Ban Lan stirred, as if trying to struggle.
"Don't move, you'll touch the wound." Feeling the person in his arms instinctively try to break free, Cen Ji tightened his arms around them.
“So many people are watching, you…” Ban Lan couldn’t bear to watch his wounds go unchecked, so she made up an excuse, only to be shut down by Cen Ji’s words—
“I’m not afraid, so what are you afraid of?” Cen Ji said softly.
If I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?
Ban Lan was stunned. She thought she had heard the sweetest words in the world, which made her feel a strange flutter in her heart even more than his confession when he went blind.
Yes, she was never afraid. She wasn't afraid of his rejection, his indifference, being ridiculed by the world, or having her reputation maliciously tarnished. She had never feared the gaze of the world, yet she was always met with his bewildered and hesitant eyes.
But she never expected that this man, who used to never easily show his emotions, would now hold her and whisper, "I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of?"
She didn't bother to think whether his composure before death was due to his inner turmoil or because he had defied his inner constraints and broken free from mental shackles. In any case, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he smiled and gently embraced his beloved woman, his expression as natural as if he had been holding her like this for decades.
She nestled in his arms, barely managing to lift her head and look into his eyes.
"Tell me, what would happen if I died?" He lowered his head and raised his eyebrows.
"Then I will bury you in Fish Eye Valley, and plant a dawn redwood tree in front of your grave. When the dawn redwood grows very, very big, you will come back to find me."
Cen Ji was stunned for a moment. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Ban Lan's forehead.
"You don't have a fever," he said with a faint smile, but he still pressed his slightly cool forehead against Ban Lan's, looking into her eyes at such close range, so close, as if it were the span between life and death.
"What if I hadn't come to you?"
"Then you'd better not die, otherwise I'll be very sad if I don't see you again."
At that moment, Cen Ji suddenly felt very afraid of death, very, very afraid.
He didn't want to upset Banlan, because he realized he had never seemed to make her happy.
Just as they were in silence, a loud bang was heard in the distance, as if the sky were collapsing.
Fu Ming clapped his hands and sighed, "The Thunderbolt Hall's gunpowder is really powerful. No matter how winding and crooked your tunnels are, they'll be blown into a wide road by now."
As soon as he finished speaking, several more booming sounds followed, causing everyone in Kongshanling to change color upon hearing them.
Ban Lan turned around and looked in the direction of the explosion. Upon seeing it clearly, her face turned deathly pale. She turned away, bit her lower lip, and said, "Cen Qi, I, I..."
Cen Ji's heart tightened for no apparent reason. "What's wrong?"
"sorry."
Cen Ji was startled and grabbed her wrist, saying, "What are you doing?"
Ban Lan's lower lip trembled. She hardened her heart, forcefully pried Cen Ji's hand away, stood up, and said, "Wait for me. If you don't see me, you're not allowed to die!"
Cen Ji watched the crimson figure turn and leave, feeling a tightness in his chest that made him cough violently, as if his internal organs were about to be shattered.
He used all his strength to stand up, leaning against the rocks, and chased after Ban Lan in the direction she had run.
Wei Li was also very anxious. He flicked his sleeve and was about to chase after him when suddenly a purple shadow flashed before his eyes. Fu Ming's unpredictable smile blocked his view.
"Where are you going, sir? You're not leaving South Peak today."
Fu Ming said with a smile, and suddenly slapped him with his palm.
In an instant, the sky seemed to darken, and the old trees in the mountains seemed to be bent over by the weight of the sky, falling down in a howling west wind.
As Fu Ming's palm struck, Wei Li suddenly thought that something might be dormant forever in this winter.
*******
Three months later, Fu Ming was awakened by a clap of thunder.
He sat up abruptly, kicked off the covers, and got out of bed.
Thunder rumbled outside the window, just like the loud explosions that had occurred three months ago.
He pushed open the door, and a chilling draft rushed into the room, causing Fu Ming to frown.
He wasn't afraid of the cold, but rather he couldn't adapt to the wind in Kongshanling.
He discovered that Kongshanling was not as good as rumored; winters were still very cold, and it took a long time for spring to arrive after the harsh winter.
He would get up every night to avoid sleeping soundly because he would always dream of that falling figure.
The crimson hue atop the main peak resembled a falling meteor, tearing through the gray sky.
He never ordered his servants to repair the main peak that had been destroyed by the bomb.
Today, the main peak can only barely survive, clinging to a ruin. The main peak was not very large to begin with, and after being bombed several times by gunpowder, a small piece of the mountaintop was also blown off. The entire main hall seems to be suspended on the peak, as if a strong wind could blow it off the cliff.
The red figure struggled to climb the pile of rubble, but was knocked off the mountain by the gunpowder buried not far in front of it.
At that moment, he couldn't help but look at Wei Li. Although the two had been locked in a fierce battle just moments before, they both stopped fighting after the explosion. Wei Li stopped because he forgot to attack, while Fu Ming stopped because he knew that Wei Li could no longer pose any threat to him at that moment.
"Her legs are hers, there's nothing I can do about it." Fu Ming glanced at Wei Li and shrugged.
He watched Wei Lifeng's figure disappear like the wind, but did nothing to stop him. He knew there was no need to.
He never saw Wei Li again after that. Of course, he never saw many other people either.
Fu Ming didn't know why he had urged his servants to search the mountains repeatedly. He didn't believe that what he saw was an illusion, but he couldn't find the thin woman no matter what he did.