Ban Lan stared at his dice, now that they were inexplicably dead, and put his hands on his hips, angrily said, "If you're itching for a beating, go practice your skills with bricks! Why are you using my dice to practice your moves?"
After she finished speaking, she pointed to the fork in the road behind Cen Ji, rolled her eyes, and said, "Cen Qi, the dice are gone, so let's use your amazing intuition as a secret guard to guide us out!"
Cen Jiqi asked, "You get so angry just because you broke a pair of dice?"
Ban Lan grinned: "This was a gift from my junior brother."
Cen Ji looked at Ban Lan as if she were a monster. "Give you dice?"
Ban Lan countered with, "How so?"
Silence fell. Suddenly, he turned and strode forward toward the path of "life."
He didn't know what he had to argue with this girl about, but he ended up arguing with her for a long time.
In short, during the time he had met her, he had always wondered if he was still the same Cen Ji.
*******
Ban Lan, like a little tail, finally learned to follow Cen Ji without saying a word.
She could tell he was angry.
Ban Lan was a little annoyed. She didn't know why he was angry that he had broken her dice. So, Ban Lan followed Cen Ji with a sullen face the whole way.
No matter how sour Ban Lan's face was, Cen Ji couldn't see it. But Ban Lan saw Cen Ji's straight and stubborn back perfectly.
She longed to reach out and touch that figure. She reached out, hesitated for a moment, and Cen Ji's clothes slipped from her fingertips.
After this happened three times, Banlan realized that being stubborn was not her forte, so she coughed.
"Cough cough..."
That tall, thin figure continued walking on its own.
“…Hey, Cen Qi, why don’t you just take the dead end?” Even Ban Lan herself felt awkward as soon as she said it.
Cen Ji didn't even turn his head, and said, "I don't want to seek my own death."
Ban Lan said, "You'd rather believe what Crane Feather Palace says."
Cen Ji suddenly turned around, glanced at Ban Lan, and continued walking forward expressionlessly.
Ban Lan was already used to Cen Ji's sudden turn, so she naturally took a small step back and then naturally followed.
The passage was narrow and winding. The two walked in silence for a long time, and gradually they heard the sound of flowing water.
Ban Lan listened intently and said, "How could there be water in the mountains?"
Cen Ji also found it strange, but there was only one way forward, and if he didn't move forward, he could only retreat.
After another half incense stick's time, the sound of flowing water gradually became louder.
The tunnel finally came to an end.
Then, the two saw Chu Ba, dressed in blue.
On the eighth day of the lunar month, Ban Lan sat on a protruding rock high up, with a large pool ten feet in diameter below her. The pool water churned outwards, sending out bursts of cold air, so cold that Ban Lan felt her teeth tingling as she opened her mouth.
Cen Ji sensed something was wrong. There was no way out; the end of this path of 'life' was a dead end.
On the eighth day of the lunar month, he smiled and looked at the two people across the pond. He had a baby face, and a dimple on his right cheek would appear and disappear when he smiled.
"I am Chu Ba." Before Cen Ji could speak, Chu Ba took the initiative to introduce himself.
Ban Lan looked up and asked, "Are you from Crane Feather Palace?"
On the eighth day of the lunar month, she smiled and said, "Not really."
Ban Lan pressed further, "Do you know how to get to Crane Feather Palace?"
Chu Ba nodded, "I know."
Ban Lan asked excitedly, "How do we get there?"
On the eighth day of the lunar month, he said, "Go inside and die."
Ban Lan frowned. "Are you making fun of me?"
"How could that be?" Chu Ba leaned against the mountain wall with a grin and said, "All the secret passages and inner chambers in this mountain were made by me, Chu Ba. Of course I know how to enter the Crane Feather Palace."
Upon hearing this, Cen Ji raised his eyes and carefully examined Chu Ba.
Chu Ba's smile grew even wider as Cen Ji watched him. His smile was completely natural, without the slightest hint of forced laughter. His light blue clothes made his skin appear even whiter, giving him an entirely harmless look.
Cen Ji finally spoke, saying, "If there is no way out, why is the word 'life' marked on this path?"
Chu Ba laughed and said, "Life leads to death, and death leads to life. There is no absolute life or death in this world. You are too naive."
This was the first time in Cen Ji's life that he had been called "naive." Although he was indignant, he said indifferently, "May I ask, when you are born into poverty, how do you die?"
On the eighth day, he said slowly, "Press the Jiuwei acupoint under your ribs."
Cen Ji hesitated before raising his hand to press down on the dove's tail. As soon as he exerted force, a piercing pain made him involuntarily cry out softly.
Ban Lan's heart tightened, and she quickly looked up and questioned, "What did you do to him?"
Chu Ba pointed to the icy pool beneath him and said, "You're the same; you've been poisoned by the cold."