Stay a little further away from me
Shuangjian didn't understand this side of himself, even feeling a faint sense of disappointment and contempt.
But his chaotic thoughts left no room for judgment or correction; after all, there was no longer any so-called right track to speak of.
The splitting headache, the violent trembling, the sensation of a raging fire spreading from the depths of his lungs—he was already exceptionally familiar with this torment. However, the young woman beside him was clearly witnessing it for the first time, and it threw her into a panic.
Her soft hands reached out to embrace his shoulders. She wanted to pull him onto her lap and shield his upper body, ensuring that, at the very least, his unconscious thrashing wouldn't cause him to smash his head open in the darkness.
She frantically wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck with her sleeves. Every time the smooth fabric brushed past his face, it brought with it a faint, fragrant breeze.
She was chattering away about something, perhaps trying to use words to offer what she believed to be effective comfort...
It was as if two souls had split within Shuangjian's body. One of them fiercely rejected everything that was happening. He wanted to push this woman, who was drawing infinitely closer to him, far away. He hated the sensation of her hands lingering on his skin, and he loathed her fragile voice that kept muttering while fighting back sobs. Without a doubt, these things aggravated his suffering, acting as an accelerant placed within him, fueling the raging fire and making it unbearable for him.
Yet, the other part of him was actually grabbing Yingshi's hand, gripping it tightly in his palm, pressing it against his burning cheek, and rubbing against it with uncontrollable gasps. He treated her brief astonishment and bewildered indulgence as a pain-relieving anesthetic, even wanting to... How could he be like this?!
"Stay... away... from me!"
Shuangjian squeezed these words out through his teeth with great difficulty, his voice incredibly weak and hoarse.
Yingshi had to lean in extremely close to hear what he was saying. Her immediate instinct was to comply. She prepared to carefully lay Shuangjian back onto the ground and step a few paces away to monitor his condition.
She had no objections to this instruction. Unfortunately, her hand was still being gripped tightly by Shuangjian. It was impossible to pull away, meaning she couldn't leave at all.
Furthermore, the person in her arms grew even more anxious at her attempt to pull away. He struggled to turn around, pressing his face against her abdomen and wrapping an arm around her back to hold her tightly.
"..."
Yingshi immediately froze, stiff as a stone. Usually, she was the one affectionately relying on others; at this moment, she distinctly realized that Shuangjian needed her very much, and his body language was truly so blunt...
She could feel a distinct heat against her stomach. Burning with a high fever, Shuangjian was essentially a giant human heating pad. But the temperature wasn't the main point—the main point was that she could feel the contours of his face. His nose was pressed tightly against her lower abdomen, and his whole being seemed as though he wanted to bury himself into her body...
Help!
Yingshi was screaming internally like a marmot. She knew perfectly well that this was absolutely not the time to feel shy; everything was just a patient's uncontrollable instinctual reaction. But she had instincts too, and she couldn't control her blushing face and racing heart.
She kept hypnotizing herself in her mind: Shuangjian was her interdependent brother from another mother! She warned herself that Shuangjian was currently delirious and she absolutely shouldn't let her imagination run wild! She scolded herself that having such distracting thoughts at such a critical moment was simply too much!
Once Yingshi thought it through, she immediately felt guilty, and the heat burning on her cheeks quickly faded. She judged that Shuangjian's contradictory words were perhaps just because he felt a little embarrassed and didn't want to expose his vulnerability in front of her.
But in reality, someone in the throes of illness couldn't help wanting to hold someone else's hand.
Yingshi fully understood this mindset. She wanted to ease Shuangjian's mental torment, as the physical pain was already unbearable enough. She hurriedly said, "I won't leave. I'll stay right here beside you. It's okay to cry! You've already endured so much..."
But before she could finish speaking, the force gripping her waist vanished—the person in her arms was gone.
When he retreated from her side, Yingshi didn't even brush against a corner of his clothes.
The one who had held on so tightly a moment ago was him, and the one who avoided her like the plague an instant later was also him.
"...Shuangjian?" Yingshi's voice inevitably trembled.
The darkness within the Marrow-Cleansing Spring Domain was overwhelming. When Shuangjian deliberately distanced himself, she couldn't even tell where he had gone.
She tried to discern the direction of the other person's panting, but the entire space was dead silent. Only her own breathing and heartbeat were distinctly clear, as if Shuangjian had vanished into thin air!
In such a short amount of time, it was impossible for him to have gone far.
Now, it was Yingshi's turn to feel a little afraid.
Being deprived of her vision made her momentarily doubt if she had been left all alone in this mysterious domain, about to be swallowed by the darkness...
"Shuangjian!" She curled up into a ball in a squatting position, pleading, "I'm scared being all alone. Where are you? Could you make a sound... Have you left?"
"...No."
Fortunately, a low response sounded from about two meters away. Yingshi hadn't been left here alone!
Her heartbeat managed to slow down a fraction, though her words were still somewhat incoherent: "I-I thought you'd left! Don't move, I won't come over. You want to keep some distance between us, right?"
"...Yeah."
This response came very slowly, but getting a definite answer from Shuangjian was enough to satisfy Yingshi.
She well understood that their communication right now might just be adding to his burden, much like how she didn't want to listen to her mother when she was sick.
After receiving this confirmation, Yingshi silently huddled in place and stopped talking.
Although she was a bit restless, she was already feeling much better off than Shuangjian.
Yingshi tried her best to remain quiet. Even though she was very unaccustomed to such an excessively silent and dark environment, she forced herself to maintain control, making sure not to fidget like a first-grader on their first day of school.
"..."
Shuangjian's brow furrowed even tighter, not because of his physical torment, nor because of the faint rustling sounds Yingshi unconsciously made.
Rather, he was frustrated that even though Yingshi had clearly distanced herself from him, his mind was still entirely captivated by her.
He was paying attention to her, listening to her uneven breathing and the occasional rustle of her clothing.
He knew she was currently suppressing her inner restlessness, understood her feeling of being at a loss, and realized that the silence would only make her more anxious.
"...Talk to me."
When Shuangjian's weak words came out, Yingshi wasn't the only one surprised; his own mind also wavered for a moment.
But he didn't try to take back the words born of impulse. He merely clenched his jaw to suppress the trembling in his voice and added, "Tell me... about your past..."
About everything concerning her in that Great Thousand World.
"Really? Does my chattering actually help distract you a bit?" After a moment of stunned silence, a hint of joy crept into Yingshi's tone. She was clearly more than willing to dispel her inner anxiety through conversation.
Aside from introducing herself when they first met, she never talked to Shuangjian about her real life again.
She was not exactly delicate in her thoughts, but she was by no means thoughtless either.
She understood that the living standards of their previous lives were quite different. Discussing her past might not be a good topic; even if she had no ill intentions whatsoever, poor phrasing could make her sound arrogant or offensive.
But right now, Shuangjian had taken the initiative to ask about her.
"What do you want to hear about?" Yingshi asked cautiously.
The impression of the dry flatbread lingered in her mind.
Shuangjian quietly closed his eyes and asked, "...What do you... like to eat?"
Grumble.
Yingshi's stomach growled right on cue.
She coughed lightly in embarrassment and raised her voice slightly, "There are so many things I love to eat, I could never finish listing them... but right now, what I want most is my mom's pan-fried cabbage pie."
"..."
She stared longingly into the void and described, "Small, palm-sized round pies with a crispy, golden-brown crust. The filling has to be made with cabbage that isn't too watery, mixed with crispy pork cracklings and a secret chili sauce..."
The sound of her swallowing her saliva was incredibly clear.
Even with his eyes closed, Shuangjian could almost see Yingshi's expression as she spoke.
"I actually tried making it myself later on, but my pies always turned out super thick. They were still delicious, though. If there's a chance, I'll make some for you!" Yingshi offered, getting excited as she spoke.
...A chance?
Where would they ever get a chance like that?
Yingshi had described it vividly, but Shuangjian still could not imagine it at all.
Yet he remained noncommittal, simply saying, "...Thank you."
...
Afterward, Yingshi told him about her dog, about how chubby, mischievous, gluttonous, and clingy it was.
She talked about the Mother's Day gifts she gave her mom when she was little.
She talked about the grand feasts she ate every day during the Lunar New Year.
She talked about her school days and how she fought with the boys who stole her red scarf.
She talked about how she once hid under her covers and cried because her best friend did not wait for her to tie her shoelaces.
She talked about how the greatest pain in her life used to be running the 800-meter physical fitness test, whereas now she could be locked in a pitch-black room without batting an eye.
She talked about how she felt she was actually a very happy person. Even her death in her past life had been painless; she just fell asleep and never woke up. It was a kind of blessing... even if it came with regrets.
Shuangjian was dizzy with a high fever, yet every word she spoke left a deep impression on him, even though he only half-understood many of the things and vocabulary she mentioned.
And the strangest thing was that his pain seemed to lessen because of it.
The torment brought on by the demon core no longer dominated the peak of his senses. He felt an indescribable comfort from the words of another person sharing his space.
Although he did not want to admit it, in a fleeting moment, he had the absurd thought that it was good he was not alone.
How ridiculous.
Clearly, he was still in pain tonight, still suffering the agony of the demon core... and bearing everything alone was what he had always been best at and most accustomed to, was it not?
...
He did not know how much time had passed before the domain returned to silence.
The girl, whose thoughts jumped around and who had been talking non-stop, finally hugged her knees, her breathing gradually slowing down.
She had fallen asleep from exhaustion a while ago.
And the demon core's active phase seemed to be coming to an end.
After enduring several hours of torture, Shuangjian's temples were soaked with sweat, and his lips were deathly pale.
Now that the pain was no longer as sharp, he slowly sat up without making a sound.
Unlike Yingshi, his vision was not overly restricted; in the darkness, he could still clearly see the silhouette of the woman sleeping soundly while hugging her knees opposite him.
He did not know what he was looking at. He could not find a purpose, or perhaps, looking itself was his purpose.
"..."
Shuangjian felt an inexplicable sensation, so he forcefully turned his head away, no longer looking in Yingshi's direction.
He pushed himself up and walked toward the sound of the Marrow Cleansing Spring.
