Thanks for Exalted, Gallerhad and Michael Thunder for becoming as Supporters!
===BREAK===
Ganyu and Lumine went to find Dvorak to report the search results, while Cloud Retainer and Shenhe were going to inspect the house, so the group split into two teams and went their separate ways.
Victor Wang naturally continued to act together with Shenhe, and along the way, Cloud Retainer signaled with her eyes and deliberately lagged a few steps behind Shenhe to walk beside him.
"I observe that on Shenhe, there is only one red cord truly left to suppress the baleful aura, yet I cannot sense much baleful energy at all… For this child to grow into what she is now, saving you back then was not in vain after all."
"Of course, I could never fail to live up to your and Shenhe's life-saving grace, but more importantly, Shenhe herself has grown."
Cloud Retainer shook her head. "I understand this better than you. If one wishes to no longer rely on red cords to suppress the baleful aura, there is in fact a way—one only needs an emotion more intense than the negative emotions of the baleful aura itself, and the baleful aura will naturally amount to nothing. It sounds simple… yet to think it was actually achieved. It seems interacting more with the outside world truly does have its benefits."
"..."
"And you now, ahem, how is your body?"
Cloud Retainer deliberately cleared her throat, and Victor Wang immediately understood what she meant.
Back at Mt. Aocang, he had only obtained the Anemo and Geo elements, with most of his body still retaining the appearance of a Hilichurl. Now that he had also gained Electro and Dendro, only his legs had yet to fully revert… oh, and the eye on his forehead—of the five extra eyes, three still remained.
In any case, Cloud Retainer had already stripped him to inspect him back at Mt. Aocang, so Victor Wang answered honestly. "It's much better than before."
Cloud Retainer was just about to speak when Shenhe, who had been paying close attention to their conversation, turned her head back. Her brows knit slightly as she looked at Victor Wang. "Are you injured?"
"No." Victor Wang shook his head in denial.
"Then what were you just talking about?"
"This master was merely reminding him to take care of his body while traveling, lest he worry his friends."
"Yes, that's exactly what the Adeptus meant."
Neither of them was willing to reveal even the slightest detail. Even if Shenhe wanted to ask further, there was no way she would get an answer.
For a time, things fell quiet just like that, though their destination had already arrived.
The house Shenhe bought was decorated in an elegant style. While not luxurious and lacking even a single piece of furniture, it was spacious and neat. After taking a full look around, Cloud Retainer was fairly satisfied. Having chosen the residence, she immediately returned to Mt. Aocang to pack her belongings and prepare for the move.
As for the remaining three rooms, Shenhe did not rush to choose. She asked Victor Wang, "Look, there are still so many rooms left. If you were to choose, which one would you like?"
"Me?"
Victor Wang shifted his steps slightly, passing by the doors of the remaining rooms. The layout of the house was somewhat special—three of the rooms were adjacent to each other, while one room alone sat at the corner of the house, conveniently connected to the staircase leading to the second floor. He said, "If it were up to me, I'd choose the one near the loft. Living there, if I feel like going upstairs to enjoy the view in the middle of the night, I wouldn't disturb the others."
Shenhe gathered her courage and said, "Then this room… will be… left… reserved."
Victor Wang let out a meaningful sigh. "But I can't stay in one place for long—at least, not right now."
"No need to rush…"
"Mm, then let's not talk about that for now. Furniture, furniture!"
The two of them then made their way to the furniture market. Victor Wang had a clear goal, searching for furnishings according to his past plans, but there was simply too much furniture and too many styles, making the process rather time-consuming. Only after making a full round did he finally purchase everything he had in mind.
Once the furniture was properly arranged inside Shenhe's house, the two halls and the two temporarily unoccupied rooms were completely transformed.
"It's really beautiful." Shenhe said sincerely.
"Of course it is—don't you see who arranged it!"
It was already mid-afternoon. At lunchtime they had been too busy to mention eating, and only now did they head together to Wanmin Restaurant.
Xiangling seemed to still be out at sea and had not returned, but they ran into Lumine and Paimon, who had come to eat. Apparently, they had also been busy with something earlier and only arrived at this time.
"Oh right, oh right," Paimon said as soon as they met, "I forgot to ask earlier—Victor, aren't you really good at the erhu? Do you want to participate in the music festival too?"
"Me? You want me to go on stage and play Erquan Yingyue—are you sure?" Victor Wang asked in return.
"Your erhu playing is so good, don't you have something more upbeat?"
"Since you're praising me that much… I actually do have one."
"Huh? The erhu can really play cheerful music? I thought… hurry up and let us hear it!"
There were no other customers in the shop. Chef Mao, Shenhe, and Lumine all looked at him expectantly. Victor Wang didn't refuse—he took out the erhu, tested the tuning a couple of times, found the right feel, and then began to play.
When it comes to erhu pieces, most people only know Erquan Yingyue. A step further, some can name Sai Ma (Horse Racing). Sai Ma is indeed passionate and joyful, but during festivals and celebrations, the piece Victor Wang was playing at this moment was the most fitting.
This piece was called Pleasant Goat. Its melody was exceedingly lively. Back in Earth, it practically dominated erhu repertoires during festive seasons. It was the kind of tune that most Shenzhou people had probably heard, yet couldn't name.
"So festive—this piece sounds incredibly festive! There's absolutely no problem with it. Are you really not considering joining the music festival?" Paimon commented while clapping her hands.
"Didn't you notice that this piece has absolutely no sense of story? Even from the perspective of my amateur erhu skills, this tune is only suitable as background music. If it's presented as a standalone program at a music festival, it's still a bit difficult."
"A sense of story?" Paimon scratched her head in thought. "That's true. When listening to Erquan Yingyue, I always feel like I'm seeing the entire life of someone down on their luck. This piece doesn't give that feeling… Do you have more? Any other good pieces?"
With nothing else to do, Victor Wang simply played Sai Ma as well. After finishing, he asked the listeners, "Guess what kind of story this piece tells?"
"It feels like chasing something? And the chase feels really tense!"
"That's right. This piece is called Sai Ma. A good piece is like this—once you've heard it just once, you can roughly grasp its meaning."
"Any more? Any more?"
Seeing that those who were supposed to cook weren't cooking and those who were supposed to eat weren't eating, all crowding around to listen, Victor Wang smiled. "Then I'll play one more."
He swept away the cheerful style of the previous two pieces. With a pull of the strings, a deep, desolate sorrow filled the air.
This time, he played Affections Touching Across Time. This was not a typical erhu piece—it was adapted from another work and something he had learned out of personal interest. The sorrowful melody paired with the erhu's tone was exceptionally fitting.
"Any more? Any more? It's a bit sad, but it sounds really good!"
"Then… one last piece. Just one last one, alright?"
After stating this in advance, Victor Wang drew the bow across the two strings that depended on each other for life, and an atmosphere of a bleak, moonlit night spread from the music.
This piece was called Moonlight.
Moonlight hue, a woman's fragrance…
The sound of the erhu was like a person crying out their heart. Though it lacked the lingering elegance of a flute, sorrow meeting sorrow beneath the moonlight carried a flavor all its own.
===BREAK===
Like the story and want more chapters?
Join and support me by joining my Patreon!
[email protected]/SiRoasa