Chapter 179: I Added Sheng

Settling down, Liu Ronglan listened carefully to the trio’s performance, and she was very certain that this was not any piece she had ever known.

Yet, there was something familiar within it.

Flipping through the program list, Liu Ronglan found the source of familiarity.

The Source Palace, isolated from the mundane world—was this adapted from the piano piece “The Source Palace”?

The adaptation altered nearly all the melodies. Had it not been for the title, Liu Ronglan wouldn’t have recognized it for quite some time.

These three young ones had actually transformed a piano piece into a composition for guzheng, xiao, and sheng!

Closing her eyes, Liu Ronglan listened to this piece.

“The Source Palace,” originally a piano piece, was a popular composition. In mythology, the Source Palace was the dwelling of immortals, and this piece depicted the beauty of their residence.

On the piano, the piece conveyed a European sense of grandeur, luxurious within its splendor. Yet when performed with traditional instruments, this grandeur became more restrained, accompanied by a sense of tranquility.

In Liu Ronglan’s mind appeared an endless wooden corridor suspended above a river, its pillars painted in vivid red.

Near the pillars supporting the corridor, red koi fish swam leisurely.

There was no spectacular scenery, no peculiar architecture—just simple wooden structures and calm water below.

As the melody changed, the koi flicked their tails, creating ripples that spread the fragrance of flowers.

Not only Liu Ronglan, but other listeners were also drawn into this peaceful Source Palace by the serene and melodious sounds.

The piece was lengthy, not yet ending after seven minutes. As Liu Ronglan stood on the corridor watching the red koi in the water, she suddenly sensed something amiss.

The melody subtly shifted; the water became even calmer than before, without a ripple. The koi circled the pillars with slightly stiff movements, almost mechanical.

Sniffing the air, beneath the faint floral fragrance seemed to lurk a hint of decay.

Frowning, Liu Ronglan tried to discern more clearly, but the music abruptly ended.

The audience around her burst into applause, unaware of the unsettling undertone at the end, simply delighted by the birth of a new composition.

Only professionals like Liu Ronglan and musically sensitive listeners sensed it.

Liu Ronglan turned to her companion: “You were one of those who reviewed the piece, right? What was going on with that final section?”

Liu Ronglan believed those who received the audio would definitely have noticed the ending. The final section must have already been analyzed by them.

However, her companion looked equally puzzled: “No, the piece they submitted earlier didn’t have that ending—it’s different from what they originally submitted!”

“No, it was exactly the same,” another musician who had heard the earlier version interjected. “It was the sheng. The notes were the same, but the playing technique changed.”

“The sheng?” Liu Ronglan turned her gaze to Xia Yu.

As the piece echoed in her mind, she had originally thought the guzheng and xiao were the main components of the piece. Yet now she realized that the sense of tranquility followed by decay was entirely from the sheng.

The sheng was hidden between the sounds of the guzheng and xiao, which is why she had overlooked it. Precisely because it was hidden and unobtrusive, the sheng made the emotional transitions in the piece more subtle and vivid.

This was not something an average musician could achieve. Just how accomplished was Xia Yu’s sheng playing?

Equally stunned were the Gu brothers.

Confident that no existing piece could defeat theirs, they hadn’t anticipated this original composition outside their expectations.

They pulled out their phones, disregarding their presence at the event, and immediately logged onto the music forum of District One.

At that moment, the forum was filled with discussions about this piece, and no one cared about the two of them anymore.

The title of “national heroes” they had painstakingly cultivated was now bestowed by netizens onto Xia Yu’s trio, making them unwittingly create glory for their rivals.

This had been a long-planned move. To create the biggest impact, they had never participated in this performance before, intending to let District One’s performance appear lackluster so they could later emerge as saviors.

They had no heart to listen to the rest of the concert. After the performance, they returned to their hotel in a daze.

Even when Xia Yu’s trio passed them by, they showed no reaction.

Stopping Liu Manman from seeking revenge, Xia Yu’s trio took the nearby elevator back to their respective rooms.

The performance was over, but the conference wasn’t. There were still two days of exchange events ahead.

Uninterested in the exchange meetings, Xia Yu pondered whom he should meet today—An Siyao, Xu Youxiang, or Hei Miao?

Such a difficult choice.

At that moment, Liu Manman entered his room again.

Putting the spare key card back into her pocket, Liu Manman showed Xia Yu her phone: “We’re getting praised!”

Taking the phone, Xia Yu quickly scanned the screen. It was a news report discussing the performances of the two teams from District One. Half of the article focused on the Gu brothers, while the other half covered Xia Yu’s trio.

It seemed like an even match, but the accompanying image in the article was of Xia Yu’s trio.

“There’s more,” Liu Manman clicked into the music forum.

The hottest post on the forum was discussing the third piece by Xia Yu’s trio—the Source Palace, isolated from the mundane world.

The poster had written a message and attached an image.

“I found the piece registered in the association’s music library! It’s a composition by Xia Yu and An Siyao together! Speaking of Xia Yu, one must mention his legendary life…”

The attached image was a screenshot of the library.

Staring at the username “Kongjia Jiudaizi” for a while, Xia Yu looked at the comments below:

[First reply]

“Deservedly my beloved Yu, so talented!”

“An Siyao is the best in the world!”

“This piece is adapted from the piano piece The Source Palace. From this section of notes in the second part [image], and this part [image], we can clearly see…”

“Poor my guzheng goddess Manman, she seems like a mere numbers filler.”

…

There seemed to be a strange comment mixed in.

“Several brands are already asking me to endorse them. It’s quite troublesome,” Liu Manman said proudly.

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

“Oh, Xia Yu, there’s another performance in three months…” Liu Manman tried to rope him in again.

“I refuse,” Xia Yu replied without hesitation.

“I’ll bring An Siyao too!” Liu Manman added.

“What does An Siyao going have to do with me?” Xia Yu still refused. Now that he knew An Siyao wouldn’t acknowledge him unless he revealed his identity, he saw no point in wasting effort.

Confused by his inconsistent attitude, Liu Manman pondered for a moment before looking at Xia Yu in disbelief: “You were planning to target Xu Youxiang at An Siyao’s villa all along!”

“…”

Remembering Xia Yu’s cunning, Liu Manman went to brag to Liu Ronglan.

After she left, Xia Yu opened the Dongzhi Xiang forum.

The purpose of this performance was to complete a mission, gain the opportunity for a body scan, and obtain a body with medical enhancement. To complete the mission, he needed the affection of Dongzhi Xiang students.

How did the students of Dongzhi Xiang view this?

The global performance naturally drew attention with a new piece, and the Gu brothers’ unintentional help only increased the hype further.

Now, could the mission succeed?