Chapter 316: Fiestrion

It was a grassland.

Upon the rocks, a half-elf bard played a lute and hummed a tune, clearly at ease.

He seemed uninterested in Li En's approach.

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

"This is the Song of Peace. So this is how it sounds." 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—its true core was likely helplessness: powerlessness against endless war and suffering.

"This melody... seems like a requiem."

Li En dared not approach—he feared that getting closer, he might 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 sharing feelings and insights through creation, seeking resonance with listeners—isn't that natural?

The bard, eyes half-closed, played his lute with his back to Li En, as if entirely unaware of this "reincarnation's" presence.

Li En sighed and walked forward to face him.

He had a face so handsome that Li En wanted to punch it—a perfect, enhanced, disgustingly handsome version of his own features in every way.

His half-closed eyes slowly opened—long, phoenix-like eyes, their surface gleaming like jade, the skin itself shimmering with that luster. His exquisitely sculpted smile, viewed from any angle, revealed a near-perfect profile.

Most unbelievable was that half-smile, playful and unreadable—he wasn't even looking at you, yet you felt watched. He was a natural focal point, yet also a warm sun that seemed to care for all things.

"You must really annoy other men."

Li En suddenly realized this might be true—if he had a friend like this, girls on outings would ignore him completely.

"But don't too many girls fall for me and get jealous?"

The bard never looked directly at Li En, only playing happily.

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

Li En fell silent. He sat down quietly—just as mentioned before, Li En loved music, but music had always disliked 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 meant the greatest joy was discovering 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 flow, 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 leather 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 caused Li En's body to resonate, turning it into a natural sound source.

From start to finish, Li En had been "asking and answering himself"—his body, even his senses, likely already under the control of this musician.

"How did you do that?"