Yin Zhu stared at the girl in white on stage, his eyes a little dazed as he murmured to himself, "A Touch Of Ghost." These four words were not a description of the girl on stage, but the name of the guzheng piece she was playing.
Her hands moved at an extremely fast pace, yet that fluidity didn't feel abrupt at all. The sound of the guzheng was bright and distant. Even though the orange magic power wasn't enough to cover the entire room, the tuneful resonance of the guzheng remained clear to everyone's ears amid the pleasant hum. The poignant and delicate melody stirred the mood of the audience. Everyone's expressions began to fluctuate with the rhythm of the guzheng piece, and this included Teacher Brigitte, who had come with Yin Zhu.
Yin Zhu's gaze became distant. Perhaps everyone else had lost themselves due to the sorrowful tone of the guzheng piece, but his heart was completely immersed in the melodious plucking and the profound meaning of the music. Only those who truly understand could completely comprehend everything within this guzheng piece.
"Clear as splattered jade, trembling like the song of a dragon; what a wonderful 'A Touch Of Ghost,'"
As if uncontrolled, Yin Zhu had already moved the Jade Zither Charm in front of himself. He did not adjust the tune, his hands were already lightly stroking the strings. His thumbs lightly supporting, his hands were floating above the seven strings smoothly and meaningfully. In an instant, his innocent demeanor vanished; even though the white robe he was wearing was slightly ragged due to the long journey, at this moment, his noble and refined aura rendered his handsome face incredibly perfect.
The rustic and simple sound of the zither quietly began. Yin Zhu's movements were slower than the girl's on the stage, but every strike brought lingering notes. His subtle fingering skill controlled the pace and rhythm, the direction of the note and its accompany. The clear and distant zither sound combined with the sound of the guzheng, adding some weight to the original melody.
A deep, red light accompanied the zither sound, clashing with the girl in white's orange light, shining and alternating within the hall. The integration of zither's sound didn't feel abrupt, but harmonized. The girl in white, who had been playing the guzheng with her head down, looked up for the first time.
Black hair half-covering her face, revealing only half of it. But even that half made Yin Zhu's heartstrings jolt fiercely. Her pale face and icy deep black eyes showed no surprise when they met Yin Zhu's gaze, just a slight reduction in the icy coldness.
Although the zither and guzheng, two originally incompatible instruments, now melted into one under Yin Zhu's perfect control, it was almost as miraculous as a divine gift.
The girl in white was watching Yin Zhu, and Yin Zhu was also watching her, but the strings in their hands didn't waver at all. Their gazes intertwined, just like the fusion of deep red and orange. Yin Zhu changed his hand positions, and as he gently plucked the zither strings, his elegant, deep voice rang out amid the harmony of the zither and guzheng.
"Human life,
is as long as a dream.
Let the frost, frost stay on your face,
In this world,
there are many directions for a dream,
A devoted dream, yearning for love,
People wander aimlessly on the path."
At this moment, it seemed as if there were only the two of them in the entire hall. There are two common ways to perform on a traditional zither, one is solo, and the other is paired with a song.
The icy look in the girl's eyes seemed to have melted, leaving only endless sorrow. Her hoarse voice, charming as a phoenix's song, followed the rhythm of the zither and guzheng, continuing the next half of the song.
"Life is,
The continuation of the dream.
In the dream, vaguely, vaguely filled with teary light.
Where to go from here?
The direction in your heart and mine.
The wind sighs softly in the dream,
The path and people are vast."
Yin Zhu changed his hand positions again. The thumb and middle finger of his right hand formed a half-circle, while the index, large, and ring fingers of his left hand were simultaneously on the strings. The vibrato became softer than before, lightening the sorrow of "A Touch of Ghost" a bit. Accompanied by the harmonics of the zither and guzheng, the last part of the song was sung unintentionally by the two.
"The human world's path,
Is trodden by the joyous youth.
A spot of sunshine, shining through the rocky path,
In this world,
How many directions can happiness turn,
Traces resembling a dream's wind and rain,
People wander aimlessly on the path,
Like the wind and rain of a dream,
People wander aimlessly on the path."
The harmonious singing quietly ceased, but the sound of the zither and guzheng lingered, only fading away with an endless resonance after a simultaneous hum. Yin Zhu's gaze was as clear as a mirror, while the black eyes of the girl in white were somewhat dazed.
"Even the most rugged road can be bathed in sunshine. Sister, your guzheng piece is too sad, why can't it be a little happier?" Yin Zhu said with a smile as he pressed the strings of the zither and got up. The naive innocence returned, diluting the elegant nobility on his person.
The girl in white came out of her daze, wondering to herself, what had just happened? She had never sung the last verse of "A Touch Of Ghost," yet today she had spontaneously done so. Was it because of the emotions he had stirred in her?
"Feng Jing Crane Dance, Wind Carries the Light Cloud, Luan and Phoenix Sing in Harmony, Falling Flowers Follow Water, you used these four techniques to finish the song. But for the zither that could combine with the guzheng, is this enough? Why did you use the zither piece to affect my mood?" The girl in white's voice was still hoarse but clear, her eyes staring intensely at Yin Zhu.
"Because... I understood the sadness in your guzheng piece!" Ye Yin Zhu was a bit puzzled as to why the girl in white's coldness seemed to have deepened after the song ended.
"You understand? Do you really understand?" She scoffed, picked up the guzheng from the table, turned around, and walked towards the backstage.
Sitting down slowly, Yin Zhu carefully placed the Jade Zither Charm back in front of the girl next to him, his eyes filled with speculative light.
"Ding—" A clock sounded, a faint cyan light flashed briefly in the hall, then disappeared. When Yin Zhu looked up, he noticed that an elderly woman had miraculously appeared on the stage, wearing a cyan long dress and appearing to be in her sixties or seventies. Holding a delicate, small clock in her left hand, the clapper in her right hand appeared to have finished striking.
"Ah—" As if waking from a dream, murmurs echoed all around, including from the girl next to Yin Zhu and Teacher Brigitte sitting in the corner. They had been absorbed in the music from the time the guzheng sound started, and most were unaware of Yin Zhu's later addition. For a moment, they were still lost in a dreamlike state, with only a few girls showing clear, thoughtful expressions, similar to Yin Zhu's.