Chapter 42: The Second Prince's Broadcast, Barrage of Ridiculous Comments

The next morning, the popularity of “Tomorrow’s Star” continued to soar.
“Hearts United” sat at the very top of Weibo’s trending list.
Alongside it, two other topics surged in popularity:
[Who is Fang Xing?]
[Double KO Hashim!]
Gamers thought some major tournament had hit the trending list, clicking in to ask:
[Which team does this Hashim play for?]
[Damn! He’s a singer? Then never mind.]
[Don’t miss out, since you’re here, listen to a song before you leave.]
[Just finished listening—I can’t walk away, are there more?]
Some lighthearted netizens began to sympathize with Hashim:
[Do you know how brave Hashim is? Where he falls, he gets up and falls again.]
[Hashim, don’t cry! You can still keep losing! Triple loss, hey!]
[That triple rhyme—impressive!]
[There’s another PK round tonight. The preview looks so promising, I wish evening would come sooner.]
...
In the dormitory of the Sky Maiden group.
Shen Xiyin enjoyed a rare day off, dressed in fluffy loungewear, lying on her bed and scrolling through Weibo, occasionally bursting into bell-like laughter.
Her teammate, Xu Menghan, couldn’t help but ask, “Xiyin, you’ve been laughing all day. What’s going on with you?”
Shen Xiyin held up her phone. “The netizens on Weibo have kept me entertained all day. They’re hilarious. Fang Xing sang like that and still gets roasted for life.”
Xu Menghan’s interest was piqued. She scooted over to the bed. “The latest episode won’t be released until tonight. Tell me, what song will Fang Xing sing tonight?”
The fourth episode of “Tomorrow’s Star,” part two, would be released that evening, featuring the second performance’s PK round.
So the audience still had no idea what songs would be performed in the PK segment.
Shen Xiyin, being a mentor and having watched live, naturally knew.
“Not telling,” Shen Xiyin said, hugging her phone and rolling over.
Xu Menghan pounced, tickling her insistently. “Are you going to tell me or not?”
“Stop! Where do you think you’re touching? You’ll see tonight when you watch the show,” Shen Xiyin said, rolling around on the bed, laughing.
Xu Menghan straightened up seriously. “I want to know now. ‘Nocturne’ and ‘Hearts United’ were so good. At least tell me if Fang Xing is in the PK round tonight.”
Shen Xiyin countered, “Didn’t you see the preview?”
Xu Menghan refused to let it go. “I don’t care. I want to hear it from you.”
“He’s in it.”
“How’s the song? Did his performance drop?”
“Hm… All I can say is, I was convinced,” Shen Xiyin nodded seriously.
“So that means Hashim…”

“Watch tonight and see for yourself,” Shen Xiyin said, flipping off the bed and escaping Xu Menghan’s grasp.
The two girls laughed and teased each other in their dorm, their playful banter and exclamations intertwining, drawing curious teammates from neighboring rooms.
After a round of horsing around, the Sky Maiden members who were off work agreed to watch the show together that night.
...
Eight o’clock in the evening.
“Tomorrow’s Star,” episode four, part two, was released on Penguin Video.
The number of viewers who had set reminders for the show reached a new record, exceeding two million.
The show’s explosive popularity brought tremendous traffic to Penguin Video.
Popularity brought advertisers flocking in.
Penguin Video was extremely satisfied with the show’s performance.
Today, they even gave “Tomorrow’s Star” a homepage splash recommendation.
As the show began, countless viewers gathered before their TVs, computers, tablets, and phones, eager to watch.
Because the previous episode’s preview featured Fang Xing and Hashim’s showdown, some viewers skipped all other stages, heading straight to the final duel.
Before the face-off began,
Host He Hao initiated a round of interaction.
Fang Xing, facing the camera, boldly challenged the show’s producers: “Let’s put it this way. Unless the producers change the rules, none of my teammates are getting eliminated.”
This segment delivered peak variety show effect, and viewers couldn’t help but comment internally: You sing well, but to challenge the producers directly? That’s audacious.
The barrage of comments started flooding in:
[He’s setting himself up, I’d love to see him get humbled.]
[Me too, +1]
Next, Hashim officially began his PK song:
“My sword can draw blood, sealing fate; in my world, I am king and lord.
“In front of me, you’re a trapped beast; your lucky win was just picking up scraps.
“When your luck runs out, what will you use to fight me?
“The music keeps playing, my ruthless rap makes you go!”
Once again, a martial arts classic, reimagined as rap.
This is a common tactic for rap artists—remixing classic songs into rap.
No matter the genre, they just add rap sections.
If the rap lyrics are good enough, there are cases of successful remixes, but most are rather underwhelming.
After Hashim finished, ordinary viewers eagerly awaited Fang Xing’s performance.
With “Hearts United” setting the bar so high, everyone wondered what Fang Xing would bring this time.
Before singing,
The host revealed some insider info, saying the next song was extremely difficult, and asked, “How difficult, exactly?”

Fang Xing replied, “Anyone daring to cover this song is a warrior.”
Viewers at home weren’t convinced.
Comments started setting their own flags:
[If you say that, now I have to sing it myself.]
[I am Zha Bo Qiang, king of the mic at Litang! Got it?]
[Mic king of East Sea No. 1 High School, not giving in!]
[Mic king of Pinwei Internet Café, not giving in!]
Once the host finished, the stage was handed to Fang Xing.
The music began.
Fang Xing sang the first line in a deep, powerful voice: “I laugh at our wasted schemes, chasing beauty in the mirror’s reflection…”
The verse was a bit tricky, but Cantonese speakers could keep up; when the chorus arrived, the mood shifted dramatically.
“Swallowing wind, kissing rain, burying sunsets without hesitation; defying mountains, chasing seas, walking snowy paths without despair…”
The comments exploded.
The jokers who had pledged to sing the song all admitted defeat:
[Goodbye!]
[Goodbye +1]
[What do you mean goodbye? This song has locked my ears, I can’t leave.]
[Cantonese! Never mind, then.]
[Cantonese level ten, certificate torn.]
[I, king of the mic at Litang, surrender!]
[I understand every word in the subtitles, but can’t sing a single line—yet somehow, it sounds incredible.]
[Cantonese major level eight says: this song is insanely good.]
[Is this “Difficult Sutra”? This is definitely “Difficult Song Sutra.”]
[The lyrics have a Zen-like quality, rich in flavor on closer inspection.]
[Oh! Poor opponent, every PK round faces a divine track.]
[What are you talking about? Isn’t this PK “Hearts United” versus “Difficult Song Sutra”? What does Hashim have to do with it?]
[True, true! This performance is really “Hearts United” versus “Difficult Song Sutra.”]
[Then I vote for “Hearts United.”]
[I, a native of Yangcheng, must vote for “Difficult Song Sutra.”]
The tone of the comments shifted entirely.
Wu Junchen and Hashim had been stripped of their PK rights.
In the comments, only “Hearts United” and “Difficult Sutra” were left to compete, and the battle was intense.