395: Chapter 395 Do you know what a dream is?

The little girl trotted along the gravel, her pink and white skirt fluttering with every step.

She ran to the edge of the deep pit, not even glancing at City Lord Xuan De who was coughing up blood at the bottom, and bypassed it to rush straight toward Chen You.

“God You! It really is you!” Xiangxiang looked up, her cat ears twitching with excitement and her eyes sparkling like stars.

She pulled a small pink notebook and a feather pen from her backpack, holding them high above her head. “God You, give me an autograph!”

The entire scene fell deathly silent.

The players' eyes widened, and the NPC Berserkers gaped in shock.

Chen You looked down at the cat-eared loli, who stood less than 1.5 meters tall, and then turned to look at the three-meter-tall Minotaur City Lord with knotted muscles at the bottom of the pit.

A Minotaur... and a cat-eared loli.

Chen You's cultivation Dao heart developed a slight crack.

Was there some serious bug in the Source Realm's reproductive isolation system?

A violent fit of coughing came from the bottom of the pit.

City Lord Xuan De clawed at the edge of the crater and struggled to climb out.

His chest heaved violently, and his eyes, which had been blood-red due to 'Blood-Burning Death Struggle,' were now covered in a layer of watery mist.

“Xiangxiang...” City Lord Xuan De reached out a thick finger, his voice trembling. “You... you won't even look at your brother?”

Xiangxiang didn't even turn her head, maintaining her pose of holding up the notebook. “Don't be a nuisance, Brother. Can't you see I'm busy fangirling?”

“God You, sign right here! Make it big!”

Chen You took the feather pen and signed the two characters for 'Chen You' with a flourish.

Xiangxiang hugged the notebook, spun around three times in place, and let out a satisfied scream.

“Bang!”

City Lord Xuan De smashed a fist into the ground, sending gravel flying.

He stood up abruptly and pointed at Chen You, his eyes red and his voice filled with deep grief and indignation. “It's all you! It's all because of you, you outsider!”

Chen You put away his yuhuang sword. “How did I harm you? You were the one who attacked first.”

“You ruined my sister!” City Lord Xuan De roared, the sheer volume causing nearby players to cover their ears.

City Lord Xuan De pointed at Xiangxiang, his heart aching. “My sister Xiangxiang used to be such a sensible and obedient child!”

“She could lift a fifty-jin stone lock at age three and kill a prairie wolf with one punch at five! I've always been raising her to be Sanjing City's future number one Berserker!”

City Lord Xuan De grew more agitated as he spoke, and the tears at the corners of his eyes finally broke through, streaming down his bovine face.

“But ever since you started that stupid Talent Show! She changed!”

“She stopped practicing with hammers and hides in her room every day wearing these flimsy dresses! She even used her hard-earned allowance to buy those useless Starlight Tickets!”

City Lord Xuan De took a deep breath and pointed at Chen You's nose. “I told her to go lift weights, and she said lifting weights would build muscle and make her look bad in spaghetti strap dresses!”

“My sister, the pride of Sanjing City, is actually afraid of growing muscle!”

The despairing accusations of a fatherly figure echoed over the plaza.

Chen You finally had an epiphany.

No wonder this bull was acting like he wanted to fight to the death just now.

This wasn't some battle for martial honor; this was a desperate parent who found his precious child led astray by the internet, trying to kill the culprit.

The players looked at each other.

“Damn, I suddenly feel a bit bad for the City Lord.”

“What do you know? The City Lord is just too paranoid.”

“True, who says life has to be about being a Berserker?”

“Brother! You don't understand!” Xiangxiang turned around, hands on her hips, and retorted loudly.

“What's the point of all that fighting and killing? That's for brutes! You don't understand art, and you certainly don't understand my dream!”

City Lord Xuan De's eyes widened. “Dream? Wasn't your dream to become the strongest warrior in Sanjing City?”

“That was all forced on me by you!” Xiangxiang stomped her foot. “My dream is to stand on the stage of the Voice of Star Source and become the most dazzling idol in the entire Source Realm! I want to debut in the center position!”

City Lord Xuan De trembled with rage, pointing at Xiangxiang for a long time without being able to speak before suddenly turning to glare at Chen You.

“Listen to that! Listen to the nonsense she's saying! I'm going to hack you to pieces today...”

“Wait a moment.” Chen You raised his hand, interrupting City Lord Xuan De's pre-attack windup.

Chen You straightened the hem of his moyuan star river robe and put on a serious, professional expression.

He walked up to Xiangxiang and looked down at her.

“You say you have a dream.” Chen You's tone was flat. “The Talent Show stage is cruel. Without strength, dreams alone are not enough.”

“Since your brother doesn't approve of you, then right here, in front of the whole city, show us your talent.”

Xiangxiang was stunned for a moment, then became ecstatic. “God You! Are you going to personally audition me?”

Chen You nodded. “Begin your performance.”

City Lord Xuan De grew anxious. “Outsider, you still dare to bewitch her!”

“City Lord Xuan De, it's better to guide than to block.” Chen You looked at City Lord Xuan De. “Let her show us.”

“If she truly has no talent, I will personally eliminate her and put an end to her delusions.”

“Isn't that exactly what you want?”

City Lord Xuan De froze, finding the logic sound.

He knew exactly what level his sister's singing was at; it would definitely be enough to make this outsider back down.

“Fine! Let her sing!” City Lord Xuan De sneered, silently pulling two balls of cotton from his backpack and stuffing them into his ears.

Xiangxiang took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands in front of her chest, striking a standard idol prayer pose.

The players adjusted their recording angles, preparing to enjoy the cat-eared loli's cute voice.

In the next second, Xiangxiang opened her mouth.

“Ah——”

There were no lyrics.

Only an extremely sharp, high-pitched howl that completely lacked any sense of pitch.

Sound waves radiated outward with Xiangxiang as the center, visibly distorting the air. The gravel on the ground was vibrated into the air.

The few players closest to her bore the brunt of it.

“-300”

“-350”

“-400”

Bright red damage numbers floated above their heads.

Several squishy mage players rolled their eyes and collapsed directly to the ground.

The NPC Berserkers rolled on the ground in agony, covering their ears and foaming at the mouth.

System notifications flashed frantically in Chen You's ears:

[System Notification: You are under a spirit-attribute sonic attack!]

Chen You remained expressionless, his Nine Revolutions Primordial Chaos Art circulating wildly as spiritual power instantly sealed his auditory nerves.

He still stood ramrod straight, but if one looked closely, they would see his hands clasped behind his back were trembling slightly.

This wasn't singing; this was clearly a physical exorcism.

After a full thirty seconds, Xiangxiang finally stopped.

She opened her eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed, and looked at Chen You while panting. “God You, how was my singing?”

The entire scene was deathly silent.

Aside from Chen You and City Lord Xuan De, who had stuffed his ears beforehand, there weren't many people left standing in the plaza.

Everywhere were players and NPCs clutching their heads and wailing.

City Lord Xuan De pulled the cotton out of his ears and looked at Chen You triumphantly. “You heard that? She has absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever! Hurry up and make her give up!”

Xiangxiang nervously wrung her fingers, her eyes turning red as she awaited her idol's judgment.

Chen You was silent for two seconds.

He raised his hand.

“Clap, clap, clap.”

Slow and steady applause rang out across the plaza.