Chapter 133: He Alone Is Enough!
The official Douyin live room, the Silent live room, and other talented streamers’ broadcast channels were all buzzing with activity.
Viewers continued to flood the comment sections with rapid-fire messages.
“Brothers, get ready to roast him thoroughly.”
“Come on, guess whether West Tower’s poetry will finally reveal his true colors.”
“Let’s be rational, West Tower isn’t like the other streamers; he truly has skill.”
“Hah! Skill? How skilled? Skilled enough to go head-to-head with the Two Guns?”
“......”
Before West Tower’s opening poem was revealed, the audience hadn’t gone overboard. But once the poem was unveiled, if West Tower’s performance fell short, these online celebrities would undoubtedly unleash their inner fury.
“It’s out!”
“Look! What’s the content?”
“Whoa?”
“Ah?”
“Damn!”
“???”
Instead of igniting the rage of netizens, the comments suddenly shortened and dwindled as they stared at the poem displayed on the big screen.
Then.
For a moment, it seemed as if time froze in the live chat.
What was truly eerie was the official Douyin live room.
On the screen, the members of the Landscape Society wore faint smiles just moments before.
That smile carried indifference, pride, disdain, and confidence…
Some were even eager to stand and speak.
But!
In the next second, every member of the Landscape Society, including Feng Qi and Zhu Han, froze; their smiles vanished, and they stared blankly at the poem on the screen as if transformed into static human sketches.
Especially Feng Qi and Zhu Han.
Their mouths hung open, eyes nearly bulging.
At this moment, their expressions could easily become iconic reaction memes.
After the host announced West Tower’s poem, she began to recite it with measured cadence.
The poem was short—less than half a minute—and she finished quickly.
But even after she stopped, the Landscape Society guests remained rigid.
Their expressions, however, had grown richer.
Shock.
Confusion.
Awe.
Finally, as the host cleared her throat to speak again,
Zhu Han exhaled deeply, cast a complex gaze at the screen once more, then turned to the host.
“This… is West Tower’s opening poem?”
The host nodded firmly.
“Yes.”
Zhu Han opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again before sighing.
“What a line: ‘Lonely parasol trees lock the deep courtyard in clear autumn.’ Just the word ‘lock’ alone leaves endless aftertaste.”
Beside him, Feng Qi finally reacted:
“And what a line: ‘There’s a special flavor lingering in the heart.’ At this moment, my mood overlaps with this phrase. I underestimated him. Heroes emerge in youth.”
At that instant,
Though Feng Qi harbored pride deep within, upon reading “Meeting Joy: Silently Ascending the West Tower,” that pride vanished without a trace, replaced solely by shock.
Zhu Han was the same; after speaking, he fell silent again, staring blankly at the poem on the big screen. No one knew what was stirring in this master poet’s heart.
The other Landscape Society members were equally silent.
One guest who had been ready to rise had quietly sat back down, showing no intent to stand again.
Meanwhile, in the live chat,
The barrage of messages finally exploded.
“Damn, this poem!”
“West Tower wrote this?”
“Oh my god!”
“I don’t know poetry, but I’m engrossed reading this.”
“Same here. The other poems today left me confused; I couldn’t tell good from bad. But this one? The more I read, the more addicted I become. The more I like it.”
“For amateurs, this poem seems impressive. But for us insiders, we’re already on our knees in worship.”
“One poem, two lines, and I sensed the essence of a classic.”
“Every sentence, every word is a classic.”
“Yes, exactly that.”
At this moment, West Tower’s live stream, which already had over 100,000 viewers, suddenly surged with a massive influx.
Countless netizens swarmed in.
Comments fluttered down like snowflakes.
“West Tower, did you really write this poem?”
“Holy crap!”
“Incredible!”
“This gave me goosebumps.”
“Amazing!”
“Legendary!”
Soon, some began to say the poem was too mournful, imbued with a cold, desolate loneliness and an unspeakable pain. How could someone as young-looking as West Tower write such poetry?
Doubts arose.
Yet, someone quickly stepped forward to explain why West Tower could compose such a poem.
A user named “Detective DJ” said, “When West Tower mentioned ‘Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms’ in his stream, he said he had gone through his darkest moments—depression and suicidal thoughts—and only after emerging from that pain did he write that poem.
“Clearly, this ‘Meeting Joy: Silently Ascending the West Tower’ likely comes from that period. It’s hard to imagine how suppressed and despondent he must have been then.
“But perhaps we should thank West Tower for having endured that experience, so he could write such a masterpiece.
“I’ve heard someone say: classic literature always reflects the spectrum of life’s experiences. Now I somewhat understand what that means.”
His words quickly spread like wildfire among the viewers.
Even Wang Mo was stunned for a moment upon reading them: Really?
People could link these together?
Many netizens began to seek confirmation in the chat.
“West Tower, is what Detective DJ said true?”
“Did you really write this poem during your darkest days?”
“So that’s how the streamer’s name ‘West Tower’ came about.”
“Sniff, I’m so moved, I want to hug the streamer.”
“......”
Wang Mo, of course, wouldn’t admit it—his pride wasn’t that thick.
But he didn’t deny it either, leaving ample room for the audience’s imagination.
Many literary works have become famous precisely because later generations read more into them.
Take Lu Xun’s line, “In front of my house are two trees—one is a jujube tree, and the other is also a jujube tree.”
This sentence has been dissected into lengthy interpretations by generations after.
Impressive!
...
Back in the official Douyin live room,
The host smiled warmly and asked, “Mr. Feng, Mr. Zhu, what are your thoughts on West Tower’s poem?”
Zhu Han shook his head and sat silently.
Feng Qi took a deep breath and suddenly said, “So, this is why you suddenly changed the poster?”
The host was taken aback, instinctively replying, “I’m not quite sure.”
Feng Qi nodded.
“Then it seems I was right. Please forgive my earlier arrogance—I underestimated the streamers on Douyin. Honestly, just based on this poem, West Tower alone has the strength to challenge both me and Old Zhu. The poster…it’s well deserved.”
Inside, everyone was shaken again.
They hadn’t expected Feng Qi to say such words.
This was tantamount to admitting that West Tower alone could hold his own against the Dual Guns?!
Heavens!
Many journalists and marketing accounts lurking in the live room were already stunned by West Tower’s poem. Now, hearing Feng Qi’s admission, they were stunned once more.
But then excitement surged.
This was explosive news!
One of the Dual Guns, Feng Qi, openly acknowledging that a popular streamer outclassed him? If this broke, it would shake the industry.
Yet Feng Qi added, “But today is only the beginning. The ‘Mountain Sound Cup’ lasts three days. The exchanges over the next two days will truly reveal one’s skill. Originally, I thought Old Lin was my only rival this time. But now, it seems I have to add West Tower to that list. Good—that makes things interesting. A constant duel between the two guns would be dull. Old Zhu, what do you think?”
Zhu Han smiled faintly.
“You’re right.”
Feng Qi smiled as well, looking into the camera.
“West Tower, I’m waiting for the next two exchanges.”
Zhu Han stood and looked into the camera too.
“West Tower, I’m waiting for you as well.”
Then the two sat back down.
Journalists and marketing accounts who had been preparing press releases were shaken again.
Damn!
Feng Qi and Zhu Han both issued a challenge to West Tower?
To everyone, their words were a clear call-out.
The Dual Guns challenging a streamer!
Many were stunned.
Even Wang Mo was momentarily stunned hearing the two speak.
But soon, a faint admiration stirred within him: Feng Qi and Zhu Han are not only top figures in poetry but also literary elites. Maybe they don’t quite reach He Zhixing’s level, but in the literary world, they are masters. And now, after seeing one poem from Wang Mo, they neither sulked nor pretended to be aloof but immediately acknowledged its quality, admitted their inferiority, and humbled themselves enough to challenge him.
This behavior alone befitted the title of gentlemen of letters.
Upon hearing Feng Qi and Zhu Han’s words,
Netizens grew even more excited.
“Ahhh! Unbelievable!”
“This stream tonight has left me spellbound.”
“I missed the duel between the two guns but got to witness Two Guns vs West Tower?”
“Oh my god, what’s going to happen next?”
“Can’t wait.”
Especially some of Wang Mo’s diehard fans straightened their backs instantly.
Their comments filled the chat with pride.
“West Tower is invincible!”
“West Tower, peerless in the world.”
“West Tower, eternal and supreme, uniting the realm.”
“Who else?”
“Who else dares challenge?!”
Some even shouted, “Where are those who looked down on streamers? What about those trolls who just trashed West Tower? Show yourselves! Let me see your faces now. Who says streamers are inferior to traditional literati? Who says they only seek fame through shallow means? Sure, most other talent streamers are mediocre—that’s undeniable. But as long as we have West Tower, that’s more than enough!”
Yes.
At this moment, many viewers felt this deeply:
Against the mighty Landscape Society, Douyin’s side only needs one West Tower.
(The End of this chapter)