Throne of Radiance

How did things come to this?

Standing in the cold spring wind, Du Zuo sank into deep thought.

Not far from him is an open-air ceramic art exhibition, as well as Joey who is obsessed with pottery making, and the owner of the ceramic art exhibition who is watching Joey addicted to ceramic art.

The two chatted enthusiastically about something Du Zuo couldn't understand at all.

Not long ago, through chatting, he learned that the other party's name was Joey (even though he heard the name, he still didn't seem to realize that this was the extraordinary person), and he was a tourist from another place.

The guilt of being hit by Grant's words out of being implicated by himself, and his own covetousness for this mysterious young man-don't get me wrong, this is not some unscrupulous coveting, but the painter will always be inspired by him instinctively It’s just like cats are always attracted by the scent of dried fish—in short, Du Zuo offered to be a tour guide for a day, leading this foreign tourist to visit Roland’s capital and thoroughly participate in the whole journey. New Year Festival.

As for the end of the New Year Festival, maybe the other party will see him for his dedication as a tour guide, think he is a good person, and be willing to be his muse for a day... that would be great.

Soon, Du Zuo discovered that this mysterious tourist was an art lover with a wide range of interests.No matter where they go, what exhibitions or activities they encounter, the other party seems to be able to participate in it-in Joy's words, as long as it involves art, no matter what kind of content, he knows a thing or two.

The two of them walked and played all the way. No matter who they met along the way, Joey could always join others without any conflict. Once they met, they became friends who could play with them.

When he meets a singer who plays and sings on the street, he can borrow other people's bass to join in the performance with a few words;

Seeing the students from the nearby art college showing their works, he was able to give a thorough review, which made others nod their heads in admiration;

When he discovered the sculpture exhibition, after obtaining the consent of the owner, he took out a pocket carving knife from nowhere, facing a piece of uncarved rough stone, it was like a gust of "brushing", and there was no need to change all kinds of engraving methods. Knife, a work is completed.

Then, a series of magical pictures appeared——

The self-playing and self-singing singer was unknowingly led by him to run away from the rhythm. Obviously every note was accurate, but a sad and lyrical love song made people feel passionate inexplicably at the end.

At the end of the song, the singer doubted his life on the spot, and fell into a deep torture of himself, as if realizing for the first time that he was so hot, Du Zuo saw that the situation was not good, and quickly pulled Joey away;

The art college students who were completely conquered by his talent modified the work on the spot. The final result is indeed more impactful and the picture is more shocking, but the other party can also directly transfer to the impression genre - the color matching is too weird, which makes people crazy at first glance drop san.

The teacher who happened to pass by saw the student's freshly released work, suspected that the other party didn't pay attention to the class at all, and ruined his reputation, and turned the student into a dead fish, and Du Zuo, who once again saw that something was wrong, pulled people away again;

In the fairy tale fantasy area, the heads of evil ghosts that suddenly appeared among the sculptures of mermaid elves and Pegasus directly shocked the children who had been happily visiting the exhibition.But the culprit didn't know it, and even posted it in front of the children to ask for comments, and the children who were directly slapped by the evil ghost were so frightened that they burst into tears.

In this regard, Du Zuo, who was already very proficient, quickly dragged the child away before he showed the expression that he was about to cry.

After repeating similar things N times, when Joey got into the pottery exhibition again and happily made pottery, Du Zuo was completely unwell.

He stared at the continuously forming pottery in the opponent's hand, as if he was looking at a bomb that was about to be rubbed out by his hands, as if it would blow his face anytime, anywhere... Tired!

Even so, Du Zuo didn't seem to have thought that as long as he separated from Joey, the person he met by chance, and was no longer with him, he wouldn't have so many troubles that bothered him.

——He has gradually realized that this strange young man indeed possesses extraordinary artistic talent.

Perhaps this talent often goes against the public's aesthetics and does not meet the standards everyone is used to, but it exists.Just as art itself is not art just because people do not recognize it, beauty itself does not need everyone to appreciate it.

Although he has heard many negative comments about this talent during this journey, such as "the technique is at its peak, but your paintings have no soul", "the emotion runs counter to the music itself, you have distorted The musician's intention", "It's all about showing off for the ultimate in technique, just like a chef matching the most nutritious dish but ignoring its taste", "Pure chaotic malice, there is not even a trace of your work Beautiful emotions?"... I have to say that there are really many masters at the New Year Festival, and their level is quite high, but Du Zuo does not approve of their evaluation.

——If he, like those people, just happened to see one of Joy's works, he might make a similar evaluation.But when he followed the other party and watched a lot, he gradually realized that the other party's works were not so ordinary, and they even formed a unique style.

The more I looked at it, the more obvious this feeling became. It seemed that there was something indescribable and elusive hidden in the works of the other party, which was something Du Zuo had never seen before.

Sometimes he even feels that these works have a living soul.

He is like a person whose eyes are covered by leaves. Occasionally, a corner of the gap is opened by someone, and before he can see the real thing, he is covered back again, back and forth, back and forth.

It must be because the person who appeared in front of me is indeed a talented artist, but my level is not enough, I can only vaguely feel this talent but cannot appreciate it specifically, so I have such a feeling... Du Zuo thought so.

Therefore, he was not scared away by those strange troubles. Instead, after running away with Joey again, he proposed to the other party: "Would you like to attend the night parade concert together tonight?"

"Night parade concert?" Joey was taken aback for a moment, and then thought of his special invitation, which didn't seem to be able to bring people. He asked curiously, "Do you have a special invitation to take people to the Moonlight Temple?"

"Of course not. I don't even have a chance to go if I want to." Du Zuo quickly denied, and he said regretfully, "As long as you are a student of the Roland Academy of Art, there is no one who would not want to go."

"—I'm talking about spontaneous folk concerts." He explained what he said before, "It just corresponds to the concert in the Moonlight Temple. At that time, the whole city will take action, regardless of men, women or children, they can join freely, Forming a band that tours the city is a unique annual festival celebration in the Kingdom of Roland, and it only happens once a year."

"...Even those who have received the invitation from the Moonlight Temple will not be able to resist joining everyone. You can leave the team at the Moonlight Temple stop, and you will be able to attend the concert on time."

……

At dusk, the night parade concert that Du Zuo had been looking forward to had already kicked off.

when--

On the tallest tower in the central square, the melodious bells pierced through the intoxicated clouds and penetrated the entire capital.

The setting sun on the sky is like an uncooked egg placed on the tablecloth, which is lightly pierced by the knife and fork at dusk, and the rich orange-yellow drips out, and the color unique to dusk smudges the whole area The sky, slowly flowing to the earth.

The sound of the bell seemed to wake up countless people.

In the city painted orange, from every community, every street, every open door, there are cheering crowds pouring out like running water, under the gaze of the police and royal guards who maintain order on both sides of the street , They are like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, and they can't wait to embark on the road of parade.

Harmonica, violin, bagpipe, flute, saxophone... Mixed music sounded in the flowing dusk.

The voice was chaotic at first, but after a period of time, it became more and more orderly and tacit. Even if someone joined in the middle, it would not disturb the rhythm at all.

As long as you listen carefully, you will find that this is the most widely circulated "Ode to Peace" in the Roland Kingdom. The creator has passed away. , became Roland's favorite piece of music.

Among the crowd, there were also folk musicians standing on the prepared carriages, performing as if they were on a stage, while countless people surrounded the vehicles and moved forward.

And every street that passes by, new people are constantly joining in, making this parade line longer and longer.However, there are many people but not chaotic, but rhythmic like music.

Once you look down from a high altitude, you can see the long dragon gathered by the sea of ​​people parading around the entire king's capital.In the sea of ​​people, there are small cars moving forward.When the afterglow of the evening completely dissipated and the moonlight descended on the land, under the moonlight, they looked like a chariot illuminated by the moon god, patrolling the kingdom of music.

There seemed to be countless musical notes flying in the moonlight.

But I don't know when it started, or when someone joined the team, from a certain point in the long line, the smooth and gorgeous music rhythm suddenly changed.Then, like dominoes, the changed rhythm spread, affected, and infected rapidly from this point to other directions.Obviously not out of tune, the tune still sounds like "Ode to Peace", but it doesn't sound right no matter how you listen to it.

The music in the world suddenly became the world of the underworld.Even the moonlight shining around seems to be covered with an inexplicable and obscure color.

In the strange sound of music, every shadow of a building, every depth of grass seems to be hiding an unknown monster, silently peeping at everyone.

Du Zuo, the only one who felt something was wrong, put down his melodica in bewilderment, then looked at Joey who was playing the erhu in a serious manner beside him, and then looked at Joey who was immersed in the performance and didn't notice that someone had strayed from the rhythm at all. Others, a strange thought popped into his mind.

…Aren't we all tainted by some memetic virus called "Joy"?

Before he could think about it, the parade team had unknowingly arrived near the Moonlight Temple amidst the more hellish music.

Joey reluctantly put down his hand holding the erhu, and sighed regretfully: "It seems that I have to leave the team for the time being."

Du Zuo was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood what was going on.He looked at the young man's back as he walked into the Moonlight Temple, and he felt relieved.The source of the meme of the music of the underworld is gone, and now it can finally return to normal "Ode to Peace", right?

He brought the harmonica to his lips again and took a breath.

——A note still full of the smell of the underworld floated out.

Du Zuo fell into confusion and despair.

...Wait, what happened to the original "Ode to Peace"?