Another cultivator. What a show-off... Su Mo Momo watched the figure streak overhead and curled her lip, yet she could not help feeling deeply envious.
Cultivators stood above the mundane world, each possessing divine abilities. Some turned stone into gold, some flew on swords, and some refined all things. The mightier ones could overturn rivers and seas and live without end. As an ordinary person, everything he knew about immortals came only from tales passed from mouth to mouth among mortals.
"Zither music, a bright moon, a fairy maiden... a scene like this calls for a full cup!" Coming back to himself, Su Mo laughed despite himself. He had lost his usual composure after all. A penalty drink was in order!
Capital City was bustling and prosperous. Since arriving, Su Mo had already seen several people flying through the sky. From the memories of his body's former owner, he knew that ordinary people could fly once their cultivation reached foundation establishment. But formations suppressed flight within Capital City, so anyone flying here had to be at least a golden core expert.
Another golden core just flew over my head... Su Mo raised his wine jug and took a long swig. He shook his head with a smile, knowing that seeing golden core experts every few days did not mean they were plentiful. This was Capital City, where the nation's fortune gathered. It was hardly strange for a few experts to congregate here.
Thud! Something landed outside Su Mo's pavilion.
Setting down his wine jug, Su Mo turned and saw a flute lying outside.
He looked all around, but there was no one in sight!
After a moment's thought, Su Mo instinctively glanced up at the sky, remembering the figure that had just swept overhead.
Throwing things from high places was already a criminal offense in my previous life. People in this world have no manners...
Su Mo rose and picked up the flute outside the pavilion. Once he saw it in his hand, he immediately dismissed the idea that someone had casually tossed rubbish down from the sky.
It was a jade flute, translucent from end to end, its white jade flawless. The quality of the jade alone surpassed anything Su Mo had seen in either of his lives... though he had not lived very long in this one yet.
Moreover, the instant Su Mo picked up the jade flute, he felt something strange lingering around him, as though an aura beyond his understanding was dancing about him.
Someone must have dropped it by accident... Su Mo sighed, gently stroking the flawless white jade flute as he thought of his previous life.
Back then, during university, everyone else had learned guitar or drums. To show off and stand out from the crowd, Su Mo had learned to play the flute.
At first, he had only wanted to impress people, but gradually, he had genuinely fallen in love with it.
He loved its lilting, continuous, winding notes.
He loved carrying his flute with him, holding it every day and twirling it between his fingers. Later, a flute piece had won him first prize in a music competition jointly held by several universities.
Only, when he had first begun practicing, his daily, haphazard playing at home had given both his parents terrible headaches, and there had been nothing they could do about it.
Holding the jade flute, Su Mo felt as though he were back in his previous life...
From whose home did a jade flute's notes drift unseen,
Scattering through the spring breeze across all Luo City?
Tonight, hearing "Breaking the Willows" within the tune,
Who could help longing for their old home...
The poem "Hearing a Flute in Luo City on a Spring Night" sprang into Su Mo's heart...
Homesick... so I was homesick after all... Crystal drops fell, splashing a pavilion full of longing for home.
Mom, Dad... are you both well...?
The night was like water, the moonlight like frost.
Feelings were paper, and music was ink.
Inside the upper chamber of the pleasure boat, Luo Yin wore a white dress, her hands dancing lightly over the zither strings as music rose from her fingertips. Two maids stood a short distance behind her. Though they had long grown accustomed to hearing Luo Yin play, they still could not help becoming entranced.
A figure in red drifted into the chamber on a fragrant breeze. The two maids bowed in greeting, but the newcomer stopped them with a gesture.
The newcomer simply found a seat and quietly listened to the music.
After a long while, the piece came to an end.
Luo Yin let out a soft breath. The lingering notes faded into the distance, but the feeling within the music would not disperse.
"The feeling lingers, sounding distant, yet there's playfulness hidden in the mist," the newcomer teased. "So... has our great virtuoso Luo begun yearning for romance?"
Luo Yin turned and brightened at the sight of him. "How did you find time to come over today?"
Gu Yu showed the great virtuoso Luo no mercy, demanding with mock ferocity, "Don't change the subject. Tell me... have you started yearning for romance?"
The great virtuoso Luo rolled her eyes. "This piece is called 'At Will.' Its meaning arises from the listener. A thousand listeners, a thousand faces. Whatever the listener thinks is what they hear."
"The sorrowful hear desolation, those longing for the past hear homesickness, and those in love hear joy." The great virtuoso Luo turned the tables on him. "So... why did you hear a yearning for romance?"
Gu Yu widened his eyes. "You're twisting words! The piece may be 'At Will,' but you wove your own feelings into it while playing. Don't try to bite back. I practice the Startled Swan Sword. How could romantic feelings arise in me?"
Luo Yin shook her head and said, seemingly casually, "Who knows... perhaps someone has fallen for one of his fellow disciples?"
"You're overthinking it..." Gu Yu curled his lip disdainfully. "Think about it yourself... apart from me, is there a single normal person in our Academy?"
Why would you think you're a normal person...? The great virtuoso Luo looked with a touch of "pity" at this utterly oblivious man.
"What's that look supposed to mean?!" Gu Yu stamped his foot.
The great virtuoso Luo shook her head with a soft laugh. "A look has no meaning. Its meaning arises from the viewer. A thousand viewers, a thousand faces..."
"Stop, stop, stop... I surrender!" Gu Yu interrupted Luo Xinwu, at a loss for a reply.
Luo Yin covered her face and laughed.
Even Luo Yin herself would not believe that this close friend of hers had fallen in love. Gu Yu practiced the Startled Swan Sword. Once drawn, his sword was a "startled swan," its intent decisive and deadly. Romantic feelings hardly ever stirred in him... any of his peers who might have made him fall in love had probably been cut down by him before the first signs could even appear!
She, on the other hand, had entered the Dao through the zither, a path filled with the seven emotions and six desires. If she truly met someone in harmony with her, she would likely fall in love more easily.
Though it was the Dao of the zither, it was also the Dao of emotion.
"You're the reincarnation of the Music God, yet you spend every day playing your zither in this pleasure house. Even if you're only performing, it's still inconvenient in all sorts of ways. I asked you to come to the Academy with me, but you refused. I have no idea what you're after." Through the screen, Gu Yu watched the pleasure seekers below drinking, making merry, and listening to music, his expression displeased.
Luo Yin shook her head and murmured, "This is my Dao: attaining the Dao through music. This place may be poor, but there is always a sliver of hope that I might find someone in harmony with me to help me attain the Dao. The Academy may be good, but who there would listen?"
How could she not know what kinds of eccentrics populated the Academy?
There was not a single normal person there. The only one who understood music was right in front of her, and even he was only a dabbler.
Though it was called an Academy, it did not have a single scholar.
Sometimes, the great virtuoso Luo could not help thinking that if the Academy ever had a scholar, she simply had to see whether that person would be another eccentric. Surely a scholar could not be that eccentric!
"What a troublesome Dao of music..." Gu Yu grumbled helplessly. "Attaining the Dao through my sword is much more straightforward!"
Luo Yin shook her head with a soft laugh, then seemed to remember something and asked, "You still haven't told me. How did you find time to visit me today?"
At her words, Gu Yu paused. Only after thinking for a moment did he remember why he had come.
"It's all your fault for changing the subject. I almost forgot. Haven't you been stuck at your current realm for ages? I stole Teacher's Heart Flute. It should be useful to you."
How is that my fault...? Luo Yin was speechless, but when she heard that Gu Yu had stolen the Heart Flute, delight spread across her face.
If she played her zither in a duet with Gu Yu on the flute, perhaps she really could attempt a breakthrough... like her Ink Zither, the Heart Flute was a spirit artifact!
Gu Yu reached toward his waist and froze.
He looked down, then froze again.
Luo Yin looked utterly puzzled.
"The Heart Flute is gone..."
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