Bad times felt like they lasted forever while good times always seemed to fly by in a flash.


    Before Lu Zhiying realised it, the song had already come to an end.


    “How is it?” Zhao Yunxiao asked. “We are pretty good, aren’t we?”


    Lu Zhiying nodded profusely.


    ‘pretty good’ was a gross understatement here.


    To Lu Zhiying who had never been directly exposed to the world of cultivators before coming to Purple Plum Mountain, she was absolutely blown away by what she just heard!


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    Pii-! Pii-!


    That was exactly what Lu Zhiying felt when the sound coming from her flute sounded nothing like Zhao Yunxiao’s.


    “How is it? Difficult, isn’t it?” Zhao Yunxiao said smugly. “It’s not that easy to sound as cool as me.”


    “Are you that happy that Junior Martial Sister Lu is not doing well?” Gu Qiansi chided before turning back to Lu Zhiying. “Do you not like the flute?”


    Lu Zhiying shook her head while passing the flute back to Zhao Yunxiao. “I don’t think this suits me.”


    “Why don’t you try the zither instead?” Huang An offered timidly. “I find it more interesting that the flute as well.”


    “Can I?” Lu Zhiying’s face lit up once again.


    “Of course!” Huang An beamed while emptying her seat. “Here. Try to pluck at one or two of the strings gently to get a basic feel of it.”


    “Okay!” Lu Zhiying sat down and placed her hands over the zither.


    In her head, she recalled how Huang An’s hands had danced atop the zither earlier, and positioned her hands in the same manner.


    Deng-! Dang-! Ding-!


    A series of random notes sounded out at the same time as Lu Zhiying’s hands busily moved up and down the zither board.


    To phrase it nicely, the resulting zither tune was nothing but a complete mess.


    Thankfully, Lu Zhiying stopped after only a few moments.


    She frowned while looking at Huang An. “I tried to follow the same movements that you did, but why does it sound so different?”


    Huang An: “...”


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


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    “No, I can’t sing,” Lu Zhiying shook her head. “Don’t let me disturb your practice though, feel free to continue. I will just sit back and enjoy the show.”


    She might not have had the chance to try learning an instrument in the past, but singing did not require any expensive equipment.


    Because of that, Lu Zhiying already had plenty of opportunities to find out that she had no talent in singing.


    Gu Qiansi looked at Lu Zhiying for a good few moments and, after confirming that she was not too affected by the matter, turned to nod at Bo Fei.


    “All right, second song. Let’s go,” Bo Fei gave the cue, and the music started once again.


    The song might be different, but it was certainly no less impressive than before.


    Lu Zhiying once again immersed herself into the world of music, swaying her body along with the tunes.


    At one point, she started closing her eyes, imagining in her mind a new fantasy world that corresponded to the music she was hearing.


    A cold winter breeze hit her face in the lightest of manners, yet it proved sufficient to sweep her spirit away, carrying her along with the it to the centre of a wide grassland.


    There, she was surrounded by myriad flowers of all colours, their floral aromas flavouring the air with the scent of tranquility.


    Beautiful butterflies skipped from one flowerbed to another, creating an illusion that they were simply flowers had grown wings, dancing around her cheerfully as a silent welcome to their world.


    As though infected by the butterflies, Lu Zhiying could not help but smile, her body moving along with her new little friends.


    Just like that, Lu Zhiying danced alone in this imaginary world of hers, her accompaniment being the butterflies and flowers, as well as the enchanting song that was continuously entering her head.


    She did not know how to dance, but that did not matter.


    All she needed to do was allow her little friends to guide her along, allowing her body and limbs to move in tandem to their movements around her.


    Unknowingly, she had made her way from the side of the pavilion to the very centre, and was now standing right in the middle of her four senior disciples.


    “Haha, I guess I got carried away,” Lu Zhiying laughed while scratching her cheek in embarrassment.


    “No, don’t be sorry! This is great!” Bo Fei immediately answered. “What you just did was great!”


    “Eh?” Lu Zhiying tilted her head in confusion.


    “I think you did great too, Junior Martial Sister Lu!” Huang An pumped her fists in encouragement.


    “Eh? Eh?”


    “Have you learnt how to dance before?” Gu Qiansi asked with a smile.


    “Who are you kidding, Gu Qiansi? Does that kind of simple dance look like it needs to be learnt?” Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes. “She just has a face that’s like a cheat. With those looks of hers, she’ll look amazing just standing there. The dance is just something extra on top.”


    “Dance?” Lu Zhiying finally understood what was going on.


    It appeared that although she thought she was only dancing in her imaginary world, she was actually dancing in reality as well.


    “Can you stop being so harsh?” Gu Qiansi snapped at Zhao Yunxiao before turning back to Lu Zhiying.


    “No, I’ve not learnt how to dance before,” Lu Zhiying answered. “But from the looks of it, it seems like I didn’t do too badly, but didn’t do too well either?”


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    “What?” Lu Zhiying was seriously taken aback this time.


    She was a complete novice when it came to the performing arts, and now they suddenly wanted her to join their performance?


    “That’s a great idea!” Huang An immediately agreed with the suggestion.


    “That will give a huge visual impact for sure,” Gu Qiansi nodded approvingly.


    “Can I though?” Lu Zhiying was still a little uncertain despite their encouragement. “Aren’t you performing for the New Year celebration? But New Year is just around the corner, will I really be able to learn enough within this one week or so?”


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    His words instantly drew the attention of all four other members of the group.


    “Really?” Lu Zhiying asked in astonishment. “That’ll be great!”


    However, Lu Zhiying was the only one who was surprised.


    As for the other three, what they felt was perhaps closer to something like apprehension.


    “You?” Gu Qiansi snorted in disdain. “Zhao Yunxiao, is something wrong with your head? Out of everyone here, you are the least qualified to teach Junior Martial Sister Lu how to dance!”


    “Senior Martial Sister Gu is right,” Huang An added timidly. “Senior Martial Brother Zhao, don’t you remember your dancing skills...?”


    </a> “It’s not that I want to say this, Junior Martial Brother Zhao. But you really need to know your limits,” Bo Fei let out a sympathetic sigh. “I don’t know where your confidence is coming from, but no, you have no idea how to dance either.”


    Zhao Yunxiao: “...”


    All I said is that I can help, not that I will be the one teaching!


    Why can’t you guys just be patient and wait for me to finish speaking instead of rending my heart with such merciless verbal assaults?