His voice carried a curiosity he could not hide:
"I think everyone might need some time to calm their own emotions, so let me ask a question that perhaps everyone is most curious about—what is the gender of Teacher Prince of Lanling?"
Lin Yuan answered in a male voice, but because of the voice changer and the just-concluded performance, no one could be certain of Prince of Lanling's true gender.
Smiling helplessly, An Hong remarked:
"You guess whether I can guess or not. It seems we need to seek the guidance of our four professional judges, Teacher Mao Xuewang!"
Mao Xuewang didn't utter a word.
Unable to resist, An Hong called out again: "Teacher Mao Xuewang?"
Mao Xuewang finally snapped out of his reverie: "I was considering your previous question, whether Prince of Lanling is a man or a woman. The result is, I don't know either."
"A singer who can sing both male and female voices is rare, but not extremely so."
On hearing this, the audience's eyes widened.
Isn't that bragging? Isn't that extremely rare?
Even if you're an expert, you shouldn't say things like that. Do you think we wouldn't know?
But Liu Xu's second sentence made the audience realize that Liu Xu was actually on their side:
"Many male singers can employ techniques to mimic a female voice, but those are essentially falsettos. Similarly, female singers too. But you are different from the two types of singers I mentioned. Whether you sing in a male or female voice, you sound too natural. So natural that I can't detect any tricks. I can only say that both your voices are too sophisticated.
So sophisticated that I can easily overlook imperfections in your singing technique, and even want to keep listening…"
Many male singers can mimic female voices, but these male singers naturally have voices that lean toward a feminine pitch.
Female singers are the same.
But Prince of Lanling is different, he possesses a pure male voice, so pure that no one could imagine his voice being capable of producing a feminine tone!
He also possesses a pure female voice!
So pure of a female voice that when he first started singing, everyone subconsciously assumed he must be a female singer!
Liu Xu chuckled, then turned his head: "So, I also can't judge Prince of Lanling's gender. This tough question is probably best tossed to Teacher Wu Long."
Wu Long shook his head repeatedly: "I'm just like you, I'm totally unable to guess which of the male and female voices just now is his real one. The real one is used, right?"
Audience members started discussing.
Why does Prince of Lanling seem a bit aloof and less than enthusiastic towards the judges?
Unlike the previous two singers.
Even Swan, who carries herself with such arrogance, managed to maintain a humble demeanour toward the four highly-regarded industry judges.
Wu Long wasn't bothered by Lin Yuan's terse responses: "If your real voice was used, that means one of the two voices used earlier is genuine. The two voices were amazing. Other singers are soloists; you're like two people on stage, a male-female mixed doubles, straight up two against one!"
The audience laughed!
Isn't that the truth!
Straight two against one!
"Let's not discuss this issue, unless it's confirmed by the person in question. I will presume based on Prince of Lanling's image that you are a male," said Wu Long, "But what really shocked me wasn't that you have two voices, rather the final vocal melody..."
Liu Xu and Mao Xuewang nodded, seemingly aware of what Wu Long intended to say.
"The final line was supposed to be a male and female duet but you're performing solo, either in a male or female voice. I had been pondering how you would handle it if you had arranged a duet segment in the song. The result was that you presented us with a male-female mixed voice, seemingly with two voices blending into one.
On Blue Star, probably only you can achieve this level!" said Wu Long in earnest.
The audience glanced over in awe!
That's such high praise!
Prince of Lanling continued to hold his tongue.
Laughing, An Hong said: "It's pretty clear that our Teacher Prince of Lanling is a singer who does not like to speak much. This may be a clue. Teacher Yang Zhongming…"
An Hong looks towards Yang Zhongming.
Everyone is turned to Yang Zhongming.
Facing such an extraordinary singer, everyone was curious about how Maestro Yang Zhongming would comment. To everyone's surprise, Yang Zhongming, while staring at Lin Yuan, pointedly said:
"You have two voices."
On hearing this, Lin Yuan's expression behind the mask slightly changed.
But his expression could not be seen behind the mask.
After speaking, Yang Zhongming shook his head:
"But that's impossible."
People laughed, the big shot has got jokes.
Yang Zhongming laughed along: "Are you having fun?"
This was the first time Yang Zhongming revealed such an easygoing smile.
Before this, Yang Zhongming had always exuded an indescribable dignity; even when he smiled, there was just something different about him.
Like Chen Daoming on Earth, born with a confidence that simply cannot be suppressed.
A smile surfaced on Lin Yuan's face under the mask.
He knew, that Yang Zhongming might have deduced something, given that the two had met before, but it was likely just a guess.
Yang Zhongming's next sentence was: "You remind me of someone I know."
The audience were surprised.
Whom was Yang Zhongming referring to?
The other judges looked at Yang Zhongming, their faces full of curiosity. "Who is it?"
Yang Zhongming shook his head: "I can't say who. If I guess correctly and reveal the answer, it would no longer be fun."
The audience was upset, their hearts itching like they've been scratched by a cat's paw.
Yang Zhongming is the Maestro; he knows too many singers. How could they possibly know where to start guessing from based on such a sparse clue?
"Let's talk about the song instead. It's a new song. What's its title?"