Book 3: Chapter 24: Zither Pavilion Seized

Fairy Waner did not even bother to wipe away the blood. Instead, she stared at Gu Hai on the deck across the street, unreconciled with the situation.

At this moment, Gu Hai was like the moon lifted up by the stars around it, enjoying the gratitude of countless cultivators.

Before this, Fairy Waner had not seen Gu Hai as an opponent at all. She had played the zither here just to find an excuse, to direct the trouble to the World’s Best Zither Pavilion. She only targeted the Silver Moon Mountain Manor’s manor lord. Suppressing This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion? What a joke. She had no interest in dueling someone who could not even bring out an artistic conception.

However, the facts were laid bare. She had lost—and very badly at that.

“Miserable World”? It ended up benefiting someone else—everything she had done only served to demonstrate Gu Hai’s capability.

The entire city cheered for Gu Hai, feeling gratitude to him. Why did it feel like she had worked so hard, only to benefit Gu Hai?

“That damned World’s Best Zither Pavilion! I want to smash down the World’s Best Zither Pavilion!”

“Demon woman, don’t run!”

“Capture that demon woman! Capture her!”

After the cheers, everyone started their furious revenge.

Boom!

Many cultivators charged into the World’s Best Zither Pavilion, smashing everything, even looting.

“No! You bastards! Do you know whose business this is?” Lu An roared while glaring.

Revealing a bitter expression, Jiang Tianyi said, “Young Master An, let them smash it. The World’s Best Zither Pavilion no longer has a place in Silver Moon City.”

“No way! No! They cannot smash it. Immediately tell the city lord to bring the army over. Suppress this mob!” Lu An shouted with a glare.

“Don’t! Young Master An, don’t do that. You will provoke riots and rebellion that way. The army and the citizens will rebel. You cannot push the duke into such desperate straits, ah!” Jiang Tianyi grabbed Lu An.

“What? What rebellion? What do you mean, put my grandfather into desperate straits?” Lu An glared.

“After the people smash up the World’s Best Zither Pavilion, it will be over. They will have vented their anger and resentment. If you send the army to suppress them, you will only anger the entire city. After all, the earlier ‘Miserable World’ targeted the entire city. If all the citizens rebel and riot, everything the duke has in Silver Moon City will be affected. Furthermore, do you think that the army will come? Those soldiers nearly lost their five senses too. They will also resent the World’s Best Zither Pavilion. What if they decide to disobey their orders and rebel as well? What are we to do? What if the entire Silver Moon City rebels? Have you considered the consequences? The news will spread to the dynasty’s capital. What will the duke do when His Holy Eminence questions the duke about it?” Jiang Tianyi asked anxiously.

“Ah?” Lu An’s expression changed.

“What should we do now?” Lu An asked with an unsightly expression.

“We cannot stop the people from raging. Let them smash the place. After that, their anger will subside. After they calm down, they will remember that this is the duke’s business and will leave it at that,” Jiang Tianyi advised anxiously.

Lu An nodded. Then, he turned his head to look at Fairy Waner, the target of the mob rushing forward. He wished that he could kill her right now. However, she was Duke Lu Yang’s honored guest, his grandfather’s honored guest. He did not know what to do.

“Hah! Young Master An, we might have made the wrong move this time. Back then…had we not detained Gu Hai’s subordinates back then…,” Jiang Tianyi said bitterly.

The root of all this was their capture of Gu Hai’s subordinates.

Jiang Tianyi had heard that Gu Hai did not know what business he would run at first. Gu Hai made his decision only after being humiliated by the World’s Best Zither Pavilion; he had started up This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion to fight back.

Gu Hai managed to make his business the largest in less than two months, even squeezing out the World’s Best Zither Pavilion.

More importantly, after today, This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion’s fame would rocket. No one would be able to shake its position after this.

Gu Hai was not just a business genius. Jiang Tianyi felt bitter. Had he stuck to the business principles and stopped Lu An, perhaps this might not have happened.

Lu An looked at the other side coldly.

Gu Hai had already left the deck and returned inside This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion.

However, Lu An’s anger could not be soothed.

Gu Hai? It’s all because of Gu Hai?

With a sinister cast to his eyes, Lu An said, “This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion? Humph! I will crush it, and soon!”

“Ah? Young Master, you can’t mess around like that!”

“So what if I mess around? This is Ying Province, my grandfather’s territory. He is just a foreign ant, and he wants to stand out like this? Humph!” Lu An snorted coldly.

——

After the people smashed the World’s Best Zither Pavilion, they calmed down gradually. Nevertheless, many still charged towards Fairy Waner.

However, a fog surrounded Fairy Waner. Everyone could see her but could not catch her. She seemed to be inside a ritual array. The others could only wander around blindly in the fog.

“Demon woman, come out!”

“Don’t let that demon woman run!”

Those people still felt enraged.

Fairy Waner wiped away the blood at her lips and revealed a cold smile. She did not care about the people cursing her out. Instead, she looked at the departing Gu Hai.

“Before I left, Master reminded me not to underestimate a zitherist who could compose. Did I do that?” Fairy Waner pondered slightly after showing the cold smile.

Coo!

Suddenly, an immortal crane with a man standing on it descended from the sky.

“That’s the Silver Moon Mountain Manor’s young manor lord, Yun Mo. Why is he here?”

“It’s the Silver Moon Mountain Manor’s young manor lord. He previously came to deliver an event invitation to Gu Hai!”

“Master Gu truly deserves an event invitation!”

As the crowd discussed this, Yun Mo arrived before Fairy Waner.

“Are you the zitherist who played ‘Miserable World Yun Mo asked Fairy Waner.

“That’s right. What’s wrong? Is the manor lord seeking trouble for me?” Fairy Waner smiled coldly.

“Your ‘Miserable World’ possesses a grand artistic conception. Even this humble one found it hard to resist. The manor lord sent me to deliver a zither-bestowal event invitation to you,” Yun Mo said.

“What? For that demon woman?” The surrounding crowd goggled, all at sea.

“Oh?” Surprise flashed in Fairy Waner’s eyes.

“This is the manor lord’s intent. It is up to you whether to accept or not,” Yun Mo said while shaking his head.

“Of course, I’ll take it. Why not?! Hahahaha!” Fairy Waner guffawed.

Then, Fairy Waner extended her hand and received the invitation.

Bang!

The surrounding fog suddenly exploded, and Fairy Waner vanished before everyone.

“Where is the demon woman? Where did the demon woman go?”

“How did she disappear?”

The surrounding cultivators cried out as they searched for her. However, Fairy Waner had disappeared mysteriously.

Yun Mo frowned but ignored this. Then, he went to This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion to seek out Gu Hai.

He handed an event invitation to Gu Hai in front of everyone.

“Huh? Another invitation?” Gu Hai said in confusion.

“This is the manor lord’s intent. Your ‘Sonata Pathétique’ is worth an event invitation,” Yun Mo explained.

Gu Hai felt stunned. Long Wanqing just smiled joyfully.

At this moment, Mu Chenfeng felt conflicted. He tried nine times but failed to obtain an event invitation. However, the event invitation seemed to come easy for Gu Hai. People stuffed invitations into his hands one after another. How could there be such a big difference?

“Mister Gu, keep it!”

“That’s right. Master Gu, you deserve it!”

“Master Gu, giving you another invitation is not too much. Master Gu is superior to the other zitherists. You are worthy of this invitation!”

The surrounding crowd called out.

“Alright. In that case, many thanks to the manor lord for his favor.” Gu Hai nodded with a bitter smile.

While others did not know, how could Gu Hai have no self-awareness? Master zitherist? What a joke! It was just a coincidence that “Sonata Pathétique” matched the situation.

Then, Yun Mo left.

Gu Hai, Long Wanqing, Mu Chenfeng, and the others returned to the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence.

“Hall Master, how about I give this invitation to you? I don’t think I’ll be going,” Gu Hai said bitterly.

“Don’t, don’t. You’d better go!” Long Wanqing refused.

Mu Chenfeng turned his head away, unable to continue watching this. Countless zitherists in Silver Moon City bitterly sought an event invitation, yet Gu Hai did not want it, giving it away to anyone he saw.

——

Silver Moon City:

After the duel between “Miserable World” and “Sonata Pathétique,” the city slowly regained its previous calm.

However, the World’s Best Zither Pavilion had closed. Not only was it smashed up, but the citizens of Silver Moon City now rejected this brand. Even if it opened again somewhere else, no one would patronize it.

While the World’s Best Zither Pavilion had collapsed, This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion’s business boomed.

The goods were of good quality and cheap with a guarantee of maintenance. Furthermore, there was the gratitude to Gu Hai. Hence, countless cultivators came from all over the city to buy instruments.

The queues to preorder the piano grew long again.

This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion was not just profitable.

It had to use the spirit stones it earned every day to buy storage items to store the remaining spirit stones and deliver them to the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence. Many spirit stones arrived daily.

The Wood Division disciples thoroughly obeyed Gu Hai, as this Water Division Master was very generous when rewarding their efforts. In just one month, they earned more than they had over the past ten-odd years. Who would not work hard?

Everything was finally on the right trajectory, so Gu Hai no longer bothered himself with This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion. Instead, he started looking through various reports in the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence.

“Hey? Hall Master, I seem to have discovered something. After your mother established the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence, she frequently held zither conventions, inviting many master zitherists to come and compete with each other. However, I noticed something extremely strange with two people,” Gu Hai said.

“Oh?”

“One of them is Silver Moon City’s city lord, He Shikang. There is also another zitherist called Mister Huangfu. Although these two did not come and go together, they frequently attended your mother’s zither conventions. Even if they are not friends, they should be extremely familiar with each other. Furthermore, they both attended the last zither convention your mother held before passing away. After your mother passed away, the other zitherists came to pay their respects. However, these two never came. There was no news from them at all.”

“Oh?” Long Wanqing felt slightly surprised.

There were many people who did not come to pay their respects, and there were many who did. Who would pay attention to this detail? However, after Gu Hai mentioned it, it did seem somewhat abnormal.

“We will need to investigate who this Mister Huangfu is. We also need to look into the Silver Moon City Lord, He Shikang. What exactly is his situation?” Gu Hai looked at Long Wanqing.

Long Wanqing tried to recall.

“Oh no! It’s not good! Gu Hai, things are not good!” Mu Chenfeng ran over from nearby.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Hai asked, feeling bewildered.

“It’s Young Master An! Young Master An and the city lord, He Shikang, brought over many soldiers and surrounded This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion. They want to seize This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion!” Mu Chenfeng said anxiously.

“What? Seize? On what grounds?” Long Wanqing glared, immediately angered.

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