After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Yu Qingtang wandered around curiously and discovered that the Chess School offered quite a variety of games.

There were people actually playing chess over there—not just Go, but Chinese chess and five-in-a-row as well. Chinese chess drew the biggest crowds, while Go was by far the least popular.

Yu Qingtang wandered over to watch for a moment, only to discover why.

The Senior Brother playing Go had a terrible temper. Yu Qingtang had barely looked at the board twice before the man snapped at him, “What are you staring at? Can you see a way out of this position? No? Then get lost!”

“Heh.” The Senior Sister sitting across from him gave a short laugh and calmly sipped her tea. “Oh, give it a rest. Even if he weren’t watching, you still wouldn’t find a way out.”

“Yesterday you blamed the sun for being too bright. The day before that, you blamed the crowd for interrupting your train of thought. What, today you’re planning to blame some Junior Brother who happened to walk by?”

Senior Brother Gou’s face flushed bright red. He stammered, unable to come up with a reply.

“Well, well...” Scholar Xiao clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I thought you looked familiar, but I didn’t dare recognize you at first. Isn’t this Senior Brother Gou? You’re from the Chess School, while Senior Sister Tianyu here is from the Qin School next door, and yet you...”

“Huh?” Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened slightly as he mischievously joined in. “Let me see. Looks like he’s about to lose.”

“Shh—” Scholar Xiao slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him away, deliberately shaking his head with a mournful sigh loud enough for Senior Brother Gou to hear. “I really don’t know how Senior Brother Gou ended up like this. Ah...”

Yu Qingtang asked curiously, “Is he famous?”

“Ever since he lost to Junior Brother Wen from the Literary School all those years ago, his Dao heart shattered, and he’s only gone downhill from there.” Scholar Xiao sounded rather emotional. “First he lost to the Chess School, then the Literary School, then the Painting School, and now the Qin School. Keep this up and pretty soon there’ll be nobody left for him to lose to.”

Yu Qingtang glanced back at him sympathetically and lowered his voice. “Maybe the blow was too severe? His luck doesn’t seem very good either. He might just be getting desperate. For something like this, the best treatment would probably be a Heart-Questioning Melody...”

“Hmm?”

Senior Brother Gou hadn’t even reacted yet, but Senior Sister Tianyu’s eyes lit up. In three quick steps, she was at Yu Qingtang’s side. She seized his hand and asked eagerly, “Junior Brother, are you talking about Heavenly Music Sect’s secret transmission—the Heart-Questioning Melody? Are you from Heavenly Music Sect?”

“Huh? No.” Yu Qingtang blinked. “I’m from right next door to Heavenly Music Sect...”

Senior Sister Tianyu clasped his hand with heartfelt sincerity. “Junior Brother, could you play the Heart-Questioning Melody for me? I think I might have a few issues that need questioning too.”

Scholar Xiao smiled and gently pried her hand away. “Senior Sister, you really shouldn’t. You really shouldn’t.”

“Are you still playing or not?” Senior Brother Gou turned and glared at her irritably. “I—”

“Isn’t it your turn?” Senior Sister Tianyu snapped back impatiently.

Then inspiration suddenly struck.

She turned toward him with a bright smile. “Oh, right! Old Gou, why don’t you spend some points and have Junior Brother play you a Heart-Questioning Melody?”

“I don’t need it!” Senior Brother Gou stiffened his neck stubbornly. “This is only a temporary—”

“I’m only worried about you, Senior Brother Gou.” Senior Sister Tianyu wiped at nonexistent tears and patted his shoulder. “If this keeps up, you’ll never graduate! What are you going to do if you spend the rest of your life trapped in the academy?”

“Then the legendary ghost of the Senior Brother who couldn’t graduate even after several thousand years will finally have the surname Gou!”

Senior Brother Gou: “...”

Yu Qingtang’s expression grew complicated. “I feel like this Senior Brother’s shattered Dao heart has a lot to do with the mouths of your academy’s students.”

“Haha.” Scholar Xiao gave two dry laughs and lightly bumped Yu Qingtang with his shoulder. “Points are practically delivering themselves to your doorstep. Why aren’t you advertising your Heart-Questioning Melody already?”

Yu Qingtang leaned toward him and cast a wary glance at Senior Sister Tianyu. “But I’m a little worried. Why does she want to hear the Heart-Questioning Melody so badly? Her Dao heart looks perfectly fine.”

“She’s from the Qin School. They collect music from all over the world.” Scholar Xiao lowered his voice. “Senior Sister Tianyu especially. There isn’t a piece she’s heard that she can’t memorize.”

“You don’t need to worry about it. Music cultivators freely exchange scores anyway. That sort of thing can’t really be kept secret. The important part isn’t the score itself, but how the cultivation method circulates while you play.”

Yu Qingtang was a qin cultivator himself, so of course he knew musical scores weren’t exactly great secrets in the cultivation world.

Still, he gave Senior Sister Tianyu a strange look. “Then why is Senior Sister so excited?”

“Probably because...” Scholar Xiao rubbed his nose guiltily. “Our academy can be a little irritating sometimes.”

“You know how it is. Whenever people talk about music cultivators, Heavenly Music Sect is still the first place that comes to mind. There was once a senior from our Qin School who used to run over to Heavenly Music Sect every day.”

He lowered his voice even further.

“You know the current sect master of Heavenly Music Sect? They call him an exiled immortal descended from heaven, the very god of music...”

“I know, I know! Heavenly Music Sect Master Linjiang Xian!” Yu Qingtang was positively glowing now that gossip was involved. “My master said he plays the qin so well that there was no point trying to surpass him even if he practiced for an entire lifetime. That’s why, out of all eighteen musical arts, qin is the one my master is worst at.”

“And because of him, practically every qin cultivator owns a set of white robes just like his. My master bought me one too when I first learned to play a complete piece.”

“Ahem.” Scholar Xiao smiled awkwardly. “Back then, that Qin Immortal and the head of our Qin School, Academy Head Mei... had something of a history.”

“Hmm?” Yu Qingtang’s eyes flew wide open.

He casually grabbed a handful of peanuts from the next table, his eyes gleaming. “Seriously? But I heard that sect master is famous for being cold-faced and cold-hearted. He still hasn’t married!”

“Oh, right. Is your Academy Head Mei a man or a woman?”

Senior Brother Gou had entered another marathon think, scratching his head as he stared desperately at the board.

Senior Sister Tianyu turned around, stuffed a handful of sunflower seeds into Yu Qingtang’s palm, and voluntarily joined the gossip session.

“A woman, a woman.”

“Ohhh...” Yu Qingtang slowly nodded.

Well, dog Xiaosa did write the original novel. The setting was still basically a world where straight romance ruled the day.

“Our academy head is lively and kind of... flighty.” Senior Sister Tianyu cracked sunflower seeds between her teeth with a series of clicks, looking rather wistful. “You know how all the bestselling romance stories love pairing a bright, vivacious, pretty female cultivator with some cold, aloof, handsome male cultivator?”

“Those two practically grew up specifically to fit the cover of a bestselling romance novel.”

“Anyway, eventually the iceberg melted. Senior Linjiang Xian fell in love and played Academy Head Mei ‘The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate.’”

“Hiss...” Yu Qingtang’s eyes darted around. “But the two of them didn’t end up together. Don’t tell me... Senior Linjiang Xian misunderstood her feelings?”

The other two nodded solemnly.

“Supposedly. And I mean supposedly.” Senior Sister Tianyu leaned closer conspiratorially.

Before she could continue, Senior Brother Gou suddenly shouted, “I’ve got it!”

Senior Sister Tianyu nearly stumbled forward from the fright. “What happened?”

Senior Brother Gou was radiant with delight. “This is a brilliant move! Let’s see how you answer it!”

Senior Sister Tianyu leaned over, glanced at the board, picked up a stone, and casually placed it down.

Senior Brother Gou’s smile froze on his face.

Senior Sister Tianyu turned back around.

“Where were we?”

“Supposedly,” Yu Qingtang reminded her.

“Oh, right. Supposedly, it was an absolute bloodbath.” Senior Sister Tianyu clicked her tongue and shook her head. “They say Linjiang Xian snapped the strings of his qin apart with his own hands, and his blood stained the Thousand Bells Qin red!”

“Whoa—” Yu Qingtang sucked in a breath.

“Anyway, ever since then, whenever Heavenly Music Sect runs into people from Four Books Academy—especially our Qin School—they don’t exactly get along.” Scholar Xiao shook his head helplessly. “And supposedly, back then, the Heart-Questioning Melody was the only score Academy Head Mei never managed to obtain.”

Senior Sister Tianyu lowered her voice.

“Some people say Academy Head Mei once muttered while drunk that Linjiang Xian told her back then—‘Why should someone as heartless as you listen to my Heart-Questioning Melody?’”

Yu Qingtang sighed wistfully. “Now that you’ve told me that, I feel like I really shouldn’t play it for you. What if Senior Linjiang Xian from Heavenly Music Sect finds out and comes all the way here to kill me?”

A voice sounded from behind him.

“Don’t you think that, since you’re gossiping about me on Four Books Academy territory, I’m considerably more likely to come looking for you?”

All three of them froze at once.

Yu Qingtang slowly turned his head.

A young woman in purple stood behind them, smiling brightly. A five-stringed instrument was strapped across her back.

Yu Qingtang slowly turned his head forward again and whispered, “Academy Head Mei?”

Senior Sister Tianyu and Scholar Xiao nodded simultaneously.

Academy Head Mei affectionately threw her arms around all three of them, her smile dazzling.

“Well, if it isn’t Little Xiao! Haven’t seen you in ages. I heard you went wandering the martial world, so what are you doing back here gossiping about me?”

“Really staying true to your academy’s oldest profession, aren’t you? No wonder you’re Wen Tianxia’s prized disciple.”

“Ha. Ha.” Scholar Xiao laughed dryly. “I have to come back and visit every now and then.”

“Tianyu.” Academy Head Mei smiled sweetly and rubbed Senior Sister Tianyu’s head.

Senior Sister Tianyu answered with visible terror, “Yes!”

Academy Head Mei seized her by the ear.

Senior Sister Tianyu immediately howled.

“Aaah—Academy Head, I was wrong! I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!”

“How many times have I told you not to spread rumors!” Academy Head Mei said sternly. “We’re disciples of Four Books Academy. Gossip is gossip, but we still have to pursue factual accuracy! Otherwise, wouldn’t rumors be flying all over the place?”

“Remember this: this young lady can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. I did not say that because I was drunk!”

Senior Sister Tianyu stared blankly.

“Huh?”

Academy Head Mei released her and turned toward Yu Qingtang.

Yu Qingtang nervously hunched his shoulders and gave her his most simple, honest smile.

“Hehe.”

Academy Head Mei smiled back and took a step forward.

Yu Qingtang nervously took one step back.

“Don’t panic.” Academy Head Mei advanced again, nearly pinning him against the table as she leaned close. “You really know the Heart-Questioning Melody?”

“Play it for me.”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened.

He didn’t dare answer.

“Relax.” Academy Head Mei coaxed him. “Linjiang Xian won’t give you any trouble. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know.”

Yu Qingtang’s gaze slid toward the two disciples standing behind her.

Academy Head Mei whipped around.

Senior Sister Tianyu and Scholar Xiao immediately stared straight ahead, eyes lowered, noses aligned with their hearts, pretending they knew absolutely nothing.

“Actually, I got my hands on the score for the Heart-Questioning Melody ages ago.” Academy Head Mei draped an arm over Yu Qingtang’s shoulders. “You know how it is. A music cultivator can’t really keep a score secret unless they go their entire life without ever playing it.”

“But even after studying the score, I still couldn’t understand why he refused to play it for me back then. I figured there must be something special about how it sounds when paired with the proper cultivation method.”

Academy Head Mei patted him cheerfully.

“So play it for me, hm? Earning points from me is much easier than messing around with all this stuff in the Chess School.”

“Academy Head.” Senior Sister Tianyu cautiously poked her head out. “Your cultivation is too high. He probably can’t question your heart. Why not let Senior Brother Gou try it instead?”

Senior Brother Gou looked up blankly. “Huh? I don’t—”

Academy Head Mei had already grabbed him by the belt and hoisted him over her shoulder.

She turned toward Yu Qingtang and boldly held up both hands.

“I’ll give you ten points.”

Yu Qingtang was still struggling. “No, I—”

Academy Head Mei leaned closer and lowered her voice.

“I’m one of the four school heads, you know. I can offer certain special benefits. For example... my ten points can be added on top of the normal limit. Then you’d only need to score twenty points yourself. How does that sound?”

Yu Qingtang swallowed his refusal.

He visibly wavered, his gaze drifting as he guiltily looked up at the sky.

“Come to think of it... I don’t think Miaoyin Xian ever said I wasn’t allowed to play it for anyone else...”

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