"Since you can't figure it out right away, you can set it aside for now."
"Maybe..."
Xiao Xiao winked at Pipa ghost. "Time will tell you the answer."
Time...
Would tell it the answer...?
Pipa ghost lowered its eyes.
Time would certainly tell it the answer.
When the time came...
Lord Xiao Xiao would be gone...
Huh?!
Pipa ghost abruptly raised its head.
Xiao Xiao withdrew the finger he'd just flicked against Pipa ghost's forehead.
He drew a smiley face on his own cheek with his finger.
"Pipa ghost."
"I want to hear you play the pipa again."
Pipa ghost nodded without thinking.
All right.
Once it came to its senses, Pipa ghost pressed its lips together.
It looked around.
"Let's do it here."
Xiao Xiao walked over to the tree and leaned back against it.
Pipa ghost nodded.
Following Lord Xiao Xiao's example, it leaned against the tree too.
The next moment, the clear, lilting sound of a pipa rang out.
The traffic and hubbub from the busy street just a few steps away seemed to fade into the distance.
Only the pipa's music remained in this space.
It was beautiful, like a dream.
Xiao Xiao turned his head.
He saw the smile on Pipa ghost's face.
He smiled too.
Pipa ghost loved the pipa.
Even when something troubled Pipa ghost, even when it was in a bad mood...
As long as it played the pipa, Pipa ghost could cheer itself up.
He'd met people like that before.
He liked people like that.
Because they all had something they loved with all their hearts.
No matter how many storms they weathered, they could smile as long as they lost themselves in what they loved.
Weren't people like that lucky, too?