Dr. Sun was taken aback. He hadn't heard the word "thank you" in a long time; no one in Kongshanling would thank him, and he didn't think he needed those two insignificant words.
"Where is Cen Qi?" Ban Lan asked impatiently again.
"have no idea."
Ban Lan's smile turned cold. "You don't know?"
Dr. Sun took another sip of cold tea.
It had been raining on and off for days, and it was a rare sunny day, but no matter how much sunshine it shone, it couldn't warm the house.
Sigh… Doctor Sun shook his head and said, “Do you know how long you’ve been asleep?”
Ban Lan shook her head.
"Three days."
"So long?" Ban Lan was somewhat surprised, then asked, "What about Cen Qi?"
Dr. Sun glanced at her and said, "In just three days, I've heard you call that name a dozen or twenty times."
Ban Lan blushed, realizing he was referring to her delirium while unconscious.
She turned to the side and leaned back in the chair.
She thought that three days ago at this time, she should still be in Cen Ji's arms, right? She couldn't remember when she last fell asleep in his arms, but she still remembered his scent vividly.
"He... hasn't come to see me?" Ban Lan asked softly.
"Hmm," said Doctor Sun.
Ban Lan sat up abruptly. "Never come even once?"
Looking at her bewildered and disappointed expression, Dr. Sun slowly said, "After he brought you here, he said he was going to start a fire to boil water, but after he left, he never came back."
Ban Lan was stunned.
Dr. Sun watched as the expression on her face changed again and again, but he didn't say anything more. Instead, he lowered his head and rubbed the simple teapot in his hands, the delicate cinnabar clay gradually warming under his fingertips.
A moment later, he heard Ban Lan stand up and rush out the door. He didn't even look up, just staring at the teapot in his hand, lost in thought.
After learning where Cen Ji lived from the servants, Ban Lan rushed over.
In late autumn and early winter, the leaves fall and the path is overgrown with weeds.
As Ban Lan ran along the mountain path, she suddenly remembered the days when she played with Wen Moyin in the Kongshan Ridge when she was a child.
Although Wen Moyin was learning martial arts in Yumu Valley, she would often return to Kongshan Ridge for a short stay. If Ban Lan couldn't bear to see her go back, she would go with her to Kongshan Ridge for a couple of days.
But that was so long ago, so long that Ban Lan couldn't even remember what Wen Moyin looked like back then. No one could leave a permanent footprint on the path they once walked.
Ban Lan ran into the small courtyard where Cen Ji lived and stayed there for a long time.
The courtyard was located in a remote corner, so quiet that it seemed no one had been there for many years, but Banlan felt an inexplicable sense of closeness and familiarity with this tranquility.
She suddenly smiled.
She didn't know why, but she always felt that this courtyard, like Cen Ji himself, possessed a restrained and silent aura. It's true that after living here for a long time, even a small space seems to be infused with a soul.
She pushed open the silent door and went inside.
The house was empty, and every corner was spotless, as if the owner had just left.
Ban Lan glanced at the table and saw a wooden carving-like object casually placed there. She picked it up and examined it for a long time, but couldn't figure out what it was.
"You can't see, yet you still carve little trinkets." Ban Lan couldn't help but chuckle, and put the wood carving back on the table.
She walked around the room, staring at the various items Cen Ji used on a daily basis, and remained there for a long time.
Finally, she pursed her lips tightly, turned around, and went out the door.
As she was leaving, she suddenly turned back, a fleeting hint of doubt in her eyes.
two,
Wen Moyin suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, and a sweet, metallic taste surged up and crowded into her throat.
"Cough cough..." She clutched her chest, turned her head and coughed for a while. Sure enough, as soon as she opened her mouth, hot blood flowed down the corner of her mouth.
After she vomited blood, a dark figure flashed forward.
"Tea."
After Wen Moyin finished speaking, he took the teacup that was handed to him and rinsed his mouth.
The person serving the tea was dressed in black. He appeared tall and thin, making his black robe seem slightly oversized. His outstretched hand was pale, with long, thin, and bony fingers that seemed devoid of warmth.
"You may leave," Wen Moyin said calmly.
The man in black did not move upon hearing this, but remained standing in place.
Wen Moyin looked displeased and raised her head to look at the person.
All she saw was a silver mask. The mask was expressionless, and its cold silver color felt even more chilling and hard to her than a frozen lake in the dead of winter.
The eyes behind the mask did not appear gentle. Perhaps because they were hidden, the eyes did not seem bright. Instead, they seemed to be filled with a bleak and mottled aura, which made the two gazes cast at Wen Moyin lose half of their softness. The original concern and warmth in the eyes seemed insignificant under the dim eyes.
Wen Moyin had never liked those eyes. She felt that those eyes were always cold and sharp, as if they wanted to see right into her heart when they looked at her.
She hates being seen through, even by her closest friends and family.
"What, you're starting to disobey me too?" Wen Moyin's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded unusually cold.
The man in black did not answer, but handed over a cloak.
The stone chamber was extremely cold.
The cold jade bed that Wen Moyin was sitting on was not large, but it was extremely cold.
The millennium-old cold jade bed was indeed something that ordinary people could not endure, but in order to break through the eighth level of the Frost Palm, she insisted on using the effects of the cold jade bed to enhance her power.
Unfortunately, she felt she had extraordinary talent and was too impatient, which caused her internal energy to become disordered and she vomited blood.
Ten days of seclusion, and no progress whatsoever! Wen Moyin slowly clenched his fists, his brow furrowing with growing annoyance.
She was unwilling to accept this! With her talent, she could have quickly mastered the Frost Palm technique to the eighth level within a month. But since then, she had stopped there and made no further progress!
She took a deep breath and felt a dull, persistent pain in her chest.
"Step back, Ying Shu." Wen Moyin pushed away the cloak that the man offered.
She felt a surge of anxiety, managed to regulate her internal energy, and then prepared to practice again.
The man in black suddenly pointed a finger at Wen Moyin.
Wen Moyin seemed to have anticipated his move and dodged away in a flash.
"Insolence!" Wen Moyin shouted angrily in a low voice, suddenly leaping up and striking the man in black with his palm.
The man in black did not engage her in direct combat, but instead tried his best to evade her attacks.
The Frost Palm technique was indeed powerful. Wen Moyin had only mastered the eighth level, yet he had already forced the man in black to retreat repeatedly. He was just a few steps away from being forced to retreat to the wall, with nowhere to hide.
Just as Wen Moyin's palm was about to strike the man in black, she suddenly opened her mouth, and drops of blood sprayed all over him.
Normally, her internal energy would be disrupted and she would need time to adjust, but instead of resting, she forced herself to circulate her energy and fight the man in black.
Wen Moyin instinctively reached out to help him. She bent over, breathing heavily and slowly.
The man in black supported her with one hand and pressed his other hand against her back, slowly channeling his inner energy into her.
Wen Moyin pushed him away forcefully, "Get out."
"Get out! Do you want to embarrass me? Are you trying to laugh at me? Get out!" Wen Moyin suddenly shouted at him, then coughed and turned pale.
"Yes, I am strong-willed. What I want, I will get! You dare try to stop me!"
She repeatedly pushed the man in black's hands away, refusing to let him use his internal energy to heal her wounds. But no matter how much she hit or scolded him, the man remained silent, stubbornly ignoring all her unreasonable behavior.
Overwhelmed by anger and rage, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth again.
She took a deep breath, her mouth filled with a metallic taste. She gave a cold laugh, abruptly turned around, and walked towards the jade bed.
A gust of wind blew behind his ear, and Wen Moyin suddenly turned his hand back.
"Smack!"
The mask fell to the ground with a sound.
Wen Moyin slapped the man in black hard across the face, and staggered as a result.
The moment the mask fell to the ground, she vaguely thought it would shatter, and she felt a pang of heartache.
But when she saw the mask lying perfectly intact on the ground, she suddenly realized that feeling sorry for someone was sometimes unnecessary and ridiculous.
Stone Chamber
one,
When Ban Lan ran back, Dr. Sun was flipping through the book on the table.
"Cen Qi is missing!" she cried out anxiously as she ran to Doctor Sun.
"Oh." Doctor Sun didn't even lift his eyelids.
"My senior sister isn't in the mountains either!"
"Oh." It was still a flat reply.
Seeing that Doctor Sun was completely unresponsive, Ban Lan had no choice but to sit down on a large chair to the side and sigh deeply.
A faint smell of charcoal filled the room, which diluted the originally bitter herbal scent by a third.