Ting~
The music notes from the zither flowed throughout the entire Dragon Pavilion, sounding as though the heavens were singing, and Yuan progressively got better at playing the zither the longer he played it.
Within minutes after he touched his first zither, Yuan’s skills and movements have already drastically changed, even playing the zither in his own style.
This shocked Fairy Fei, who cried inwardly, ’His hand movements have changed! It looked like he was copying my style at first, but he suddenly started using his own style! What does this mean? Is this really his first time playing the zither? But... that’s impossible!’
A few more minutes later, after playing the final music note in the song, Yuan stopped moving his hands and turned to look at Fairy Fei before speaking, "What do you think? Although it was a bit rough, I have managed to play the song properly."
’Rough?! You call that performance ’rough’?!’ Both Chu Bo and Fairy Fei cried inwardly after hearing his words.
"..."
Fairy Fei stared at Yuan with a profound frown on her face, and she spoke after a moment of silence, "Play it again."
"Excuse me?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"I said play the zither again. You said I had several flaws in my performance, right? Well, you’re going to play every single song that I’d made a mistake in for me."
"Uhhh... I don’t mind, but my time at the Dragon Pavilion is already up..." Yuan said, mostly because he also wanted to play the zither for a little bit longer after finding out how entertaining it was.
Fairy Fei then turned to look at Chu Bo before speaking, "I will pay for his extra time."
"Y-Yes, Senior apprentice-sister!" Chu Bo nodded nervously.
"You can stay here as long as necessary now," Fairy Fei said after she returned to looking at Yuan.
Yuan nodded and continued to play the zither a moment later, playing a completely different song this time.
Ting~
’This is my original song, Swan Flying Above the Heavens! Let’s see if he can play it properly!’ Fairy Fei proceeded to stare at Yuan with a sharp gaze and without blinking, almost like she couldn’t afford to miss even the slightest movement from him.
However, the longer she listened to Yuan play, the more Fairy Fei admired Yuan’s skills, especially his hand movements, even feeling a little bit agitated that Yuan was playing her original song better than herself!
As for Yuan, the more he played with the zither the more comfortable he got with the instrument, and he even started to play the zither with his eyes closed midway through the third song.
Ting~
Once Yuan began playing his fourth song, Fairy Fei took a seat next to him and closed her eyes, fully indulging herself in Yuan’s zither play.
Very quickly, Fairy Fei found herself completely absorbed in Yuan’s performance, feeling as though each music note played by Yuan was massaging her body and mind.
The other guests in the Dragon Pavilion also felt the same, and most of them had even stopped eating their food to fully focus on the music.
"Did Fairy Fei reach a new level with her zither? I have listened to her zither play many times before but this is the first time I am feeling this way..."
"Yes... I can feel a warm sensation all over my body just from listening to this music... I wouldn’t mind spending all of my contribution points if I can listen to this a little bit longer..."
A little over an hour later, Yuan finished his 7th and final song.
"I am finished," Yuan turned to look at Fairy Fei and said to her afterward.
However, there was no response from Fairy Fei who was sitting beside him with her eyes still closed, seemingly asleep.
"Uhhh..." Yuan didn’t want to disturb her peaceful mood, so he stood up and quietly walked away.
"A-Are you really going to leave her like this?" Chu Bo asked Yuan in a low and nervous voice when he noticed that Yuan was leaving.
"Yes, I have somewhere that I need to be," Yuan responded, and he said, "The food was really good. I’ll definitely return when I have the time."
Once Yuan left the Dragon Pavilion, Chu Bo remained standing in the same spot and patiently waited for Fairy Fei to open her eyes again.
However, unbeknownst to Chu Bo, Fairy Fei was actually experiencing enlightenment at this very moment after listening to Yuan play the zither, hence why she remained still even many hours later.
By the time Fairy Fei opened her eyes again, Yuan was already long gone.
’To think I’d experience enlightenment from that Outer Court disciple’s performance... Just who is this young man?’ Fairy Fei wondered to herself after she emerged from her enlightenment, feeling as though her comprehension with the zither went up by a whole level.
"W-Where did that disciple go?!" Fairy Fei asked Chu Bo with a dumbfounded look on her face when she realized that Yuan had disappeared.
"T-That disciple has already left... six hours ago..." Chu Bo responded with a sweaty back.
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"What?! He actually disappeared without a word?! And you just let him leave?!" Fairy Fei slammed the table with her palms, causing it to tremble.
"I-I’m sorry, Senior apprentice-sister... I thought you wouldn’t mind, and I didn’t dare to make him stay for too long," Chu Bo quickly apologized.
"What was that disciple’s name again?" Fairy Fei then asked with a frown on her face.
"Disciple Yuan."
"Disciple Yuan... Do you know anything about him? His background? Anything at all!" Fairy Fei asked Chu Bo.
"N-No..." Chu Bo quickly shook his head. "I only know that this is his first time at the Dragon Pavilion and that he’s a new disciple."
"First time at the Dragon Pavilion?! So he listened to my songs for the first time today?! And he somehow managed to play it so perfectly?!" Fairy Fei’s jaw dropped to the floor when she realized the real situation.
’Disciple Yuan... Disciple Yuan... Just who are you?’ Fairy Fei stared at the zither on the table that had a lonely aura to it, almost like the zither was also upset that Yuan had left it behind.