::It’s fine. I want to spread Rock as far as I can.:: Even to people I found annoying as fuck.

Melodic River grinned at Little Teasing Mouse. “Junior martial sister! Good to see you.”

The girl nodded excitedly. “I haven’t seen you since you got in trouble with Sister Black Crustacean Claw.”

River laughed awkwardly.

“I still can’t believe you were banished from North Peak for a whole month.”

Her face turned bright red, then she cleared her throat. “Well. I deserved my punishment.”

The little girl shook her head, causing her round ears to wobble. “I think she went too far when she sent half the crab-type beasts after you.”

Little Spring and I exchanged glances, both silently acknowledging that we were sick of those monsters after the Crab Mission. Fuck them and their ultimate evolutionary state.

River coughed. “That... may have been a little excessive. Anyway, we’re here to listen to Junior Sister Linlin play.” She quickly and very obviously changed the topic.

Right! I needed to introduce the keyboard to this world.

I considered playing Prejudice by Tim Minchin. It was a song with a diverse range of music styles… but I didn’t think the people in this universe would understand its themes. After all, this world didn’t exactly have the concept of gingers.

I had no desire to see the confused look on their faces as I called myself whatever the fuck “matchstick” was.

Whatever. I needed to show them not only the keyboard but also rock. There was one song that was absolutely perfect for this. Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Popular memes in my past-past life believed that it was written by a fae disguised as a human who returned to his realm far too soon.

Of course, I wouldn’t play the original song, but a spiritual song inspired by it created by Rising Purple Thunder. That fuckin’ weirdo. Actually, he reminded me a bit of Melodic River. Who knew? Maybe she had been him in his previous life.

I pressed my fingers to the keys, and the notes flowed out. As if wanting to join in, wind rustled the leaves and caused branches to sway.

Little Spring narrowed his eyes on my finger movements as if memorizing the song. If it was that brat, he might be able to do it.

On the other hand, that mouse girl had her head tilted as if she were very confused. Adorably so. Fuckin’ dumbass.

Melodic River closed her eyes as if experiencing something transformative. Her delicate wrist rotated back and forth as if she were touching every note. This movement was the exact same one Rising Purple Thunder used when listening to a song he enjoyed.

Shit, what if she really was the past life of my rambunctious little rock student? Didn’t that mean he caused just as much trouble in his past life as he had when he was in the Indomitable Will sect?! That hedonistic brat.

But that wasn’t something I could be sure about. However, it made me realize that maybe my students’ souls were somewhere out there, following the path of music.

Playing in the strong wind must have caused my eyes to water. I barely managed to keep my voice from cracking.

Pearlescent Rose suddenly flew over and landed beside the three others, interrupting my thoughts. Her eyes barely left the new instrument, but I could tell that she’d come for another purpose.

A few minutes later, I played the last notes.

::Sister Lin, was that also rock?::

I stiffened. ::Of course! It’s just missing a guitar, drums and some backup vocals. The keyboard is a more classical instrument, which is why it sounds so different. But it’s definitely rock. Rock has so much variation that it’s never ending.::

“Once you have time, we should talk about this new instrument, Junior Linlin,” Rose said.

Melodic River stood up. “Can I try?”

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With a gesture, I sent the flying keyboard spinning forward and had it stop right in front of her. When I released my spiritual energy, the instrument dropped, but the fairy caught it with her foot. With a slight kick, she had it hovering at waist height and began playing a scale. It didn’t take her long to figure out that if she increased the amount of energy added into it, it would switch over to a different set of sounds. Soon she was playing a simple tune using Xiao Bai’s barks, causing the puppy to howl along.

Teasing Mouse giggled and clapped to the beat.

Considering the expression of joy Melodic River was trying to hide with a cool facade, I was pretty sure I’d just collected a new band member.

Rose approached me. “Little Linlin, I spent a long time thinking about what you mentioned.”

”Senior, it’s been a lengthy couple of days. You’ll have to remind me.”

She sighed. ”You said that you’d need to know about someone before you used Rock to heal them.”

Right, that! I nodded.

”If you have some free time, I’d like you to meet my disciple. She needs help that I can’t give her. And at this point...” She pursed her lips.

Well, Rose had come to my rescue before. More importantly, she’d helped smooth things over between me and that senior beast blood contractor. I knew she had done a lot of work behind the scenes to solve this issue since I hadn’t been targeted again. Surprisingly, I also hadn’t been asked to pay for damages after running through the outer sect with those stampeding lizards. I owed her. It was time to resolve this karma.

I clasped my hands behind my back. ”Let me meet her and I’ll determine if I can help.”

***

We all left Melodic River to play around... er, practice the keyboard. Little Spring and Teasing Mouse decided to return to North Peak, while Rose brought me on her immortal boat to the other side of South Peak.

The courtyard she gestured to clung to the side of the mountain. A tall Nascent Soul realm cultivator stood in midair in front of the red gate. He appeared dignified, with thin lips and gray hair at his temples… until he crossed his arms and pouted. “Little Dread Lotus! Please let your uncle in! Your uncle just wants to see if you’re okay! I’m not leaving until I hear from you! Your family is worried about you.”

This guy could absolutely break in if he wanted to. The few formations attached to the courtyard for defense couldn’t keep him out. Which meant he respected his niece enough to not enter without her permission.

The red gate opened and a maid with tiger patterned hair stepped out and bowed deeply. “This one greets Grandmaster Azure Kraken. The Young Miss isn’t feeling well and will have to decline your visit.”

He frowned, then flew down to the maid. As Rose and I approached, I could see a vein bulging in his forehead.

Oh snap. Was he about to kill the messenger?

Before I could say something to stop him, he pulled out a pill bottle and handed it to the maid. “These are good for circulation.” Then he shoved two more bottles into her arms. “These will help nourish her bones and organs. And this other one can remove toxins. Make sure she gets them!”

The maid bowed low. “Yes, Grandmaster.”

He huffed and flew off.

All of those pills were expensive as fuck. I knew because I’d earned a lot of spirit stones concocting them before. They also weren’t easy to come by in this area. Just who was this disciple? The sect’s little princess?

And judging by those medicines, there was something wrong with her body too that made even her uncle worry about her health.

I turned to Rose, who looked sheepish. “My disciple is the daughter of Azure Kraken’s brother. She is very well loved by all the seniors in the sect.”

Basically, if I didn’t help her properly, they might blame me and make my life hell in this sect. This also explained Rose’s hesitation when speaking about her disciple’s problems.

Motherfucker! Just what did I get myself into?

***

image [https://i.imgur.com/ScT3RIx.jpeg]

[https://i.imgur.com/ScT3RIx]

It took some coercing on Rose’s part, but she eventually convinced the maid to let me meet Dread Lotus in her room.

It was dark inside and smelled of good medicinal incense.

The Foundation Establishment girl lay in a classic heated bed. Her too-thin arms had bony wrists. Her cheeks were sunken in and her pink hair appeared dull. The fact that she looked this unwell meant that there was definitely something physically wrong with her, or her mental issues compounded her physical frailty.

“Young Miss,” the maid said, “this is Fairy Linlin. Your Master sent her to you to see if she could help you... Your uncle also sent you some medicinal pills.”

“Just put them with the rest of the gifts,” Dread Lotus said with a very hoarse voice. Then she turned to me. “You should just leave. I doubt there’s anything you can do to help me.”

I snorted. “That’s because you don’t know me. I’m a genius.”

“Heh. Are you, a Foundation Establishment little girl, more ingenious than my Nascent Soul aunts and uncles?”

I grinned and crossed my arms. “While I’m sure they’re brilliant in their own way, they don’t hold a candle to me.”

She laughed, which became a horrible cough that shook her small frame. Her maid rushed over and turned her onto her side to cough comfortably before putting her back.

She wheezed while studying me with calm blue eyes. “I like your confidence. Alright. I’ll give you a chance.” She gestured for me to take a seat next to her bed.

I pulled out my guitar and sat down. “I told your master that I’d need to know why you stopped cultivating, but from your appearance, I assume it has something to do with the side effects of practicing an unorthodox technique.”

She grimaced. “I had never been very strong or healthy. But I had a talent for cultivating demonic music. Unfortunately, it made my body significantly weaker than my peers.”

“But that’s not the full reason. Even with the side effects, you shouldn’t end up like this.”

Her brow furrowed. “Are you trying to say I look weak?!”

Wasn’t that fucking obvious?

She softly chuckled. “I’m just kidding. But the look on your face was priceless.”

Brat!