It's autumn in Bianliang again, the leaves that have accumulated throughout spring and summer wither quietly, behind a few fallen leaves is the hoarse string song of the erhu.

  Autumn is the season for playing the guqin.

  A long time ago, a master who taught Mo Da how to play the huqin said: "In spring, it is suitable to paint with ink, and in autumn, it is suitable to play the qin."

  Mo Da was still young at that time and didn't understand, Master also didn't explain much.

  After experiencing many hardships and setbacks, Mo Da finally felt enlightened.

  The spring water and trees are so prosperous for a time that they should be painted, otherwise they will pass away, and the good scenery will be gone forever.

  But autumn sorrow is like this, it's most exhausting for the spirit. Only by playing the two dry strings of the huqin can I slightly comfort myself.

  So when autumn arrives, even a piece like "Feng Qiu Huang" can't help but sound desolate and sorrowful.

  However, this view did not get the approval of Mo Dashi's wife. According to Mo Dashi's wife, both Mo Da and his master were notorious lazybones in the village. During the busy farming seasons of spring and autumn, they would often sneak away from work and run to a nearby mountain with their huqin to kill time.

  But Master Mo's words were just a true reflection of his life, and had nothing to do with the profound emotions of spring thoughts and autumn sorrows.

  Mo Da said: "But why do masters always say that spring is for painting and autumn is for playing the zither?" The mistress said: "You've studied for so many years, how come you haven't made any progress? The old ghost's meaning is that in the spring, the weather is too humid to grind ink conveniently, while in autumn, the strings are relatively dry, making it pleasant to play.

  Mo Da was very melancholy and didn't know whether he himself was wrong or his teacher's wife was wrong.

  The meaning of that sentence is forever an unsolvable riddle - when Mo Da wanted to turn back and find the answer, the person who spoke had already died.

  Many years later, Mo Da moved from the village head of Jiangxi to the roadside of Bianliang, what remained unchanged in his arms was that old huqin made of yellow poplar wood, what changed were Mo Da's tone and Mo Da himself.

  Sometimes looking at the crowded crowd, Mo Dao would think that he had already started forgetting before he learned to remember.

  Perhaps apart from the teacher's words, there were more things he should have figured out back then, such as why the little girl with braided hair who lived in the village north of the dike always quietly stood behind him listening to that unchanging "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" while carrying a basket of grass. Old Mo sometimes drank some old wine and would say to the younger generation, "Being young is great, huh?" But when he wanted to continue speaking, he could only see the backsides of those youngsters, so Old Mo knew they actually didn't want to listen to him.

  Later, Mo Da drank wine and didn't say much. He simply propped up one leg on the iron railing of the lawn at Bianjing University, restrung two new strings, and played an old tune, "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix".

  In the first year of the Jia You era of the Great Song Dynasty, in the middle reaches of the Bian River north of the city of Bian Liang, there was an old man from Jiangxi named Mo Da La who played a sad tune on his erhu and spoke about his feelings towards the passing of time.

  And our story also starts from that point in time and space.