“Mister who?” asked Ting’er.

“Mr Hua, the musician there,” and she looked towards Bai Hua.

Ah, she even recognises me, he mused.

She stood up and walked towards Bai Hua, Ting’er had also stood up curiosity written all over her face and followed Xiao Lok.

Xiao Lok had pretended to be a commoner when had she met him, And now she was feeling very awkward with her circumstances at the moment. She felt insecure about her identity all of a sudden.

“Hello, Mr Hua, I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said bashfully as she gave him a slight bow.

He had stood up as well seeing that she was making her way towards him.

“I didn’t expect you to remember me,” he admitted honestly after joining his hands to give her a bow now that she had revealed her station.

“How could I not remember you? I remember everything. It was the best performance I had ever seen in my life. I apologise I could not meet you after the performance, I had an urgent business to attend to at that time,” she gushed.

“Ah, you flatter me every time we meet” he gave her a lop-sided smile.

All this time Ting’er was looking at both of them with curious eyes. She was bursting to know the relationship between this man and Xiao Lok. She finally cleared her throat to get Xiao Lok’s attention.

“Ahem!”

“Oh sorry! I forgot to introduce you; this is Ting’er, the daughter of the governor of Baoshan.”

Bai Hua joined his hands and gave Tiger a bow respectfully and said,

“According to Zhang Chao, my employer for tonight’s party.”

“Ah, so it was Zhang Chao who had brought you here,” Ting’er stated comprehendingly after looking at his zither that was lying on a table and after listening to their conversation.

“Did someone say my name?” said a familiar voice from behind them.

It was Zhang Chao, he had come towards them when he saw that the three of them were talking. As far as he knew, Bai Hua was new in town and shouldn’t know anyone. It had baffled him to see Bai Hua was smoothly having a conversation with the two most important people inside this hall.

“Hello, everyone,” he greeted them with joined hands without bowing.

“Zhang Chao, was it you who invited him here?” asked Ting’er.

“Yes, eldest miss Ting, we met him today and seeing that he was a musician I invited him here. You had tasked little Wang Ju to find you a musician tonight. I helped her out.”

“Hmmm... you seem to have done a good job. Xiao Lok has just been singing praises of him.”

“Ah, then I can’t wait to hear him playing,” Zhang Chao replied.

“I am just bearable. I am no expert,” Bai Hua said humbly.

“Mr Hua, I shall then trouble you to play for us,” asked Ting’er. To her, he was just an employee but since Xiao Lok seemed to be familiar to him she had acted politely.

“Someone, call the dancers.”

“Yes, young mistress,” said a maid, bowed and left

Now everybody’s attention was on this group of people. Just as Zhang Chao was curious others were too. And they had looked their way when Zhang Chao joined the conversation.

A group of girls with similar clothes walked in. Bai Hua went to his seat and played the zither while the girls danced to his tune. He played a tune that was not too fast nor slow just right for the occasion. It was actually a tune suitable for cranes on a moonlit night.

Cranes would have danced gracefully to this tune but the mortal girls weren’t bad either. He used to play his zither alone in the godly realm. But now that he was in the mortal realm, he enjoyed playing for these mortals. He felt that his music was not wasted even though he was playing to fragile things that won’t remember for long the beauty of his music.

The performance ended and everyone gave a loud applause. The music was good and the dancers had perfectly moved according to his music.

Everyone was happy and they started to talk and interact with others. Ting’er didn’t give any chance to linger with Bai Hua for long but dragged her away after Xiao Lok had sung another round of praises.

He had just smiled and stood aloof as she got dragged away by Ting’er.

“Mr Hua, this is payment for your performance tonight. You can leave whenever you want,” a maid said as she handed him a pouch.

He didn’t even check but took it and thanked her.

He decided to leave the hall. He wanted to relax in the grove that was outside the mansion. It was more natural than the profusion of flowers and other forms of plants inside the wall of the mansion.

He picked up his zither and walked out of the hall unnoticed. The rich mortals were more colourful than the poor ones, he realised. He didn’t know about their hearts. But he had a lot of time to search for their hearts. He was a god. Time was tangible.

He had not bothered to say his farewell to Xiao Lok thinking she would forget him anyway. She had merely remembered him today because they had met just some days ago. But she will eventually forget him as he did not want to be remembered. He willed it so.

He passed the garden and nodded to the guards as he left. And took the left road. The road was lined with trees and he could feel that the trees were becoming thicker and thicker as he walked.

The waiter at the restaurant had told him that if he took the left road from the governor’s mansion it will eventually lead him to the imperial city of East Mainland. The waiter had thought that Bai Hua would be travelling in a carriage when he asked about the imperial city and not walk to it like Bai Hua was doing at the moment.

As he was walking the zither disappeared into a black wisp. Bai Hua walked as if he didn’t notice any change. Then there was a small yawn from the side of his right shoulder. A tiny black snake was perching on his shoulder.

“Xiao Shè, are you having fun in the mortal world?”

“Your Highness, do you still plan to wander in the mortal world for long? I know it’s been only 3 days or so in the godly realm but later on, they will realise that you’re missing,” said the little black snake concernedly. It had green eyes like emerald while its entire body was pitch black in colour

The little black snake was called a “snake” only by someone like Bai Hua. But it was actually the spirit of his shape-shifting sword. The spirit of one of the ancient divine dragons that have taken the form of Bai Hua’s weapon. It had disguised itself as a black zither to suit his master’s mortal look. But it was actually a sword that could only be wielded by Bai Hua.

“Let them do whatever they want. I will do whatever I want,” Bai Hua said enigmatically.

The ancient divine dragon seemed to understand its master’s thoughts and nodded. It coiled down from the shoulder towards Bai Hua’s wrist to twist around his wrist. It had turned into a coiled dragon wristband with emerald eyes.

Bai Hua kept on walking until he heard the sound of a stream. He didn’t need rest but he liked the sound of the stream and decided to listen to it and meditate for the night. The moon was shrouded by soft clouds and it was a cool night. He flew up to the highest tree he could see and sat on its branch. The tree and its leaves didn’t even flutter when he sat. It looked like he was weightless as if a dragonfly was perching on a leaf.

He inhaled deeply and he could hear everything around him. The dew that was gently dropping from a nearby leaf. The sound of crickets and the buzzing of some insects. He could also hear the relentless flow of the stream. This made him happy. His long black hair was swaying gently in the wind and he closed his eyes to meditate.