Chapter 3951 A Donkey Breaking Wind
Long Chen frowned slightly at the yellow-robed woman. Was she intentionally making things hard on him? Were the Zither Sect’s disciples so petty?
She was the one who insisted on letting Long Chen point out her flaws. But after he refused, she also refused to let him refuse. At the very least, after he did as she asked, whether he was right or wrong, it still counted as helping her, no?
However, was she not forcing Long Chen now? She wanted to see him play the flute? Did she think that if he could judge her, he could show her how to do it himself? Upon thinking all this, Long Chen’s expression darkened.
Just as Long Chen was about to coldly reject her, he saw the bewildered Liao Yuhuang to the side, and his icy words were swallowed back down.
Liao Yuhuang had helped him before. If he were to become hostile with this yellow-robed woman, Liao Yuhuang would be very embarra.s.sed.
Liao Yuhuang had invited him here with good intentions, being very sincere. Thus, Long Chen didn’t want to put her in a difficult position.
“Hmph, I knew that he was only good in theory and worthless in practice. He’s worse than dogs.h.i.+t. What? Do you not dare?” sneered the pale, pudgy scholar. He finally had a chance to counterattack.
“A typical person with high standards but low skill. He acts like he knows everything, but it’s all superficial.”
“Superficial? You’re overestimating him. He doesn’t even know anything superficial. It’s all just him blindly making stuff up to con others. In the end, he’s caught.”
The other scholars also began to jump in when they saw a chance for revenge.
Liao Yuhuang hastily stepped forward when the situation turned sour. She then gave Long Chen an apologetic look and said, “Brother Long, I’m sorry. Senior apprentice-sister Wan Yi, please don’t make things hard on…”
In front of the scholars’ taunts, the yellow-robed woman’s hostility, and Liao Yuhuang’s apologetic pleading, Long Chen suddenly wore an unfathomable smile. Just like that, he received the flute.
“Brother Long…!” Liao Yuhuang was startled.
“I’ve never played the flute, nor do I know how to play any musical instrument. Just like those mouth-sprayers said, I really only know a superficial amount. However, since I agreed to give her pointers, I will embarra.s.s myself. Fairy Wan Yi does not agree with my judgment, so let’s try it. Fairy Yuhuang, can you play the complete Thousand Mountains Reflecting the Snow for me?” Long Chen looked at Liao Yuhuang.
“Brother Long, if you’ve never played the flute before, how are you going to…?” Liao Yuhuang was startled. She didn’t want Long Chen to embarra.s.s himself, and she also blamed herself for being meddlesome and causing trouble for Long Chen.
“It’s fine. Although I’ve never played before, I know the theory. I’ll just treat it as playing around. As for embarra.s.sing himself? Hehe, I don’t care about that. I’ve done many embarra.s.sing things, and this much won’t count as anything,” laughed Long Chen.
As Long Chen took hold of the flute, it became apparent to Liao Yuhuang that he was a novice, evident from his unsteady grip and posture. Witnessing this, the yellow-robed woman couldn’t help but feel a pang of remorse. She shouldn’t have taken out her anger on Long Chen as that was repaying kindness with enmity.
“Brother Long…” The yellow-robed woman also spoke up, wanting to take back what she had said.
“It’s fine. Sometimes, there’s a huge difference between theory and practice. It just so happens that I can now corroborate my theory. But I feel like it’s a bit taboo for me to use a fairy’s flute. Does fairy have another flute?” asked Long Chen with a smile.
This was a flute with ancient marks carved into it and was made with top grade immortal metal, so it was clearly not ordinary. Moreover, it was the one that the yellow-robed woman had just used. Considering the taboos between men and women, Long Chen wanted to use a different flute.
The yellow-robed woman looked at Long Chen and finally appeared apologetic. She then shook his head. “Brother Long’s magnanimity is admirable. If you want to try it, you can just use my flute.”
Only then did the experts around take note that this flute was her beloved item. If Long Chen were to use it, would she use it again? Wouldn’t that be indirectly kissing?
Everyone looked from the yellow-robed woman to Long Chen, not knowing what was going on. They were on opposing ends just a moment ago, so why did the atmosphere suddenly become strange?
“Then my apologies,” said Long Chen. Suddenly, he asked, “May I ask if fairy Wan Yi’s cultivation technique is different from the other fairies?”
“Brother Long, how did you know?” asked the yellow-robed woman in surprise.
As expected. Long Chen simply smiled and didn’t reply. He then indicated for Liao Yuhuang and the others to start playing.
Liao Yuhuang and the others began playing the music once again. The sound of their zithers was like the babbling of a creek, causing everyone to become quiet and at peace in an instant.
When Long Chen raised the flute to his mouth and lightly blew on it, it left everyone speechless. His posture was a bit correct, but as soon as he blew the flute, he almost blew them away. That sound was completely wrong, akin to the whistling wind blowing through a valley.
“This is the sound of a flute? Is he making us laugh to death?” The scholars laughed when they heard this.
“How is it any different from a donkey’s fart?”
“Just get off the stage! Don’t ruin the performance of the fairies.”
“How shameless! If I was you, I’d have long since killed myself just to get it over with.”
The scholars had previously been left speechless by Long Chen, and now they finally had a chance to rain insults on him.
Seeing this, Liao Yuhuang had a guilty expression, while the yellow-robed woman was even more ashamed. This time, it was all her fault. But now that things had reached this point, there was no way for her to stop things. Seeing so many people insulting Long Chen, she felt terrible, but there was nothing that she could do. It was her first time feeling such remorse.
However, Long Chen’s expression didn’t even ripple in front of so many curses and insults. His display was like that of a master of the Music Dao, completely immersed in the Music Dao’s realm.
But then, the sound he was making was terrible. It was especially discordant amongst the beautiful zither music, ruining such beautiful zither music.
Thousand Mountains Reflecting the Snow was split into three parts. When the first part was done, Long Chen finally figured out how to properly make sound with the flute. He was no longer just blasting some noise.
When the second part was over, Long Chen was capable of blowing a complete note. However, it was just a single note and not even a tune.
“This Long Chen might be strong in other areas, but he has no talent in this regard. He’s terrible at music.”
“I heard that the Music Dao requires a certain musical mind as a foundation. It isn’t something that just anyone can master.”
“I don’t understand. He clearly knows that he can’t play. Why did he do this? Is embarra.s.sing himself fun for him?”
“I have to admire his guts. He can still look like an expert after playing so badly, and he’s still playing like he’s serious.”
“He’s only playing a single note and incapable of matching the rest of the music. It’s like unleas.h.i.+ng a single black crow in a flock of larks. The harsh cackling of the crow ruins the overall picture.”
The scholars were still mocking Long Chen. As for the cultivators, they were unable to bear it either. They had originally been very satisfied with his display against the scholars, but now his flute music agitated them.
Fortunately, the sound of his flute wasn’t that loud. It was unknown if it was because he was intentionally playing quietly or because he knew that he was terrible and didn’t dare to blow harder.
When the song reached the climax, the zither music began to rapidly climb. Long Chen then took a deep breath. The next moment, the flute quivered and a loud, resounding sound instantly formed a resonance with the zither music.
It was like a Kunpeng suddenly leaping into flight, soaring through the heavens. At that moment, the yellow-robed woman was filled with disbelief. She slowly covered her mouth.