Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

"Yeah……"

Lin Yuan lowered her head in confusion, continuing to gaze at the graceful figure dancing inside the black bead.

For some reason, she always felt that "If Madness" was definitely not simple, and that the Moonlit Saint Ye Sheng... might not actually be a man.

Wei Teng chuckled, glancing at the bewildered Qin Shishi, then at Lin Yuan, who seemed lost in thought—

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"Alright, I have handed this black bead over to you. As for the rest, with your aptitude, you shouldn't need me to teach you. Once you see the memories inside this black bead, little girl, you will naturally understand Ye Sheng's true thoughts."

"At the same time, they will also understand the true meaning of 'If Madness'."

The underlying meaning of his words was that he wanted Lin Yuan and the others to leave.

Qin Shishi and Ye Yuchan weren't stupid either; they exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

Immediately, Qin Shishi clasped her hands together and bowed to the boy in front of her.

"In that case, I shall take my leave for now..."

Facing a master musician of a higher rank than herself, Qin Shishi naturally wouldn't be too presumptuous; she would observe all the proper etiquette.

Ye Yuchan also bowed to the boy in the same manner as Qin Shishi, but unconsciously thought of the old rogue's behavior before.

If I go back now, I'll probably get punished, right?

Although she really didn't want to accept the punishment the old rogue was talking about, she couldn't hide from him forever, and she had to go back to the courtyard house eventually.

In the end, reluctantly, Ye Yuchan and Lin Yuan left the underground martial arts arena.

As for Xiao Lin Yuan, she kept staring at the black bead the whole way, her mind filled with thoughts of Yue Ye Sheng.

……

In the spacious room, the disheveled boy slumped on the floor, looking rather dejected.

The surroundings were empty; he had been sitting in front of the guqin ever since the three left.

The silence lasted for an unknown period of time.

The boy had so much to say, but nowhere to express it.

Countless years and countless eras have passed, yet when the young man recalls the ancient times millions of years ago, he still cannot help but feel a sense of melancholy.

Perhaps no one knows that he is actually a being from the ancient era, who only recently awoke from his slumber. The reason he only plays ancient musical scores is because he only knows ancient tunes; he knows nothing else.

and--

The boy sighed, and his entire being transformed into a phantom, instantly merging into the ancient zither before him.

He is not human.

There are so many things I want to say, but I have nowhere and no one to say them to.

Then, the sound of the piano filled the empty room.

—It was still the same tune from ancient times, but this time, there was no musician playing the zither, no one plucking the strings. Instead, the zither itself was playing the timeless tune that was etched in the young man's heart.

If Madness

The changing melodies, the almost frenzied string sounds, and the chaotic emotions poured out like a flood!

Playing, playing!

The piece lasted a full fifteen minutes without stopping; every second felt like an outpouring of emotion, a rambling outpouring of emotions without any rhyme or reason.

This piece was being played madly in the room of the ninth-level master musician.

Sometimes it is sorrowful and slow, sometimes it is wild and passionate, sometimes it is helpless crying, and sometimes it is crazy and chaotic dancing.

The song ended.

The surroundings echoed with endless melodies and strings.

In the empty room, the guqin slowly calmed down. It didn't even notice that several cracks had appeared on its body.

silence.

The guqin remained still, and the young man remained silent.

Everything seemed to have sunk to the bottom of the sea; the intense passion and madness of just moments before seemed to have never existed. The world had never been so silent.

……

Finally, the guqin itself let out a long sigh.

"Ugh--"

“Miss, in the end, I still told others about that past.”

The guqin vibrated slightly twice, revealing the bottom of the instrument that had been hidden.

Those were characters that no one had ever seen before, written in ancient script, and they were quite beautiful and elegant.

……

The moonlight is like the tide, and your face is like a gentle breeze.

The man travels a million miles, while the woman suffers the freezing snow in the courtyard.

His longing for love gradually faded, leaving behind only the rugged spirit of an old man.

Before the Emperor, I severed all ties of love, and the sound of the zither entered my heart.

……

That young lady, perhaps until her death, never revealed everything to that legendary man.

That's why I chose that name—

Like madness, like madness.

"If one day I were to truly go mad for you, I'm afraid Miss wouldn't have ended up like that."

Inside the room, the mournful sound of the guqin, along with the music, seemed to transcend time and space, swaying back and forth under the moonlight with the figure.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

This is a short poem I wrote on the spot, and it probably doesn't conform to the rules of classical Chinese poetry at all.

So just watch it for fun.

53. Accept your punishment!

After leaving the underground martial arts arena, Lin Yuan and Ye Yuchan bid farewell to Qin Shishi and quickly returned to the courtyard house.

Although Qin Shishi repeatedly asked the two to visit the Qin Sect and promised many seemingly good benefits (such as delicious food), Ye Yuchan still refused.

She wasn't stupid; she probably wanted to keep them in the Qin Sect because she wanted to find a way to resolve the little monk's matter, which would require the old rogue to step in and solve.

It's best not to take the initiative to contact the Qin Sect before the old rogue returns.

Upon returning to the courtyard house, the two quickly discovered that Zhang Ruoxue and Fan Luokui had not yet returned. Come to think of it, they had only stayed in Maple Leaf City for a day, and the two visiting relatives would have stayed for at least two days.

So during this time, Ye Yuchan cultivated while anxiously waiting for the old rogue to come home, while Lin Yuan studied the black bead.

Time flies—

The girl sat before the zither, a faint gleam rising from the black beads.

If I had truly had the courage to go mad for you, I fear that no matter what the outcome, I would not have ended up here.

The graceful figure sank into the dark abyss, growing ever farther away from the light and shadow.

What were she feeling at that time?

They were so close, so within arm's reach, yet it felt as if they were separated by countless mountains and rivers.

If, under the bright moonlight, she had held that person's hand instead of the sheet music, the ending might have been different.

Siheyuan.

Lin Yuan gazed at the black bead in her hand, which concealed a secret love affair from a million years ago. Her eyes flickered slightly, and complex emotions swirled within them. She remained silent for a long time.

Saint Ye Sheng was born on a moonlit night.

He appeared in the world as a rugged old man, followed Emperor Wu Gu Tianren all over the country, conquered thousands of miles of land, and was a powerful and domineering man with a loud voice. He was also the first person in history to be conferred a sainthood by Emperor Wu!

Unfortunately, almost no one knows that Ye Sheng is a woman.

She knew that if she were to woo the Martial Emperor, she would certainly not be able to win over that legendary figure. Moreover, in an era of frequent wars, rampant demons, and widespread suffering, women often had no choice but to stay at home and wait.

So Ye Sheng used his transformation technique to become an old man and accompanied Gu Tianren all the way.

He was there for him when he was killed, he was there when he fled, he was there when he laughed, he was there when he was sad.

The two have been to the most dangerous forbidden ancient spirit lands, as well as the beautiful and fairy-tale-like Azure Secret Realm. Together they have resisted foreign enemies and stood at the top of the world.

However, she never revealed to Gu Tianren her yearning for endless years, nor did she pour all her emotions into a single piece of music.

If Madness

She longed for the Empress to see the love and secret hidden within the score when she helped her complete the piece.

Unfortunately, Gu Tianren didn't notice.

In the end, Ye Sheng became a saint, completely lost faith in the Martial Emperor, and severed all ties of affection, leaving behind only this poem, "If I Go Mad."

Lin Yuan stared intently at the graceful figure that seemed to exist yet not exist, flickering within the black bead, dancing gracefully inside the dark sphere.

She couldn't help but wonder, had Ye Sheng... truly severed all ties of affection?

Lin Yuan had no idea what happened next.

But at least, she had come to understand the woman sitting beside her beloved under the moonlight, weaving countless threads of love into her musical score, filled with anticipation, regret, and remorse.

Every note and every string melody carries with it struggle and apprehension, yet also a faint sense of anticipation.

Ultimately, however, they all vanished into nothingness.

—The sound of the zither echoed.

Before anyone knew it, the girl had pressed her delicate fingers onto the strings, her fingertips plucking at them...

The melody, belonging only to Ruo Fengdian, and only to that timid woman, echoed in the courtyard.