Chapter 111: Waterborne Heavenly Demon Dance
Qin Mu slowly exhaled a turbid breath. This news was too astonishing; he couldn't help but take his time digesting it.
Although the official position of Imperial Academy Grand Sacrificial Official was only of the third rank, which didn't seem very high, it was far too important. The Imperial Academy governed all the techniques and divine abilities of the world, compiling them into scrolls. It could be said to be the sacred site among sacred sites of the world's martial arts and divine abilities, supreme and unrivaled.
Moreover, the officials of Yan Kang Kingdom often came from the Imperial Academy. Every person who walked out of there could be said to be a disciple of the Young Patriarch, bound by the bond of master and apprentice.
This official position wasn't grand, but its power to rally people was immense!
Coupled with the hidden identity of the Young Patriarch, it became utterly terrifying.
Fu Qingyun said, "Since you've come to my place, Young Master, rest for a few days first. We'll go to the Imperial Academy another day. However, if you wish to enter the Imperial Academy, you must pass some tests."
Qin Mu was puzzled. "What tests?"
"The Imperial Academy is not a place just anyone can enter. One must first become an Imperial Scholar to gain entry."
Fu Qingyun smiled. "The Patriarch's intention is naturally for you to become an Imperial Scholar first. This year's Imperial Scholar examination is about to begin. You will take the exam alongside scholars from all over. Once you pass, you can enter."
"Thank you, Sister Yun'er."
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "I don't have a place to stay yet, so I'll stay here with you for a few days."
Fu Qingyun lowered her voice. "It's certainly fine for you to stay here, Young Master, but you must be wary of a few little vixens I have here. They have many schemes and are eager to climb over me to become the Young Patriarch's wife."
Qin Mu's face flushed bright red. He stammered, "There are such matters?"
Fu Qingyun chuckled. "Young Master, you won't be able to withstand their provocations like this. Come with me; I've arranged a room for you."
The room Fu Qingyun arranged was quite elegant, but judging by its decor, it seemed like a place where a girl lived. Even the bedding was fragrant. Fu Qingyun quickly said, "This is where I rest. If you're not satisfied, Young Master, we can switch to another room."
"No need."
Qin Mu placed his bundle on the table, but Fu Qingyun still hadn't left the room. She bit her bright red lips and said softly, "Does the Young Master have any other instructions?"
"No, thank you, Sister Yun'er."
As Qin Mu spoke, the bundle moved, and a little white fox carrying a small pack of its own crawled out. Fu Qingyun glanced at it, turned, and walked out, muttering, "No wonder, so he brought his own little fox spirit..."
Fox Ling'er reeked of alcohol. Qin Mu frowned and said, "Ling'er, you were hiding in the bundle and sneaking drinks!"
"No!"
The white fox was drunk, suddenly letting out a burp, then quickly closing her mouth, only to burp again. She stood up on her hind legs, wobbling, and nearly fell off the table.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He took an empty wine flask from the bundle and said, "Still denying it? I've been studying the Great Cultivation Demon Scripture these past few days and found a technique suitable for you, called the Creation Spirit Art. I've fully comprehended it and planned to teach it to you, but you've gone and gotten dead drunk again."
The fox on the table finally tumbled off. Qin Mu picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. Fox Ling'er hugged the pillow and fell asleep. Qin Mu had been exhausted from evading the Dragon Taming Sect's pursuit, so he lay down and soon fell into a deep sleep.
By nightfall, he woke up hungry. He got up and saw Fox Ling'er still sleeping, so he didn't disturb her.
Qin Mu took out the medicinal paste and tooth twig from his bundle, washed up, and stepped out of the room. Outside the door was a girl who, upon seeing Qin Mu, brightened and said with a smile, "The Young Master is awake. Sister knew you must be hungry, so she prepared a meal and had me wait here to invite you to dine."
Qin Mu thanked her and followed her to an elegant room in the Rain Listening Pavilion. By the window, bamboo stood tall, and through the bamboo, one could see a pavilion, rockery, and a pond—very serene.
Qin Mu sat down, and several girls filed in, setting down dishes. Before long, the table was full. In the pavilion outside the window, a girl in white arrived carrying a zither. She sat in the pavilion and gently began to play. After a while, a few more girls came, some holding pipas, some with long flutes, and some carrying guzhengs, and they began to play and sing.
Qin Mu ate his meal, watching and listening intently, feeling completely at ease.
His gaze fell on the dancing fingers of the girl playing the zither. Without realizing it, he set down his chopsticks and began to mimic her finger movements. After a while, his attention shifted to the pipa player, studying her plucking techniques, and then to the flutist's fingerwork, completely absorbed.
"Finger Snap Thunderclap Pipa Hand—it's not just about plucking; there's also picking, wiping, hooking, flicking, striking, plucking..."
Qin Mu's eyes grew brighter and brighter. The finger techniques of the girls in the pavilion made his own fingers increasingly excited. Comparing them to the Thunderclap Eight Forms he had practiced, he felt his understanding of the Finger Snap Thunderclap Pipa Hand technique deepening. A sense of sudden enlightenment washed over him, and he longed to leap out and play a passionate tune himself!
Watching the girls play stirred a desire in him to play as well, a fire that burned hotter and hotter. However, he knew little about music and dared not rashly intrude upon these lovely ladies.
But that desire grew more and more restless.
He was so absorbed that he forgot to eat. His ten fingers moved as if strumming a zither, plucking a pipa, pressing on a flute, or plucking a guzheng.
The girls in the pavilion seemed to notice the young man at the window. One of them whispered with a laugh, "Sister Yue'er, the Young Master is looking at you! He seems to have taken a liking to you!"
The girl blushed shyly and lowered her head, unable to lift it.
Just then, Qin Mu finally lost himself in his excitement. He stood up and stepped forward, crashing through the window frame with a loud bang. In a few strides, he reached the pavilion and, without a word, snatched the pipa from the hands of that sister Yue'er.
The girls in the pavilion had initially thought the Young Patriarch was about to get rough and seize the girl, but to their surprise, he didn't grab Sister Yue'er—he grabbed the pipa instead.
Qin Mu seemed to enter a strange state. He cradled the pipa in his arms and gently plucked it, but instead of a clear, melodious sound, it produced a crackling thunderclap that startled the girls!
Qin Mu played with abandon, his ten fingers flying across the pipa. The thunderclaps sounded like beautiful music to his ears, pleasant and captivating, completely disrupting the girls' zither, flute, and guzheng melodies.
These girls had put great effort into their music. Just as they were thrown off by the thunderous sounds he played, they quickly adjusted, their expressions turning serious as they played on, trying to overpower the noise Qin Mu was making.
Deng! Deng! Deng!
Suddenly, the thunderous sound Qin Mu played shifted, becoming forceful and resolute, like the clashing of metal and stone. A fierce, warlike aura burst forth, once again overwhelming the girls' melodies. The pipa under his fingers produced strange, discordant notes that left everyone exchanging bewildered glances.
The girls, however, grew competitive. The zither player slapped her instrument, and the guzheng stood upright, a foot off the ground. She played it vertically, her ten fingers flying so fast that the notes blurred together, making it impossible for the ear to distinguish each one.
The flutist stood up, her steps moving unconsciously. With each step, her aura grew stronger, and the sound of her flute became clearer and sharper. The melody spiraled upward, determined to suppress the strange sounds from Qin Mu's pipa.
Another girl picked up a large ruan, her trailing ribbons fluttering as she occasionally tapped the ground, lifting herself into the air to suppress Qin Pei's strange sounds from above.
Yet another girl ran out of the pavilion. Moments later, she pushed out a large yangqin from the room and began striking it with mallets. The clear, stirring notes of the yangqin seemed on the verge of transforming into a divine ability, pushing the girl and the instrument forward as she pressed down on Qin Mu and the noise he was making.
Another girl dashed out of the pavilion. With a loud bang, she tore down the door and pushed out a set of bronze bells—fifty-six in total, of varying sizes. She held a mallet and struck the bells, their resonant tones ringing out. Each of the fifty-six bells produced a different sound, all crashing toward Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was completely lost in his ecstasy, clutching the pipa and laughing heartily. The pipa had a limited range of notes, but in his hands, it conjured the clashing of weapons and the thunder of warhorses, as if entering a battlefield shrouded in dark clouds where gods and demons slaughtered each other. Amidst lightning and thunder, the gods and demons ran amok, displaying their might!
In his mind, everything—the Thunderclap Eight Forms taught by Master Ma, the swordsmanship of Village Chief, the leg techniques of Cripple, the blade techniques of Butcher, and the hammer techniques of Mute—was all woven into his playing.
The Great Cultivation Demon Scripture also had chapters on music, and now they all flooded into his mind, making the sound of his pipa urgent and fierce, the killing intent growing heavier. Faintly, the pipa's notes began to mix with divine sounds, demonic sounds, and a hint of Buddhist chanting.
Suddenly, the pavilion couldn't withstand the combined force of everyone's music and shattered into pieces. As the girls and Qin Mu were about to fall into the pond, they quickly erupted with their primal energies, steadying themselves on the water's surface.
The girls walked on the water, circling around Qin Mu, their music growing faster and more intense. Qin Mu's primal energy burst forth as he held the pipa upright in the air, his ten fingers dancing. The pipa's notes clattered and clashed, fending off the music coming from all directions.
Suddenly, the strings of the pipa snapped one by one. Qin Mu threw the pipa aside, and the girls felt a surge of joy. But then, the pond water rose up, forming strands of water that swirled around Qin Mu. No longer constrained by the pipa's size, he used the water strands as strings, plucking them. Thunderous sounds erupted, shaking the girls and sending them stumbling.
"What are you all fussing about?"
Fu Qingyun approached and saw the girls retreating in defeat. Suddenly, one of them burst into laughter, threw away her bamboo flute, and began dancing wildly to Qin Mu's rhythm, her clothes in disarray.
Fu Qingyun looked surprised. She quickly returned to her room to fetch her pipa and said, "The Young Master is comprehending a divine ability. Sisters, withdraw. I'll assist him!"
As she spoke, the girls were utterly defeated, manipulated by Qin Mu's music. They danced and swayed on the water, laughing in a demonic manner.
Fu Qingyun shook her head repeatedly. The sound of her pipa rang out, suppressing the music Qin Mu was playing with the flowing water. The girls finally snapped out of it and quickly bowed to Fu Qingyun before retreating from the pond.