Chapter 561: Chapter 557: Chatting with strength

“I think what you said makes sense!” Tang Luo stroked his chin and stood up suddenly, startling the girl who trembled, thinking she had angered the young eminent figure, who seemed now prepared to use force.

Zhao Lingyan was trembling with fear at this moment, not understanding why she had just openly defied Tang Luo. He was a man bold enough to kill the prodigy of the Mi Clan; killing a guqin player would mean nothing to him.

But the stubborn lady, despite regretting her actions, decided not to yield, her wide eyes focused on him even as her body quivered.

The standing Tang Luo stretched lazily, saying indifferently, “Actually, I think your playing on the pipa is mediocre at best, so I had no expectation for this solo performance. That being said, I’ll take my leave now!”

He turned around to leave swiftly, but before even reaching the chamber door, he heard a woman’s trembling voice filled with anger say, “Please, wait!”

The biting “please” indicated how furious she was. Tang Luo looked back obliviously and saw a woman trembling all over, her eyes full of tears.

“Why are you crying now?” Tang Luo joked, “Is that guqin master title something you’d sob over when someone criticizes your playing?”

“Does the eminent figure know how to play the pipa?” The furious Zhao Lingyan could forgive Tang Luo’s rudeness, but never his defamation of her guqin skills. She retorted angrily.

“I don’t,” Tang Luo answered nonchalantly, “But I can at least differentiate between what sounds good and what doesn’t. If I believe your pipa music sounds unpleasant, it does not oblige me to prove it by playing a better tune. After all, you are a guqin player, and I am not, aren’t you?”

Claiming that if you can do it then do it, but if not, being silent is a simple statement. Am I expected to learn a chilling technique because I claim the refrigerator isn’t cold enough?

Why would I say Zhao Lingyan’s music is average? I won’t mention the fact that the “Cheng Xin Melody” is an enchanting spirit art technique. But considering that in his previous life, he listened to a few sections of a pipa artist casually playing, those few notes made him dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, feeling the mellowness of a thousand years.

In Tang Luo’s mind, a true master should at least reach that level, otherwise, it’s just an idol, bluffing ordinary people with spirit art. It doesn’t really mean anything.

So when he commented that Zhao Lingyan’s pipa technique was subpar, Tang Luo felt fully justified.

The girl was so infuriated that she trembled all over. It seemed that Tang Luo already knew what she wanted to say and had blocked all her responses. At this moment, she was angrier, her eyes were constantly looking around, as if she was searching for something.

“What are you doing? Looking for a weapon to attack me?” Tang Luo scanned Zhao Lingyan up and down with his arms crossed, advising, “I suggest you give up. You are pretty, know how to play the pipa, can paint and write poems. Your voice is sweet and occasionally you sob. You are an adorable lady, but I could easily handle a hundred of you, so don’t bother.”

We were supposed to fight!

With an angry look back at Tang Luo, the confounded Zhao Lingyan took her pipa off its rack and hugged it close.

“Oh? An unusual weapon, huh? Interesting.”

Tang Luo watched the huffing and puffing woman clutching her pipa with great leisure and said curiously, “Didn’t you claim that you invented the Bu Step Palm Dance? Try showcasing that as well; I’m interested.”

Zhao Lingyan, who had never been this wronged since childhood, only felt a deep indignation towards Tang Luo. Even clutching her pipa, she could not calm herself as tears kept flowing uncontrollably. She glared at Tang Luo resentfully.

Despite her large, tear-filled eyes unable to pose any threat, the image of her wiping away tears was even less intimidating. The confrontation between the two resembled a cockfight, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Someone had to break the silence. Tang Luo scratched his chin, cleared his throat, and said, “Are you going to make a move or not? If not, I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave!” Zhao Lingyan sobbed, “Sit down and listen to my guqin!”

Zhao Lingyan, whose guqin skill had been criticized, was determined to prove otherwise and would not let Tang Luo leave.

The eminent official finally understood Zhao Lingyan’s purpose of grabbing the guqin, sneered and said, “You’re an adult woman in your twenties, yet you act like a six or seven-year-old little girl. Since I mentioned your guqin music as unpleasant, what’s the point of proving anything to me? Even if you play a piece that I find tolerable, I still can’t compliment you for playing the pipa well, right? After all, I mustn’t contradict myself.”

An unbearable stifling feeling surged in her chest.

Zhao Lingyan, who had never heard such shameless talk, widened her eyes in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that this person was Tang Luo, the famous prodigy of the Tang Clan in Xiling, and the living Buddha of the people.

“Doesn’t it make sense?” Tang Luo spread his hands and asked.

There was no response because Zhao Lingyan was too stunned to speak. She kept calming her emotions with her mouth slightly open, looking quite pathetic.

Again no response. Seeing that the girl was crying more intensely, Tang Luo felt a little scratching his head, failing to understand what he did wrong.

However, as a shrewd and resourceful person, he quickly found the answer. After a moment of thought, he drew a conclusion, saying, “Stop crying now. In my opinion, you’re crying like this just because you lack life experience. It’s often said that one only becomes a seasoned individual after experiencing the trials of life. It seems you still have a long journey ahead.”

As he spoke, Tang Luo nodded agreeably with his words. He even patted the trembling girl on the shoulder for comfort. He added, “Your master has sheltered you too well. You should go out more, see the real world, the real human nature, then you will understand what art truly is.”

Zhao Lingyan was so infuriated that her mind went blank. She could only stare at Tang Luo’s eyes, grinding out two words through clenched teeth: “Leave!”

A moment ago, she insisted on playing the guqin for him, but now she drove him away. What a waste of all the previous consolation.

“Hmph, women.” Tang Luo seemed to have seen through everything. He turned around swankily and strode out of the room. Behind him, he could hear low sobbing. The girl was muffling her cries so as to not let out any sound.

Only when Tang Luo had stepped out of the box did Zhao Lingyan burst into tears, with heartbreaking sobs and teardrops all over her face.

The rankled Zhao Da, who had never suffered such humiliation, was furious.