Dragon's Origin

Wang Sheng was shocked. Grandmaster Lu's impolite way of addressing him clearly indicated he was there to cause trouble! However, Old Tie and the others beside him didn't seem surprised at all, each of them grinning as if this was perfectly normal.

"I knew it was you lot!" The yard had a slightly higher fence, and Grandmaster Lu only shouted once before an old man with a white beard and hair emerged from the house inside. Upon seeing Grandmaster Lu and the others, he snorted coldly.

However, though his attitude was cold, his feet didn't stop moving. He quickly walked over to open the door, not saying a word before turning around and heading back inside.

"Indeed, his personality is eccentric enough," Wang Sheng thought to himself, honestly following the grandmasters into the yard.

The yard was quite distinctive. The open space in front wasn't large, about half a mu in size. There were several large trees in the yard, their canopies providing ample shade. Behind it was a large plot of land, filled with plants, pillars, and a dozen large trees of unknown names, each as thick as a hug.

There were two or three tables in the yard. Several old men were quite self-aware, not heading towards Grandmaster Yu's house, but instead sitting down at those tables. Old Tie directly and impatiently knocked on the small wooden table: "Boy, bring out the wine and dishes, quickly!"

Wang Sheng hurriedly prepared the wine and dishes. The old men gathered around the table to eat and drink, not paying any attention to the host, as if this was their own yard.

Grandmaster Yu went into the house and came out carrying a pipa. He asked Wang Sheng, "Boy, do you understand music?"

Wang Sheng shook his head. He had heard many tunes, including those that existed in this world and those that didn't, but that didn't mean he understood music.

"You dare to customize a musical instrument without understanding music?" Grandmaster Yu frowned directly. But seeing that Grandmaster Lu, Old Tie, and the others were not paying attention to this side, eating and drinking on their own, he didn't say much.

Those grandmasters were all acquaintances. Grandmaster Yu didn't even need to ask who wanted to customize the instrument; it was definitely Wang Sheng, whom he had never met before.

"Then do you understand musical instruments?" Grandmaster Yu asked again.

Wang Sheng still shook his head. He couldn't claim to understand. As the saying goes, he had heard them, seen them, but never handled them personally, so he wouldn't dare say he understood.

"You dare to customize a musical instrument without understanding musical instruments?" Grandmaster Yu frowned again.

Wang Sheng didn't know how to respond. Should he directly say that he wanted to create a musical instrument that didn't yet exist in this world?

"Then listen to this, how is this piece?" Grandmaster Yu sat down on a more comfortable wooden stool by the door, held up the pipa, and prepared to play.

Seeing that Grandmaster Yu was about to play, the grandmasters stopped their noise and waited quietly. They had known Grandmaster Yu for many years, and although they didn't like him, they knew that Grandmaster Yu was annoyed by other noises when he was playing. It had been a rule for many years, and they wouldn't actively offend him.

What else could Wang Sheng say? He obediently sat there, ready to listen to Grandmaster Yu's performance.

Ding-dong, Grandmaster Yu turned his fingers, and the clear and melodious sound of the pipa rang out. A beautiful and elegant tune flowed from Grandmaster Yu's fingers.

From the very first sound, Wang Sheng frowned after hearing only a few notes. However, he patiently listened until the end.

The piece wasn't long. After two minutes, Grandmaster Yu stopped and asked Wang Sheng, "How is this piece?"

"It's hard to say how the piece is," Wang Sheng honestly replied, "But one of the strings on your pipa seems a bit too tight."

Pfft, among the grandmasters who had been listening quietly, one of them laughed on the spot.

Old Yu often used some tests to make people who came to ask for musical instruments give up. This was one of the methods. People who were not truly obsessed with music or musical instruments couldn't hear it. Moreover, he used different instruments each time, and no one knew which one he would use to make things difficult, so everyone didn't tell Wang Sheng.

But Wang Sheng said it so confidently, indicating that Wang Sheng had really heard it, then the one who was embarrassed should be Old Yu. Those who had always disagreed with Old Yu's habit immediately laughed out loud.

Grandmaster Yu glared at Wang Sheng, then glanced at the old men who were snickering, curled his lips, held the pipa steady, and began to slightly rotate one of the tuning pegs on it. He only moved it slightly, plucked it two or three times, and then asked Wang Sheng with a cold face, "How about this?"

"Still a bit tight." With Wang Sheng's ears, he immediately heard a little bit of abnormality from those two or three plucks, and honestly pointed it out.

This time, Grandmaster Yu gave Wang Sheng a slightly better look, continued to fine-tune it, and plucked it two or three more times. This time, before Grandmaster Yu asked, Wang Sheng had already nodded proactively.

Grandmaster Yu held up the pipa and started playing again. Still the same piece, still the same tune, but now it felt much more natural.

Two minutes later, after the piece was played again, Grandmaster Yu asked again, "How about this time?"

Not only Grandmaster Yu, but even Grandmaster Lu and the others were looking at Wang Sheng, to see what he could say that would make Old Yu nod. If Wang Sheng couldn't pass this level, they would probably have to put pressure on Old Yu together.

"It's a little better than before," Wang Sheng said uncertainly after pondering for a while, "But I still feel like there's something wrong somewhere."

"Oh?" Grandmaster Yu didn't get angry, but calmly asked, "What's the problem? Is it my technique? Or the piece itself?"

"It has nothing to do with technique or the piece," Wang Sheng thought for a while and shook his head directly. "It's still the problem of the pipa itself."

"I adjusted it according to your request just now," Grandmaster Yu said somewhat dissatisfied, "How else do you want to adjust it? You tell me!"

Wang Sheng carefully recalled the slight abnormality he had just heard, looked at the pipa, and finally reached out his hand, pointing to a certain position on the pipa's belly and said somewhat uncertainly, "Is there an extra thin layer of something pasted inside here?"

Grandmaster Yu stared at Wang Sheng coldly for a while, and slowly his gaze softened. In everyone's eyes, Grandmaster Yu reached out and loosened all the tuning pegs of the pipa, removed the strings, and then carefully opened the back panel of the pipa, turning it over to face everyone.

On the back of the area Wang Sheng pointed to, inside the pipa, there was indeed a thin, circular white piece pasted tightly. He didn't know what material it was, but it was stuck tightly on it. Grandmaster Yu reached out and pulled off the small round piece, a smile appearing on his face.

"Didn't you say you don't understand musical instruments?" Grandmaster Yu asked with a smile on his face, "Then how did you hear that there was something here?"