📍 The Xianzhou Luofu Fyxestroll Garden

Heliobus on Guqin

Oh, some people actually came to listen to my performance. Have you had enough of living, too?

Options

Friend, you're a real scary talker.

H—Help me...!

Heliobus on Guqin

I'm sorry. It's been so long since I've talked with someone...

Heliobus on Guqin

H—Help...!

Heliobus on Guqin

I can explain. It's like this: The last person who ever talked to me this way is dead.

Options

Friend, you are still a real scary talker.

Heliobus on Guqin

Really?

Heliobus on Guqin

I thought only people wanting to end their own lives would ever want to come and listen to me.

Heliobus on Guqin

...If that's so, then just think of me as a ball of resentment left stuffed inside the guqin!

Options

Friend, can you say anything that isn't scary?

I told you, I completely understand now.

H—Help me...!

Heliobus on Guqin

It's hard work talking to you.

Heliobus on Guqin

So long as you get it.

Heliobus on Guqin

Stop shouting. Nobody can hear you.

Heliobus on Guqin

The guqin's owner has unfinished music to compose, and that strong desire to complete the music remains here. And I, absorbing that desire, would like to finish this song, too...

Heliobus on Guqin

But as you very well know, I'm just a heliobus... I can chew through the emotions and memories left behind by the guqinist, but I cannot create.

Heliobus on Guqin

...I'm stuck in here.

Options

Tell me, how can I help you?

Then you can stay stuck in there — I'm off.

Heliobus on Guqin

Hang on, not so fast. You can help me get out of here.

Heliobus on Guqin

I may not have the aptitude for it, but there must be someone aboard the Xianzhou Luofu who knows about music and who can help complete this song.

Heliobus on Guqin

An old listener who self-deleted left behind some recording material for me. You take it. I'm sure you'll put it to good use.

+ Guqin Recording x 1

📍 The Xianzhou Luofu Central Starskiff Haven

Excuse me. What do you know about guqin music?

Mr. Xiyan

Not a lot. But...

Mr. Xiyan

If you're asking, "Do you know any stories about guqin?" or "Who knows about guqin?" then you've come to the right place.

Mr. Xiyan

So you know about Ms. Gongyu, who plays the guqin in the Exalting Sanctum, right? If it's the guqin, she'll definitely be able to help you.

📍 The Xianzhou Luofu Exalting Sanctum

🏃‍♂️

Move

Options

Excuse me. What do you know about guqin music?

Gongyu

It's not my area of expertise, but I know a little. Have you got any recordings for me to listen to?

System

Gongyu listens to the unfinished guqin piece and learns about the guqin master's final wish.

Gongyu

I understand the whole picture now, but I'm afraid I can't help you.

Options

You can give it another try...

Darn it. I won't get to complete my mission...

Maybe I should become a transcendent musical genius...

Gongyu

But don't worry. I'm thinking you won't have to leave here empty-handed.

Gongyu

As far as I know, several hundred years ago, there used to be a maestro guqin player aboard the Xianzhou Luofu. He met his musical soul mate, a short-life species — before whose untimely death they were unable to complete this guqin song.

Gongyu

"That guqinist thought he'd never find another musical soul mate like this, and decided to never play the guqin again — but he was forever filled with regret by this unfinished masterpiece..." That's how the story continues, right?

Options

I really want to hear what happens in this story. So, what's next?

So this song is going to become a magnum opus?

Gongyu

The descendants of that short-life composer grew up listening to the tale of this guqin, and one of them came to the Xianzhou longing to learn more about their guqinist ancestor. They brought the musical score, and found someone to play and record the unfinished symphony.

Gongyu

Later on, the incomplete tune was posted online. Lots of music lovers studied this fiendishly difficult piece together, setting off an ancient guqin fad.

Gongyu

In just a few short years, this guqin song began appearing in textbooks. After hundreds of years of analysis and study, this fiendishly difficult guqin piece has become a practice drill for beginners, spawning countless different versions.

Options

I—Is that how everything worked out?

Gongyu

Perhaps when the guqinist was still alive, such a thing as "hard-to-find soul mates" still existed. But if this tune was left to the vicissitudes of time, it could always meet a new soul mate in the future — never reaching its peak of perfection.

Gongyu

I cannot help you, because you already have too many answers.

- Guqin Recording x 1

+ New Guqin Recording x 1

📍 The Xianzhou Luofu Fyxestroll Garden