Chapter 83 Sword Dance with Shared Handle, Hearts Connected
Cen Xun squatted to the side, her chin resting on her hand, her eyes smiling as she met Zhong Lishuo's earnest gaze. She seemed never to have imagined that the invincible general on the battlefield would have such a refined air when learning the zither.
"Is this right?" Zhong Lishuo stopped his clumsy movements and turned to look at Cen Xun with a questioning gaze.
Cen Xun looked into his eyes, smiled, and nodded. "Playing the zither isn't just about appreciating the sound; it's also about the strength of your fingertips on the strings." She raised her hand to touch the edge of the zither, then, on a sudden inspiration, stood up and gently took Zhong Lishuo's hand. "Here, follow my lead and experience the interaction with the strings."
"Alright, I will follow Teacher Cen's instructions." Zhong Lishuo smiled and nodded, then obediently hugged the zither, waiting for Cen Xun's next move.
A moment later, a chuckle came from above. Cen Xun patted his shoulder and said, "You're too tall, bend down a bit."
Zhong Lishuo couldn't help but nod with a smile. As soon as he bowed, he saw Cen Xun lean down and press down on him from behind. Her hands reached down from Zhong Lishuo's neck and pressed his fingertips onto the zither.
Zhong Lishuo was momentarily speechless, his breath caught in his throat.
His eyes were completely captivated by Cen Xun's handsome profile; his fluttering eyelashes and his smiling gaze stirred Zhong Lishuo's emotions.
His cheeks flushed instantly, and in his daze, he saw Cen Xun's beautiful eyes suddenly glance at him. "Watch the zither, don't get distracted."
Zhong Lishuo also snapped out of his daze. He nodded slightly, averted his gaze, and looked at his fingertips. He saw that Cen Xun's slender fingers were covering his hand, but because his hand was too small, he could only barely hold it.
He couldn't help but chuckle, but Cen Xun playfully shoved him, saying, "Study hard, don't laugh."
Zhong Lishuo suppressed his smile and nodded. The next moment, Cen Xun applied slight pressure with his fingertips, and Zhong Lishuo moved accordingly. The melody from before flowed slowly from the zither again, only a little more rusty than before.
The flowing waters of Jiangnan, the gentle breeze and fine rain, the falling flowers on the riverbank, the moon shrouding the branches—all these scenes of Jiangnan flow slowly from my fingertips. My heartfelt emotions flow from my overlapping fingertips onto the zither, then merge with the zither and flow into the air, finally reaching my ears and seeping into my heart.
It seems that no words of love in the world can describe the love at this moment. Fingers are intertwined, the zither is the voice of the heart, and all the poetry in the world pales in comparison to the sound of the zither. This melody stretches far into the sky, just like the misty spring scenery of Jiangnan.
Yang Xiao turned around, leaning against Bai Ming, poured a cup of hot tea, smiled at the two of them, and gently blew on the steam from the cup. Bai Ming, standing beside her, also chuckled, picked up his teacup, playfully clinked it against Yang Xiao's, and then drank it all in one gulp.
As the music ended, Cen Xun chuckled, raised his hand, and glanced at Zhong Lishuo. "How was it? Did this piece please you?"
Zhong Lishuo lingered on the strings with his hands, nodded and smiled, then looked up at Cen Xun, "Anything you teach me is to my liking." He breathed a sigh of relief and gently touched the body of the instrument, "After listening to that piece just now, I want to go to Jiangnan even more."
"You're setting off in just two days?" Cen Xun smiled as she sat down next to Zhong Lishuo, turning to look at him. "It's the end of summer now, and Jiangnan is at its most beautiful, with flowers blooming everywhere and fragrance spreading for miles. You'll see when you get to Lujiang County."
Zhong Lishuo looked at the rising moon, smiled and nodded, "Now that you mention it, I'm getting a little impatient." He chuckled and turned to look at Cen Xun, "I've never been to Jiangnan before, not even once in my life."
Cen Xun smiled and stroked the back of his hand, "Be careful in everything when you set off."
"Alright, don't worry, definitely. There'll be a surprise waiting for you when I get back." Zhong Lishuo chuckled and playfully pinched Cen Xun's nose. "By the way, what was that tune called just now?"
Cen Xun tilted her head. "This... I just wrote it on a whim." She looked up at the moon hanging high in the sky and smiled. "How about calling it 'Ode to the Moon'? As for the lyrics," she smiled and looked at Yang Xiao, who was drinking tea and chatting beside her, "let's use the poem that Lingyu and I just recited."
"Today we finally get to witness the musical talent of our great Miss Cen."
“By the way, Yude,” Cen Xun turned to look at Zhong Lishuo beside him, “Look, I’ve been teaching you to play the piano so diligently, shouldn’t you give me something in return?”
"Oh?" Zhong Lishuo looked at Cen Xun with interest. "What do you want? You don't mean the surprise I prepared for you, do you?" He quickly sat up and waved his hands repeatedly. "No, Tongxi, I promised to give it to you after this battle. I'm not ready yet."
Cen Xun was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then chuckled softly, "That's not what I meant. I meant, I taught you the zither, shouldn't you teach me something too? Like... a sword?"
"The Horse-Slaying Saber?" Zhong Lishuo looked at the Horse-Slaying Saber that he had placed next to the tree with a slight surprise, then turned back to Cen Xun with a smile, "So you're interested in it."
After saying that, he placed the zither on the grass and got up to walk towards the tree.
Cen Xun chuckled and sighed, then stood up with a steady hand. He carefully moved the zither onto the table and walked toward Zhongli Shuo, who was twirling his sword to the side.
"I never noticed before, it's actually this tall." Cen Xun looked up at the seven-foot-long sword and couldn't help but admire it, touching the scabbard as he did so.
Zhongli Shuo nodded and chuckled as he propped the knife on the ground. "Right? It's a little taller than you. Here," he handed the knife to Cen Xun, "this knife is heavy, much heavier than Zhao Qing's spear. Be careful."
Cen Xun nodded and reached out to take it, but her wrist suddenly felt heavy as the knife pressed down on it. She looked up at Zhong Lishuo in disbelief, "It's so heavy?"
Zhong Lishuo chuckled, crossed his arms, and gently nodded at her. "We can't give up halfway, can we? Why don't you try drawing your sword?"
Cen Xun glanced at Zhong Lishuo and said, "Aren't you making things difficult for me?" As she spoke, she tried to pull open the scabbard. The long blade, gleaming with a cold light, was slowly drawn out, but it got stuck in the scabbard at the tip and she couldn't pull it out no matter what she did.
Cen Xun raised his chin, barely glancing at the long blade stuck in his neck, and glared at Zhong Lishuo with a wry smile, "Aren't you going to come and help me?"
“Tongxi, you are something else,” Zhongli Shuo said, taking the knife from Cen Xun’s hand with a wry smile, “If you draw your knife like that, you won’t kill many enemies, but you’ll end up trapping yourself first.” He sheathed the blade, turned around and smiled at Cen Xun, “Look, this knife is as tall as you. You can easily kick the sheath away and then throw the blade out. That would be a good way to defeat the enemy.”
"You can do that?" Cen Xun looked up in surprise, smiling at Zhong Lishuo. She drew her sword and gripped the hilt with both hands. "I always saw you wield it with just one hand, I never imagined it would be so heavy." She got into position and looked up at Zhong Lishuo. "And then?"
Zhong Lishuo looked at Cen Xun's curious eyes, nodded and smiled, walked behind her, and imitated her earlier actions, placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on the hilt of the sword, carefully guiding her to swing the sword, "This sword, you have to hold it with both hands. The blade is extremely long, and the tip has a reverse edge, so some people say that the way to wield this sword is similar to that of a spear."
Cen Xun nodded thoughtfully, and slowly swung his knife in accordance with Zhong Lishuo's movements.
“That being said, the Zhanma Dao is still a sword after all,” Zhong Lishuo’s amused voice rang out from behind Cen Xun’s head. “This sword has a long blade and is heavy. When you use all your strength to chop, it will be incredibly powerful. So whether you are on the ground or on horseback, as long as you use it skillfully, the enemy will not be able to get close to you.”
"But as you can see, this knife is heavy and cumbersome. It is extremely difficult to control it easily. If you encounter a nimble opponent like Lingyu, it will be even more difficult."
Before Zhong Lishuo could finish speaking, Yang Xiao, standing to the side, called out to him with a smile, "Hey, Yude, you didn't teach Tongxi how to use a knife to deal with me."
Seeing this, Zhong Lishuo smiled and waved his hand at her. "What are you talking about?" he sighed with a laugh, then leaned close to Cen Xun's ear and said, "Let's get back to the main topic. Since it's not easy to control, let's go with the flow."
He led Cen Xun to slowly swing the knife, saying, "We treat this knife as part of our body. As long as we move with the flow, the knife, by its own weight, can still deliver considerable force."
“Oh,” Cen Xun nodded in sudden realization, “The person wielding the knife must follow the momentum of the blade, become one with it, and then strike the enemy with great force to deliver a decisive blow.”
"It won't be a decisive blow, but it can at least leave the opponent stunned for a while." Zhong Lishuo chuckled and shook his head, slowly swinging the Zhanma Dao with Cen Xun. "But to put it bluntly, it still requires force. The Zhanma Dao is all about swift and unstoppable attacks."
Cen Xun focused intently on wielding his sword in accordance with Zhong Lishuo's movements, his back pressed against Zhong Lishuo's chest and abdomen, vaguely feeling the tension in his muscles as he exerted force.
This was the first time she had ever felt the aura and power of a general. She seemed to be able to sense the unbridled and surging passion of battle from Zhong Lishuo's movements. Her clear eyes were instantly filled with heroic spirit and pride.
These were the two most indelible lights in Zhong Lishuo's eyes.
The long, imposing blade gleamed coldly in the moonlight, reflecting in the earnest yet smiling eyes of the two men.
Zhong Li'an leaned against the table, smiling as he watched the two wielding swords. "Tell me, how wonderful it would be if every year could be like today."
“Who says otherwise?” Qi Kun chuckled and sighed. “When the country is at peace, if we are all still here, it will be just like this, won’t it?”
Bai Ming smiled and put down his teacup. "That's inevitable. The chaos of this world will come to an end, but we will never part."
“Exactly,” Yang Xiao chuckled and put her arm around Bai Ming’s shoulder, “We’ve all come together from all over the country, how could we possibly break up?”
Zhong Li'an also sighed with emotion, picked up the teapot and poured hot tea for everyone at the table. "Then let's take advantage of this moonlight and drink tea instead of wine," he said, rolling up his sleeves and raising his teacup. "The music may end, but we will not disperse."
The teacups clinked together amidst laughter, making a crisp, tinkling sound. The warm moonlight shone on the zither beside the table and sprinkled into the gently rippling osmanthus tea, like a candle warmly illuminating the burning hearts of the group.
The chaos of war may have ended, but those with ambition will never disperse.
As night fell and the sky grew deeper, the group, who had come in high spirits, returned with great joy, adding a new dimension to the Qixi Festival in the military camp.
Soon, the appointed time for the meeting of troops with He Yuan in Lujiang arrived. Zhongli An summoned his troops to the reviewing stand, intending to send troops to Lujiang County.
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