Ban Lan grew up among hooligans; while she might not be a better fighter, she was rarely matched in verbal sparring. Let alone Cen Ji, this scholar spouting platitudes about morality and etiquette was no match for her.
Seeing that the judge's pen in the scholar's hand was gleaming, Cen Ji knew that this person must be skilled in martial arts. Fearing that Ban Lan would use her sharp tongue to cause further trouble, he could only interject, "Please bear with me, sir. This young lady has a sharp tongue, but she has a good heart."
Ban Lan was secretly delighted by these words, and couldn't hide her silly grin.
The scholar snorted and said, "If I had known she would disregard propriety like this, I wouldn't have bothered to shoot that note at you."
Cen Ji was startled and asked, "Did you shoot that note?"
The scholar tilted his head back and asked, "Who else could it be?"
Ban Lan muttered to himself, "Tsk tsk, those characters look like dried earthworms."
Cen Ji gently put Ban Lan down and said to the scholar, "May I ask your name?"
The scholar replied, "My name is Su Qiao."
Ban Lan immediately chimed in, "You chopped down that big tree, didn't you, woodcutter?"
This time, Su Qiao wasn't angry. "It is indeed me."
This scholar indeed possessed extraordinary skills. Cen Ji pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why do you do this, sir?"
Su Qiao smiled: "You are a secret guard of Kongshan Ridge, don't you know the saying 'obey orders'?"
Cen Ji felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know Su Qiao at all, but Su Qiao knew his background.
As a member of the Kongshan Ridge's secret guards, Cen Ji had made many enemies while working for the ridge. It wouldn't seem like Su Qiao was one of his many enemies. With his assassin's intuition, Cen Ji couldn't sense a trace of murderous intent from Su Qiao.
Cen Ji asked, "May I ask who you take orders from?"
Su Qiao clasped his hands together and said, "It cannot be said, it cannot be said."
Ban Lan snorted, "I can't stand people who are full of sour grapes but pretend to be profound. Cen Qi, let's go. It's impossible to guard against everything, so let's not guard against him and see what he can do."
Seeing Ban Lan's open and honest gaze, Su Qiao abandoned his plan to tease her. However, being belittled by her again and again made him feel quite uncomfortable. He choked for a moment and said, "If you can get through, that's fine. But this path has been filled with traps and mechanisms, and only I know how to get there. Either you go back the way you came, or..."
“That’s impossible,” Ban Lan blurted out.
"Or..."
Seeing Su Qiao's struggling and hesitant expression, Cen Ji was truly puzzled.
Su Qiao's expression shifted for a long time before he pointed at Cen Ji and said, "Either you swear to the heavens that you will remain single for life!"
This condition left the two of them utterly astonished; it was truly unbelievable.
"It's only natural for people to get married and have children. What right do you have to interfere?" Ban Lan said unhappily.
Su Qiao ignored her and turned to Cen Ji, asking, "Are you going to answer or not?"
Cen Ji said calmly, "No."
Su Qiao pointed at Ban Lan, "Because of her?"
Cen Ji said, "Not for anyone. How Cen Ji walks his path is none of anyone else's business."
Su Qiao suddenly burst into laughter, then muttered to himself, "Alright, alright, I'd better not interfere. You guys figure it out yourselves..." With that, he patted the donkey's rump and swayed away along the path the two had come from, going further and further away.
Ban Lan stared at Su Qiao's retreating figure for a long time before finally saying, "Has he grown an extra hole in his head? Is it leaky?"
Cen Ji looked at the road ahead, wondering how much truth was in Su Qiao's words.
This turn of events was extremely bizarre. They neither killed nor released him, and even Ban Lan was inexplicably dragged into it.
Cen Ji increasingly felt that things were not simple, and that a huge conspiracy was gradually approaching from behind the scenes. They were like chess pieces on a chessboard, obediently following the path set by others, step by step towards a predetermined unknown.
Crane Feather
Ban Lan looked at Cen Ji and asked, "What should we do?"
Cen Ji gazed at the seemingly endless path for a long time before turning around and helping Ban Lan to the side of the road. He then commanded, "Sit down."
After a moment of surprise, Ban Lan sat down by the roadside as instructed.
Cen Ji squatted down and gently grasped Ban Lan's sprained right foot, which was round and swollen to the touch.
He gently massaged Ban Lan's face. After a moment, he looked up at Ban Lan and saw that she was biting her lower lip tightly, her pretty face twitching with pain, but she didn't utter a sound.
Cen Ji lowered his eyes and suddenly tightened his grip, causing Ban Lan to cry out "Wow!"
"It hurts so much, don't you know?!"
"I don't know. It's not my foot."
Just as Ban Lan was about to explode, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a mischievous smile on Cen Ji's lips and questioned, "Did you do this on purpose?"
Cen Ji avoided answering, saying only, "Get up and walk around."
Ban Lan grabbed Cen Ji's arm and stood up. She walked around a bit and felt that although her injured foot hurt, it was much better than the pain of the sprained tendon she had just experienced.
Seeing that Ban Lan was able to walk slowly, Cen Ji said, "Let's go."