Bad times felt like they lasted forever while good times always seemed to fly by in a flash.
Before Lu Zhiying realised it, the song had already come to an end.
"How is it?" Zhao Yunxiao asked. "We are pretty good, aren't we?"
Lu Zhiying nodded profusely.
In fact, 'pretty good' was a gross understatement here.
To Lu Zhiying who had never been directly exposed to the world of cultivators before coming to Purple Plum Mountain, she was absolutely blown away by what she just heard!
"I guess your tastes can be normal at times too," Bo Fei smirked.
"Fortunately so," Zhao Yunxiao nodded in agreement.
"I am normal all the time!"
Huang An could not help but smile widely after seeing Lu Zhiying's response too.
After all, it always felt nice to be acknowledged.
"Do you want to try playing something as well?" Gu Qiansi asked, as though she had seen through Lu Zhiying's earlier thoughts.
"Didn't she say she can't play any instruments?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.
"Can't she learn then? Were you born with the ability to play an instrument?" Gu Qiansi rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Lu Zhiying. "How is it? Do you want to try?"
"I want to try!" Lu Zhiying answered without hesitation.
Prior to today, she had never been interested in learning how to play an instrument. To the past Lu Zhiying, learning an instrument was but a thing of luxury.
While it could prove useful in certain scenarios, such as when dealing with people of a certain status, it was largely useless in daily life.
Not just that, but the instruments themselves were expensive and bulky, making it difficult to move around with.
Rather than waste time learning something that she would hardly be able to use, she would rather spend her time on more useful things.
However, today's experience changed her view completely.
That's right, she was no longer the Lu Zhiying of before.
Now, she was part of the Black Tortoise Sect, a cultivator in her own right.
In her current capacity, it actually made more sense to learn an instrument as compared to before.
Even if nothing else, it could at least be used as a conversation topic with her peers.
But if she were to ever become capable of playing as well as her seniors here, that would be even better!
"What is it?" Zhao Yunxiao asked when he saw Gu Qiansi stretch her hand out towards him.
"What else? Your flute!"
"Tch!" Zhao Yunxiao clicked his tongue unhappily but handed his flute over nevertheless.
"Here, give it a try," Gu Qiansi passed the flute to the waiting Lu Zhiying. "Don't worry about how to play it for now and just try out the general feel of it. If it feels suitable, I will get him to teach you."
"Be careful not to damage it!" Zhao Yunxiao cautioned, only to receive another glare from Gu Qiansi.
"What? It is my flute, all right? Can't I be worried about its well-being?" Zhao Yunxiao snapped back this time. "If you are so noble, why don't you pull out your vocal cords and lend it to her instead?"
Gu Qiansi was rendered speechless by that retort, and it was not just her either.
"Damn, you are childish," Bo Fei could not help but comment from the side, but Zhao Yunxiao simply ignored him.
Pii-! Pii-!
The airy sound of the flute came from Lu Zhiying, who had excitedly given the instrument a try the moment she received it.
However, she put the flute down after only a few short moments later, a disappointed expression showing on her face.
Sometimes, it was impressive and awe-inspiring when watching others perform, but embarrassment and frustration would kick in quickly when one tried to do the same thing themselves.
That was exactly what Lu Zhiying felt when the sound coming from her flute sounded nothing like Zhao Yunxiao's.
"How is it? Difficult, isn't it?" Zhao Yunxiao said smugly. "It's not that easy to sound as cool as me."
"Are you that happy that Junior Martial Sister Lu is not doing well?" Gu Qiansi chided before turning back to Lu Zhiying. "Do you not like the flute?"
Lu Zhiying shook her head while passing the flute back to Zhao Yunxiao. "I don't think this suits me."
"Why don't you try the zither instead?" Huang An offered timidly. "I find it more interesting that the flute as well."
"Can I?" Lu Zhiying's face lit up once again.
"Of course!" Huang An beamed while emptying her seat. "Here. Try to pluck at one or two of the strings gently to get a basic feel of it."
"Okay!" Lu Zhiying sat down and placed her hands over the zither.
In her head, she recalled how Huang An's hands had danced atop the zither earlier, and positioned her hands in the same manner.
Deng-! Dang-! Ding-!
A series of random notes sounded out at the same time as Lu Zhiying's hands busily moved up and down the zither board.
To phrase it nicely, the resulting zither tune was nothing but a complete mess.
Thankfully, Lu Zhiying stopped after only a few moments.
She frowned while looking at Huang An. "I tried to follow the same movements that you did, but why does it sound so different?"
Huang An: "..."
Are you seriously asking this?
I told you to gently pluck a few strings, not try to emulate what I did!
Your arm movements might be similar, but your fingers are strumming all the wrong strings.
It would be a miracle if it sounded the same!
"If you really want to learn an instrument, why don't you go back and slowly practise yourself? Maybe you will be able to do it by the time you are fifty years old," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.
"Damn," Bo Fei looked at Zhao Yunxiao in surprise.
As an appreciator of fine arts, Bo Fei could not see himself ever talking this harshly to Lu Zhiying.
Lu Zhiying pouted after hearing Zhao Yunxiao's comment, but vacated the seat for Huang An nevertheless.
"Don't worry about it, Junior Martial Sister Lu. Everyone has their own talents. I can't play musical instruments well either," Gu Qiansi gently patted her on the shoulder. "Do you want to try singing?"
"No, I can't sing," Lu Zhiying shook her head. "Don't let me disturb your practice though, feel free to continue. I will just sit back and enjoy the show."
She might not have had the chance to try learning an instrument in the past, but singing did not require any expensive equipment.
Because of that, Lu Zhiying already had plenty of opportunities to find out that she had no talent in singing.
Gu Qiansi looked at Lu Zhiying for a good few moments and, after confirming that she was not too affected by the matter, turned to nod at Bo Fei.
"All right, second song. Let's go," Bo Fei gave the cue, and the music started once again.
The song might be different, but it was certainly no less impressive than before.
Lu Zhiying once again immersed herself into the world of music, swaying her body along with the tunes.
At one point, she started closing her eyes, imagining in her mind a new fantasy world that corresponded to the music she was hearing.
A cold winter breeze hit her face in the lightest of manners, yet it proved sufficient to sweep her spirit away, carrying her along with the it to the centre of a wide grassland.
There, she was surrounded by myriad flowers of all colours, their floral aromas flavouring the air with the scent of tranquility.
Beautiful butterflies skipped from one flowerbed to another, creating an illusion that they were simply flowers had grown wings, dancing around her cheerfully as a silent welcome to their world.
As though infected by the butterflies, Lu Zhiying could not help but smile, her body moving along with her new little friends.
Just like that, Lu Zhiying danced alone in this imaginary world of hers, her accompaniment being the butterflies and flowers, as well as the enchanting song that was continuously entering her head.
She did not know how to dance, but that did not matter.
All she needed to do was allow her little friends to guide her along, allowing her body and limbs to move in tandem to their movements around her.
Lu Zhiying did not know how long had passed, but the song eventually ended.
And with that, the magic naturally ended as well.
The butterflies scattered, and the flowers dispersed.
The wide grassland that she was on slowly faded out, returning to a scene of darkness.
And then Lu Zhiying slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw was four surprised faces staring right back at her.
Unknowingly, she had made her way from the side of the pavilion to the very centre, and was now standing right in the middle of her four senior disciples.
"Haha, I guess I got carried away," Lu Zhiying laughed while scratching her cheek in embarrassment.
"No, don't be sorry! This is great!" Bo Fei immediately answered. "What you just did was great!"
"Eh?" Lu Zhiying tilted her head in confusion.
"I think you did great too, Junior Martial Sister Lu!" Huang An pumped her fists in encouragement.
"Eh? Eh?"
"Have you learnt how to dance before?" Gu Qiansi asked with a smile.
"Who are you kidding, Gu Qiansi? Does that kind of simple dance look like it needs to be learnt?" Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes. "She just has a face that's like a cheat. With those looks of hers, she'll look amazing just standing there. The dance is just something extra on top."
"Dance?" Lu Zhiying finally understood what was going on.
It appeared that although she thought she was only dancing in her imaginary world, she was actually dancing in reality as well.
"Can you stop being so harsh?" Gu Qiansi snapped at Zhao Yunxiao before turning back to Lu Zhiying.
"No, I've not learnt how to dance before," Lu Zhiying answered. "But from the looks of it, it seems like I didn't do too badly, but didn't do too well either?"
"Don't listen to Junior Martial Brother Zhao, you did awesome!" Bo Fei gave her a thumbs up. "Actually, what do you think about joining us in our upcoming performance?"
"What?" Lu Zhiying was seriously taken aback this time.
She was a complete novice when it came to the performing arts, and now they suddenly wanted her to join their performance?
"That's a great idea!" Huang An immediately agreed with the suggestion.
"That will give a huge visual impact for sure," Gu Qiansi nodded approvingly.
"Can I though?" Lu Zhiying was still a little uncertain despite their encouragement. "Aren't you performing for the New Year celebration? But New Year is just around the corner, will I really be able to learn enough within this one week or so?"
"Of course!" Gu Qiansi assured. "It is enough even if you just do what you just did!"
"What do you think, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?" Lu Zhiying turned towards Zhao Yunxiao.
"Your Senior Martial Sister Gu is right for once," Zhao Yunxiao nodded. "Your earlier dance might be a little raw and unrefined, but the visual impact is definitely there. If you are willing to join us, the performance will surely be elevated to greater heights."
"You really think so? All right then!" Lu Zhiying felt her confidence rise once more as all four of her seniors gave their assurance.
"That's set then!" Bo Fei said with a grin. "As of this moment, the Flying Shell Performance Group is now a group of five!"
"Yay!" Huang An cheered meekly.
"Welcome to the Flying Shell Performance Group, Junior Martial Sister Lu," Gu Qiansi smiled.
"Welcome onboard," Zhao Yunxiao added with a smile of his own.
"All right, I have one week or so. Within this time, I need to at least learn the basics of how to dance," Lu Zhiying resolved. "After all, if Senior Martial Brother Zhao can tell that my dance is raw and unrefined, I'm sure many others in the sect will be able to do so as well."
Even though she had been showered with praises by her four seniors, Lu Zhiying understood that she was still sorely lacking in terms of the basics.
In order not to burden the rest, she had to pull her weight by at least performing a proper dance.
A week was not a long time by any measure, so she was not nearly expecting herself to turn into a dance master by the time of the performance.
However, she would at least strive for any bit of improvement she could get!
Seeing her determination, the rest of the group could only smile in approval.
They were not lying when they said that her earlier dance was already good enough. However, it still felt good to see that Lu Zhiying was taking this seriously, wanting to improve her skills in preparation for the performance.
In fact, they were the same as well. That was why they continued to practice even though they had already fully learnt the songs.
They, too, were hoping to refine their performance further, even if only by the slightest bit.
"Hmm," Zhao Yunxiao rubbed his chin in contemplation as he spoke. "If you really want to learn how to dance, I can definitely help you with that..."
His words instantly drew the attention of all four other members of the group.
"Really?" Lu Zhiying asked in astonishment. "That'll be great!"
However, Lu Zhiying was the only one who was surprised.
As for the other three, what they felt was perhaps closer to something like apprehension.
"You?" Gu Qiansi snorted in disdain. "Zhao Yunxiao, is something wrong with your head? Out of everyone here, you are the least qualified to teach Junior Martial Sister Lu how to dance!"
"Senior Martial Sister Gu is right," Huang An added timidly. "Senior Martial Brother Zhao, don't you remember your dancing skills...?"
"It's not that I want to say this, Junior Martial Brother Zhao. But you really need to know your limits," Bo Fei let out a sympathetic sigh. "I don't know where your confidence is coming from, but no, you have no idea how to dance either."
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
All I said is that I can help, not that I will be the one teaching!
Why can't you guys just be patient and wait for me to finish speaking instead of rending my heart with such merciless verbal assaults?