"Could it be Huo Piaoyao?!"
Having wiped away his tears, Xie Shang came over holding his pipa. "Could it be Huo Piaoyao? Yulong, you must have composed this long ago and waited until now to mock me?"
"I did compose it long ago, but we've all fallen to this together. How could this be mockery?" Liu Cheng asked with a smile. "If I truly wanted to mock you, General Who Pacifies the West, why would I wait until only the few of us remained? I gave you this piece to tell you that, even now, we still have a pipa to play. That is far better than Lu Pingyuan's 'cries of cranes at Huating.'"
"Quite right, quite right. Fallen here together, we still have a new pipa piece. We are indeed far better off than Lu Pingyuan." As he spoke, Xie Shang lifted the pipa and forced out the words. "In that case, let me play the cranes' cries anew."
With that, he struggled to begin playing.
Yet the first time, Yao Xiang failed to keep up; the second time, Xie Shang himself could not hold the tune; only on the third attempt did they barely manage a rendition.
After those three attempts, everyone fell silent for a moment. Just then, Liu Cheng suddenly took the initiative to ask, "Duke Xie, are you willing to trust me now?"
"I am." Xie Shang answered with a bitter smile.
"Yulong, why are you still dwelling on that Tian Feng business of yours?" Even Yao Xiang could not bear it.
"You misunderstand, Pingbei. That isn't what Yulong means. He's asking whether, after this piece, I can trust him, not whether I admit he was right this time." It was Xie Shang who volunteered the explanation. "Yulong, if the piece on the Ying River