Chapter 316: Fiestrion

It was a grassland.

Upon the rocks, a half-elf bard played a lute and hummed a tune, seemingly quite content.

He seemed uninterested in Li En's approach.

And Li En, too, hesitated to get closer—he recognized the melody.

"This song—it's a song of peace. So this is the tune." Honestly, it was quite lovely.

The empty, aimless music echoed across the grassland; though alone, Li En seemed to see a ruined battlefield, and women and children waiting for their families to return.

Sadness? Pain? Both, but not all—the true theme was probably helplessness: powerlessness against endless war and suffering.

"This melody… seems like a requiem."

Li En dared not approach—he feared that if he got closer, he'd be mind-washed for no reason.

"I wouldn't do that. Mind-washing is far too crude. I'm merely sharing my own emotions."

A musician, in creation, shares feelings and insights, trying to stir resonance in listeners—isn't that only natural?

The bard, eyes half-closed, played his lute with his back to Li En, as if utterly indifferent to the existence of this "reincarnation."

Li En sighed and walked forward to face him.

He had a face so handsome that Li En wanted to punch it—perfect contours, identical features, an obnoxiously enhanced, ultra-handsome version.

His half-closed eyes slowly opened—long, phoenix-like eyes, their surface gleaming like jade, a skin tone that shimmered with luminous sheen; his exquisitely sculpted smile, from any angle, revealed a near-perfect profile.

Most unbelievable was that half-smile, that teasing, enigmatic expression—he wasn't even looking at you, yet you felt watched. He was born a focal point, yet also seemed like a warm, sunlike man who cared for all things.

"You must really annoy your fellow men."

Li En suddenly realized this was probably true—if he had a friend like this, every girl they went out with would ignore him entirely.

"But don't too many girls fall for me? Jealousy?"

The bard never looked directly at Li En, only played his lute cheerfully.

This time, he switched to a melody Li En recognized—the famous little tune from the marketplace, known across the world.

Li En fell silent. He sat down quietly—as mentioned before, Li En loved music, but music had never loved him.

Now, hearing music from his past life, perhaps this was the only place left.

One tune after another, Li En didn't rush; the other played with deep focus and joy—perhaps for Fiestrion, awakening his true self, the most delightful thing was the music library of another world.

"Huh? How do I know that?"

"Because your soul resonates easily with mine."

A voice arose in Li En's heart, then vanished instantly.

This wasn't a transmission technique, nor any psychic ability. Li En felt it—the resonance of blood vessels and flowing blood, returning sound to him!

"Thump!"

Li En felt his heartbeat quicken, as if subtly syncing with the lute's rhythm.

If Fiestrion wished, he could shatter Li En's heart at any moment.

"I wouldn't do that."

When the piece ended, Fiestrion set down his lute and spoke his first words since their meeting.

His voice was hoarse and grating, like a belt dragging over sand—completely unlike the earlier "telepathy."

Only now did Li En realize: all those words had been his own "inner voice." Fiestrion, through the lute, had induced bodily resonance in Li En, turning his flesh into a natural sound source.

From start to finish, Li En had been "asking and answering himself"—his body, even his senses, had likely been controlled by the musician.

"How did you do that?"