Cen Ji didn't understand. He looked up at Xiong San Niang, but heard Xiong San Niang say, "Seventh Brother, if there's a misunderstanding, let's clear it up."
After saying that, Xiong Sanniang used her lightness skill to pull Cen Ji straight up the mountain.
Before even entering the front hall, one could hear a commotion of voices.
Cen Ji looked puzzled and glanced at Xiong San Niang beside him: "Did someone come from Kongshan Ridge today?"
Xiong Sanniang nodded and said, "You forgot, today is the day when all the major sects in the martial arts world that rely on Kongshan Ridge come to pay their respects to the master."
The so-called "showing of respect" was a gesture by which all the sect leaders signaled their allegiance to Master Kongshan. This act of showing respect was always overseen by Wen Moyin, as Master Kongshan never showed himself.
Xiong Sanniang patted his shoulder and said, "Go in, I'm leaving now. You know, in this kind of situation, the bodyguards can't go unless the young lady allows it."
Cen Ji nodded.
Just as he was about to take a step, Ban Lan's voice came from inside the house.
Cen Ji never imagined that upon hearing Ban Lan's hearty laughter again, he would feel an irresistible urge to rush over and see the owner of that voice. However, he couldn't move his feet.
"Haha, how could that be? How could I possibly like that blockhead Cen Qi!"
Cen Ji felt a little dizzy.
An old voice rang out: "We all saw clearly what Miss Ban did that day."
Ban Lan said, "What did I do? Those were just things I promised my senior sister to do to test Cen Qi. I wouldn't even want someone like him who's obsessed with rules and self-discipline, even if he were given to me for free!"
"...But then again, my senior sister's taste is not bad. I deliberately told him I liked him many times, both openly and secretly, but he remained unmoved."
The aged voice was filled with doubt: "This... Miss Wen, is that really the case?"
"Sect Leader Qi, please don't overthink it. I asked Alan to help me with this, but these are matters of Kongshanling. Thank you for your concern, Sect Leader Qi." Wen Moyin's voice came out, soft as a thin veil.
The aged voice coughed twice and then fell silent.
But Ban Lan's voice rang out again: "I've been waiting for ages, and that blockhead still hasn't come. Forget it, I'm going back. Anyway, whether he explains that misunderstanding or not, it's not important to me."
After saying this, Ban Lan stood up.
Perhaps it was from the days of travel and hard work, otherwise why would her legs be so sore and weak, making even standing difficult? Ban Lan thought to herself. She mustered her strength and called out loudly, "Senior sister, I'll head back now."
Wen Moyin pretended to persuade her to stay, saying, "It's getting late, Junior Sister, why don't you stay here for the night and go back tomorrow?" She stepped forward and reached out to pull Ban Lan away.
Ban Lan suddenly flinched away, shouting, "I already said I don't need it!"
An eerie silence fell over the hall.
Wen Moyin's embarrassment vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced by an endless chill in his eyes.
Ban Lan suddenly realized what she had just done, paused for a moment, and said, "I won't stay any longer, Senior Sister." After saying that, Ban Lan turned and left.
"Ah Lan!" Wen Moyin watched Ban Lan's departing figure and quietly curled the corners of her lips.
Ban Lan stopped, but did not turn around.
"Why don't you leave a message for Seventh Brother? That way I'll have something to say in return," Wen Moyin said.
Ban Lan bit her lower lip, unable to speak for a long time.
She suddenly felt a stinging sensation in her nose, and even the things in front of her became somewhat blurry.
She could feel that Cen Ji was nearby, not far from her. It was as if if she closed her eyes and reached out, she could touch his warm body.
"I used to always envy Master's Snow Fermented Wine, but now I realize that if I really don't touch it, I can give it up..."
Ban Lan's expression turned indifferent, her eyes darkened, and she walked away.
bridal chamber
one,
As soon as Ban Lan stepped out the door, she couldn't help but shiver.
The mountain wind was strong, and the unbearable chill felt like a thousand horses galloping towards us.
Ban Lan glanced to the side and saw Cen Ji standing stiffly a few steps away.
If there was anything unexpected, it wasn't really that surprising to Ban Lan. Those words were originally meant for him.
The only unexpected thing was the look in Cen Ji's eyes when he looked at her: furious, confused, disdainful, and even... sad.
Ban Lan suddenly felt that something was wrong. And very wrong.
She was somewhat stunned. After not seeing him for months, Cen Ji had become much thinner, and even his face had turned pale. But his back remained as straight as a towering pine tree, and no matter how strong the wind was, it could only flutter the hem of his clothes.
He moved his lips, but Ban Lan spoke first.
"You've arrived."
Cen Ji remained silent.
"I thought you weren't coming, so I couldn't wait and left first."
Cen Ji remained silent.
"Since you have nothing to say, I'll be leaving."
Ban Lan shrugged indifferently, no longer looking at Cen Ji, like a fallen leaf chased by the wind, drifting further and further away. Cen Ji's gaze stretched longer and longer as she left.
In the vast expanse of vision, that crimson figure appeared to be fleeing in panic.
As he watched, Cen Ji suddenly bent over and began to vomit profusely.
There was hardly any food in my stomach, so all I could vomit was bitter water.
Only bitterness remains.
My mouth was filled with bitterness, but it couldn't suppress the overwhelming sadness.
How many times had he watched Ban Lan leave? He tried to recall, yet he was afraid to remember everything. All he knew was that her small, thin figure was about to burst his heart.
His stomach was spasming, contracting into a tight ball, and he realized that he seemed to have no more thoughts to support him in continuing to stand upright.
A person lives on food and lives by beliefs. But right now, he has become an empty shell.
Wen Moyin watched Ban Lan walk away, raised his hand, and said to the servant who came forward to obey, "Go, take the sect leaders to the guest rooms to rest."
Then, she took a deep breath, slowly walked out the door, and came to Cen Ji's side.
She reached out and gently grasped his shoulder, which was trembling violently from coughing, her heart rising and falling with the trembling of his back.
The moment Cen Ji bent down, he transformed from a murderous sword into a piece of discarded iron.
Wen Moyin felt sorry for him. However, she knew that men were most easily controlled by women when they were at their weakest.
So she parted her cherry lips slightly and called out softly, "Seventh Brother."
Even after the wedding ceremony, she still habitually called him "Seventh Brother." It seemed that this form of address was more indicative of the intimacy between them than the nominal title of "husband."
Cen Ji coughed for a while, and it took him quite a while to straighten up.
Wen Moyin was taken aback. She noticed that Cen Ji's usually clear and sharp eyes were somewhat dark and cloudy.
"Seventh Brother, come inside and sit down, it's windy outside."
Wen Moyin reached out and wrapped her arm around Cen Ji's, trying to pull him into the house. But Cen Ji seemed to be rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.
Wen Moyin frowned, exerted a bit of force in his hand, and pulled Cen Ji so hard that he stumbled slightly and couldn't help but take a step forward.
A stumble brought Cen Ji back to his senses, and he found Wen Moyin walking into the hall with her arm around his right arm.
"Silent chant." Cen Ji stopped and ceased his advance.
Wen Moyin turned around and saw something flickering in his dark, cloudy eyes.
Cen Ji lowered his head and slowly withdrew his arm.
The wind was getting stronger.
The fallen leaves swept up by the wind in the courtyard occasionally made short, muffled scraping sounds as they hit the ground.
"Have all the flowers withered?" Cen Ji glanced at the fallen leaves swirling and turning in the wind.
For the first time in twenty-seven years, Cen Ji cared about the blooming and withering of flowers. Even he found it strange. He realized that the time spent waiting for flowers to bloom sometimes felt like several lifetimes, just like his long, dark wait in the private prison, only to be met with a helpless silhouette in the end. He felt that sometimes it was better not to wait for the outcome, rather than being helpless in the face of inevitable decay.
Cen Ji sighed. He rarely sighed because he remembered someone telling him that good luck easily slips away with a sigh.
But at this point, he felt that no amount of good luck would be of any use.
Wen Moyin's smile gradually turned cold. In just a few days, she had grown to loathe this boring and pretentious fake smile. Besides, Cen Ji seemed oblivious to whether she smiled or not.
Wen Moyin concealed all her expressions. Her intuition told her that the outcome she feared most had still happened. Or rather, from the faint glimmer in Cen Ji's eyes, she could see that the emotions dormant within Cen Ji had awakened.
Women are often blessed with exceptional intuition. So when a woman who possesses both reason and intuition stands before you, there is usually only one best option: don't let her have her eye on you.
Unfortunately, Cen Ji had no other choice. Because he was the man Wen Moyin was determined to hold onto.
"Don't you want to go back?" Wen Moyin asked.
Cen Ji was startled, seemingly not understanding. He unconsciously walked forward, as if something ahead was extremely attractive to him, pulling his feet little by little, making him involuntarily run towards nothingness.
"Are you going to find her?" Wen Moyin's light voice turned somewhat somber.
Who to look for? Her? A blush flashed through Cen Ji's mind.
"I miss her, I want her back." Cen Ji murmured unconsciously. So unconscious that even Wen Moyin almost mistook it for an echo carried by the wind.
Wen Moyin said slowly, "Didn't you hear? She doesn't like you at all."
Cen Ji glanced sideways and met her gaze. Wen Moyin's eyes were sharp as needles, as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
Suddenly, he looked away from Wen Moyin.