticed that Liu Miaomiao's parents were sitting not far from their class's seats, behind the city leaders and the principal. Their class was seated in the southeast corner of the auditorium, a few rows away from Liu Miaomiao's parents.

Because Liu Miaomiao was a performer, she wasn't assigned a seat. However, even so, two seats in their class remained empty.

One of them is naturally Lu Mingfei, because Lu Mingfei is currently backstage.

Another one is Su Xiaoqiang's; she doesn't seem to be here tonight either.

Looking at Lu Mingfei's profile, Liu Miaomiao seemed to understand what he was thinking, and then walked over and gently took his hand.

When his hand was suddenly grabbed, Lu Mingfei was startled. Then he saw Liu Miaomiao beside him tilting her head and smiling slightly.

“Let’s find some time to talk to her together,” Liu Miaomiao said, as if she had made up her mind. “I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems that friends shouldn’t keep things from each other.”

Lu Mingfei looked at Liu Miaomiao's face and nodded gently: "Mm."

As the music ended, the previously noisy auditorium immediately fell silent. The female host, surnamed Wu, took to the stage and announced the official start of the evening's event.

In fact, most of the programs at the gala were quite conventional and no different from the arts performances of other public schools.

However, perhaps because Shilan Middle School is an elite school where students have the money to learn all sorts of talents from a young age, the performance was quite professional and well-executed.

As each program came to an end, the host's announcements drew ever closer to the time when Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei's program would begin.

It was obvious that the host's voice was getting more and more tense. After all, although Lu Mingfei organized this incident and Chu Zihang used his beauty to seduce her, she was also an accomplice. When things went wrong and they were thoroughly dealt with, none of them would escape.

"We should go," Chu Zihang said to Lu Mingfei. "It's almost our turn."

Lu Mingfei nodded.

……

As the twentieth guzheng performance came to an end, the red curtain closed behind them.

The female host nervously swallowed, took a deep breath to make her voice sound less tense, then switched to her emcee card and addressed the audience:

"Dear audience members, just now, we were captivated by the melodious tune of the guzheng, as if the ancient notes had transported us to a tranquil and profound ancient world. The guzheng's tone is like a clear spring flowing, or like the wind rustling through a bamboo forest, leaving a deep impression on us."

"Now, let's take a short break and catch our breath, because we are about to witness a completely different visual feast! Please focus your attention on the center of the stage, where we are about to enjoy a fencing performance by Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei."

Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei? A fencing performance?

Offstage, the principal of Shilan Middle School was boasting to the leaders of the Education Bureau that the next student to perform was Shilan Middle School's most outstanding student, a prodigy, the son of CEO Lu Tianming, and a promising candidate for Tsinghua and Peking Universities. His violin playing was so exquisite that the lingering sound was unforgettable.

Just as I was about to ask the leaders to appreciate the performance and give me their guidance, I heard the female student host on stage suddenly say that the next performance would be a fencing show by Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei.

While I was still in a daze, I saw the female host hurriedly leave, and then the curtain opened, revealing Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang, dressed in ancient Hanfu with their robes flowing, standing on either side of the stage.

The principal wasn't the only one stunned; the students in the auditorium were also momentarily speechless when they heard that the next program was Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang fencing.

The school magazine listed tonight's program, and the next program was supposed to be Chu Zihang's usual violin solo. How did it turn into fencing? And Lu Mingfei even participated.

Some people saw Lu Mingfei go to Chu Zihang's classroom a few days ago and witnessed him handing Chu Zihang something that looked like a letter.

At the time, rumors circulated that it was Lu Mingfei issuing a challenge to Chu Zihang. Lu Mingfei, ranked second on the list of those most deserving of death, was going to challenge Chu Zihang, ranked first on the list, for Liu Miaomiao's sake.

So it seems the rumors are true? The two even set the stage for their showdown at the Shilan High School anniversary gala?

Lu Mingfei, dressed in a sharp and capable black outfit, stood behind him with a sword in hand, lean and wielding like iron.

Chu Zihang, dressed in a flowing blue robe with wide sleeves, also held a sword behind him, his expression calm and composed.

Just as the audience below were watching the stage, wondering what kind of wonderful performance the two would bring... the background music "Loyalty to the Country" began to play.

"The smoke signals rise..."

One moment the elegant guzheng music was still lingering in the air, the next Tu Honggang's powerful tenor voice pierced the heavens and shook the earth. Folk music and folk singing styles had inexplicably merged in that instant.

Before everyone could recover from the abrupt contrast between the two pieces of music, they saw Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang suddenly turn around at the same time.

A metallic buzzing sound emanated from the brief clash of their swords. Every sword was a dangerous object, yet they were using only the soft swords traditionally used by old men practicing Tai Chi. Nevertheless, the force of the impact still caused both swords to emit a mournful, metallic creak.

Lu Mingfei had never seen Chu Zihang practice swordsmanship, but he had personally witnessed him exchanging blows with Caesar.

Back when he first entered Kassel College, during a day of freedom, he used a Friga bullet to kill the student council president and the Lionheart Society president, instantly becoming famous at Kassel College. But now, it's him personally facing off against Chu Zihang.

Lu Mingfei learned ancient Chinese swordsmanship at the Advanced Education High School; his form was strong and vigorous, dignified and orderly. Chu Zihang's Youth Palace swordsmanship, on the other hand, was unpredictable, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, like a ghost disappearing into the air, always appearing suddenly.

The two sword dances were so graceful they resembled a real life-or-death struggle. Their sword shadows were so fast they were almost invisible, the only visible part being the reflections of the daylight stage lights blending together, indistinguishable from each other.

The teachers and dignitaries invited to watch the school anniversary gala watched with trepidation, especially Liu Yue, who trembled with fear every time Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang's swords clashed.

Even Ji Ruyan, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but feel uneasy, wondering if Lu Mingfei and Lu Tianming's stepson had some kind of grudge.

Don't the school leaders even review the performances beforehand? How could they allow them to put on such a dangerous show? If Lu Mingfei gets injured, she'll definitely have a serious talk with the school leaders.

However, a beautiful woman sitting not far from her waved and shouted excitedly, "Go Zihang!" Despite being dressed in designer brands from head to toe, she lacked any air of dignified elegance in her demeanor.

Of course, the most terrified person was Liu Miaomiao, who was watching from the director's room above the stage.

She had initially thought that the fencing performance Lu Mingfei mentioned was just the kind of casual sparring and rehearsing moves that she saw on TV, but she never expected it to be so dangerous.

Several times, Chu Zihang's sword almost sliced ​​into Lu Mingfei's body.

If she had known it would be this dangerous... she shouldn't have agreed to change the performance repertoire with Lu Mingfei; she would have been fine just sticking to playing "Exodus."

Actually, it's not Lu Mingfei's fault. It's mainly because of the two-handed swordsman, Master Yu... He's a master of real combat! So it's inevitable that his swordsmanship is ruthless.

However, because Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang had practiced their moves many times in private, and because the hybrids had precise control over their power, these sword techniques only looked dangerous but did not actually hurt each other.

Compared to the worried Liu Miaomiao, the other students were clearly much more excited, and the entire auditorium was filled with excited shouts and noise.

Most people thought that fencing performances were just a routine, a formality, but they didn't expect it to be a real, hard-fought battle.

With the somewhat rustic background music "Serving the Country with Utmost Loyalty," many people actually felt a surge of youthful passion and fervor.

Meanwhile, Chu Zi's classmates on the flight were already certain of their previous thoughts:

"These two... are definitely going to have a showdown on stage."

……

Chapter 186 Pre-Take-Off Preparations

Perhaps because the students of Shilan Middle School are used to watching conventional arts performances, Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang's fencing performance received an unprecedented response.

Even after Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang left the stage, there were still cheers from below demanding "one more time!"

Indeed, who still watches chanting hymns like mantras or formulaic talent shows these days?

The only highlight of the school anniversary gala was when the handsome men and beautiful women appeared. People took advantage of the rare opportunity to openly stare at their idols and try to imprint their images in their minds.

Even Liu Miaomiao, who plays the piano quite well, is not really noticed by many people. Most people just want to linger on her beautiful profile for a little longer.

However, backstage at this moment, the school beauty, who plays the piano quite well, was running down from the director's room, lifting the hem of her dress, completely disregarding the fact that she was still wearing high heels.

Only when she saw Lu Mingfei coming off the stage at the corner did she jump and rush into his arms, completely disregarding the many students walking back and forth backstage.

Damn it! They're even showing off their love backstage at the party! Is there no law anymore?! The guy backstage was furious.

Lu Mingfei glanced at Chu Zihang beside him. Chu Zihang, being quite perceptive, nodded to Lu Mingfei and then returned to the lounge first.

"How could you perform such a dangerous act!"

Liu Miaomiao pouted, her eyes welling up with tears, her voice filled with anger, but her face showed a worried expression, "If I had known that the program you were going to perform was so dangerous, I shouldn't have listened to you and changed the program... Let me see if you are injured!"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Lu Mingfei patted Liu Miaomiao's head to comfort her. "The performance seemed to have gone quite well. After I came off the stage, I checked the time with Senior Brother Chu, and the timing was perfect."

"Who cares about that anymore..."

Liu Miaomiao pouted and muttered, but Lu Mingfei immediately replied, "I care! If we don't manage our time well, Miaomiao, you won't be able to play your favorite piece, 'A Girl's Prayer,' with all your heart."

Liu Miaomiao was taken aback. She had been worried about whether Lu Mingfei was injured, but Lu Mingfei didn't seem to care about her condition at all, only about whether she could perform well. All the resentment she felt from her worry vanished in that instant.

Liu Miaomiao pursed her lips, nodded, and said, "Don't worry, don't you even think about what kind of person your girlfriend is..."