"Cough cough... Cen Qi, what are you doing? I... cough cough... I've been calling you for ages and you haven't responded!" Ban Lan was too eager to speak, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she took a sip of water.
Her cheeks flushed from coughing. She raised her head to speak when she suddenly felt a strong force pulling her forward. Then she felt a tightness around her waist as Cen Ji held her tightly in his arms. Before she could react, a series of cold, wet kisses landed on her.
Cen Ji seemed to have lost his mind, kissing the small, thin person in his arms fiercely.
His kiss was anything but gentle, fiercely intense and overwhelming. He traced his kisses along her smooth forehead, down to her delicate eyebrows, eyelids, the tip of her nose, and her cheeks. Cen Ji seemed to be sensing her true presence with his cold lips, as if pouring out all his unconcealed secrets.
Ban Lan was pushed backward by his forceful kiss, and Cen Ji wrapped one arm tightly around her waist while the other slid up her back, finally supporting her slender neck and holding her firmly in his arms. His lips lingered on her cheeks for a while before finally capturing her small, red lips with his own, his tongue prying open her slightly parted teeth and kissing her deeply without giving her a chance to refuse.
From the moment the silent kiss landed, Ban Lan's mind went completely blank.
She forgot to question, forgot to question, and even forgot who she was.
The only thing she remembered was the man kissing her like a madman, the man she loved without regard for life or death.
This man's name is Cen Ji.
Ban Lan reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, unconsciously returning his kiss.
Her return kiss was awkward and clumsy, but it only made Cen Ji tighten his arms around her, pressing her tightly against his body without leaving a single gap.
Their faces were covered in cold rain, which dripped down their cheeks and tasted slightly salty when it entered their mouths.
At that moment, the slight saltiness on the tip of her tongue became the taste that Ban Lan cherished most throughout her life.
Because those tears weren't hers, yet they were shed for her.
Typhoid fever
The rain gradually subsided, and the sky darkened into a bluish hue.
Cen Ji showed no intention of letting go of Ban Lan; his strong arms seemed to be trying to embed Ban Lan into his body.
Suddenly, Ban Lan shoved Cen Ji away and walked towards the shore without looking back.
She walked quickly, seemingly furious.
Cen Ji was taken aback, then followed her ashore. He listened to her footsteps, wondering what she was thinking.
Ban Lan took a few steps, then suddenly turned around and stared intently at Cen Ji.
Do you like me?
"yes."
"Haven't you always liked my senior sister?"
"no the same."
"What's different?"
After a long silence, he finally spoke: "The only one I've fallen in love with is you."
Ban Lan pursed her lips and remained silent.
Cen Ji was at a loss for words. He didn't know why his sincere words were met with silence.
He paused for a moment, then walked towards Ban Lan.
He found that he gradually became unable to bear Ban Lan standing where he couldn't reach her; only when he was holding her hand and hugging her at all times could he feel at ease.
Cen Ji had only taken two steps when he suddenly felt a gust of wind in his face, and then Ban Lan rushed into his arms. Before he could speak, Ban Lan suddenly burst into tears.
"If you like me, why did you marry my senior sister?!" Ban Lan asked while crying.
Cen Ji felt a pang of pain in his heart. He stroked her long hair, but for a moment he didn't know how to answer.
Ban Lan seemed not to need his answer at all, and just kept repeating the question while crying.
"If you like me, then why did you marry my senior sister..."
"Why...why did you marry my senior sister..."
She cried like a child whose candy had been taken away, as if she could cry endlessly as long as the candy wasn't returned to her.
This was the only time in Ban Lan's life that she cried loudly in front of others; she had never done so before, and she never would again.
For the past eighteen years, she has never known how to feel wronged, nor has she ever allowed herself to feel wronged.
In the years that followed, even if she suffered great injustice, her sadness today seemed insignificant in comparison.
"Why did you marry my senior sister..." Ban Lan cried as she spoke, sobbing uncontrollably. Before long, her crescent-shaped eyes were red and swollen from being soaked in tears.
Cen Ji remained silent.
He gently stroked her back, occasionally lowering his head to leave a string of soft kisses on her smooth forehead.
The air was filled with the smell of tears; inhaling it for too long brought a salty bitterness to my heart.
Cen Ji sighed softly, then tightened his arms slightly, bringing the person in his arms closer to his heart.
As Ban Lan cried, her questions gradually dwindled to just "Why?" After countless repetitions of that "Why?", Ban Lan suddenly began to cough, a very slight cough.
Cen Ji touched her face, and the temperature under his palm was surprisingly hot.
Cen Ji was startled. He quickly checked her forehead temperature, which was also burning hot. He then gently shook Ban Lan's body and called out, "Ban Lan?"
Ban Lan was still sobbing. She looked up at Cen Ji and replied, "Hmm..." Her voice was hoarse and sounded extremely weak.
Cen Ji sensed something was wrong and immediately picked Ban Lan up in his arms, saying, "You have a fever. We need to find a place to shelter from the rain."
As darkness fell, the two found themselves in the vast and desolate mountains, where finding their way back seemed impossible in the short term. Guided by Ban Lan, Cen Ji found a small cave, hoping to survive the night and find a way out at dawn.
Ban Lan was soaked to the bone, but her body was burning hot like a furnace.
Cen Ji held Ban Lan in his arms and sat down against the rock wall.
"There's no fire..." Ban Lan mumbled, nestled in Cen Ji's arms.
"Hmm." Cen Ji listened to the pattering rain outside the cave and gave up the idea of starting a fire by rubbing sticks together.
“Cen Qi never carries a tinderbox…” Ban Lan muttered again after a while.
"Um."
"Because Cen Qiye's vision is very powerful..."
"Um……"
“Cen Qi is a very capable bodyguard…”
"……Um."
"But Cen Qi, why don't you come back..."
Cen Ji was stunned.
“…You promised me…” Ban Lan snuggled closer to him.
Cen Ji then realized that Ban Lan wasn't talking to him at all, but was muttering to herself.
"You promised..."
Cen Ji suddenly realized, then pulled Ban Lan tightly into his arms and buried his face deep in her hair.
Cen Ji broke his promises many times throughout his life.
He never considered himself a paragon of virtue, a man of his word. In his view, breaking promises was a necessary tactic, and a bodyguard who placed too much importance on promises would be burdened by them.
Most importantly, for Cen Ji, in the first twenty-seven years, the only promise he regarded was "loyalty to Kongshanling"; everything else was just a facade.
So, he never returned to Qingluan Forest that night.
Ban Lan's delirious ramblings pained him deeply.
However, in the decades that followed, Cen Ji remained indifferent to the concept of "promises".
However, from that moment on, Cen Ji never went back on his word to Ban Lan again, not even with a casual remark.
Later, He Bi asked him with a smile, "When did you become such a man of your word, valuing your promises more than a thousand pieces of gold?"
Cen Ji replied that he never considered his "keeping his word" to Ban Lan as keeping his promises. He simply didn't want to disappoint Ban Lan, that was all.
In the latter half of the night, Ban Lan was sometimes awake and sometimes drowsy. But no matter whether she was awake or drowsy, as long as she wasn't asleep, she would talk to Cen Ji in a daze, and Cen Ji would respond softly to whatever she said, even if it was just a brief "hmm".
Later, Banlan started talking incoherently due to the high fever.
Cen Ji had no choice but to soak the torn pieces of clothing in water and gently wipe her burning forehead.
Cen Ji later forgot most of what Ban Lan said that night. Although Ban Lan was completely unaware of what she was saying, Cen Ji listened attentively and answered seriously.
Ban Lan wasn't constantly asking questions; more often, she seemed to be rambling on about her memories. Those memories were a completely unfamiliar world to Cen Ji, making him suddenly realize that he really should try to understand the girl in his arms. He didn't know how long this process of understanding would take, but he felt that perhaps a lifetime would be enough.
Thinking this, Cen Ji pressed his face against Ban Lan's forehead, his breath filled with her scent.
Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow and noticed that Ban Lan seemed to be muttering to herself again, but after listening for a while, he still couldn't figure out what she was saying.
"Why...did it take so long?"
"What took so long?" Cen Ji frowned in thought.
"Why..." Ban Lan stirred, but her eyes remained closed.
Cen Ji waited for a while and found that her breathing gradually became even, so he thought she was already fast asleep. He smiled faintly and stopped thinking about it.
As dawn broke, Ban Lan's forehead temperature dropped slightly, but apart from feeling much more awake, she did not feel any better.
When Ban Lan woke up, she found Cen Ji holding her tightly, leaning against the mountain rock, fast asleep with his eyes closed.
She stared blankly at his face, her gaze sweeping from his forehead across his brow, over his eyelids, up his nose, and finally settling on his tightly closed lips. She couldn't help but recall their passionate kiss the day before, and a sudden wave of panic washed over her.