The grand theater quickly filled with people.
Qiu Qianfan was, after all, the Prefect of Puzhou. A figure of power and wealth like him naturally occupied one of the best seats in the very front row. Around him sat a circle of officials, gentry, and local dignitaries, all carefully arranged according to status.
Only after everyone else had taken their seats did Lao Nanfeng arrive at an unhurried pace. He glanced around, then casually sat down beside Qiu Qianfan, as though this were the most natural thing in the world.
Qiu Qianfan chuckled as he turned his head.
"Commander Nan, you truly enjoy the favor of Dao Xuan Tianzun. To think one of these Divine Mirrors would be specially installed inside your grand theater."
Lao Nanfeng's chest puffed out slightly.
"I fought for this with my life," he said, not bothering to hide his pride. "At the Battle of Houjia Village, how many bandit chiefs did I personally cut down? Only after that did Dao Xuan Tianzun bestow this treasure upon me."
Qiu Qianfan sighed, his tone filled with genuine envy.
"Ah… I, too, wish I could render some merit for Dao Xuan Tianzun."
Lao Nanfeng laughed.
"You? Forget it. Everything you know would be completely crushed by the middle school students of Gao Family Village."
Qiu Qianfan's face stiffened slightly. Embarrassed, he lowered his voice.
"I've already sent my son to Gao Family Village School, hmph. Once he finishes studying the Celestial Heavenly Books, he certainly won't lose to your Gao Family Village middle schoolers."
Lao Nanfeng merely shrugged.
"We'll see. Enough talk. It's about to begin."
At that moment, all the lights inside the grand theater suddenly went out.
The entire hall plunged into pitch darkness.
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
"Why did the lights go out?"
The audience immediately began murmuring.
Normally, whenever there were song-and-dance performances here, the theater would be brilliantly lit. Lao Nanfeng spared no expense, hiring the finest lantern craftsmen to make all sorts of elaborate lamps. When fully lit, the entire theater sparkled magnificently.
So what was going on tonight?
Were they playing some kind of strange "dark room" trick?
Just as confusion spread—
The enormous tablet screen set up on the stage suddenly flickered, then lit up.
A wave of excitement instantly rippled through the crowd.
"Oh! The Divine Mirror is on!"
"So this performance was recorded beforehand and is being played through the Divine Mirror?"
"That's quite novel!"
In truth, the people present were not entirely unfamiliar with the Divine Mirror. Over the past few days, they had watched trial broadcasts in the market squares: news footage, Shi Kefa's legal education programs, documentaries about construction projects, and even daily life in Huanglong Mountain Prison.
So while they were surprised, they were not utterly at a loss.
Slowly, several large characters appeared in the center of the screen.
Mu Guiying
Beneath them, another line appeared, slightly smaller.
A Li Daoxuan Production
The audience gasped.
"Was this made by Dao Xuan Tianzun Himself?"
"A Dao Xuan Tianzun production!"
"My heavens, this ticket was worth it already!"
"It hasn't even started yet, and I already feel like I've struck gold!"
The chatter grew louder and louder.
Meanwhile, the words on the screen continued to scroll downward.
Starring: Cai Lin
Featuring: Lao Nanfeng
Featuring: Chen Qianhu
Line after line passed by.
At the same time, a calm, emotionless voice began narrating:
"During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yang family generals were either slain in battle or murdered by treacherous ministers. When the Western Xia rebelled, the Tianbo Mansion found itself with no man left to lead the army. At this critical moment, Mu Guiying stepped forward…"
Many people barely listened.
Who didn't know this story already?
Everyone assumed that once the introduction ended, Cai Lin would appear on screen, singing and dancing like in a normal play.
But—
Suddenly, all the text vanished.
What replaced it was a vast stretch of desolate land.
The scene moved, sweeping across the frontier.
In reality, this footage was taken from old recordings Li Daoxuan had made of the Gao Family Village Militia fighting bandits. Through AI synthesis, their clothing and banners had been altered, transforming them into Song and Liao soldiers clashing in battle.
The effect was crude.
But the audience didn't know that.
As the image passed over two opposing armies locked in combat, everyone in the theater was stunned.
Only Li Daoxuan, outside the diorama box, shook his head.
"Terrible. Absolutely terrible. These effects are way too cheap. Next time, I really need to hire professionals."
Inside the theater, Qiu Qianfan stared, trembling.
"Just now… was that… an actual battle between the Song and Liao armies? Is Dao Xuan Tianzun using the Divine Mirror to show us scenes from hundreds of years ago?"
He wasn't the only one thinking this.
Everyone remembered that only days earlier, Dao Xuan Tianzun had shown footage of a thief stealing. They had believed the Divine Mirror could reveal events that had already happened.
Naturally, they assumed this was the same.
Someone in the audience suddenly jumped up.
"Incredible!"
"Sit down!"
"You're blocking my view!"
After sweeping over the battlefield, the image suddenly descended, plunging straight into the melee. Soldiers clashed, weapons swung, and blood splattered.
The entire hall fell silent.
No one spoke for a long while.
Once again, only Li Daoxuan sighed.
"Fifty cents. These effects are worth fifty cents at most."
The image paused on the face of a man wearing Liao armor. Subtitles appeared beside him:
Xiao Tianzuo, General of Liao
Although the name was unfamiliar, everyone immediately recognized the face.
"Isn't that… Chen Qianhu?"
There he was, dressed as a Liao general, wielding a massive hammer. He smashed a Song soldier to the ground and burst into laughter.
"Song soldiers are nothing but soft eggs! Die! Die! With the Yang family generals gone, who in the Song realm can oppose me? Hahahaha!"
All heads in the VIP section turned simultaneously toward Chen Qianhu, who was sitting among them.
Chen Qianhu's face flushed crimson.
"Don't look at me! Watch the movie! I didn't want to play such an obnoxious role either, but Commander Nan ordered me to!"
"Hmph."
The crowd snorted and turned back to the screen.
The image soared upward again, piercing through layers of clouds until the screen turned completely white. Then it plunged downward.
Below appeared a grand mansion.
Qiu Qianfan blurted out,
"Eh? Isn't that Li Xiangui's residence, south of the city?"
Lao Nanfeng grinned.
"Indeed. We borrowed his house to serve as the Tianbo Mansion."
The audience fell silent.
Li Xiangui, sitting nearby, burst into laughter.
"My house! That's my house!"
On screen, the plaque at the entrance, originally reading "Li Mansion," had been forcibly altered to read "Tianbo Mansion." The modification was crude and obvious.
But no one cared.
The audience watched with growing delight.
The scene moved through halls and corridors, finally stopping in a side chamber.
Cai Lin stood there in full armor.
Normally gentle and soft-spoken, she now looked valiant and heroic. In an instant, she captured the hearts of more than half the audience.
Beside her, text appeared:
Mu Guiying
Only now did the audience truly understand.
This thing called a "movie" was completely different from traditional opera.
Opera relied on a fixed stage, exaggerated movements, and symbolic performance.
But this—
This pursued realism.
It felt as though an entirely new world had been opened before their eyes.