267: Chapter 267 A True Friend is Hard to Find: Girl, Your Strings Are Tight

This crisp sound of porcelain clashing was not loud, yet it cut through all the noise on the second floor like a sharp sword.

The tea drinkers, who were immersed in their self-indulgent cheering, felt a buzzing in their ears, then uncontrollably closed their mouths; the tea house instantly fell into a deathly silence.

In this silence, Xu Chen's clear and calm voice slowly spread throughout the second floor through the gently swaying bead curtains.

"The melody is good, and the fingering can be called exquisite. Unfortunately, Miss, your zither strings are stretched too tight, and the shackles in your heart are too heavy. A piece that should be cold and transcendent like the 'Chant of the Cold Moon' was played by you with a hint of despair, as if seeking mutual destruction."

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding private seats immediately erupted in a commotion.

Those Music Cultivators who considered themselves refined showed looks of anger.

In Tianyin City, Gong Yu's zither skills were obvious to all. Now, someone actually dared to speak such arrogant words in public at Listening to Rain Pavilion, even disparaging her music as carrying the Death Qi of despair. This was simply a madman looking for trouble.

"Where did this brat come from, daring to talk nonsense here!"

"Miss Gong Yu's zither music is heavenly. Do you even understand music theory?"

Just as several hot-tempered tea drinkers were about to slam the table and kick him out, Gong Yu on the high platform suddenly moved.

"Honored guests, please do not be angry."

Gong Yu's voice was crisp and ethereal, with a hint of an urgent quiver. Her jade-like hands, as white as scallion stalks, pressed firmly on the strings, her knuckles turning slightly white from excessive force.

Her thin, delicate body was trembling uncontrollably.

To outsiders, Xu Chen's words were harsh disparagement. But to Gong Yu's ears, these words were like precise thunderclaps, crashing open the door to her heart that had been tightly sealed for eighteen years.

A blind person cannot see light and can only grope in the dark. Over the years, she had turned all her resentment toward the unfairness of fate and her longing for the world of light into an obsession to defy heaven and earth, pressing it all firmly onto this ancient zither.

Others could only hear the sadness in her music, but only the owner of this voice saw through her at a glance—that she was playing the zither with her life, seeing through the madness and despair hidden beneath her cold exterior.

Gong Yu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves surging in her heart. She slowly stood up, folded her hands in front of her, and gave a deep, respectful bow toward the Heaven-rank Private Seat.

"Young Master... understands the zither?"

These simple four words carried a nearly humble expectation, for fear that the comment just now was merely a coincidence, like a blind cat bumping into a dead rat.

"I know a thing or two."

Xu Chen smiled slightly, stood up, and casually pushed aside the jade bead curtain in front of him with his slender fingers.

Under the astonished gazes of the tea drinkers, Xu Chen, dressed in snow-white robes, walked out calmly from the private seat.

He didn't intentionally release any cultivation, but the noble aura emanating from within and his transcendent temperament, like a fallen immortal, made everyone who wanted to scold him shut their mouths in silence.

This was definitely no ordinary person.

Xu Chen ignored the crowd's gaze and, with steady steps, walked straight onto the central platform, stopping in front of Gong Yu.

The distance between them was less than three feet.

Although Gong Yu couldn't see Xu Chen's appearance, as he approached, the aura of the Great Dao, as vast as a deep abyss, became increasingly clear in her mind's eye perception.

She could even feel a wave of warm Pure Yang Qi coming from him, dispelling the coldness that had occupied her heart for years.

Xu Chen looked down, his gaze falling on Gong Yu's pale and flawless beautiful face, finally settling on her eyes that had lost their focus.

"You were born with the Seven Orifices Exquisite Zither Heart, which is the Physique most compatible with the Dao of music in the world. Others play the zither with their hands, but you play with your heart."

Xu Chen's voice softened a lot, carrying a kind of tolerance like an elder teaching a Junior.

"You feel that the heavens took away your eyes and plunged you into darkness, so you try your hardest to use your music to tear through this darkness, wanting to prove your existence to the world."

Gong Yu bit her lower lip and did not argue.

Because every word Xu Chen said was like a sharp carving knife, precisely sculpting the shape of her Soul's depths.

Xu Chen extended his index finger and lightly tapped on a string in the very center of the ancient zither.

Zheng.

A low vibration sounded.

"The path of music should follow nature. You have turned all your resentment and obsession into a thousand-pound burden, pressing it onto these seven strings. Long-term use like this will cause the strings to break, and your Seven Orifices Exquisite Zither Heart will also completely shatter, eventually leading to Qi Deviation and the end of your life and path."

In these words, Xu Chen secretly used the power of the Hongmeng Origin Body's Origin.

Every syllable uttered carried the rhythm of the Dao that could cleanse the Divine Soul. These words penetrated Gong Yu's eardrums and turned into streams of warm, clear water, pouring directly onto her Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart.

Gong Yu felt as if she had been struck by lightning, standing there in a daze.

Her cultivation Bottleneck, which had been stuck at the Early Stage of the Dragon Transformation Realm, actually showed signs of loosening under these few casual pointers.

This was not just a soulmate in music, but a supreme master who could guide her through the maze of the Great Dao of cultivation.

Two lines of clear tears fell without warning from Gong Yu's gray-white eyes.

These were not tears of grievance, but the relief and ecstasy of someone who had trekked alone through countless days and nights in the vast darkness and finally saw a bright lamp.

She understood.

This man not only understood her music but also saw through her fate.

"Gong Yu is dull-witted, trapped in a demonic obsession without knowing it. If it weren't for the Young Master's wake-up call today, Gong Yu would have likely brought about her own destruction sooner or later."

Gong Yu took half a step back, lifted her moon-white skirt with both hands, and regardless of the shocked gazes of the crowd below the stage, bent her knees, about to kneel down to Xu Chen.

This was the most solemn Rite of Seeking the Dao in the cultivation world.

Xu Chen wouldn't let her actually kneel. With a wave of his long sleeve, a gentle spatial supporting force arose out of thin air, steadily holding Gong Yu's knees and straightening her body again.

"To meet is to have fate. I am someone who cannot bear to hear a melody that has lost its composure; I merely gave a few pointers in passing. There is no need for such a grand ceremony."

Xu Chen withdrew his hand, his gaze calm.

Feeling the gentle force supporting her, a hint of unprecedented warmth flowed through the depths of Gong Yu's heart.

From childhood to adulthood, because of her blindness, she had suffered countless cold shoulders. Later, when her zither skills were first established, she was surrounded by a group of hypocrites who only knew how to flatter her and covet her beauty.

Only this Young Master in white before her not only possessed a Realm of the Dao that she could only look up to but also gave her an equal and gentle respect after seeing through all her wretchedness.

High mountains and flowing water find a soulmate.

Gong Yu's heart, which had been frozen for years, quietly cracked open at this moment, and a ray of sunlight shone in through the crack.

She reached out to wipe away the tear stains at the corners of her eyes, and a moving smile, like a snow lotus first blooming, blossomed on her usually cold face.

"The Young Master has great talent; Gong Yu is thoroughly convinced. It's just that this knot in Gong Yu's heart has accumulated for many years. Although I have received the Young Master's guidance and know where the root of the problem lies, I still do not know how to resolve the hostility on these strings."

Gong Yu sat down cross-legged in front of the ancient zither again, placed her hands on the strings, and slightly tilted her head, her empty eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge of the Great Dao.

"I wonder if the Young Master is willing to grant me more guidance?"

Looking at this little white flower regaining its vitality, a satisfied arc curled at the corner of Xu Chen's mouth.

Xu Chen did not refuse. He lifted the hem of his white robe and sat down cross-legged directly on the prayer mat opposite Gong Yu.

Between the two of them, there was only a mottled ancient zither.

This close proximity of sitting opposite each other made Hua Jieyu, who had been following behind, slightly narrow her fox-like eyes. She knew her master's methods all too well; against this kind of cold and aloof talented woman, her master's "boiling a frog in warm water" tactic was simply a finishing blow.

"Since it is a shackle in the heart, it cannot be explained clearly with words. An illness in music must be treated with music."

Xu Chen turned his hand, and a purple-gold light flickered in his palm.

A Saint King Grade Long Xiao, which came from the Xu Family's treasury and was carved entirely from Ten-Thousand-Year Purple Bamboo, appeared in his hand.

Faint Dao formation patterns flowed on the surface of the Long Xiao, emitting a faint fragrance that cleared the mind and reduced desires.

Xu Chen held the purple bamboo Long Xiao, his deep gaze passing through the ancient zither between them, quietly watching Gong Yu.

"You just played a piece of 'Chant of the Cold Moon,' expressing all the desolation and unwillingness of fate. Since we met today, I will play a tune, considering it as loosening the strings for you."

Hearing this, Gong Yu's breathing became somewhat hurried.

She could perceive the terrifying grade of the Long Xiao in Xu Chen's hand and looked forward even more to what kind of Soul-shaking melody this soulmate, who could reveal heavenly secrets with a casual word, could play.

The onlookers on the second floor of the tea house all held their breath at this time.

Even the most foolish person could see that Xu Chen was by no means an ordinary person. Everyone was quietly waiting to see what kind of world-shaking sound this mysterious Young Master in white would bring.

A cool breeze blew into the tea house through the window lattice, fluttering the corners of Xu Chen's white robes and also brushing the hair by Gong Yu's ears.

Xu Chen slowly raised his hand and placed the purple bamboo Long Xiao to his lips.