Ding Ding followed a group of girls up the stairs and quickly reached the second floor. She was walking with her head down when the manager pulled her aside and pointed to a seat next to a band playing behind a curtain.
As Ding Ding sat down, she almost stepped on a foot. Looking down, she saw a headless body behind the seat, likely the previous pipa player who had lost their head. Her heart raced, and a cold wind blew, lifting the curtain to reveal several bodies lying in disarray.
A girl beside her whispered, "Quick, tune your strings. The last pipa girl lost her head because the sound was off. She's watching us now!"
Following the girl's finger, Ding Ding looked out to see a crowd of shadowy figures in the dim light, unable to tell who was who. She calmed herself and adjusted the pipa strings, something she did often.
The pipa wasn't hers but belonged to Lady Hua Li, and it was named "Urgent Rain," inspired by the phrase "the strings clatter like urgent rain." Lady Hua Li was famous for her pipa skills, and Ding Ding, as her maid, often helped tune the strings and learned some techniques.