"Pluck pluck pluck," the sound of the guqin strings resonated in the room.
Zhao Changhe was sitting there, earnestly playing the guqin.
Bao Qin stood beside him, visibly on edge, ready to leap forward and save her precious guqin at any sign of aggression from this bearish figure, guaranteed to push him three feet away with one shove.
Yet, strangely enough, although he had awkwardly snapped a string last time and hadn’t practiced since, the way he sat there now was somehow much gentler, no longer so stiff; it had a tranquil quality to it.
When he touched the strings, despite still looking somewhat stiff, he could actually play.
The reason was simple, last time it wasn’t the strings that had been too tense, but himself. How could a martial artist who could use a broadsword to shave, and who possessed such control, accidentally break a string?
And these past few days, both his body and mind had relaxed, that was all.
But since he hadn’t learned a single piece, he was now fiddling with the strings according to the notes corresponding to each string that Tang Wanju had demonstrated the other day, going from do re mi fa so la in order, then reversing the sequence—an utterly boring exercise.
But it seemed every beginner started this way, Bao Qin thought of herself at age five and decided not to dwell on it.
As boring as it was, Tang Wanju lounged at the head of the bed, her eyes slightly curved as if enjoying it, and after listening for a while, she actually closed her eyes and rested comfortably.
Bao Qin’s eyes turned into circles, unable to sense anything appealing about the monotonous tones, lacking even rhythm, not getting annoyed was good enough, and yet her lady could actually listen and relax?
Zhao Changhe played aimlessly for a few minutes, growing restless himself; he wanted to stir up some fun and began to ponder how to play a simple tune.
By a simple tune, the first thing that popped into Zhao Changhe’s mind was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Surprisingly, when he tried the One Finger Zen, a melody emerged, delighting Zhao Changhe who couldn’t help but grin—it was quite fun!
Then he got stuck on the next line; he couldn’t find the note for "la"... He turned to Bao Qin for help with resignation, "Hey..."
"I’m not ’hey’, my name is Bao Qin. No, that’s wrong; you can’t call me that, you have to call me miss."
Bao Qin glared at him, "I don’t have the surname Bao!"
"Shh!" Zhao Changhe whispered, "Your lady is resting, keep it down, will you?"
Bao Qin lowered her voice, "What are you doing?"
"I’ll hum a bit; you tell me where the notes are, teach me?" Zhao Changhe hummed the tune to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star": "Where are these first two notes?"
"That sounds terrible; how can you hum a tune like a pig squealing?"
Zhao Changhe rubbed his fists, while Bao Qin raised a palm in front of her and took a step back.
"It’s a change in the fourth tone, where you need to use your left hand to press the strings for the change in pitch; it can’t be played with One Finger Zen." Tang Wanju’s voice came from the bed, "Bao Qin, give him a demonstration."
Bao Qin reluctantly placed her delicate hand on the strings, pressed with her left hand, and plucked with her right; the note was correct.
"With eyes closed, Tang Wanju spoke softly, "This isn’t some dual-minded technique; it’s about the coordination of both hands, which is quite difficult for average beginners, but it should be easy for a martial artist, especially someone like you who can fend off enemies with their right hand and flick pebbles with their left..."
So, you understand? Were you ever buried in investigation reports?
Tang Wanju smiled slightly and said, "Okay, give it a try. I hope to hear the whole piece today."
Bao Qin said, "Isn’t that just a children’s song, miss? What’s there to look forward to..." Check latest chapters at novｅlfire.net
"What’s wrong with a children’s song? I want to hear a children’s song," Tang Wanju’s voice became softer, "I never had a mother to play me a lullaby..."
Zhao Changhe said nothing, busily learning the fingering Bao Qin had just shown and, after tinkering around for a while, finally found the right notes and continued playing.
He played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with fits and starts, and upon finishing, he looked up to see Tang Wanju leaning against the headboard, her furrowed brow gradually relaxing, her entire demeanor appeared much more at ease, seemingly having fallen asleep for real...
Zhao Changhe dared not continue playing; he shushed Bao Qin again and tiptoed out of the room.
After a moment of hesitation, Bao Qin quietly followed him out the door, tugging at his sleeve, "That tune of yours, was there something special about it? I’ve played many tranquilizing lullabies for the miss, none had this effect... those simple melodies you just played, and you played them so poorly..."
"Do you know how to speak properly?"
"... Is it wrong to speak the truth?"
"Why did you ask about it? You want to help your lady?"
"I guess there’s nothing to be done." Zhao Changhe sighed, "She feels a lot more at ease just because she sees me progressing in the direction she had in mind... Her other worries are beyond help, elusive, with no end in sight. And I have become something concrete she can look forward to, a lifeline, that’s all."
"Then... then why does she like children’s songs? It can’t be that no one has played them for her; I’ve played them when I was practicing."
"It’s not that she hasn’t heard children’s songs, but that no one has played them for her. In people’s hearts, Tang Wanju stands tall and firm. Even if they sympathize with her frailty and exhaustion and tell her to take care of her health, has anyone thought, ’silly child, this isn’t your burden to bear, let me do it?’ No one has. Everyone hopes she gets better to support heaven and earth more effectively."
Bao Qin was dumbstruck and at a loss for words.
"Unfortunately, I only managed to say the first part of that sentence. I couldn’t bring myself to say ’let me do it,’" Zhao Changhe patted Bao Qin’s shoulder and turned to leave, "Take good care of your young mistress. Don’t let her catch a cold, huh."
Returning to his guesthouse, Zhao Changhe leisurely took a bath and then pulled out the gold foil and the sword seal to start studying.
After fulfilling his promise to Sisi, it was time to begin his own research.
What he had promised Sisi was a sword skill usable at the First Secret Treasure Level. Zhao Changhe could recite the essentials and simulate the motions, but in reality, it was just for show; he couldn’t unleash its true power. In other words, his understanding of swordsmanship stopped at the Mystical Gate. Anything beyond that was out of his scope.
In fact, even sword skills at the Mystical Gate Level elude his true strength. He had a Blood Evil Saber Technique move usable at the Mystical Gate Eighth Layer that he still couldn’t perform, let alone sword skills.
So, his current goal was clear—to find a few ultimate moves that he could unleash to their fullest potential and try to integrate them into his saber technique.
Left sword, right broadsword may look stylish, but it’s quite inconvenient. Better to focus on the saber technique...
At this moment, the Heavenly Book had also evolved and seemed to have unsealed even more.
It could not only create an illusion-like space, allowing him to immerse himself as if he were there watching the Sword Emperor imparting his teachings, but it had also grown to control this phantom space, like a lucid dream, to show whatever he wanted it to. For instance, if he only wanted to see the ultimate moves usable between the Fifth and Seventh Layers of the Mystical Gate shown by the Sword Emperor, then that’s all the emperor would display for his selection.
—Speaking of which, if the Heavenly Book grows even more spiritual, how do I plan to ’kill myself’ once it’s fully unsealed?
Whatever, that’s a problem for later. There are too many sword skills to worry about anything else.
The sword moves, deemed ultimate skills between the Fifth and Seventh Layers of the Mystical Gate as demonstrated by the Sword Emperor, were simply too numerous.
What he had taught Sisi was just one type of Sword Intent, a branch of swordsmanship. The sword seal, as the "Sword Skill General," could represent countless branches. Exploring them could take a lifetime. Just the variant sword skills derived from this one level alone numbered over a hundred, and even a casual screening yielded hundreds of moves that could be considered ultimate skills.
Most didn’t suit conversion to saber techniques, and some didn’t match Zhao Changhe’s style. After another selection, there were about a dozen moves remaining.
After further discarding those with relatively redundant applications, Zhao Changhe finally chose three moves.
From then on, all his thoughts focused on how to integrate these three sword moves into his saber technique. When would he achieve his goal, when would he depart?
Just as this thought emerged, Zhao Changhe slapped his forehead.
Why was he going down this mental path again? Slow down, calm down... He needed to stop feeling like he had to rush off to the next thing as soon as he finished something.
There was nothing urgent that required his immediate attention; what truly mattered was to accumulate and settle.
"Knock, knock, knock~" the sound of knocking interrupted his thoughts.
Zhao Changhe’s mind withdrew from the Heavenly Book, only to realize that just selecting the moves had taken a whole night; it was already broad daylight.
Opening the door, he saw Tang Wanju standing there, a gentle smile on her face, "Now that you don’t need to write scores, would you still welcome Wanju’s visit?"
"I just needed enough rest, I haven’t slept as peacefully as I did last night in a long time. Thank you for the children’s song."
"So you should slow down too, do you plan to not deal with the Maitreya Sect today?"
"I’ll put it aside for today. Shouldn’t one live for oneself at least for a day?"
"In that case, I’m thinking of being a spoilsport..." Zhao Changhe said, "How about living for me today?"
Zhao Changhe, without a blush, naturally proposed, "I’ve worked out three sword moves and am considering how to integrate them into my saber technique. As a Great Grandmaster, could you help me review them?"
Tang Wanju laughed, "That is indeed my wish."
PS: The third update is here—asking for your monthly ticket~