Deep in the valley, everything fell silent, save for the mournful sound of the zither music.
Like a nightingale weeping, like a cuckoo crying blood, the sound wasn’t loud, yet the sorrow it conveyed was enough to draw everyone’s complete attention. Everyone puzzled over it, not daring to let their minds wander, listening intently—yet only Ziqing and Xuanyuan Lige, without exchanging a word, both wore expressions of shock!
This melody—why did this melody feel so familiar? Wasn’t this precisely the calm passage right before the climax of “Sorrow’s Parting”?
“Sorrow’s Parting” spanned seven hundred scrolls in total, with this particular passage appearing at the three-hundredth scroll, followed by a full hundred scrolls building to its climax. Ziqing had by now practiced up to somewhere past the three-hundred-fiftieth scroll.
Looking purely at the score, one couldn’t tell anything at all—but for two people like Ziqing and Xuanyuan Lige, who had actually played it themselves, they recognized it almost from the very second note!
This was “Sorrow’s Parting”!
How could “Sorrow’s Parting” possibly appear here? Ziqing found herself instinctively glancing toward Xuanyuan Lige, and Xuanyuan Lige, equally startled, avoided her gaze!
Amid their shock, they hadn’t yet noticed anything unusual about the timbre—but as the sound gradually grew louder, the two of them nearly simultaneously looked up and met each other’s eyes!
They—they’d understood it immediately!
This was simply too extraordinary!
This sound, though it resembled a zither’s music, wasn’t actually music at all!
This timbre absolutely could not have come from plucked strings!
“The sound of water,” Jun Beiyue suddenly said in a low voice. Though he wasn’t versed in music, his hearing was exceptionally keen. He hadn’t been able to tell what was happening before, but now that the sound had grown louder, faintly mixed with the sound of surging waves, he understood!
This was the sound of ocean waves—beneath the coral sea lake, there had to be a passage leading out to the open sea, and during low tide, the movement of water was producing this sound!
“That must be it!” Ziqing had recognized it too, about to say more, when she noticed the once-calm surface of the lake beginning to ripple!
Wasn’t it supposed to be low tide right now? Could it be…
Yet as these ripples grew larger and larger, the wave-sound so remarkably similar to zither music grew louder and louder as well!
“The climax!” Ziqing nearly cried out in shock!
The climax was coming—the climax of “Sorrow’s Parting” was coming!
The ripples grew ever larger, the sound ever louder, the rhythm of the melody ever more soaring!
Finally, the ripples became waves, surging up from the lake bed, crashing against the shore. By now, the sound no longer resembled zither music at all—yet the rhythm was unmistakably still that of “Sorrow’s Parting”!
Not a single beat off—it was precisely the climax of “Sorrow’s Parting”!
The crowd couldn’t discern this rhythm, only sensing that the sound of the waves was soaring and sorrowful.
“Marvelous!”
“Magnificent!”
“How miraculous! Elders of Qinse Valley, this truly is the most exquisite gathering Qinse Valley has ever held!”
“Ha ha! The voice of nature, the zither of nature—who in this world could possibly compare!”
…
Wave after wave of admiration rang out, delighting the two Qinse elders to no end. Qinse Valley had always made friends through the zither and welcomed guests through music—if such an exquisite sound couldn’t be shared with the whole world, wouldn’t that be a shame?
They had, of course, seen the complete score of “Sorrow’s Parting” before—but the true wonder of “Sorrow’s Parting” lay in the fact that, without hearing it actually played, simply looking at the score revealed almost nothing at all!
Even after examining it ten times over, one still couldn’t tell that what someone else was playing was “Sorrow’s Parting”!
They had also once studied the special fingering technique “Sorrow’s Parting” required, but unfortunately, they’d never managed to master it—otherwise, would they have let Xuanyuan Lige monopolize such a precious treasure, never sharing it with Qinse Valley, never passing it down to the other disciples?
“Qing’er, what climax are you talking about?” Jun Beiyue asked quietly, having naturally noticed Ziqing staring fixedly at Xuanyuan Lige!
“This natural sound is precisely ‘Sorrow’s Parting.’ What we’re hearing now is the rhythm of its climax—though it’s become wave-sound now, no longer a proper melody, the rhythm remains distinctly clear!” Ziqing kept her voice very low, watching the two elders’ reactions—they clearly had no idea about any of this!
Likely, she and Xuanyuan Lige were the only two people in the entire world who could recognize it!
“‘Sorrow’s Parting’!” Jun Beiyue was startled. Could it be that this zither and this melody truly were connected to the isolated island!
Whatever Xuanyuan Lige had managed to investigate, how could he possibly fail to uncover the same? He’d even tracked down the very person who had smuggled Muci from Liuxian Island to Da Zhou all those years ago!
When Xuanyuan Lige had told Ziqing, on the rooftop of the Gu family’s main residence, that he’d be waiting for her at the gathering, his true purpose must have been connected to this zither, this lineage!
And when he’d told Ziqing to use her own abilities to win back the Wuzheng, there had clearly been more to those words than met the eye. He’d bided his time, waiting to see exactly what game Xuanyuan Lige was playing!
Faced with Ziqing’s questioning gaze, Xuanyuan Lige avoided it—yet when Jun Beiyue’s cold gaze fell upon him, he met it without hesitation, staring back coldly, one man icy and sharp, the other cold and arrogant.
At this moment, the entire arena was abuzz with excitement, everyone marveling, praising, discussing and questioning the two Qinse elders, the whole scene a cacophony of noise!
Yet these two men, eyes locked upon each other amid all this excitement, seemed poised on the very brink of confrontation! Then, suddenly, a commotion stirred through the crowd—somehow, someone had been launched forward, plunging directly into the wave-churned coral sea lake!
“Baili Weisheng!”
Ziqing couldn’t help but cry out. Though the figure was already tumbling amid the waves, she recognized him at first glance—that wretched scholar!
This fellow’s martial skill was far from ordinary—how could he possibly… Ziqing gave a sudden start, immediately realizing—he’d done it deliberately!
Yet in that very instant, beside her Jun Beiyue and across from her Xuanyuan Lige both shouted almost simultaneously, “Save him!” and immediately leapt into the surging waters!
Such a strange underground sea lake—who knew how deep it truly went, or what might lurk within? Aside from Jun Beiyue and Xuanyuan Lige, no one else dared to dive in without authorization.
In the blink of an eye, all three young figures were swallowed by the great waves!
As for the two Qinse elders, their expressions grew uglier by the moment—everything had been going so well, the gathering nearly concluded, and now something like this had to happen!
Qinse Valley had no disciples particularly skilled in water, and even if they did, they certainly wouldn’t be sent down casually!
This lake had always been guarded by the Jiao people!
They couldn’t easily summon disciples to help, nor could the Jiao people risk exposing their presence. For a moment, they had no idea what to do, exchanging helpless glances, waiting for Xuanyuan Lige and Jun Beiyue, praying they wouldn’t discover anything untoward beneath the lake!
“Everyone, please remain calm, please remain calm. Everyone, step back a few paces,” Elder Se called out loudly, and the crowd gradually settled somewhat.
Patriarch Gu was consumed with worry. “Ziqing, what should we do? Beiyue is…”
“He’ll come back up,” Ziqing said flatly, though she too felt a flicker of worry deep down—after all, no one knew what lay beneath that lake, and judging by the two elders’ reactions, even they seemed unfamiliar with it!
“Better if he doesn’t come back up at all,” Jiang Chen muttered bitterly under his breath.
Gu Suying glanced toward Bai Feiyao off to the side, noticing his face still clouded with displeasure, and didn’t dare look further.
Even Elder Qin could no longer contain himself, demanding, “Who pushed that person just now!”
Instantly, the entire arena fell silent, no one admitting to anything. Elder Qin looked toward where Baili Weisheng had just been standing, but everyone around remained tight-lipped.
Even they themselves had no idea what had just happened!
“Elder Qin, let’s wait until the rescued men are brought up before discussing this further,” the Bai family patriarch spoke up, his hands, clasped behind his back, slowly lowering. In that same instant, he silently launched a seed into the lake without anyone noticing!
…