"Mr. Yu, do you know a lot about theater?"
Qin Manjiang asked.
Yu Chenglin smiled. "Not as much as Mr. Mei. I simply take an interest because we're both in the performing arts."
"Then could you tell us the story of the [Southern Branch Troupe]?" Qin Manjiang seemed quite curious. "Mr. Mei was rather vague and only talked about a dream. Since the [Southern Branch Troupe] is the most unusual opera troupe in Fu City, you should know something about it, shouldn't you?"
"Haha." Yu Chenglin smiled. "Since you're all interested, I'd be happy to tell you."
"The [Southern Branch Troupe] is the only opera troupe with both daytime and nighttime performances. By day, they sing for the living. By night, they sing for the dead."
"The [Southern Branch Troupe] wasn't originally from Fu City. They came from elsewhere, traveling along the river. They passed through here a hundred years ago and stayed for some unknown reason, remaining for many years. In time, the locals grew accustomed to their presence and would invite them to perform at weddings and funerals."
"By today's standards, the Southern Branch Troupe was indeed very strange. They rarely recruited outsiders, and when they did, they only took on stage performers, whose bearing and looks had to be first-rate."
Yu Chenglin spoke slowly.
Qin Manjiang's eyes flickered. There was much on his mind that he hadn't shared with anyone.
The strangest thing of all was his current state.
If his earlier speculation was correct, and his soul had traveled back a hundred years to possess "Xiao Qi," then he should now have Xiao Qi's appearance and voice.
When he had spoken with Xu Yi from a distance earlier, he could just barely explain it away with something like his voice perhaps having been restored. But now...