"I have a bad feeling about this..." Bo Fei whispered.
"Hush! They might hear you!" Gu Qiansi said with a glare.
While waiting for the door to be answered, the group tidied their clothes and adjusted their expressions once more, wanting to make sure that they looked their very best.
After around three minutes of waiting, the door finally opened to reveal an extremely handsome young man.
"Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Di!" the group bowed and clasped their fists simultaneously.
Di Jinan was a figure familiar to just about every member of the Black Tortoise Sect.
After all, as the face of the Shooting Suns that performed at just about every major event, it would be more difficult to find someone who did not actually know him!
But coincidentally, there just happened to be someone like that right here.
As a new disciple of the sect, Lu Zhiying never had an opportunity to watch the Shooting Suns perform.
Because of that, she had absolutely no clue who Di Jinan was, and could only follow along with the others' gestures without actually verbalising the greeting.
It was just a small difference.
However, this small difference did not get past Di Jinan's keen eyes.
"What are you? Mute? Don't you know how to speak up when greeting a senior disciple?" Di Jinan immediately questioned.
"My apologies, Senior Martial Brother Di," Lu Zhiying quickly said. "I am new to the sect, so I still don't know everyone around."
"You are saying you don't know me?" Di Jinan scoffed in disbelief. "Just how new are you that you don't even know me? Don't you know how to do your homework?"
"Reporting to Senior Martial Brother Di, she has only joined the sect for two weeks, so there are still many things that she doesn't know," Zhao Yunxiao quickly interjected. "Please forgive her for that."
"So that's why," Di Jinan nodded. "But did I ask you? Who gave you permission to answer on her behalf?"
"My apologies, Senior Martial Brother Di. I got ahead of myself," Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly apologised.
"Back to you," Di Jinan turned his attention back to Lu Zhiying. "Raise your head and take a good look. You will be seeing much more of me in the future, so make sure you remember my face from now on!"
Lu Zhiying looked up as instructed before lowering her head again. "Understood, I will remember from today on."
But at the same time that Lu Zhiying took a look at Di Jinan's face, the latter had a clear look at Lu Zhiying's face as well.
"Oh? You don't look too bad?" Di Jinan mused. "Is that what gave you the confidence to act all arrogant and refuse to even remember the faces of your seniors? Let me tell you one thing – looks are not everything! That might have worked for you outside but on the path of cultivation, cultivation talent is all that matters. Even the prettiest flower is fated to be crushed under the weight of an unassuming rock!"
"Senior Martial Brother Di must be really talented then?" Lu Zhiying answered.
Di Jinan narrowed his eyes.
"Of course Senior Martial Brother Di is talented! How else would he have entered the Origin Core realm otherwise? He is not the idol of the sect members for no reason!" Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly interjected before Di Jinan had a chance to reply. "After we go back, let me tell you all about the various accomplishments of Senior Martial Brother Di. You will be blown away just like the rest of us!"
"I guess not all of you are completely ignorant!" Di Jinan's anger seemed to have dissipated a little after hearing Zhao Yunxiao's praises. "Don't worry, I am not so petty as to expect everyone to know how competent I am. I will forgive you this once, but don't think that I will be so nice next time!"
"Senior Martial Brother Di is as magnanimous as I've heard," Zhao Yunxiao continued to compliment.
"Good that you know," Di Jinan nodded. "So, you said that you will be performing later as well? When will you be performing?"
"We are one of the first groups to perform, so it should be soon," Zhao Yunxiao replied.
"One of the first groups to perform? So, I guess you are not really that established of a performance group? No wonder you are so clueless," Di Jinan scoffed. "Well, I am not expecting you to wow the crowds, but try to put up a decent performance, and not spoil the mood of the elders and core disciples. It is a day of celebrations, after all."
"...We will definitely do our best, Senior Martial Brother Di," Zhao Yunxiao answered.
"All right, if that's all then you can go now. I don't have time to keep entertaining you," Di Jinan waved them away nonchalantly.
Without waiting for them to reply, Di Jinan turned back into the room and closed the door behind him, leaving the Flying Shell Performance Group standing outside in silence.
"Wow, that's something, isn't it?" Zhao Yunxiao let out a dry laugh.
This was not the only group that had not invited them into their waiting room.
However, this was definitely the group that had made them feel the worst!
"Let's go back. We can talk more when we are alone," Gu Qiansi said.
"Are we going to go back just like that?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"Yeah," Zhao Yunxiao patted her on the head while walking past her to lead the way back. "There is no need for more words. If you want to prove anything, let's do that with our actions instead."
Zhao Yunxiao could understand Lu Zhiying's feelings of indignation.
After such a cold treatment from Di Jinan, even he could not help but feel a sense of anger welling up from within!
***
The annual New Year celebratory banquet began shortly after they returned to their waiting room.
Even from within their room, they could hear the other performance groups being called up one by one.
Unfortunately, there was no way for them to monitor the current situation outside.
This meant that they could neither tell how the other groups performed, nor gauge the responses of the audience.
All they could do was try to relax and calm their minds through light meditation while waiting.
In this aspect, the Softpetal leaf that Gu Qiansi gave them earlier definitely helped.
Lu Zhiying was not feeling nearly as nervous as the others, but she joined them in meditation all the same.
"Flying Shell Performance Group, standby in the courtyard now!"
Hearing the shout from outside, the group finally opened their eyes.
"Shall we?" Zhao Yunxiao said while standing up.
"Let's go kill it!" Bo Fei punched his palm in exclamation.
"Just don't stumble over your words like earlier, Senior Martial Brother Bo," Gu Qiansi teased.
"Of course I won't! That was just a once-off mistake! Just make sure you keep up with me later!"
With that, the group carried along their individual equipment and left for the courtyard outside.
There, they followed the duty disciple who led them to the banquet venue – located not far away from where they had been waiting.
Just like the celebratory banquets in the other two locations, the one in the Core Grounds was held outdoors as well.
The only difference was that since the number of participants was much lower, the tables were positioned nearer to the stage in what seemed to be a more intimate setting.
As they waited behind the stage for the previous performance to end, the members of the Flying Shell Performance Group could not help but feel a slight tug on their nerves.
Night had just fallen, and the cold weather certainly did not help ease the chill that they were feeling within.
"Next, the Flying Shell Performance Group will be performing three songs for us," the master of ceremony said.
"It's your turn now, go on up," the duty disciple heard the cue and immediately signalled.
"Ready?" Zhao Yunxiao looked at the rest.
"I can't be more ready!" Lu Zhiying answered cheerfully.
Hearing her confident response, the rest could not help but break into a smile as well.
"Let's go then!" Bo Fei let out a deep breath before leading the way up the stage.
It was only a short walk from behind the stage.
However, it almost felt like it took years to complete.
They could feel everyone's gazes fixated upon them as they slowly made their way up the steps to settle into their pre-arranged positions on the stage.
It was stressful enough just having the upper echelons of the sect watching them, but that was not all.
All of them knew that the scene was currently being projected to the other two banquet locations as well, which meant that there were thousands of eyes watching them right now!
With that in mind, they could not help but feel like they were being scrutinised from head to toe.
Even something as simple as walking suddenly felt like an awkward thing to do, and the slightest sounds they made felt as deafening as thunder.
After getting in position, Zhao Yunxiao took a deep breath before doing a quick scan of the audience.
These were all esteemed members of the sect, so he naturally knew every single one of them.
The only problem was just that none of them knew him in return.
Just as he was thinking that, Zhao Yunxiao's gaze fell upon He Luoxuan, and he was surprised to see the latter smile towards him.
Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly bowed in return.
Still, he might have panicked a little at the unexpected greeting, but he could not help but feel good in his heart.
No matter how small it was, he seemed to have left some sort of impression on He Luoxuan from the recent trip to the Origin Lake Sect!
"Start whenever you are ready, Junior Martial Sister Huang," Bo Fei whispered once everyone was in position.
"Mm," Huang An bit her bottom lip and nodded.
Huu-!
After letting out a deep breath, she slowly raised her slender hands over the zither.
And with that, her eyes sharpened.
A single strum of the zither started off the first performance.
This was the song that had instantly captivated Lu Zhiying when she first heard it, the one responsible for introducing her to the cultivators' wonderful world of music.
Unfortunately, their current audience was not as easily impressed.
Unlike the cultivation rookie Lu Zhiying, those seated before them were all experienced cultivators in their own right, and had heard their fair share of music by cultivators.
While Huang An and Zhao Yunxiao were rather skilled with their instruments, they were still considered a ways off from the level of true experts.
Despite that, when Zhao Yunxiao's flute entered the mix, the audience still could not help but feel surprised.
This response was not because of Zhao Yunxiao, but because of the sole dancer of the group.
Lu Zhiying's beautiful countenance had been an attention magnet the moment she appeared on the stage, and this was further amplified by the fact that she was the only one standing at the front end.
Anticipation was high for this eye-catching presence as the performance started.
But the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
After
While some were contented with simply looking at her face, those who were more rational thought that she was no more than a flower vase on stage.
There were also those who felt bad for her, wondering if she had been overwhelmed by the pressure of performing in front of the entire sect.
After all, this would not be the first time for such a thing to happen.
In the past, there were even entire performing groups that had completely frozen on stage, and had to be bailed out by the master of ceremony who quickly instructed for them to be ushered out.
But as the sound of the flute entered the song, the previously expressionless Lu Zhiying suddenly transformed.
That light that gave life to her beautiful clear eyes.
That gentle yet enchanting smile as she looked up to make eye contact with the audience.
At the same time that this scene played out in the Core Grounds, it was also projected to the disciples enjoying the other two celebratory banquets in the Inner Grounds and Outer Grounds.
For a single moment, it felt like silence had fallen upon the entire Purple Plum Mountain.
Disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect felt as though they were witnessing the birth of a fairy, sent down from the heavens on the sole mission to rob them of their breaths.
And to most of the disciples watching, she definitely succeeded at that.