condition
Huang led Banlan westward.
When Ban Lan is quiet, she easily gives people the illusion of being an easy target. However, after some observation, Huang realized that this "easy target" would definitely get angry if she were to be squeezed. She also discovered that Ban Lan is someone who is easily deceived by appearances. Even though Ban Lan knows that the person beside her is a notorious female demon in the martial arts world, she still unconsciously likes to be close to Huang.
Indeed, when Ban Lan first saw the elegant and refined Wei Li, she immediately decided to follow him. Although she later discovered that Wei Li was a gentle person on the outside but indifferent on the inside, Ban Lan still respected and loved Wei Li very much.
Huang could tell that Ban Lan had a good impression of her, but she just smiled faintly.
“You must know what love is, Huang,” Ban Lan suddenly said.
Huang remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Who have you fallen in love with?"
Ban Lan bit her lip, and after a moment muttered, "Someone... who won't love me."
Huang looked knowing and said, "Do you know that I love killing people who waste other people's feelings?"
Ban Lan almost bit her tongue: "Don't you love killing unfaithful and heartless people?"
Huang said, "Hasn't he betrayed your heart?"
Ban Lan exclaimed, "How can this be considered? He never accepted anything, how can he be considered to have wronged me?"
After a long silence, Huang suddenly said, "What I say goes."
Ban Lan didn't refute. She felt that it was only natural for the female demon to be so domineering. She was just glad that she hadn't told Huang that she liked Cen Ji, the person she was looking for.
“But…” Ban Lan continued, “you still haven’t told me what love is.”
"Love," Huang said calmly, "is the rope tied to your heart, held in another person's hand, from which you cannot escape, no matter where you go."
*******
Cen Ji looked at the Azure Phoenix Forest before him, sighed, and turned to the elderly man still sitting in the sun, saying, "Grandpa, I can't take this horse with me, so I'll give it to you." Without waiting for the old man to hear him, he threw off the reins and stepped back into the forest he loathed.
Mo Sheng stood there watching him, the little bear in his arms remaining as quiet as ever.
Cen Ji had no choice, because the town had no other exit except where it met the jungle.
Cen Ji didn't think about how those people lived, because he found that the town was indeed very strange; even a six-year-old boy could calmly say Huang's name.
Just then, Cen Ji suddenly saw Ban Lan and Huang sitting there waiting for him.
"You're back," Huang said calmly.
Cen Ji seemed to be stuck, his mouth slightly open. He looked at Huang, and finally fixed his gaze on Ban Lan.
Unexpectedly, Ban Lan remained calm and indifferent, meeting his gaze with a completely calm expression.
However, Huang's indifference stemmed from having nothing to express. Ban Lan's calmness indicated a lack of knowing whether to be happy or angry.
Ban Lan moved slightly and touched the painting on her waist, which reminded her of his promise to her.
Ban Lan narrowed his eyes, then suddenly leaped up like a deer, jumping over and throwing a punch at Cen Ji.
"Since you weren't carried off by a wild beast, then I'll just beat you to death!" With that, Ban Lan unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at Cen Ji, most of which Cen Ji dodged. He felt guilty, so he deliberately let her hit him a few times.
Ban Lan was quick to anger and never hesitated to strike, unlike a young woman who would feign anger and throw a few meaningless punches. So when Ban Lan's punch landed on Cen Ji's stomach, he felt as if his internal organs were being shattered.
Huang watched Ban Lan's fierce beating with great interest, then suddenly flicked her wrist, and the long whip hidden in her sleeve lashed out at Cen Ji as if it had eyes.
Cen Ji was bent over in pain and didn't see the long whip that Huang swung at him. The whip had very fine barbs on the tip. With a "crack", a whip mark appeared on Cen Ji's left shoulder, and the skin was torn open.
Ban Lan was stunned. She turned to look at Huang, but Huang smiled at her.
"Ban Lan, he is the one your senior sister loves, and also the one you love but who won't love you back."
Even Cen Ji was stunned this time.
Ban Lan vehemently denied it, but Huang sneered and pointed at Cen Ji, "You're lying to me, that's what will happen to him."
And so the phoenix moved.
No one saw how she moved. The phoenix on her hem seemed to spread its wings and fly right in front of Cen Ji. The wind was still, but the phoenix's hem was fluttering. It was unclear whether the golden phoenix was flapping the white dress or the white dress was lifting the golden phoenix.
Those who wield whips should avoid close-quarters combat, but Huang twisted her jade wrist, rolling the long whip into the length of a horsewhip. The sound of the whip cutting through the air instantly changed from deep and resonant to crisp and clear, yet its power remained undiminished.
Before Cen Ji could draw his dagger, the whip followed him like a shadow, as if it had eyes. Huang's martial arts were extremely high, and within ten moves, Cen Ji found it very difficult to keep up.
Figures flashed by, swift as rabbits and falcons. For the first time, Ban Lan was annoyed at her own lack of skill, unable to even match half of Cen Ji's abilities.
In just a short while, Cen Ji had been whipped in multiple places, his flesh and blood flying everywhere, a horrifying sight.
Huang showed no mercy in her attack. Her right hand whipped out a dagger from Cen Ji's waist, while her left hand swiftly scooped it up and flicked it, drawing the dagger from its sheath and thrusting it straight at Cen Ji's heart. Suddenly, a flash of crimson light appeared before their eyes, and the dagger barely pierced a thin, frail shoulder.
"Ban Lan!" Cen Ji held Ban Lan, who was lying in his arms, his right hand soaked with the blood gushing from her shoulder. Ban Lan's blood felt like boiling water, scalding Cen Ji so much that he couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Huang's expression changed, and she reached out to press several acupoints around Ban Lan's wound.
Ban Lan winced in pain, tears welling in her eyes.
"What are you doing, taking this knife for a man who doesn't love you at all!"
Ban Lan was already in great pain, and now, instead of being comforted with gentle words, she was also being coldly rebuked by Huang. Tears streamed down her face like a fine drizzle.
Cen Ji helped Ban Lan sit down to the side and tore off a piece of his own clothes to bandage her wound.
Ban Lan sobbed, seeing that Cen Ji's face was mostly shocked and showed little pity, she couldn't help but feel sad again. She turned her head away, only to meet Huang's disappointed gaze. Ban Lan's heart clenched, and she said aggrievedly, "Huang..."
Huang said, "What if I insist on killing him today?"