On the grand stage, LED screens and 3D projections revealed a vast Sea of Clouds.
Distant mountain peaks emerged, colored a deep bluish black.
Eagles and geese soared in every direction, cleaving through the sky.
White clouds drifted leisurely, like a tranquil, flowing ocean.
The occasional cry of geese lent it an even more serene and secluded air.
"Zheng—"
The zither sounded, and in the next instant, the entire scene seemed to come alive.
Gu Tingting, dressed in a blue silk lily gown with auspicious cloud patterns, sat one-third of the way from the left side of the stage. A phoenix-tail Yao Zither rested atop a low nanmu table before her.
A smile lingered in her eyes as her heart immersed itself in the scene before her. Her right hand supported, brushed, plucked, and hooked, while her left pressed, pushed, struck, and separated.
Her waist guided her shoulders, her shoulders guided her hands. Her entire body swayed gently with the performance, her movements as fluid as drifting clouds and flowing water, smooth and rounded, comfortable and graceful to watch.
The zither notes drifted on, their lingering charm like tangled silk threads, effortlessly drawing people in.
Lu Zheng could not help nodding. Gu Tingting's zither skills had indeed improved greatly. She had actually played Dance in the Clouds with artistic conception.
At the same time, on the right third of the stage, another dancer rose from below the platform, spinning gracefully as she made her entrance.
The dancer wore a plain white gauze dress patterned with clouds, with water sleeves two meters long. As she stepped and shifted, her figure turned, her sleeves lifted lightly, and her dance was soft and graceful, seeming to fly and float.
It was a Dance in the Clouds routine perfectly matched to the zither music.