When he finally sat atop Kongshan Ridge, gazing at the endless expanse of green and yellow, he realized he didn't like it at all. He still remembered lifting Miss Wen's chin and asking her if she would submit to him. He didn't actually intend to kill Wen Moyin, because that woman didn't understand what it meant to compromise. And a person who doesn't understand compromise is like an unyielding chopstick; their stubbornness will only result in it being broken.
Wen Moyin was just like a broken chopstick.
She said, "Okay, I'll give in to you."
After saying that, she plunged the long sword, which had already broken, into her abdomen.
Fu Ming stood there, stunned.
He couldn't understand why a woman could be so hypocritical.
Until a very, very long time later—so long that he was about to be buried in less than two years—he was walking down the street when he saw a woman dressed in a pale yellow dress. Suddenly, he remembered the woman named Wen Moyin. Only then did he realize that Wen Moyin meant she wanted to become a vengeful ghost and follow him.
Fu Mingping turned away the servant who came to drape a coat over him, and leaned against the door frame, watching the changing winds and clouds in the dark night.
The ink-black sky reminded him of Cen Ji, a Cen Ji even deeper than the darkest night.
But one thought of his caused the man in black, hundreds of miles away, to suddenly jump out of bed and rush out the door.
As Cen Ji rushed out the door, it suddenly started to rain.
The rain wasn't heavy, but it was mixed with fine ice crystals that melted instantly upon contact with the skin.
"Did you dream about her again?"
Cen Ji was startled and realized that Wei Li had been standing in the courtyard the whole time, her pale back looking desolate and defeated in the icy rain.
For three months, Wei Li sneaked back to Kongshan Ridge several times, trying to find that crimson figure. He even almost ran into the Dragon Gate Cult once. It was then that he discovered the Dragon Gate Cult seemed to be searching for something in the mountains as well. So he captured a member of the cult and interrogated him. The information he received was that Fu Ming wanted them to find a woman who had fallen off a cliff.
Wei Li didn't know why Fu Ming was looking for Ban Lan, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. A perfectly healthy person couldn't just disappear into thin air; as long as their remains weren't found, there was still hope.
He brought this hope back to Fish Eye Valley, and after his repeated affirmation, Cen Ji finally agreed to take medicine and eat.
"Go back. Your injuries haven't fully healed, so you shouldn't get wet in the rain," Wei Li said calmly.
When Wei Li found Cen Ji, he was lying unconscious by the mountain path, his breathing very weak. Wei Li glanced at the spot where Ban Lan had fallen, his long eyebrows furrowing, and decided to rescue him first.
Cen Ji's injuries healed extremely slowly, as slowly as the long passage of time in Fish Eye Valley.
And so the two of them endured the torment of waiting for each other for such a long time. For Cen Ji, missing Ban Lan was like a persistent low-grade fever; he had been ill ever since the day she left.
Banlan said she would wait for her to come back.
Yes, that's exactly what she said.
That's what she said! Cen Ji clenched his fist.
He raised his head, just as lightning cleaved through the thick clouds and thunder roared across the sky like a desperate howl.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear a woman's voice.
The woman kept talking, her voice sometimes near and sometimes far.
She said, "Cen Ji, I like you, I like you so much."
Cen Ji suddenly smiled.
“I like you too, I like you a lot…” he replied.
"How much do you like it?" the voice asked again.
"I'll tell you when you appear in front of me."
"Okay, then you have to wait for me."
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
In that instant, Cen Ji's smile was like fireworks blooming in the void, illuminating the torn sky.