Chapter 33: A Melody That Stunned the Crowd

Page (1/3)

Although doing so went against the rules of the Music Sect, Fairy Fan could no longer concern herself with such things. This Wang Chu was simply too suspicious—and too intriguing.

If he could truly use an erhu to play the melody of “The Mortal World,” then Fairy Fan would have nothing more to say. But if he could not, it would only prove that he was a fraud who had gone to great lengths to disguise himself merely to attract her attention.

For a fraud who dared insult the sect master’s masterpiece, Fairy Fan was determined to teach him a lesson.

When Fairy Fan approached Wang Chu and extended the invitation, all the cultivators present erupted once more.

Most of them still refused to believe Wang Chu. They thought he was only putting on an act and that it was impossible for him to produce the melody on an erhu.

“Heh, look at you now. You put on such a grand act, and now you can’t back out. I’d like to see how you keep pretending.”

“Something created by the Music Sect—how could someone like him possibly play it? That brat only knows how to boast.”

“Bah! He even claimed he had practiced playing it in private. He made it sound so convincing, without the slightest hint of embarrassment. If we didn’t know he was merely a coffin seller from Ling City, there might really be people deceived by his appearance and composure.”

“If this brat can’t play it, we absolutely have to teach him a lesson after the gathering.”

“Good! We’ll smash up his shop later and let him learn the price of showing off.”

“Princess, do you think this Young Master Wang is merely trying to look impressive despite lacking the ability, or does he truly possess some talent in this area?”

Amid the clamoring voices, Si Bingyan, who sat quietly in her seat while observing everything in secret, sent a mental transmission to Jiang Wan.

Jiang Wan herself was uncertain. Yet when she recalled the arrow Wang Chu had shot toward her in the forest earlier, she felt that she had, at the very least, some confidence. She replied telepathically:

“If he truly is a member of Beiming, accomplishing this would not be difficult.”

Of everyone present, perhaps only Chuxue believed Wang Chu completely and was genuinely worried about him.

At that moment, Chuxue rose and walked to Wang Chu’s side, sending him a secret mental transmission:

“If you don’t want to do this, don’t force yourself.”

At the same time, the aura emanating from Chuxue began to grow dangerous.

Fairy Fan noticed this and first cast a surprised glance at Chuxue. Then she regained her composure and began quietly gathering her spiritual power as well.

Amid the tense atmosphere, Wang Chu said:

“I didn’t bring an erhu with me.”

The moment he said this, the cultivators who looked down on him became even more certain of their judgment.

“Heh, he’s starting to make excuses.”

“As if bringing an erhu would mean he could actually play it. Hahaha.”

“I wonder whether Fairy Fan will give the brat a way out and let the matter end here.”

“That won’t do. He has to play something for us. Otherwise, he will have wasted so much of my time for nothing.”

“Fairy Fan definitely won’t let him off so easily. Just wait for the show.”

…

Wang Chu’s answer clearly failed to satisfy Fairy Fan.

Page (2/3)

Had the circumstances been different, she might have let the matter go and allowed Wang Chu to bluff his way past it. But now that he had spoken disrespectfully of the sect master’s work, Fairy Fan was not about to let him off.

“Heh, that’s all right. I have one here. You may borrow it for the time being.”

Wang Chu rubbed his chin.

“You really want to hear me perform?”

Fairy Fan forced a faint smile onto her face, struggling to suppress her urge to refute and ridicule him.

“Yes. I would very much like to hear it.”

Wang Chu sighed, appearing somewhat helpless.

“Very well. Since you wish to hear it so badly, I’ll play the erhu for a little while.”

Fairy Fan raised her hand with a beaming smile. An erhu had already appeared from thin air in her grasp.

She held it out to Wang Chu.

“Please.”

Wang Chu accepted the erhu and weighed it lightly in his hands before offering his assessment.

“This is a fine instrument.”

Fairy Fan introduced it with considerable pride.

“This erhu was made from Heavenly Profound Wood and silk spun by Five-Element Heavenly Spiders. Its quality is indeed quite good. If you can use it to play the melody of ‘The Mortal World,’ it will not be unworthy of such a masterpiece.”

Wang Chu nodded. He hooked a finger around the bow hair and closed his eyes.

In that instant, his usual looseness vanished completely. Wang Chu seemed to have become an entirely different person.

Just as everyone thought he was about to begin playing, Wang Chu opened his eyes again and said:

“Playing the erhu like this is uncomfortable. It’s much better sitting down.”

With that, Wang Chu sat in a chair.

His apparently affected manner immediately drew disdain from the crowd.

“What a fuss. Are you deliberately wasting time?”

“Heh, dragging it out won’t help. If you can’t play, you can’t play. You’ll be exposed in a moment.”

“Fairy Fan has quite the patience. If it were me, I would have confronted him already.”

“He certainly knows how to put on a convincing act.”

“No matter how convincing he looks, it’s useless. It’s all superficial. I’ll consider him impressive if he can even make the erhu produce a sound.”

…

Amid the jeers and impatient urging, the erhu in Wang Chu’s hands began to sing.

The scene everyone had expected—Wang Chu revealing his true incompetence and making a fool of himself—never appeared.

What they heard instead was one ethereal note after another, tinged with sorrow and the weight of passing years.

An ancient, weathered quality, interwoven with the spirit of wandering heroes, swept over them.

Page (3/3)

For a moment, everyone fell silent. Their hearts became a tangled mixture of emotions too complex to describe.

If Fairy Fan’s singing of the song had been celestial music that aided cultivators in breaking through their realms, then Wang Chu’s erhu performance was a divine composition that allowed one to savor the martial world, stirred endless emotions, and brought profound insight into life.

Perhaps celestial music was already the finest treasure in the mortal realm, but divine music was a peerless masterpiece without equal.

When the melody reached its middle section, there were no longer any doubts or restlessness in the gathering.

There were only cultivators of the martial world, each lost in thought and memory.

Some remembered fellow disciples who had once entered the mortal world with them to temper themselves.

Some recalled the comrades from their sects who had once fought demons and exorcised evil alongside them.

Others felt all their regrets rise to the surface of their hearts.

…

The countless forms of life, the suffering of all living beings.

The road of cultivation stretched endlessly onward. Who could they confide in about its hardships and joys?

It seemed that everything was hidden within this melody, leaving those who listened filled with emotion, their thoughts flying in every direction.

For the sake of immortality, ordinary people had to sacrifice far too much. Yet what they ultimately received in return was, more often than not, merely a mound of earth beneath the setting sun…

When the performance ended, many cultivators had still not returned to their senses. The eyes of many had grown hazy, veiled by a layer of tears.

“What’s going on? How did sand get into the corners of my eyes?”

After an unknown length of time, one cultivator finally returned to reality.

Only after belatedly realizing that his eyes were blurred with tears did he dare believe what had happened.

Eighty years.

He had not shed a tear in eighty years.

The last time he had cried was when his wife and child had been brutally murdered by his enemy…

“Whew.”

The cultivator drew in a long breath and rose from his seat.

There were already a few strands of white in his temples, and he appeared much older than Wang Chu.

Yet he walked up to Wang Chu, bowed deeply, and offered him an exceedingly respectful salute.

Then, without saying a word, he left.

…