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墨書 Inktalez
On the evening of June 28th at seven o'clock, it was time for Eric's concert to begin. However, strangely, the performance did not start on time.
Qiluo Ling and Choi Jae-sun were already waiting patiently in the front row outside the Shanghai Concert Hall. After ten minutes, then fifteen minutes, there was still no sign of the performers.
The audience began to grow restless; they would not accept such unprofessional behavior.
At that moment, a male staff member walked out onto the stage.
He stepped to the center of the stage, bowed deeply, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we sincerely apologize. Due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight's music performance has been canceled. We ask for your understanding! We will assist everyone with the refund process and promise to issue full refunds within five business days. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your support and understanding."
After finishing his statement, the staff member hurried off the stage.
The audience erupted in chaos; angry and frustrated people shouted, cursed, and whistled, creating a scene of disorder.
Qiluo Ling and Choi Jae-sun took nearly twenty minutes to escape from the tumultuous concert venue.
At seven o'clock that evening, major websites and television media released urgent news: the concert had been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Around eight o'clock, another news bulletin interrupted programming: pianist Eric had suffered a heart attack at six o'clock that afternoon and had passed away.
For an entire week, newspapers, television, and websites provided extensive coverage of this renowned German pianist. After all, a globally famous musician had died so suddenly.
Regarding Eric's schedule on that day, the news reported: at nine o'clock in the morning on the 28th, Eric appeared punctually at the hotel's Western restaurant to have breakfast. After dining, he returned to the hotel. Around eleven o'clock, he was picked up by a special vehicle and taken to a restaurant for lunch. After lunch, around one-thirty in the afternoon, he went to a nearby café for coffee and a break. At five-thirty, he arrived early at the concert hall stage for a rehearsal.
Before rehearsing, he went to the restroom. Five minutes later, he returned to the front of the stage and requested all staff members to leave; he wanted to experience the performance effect alone.
All staff members left, leaving him alone on that empty stage. About an hour later, when staff returned to the stage, they found him dead, his body stiffened and eyes wide with terror...
A week later, Qiluo Ling was having dinner with Choi Jae-sun and a friend of his. The friend’s surname was Li; he was a police officer—specifically a detective team leader.
After sitting for a while, Choi Jae-sun received an urgent call from his company regarding an emergency matter that needed his attention, prompting him to leave the dinner hastily.
The two were meeting for the first time and ate in silence, unsure of what to say.
To break the awkwardness between them, Officer Li took the initiative to ask her about her profession.
When he heard that Qiluo Ling was a pianist, he mysteriously said to her, "Let me tell you something that will definitely interest you."
"What is it?"
"You're familiar with the famous pianist Eric, right?"
"Of course. Just a week ago, I was eagerly looking forward to his performance in Shanghai, but unfortunately, he passed away an hour before the concert." She sighed heavily.
"What I'm talking about is the absurdity surrounding his death."
"What do you mean? Is there something more to his death?" She put down her chopsticks and asked seriously.
"How should I put it? Rather than saying there’s something more to his death, it would be better to say that the circumstances of his death were somewhat strange and seemed absurd." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Qiluo Ling.
"What was strange and absurd about it?"
"Death itself isn't absurd; what's absurd is the manner of his death and the scene at that time."
"Weren't the newspapers saying he died of a heart attack while practicing alone? Wasn't he by himself at the time? If no one was present, where does the absurdity come from?"
"In fact, there was one person who witnessed him die at that moment."
"Oh? What kind of scene was that?"
Officer Li then carefully recounted what had happened.
The concert tickets had been sold out months in advance. To achieve the best performance, Eric arrived at the concert hall stage for a rehearsal at 5:30 PM. He was a meticulous German man with a perfectionist mindset, allowing no room for flaws.
Before the rehearsal, he went to the restroom. At that time, a janitor was cleaning. The restroom was quite large, and since the janitor was cleaning in the far stall, Eric did not notice him.
After finishing his cleaning, the janitor prepared to take a break.
He saw Eric washing his hands at the sink when suddenly a middle-aged man walked in and struck up a conversation with him.
The voices of the two were low, and the janitor did not hear clearly what they were saying. The tense and solemn expressions on their faces seemed to indicate some sort of negotiation. After a long while, it appeared that they had reached an agreement. The middle-aged man took something out of his pocket and handed it to him; it was a rolled-up piece of paper.
Eric opened it, his face flushed with excitement, his hands trembling uncontrollably as he shouted, "This is the Devil's Music! It's unbelievable! This is something every musician dreams of, and today it’s in my hands!" He was so overjoyed that tears streamed down his face.
In the end, after a tight handshake to bid farewell, the middle-aged man left in a daze. Eric stood still for a long time, gazing at the paper with tear-filled eyes before leaving the restroom.
When Eric returned to the stage and requested to perform alone, all the staff exited the concert hall. The janitor had not been informed in advance, so he was unable to leave in time.
As the janitor walked out of the restroom, he noticed that there wasn't a single staff member in the concert hall, which struck him as odd. He then made his way to the backstage middle door, where there was a small storage room. He intended to put away the tools he was holding.
From a distance, the janitor saw musician Eric standing in the center of the stage, sitting down at the piano.
The janitor was forty years old, burdened by responsibilities both above and below him, which had already caused him to stoop. A worried poor man felt no connection to beautiful art. He was tidying up some odds and ends in the storage room.
Then he heard the sound of the piano, clearly coming from the stage.
The exquisite music stirred him; he had never heard such beautiful melodies before. The ethereal sound made him weep like a sentimental girl. Two streams of hot tears rolled down his weathered face.
At first, the smooth melody made him envision bright sunshine, beautiful moonlit nights, love bestowed upon everyone, even every green leaf and every living or non-living object. Then came a tragic melody that immersed him in overwhelming sorrow. That kind of grief could make the earth weep; even the cold and unfeeling hell would be moved by it.
As the music approached its final climax, showcasing intricate techniques that required great skill, the janitor witnessed something strange happening on stage.
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