Then he saw the man wielding the knife: dressed in black, with black hair, and wearing a silver mask on his face.
"Hey, I want to know, which is faster, the wind or your knife?" Fang Huo asked himself. He didn't speak, because he knew he would never speak again.
He touched his slit throat, swayed, and fell forward.
As he fell, he clearly heard a deep, magnetic voice from not far away—
"who!"
Ha, finally someone's paying attention to me... Fang Huo laughed self-deprecatingly.
His left hand trembled as he reached into his robes to take out the bottle of Osmanthus Qingming Pills.
But he couldn't resist the overwhelming drowsiness.
In a daze, the masked person had vanished.
The footsteps seemed to be getting closer, but he could no longer hold on and slowly closed his eyes.
Senior sister, when I wake up, I'll deliver the medicine to you again, okay?
three,
Cen Ji stepped out of the room, and the bright sunshine outside made him feel relaxed and happy.
Wen Moyin seemed to have been away from the mountains for the past few days, so he hadn't visited Cenji's quiet courtyard for several days.
Cen Ji felt that living like this was quite pleasant. He had plenty of time every day to do what he wanted, such as carving his wooden sculptures that no one could recognize.
Cen Ji had just stepped into the courtyard when he suddenly heard a muffled thud outside, as if someone had fallen to the ground.
"Who's there!" Cen Ji walked towards the sound.
He walked very slowly, each step as if he had carefully considered everything.
"Master, something terrible has happened! The Iron Sword Sect is causing trouble!" Guard Zhao Liang rushed over from a distance.
Cen Ji frowned. He hated being called "Master".
"Take me to see it," Cen Ji said calmly.
After saying that, Cen Ji left with the guard.
As he left, he inexplicably glanced back. All he could see was a blurry, indistinct expanse of light and shadow.
He would never know that what he saw then was a young man with thin eyebrows and large ears. The man was lying face down on the ground, holding a sword in one hand and reaching into the front of his clothes with the other, as if to take something out.
Unfortunately, that thing can never be retrieved.
Cen Ji was led into the front hall, and as soon as he came out, he heard shouts and noises outside the door.
A familiar voice rang out: "It's him! He's the one who killed Master and three of his fellow disciples!"
Cen Ji raised an eyebrow. So it was the one who hadn't died in the bamboo forest that day.
"What's going on?" Cen Ji slowly sat down, ignoring the commotion outside the hall.
Zhao Liang stepped forward and bowed, saying, "The Iron Sword Sect members carried four corpses up the mountain, saying they wanted to seek an explanation from Master Kongshan. One of these four corpses is Qi, the sect leader of the Iron Sword Sect."
Cen Ji asked, "Is Mo Yin not in the mountains?"
Zhao Liang said, "The young lady has been away from the mountain for more than three days."
Cen Ji nodded and said, "Let the person who's shouting the loudest in."
When Zhang Liang was brought in, he was still shouting that he wanted to see Master Kongshan.
“How could you possibly meet Master Kongshan?” Cen Ji said calmly.
Zhang Liang sneered, "I don't believe that Master Kongshan would protect a murderer like you! Our Iron Sword Sect will avenge our master and three fellow disciples today!"
Cen Ji said, "I only killed one person."
Zhang Liang said, "You killed four people, and you still want to deny it?"
Cen Ji said, "I will not deny that I killed him. Why would I admit to killing him if I didn't?"
Zhang Liang said angrily, "The evidence is conclusive, and you still want to deny it?"
Cen Ji asked, "What evidence?"
Zhang Liang strode towards the four corpses laid out at the door, abruptly ripped off the white cloth covering them, pointed at the knife mark on Guan Zhen's neck, and said, "I saw you kill Senior Brother Guan with my own eyes, and this knife mark is what you left!"
Calm and composed.
Zhang Liang pointed at the other three corpses and roared, "The knife wounds on my master's and junior brother's necks are exactly the same as those on Senior Brother Guan's! What else do you have to say?"
Exactly the same? Cen Ji's indifferent expression gradually turned serious.
Seeing that he remained silent, Zhang Liang was about to speak when a guard walked up to Cen Ji and said, "Reporting to Master, a corpse has been found in the east wing. It appears to be a swordsman."
"A swordsman?" Cen Ji asked, his expression unchanged. "How did he die?"
“This…” the guard paused, then said, “One fatal blow, the wound is in the throat.”
Cen Ji's lips twitched, and after a moment, he said, "Bring it up."
After Fang Huo's body was brought up, Cen Ji asked Zhang Liang, "Is this person a member of your Iron Sword Sect?"
Zhang Liang glanced at Fang Huo and said, "No. I don't know him."
Cen Ji's eyes grew even deeper. He slowly stood up and said, "What does your Iron Sword Sect want?"
Zhang Liang shouted, "Debts must be repaid, and murderers must pay with their lives!"
Cen Ji smiled slightly, slowly turned his head, and said, "Alright, my life is here, you are welcome to come and take it."
He was smiling, but no one present thought it was a smile.
It was a smile that no one could see through.
But suddenly, he stopped laughing.
Because he clearly heard a delicate shout coming from beside his ear—
"Cen Qi!"
rainstorm
one,
Cen Ji remained motionless.
His body remained still, and his clothes remained motionless.
But his eyes were unfocused.
Before that sound, he had never thought he was blind.
After that sound, he began to hate himself for being blind.
He knew that if he followed the sound, he would be able to grab her thin shoulders.
But he can't.
He could only sense her presence at such close range through his eyes.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see it.
Ban Lan stood blankly at the door. After calling out "Cen Qi," she clearly saw a fleeting panic in Cen Ji's eyes. But she thought it was just a brief moment of panic after being exposed.
She saw Fang Huo lying on the ground, saw his Qingguang sword, and saw his left hand that he hadn't yet reached into his robe.
Ban Lan stepped forward and squatted down. She picked up Fang Huo's ancient longsword and took out the bottle of Osmanthus Clear Mind Pill for him.
As she stood up, she gave Fang Huo a deep look.
She thought that following Fang Huo from a distance, glancing at Cen Ji from afar, and then leaving from a distance would be enough.
But it was too far away, so far that once Fang Huo was lost, he could never find him again.
She bit her lower lip hard, and a pain mixed with a faint taste of blood forced back the soreness in her nose and the tears that were about to fall.
Cen Ji grew increasingly lost. After calling out "Cen Qi," Ban Lan remained silent. He could only listen to any sounds related to her, staring blankly at the blurry images before him.
Ban Lan approached Cen Ji step by step. She looked into Cen Ji's eyes, which were deep yet unfocused, as he looked at her in response to the sound.
She longed to reach out and touch his eyelids, but instead she stepped forward, tilted her head back, and asked, "Why did you kill my junior brother?"
Cen Ji was taken aback: "You...Junior Brother?"
Ban Lan stared at him intently for a long time, then lowered her eyes, glanced at the medicine bottle in her hand, and sighed, "Ah, so unnecessary."
"Smack!"
Cen Ji was stunned for a moment, the crisp cracking sound taking him by surprise.
"Ban Lan..." he couldn't help but call out. He didn't know how long it had been since he had called out those two words, and when he said them again, he couldn't help but tremble.
Ban Lan seemed not to hear. She glanced at the broken medicine bottle, took a step back, and distanced herself from Cen Ji.
Why won't you answer me?
Silent and still.
He slowly closed his eyes, and after a long while, he spoke: "If I said that I didn't kill your junior brother, would you believe me?"
I believe you.
Upon hearing this, Cen Ji suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of joy quickly passing through them.
"I trust you, but that doesn't mean I won't seek revenge."
Cen Ji's eyebrows twitched.
“I’ll give you a month. If you still can’t prove your innocence after a month…” Ban Lan suddenly paused, turned around, no longer looking at Cen Ji, but quietly gazing at Fang Huo’s pale face, and said calmly, “I know I’m no match for you, but it doesn’t matter. I think if you dedicate your whole life to one thing, you can always succeed, right?”