Transcending the Nine Heavens
chapter-228

After a while, that aura finally dissipated. Chu Yang’s countenance remained unchanged as he smiled and looked at Miss Xiao Lu sitting in front of him, “May I come in?”

“How embarrassing. Young master Chu, this is my bodyguard. He is a bit overprotective… Haha, please come in. Please sit down!” Miss Xiao Lu stood up and acted very apologetic.

This Miss Xiao Lu’s figure was relatively beautiful. Her face was just fine, but not among the ranks of peerless beauties. But her body exuded a strange calming temperament that made anyone who saw her immediately feel at peace.

In her every move, the way she spoke, or when she batted her lashes, they were all filled with a gentle aura. Everyone who saw her would surely have the same first impression!

Gentle! (walkthejianghu.com)

Truly gentle!

“Miss Xiao Lu is truly an extraordinary woman! You are absolutely worthy of being a zither master!” Chu Yang’s gaze was calm with praiseful intentions. His countenance was serious without any frivolousness. He was truly praising from the bottom of his heart and not giving any appearance of flattery.

At this discussion, too much arrogance would lead to failure! Too much flattery would also lead to failure!

The best method was to just say what was right and not be arrogant or fawning!

“Minister Chu is still Minister Chu!” Miss Xiao Lu laughed meaningfully.

“You are truly skilled!” Chu Yang did not show any surprise. With the power of the House of Exceptional Beauties, it would have been strange if they did not know his identity.

Just like going head to head with Diwu Qing Rou, Chu Yang’s web of deception could fool normal people, but he knew that he definitely could not fool Diwu Qing Rou.

His advantage was distance!

The distance was too great! Diwu Qing Rou could not directly deal with Chu Yang himself. If Diwu Qing Rou was as close to him as the House of Exceptional Beauties was, Chu Yang had absolute faith that he would have become a corpse a long time ago even if he had ten thousand lives!

“For the minister to come here, there must be something important.” Miss Xiao Wu poured the tea and said softly, “But, regardless of what it might be, let us talk about music first.”

She smiled and said, “The three issues the minister brought up spoke directly to the longing in my heart. If the minister cannot help me solve them, I am afraid nothing else could be done.”

Chu Yang laughed and said, “I have already expected this. I just never imagined a gentle young lady like you could be so powerful!”

Miss Xiao Lu chuckled, “Even if I was more powerful… I cannot compare to the fierce King of Hell Chu.”

“Haha…” Chu Yang also laughed.

“May I ask; how can the first issue be solved?” When it came to this, Miss Xiao Lu was somewhat impatient, “This issue of half a melody, how can I write the remaining half?”

“This issue is easy to solve, but it is also difficult! In my personal opinion, it would be a good thing if Miss Xiao Lu never could write the other half.” Chu Yang frowned and said cautiously.

“Oh? Why is that?” Miss Xiao Lu’s beautiful brows pinched together as she asked in puzzlement.

“What is reincarnation? From birth to death and then from death to birth again, that is considered one reincarnation!” Chu Yang guardedly, “Reincarnation is death! Miss, you…”

“I have never been dead…” Miss Xiao Lu was lost in thought, “If I have never been dead, then I could never write a complete reincarnation melody! Because, in the end, I do not know what that feels like… And so, I could not create such a thing. But… if I died… Haha, how can I write it after I am dead?”

“Therefore, this reincarnation melody could never be complete?” Deep in Miss Xiao Lu’s eyes, a trace of defiance shined through.

“Life and death… does not have to be experienced only with death…” Chu Yang said softly. The moment he said this, the aggressive aura from earlier showed once more. Within moments, Chu Yang could feel his mouth and nose freeze, and he was unable to talk or breathe.

That person standing in the shadow clearly did not want him to say this!

A light flashed in Miss Xiao Lu’s eyes; seeming to understand something, she said, “If that is the case, reincarnation… is not required! Minister Chu, let us discuss the second issue.”

That aggressive aura immediately disappeared.

Chu Yang laughed internally. This Miss Xiao Lu is extremely intelligent. Even though I was not done speaking, she understood my meaning. That person tried to stop me, but he was one step behind.

While externally, Miss Xiao Lu sounded as if she was dismissing that issue, her eyes told Chu Yang that she would never abandon such an endeavor!

This was an extreme form of fanaticism for music!

“The second issue is the emotion in the music.” Miss Xiao Lu frowned, “The more I think about it, the more I feel that Minister Chu’s words were… not exactly right.”

“Oh?”

“Music is simply an expression of one kind of emotion. If it is a sad melody, adding a little happiness into it would essentially be adding sour vinegar to a jug of good wine! The integrity of the music would be lost… It would be likewise for a happy melody.” Miss Xiao Lu said with a frown.

“Definitely not! Miss Xiao Lu is one hundred percent wrong on this.” Chu Yang said gravely.

“Oh? How am I one hundred percent wrong?” Miss Xiao Lu’s beautiful brows pinched together.

“A melody that only expresses one mood is mediocre!” Chu Yang smiled as he spoke Mo Qing Wu’s reasoning from the previous life.

Mo Qing Wu was not a dancer or a singer, but her musical abilities were second to none! On the contrary, because Mo Qing Wu’s life was full of twists and turns and sorrow, her perception of life was especially deep.

Therefore, when it came to music, she was especially talented.

And this reasoning was something that Mo Qing Wu had pondered for a long time before suddenly having an epiphany. While Miss Xiao Wu was the zither master, she was still young so how could she have undergone the sufferings that Mo Qing Wu had?

“A melody is not for expressing a kind of mood; it is another method for telling a story! And I think that the audience should feel the joyful and sorrowful emotions in that story as they listen to it.”

Chu Yang said quietly, “You do not need to open your mouth to speak or give any sort of introduction about that story. And yet, you are able to make anyone who listens to the melody feel the emotions of uniting, parting, anger, pain, death…”

“Allowing the listeners to hear the whole story through their own interpretations!”

Miss Xiao Lu sat with a serious countenance as she thought about each sentence Chu Yang just spoke, word by word. This kind of respectful demeanor was one that only appeared when the zither master sat opposite of her own teacher.

But at this moment, Miss Xiao Lu could sense that the Minister Chu sitting in front of her was younger than her. And yet he was deserving of such a treatment!

While his words seemed incredible at first, after careful considerations, they were infinitely mysterious. In order to achieve the realm he described, how much more effort would I have to put in?

“But each word has to come from the heart, and each heart is different. How can I express the story that I want to tell?”

“Of course there is a difference from person to person. Different people have different lives and different states of mind! A story written by one person could be sad, inspirational by another, or humorous by someone else. It could even change again after that…”

Chu Yang said softly, “There are also people who can make the story dull, also people who would write in such a way that makes others think, and also those who could make it sound magnificent…”

“You should note that stories in this world might come in different forms, but essentially remain the same!” Chu Yang said casually, “An old story, while written ten thousand times, would still essentially… be an old story. Unchanged!”

“I think I understand a little…” Miss Xiao Lu mused and nodded lightly.

“At the peak of musical mastery, you can control people’s emotions. If you want people to cry, they will cry! If you want people to smile, they will unconsciously smile. All sorts of changes, completely up to you!”

“While you are currently called the zither master, the gap between you and such a realm is…” Chu Yang let out a long sigh and said, “… very large… You cannot reach it yet!”

“Yes!” Miss Xiao Lu respectfully poured tea for Chu Yang, “Big Brother Chu, please enlighten me more.”

Ah, from Minister Chu to Big Brother Chu, this was an extremely large change. It was a fundamental change in attitude that showed that this zither master was impressed.

“No need to be so formal. I also hope that I can leave a mark on the path to the top of a talented zither master.” Chu Yang said casually, “You should know that it is a great honor for me!”

Miss Xiao Lu chuckled softly, “Big Brother Chu, I know you are… clearly flattering me… but it still makes me feel a little smug.”

Chu Yang laughed, and seemed to have a sudden thought, “Could it be… that you still need compliments from people now?”

The two people looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

“Big Brother Chu seems to have such a profound understanding about music.” Miss Xiao Lu smiled and said, “I wonder if this little sister could have the fortune of listening to Big Brother Chu play.”

Chu Yang immediately became panicky. He wiped off his sweat and smiled, “Ah Lu, you have poked at my pain. This big brother is so embarrassed. I am just telling you some of my reasoning; if you put me on stage… cough cough, you should feel sorry for your zither…”

“Haha…” Miss Xiao Lu laughed. Chu Yang was essentially taking her on as his little sister. (TLN: In Jiang Hu, all close friends are brothers and sisters… but you already know that.) Plus, he had unconsciously called her Ah Lu. Only people who were close to each other addressed each other that way. Therefore, he had unintentionally decreased the distance between the two of them.

Moreover, not only did Miss Xiao Lu did not object to this, she responded with his embarrassed reaction amicably.

“If so, then I will not trouble Big Brother Chu Yang any further.” Miss Xiao Lu rolled her eyes and smiled.

The moment he heard the words Big Brother Chu Yang, he immediately thought about Mo Qing Wu. And thinking about Mo Qing Wu’s lovable figure, Big Brother Chu Yang could not help but smile warmly and lovingly, “Good little sister.”