Hualian AU ~ 12. May All Taboos Be Shattered

Part 4

He bit back, his verses equally on point, original; he saw Hua Cheng smiling in approval at the side of the stage, thinking WhiteNoFace must be having a nasty surprise. Well, the truth was Xie Lian wasn't rusty at all, he was always rhyming inside his head when he cycled to uni, when he washed the dishes, or cleaned the house!

The audience cheered; he bowed, glowing at the stage's blinding lights. WhiteNoFace went aggressive, offensive, vicious, throwing Xie Lian off-balance. He stopped midway for the cheering; it was patronizing to give Xie Lian extra time, as if he needed a leg-up. Xie Lian rhymed back, but felt lacking; still he pressed on, going round and round, eyeing an opening.

WhiteNoFace laughed off, "You know you can't win". He said it as if there was no doubt about it! Xie Lian broke into a sweat, and somebody said behind him, "Don't listen to this fucker". It was Hua Cheng; he added, "You can win. Gege you can win, you're better than him!"

WhiteNoFace lived in bitterness, bullying and harassing him, getting him down; Xie Lian didn't know why, but fuck what a sad life! He felt honestly sorry for this guy, but he wouldn't let this bitterness get to him; he knew who he was, and has always been true to himself. Yeah, he was better.

He gave WhiteNoFace a bright smile, and started his rhyming; the crowd started cheering like a wave, building up, breaking loose. Behind him, the lights weren't bright white, but soft and flickering, like random footages they sometimes put on; he gave it a side eye just to see his own face on the stage led screens, 10 meters tall!

The crowd was going crazy; Xie Lian looked like a model, cool, instagram-filter-like, spontaneous, as if he had been filmed at different times, without realising it. His sweet eyes and smile projected on that screen made him look like a huge young Buddha, a gigantic divine statue, stepping in the battle.

He didn't stop rhyming; from the editing table, Hua Cheng – who else – flashed him a smile. WhiteNoFace saw it too, and laughed it off, "Nice try, Xie Lian". Then it was his turn, and his verses were raw and violent, dissing Xie Lian so absolutely, leaving him down in the dust; Xie Lian was dazed, unable to follow, and WhiteNoFace knew it.

He laughed, saying, "Xie Lian, my boy, it's useless. I know your style like the back of my hand, I know all your moves, there's nothing you do I can't do better... just give up."

This shattered Xie Lian's will; it was true WhiteNoFace knew everything he ever did. It was precisely why he kicked where it hurt, why he could point out anything that could be better – and not as a constructive criticism. He's been following Xie Lian around for a long time after all.

Xie Lian felt sorry for his friends, for The Guoshi, and most of all for Hua Cheng: Hua Cheng believed he could win and he was there just making a fool of himself! His shoulders slumped, and Xie Lian felt already defeated.

"Fuck him!", Hua Cheng said, "Gege, there must be something he doesn't know. Think! Some move you got, and only you..."

WhiteNoFace knew everything he did, yes, but then, what about the time when he was offline? He never stopped on checking out new stuff; when he was backpacking he never had problems mingling with local cultures and blending in. People loved Xie Lian trying his hand on their stuff, he never heard the words "cultural appropriation" thrown at him.

Did he have something WhiteNoFace didn't, a move only he got? Hell yes!

WhiteNoFace's verses were sharp, aggressive, and fast – it was a good rule of thumb for showing how good you are by doing faster, and while Xie Lian felt he couldn't follow... Why not slow down instead? He walked away to the front of the stage; his walk seemed lighter, with a certain swagger to it.

He smiled, feeling good at himself; he started doing some toasting, or chatting, as they call it in Jamaica – a half-talking half-chanting rapping, slow and melodic, improvised at sound system parties to follow the riddims played. No one could believe it: he seamlessly changed styles just like that, fitting the melodic toasting in the beat.

The audience went crazy; WhiteNoFace hesitated, and when it was his turn, he went extra fast and aggressive, and he would have totally destroyed Xie Lian, if Xie Lian hadn't chosen a change of weapon – a weapon WhiteNoFace wasn't skilled at, so he couldn't follow.

Xie Lian toasted back smiling, doing longer verses, the audience following him around the stage like a tide; he was in a state of flow, riding his words like big waves. At the front of the stage where he was, he even did the wine: a sexy rolling hips kind of dance, stunning everyone.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were speechless, and so was The Guoshi; behind the editing table Hua Cheng widened his eyes and gasped, "Gege!", his cheeks going red.

WhiteNoFace retorted, but the crowd was already in the Jamaican toasting vibe, as if they were in some sound clash in 1980s Kingston, making gun signs with their hands, with Xie Lian leading the winning sound system. WhiteNoFace slowly walked to the front of the stage, and bowed to Xie Lian, defeated.

Stage lights flashed, the crowd cheered deafeningly; never in the whole story of Mount Tong'Lu Festival did they see something like that, and on the main stage! At changing his rhyming style, Xie Lian won in a proper rap battle way: stepping into The Cypher and telling his story, showing his uniqueness, shattering all taboos! 

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