private prison
one,
Fang Huo asked, "Where's the pair of dice I gave you?"
Ban Lan said, "It's lost."
Fang Huo said, "...Why don't you just lose yourself?"
Ban Lan said, "I've thought about it."
Fang Huo said: "..."
A moment later, Fang Huo let out a howl.
Ban Lan said, "What did you just say? You told me to lose myself?"
Fang Huo covered his ears, which were red and burning from Ban Lan's pinching, and didn't utter a sound.
Because he was thinking about Ban Lan's first answer.
After a long pause, Fang Huo said, "I'll give you another one."
Ban Lan said, "No need. I've given it up."
Fang Huo asked, "What else do you need to quit?"
Ban Lan said, "I can't give up my hobby of bullying you, no matter what I give up."
Fang Huo felt a gust of wind between his teeth: "Among Master's disciples, you have the worst martial arts skills. If I didn't go easy on you, would I let you bully me?"
Ban Lan tossed aside the weeds in her hand, clapped her hands, and said, "Your sword is still in the house, isn't it?"
After a brief silence, Fang Huo leaped up and dashed towards his house like an arrow.
"Alas, Fang Huo without a sword, is like fish on a chopping board."
Ban Lan turned to look at Fang Huo's running figure and stretched.
She looked up at the sky. Autumn was deepening.
People say that spring brings drowsiness and autumn brings fatigue. That's probably why she can't muster any interest in anything.
In a little while, when that kid Fang Huo realizes he hasn't been chasing us at all, he'll probably be yelling and screaming in anger.
Ban Lan smiled faintly, got up and left.
The weather is getting cooler. The morning light is also starting to arrive late.
Before dawn, Banlan sat up in bed.
She discovered that since returning to Fish Eye Valley, she wakes up early every day and no longer stays in bed.
Ban Lan never gets up early to practice martial arts.
However, she didn't practice before because she would sleep until late morning, and she still doesn't practice now because even if she wakes up early, she doesn't want to practice.
She got out of bed, put on a coat, casually put on an outer garment, pushed open the door, and wandered aimlessly around.
As she walked, dawn broke without her realizing it. She found herself standing on a path, with a white figure running uphill from the mountainside.
The figure looked very familiar. Ban Lan stared intently and saw that the person was only focused on going up the mountain and did not look up.
As the white figure became clearer, Ban Lan couldn't help but exclaim, "Why bother?"
The mountains and forests were quiet. Although Ban Lan's voice was not loud, it still made the person on the mountainside stop immediately and look up in the direction of the sound.
That person is none other than He Bi.
Upon seeing Ban Lan, He used his lightness skill and rushed up the mountain in a short while.
Ban Lan was surprised. Not only because of He Bi's sudden visit, but also because he looked quite tired, unlike his usual leisurely demeanor.
Ban Lan asked in confusion, "Why are you here?"
He paused to catch his breath and said, "I came for Cen Ji."
Ban Lan was stunned for a moment.
Before she could speak, He Bi said, "Ban Lan, only you can save him now."
Ban Lan stiffened and asked, "What... happened to him?"
He Bi said, "The young lady put Yuan Chu San in his daily meals. After Cen Ji discovered it, he began to refuse to eat. This is the fifth day now."
Ban Lan hurriedly asked, "What is Yuan Chu San?"
Why say, "It's a medicine that erases memories"?
Ban Lan was shocked: "What? Senior Sister is going to erase Cen Qi's memories?"
Why nod?
Ban Lan stammered, "But, but..."
Why interrupt? "No buts, Seventh Brother is like this because of you."
Ban Lan looked as if she were listening to gibberish: "Me??"
“Yes.” He Bi said, “That day, as soon as you left, Cen Ji chased after you. Of course, the young lady refused and sealed his martial arts on the spot, imprisoning him.”
"Imprisonment?!" Ban Lan repeated in surprise.
He sighed, “Seventh Brother said he just wanted to explain a misunderstanding to you, but he insisted on telling you in person, and no one else could do it for him. He angered the eldest young lady. A few days ago, the eldest young lady actually asked Third Brother to concoct the Yuan Chu San. Third Brother did not want to see Seventh Brother imprisoned all day, so he had no choice but to agree.”
Ban Lan was shocked and speechless for a moment.
He Bi continued, "The effects of Yuan Chu San are slow; it takes several days of continuous use to see results. A small amount of Yuan Chu San was added to Seventh Brother's daily diet, but thankfully he noticed in time, otherwise..."
Ban Lan couldn't help but interject, "If Cen Qiruo loses her memory, won't she also forget her senior sister?"
He slowly shook his head and said, "Ban Lan, the young lady is proud and arrogant, how can she tolerate Cen Ji's feelings..."
Seeing that he hesitated and wanted to say more, Ban Lan pressed him for an answer: "What can't you tolerate?"
Why hesitate?
Cen Ji was a focused man, calm and reserved. Even the most intense emotions could be hidden beneath his composed exterior. Even Wen Moyin doubted her intuition several times, and had no choice but to devise a plan to force out his true feelings. So why bother knowing what Wen Moyin wanted to do when she couldn't possibly guess what Cen Ji was thinking? She was merely trying to perceive Cen Ji's true feelings through vague intuition, but it was just a feeling.
He paused for a moment before saying, "Let's put these aside for now. At the wedding banquet that day, Cen Ji's departure caused the young lady to lose face in front of many martial arts figures. I'm afraid this is one of the reasons why the young lady is unwilling to forgive Cen Ji easily."
Ban Lan bit her lower lip and frowned, saying, "I didn't know Cen Qi... he would chase after him."
"My senior sister, she must be very angry with me." Gradually, worry deepened between her brows.
More than that! Why think it to yourself? If Ban Lan had seen the look in Wen Moyin's eyes at that moment, she would have thought that Wen Moyin would never forgive her in this lifetime.
Why take a step forward? He said anxiously, "Banlan, come with me to Kongshan Ridge. I think if Lao Qi doesn't explain the misunderstanding to you in person, he won't listen to my advice and eat."
After a moment of surprise, Ban Lan slowly nodded.
two,
More than a month ago, the wedding banquet at Kongshan Ridge was the talk of the town.
Whenever Wen Moyin thought of that wedding day, she wanted to strangle Ban Lan and let her die slowly in her hands. It was Ban Lan who made her a laughingstock in front of the world, and it was Ban Lan who made Cen Ji leave her after the wedding ceremony.
What a miscalculation! She schemed and plotted, only to be defeated by someone she thought was the least likely to beat her. Ban Lan, oh Ban Lan, I really don't know if you were secretly cunning or if this was unintentional.
She closed her eyes, and the image of Cen Ji slowly but firmly removing her hand from his wrist flashed through her mind—
He said he just wanted to clear up a misunderstanding.
She sneered, "What misunderstanding? Whatever the misunderstanding, you, Cen Ji, are absolutely not allowed to chase after me down the mountain today!"
Cen Ji knew that Wen Moyin was burning with anger, but he did not expect that Wen Moyin would attack him.
So when Wen Moyin sealed Cen Ji's three major acupoints, Cen Ji was astonished. He secretly circulated his qi, but his dantian was empty; his martial arts had been sealed by Wen Moyin.
Take him away. She waved her hand and turned away, no longer looking at Cen Ji.
She doesn't remember what the room looked like at the time; perhaps it's not that she can't remember, but that she doesn't want to.
Wen Moyin opened her eyes, reached out and touched the orchid beside her, and suddenly uprooted the orchid from the pot.
From childhood to adulthood, no one dared to disobey Wen Moyin's words. Now, the one who would rather die than obey her was none other than Cen Ji, who had always secretly admired her!
She, the dignified young lady of Kongshan Ridge, commanded the utmost respect in the martial world, except perhaps by Master Kongshan himself, yet she couldn't even hold a man's hand. Could it all truly be because of Banlan's sudden intervention?
But... Wen Moyin frowned.
She considered herself familiar with Ban Lan, but she didn't believe that a girl like Ban Lan would definitely be able to get married in the future, let alone have any man fall in love with her.
She didn't know. Her heart was too full—power, love, the martial world—how could it accommodate a mere junior sister? Even though she and Ban Lan had spent countless days and nights together, in Wen Moyin's heart, Ban Lan would forever only live on the surface.
Wen Moyin gripped the flower stem tighter and tighter.
From the third day after Cen Ji refused to eat, she stopped visiting him in prison. Because whenever she saw Cen Ji's defiant eyes, all her initial reluctance was burned away by the flames of anger.
She would never give up what she couldn't have, even if it meant destroying it herself!
three,
Kongshanling has a private prison, but it is not used frequently.
In the vast martial arts world, few dare to provoke Kongshan Ridge, so Kongshan Ridge's private prison rarely gets a chance to be used.
But at this moment, Xiong San Niang went to the private jail in the back mountain late at night.
The private jail in Kongshanling was relatively clean. Xiong Sanniang looked at the table by the lamplight and saw that the dishes were untouched, and even the water had only been drunk a few times.