Night Valley

The first stop in Yu Province was the southern "Wancheng," roughly located in the position of the lower cargo hold beneath the Saier spacecraft, toward the front of the engine room.

It was still some distance from the provincial capital, Zhengcheng, so Lin Yu did not tell Sherlock or Gao Shan that he had already arrived.

And perhaps because of some unknown influence—the performance was unusually far from smooth. During the show at the Wancheng Youth Palace theater, in front of several hundred elementary and middle school students, the other members of the Drama club were not in particularly good condition after having only one day to rest following the long journey.

Although following Lin Yu, the workaholic, had given everyone solid fundamentals, there were no amateurish mistakes like forgetting lines or missing their marks, but the emotional investment and contagiousness of the performance were not particularly strong.

The rarest thing was...

Lin Yu, who had always been able to quickly save a performance and stir up the audience's emotions, did not seem to be in very good form either.

Although he still completed his performance onstage perfectly and won enthusiastic applause from the half-grown children below...

Several middle school students were even deeply moved by Lin Yu's performance.

"This handsome big brother acted so well!"

But the members of the Drama club who knew Lin Yu well all realized that something was off with him too.

Although his performance was "excellent," Lin Yu should have been able to easily reach a level above "excellent."

And Lin Yu himself was, of course, the person who understood this best.

In the lounge, Shen Bingmiao pushed open the door and tossed a can of sports drink to Lin Yu.

"You weren't in good form today. Those kids' praise practically reached your face."