“Clang!”
The sound rang out, followed immediately by a sharp “Whoosh…”
A wind blade shot straight off the zither strings, its force far more violent than any wind blade Ziqing had ever produced before — it struck a nearby stone pillar and punched clean through it, leaving a hole!
Witnessing this, both Jun Beiyue and Yelu Qianqian stared in utter disbelief, while the smile at the corners of Xuanyuan Lige’s lips only grew wider.
And Ziqing, unable to contain her excitement, immediately began playing with both hands at once!
“Clang, clang, clang!”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
Wind blades striking the strings, then rebounding off them — this was Wuzheng’s true, terrifying power!
Ziqing had tried this before, but making a wind blade rebound off the strings required an enormous expenditure of internal energy, so under normal circumstances she rarely used it.
And even when she had managed it before, the force of the wind blade rebounding off the strings had never been much stronger than usual.
But now, everything was completely different!
It seemed as though the full power of Wuzheng had finally been unleashed through her!
Her body and internal energy were currently even weaker than before, and yet she could now summon far more powerful wind blades while using far less internal energy — and playing it now felt completely effortless, entirely natural, without the slightest strain!
On Liuxian Island, Xuanyuan Lige had nourished the blood zither with his own blood, unleashing its true power, slaying everyone present with sound alone!
And now, with her natural talent and her mastery of this particular fingering technique, she was bringing the true power of the blood zither’s counterpart to its absolute peak.
Consider this — that had been a solid stone pillar, punched straight through. What chance would a human body of flesh and blood possibly stand against something like that?
This, truly, was the essence of zither-slaying, the true art of the wind-blade technique!
The curve of Ziqing’s smile grew even wider. How could she not be happy, not be thrilled?
Hindered by her body’s unusual, fragile constitution, she had been held back and constrained in so many ways for so long — and now, this brand-new Wuzheng was, without question, her single most formidable killing technique.
Jun Beiyue watched the nearly-toppled stone pillar, his mood soaring. “Eighty percent — that was definitely a wind blade I produced using eighty percent of my internal energy!”
Jun Beiyue’s own wind blade had required eighty percent of his internal energy, and yet Ziqing had produced a wind blade of comparable, devastating power without the slightest effort — all while accompanying it with a melodious, elegant tune!
Wuzheng’s zither-slaying technique, truly nothing short of perfect!
Xuanyuan Lige agreed with Jun Beiyue’s assessment as well, nodding. “Eighty percent, indeed.”
Just before the stone pillar could finally topple, Ziqing reluctantly stopped, her slender fingers lingering on the strings, gently caressing them, unwilling to pull away.
That particular kind of joy was something only someone who truly understood music could ever grasp. She looked over at Xuanyuan Lige, breaking into a grin, a smile so simple, so radiant.
Xuanyuan Lige found himself momentarily stunned, watching her. How long had it been — how very long — since he’d last seen her smile like this?
But before long, Ziqing turned her head to look at Jun Beiyue instead — her joy, it seemed, was reserved only for this one man to share. “Jun Beiyue, I did it!”
She had been diligently practicing Wuzheng’s zither-slaying technique for so long, yet had never once been satisfied with the result.
And now, through a strange twist of fate, Wuzheng had transformed in the heart of the flames, finally living up to all her long years of painstaking practice. It seemed like pure coincidence — but only Jun Beiyue truly knew just how much this woman had sacrificed and endured behind the scenes to get here.
Jun Beiyue smiled. “Aim for a hundred percent next!”
Ziqing answered without a moment’s hesitation, “I will!”
What she loved most about this man was this: he never once demanded she become stronger, and yet he never once feared her becoming stronger either!
It was rare to see Ziqing this genuinely happy, and Yelu Qianqian, caught up in the moment, couldn’t help but join in the excitement. “Xuanyuan Lige, hurry up and bring out that blood zither of yours — let us hear it!”
“Should we try playing a duet together?” Ziqing had already asked about the blood zither earlier. Since the two zithers were clearly a matched pair, achieving the true rendition of Lishang would undoubtedly require playing both zithers together, in harmony.
Jun Beiyue settled himself comfortably off to the side. How could he not wish to play a duet with Ziqing himself? Unfortunately, he simply lacked the talent for it.
Yelu Qianqian, delighted, hurried to sit down as well, but to everyone’s surprise, Xuanyuan Lige turned to look at her instead.
Yelu Qianqian looked puzzled. “What are you looking at me for?”
“The blood zither… was taken by Yelu Chenyi. Princess Qianqian, I don’t suppose the Xijing royal family has…” Xuanyuan Lige paused, then continued anyway, “has dealt with the crown prince’s belongings yet?”
The moment these words left his mouth, the room fell into utter silence, and the smile froze on Yelu Qianqian’s lips.
It had been a very, very long time since anyone had mentioned her brother in front of her.
His belongings…
After her brother’s death, her father had ordered the Changle Palace sealed off, forbidding anyone from touching any of his things.
Noticing the change in Yelu Qianqian’s expression, Xuanyuan Lige glanced over at Ziqing with an innocent look, and at that very moment, Yelu Qianqian suddenly burst into loud, wailing sobs. “Wuu wuu… I don’t know, I don’t know anything, wuu wuu…”
She said nothing more, blamed no one, offered no explanation of right or wrong.
She simply, suddenly, felt an overwhelming, crushing sadness — as if only now, in this moment, had it truly dawned on her that the brother who had doted on her since childhood would never, ever come back…
Yelu Qianqian covered her eyes with both hands, drawing her knees up tight against her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Watching that small, lonely, huddled figure, Ziqing suddenly felt that, in truth, this girl might be the most unfortunate person of them all.
She had always believed that being born into royalty and yet somehow managing to retain such a pure, kind heart, being so refreshingly direct and utterly without guile, was Yelu Qianqian’s greatest blessing — the greatest gift the Emperor of Xijing had ever given her.
But now, suddenly, she felt this was, in fact, precisely the source of Yelu Qianqian’s deepest sorrow.
She understood nothing of the world, and so all she could do was suffer, all she could do was be torn apart by conflicting feelings.
Under these circumstances, asking about the blood zither’s whereabouts was clearly out of the question.
“It’s been missing for so long — why didn’t you say anything?” Ziqing asked quietly.
Xuanyuan Lige didn’t answer. Instead, he suddenly turned serious. “Must you really uncover the secret of the isolated island?”
If she didn’t go searching for the isolated island’s secret, there would be no need for the blood zither and Wuzheng to be played together in harmony, and no need to unravel the secret of Lishang at all!
These past several days, he’d devoted himself entirely to studying Lishang, purely for the sake of this one unparalleled masterpiece of music — not for the sake of the isolated island itself!
Searching for the isolated island would only bring her danger!
Why not simply let every secret, every danger, remain forever buried within the Nanzhao royal family’s silence?
“I must!” It was Jun Beiyue who answered, not Ziqing, his voice absolutely certain.
Xuanyuan Lige immediately let out a cold laugh. “You’re only putting her in more danger doing this — you’ll bring disaster down on her. You should be concealing everything, not chasing after it!”
“I don’t need you telling me what I should or shouldn’t do!” Jun Beiyue snapped, flaring with sudden anger.
And sure enough, it took no more than a sentence or two for tempers between the two of them to flare up once again.
It seemed that fine quality of grace and composure really did depend on who, exactly, one was dealing with.
“So what if you find the isolated island? Can you change who she is? Can you guarantee she’ll never be cultivated into a poison Gu for the rest of her life? Can you guarantee she won’t become the whole world’s shared enemy?” Xuanyuan Lige demanded, question after question.
“Without trying, without making any effort, without even knowing what the truth actually is — what right do you have to say it can’t be done?” Jun Beiyue demanded in return.
“Trying? You’re gambling with her very life! What happened with Yanzi was already a warning — why do you insist on refusing to learn from it?” Xuanyuan Lige suddenly slammed his hand down and rose to his feet!
…