"Disciple Fei, Disciple Xuan! Wake up!" Elder Shan walked into the room shouting their name, startling them awake.
"M-Master? What are you doing in our room?" Fei Yuyan asked her with a drowsy face, clearly still half asleep.
"It’s already morning! Aren’t you going to meet with Master Zou today?" Elder Shan reminded her.
Fei Yuyan’s eyes widened when she noticed Yuan standing by the door, and she woke up almost instantly, "I-I am sorry! I overslept!"
Fei Yuyan quickly got off the bed with a flushed face, feeling embarrassed to be seen in such a messy appearance by Yuan.
Xuan Wuhan also got off the bed and quickly fixed her appearance.
Sometime later, Elder Shan asked them, "Are you ready?"
"Yes..." Fei Yuyan nodded.
After the ladies fixed their appearances and washed their faces, they began making their way towards the Zou Family’s household that took almost two hours of walking.
As they approached the Zou Family, Yuan could hear many people playing the zither, sounding somewhat in tune with each other.
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"The Zou Family have zither lectures for those who wish to play the zither," Fei Yuyan said to Yuan after noticing that his interest was piqued.
"Let’s go inside."
A few moments later, they arrived at the gates, where a young guard stood.
"We’re here to see Senior Zou. We’ve already notified him in advance that we’ll be showing up today," Fei Yuyan said to the guard, who was instantly dazed by her beauty.
"W-W-What is your name?" The guard asked her in a nervous voice.
"Fei Yuyan."
"I-I will be right back!"
The guard turned around and ran away, acting like a shy boy running away from his crush.
A few minutes later, the guard returned with an old man wearing white robes.
"Greetings, Senior Zou." Fei Yuyan clasped her hands and bowed to him respectfully.
"It’s been a while, Disciple Fei." Senior Zou nodded his head at her.
He then turned to look at the two elders standing behind her and bowed to them, "Welcome to the Zou Family, fellow Daoists."
"Thank you for seeing us despite being a busy man yourself, Master Zou."
Elder Xuan and Elder Shan returned his bow with their own.
"Of course. I wouldn’t miss this chance for the world." Senior Zou said with a smile on his face before he turned to look at Yuan, who was still wearing his black jade mask.
"So you must be the one who can play my Soul Ensnaring Zither, huh? Can I have your name?" Senior Zou asked him.
"You can call me Yuan," he responded.
"I see... Please, follow me. Let’s continue this somewhere more private and peaceful." Senior Zou said as he turned around and began walking.
"Soul Ensnaring Zither? Why does this name sound so familiar?" Elder Xuan asked Elder Shan.
"Soul Ensnaring Zither... If I am correct, it used to belong to the Zither Goddess before she ascended from the Lower Heavens, and it is also known as the ’cursed instrument’ since nobody could play it ever since she left it behind." Elder Shan explained to him.
"I see... And we’re here today because Disciple Yuan can apparently play it?" Elder Xuan mumbled.
"Why am I not even surprised?" Elder Shan said with a smile on her face.
A few minutes later, they arrived at this peaceful courtyard behind the main building.
"Here’s the Soul Ensnaring Zither," Senior Zou said as he pointed at the beautiful black zither sitting on a round jade table in the courtyard.
"This instrument has been with my family ever since the Zither Goddess left it behind 25,000 years ago, and it has been waiting for a new owner since then."
He then turned to look at Yuan and continued with a serious expression on his face, "Young man... can you really play the Soul Ensnaring Zither?"
Yuan nodded with a serious face.
Senior Zou did not say anything else and took a step to the side, giving Yuan a clear path to the zither with clear indications.
Seeing this, Yuan walked to the round jade table and took a seat in front of the Soul Ensnaring Zither.
Although it has been less than a day since he last saw the instrument, it felt much longer has passed for Yuan.
After taking a deep breath, Yuan placed his fingers on the zither and closed his eyes, recalling the song played by the Zither Goddess.
Ting~
The strings on the Soul Ensnaring Zither trembled, emitting a heavenly sound that instantly caused Senior Zou’s eyes to widen with shock.
’H-He’s really playing the zither!’ Senior Zou stared at Yuan’s fingers and watched his flawless hand movements with a gawking expression.
Very quickly, Senior Zou as well as everyone else that was there became mesmerized by Yuan’s zither performance.
’Heavens... It’s only been a couple of days since I last heard his zither music and it has already improved by leaps and bounds— to the point where I cannot even compare it to his performance a few days ago!’ Elder Shan cried inwardly.
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’This is... Disciple Yuan’s zither arts? Is there anything he cannot do so perfectly?’ Elder Xuan sighed inwardly.
’Disciple Yuan...’ Fei Yuyan stared at Yuan with a perplexed expression on her face. Although the black jade mask was blocking Yuan’s face, she could still somehow see his handsome face, and the longer she stared at him, the more heated her face felt.
A few minutes later, Yuan stopped playing the zither, and he turned to look at the dazed Senior Zou.
"What do you think?" Yuan decided to ask.
"Do I even need to answer that question...?" A bittersweet smile appeared on Senior Zou’s face.
Despite having over 100 years of experience with the zither, he still felt inferior in front of Yuan who appeared to be a very young man. If he knew that Yuan had only been playing the zither for about a week, perhaps he might even be puking out blood right now from shock.
A few moments later, Senior Zou suddenly lowered his head and said to Yuan in a sincere voice, "Thank you... for letting me experience the Soul Ensnaring Zither’s brilliance, as I was convinced that I would never get to witness someone playing it properly— at least not in this life."