I Added the Sheng

With a calm heart, Liu Ronglan listened carefully to the music played by the trio. She was certain that it was not any of the songs she knew.

Yet there was something familiar within it.

Checking the list of songs, Liu Ronglan found the source of familiarity.

Is it adapted from the source palace of isolation from the world, the piano piece Yuenzhigong?

The adaptation had altered almost all the melodies; if not for the song's title, Liu Ronglan would not have been able to identify it for a while.

These three youngsters actually adapted a piano piece into a guzheng, flute, and sheng ensemble!

Closing her eyes, Liu Ronglan listened to the music.

The piano piece Yuenzhigong is a popular song. In mythology, the Yuenzhigong is the residence of immortals, and this piece depicts the beauty of their dwelling.

In the piano, this song gives a European sense of extravagance, but when performed with ancient instruments from another region, the extravagance becomes more restrained, and a sense of tranquility emerges.

In Liu Ronglan's mind, there appeared an endless wooden corridor suspended over a river, the columns on both sides painted with bright red lacquer, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Beside the columns supporting the corridor, red koi fish were swimming.

There were no spectacular views, no peculiar architecture – only simple wooden buildings and the calm water below.

As the melody changed, the red koi fish swam, causing ripples in the water and making the flowers' fragrance disperse.

Not only Liu Ronglan, the rest of the audience were also attracted by the peaceful and melodious music, finding themselves in the serene Yuenzhigong.

The song was long, and even after seven minutes had not ended. Standing on the corridor and looking at the koi fish in the water, Liu Ronglan suddenly felt something was wrong.

The melody had a slight change, the water became even more tranquil, not leaving any ripples, the red koi fish swam around the column, their movements a bit stiff, as if programmed.

Inhaling the smell in the air, the faint fragrance seemed to be hiding a hint of decay.

Furrowing her brow, Liu Ronglan wanted to discern it more carefully, but the song had already come to an abrupt end.

Surrounding listeners applauded, they did not hear the hidden meaning in the end, only rejoicing at the birth of a new song.

Only experts like Liu Ronglan and sensitive listeners had some perception of it.

Liu Ronglan asked her companion, "You're one of the ones who judged the songs, right? What's going on with that last part of the melody?"

Liu Ronglan believed that those who received the audio must not have overlooked the final feeling, and the last section must have been studied and concluded by them.

However, her companion was also puzzled, "No, the song submitted before didn't have this feeling in the last section. This is different from what they submitted before!"

"No, it's exactly the same," another musician who had heard the previous song said, "It's the sheng, the sheng's notes are the same, but he changed the blowing method."

"Sheng?" Liu Ronglan looked at Xia Yu.

Just now, in the song, her mind echoed, she had thought that the guzheng and flute were the main parts of the song, but now she realized that the feeling of tranquility followed by decay was all due to the sheng.

The sound of the sheng was hidden between the sounds of the guzheng and the bamboo flute, so it was overlooked by her. It was precisely because it was hidden and unobtrusive that the sheng could make the melody more vivid and the emotional changes more subtle.

This was not something that could be achieved by an ordinary level of skill. To what extent had Xia Yu's sheng playing reached?

The two Gu brothers were similarly astonished.

They were confident that no piece could defeat them, but this piece was created out of thin air and was not among all the others.

Stretching out their hands, they took out their phones and disregarded their presence at the venue, immediately logging onto the music forum of Zone 1.

At this moment, the forum was filled with discussions about this piece, and no one cared about the two national heroes anymore.

The title that they had painstakingly hyped up had now been placed on the heads of Xia Yu and the others, serving as a foil for their rivals.

This was a long-planned move. In order to make a stunning appearance and achieve the best effect, they had never attended this performance before, just to make Zone 1's performance worse, and then they would come forward as saviors.

With no interest in listening to the remaining pieces, they returned to their hotel in a daze after the performance.

Even when Xia Yu and the others walked past them, they didn't seem to react.

Pulling back Liu Manman, who wanted to retaliate, Xia Yu and the others took the nearby elevator and returned to their respective rooms.

The performance had ended, but the conference was not over yet. There were still two more days of exchange events.

Uninterested in the exchange event, Xia Yu wondered whose banner he would flip today.

Would it be An Siyao, Xu Youxiang, or the black cat?

It was really entangling.

At this time, Liu Manman barged into his room again.

Putting Xia Yu's spare room card back in her pocket, Liu Manman showed him her phone with excitement: "We've been praised!"

Taking the phone, Xia Yu glanced at it. It was a piece of news report, about the performance of the two Zone 1 teams. Half of the content was about the Gu Brothers and the other half about Xia Yu's team.

It seemed evenly matched, but the picture accompanying the news was of Xia Yu and the others.

"And also here." Liu Manman showed him the music forum.

The hottest post on the forum was discussing the third piece played by Xia Yu and the others - the Palace of Origin, isolated from the mundane world.

The user who created the post said a few words and included a picture.

I found the song's registration in the Music Association's database! This piece was composed by Xia Yu and An Siyao together! Speaking of Xia Yu, one cannot help but mention his legendary life...

The picture below was a screenshot from the music database.

Staring at the poster's nickname, Kong Jiajiu, Xia Yu looked at the comments below:

As expected from our talented Yu, so skilled and versatile.

An Siyao is the best in the world!

This piece is adapted from the piano song Palace of Origin. From this section of the musical notation and this image, we can see...

Poor guzheng beauty Manman, it seems like she's just there to make up the numbers.

There seemed to be an odd comment mixed in.

"I've already had several brands looking for me to endorse them. It's really annoying." Liu Manman said proudly.

Only then did Xia Yu remember that Liu Manman was also a guzheng star.

"By the way, Xia Yu, there will be another performance in three months..." Liu Manman tried to pull him along.

"I refuse," Xia Yu said without hesitation.

"I'll invite An Siyao to go as well!" Liu Manman added.

"What does An Siyao's presence have to do with me, Xia Yu?" Xia Yu still refused, knowing that unless he revealed his identity, An Siyao wouldn't pay him any mind, so naturally, he wouldn't waste his efforts.

Liu Manman was puzzled by his inconsistent attitude.

After thinking for a moment, she looked at Xia Yu with disbelief: "From the beginning, you intended to target Xu Youxiang in An Siyao's villa!"

Keeping Xia Yu's cunning ways in mind, Liu Manman went to brag to Liu Ronglan.

After she left, Xia Yu opened the forum of the Eastern Hometown.

The purpose of this performance was to complete the task, obtain the opportunity to retrieve his body, and gain a body with medical skills. To complete the task, he needed the love of the students from the Eastern Hometown.

What did the students of the Eastern Hometown think?

Originally, a global performance and a new song would have generated heat, and with the help of the Gu brothers, the heat would have risen even more.

Now, can the mission be successful?