"Gentlemen, did Yan Luo's melody prove enjoyable enough?"
From behind the gauze curtains on the third floor of Tingxue Pavilion came a clear, gentle, unhurried voice. Though her words addressed "gentlemen," every young master in the courtyard, Chen Gui included, remained lost in a dazed intoxication, showing no response at all.
Wu Ming knew that remark had been directed at him. Just now, he had visualized the Lin Word Incantation within his heart, guarded his True Heart, and withstood the bewitching power of that Nishang melody, remaining lucid throughout. She had most likely seen through that.
In any case, disaster could not be avoided if it came. Wu Ming opened his eyes and replied calmly,
"Miss Yanluo's melody belongs only in the heavens; how many times might one hear it in the mortal world?"
Upon hearing Wu Ming's response, the woman behind the third-floor curtains let out a crisp, pleasing laugh. Immediately afterward, the entire third floor fell silent, with no further movement or sound emerging.
As time slowly passed, the young masters in the courtyard, all of whom had been bewitched into a drunken trance, finally awoke one after another. They were entirely unaware that they had been affected by Daoist arts. Once they came back to themselves, they merely thought the melody had been divine, drawing them so deeply in that they could not pull free. For a time, they eagerly discussed it among themselves.
After Chen Gui regained his senses, he too raised his head toward the third floor and sighed regretfully. "Ah, that melody was truly intoxicating. Pity I still did not get to see Miss Yanluo's true face."
Wu Ming glanced at Chen Gui.
He did not know whether the woman who had played the melody upstairs was truly Tingxue Pavilion's famed courtesan, but she