Chapter 9: Prelude to the Divine Sound

  The Wei River under the moonlight is like a silver belt, shimmering with tiny rays of light.

  On the bamboo building corridor, Li Tu sat with his legs crossed, an ancient zither on his knees, his fingers occasionally strumming the strings, producing some ear-piercing and unpleasant sounds.

  "This piano piece is too difficult to play, some fingerings are simply impossible to connect, and it's awkward."

  Li Tu was trying to play the tune played by the man in white, and his mind kept recalling its rhythm.

  That piano piece is mysterious, able to purify one's mind, cleanse the heart of the piano, and elevate one's soul. Moreover, this piano piece contains a large number of unfamiliar fingerings, reaching hundreds of kinds, which are extremely difficult to use.

  This piece of music, Li Tu only remembered a small part of it, the impression was very deep, but he couldn't play it out. The fingerings involved were really too difficult to use, and he could only play out discordant and ear-piercing notes, unable to play as smoothly and naturally as that man in white.

  "How did I suddenly enter a fantasy world?"

  "Qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, a suspended piano platform, black and white chess city, boundless book mountain, ten thousand mile painting corridor, this is very mysterious."

  "If I could memorize that piano piece completely, along with those unfamiliar fingerings, it would be of great help to my piano skills. This piece not only cleanses one's mind and purifies the heart, but also elevates one's soul, as if containing a mysterious power. Moreover, this piano piece contains a large number of unfamiliar fingerings, reaching hundreds. If mastered completely, it would not only train fingerings for more natural playing, improve the tone color of the sound, but also greatly help with piano skills."

  "It's a pity, I only remember part of it, and some of those fingerings are also remembered."

  Li Tu has already confirmed that he is a god touring the fairyland, rather than just a dream.

  On the bamboo building, from time to time, a piercing and intermittent sound of the guqin came out, Li Tu practiced the unfamiliar fingerings of the white-clothed person again and again.

  To play that piece of music, you must first use the techniques and fingerings in the piece smoothly.

  Those unfamiliar fingerings are not skillfully used with ease, and it is impossible to play such a difficult piano piece.

  "These fingerings are hard to practice, my hands can't react in time, it seems that my fingers are not flexible enough, feeling stiff and awkward."

  Li Tu stopped and flexed his fingers.

  "Master, it's already past midnight, you should rest. Tomorrow is another day of exams. Besides, the sound of the guqin can travel far and will disturb others who are resting."

  The old servant stood behind the young man and reminded him in a loud voice.

  "Is it midnight already?" Li Tu was somewhat astonished, unable to believe that time had passed so quickly. He continued, "Lao Mo, I'll go rest now."

  "Young master, you excelled in the 'Music' test and achieved an outstanding result of top grade. As a 15-year-old sixth-grade musician, you will surely make a name for yourself in Tanxiang County, but don't let pride and arrogance arise from this. Although tomorrow's test is 'Archery', young master cannot take the exam like ordinary people, but also must not become complacent. And just because you did well in the 'Music' test, doesn't mean you can be careless."

  "Even if you can't take the exam normally, young master should still have a good attitude towards it, be serious and prepare well. Not being able to take the exam normally is one thing, but not taking it seriously is another matter altogether, these are two completely different attitudes with different meanings. I hope young master will continue to study diligently as before, without any laziness in his heart. Over the years, I've read some books and come to understand that having a good attitude towards things can lead to different achievements in the future, please don't mind my words."

  The old servant said sincerely that he was afraid the young man would become arrogant with his skills and slack off in his studies.

  Upon hearing the old servant's words, Li Tu was taken aback, as if he indeed didn't care about tomorrow's exam. It was because he fundamentally couldn't take the exam normally. But had his attitude changed? The old servant also spoke well; many times, one's attitude determines success or failure.

  "I understand, I will definitely improve my attitude and take it seriously, I won't be lazy about learning."

  Li Tu put away his guqin and stood up, walking into the bamboo building.

  Moonlit night, quiet and still, with a cool breeze blowing outside the window.

  Li Tu lay in bed but couldn't fall asleep, and the image of the floating qin platform kept appearing in his mind.

  A pavilion like a floating island, a white-robed person playing the zither on the clouds, and golden musical notes.

  These shocking scenes, wanting to forget but can't, keep emerging from time to time.

  Li Tu never knew what kind of existence that was. All this seemed very magical and mysterious, hoping to enter there again to learn that piano piece.

  When he was half asleep, Li Tu found himself standing on the ninth-grade piano platform, and his mind suddenly became clear.

  "I'm back here again?"

  Li Tu looked around and everything was as usual. The piano platform floated in the sea of clouds, but he didn't see the white-clothed person playing the piano.

  "This place is mysterious, with the presence of the four arts of qin, qi, shu and hua, making people learn here."

  "Now that I'm here, let's practice some piano skills."

  He sat cross-legged on the couch, relaxed his body, exercised his fingers, and then tried out the tone of the guqin.

  "The tone of this piano is very good, almost perfect."

  The timbre of the guqin's sound is mainly determined by the skill of the player and the timbre of the guqin itself. Therefore, a guqin player not only needs to have excellent skills but also a guqin with good timbre.

  Li Tu tidied up his clothes and hat, then calmed down and began to play the zither.

  A calm mind is essential for a good performance, and smooth breathing is necessary to control one's energy.

  At this moment, a ray of light fell from the clouds and entered Li Tu's brow, and a fragment suddenly appeared in his mind. A man in white sat cross-legged on a cloud, playing the zither, and golden notes floated out of the zither, the sound like a divine melody, too wonderful to describe.

  "This..."

  Li Tu was momentarily unable to react, he had always wanted to learn that magical tune, and unexpectedly, as soon as he re-entered the piano platform, he easily got it, and it was a complete piece of music, every note, every finger movement, clear and vivid, printed in his mind.

  "This piano piece was originally called 'The Prelude of Divine Sound', it mainly cleanses one's mind, lets the soul ascend and also purifies the pianist's heart, not letting impurities obscure."

  "This piano piece is indeed magical, and it actually has such an effect."

  "Does this piano piece contain 365 fingerings?"

  Li Tu was shocked, the dozens of fingerings he usually used could play most piano pieces, but it actually required 365 fingerings to play normally, no wonder it's called divine sound.

  The difficulty of this piano piece is really too high, it's a bit scary.

  Li Tu closed his eyes, quietly listening to the white-clothed person's playing in his mind, slowly becoming familiar with its rhythm and melody, understanding its artistic conception, and silently memorizing the finger techniques used by the white-clothed person. After listening continuously for dozens of times, he was almost familiar with the rhythm and melody of the piece, and the 365 finger techniques were also remembered in his heart.

  "Give it a try and see if you can play it."

  Li Tu's heart is calm and peaceful, his hands stroking the zither.

  The notes were disjointed and intermittent, quite jarring.

  "No. Pay attention to fingerings, but forget the rhythm; pay attention to fingerings and rhythm, but forget the number of strings and pitch position, and also need to grasp tone accuracy and lightness, heaviness, slowness, and speed. At first, fingers are busy non-stop, afraid that the front and back sounds can't be connected, wanting to prolong the rhythm but can't control it, hard to do finely."

  "This piano piece has as many as 365 fingerings, it's easy to lose track and end up with the hand not following the will, and the sound not matching the intention."

  "Such a high-difficulty piano piece is indeed worthy of being called divine sound."