Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

Chapter 76-Fate of Monarch Eyes Part 5

Translated by Snowfall77

After sending their unreliable Senior away with great difficulty, Huo Bai walked to the door of his room, giving Xia Ge a sideways glance as he asked: “Would you like to come in and take a look?”

“No thanks, I just wanted to come and see what it was like around here.”  Xia Ge still felt a little traumatized.  “I didn’t expect that the seniors here would be so enthusiastic.”

Huo Bai shook his head, slightly smiling: “People here are like that.”

Xia Ge looked at him, a little shocked.

Huo Bai’s smile stiffened, reacting to something.

Blinking, Xia Ge gave a cough and said: “Brother, get some rest, I’m going to head back.”

Silent for a moment, Huo Bai finally answered: “Right, well, go safely.”

Done speaking, he closed his door.

Xia Ge walked a few steps, then around to eye Huo Bai’s shut door.  She didn’t know why, but there was a sudden, indescribable feeling in her heart.

System: [What’s Wrong?]

Xia Ge went: “Ai, it’s tiring being a human being.”

“If you’re not careful, you won’t be a human inside or out.”

The system did not comprehend: [……What?]

Xia Ge said nothing further and headed back down the path, away from the other disciples’ housing.  Tall trees flowering with beautiful snow-white blossoms lined the road, their petals drifting here and there in the moonlight.

After walking a short ways, Xia Ge unexpectedly heard someone calling to her softly.

“Xia Wuyin.”

The voice was calm and devoid of emotion.

Xia Ge turned her head.

A young lady in red and white stood under a tree heavy with snow-white blooms, her long black hair tied back with a red ribbon, and her pitch-black eyes were fathomless.

Between the cool breeze, the fluttering petals, and the moonlight, Xia Ge felt lost in a dream.

A fantasy, yet somehow real.

Forcing herself back to her senses, Xia Ge called back: “Ah, Senior Sister.”

Gu Peijiu nodded, leaving Xia Ge to figure it out on her own: “Did you follow me here?”

The second the words left her mouth, Xia Ge realized how absurd they sounded.

Who could have guessed that Gu Peijiu would nod again?  “Mmm.”

Xia Ge: “……”

The young lady in red and white looked at her: “Let’s return together.”

Taken aback, Xia Ge stammered: “Ah……yes.”

Under the silvery light of the moon, they walked together, Xia Ge feeling a little uneasy.  Glancing to one side and then the other, Xia Ge eventually looked up at the young lady strolling alongside her.

Thinking of Lu Qie’s words, Xia Ge couldn’t help asking: “……um, Senior Sister, is there a hot spring behind your rooms?”

After a quick glance at Xia Ge, Gu Peijiu withdrew her gaze: “Yes.”

“Oh,” Xia Ge said, “It turns out there is.  I didn’t know.”

Gu Peijiu: “Would you like to use it?”

Xia Ge hurriedly shook her head: “No, no, I was just asking.”

She’d abruptly remembered that Senior Sister already knew she was a girl.

Gu Peijiu answered in a low voice: “Mmm.”

Ah……now, in order to avoid suspicion, Xia Ge couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Gu Peijiu also remained silent.  Apparently, if Xia Ge didn’t talk, neither would she.

So they quietly went on their way for a while.

Although Xia Ge was plagued by a vague sense of familiarity.

As if a long, long time ago, she’d walked this same mountain, under the same moon.  And there’d always been someone behind her, following calmly and silently.

No matter how far away she went, no matter where she went, no matter what dangers she faced, whenever she turned her head……

That person was always there.

Without thinking, Xia Ge stopped and looked behind her.  Beside her, Gu Peijiu also stopped, watching her with quiet, unreadable black eyes.

There was no one and nothing behind them but a mountainside of trees, their white blossoms shining in the pale moonlight.

Snapping back to reality, Xia Ge thought herself foolish once again.

If there had been someone behind her, wouldn’t that have been terrifying?  If not a ghost or spirit, who would always follow behind another person?

What a mess her thoughts were.

Xia Ge was berating herself when Gu Peijiu suddenly asked softly: “Why are you looking back the way we came?”

Staring up the trees for a long moment, Xia Ge finally answered: “……there’s flowers.”

Gu Peijiu gazed down at Xia Ge.  Xia Ge probably didn’t realize it, but her profile as she comtemplated the trees’ flowering branches swaying in the breeze was becoming softer and softer.

More and more like a girl.

Then Xia Ge turned her head to look up at Gu Peijiu, silver moonbeams reflected in her dark eyes.

Hands behind her back, Xia Ge nodded solemnly.

“Although, if I look this way, there will be flowers and Senior Sisters.”

There was no one behind Xia Ge.

But even if nothing’s there, just pretend.

Now aware that Gu Peijiu knew she was a girl, Xia Ge was no longer making the effort to disguise the girlish wanton charm of her voice.

Gu Peijiu became lost in her thoughts.

Her eyes gradually softening.

“Come, let’s go back.”

The two began walking again.

Though the path seemed very long.

Tired of the quiet after a while, Xia Ge asked: “Senior Sister, do you know how to play any musical instruments?”

The question shook Gu Peijiu, a fragmented memory reappearing in her mind.

——“Aiya, I’ll teach you to play the flute.  You’ll listen to me, and after that you’ll take the flute and have them listen to you.”

The memory abruptly stopped there.

It Gu Peijiu a long time to answer with a shake of her head: “No.”

Xia Ge was more worried for herself: “Ai, I can’t either, but I’m sure I’ve got an innate skill for musical theory.  I can’t just let my talent go to waste.”

She wasn’t going to rise higher as a puppet master until she learned an instrument.  The problem being who would teach her?

Gu Peijiu: “……”

They kept walking forward.

Xia Ge: “Ai, Senior Sister, I’m bored.  Can’t you play something?  Anything?  Whatever you want, just so long as there’s a sound……”

Gu Peijiu glanced down at her: “Anything?”

Xia Ge nodded: “Anything.”

Slightly raising her arm, Gu Peijiu’s ayara drifted out from her sleeve, snatching some tree leaves and dropping them onto Gu Peijiu’s hand.

Xia Ge’s eyes slightly widened.

In the boundless moonlight, the young lady in red and white dress twirled the leaves in her fingers, folding them just so before putting them to her lips and playing them softly.

A song Xia Ge had never heard before filled the air.  The prelude was light and quick, yet the tune slowly became mournful, making the listener feel somehow heartbroken.

A nocturne, the falling of a leaf heralding the arrival of autumn.

When the song finished, Xia Ge clapped her hands: “Pleasant to the ears!  Senior Sister, you’re very outstanding!”

Giving Gu Peijiu a bright-eyed look, Xia Ge asked: “What tune was that?”

Gu Peijiu twisted her makeshift wind instrument: “Returning Home.”

“Mm?”  Xia Ge was puzzled.

Gu Peijiu: “The song is a story.”

That aroused Xia Ge’s curiosity: “What’s its story?”

“The war is over and a soldier is returning home in great joy,” Gu Peijiu told softly, “Yet he comes home to find that people have changed.  A scene of devastation is everywhere he looks, and his wife is dead.”

Gu Peijiu paused: “That is why the prelude is happy and the postlude is full of grief.”

Xia Ge was stumped for words after that.

Noticing Xia Ge’s speechlessness, Gu  Peijiu added: “It’s just an insignificant folk tune.”

Looking at the foliage in Gu Peijiu’s hand, Xia Ge went: “I want some too.”
Gu Peijiu’s ayara went flying out again and picked more leafage, which Gu Peijiu next handed off to Xia Ge.

The system was full of doubt: [……Can You?]

Xia Ge: {guess.}

Taking the leaves, Xia Ge thought to herself that if Senior Sister hadn’t played for her, Xia Ge wouldn’t have remembered that she could do it also.  Her skills would be nowhere near as consummate as Senior Sister’s, but Xia Ge figured she could manage a simple melody.

Raising her eyebrows at Gu Peijiu, Xia Ge brought the folded leaf flute she’d just made to her lips.

Gu Peijiu watched as Xia Ge start blowing away.  The tune quickly took seven or eight painful twists, fiendishly piercing the ears.  Gu Peijiu’s brow imperceptibly twitched, although her expression remained unchanged.

Xia Ge put the handmade flute down: “Hold on, just let me adjust……”

The system spoke with certainty: [You Don’t Know How.]

Xia Ge’s face was thick: {just wait.}

Gu Peijiu was quiet while Xia Ge made her ‘adjustments.’  Then Xia Ge took a deep breath and played ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’

From beginning to end, simple and lively.

When Xia Ge was finished with her second musical performance, Gu Peijiu politely inquired: “What is the name of the song?”

Xia Ge prated with eyes open: “Returning Home.”

Gu Peijiu: “……”

Xia Ge: “It has a story too.  Would you like to hear it, Senior Sister?”

Gu Peijiu: “……go on.”

Assuming a profound mien, Xia Ge spoke: “It’s the story of officers and soldiers who campaigned in every direction, returned home in triumph, and found that their country that they guarded had gradually become peaceful and prosperous.”

“Wars are always merciless,” Xia Ge threw away her leaf flute, “The only difference is peoples’ reason for fighting.”

“When the way of thinking is different, the feelings will also naturally be different.”

Gu Peijiu frowned: “Fallaciousness.”

Xia Ge: “Ai, anyhow……sometimes war can’t be avoided and there’s no way around a bad situation.  You can’t change reality; you can only change your mentality.  With a good mentality, you’ll have high morale, thus increasing your chances of winning.”

“Oh, by the way, I was trying to play your tune backwards, but unfortunately I wasn’t skilled enough, hahahaha.  And I did lie to you just now, the song’s actual name is ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’  It’s too gentle for a fighting song, but it’s the only one I can play, so there was no helping it.”

Gu Peijiu: “……”

The night breeze was growing colder.

Gu Peijiu halted.

“Stop drinking.”

Xia Ge suddenly quivered in fear: “Ah?  What drinking?”

Gu Peijiu’s gaze was heavy: “You’re young, drinking is harmful to your health.”

Xia Ge: “……”  Was not……

Wait a minute?!  Earlier in the day……the feeling of someone watching……

“Haha……I hadn’t planned on going drinking today,” Xia Ge sounded Senior Sister out cautiously, “That……today, why did Senior Sister break a wine pot?”

Gu Peijiu: “……”

“It wasn’t on purpose.”  After a moment, Gu Peijiu shook her head: “It was a slip of the hand.”

做人[zuò rén]

conduct oneself; behave; be an upright person

be human [zuò rén]

To be a human means to behave in the world and treat others. It is a social circle with deep connotation, emphasizing doing one’s best to meet everyone’s expectations of oneself, so that everyone likes themselves instead of hating themselves. Become the ideal person in everyone’s heart. To be a human being is to be the person in everyone’s heart.

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%81%9A%E4%BA%BA/5091

一叶知秋[yī yè zhī qiū]

One falling leaf is indicative of the coming of autumn; A small sign can indicate a great trend; A straw shows which way the wind blows; It is a straw in the wind