mtl008 Chapter 1319 Old Objects
Chapter 1319 Old Objects
Chapter 1319 Old Objects
Tang Ze's attitude remained unchanged despite his passive state of closing his eyes and waiting for death in the shadows; he simply pointed at the exposed person with his hand, which he hadn't put away.
"Stop playing dead. Get up and answer the questions, or I'll just kill you." Tang Ze's voice was calm. He crouched down and pressed the gun directly against the man's head. "You've seen the notice. Our judgment of you wasn't wrong, was it, Mr. Pu?"
Under his blatant threat, the shadow, which had kept its eyes closed, reluctantly opened its eyelids, revealing its golden eyes.
The shadow form of the Spectrum and the Craftsman no longer needed to pretend to be gentle and polite; their faces were filled with genuine fatigue and an indelible sense of dejection.
It's clear that while the position of curator isn't particularly busy, it has left him extremely exhausted and unable to continue.
"Why bother with all this?" Shadow Spectrum and Craftsman replied in hoarse voices. "Since you already sensed what I was going to do, wouldn't it have been enough to alert them before anything even started and thwart my plans? I'm already a burnt-out candle, with nothing left. There's no need for such a fuss."
Although her voice sounds particularly emo, what she says actually makes some sense.
The reason why the music and craftsmen went to such lengths to eliminate several people in a direct and efficient manner, and even attempted to eliminate Kawabe Kanade and Akiba Reiko, was largely because he did not intend to live until the end of the concert.
When the concert begins, if his plan succeeds, he will perish in the flames along with the two thousand people. If it fails, he will still face legal consequences. Either way, it will be his last dance.
Knowing this very well, he naturally put in his best effort in the final plan, so it's not wrong for him to say that he burned himself out.
"Upon seeing the notice, I already knew that my actions had been completely exposed. What awaits me is not a gentle demise. I don't want to be dragged away in such a pathetic manner in front of Domoto. You don't need to do anything; I will end my life anyway. Or rather, after losing my past career and motivation, my social life is already on the verge of destruction. This is the last movement I leave for this world. It seems you don't intend to let me hear it to the end."
Tang Ze, however, was unmoved by his aged and dejected appearance. He pushed the gun forward further: "Stop wallowing in self-pity. Negativity is a problem, and it needs treatment. I just don't understand. You and Domoto are such close friends, yet you've developed negative feelings towards him, become confused about your career and future, to the point of choosing such an extreme path, and yet you still won't ask him a single question about why? Do you want Mr. Domoto to die in a fire, filled with boundless expectations for a new future?"
If Tang Ze were to comment, Pu Hejiang would say that people like him are truly vicious.
He rationalized his behavior with darkness and pain, as if he were the poor wretch who had been betrayed and lost his future. But which side was it that he truly extinguished?
Let's assume the four people who were killed were just scoundrels with questionable hearts, not so deserving of sympathy. But Kawabe Kanade and Akiba Reiko were both promising and talented musicians who had done nothing wrong. They were targeted by him with great effort simply because they hindered his plans.
Domoto Ichiki's misfortune was even more extreme.
At his age, he can still immerse himself in higher musical pursuits. Hidden in his already gray-haired mind is a very rare, devout, and persistent musical soul.
There's a saying about the Nobel Prize curse, which claims that Nobel laureates often experience a long period of stagnation after receiving the award, struggling to surpass their past achievements and unable to create anything more impressive than their award-winning work. Essentially, this is because the global spotlight, the influx of fame and fortune, the countless interviews and lectures, and the unavoidable awards and conferences can cause these creators to lose their artistic integrity and mystique amidst the social adoration and the pursuit of profit, making it extremely difficult for them to fully dedicate themselves to their creative work.
This statement also applies to truly top talents in various fields.
At this age, it wouldn't actually harm Domoto Ikki's reputation or profits if he didn't build this concert hall or hold this concert.
Even if he never plays again, his more than ten years of music teaching have already made him a teacher with countless students. With just a snap of his fingers, he, like a Nobel Prize-winning writer, could attend countless banquets and receive countless titles.
He holds this concert and plans for the future of his old friends and new disciples precisely because he is not yet satisfied.
He also hopes to produce more music and carry out his own ideas. He has not yet reached a predicament or the end, and is still exploring more possibilities.
It is so rare to find a musical master who is both pioneering and never gives up on balancing social evaluation. It would be such a pity if he were to fall before the finish line because of such a small contradiction.
According to the normal plot progression, or rather, the expected climax of the plot, Tang Ze should not have sent out the notice so early, or even preemptively had Yuga Kyousuke send out the notice before starting to advance the Hall of Fame.
He should first make contact to understand the situation of the Hall of Music and Craftsmanship, advance the Hall to the final battle today, and then issue a notice to storm into the Hall at the same time as the concert starts tomorrow, silencing those frenzied voices.
However, the inevitable result is that Pu and Jiang will never give up their pursuit of Qiu Tinglianzi. In order to harm her, they even produced a sniper rifle from who knows where. After exhausting all their strategies, they stopped to show any martial ethics and resorted to physical elimination by hitting her with a club.
Karasawa did not intend to let something that would disappoint Akiba Reiko and affect the ceremony that Domoto Kazuki had painstakingly planned succeed.
It's all settled now, no need for so much trouble.
Faced with Tang Ze's questioning, Shadow Spectrum and Craftsman remained silent once again.
Why not ask Domoto Ikkei directly? This is probably the question that Domoto Ikkei himself would ask, leaving Fu and Takumi speechless and unable to respond.
"I know you can't answer. I'll answer for you." Tang Ze didn't wait for his reply and continued directly, "You're his sound engineer, and Domoto Ike has never considered you inferior to himself. People are all equal; there's no hierarchy based on job position. A friend who can understand his music doesn't need to be another master of the same caliber. He just wants a kindred spirit who can understand him. But you don't think that way."
Domoto Kazuki's humility was from within; his pursuit of excellence and strictness were both outward manifestations of this humility.
He doesn't develop a sense of superiority just because he's popular in his industry and has a high social status. He treats his family and friends as equals and looks up to art and music with great respect.
"The only one who truly looks down on you is yourself," Tang Ze said with certainty. "You're a sound engineer, unable to stand on stage, not even in a very respected behind-the-scenes role. In your own heart, you're inferior to Domoto Ichiki. You subconsciously feel that you have to follow him, that you have to please him. Once your paces are no longer in sync, you'll fear that you can no longer keep up with him—you don't dare to ask him."
Now, without Tang Ze needing to question them further, Pu and Jiang, who were lying there, slowly curled up.
Tang Ze's evaluation clearly stung him, leaving Pu Hejiang with no way to refute it.
"Go ask him." Seeing that Pu and Jiang's figures were swaying and unsteady, Tang Ze knew that the talk therapy had worked and put away his gun. "Speak frankly, and you will get the answer. This is a very simple question."
Sobbing echoed in the quiet tomb. Pu and Jiang's stubborn yet frail figures finally vanished completely, leaving only the silver cross, marked by the passage of time, lying at the bottom of the coffin.
At the entrance to the concert hall outside the palace, Pu Hejiang suddenly opened his eyes.
The concert hall key fell heavily to the ground, but he paid no attention to this trivial matter. He clutched the fabric of his chest and gasped for breath.
An overwhelming sense of grief and intense self-blame belatedly enveloped him, causing him to stumble and his vision to blur with tears.
He should have seized the time to check all the arrangements and then rushed to find Akiba Reiko to try again to stop her from participating in the performance. However, at this moment, he was overwhelmed by an indescribable grief and regret, and could not take another step.
What exactly is he doing? What has he already done?
At this point, the wounds had become an insurmountable chasm, and he had, to some extent, ruined part of the concert preparations, leaving Domoto Kazuki in a state of utter chaos.
Is it still meaningful or possible to ask again now and seek an answer?
The belated questions and regrets made him unable to move an inch, and his trembling movements as he bent down to pick up the keys revealed his advanced age.
These were originally a pair of steady hands, capable of adjusting subtle changes to keep all sounds in perfect order.
He's old now, and so is Domoto Issei.
Clutching his chest, Pu Hejiang, with tears streaming down his face, left the concert hall without a word.
Only after his figure completely disappeared at the entrance of the venue did a series of loud noises finally begin to emanate.
The group of phantom thieves ran out of the fire escape, all covered in dust and dirt, and collapsed onto the gleaming marble floor, quickly forming a mass of bodies.
"How did he even come up with the idea of putting the temple underground?" Miyano Akemi coughed, wiping her dusty face. "If we hadn't run a little slower, we would have been buried in there."
Of all the halls they've conquered, the final treasure chamber is located so deep underground; Pu and Jiang are the first to find it.
Even with Noah and Tang Ze's scarves supporting him after obtaining the treasure, the journey was fraught with danger. "He was planning to blow this place up, so why didn't he just bury his head in his work?" Tang Ze shook his hair, caught his breath, and finally had time to look at what he was holding.
He grabbed the cross and ran, without even having time to check the treasure's condition.
As he expected, what landed in his hand was a tuning wrench.
The walnut wood handle has a warm and delicate feel, and a deep color. The metal part used to turn the tuning pin is not very shiny and looks a bit old.
This is probably an old thing that has truly accompanied Pu and Jiang for many years, and it wouldn't be wrong to call it the starting point of the distortion.
He couldn't let go of that wrench; his obsession with it even surpassed his friendship with Domoto Kazuki to some extent. This only tool he could hold onto became his pitiful pride, which he clung to tightly, unwilling to relinquish it.
"Pathetic man." Tang Ze, who had already been criticizing him the whole way, was too lazy to say anything more. He simply handed the thing to Yuga Kyosuke next to him.
Whether this thing is handy or not, they won't be able to use it anyway, so it can be left for those who can use it to keep as a souvenir.
Heiji Haga, who was slumped to the side, took it and looked it over.
"You should let go of what you should let go of." Understanding Haga Kyosuke's current state of mind, Asai Narumi patted him on the shoulder and dusted him off.
"I understand, of course I understand."
Haga Kyosuke rummaged through the wrench for a while, stuffed it into his pocket, looked up, and met two pairs of eyes.
Having also finished their work, Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, dressed in renovation and repair worker uniforms, emerged from the fire escape and gave them a strange look.
"You all look more like construction workers than we do. You're all covered in dust and dirt."
"Of course! If you make a mess of things over there, then there will be a big problem."
"Alright, time to go. Get up and mop the floor. Don't act so recklessly just because the venue isn't open and there are no security cameras. The floor is covered in dust and dirt—"
"Tsk, well, you can only blame the curator himself, can you? Why didn't he try to have a better outlook?"
"Alright, stop complaining, get up and clean up—"
Unaware of how the phantom thieves had managed to carry out their arduous task behind the scenes, and knowing that Akiba Reiko had never encountered any danger, Shinichi Kudo remained anxious until the next day when Suzuki Sonoko picked him up to attend a rehearsal for the concert.
Worried that the prisoner might have had a serious accident, he even called Takagi Wataru in the morning, asking the police to pick up Akiba Reiko in a police car to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
This was truly a heart-pounding experience, as they couldn't even hear the second sound of leather shoes hitting the ground. Now that the prisoner wasn't actively harming Akiba Reiko, they were starting to feel uncertain.
Is this a real surrender, or is there some new plan?
With these mixed feelings, Shinichi Kudo arrived at the Domoto Concert Hall once again and found that today's preview was incredibly lively.
The central part of the entire Domoto Concert Hall is a soundproof theater, which is the core performance venue.
Outside the theater, there are entrances, offices, and other facilities, making the overall area quite considerable.
At this time, although it was still early before the official performance, the staff at the entrance had already begun their busy day. Banners, posters and other materials related to the performance were hung up and pasted, and event brochures and crowd guidance signs were being arranged at the entrance. It was a scene of chaos.
"They don't seem like very skilled staff," Sonoko Suzuki said, with a client's perspective. "It's all very chaotic."
"They're probably music students volunteering to earn credits," Tang Ze, who actually went to university, said bluntly. "It's good enough that they can finish their work; they don't even have professional exhibition planning skills. I can understand."
Otherwise, according to Tang Ze's understanding, if such a large-scale event doesn't even have security checks in place, then it's really unworthy of being a venue in Nishitama City. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?