Chapter 419

"Worse?" Yun Yao's expression was somewhat blank. She had, after all, formally studied the guzheng. Don't be fooled by her claim of "studying for two years"—that was just modesty. And even if she couldn't compare to those masters, she still had an appreciation for music.

She accepted that the NPC said her piano playing was mediocre, since she was indeed far inferior to the NPC. However, she couldn't accept that it was worse than yesterday.

You see, after learning that skill book, both her fluency in playing the piano and the strength of her plucking the strings were significantly improved. How can you say she's inferior?

Seeing Yun Yao's unconvinced expression, Feng Xue smiled faintly:

"I am indeed surprised by how quickly you grasped the Finger Technique, but you cannot combine Internal Force, Finger Technique, and the sound you want to express. As a result, it is not as good as the original state without Internal Force. My school emphasizes the unity of strength and technique, the unity of mind and intention, and the unity of spirit and nature. Your finger strength and technique are not in harmony, your ideas and the connotation of the piece are not in harmony, and what is even more outrageous is that you don't even have enough focus. In comparison, at least you were focused enough when you played the piano yesterday."

"..." Yun Yao was speechless after Feng Xue's words, and in the end she could only admit her mistake.

Although it was clear that the young player was still somewhat unconvinced, Feng Xue was too lazy to correct the arrogance the player displayed when facing an NPC. She simply picked up the guzheng from the stool, mimicking the pose of the character Tiancan Dique from kung fu, creating an air stool, placed the guzheng on her lap, pressed down on the strings with both hands, and said to the sullen-looking Yun Yao:

"Although it's not perfect, you've learned it nonetheless. I'll teach you a tune. If you can learn it, I'll take you on as a student. But let me make this clear: if you do the same thing again, don't blame me for turning against you."

"Huh?!" Yun Yao, who had thought the mission had failed, showed a look of surprise and quickly swore an oath, nodding repeatedly, even forgetting that she was still kneeling.

Feng Xue was intimately familiar with the players' habits. Without a word, she simply plucked the strings with her index finger and whispered:

Listen carefully, and study hard.

As soon as the words were spoken, the sound of the zither began. The clear, resonant notes seemed no different from those of an ordinary guzheng, but as the music continued, a chilling sensation slowly began to spread from beneath one's feet.

Even though it was the height of summer in the game, a chill kept seeping into my body through my cuffs, trouser legs, and collar, sending shivers down my spine.

The chirping of insects, which was not particularly exaggerated but quite noticeable in the countryside, suddenly stopped, and some cicadas even fell directly from the trees and died.

It was as if they had truly frozen to death.

"Damn it, why did I get a stiff debuff?"

"Me too!"

"I still have a cold here."

"This is hypothermia!"

The players immediately became noisy, but Feng Xue's playing did not stop. It wasn't until ten minutes later that he pressed down on the strings with both hands, completely silencing the remaining echoes.

"He's alive!"

"If this game didn't have a health bar, I'd suspect I'd already started losing health!"

"Don't doubt it, you've definitely lost health!"

Listening to the chatter of the players around her, Feng Xue gathered some useful information, but outwardly turned her gaze to Yun Yao and smiled:

"How was it? Did you learn it?"

"..." Yun Yao looked at the man in front of her, her expression twisting slightly. The question, "Are you serious?" was practically written all over her face. Such a long piece of music—you'd have to listen to it repeatedly just to transcribe it, right? And you're asking me if I've learned it?

However, considering that the other party was an NPC, Yun Yao restrained her urge to flip the table and weakly said:

"Um, do you have the sheet music?"

"Yes." Feng Xue's answer surprised her somewhat, but she was mostly delighted. However, just as she was about to reach out, she heard the man's 37-degree voice utter a cold sentence—

Five hundred taels.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'hey'? Musical instruments are an expensive business. If you can't even earn this much, you'll starve even if I take you in. I might even end up supporting you. Do you think I'm a sucker?"

Feng Xue gave Yun Yao a cold, dismissive look. Yun Yao immediately felt utterly humiliated. However, she had no time to haggle anymore, because Feng Xue had already removed the Air Wall. In an instant, the small thatched hut was filled with players...

In the antique-style room, on a body lying on the bed, the indicator light on the helmet slowly flashed. As the light changed from green to white, the stiff body suddenly moved. As the helmet was removed, the delicate face, after a brief moment of confusion, was filled with indignation.

"Damn it! You think you can raise me? Five hundred taels... You think you can't learn it?! Let me show you the power of modern technology, you NPC!"

Yun Yao grumbled angrily, connected the data cable to the helmet, uploaded her previous game videos to the computer, and took out a stack of manuscript paper, repeatedly listening to that chilling melody.

"Hey, why do I feel a little cold?" Yun Yao, who was copying the music score, suddenly shivered and noticed that she had a layer of goosebumps on her body. Although it wasn't as exaggerated as in the game, she realized that it was probably not because she lacked Internal Force or anything like that, but because the sound of her computer speakers was distorted.

As someone who makes a living from music, her speakers are naturally not cheap ones costing a couple hundred yuan. But ultimately, any recording will have some degree of distortion, especially since this is a game video she recorded directly, with quite a few players making noise in the background.

"Interesting. This piece is probably more sophisticated than I expected. I wonder which master composer this game company commissioned..."

Yun Yao thought about it briefly and realized that she didn't know of any masters with similar musical styles. She immediately stopped thinking about it and focused on transcribing the music.

She had made up her mind. Even if it wasn't for the game, just to vent her anger, she was going to fight this NPC!

"Not a single one is decent!" Feng Xue sighed as he watched the chaotic performance by the players in front of him. He had initially thought that Yun Yao's playing had a music assistance function in the Game System, but after his ears were tortured by so many performances comparable to the Orchestra of Azathoth, he finally realized that the previous player was truly talented.

Well, it seems that whether something is strong or not still needs to be compared.

"However, he's still far inferior to those three rock streamers I've worked with before." Recalling the three rock-spirited streamers who had accompanied her before, Feng Xue couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Then, she waved away these clueless players and began her carpentry business.

After all, there are only two hundred players in a Beginner Village, and it's already quite difficult to find one with a decent musical foundation. Wanting more seems a bit too greedy.

Headache, but not tonight. At least I got my perfect attendance record...