"Woo, woo~~"
A desolate melody like windblown sand in the vast desert rose from the bow, distant and bleak, yet without the slightest trace of weeping.
It felt as though one stood amid ten thousand miles of yellow sand, watching a wandering knight ride slowly across endless dunes...
?
A flicker of surprise passed through Luo Ning's beautiful, peach-blossom eyes. Looking at Ye Jingtang's handsome profile, she had to admit inwardly that when this little rogue kept his hands to himself, he really was outrageously handsome, especially now, playing this tune...
Niao Niao seemed to remember the days of escorting caravans with Ye Jingtang. The bird hopped over, settled between them, and hummed along:
"Coo~ chirp, chirp..."
Having hummed it many times before, the bird actually stayed in tune.
Luo Ning's expression softened. Sitting beside Ye Jingtang, she gathered Niao Niao into her arms and lowered her head to smooth the bird's wing feathers. Her skirt hung above the river, swaying in the breeze, and she remained silent.
A long while later, the tune ended.
Ye Jingtang lowered his hands and glanced northwest, feeling a little nostalgic for those days escorting caravans through the frontier Gobi, with Adoptive Father walking drunkenly ahead and Yang Chao and the other veteran escorts telling dirty jokes beside him.
"A grown man like you can play tunes, too?"
"A tune from the Shazhou desert. When I escorted caravans along the Liangzhou frontier, I often went that way. The roads were long, so I learned it to entertain myself. What did you think?"
"Average."
Luo Ning turned her head away, looking around.
"What are you looking for?"
"A xiao flute. A pipa would do, too..."
Ye Jingtang looked at her rosy lips.
"Heroine Luo, you can play the xiao, too?"
Luo Ning looked icy, but