[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-316":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269962,4431,"Chapter 316: Fiestrion","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-316",316,"\u003Cp>It was a grassland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon the rocks, a half-elf bard played a lute and hummed a tune, clearly at ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seemed uninterested in Li En’s approach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Li En, too, hesitated to get closer—he recognized the melody.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is the Song of Peace. So this is how it sounds.” Honestly, it was quite lovely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sadness? Pain? Both, but not all—its true core was likely helplessness: powerlessness against endless war and suffering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This melody... seems like a requiem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En dared not approach—he feared that getting closer, he might be mind-washed for no reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wouldn’t do that. Mind-washing is far too crude. I’m merely sharing my own emotions.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A musician sharing feelings and insights through creation, seeking resonance with listeners—isn’t that natural?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bard, eyes half-closed, played his lute with his back to Li En, as if entirely unaware of this “reincarnation’s” presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En sighed and walked forward to face him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You must really annoy other men.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En suddenly realized this might be true—if he had a friend like this, girls on outings would ignore him completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But don’t too many girls fall for me and get jealous?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bard never looked directly at Li En, only playing happily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he shifted to a melody Li En recognized—the famous little tune known throughout the world from the marketplace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En fell silent. He sat down quietly—just as mentioned before, Li En loved music, but music had always disliked him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, hearing music from his past life, perhaps this was the only place left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? How do I know that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because your soul resonates easily with mine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A voice arose in Li En’s heart, then vanished instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thump!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En felt his heartbeat quicken, as if subtly syncing with the lute’s rhythm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Fiestrion wished, he could shatter Li En’s heart at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wouldn’t do that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the piece ended, Fiestrion set down his lute and spoke his first words since their meeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was hoarse and grating, like leather dragging over sand—completely unlike the earlier “telepathy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How did you do that?”\u003C\u002Fp>",581,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","72f44ab5bfc917212fad3dc72ab71171d7c6d144b42a91ff15a0cf3c602b7c8b","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-317","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-315",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]