Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 164: Calm Your Mind

Zhao Changhe lowered his head and sipped from his bowl of lotus seed soup. “I don’t want to become your disciple, and I recall that you were averse to such a relationship previously. Why don’t you seem to care now?”

“Martial arts are different from the guqin, go, calligraphy, and painting...” Tang Wanzhuang said softly. “If I were to take you in as a disciple in martial arts, it would be presumptuous and I would not be qualified... But there’s no issue when it comes to the four arts. Why are you unwilling?”

“I’ve been calling Tang Buqi eldest nephew all this time. If I were to suddenly be in the same generation as him, well, it just wouldn’t sit well with me.”

Seeing Tang Wanzhuang’s eyes suddenly widen, Zhao Changhe abruptly realized the implications of his words and hurriedly corrected himself. “No, I mean, I was just joking. I did not actually mean to say that I was or wanted to be his uncle... It’s just that if I become your disciple, I’ll lose the right to joke around with him. Besides, I’m younger than him. If I have to start calling him big brother... Ugh...”

The guqin-carrying maid turned her head as if to avoid the embarrassing sight. Is this man a child?!

Zhao Changhe’s face turned red under the strange gaze of the guqin-carrying maid, feeling embarrassed. “I’m just saying, you continue to entertain the assumption that I’m the prince, but if you find out that I’m really not, would you still feel the same way?”

Tang Wanzhuang smiled and said, “What’s the big deal? I just don’t want to see a junior in the jianghu become more and more impatient, following in my footsteps... Besides, you’ve done the Tang Clan a huge favor, so why can’t I lend you a hand?”

“Your footsteps... Doesn’t that mean that the four arts are actually useless? You hurriedly broke through and you still damaged your lung meridian.”

“But have you considered that, if I had not done so, the damage might not have just been limited to my lung meridian?”

“Well...”

Tang Wanzhuang’s expression became somewhat melancholic. “Perhaps the four arts are indeed useless... But as I said, they are simply meant to calm your mind and alleviate your restlessness. Would you prefer to recite Buddhist scriptures? That is also an option.”

“...Then I’ll learn the four arts.” Zhao Changhe hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to address her at the moment.

It was really strange. Yue Hongling was two months younger than him, but he had no problem addressing her as “big sister Yue.” Tang Wanzhuang, on the other hand, was eight years older than him, but he could not bring himself to call her big sister for some inexplicable reason.

Perhaps it was because their interactions always carried a sense of formality, and they had never evolved into any sort of personal relationship. Even teaching him the four arts was an official matter in her eyes. Saying that it was to help out a junior in the jianghu or the benefactor of the Tang Clan was just an excuse; she was really only helping him out because she saw him as the prince, and they both knew that.

Zhao Changhe still had no sense of belonging to Great Xia; if anything, he even somewhat resented it due to all that he had seen and experienced along the way. He wondered how Tang Wanzhuang would feel if he chose to overthrow the empire in the future.

In fact, they had never truly been on the same path. The feeling of camaraderie that he shared with Yue Hongling was completely different from what he felt with Tang Wanzhuang.

Perhaps it was also because... Seeing her pale complexion, looking like she could collapse with a gust of wind, always made people forget that was actually a formidable martial artist. The feeling of pity he held for her outweighed his respect for her, making him feel like she was the one who should be taken care of like a younger sister.

Anyway, the feelings he held for her were incredibly complex and contradictory.

Tang Wanzhuang’s beautiful eyes gazed at him for a moment, as if guessing what he was thinking. In the end, she decided not to ask, simply turned to the guqin-carrying maid, and said, “Give me the guqin.”

The guqin-carrying maid bowed slightly and placed the guqin on the table in front of Tang Wanzhuang.

Tang Wanzhuang gently stroked the strings of the guqin and said softly, “It’s true that I exhaust myself with worry, and my thoughts are tangled and chaotic, which is not conducive to the Dao. However, your heart seems to bear even greater turmoil, and your thoughts are even more chaotic... Let this melody serve to calm your heart and mind.”

A wisp of music began to play, gentle and soothing.

It was like on this hot afternoon, a gentle breeze wafted by, brushing over the pond, carrying with it a fragrance.

It was as if a dragonfly had skimmed the water and silently departed, leaving behind a ripple that gradually spread out. Ripples rhythmically appeared amidst the chirping of insects and cicadas around.

A lotus leaf gently tilted, and a drop of water slowly fell, landing in the water with a soft drip.

Thus, within the tranquility, there was liveliness, and the vision expanded. The refreshing water splashed onto his face, and overhead green shades swayed, blocking out the blazing sun. A beautiful woman stood beneath the vines, smiling gently, while a little maid giggled in the distance, running after a dragonfly. One could see the vast sky, with white clouds drifting leisurely, laughter seemingly coming from a distant place. It appeared like a distant scene, yet also like the melody in a dream.

Lying back on the reclining chair in the courtyard, one listened to the crisp laughter in the distance, and a smile involuntarily crept onto their lips.

The jianghu receded, the blood-colored clamor, the whistling of blades, they all drifted away with the crisp laughter of children as they raised kites in the distance.

The sound of the guqin gently ceased.

Zhao Changhe realized that he was leaning back in his chair and had nearly fallen asleep.

He rubbed his eyes in confusion. His mind was still blank for a moment. He had completely relaxed to the point where he could not gather his thoughts for a while.

Tang Wanzhuang looked at him with a hint of pity in her eyes. “You... are too tired. I’ve seen you thinking even when you sleep, at least that was the case last night.”

Zhao Changhe: “Uh...”

Indeed, last night... I was talking with the blind woman in his dreams, so did I really get to sleep?

Tang Wanzhuang continued, “And it’s not only your daily rest, but your cultivation is also too tense. Your blood and qi have been squeezed to the limit. Did you activate the state where vicious qi enters your mind at the tomb of the Sword Emperor? The vicious qi continues to boil, continuing to erode your flesh and blood, but you’re unaware of it... If this continues, it would be no different from overdrawing your body excessively in your youth and becoming feeble before you reach middle age.”

A corner of Zhao Changhe’s mouth twitched. “Did you really have to say it like that?”

“Isn’t it the same?” Tang Wanzhuang said calmly. “Ultimately, the human body is all the same. You need to consolidate your foundation. Stop blindly pursuing breakthroughs.”

Zhao Changhe checked his own state for a moment and he indeed felt the dissipation of vicious qi within his flesh and blood. He had been unable to sense it as it had been gradually eating away at him before, but under this melody, all of the vicious qi vanished, as if by magic.

Tang Wanzhuang could see what he was thinking and sighed. “This is not some sort of celestial magic. However, the music of the guqin is also a form of martial arts with its own special effects... But I don’t suggest that you focus on learning this.”

Zhao Changhe nodded and said, “I understand.”

“Is your mind calm now?”

“Yes.”

“Want to learn?”

Zhao Changhe stood up and bowed sincerely. “Miss Tang, please give me guidance.”

Miss Tang...

Is this the answer to your earlier dilemma on what to call me that lasted so long?

Tang Wanzhuang pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, “Come here, I’ll start by teaching you the basics, the notes of each string, and the basic fingerings.”

The eyes of the maid that had been carrying the guqin widened. “Y-Young miss...”

Tang Wanzhuang gave her a sharp look, “What’s with that expression on your face? Young Master Zhao is a genius. He can learn other people’s sword and saber intents with just a single look. Playing the guqin is just a matter of coordinating one’s fingers. He won’t need me to personally guide him with my hands. A demonstration or two, and he’ll naturally get it.”

The maid: “Oh...”

She carefully watched as Zhao Changhe sat next to Tang Wanzhuang, their shoulders nearly touching. She could not help but feel that it was inappropriate for them to sit so close to each other. It seemed too intimate. Her mind had not even shifted to the idea of hands-on guidance yet. Could the young miss be feeling bothered with this as well?

In fact, even when Zhao Changhe sat right next to Tang Wanzhuang and was enveloped in her fragrance, there were no ripples in his heart and mind.

The music that had played just now had calmed his mind completely, leaving no room for distractions in his mind. At this moment, all he wanted to do was to learn the guqin, knowing that it would be extremely beneficial for him.

Throughout his journey, vicious qi filled his body as bloodthirst filled his hands. Zhao Changhe had long worried about whether it would affect him in the future and cause him to eventually become a bloodthirsty maniac. However, in the past, he had underestimated the value of things like the four arts. But today, he discovered that they were truly useful.

They could gradually scatter the thoughts of swords and sabers, distance him from bloody madness, and leave him with nothing but the sights of the beauty that the jianghu held, as well as the tranquility of summer.

In this world, music was inherently a form of martial arts. Even if Tang Wanzhuang wanted him to learn something else, the principle would be the same.

Tang Wanzhuang’s jade hands demonstrated the techniques before him, and it looked very simple... They were nothing more than bodily movements. Compared to her highly complex and difficult Spring Water Sword Intent, this was really simple.

It was also very beautiful. This was the first time that Zhao Changhe realized that just by looking at a pair of hands, one could feel the meaning of beauty.

It was also very elegant, and Zhao Changhe could not help but imagine himself playing the guqin gracefully in the future, just like Linghu Chong[1], playing Laughter on the Blue Sea. He felt that it would be so cool.

“It doesn’t seem that difficult. Can I give it a try?” Zhao Changhe asked.

Tang Wanzhuang stepped aside in anticipation. “I trust in Young Master Zhao’s comprehension ability...”

Before she finished speaking, Zhao Changhe stretched out his two arms toward the guqin, like a zombie extending its two claws, and one of the strings of the guqin broke.

Tang Wanzhuang: “...”

The maid who had been carrying the guqin squatted down to the ground and sobbed. “Wuuu.... I spent three hours tuning the strings yesterday... Waaah, young miss, is this your so-called genius? Why are you trying to teach a bear how to embroider flowers...”

1. From The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. ☜