Masochistic Male Lead
Her highly critical scolding fell, loud and clear, and the air became completely silent.
Han Shuangjian was obviously stunned. He froze in place like an ice sculpture, maintaining his previous posture of half-propping himself up and staring at her without blinking. His expression solidified, and his exquisite face was splashed head-on by the medicinal soup.
Chun Ri
That was probably very hot, because his fair face was faintly red, drops of medicine hung on his hair and eyelashes, and a large area of his body was wet. He looked a bit wretched, but mostly possessed the tranquil beauty of a handsome man fresh out of the bath. This was simply heaven-defying, but the image of the male lead in her dream was truly too perfect. He looked flawless from every angle. Yingshi even felt a bit resentful towards her own subconscious—why did she have to imagine him so flawlessly and authoritatively?
But in an instant, before her breath from cursing could settle, she herself was also a bit stunned.
Mainly because the water droplets sliding down the edge of the medicine bowl also rolled onto the web between her thumb and index finger, feeling hot and wet.
She couldn't help but rub it gently with her thumb, even able to feel the texture of her own skin.
She finally vented it out... Could it feel this satisfyingly real?
Why did it feel so real that it made her feel guilty?
Could a mere dream reach such a level of being indistinguishable from reality?
Could the environment, sensations, faces, and voices in a dream really be this clear?
Yingshi's heart pounded wildly. She realized something in hindsight. The memories that had been instilled into her mind in milliseconds earlier, yet forcefully ignored, were finally brought up again.
The past belonging to the daughter of the Cloud Water Sect's master, those details that would never be mentioned in the book, filled her consciousness bit by bit. Yingshi instantly felt her whole body go numb, wave after wave of chills running down her back, and her limbs trembling uncontrollably...
It wasn't just because she was currently standing in the draft with her back to the door, but also because of the sudden panic and confusion rising in her heart.
No, that's not right! She... she didn't seem to be dreaming...
The breathless feeling before her consciousness rapidly shifted had truly deprived her of oxygen. She hadn't just fallen asleep; she was already dead!
Moreover, she had transmigrated after death, crossing over into the novel I See Frost and Snow that she had been thinking about until the last second of her life!
She transmigrated into the childhood sweetheart supporting female character who shared her name!
She transmigrated to the very beginning of the plot where the relationship between the supporting female character and the suffering male lead in the Cloud Water Sect was heating up!
Yingshi gasped, unable to bear it anymore. She took half a step back, clutching her chest, and leaned against the back wall of the small hut.
The bowl in her hand had long been dropped to the ground because she couldn't hold it. She stared at the male lead with wide eyes, opening and closing her mouth, unable to utter half a word. She was completely unable to bear everything that had already happened before her eyes...
Other people who transmigrated into books could quickly grasp the situation, pretending to be exactly the same as the original owner, so that the people around them couldn't see any difference.
But she was truly a failed transmigrator. It was one thing not to react immediately and think she was dreaming, but now that she had realized it, she still didn't know what to do, what to say, how to act, or how to remedy the situation!
She simply couldn't accept this fact!
She never thought she would transmigrate into a book. She was doing perfectly fine in reality! She was still so young, how could she die suddenly?
How heartbroken her mom and dad would be when they found out. How lonely her dog, who always stuck to her, would be when it realized it could no longer wait for her to come home. How terrified her roommates would be when they found her not breathing the next day...
She was supposed to go on summer vacation as soon as she survived finals week. She had even bought the tickets to go traveling with her high school friends!
Why was it so sudden? She was having a complete breakdown!
Yingshi felt immense grief in her heart. She just wanted to slide down the wall and cry out loud, completely ignoring the other man in the room who had inexplicably suffered an unprovoked disaster.
A single line of text flashed repeatedly across her mind:
Jing Fengliu, screw your ancestors! Screw your ancestors ahhhhh!
...
Shuangjian's heartbeat was not a bit slower than the girl opposite him who suddenly collapsed against the wall.
At first, he was numb and indifferent.
The medicinal soup was very hot, causing a burning pain when it splashed on his face. He sluggishly realized that the long sentence Yingshi just said was not Brother Shuangjian, this is the medicine I brewed for you with my own hands, drink it quickly, but a string of insults he had heard for the first time.
She called him fickle, making eyes, Casanova, scumbag, and told him to get lost.
Although he didn't quite understand some of the words, he knew she was expressing her disgust and contempt for him.
This... was completely different from the previous two reincarnations.
Shuangjian's eyelashes trembled slightly. The drops of medicine hanging on his lashes slid down and landed on his lips, incredibly bitter and salty.
His heartbeat stopped for a moment, then gradually became deafening.
He seemed to finally realize what this difference represented. The words thank you that had been stuck in his throat and forced out, this time, did not have the chance to hide within his heart.
...What kind of feeling was this?
During the first reincarnation, on the night he killed his biological father, when he slit his throat in the Immortal-Breaking Cave, he had also experienced this feeling, as if the threads tying his body had all snapped in an instant.
Death brought him boundless freedom and peace—until the second reincarnation descended.
The plot was exactly the same as his previous life. Every twist and turn that determined his fate fit perfectly together, making it impossible to escape.
What was different was that this time he was restricted for a longer period. He couldn't make a move in the Immortal-Breaking Cave, and the passersby who had once appeared in his life still urgently wanted to associate with him.
He didn't understand, nor was he willing. Even after trying his best, he could only watch coldly as words that didn't come from his heart were spoken through his mouth. Until he finally became the strongest in the entire world, the familiar feeling of loosening constraints appeared. He knew he had once again arrived at the end of a certain node. This time, he killed everyone.
During his first reincarnation, his death couldn't end everything. Then what about this time, taking the destruction of the entire world with him?
...The answer was still no.
After experiencing a brief void in consciousness and opening his eyes, everything returned to the starting point. His resistance only brought him to the beginning of the third reincarnation.
The intense hatred and unwillingness seemed to have dissipated with the two failed struggles. His soul was already exhausted, and this time he had lost the strength to struggle—that is, if it weren't for this unexpected event in the thatched cottage today, it would have been like this.
Shuangjian stiffly licked his lips. His gaze towards this distinct Yingshi brightened little by little, as if someone had thrown a stone into a pool of dead water. The moment the ripples appeared on the surface, everything would become different.
He even asked that sentence in a careful, pious posture:
...Could you, do it one more time?
As the words left his mouth, he was the first person to feel it was unbelievable.
Never had it been so smooth. He could actually express his true thoughts, and this ease was different from the loosening of restrictions that occurred near the end of every time loop. It did not represent a final burst of clarity before everything faded into silence; instead, it signified the beginning of true freedom...
Was it an illusion? Was it a rare loss of control?
Was it a fleeting moment, a mirage?
Was it that he could finally be free from the constraints of those invisible rules, finally sever the strings binding his body, and no longer be a puppet unable to control itself?
He stared fixedly at Yingshi, his chest tightening as if she held the power of life and death over him at this moment.
He was terrified of seeing her suddenly revert to that shy, affectionate demeanor, and he was even more repulsed by the possibility that she might at any moment spout words like, "Brother Shuangjian, I brewed medicine for you."
He craved to hear more unconventional curses and mockery from her mouth. He craved for her to continue glaring at him with disdain, to punish and humiliate him with the medicinal soup—he craved every "derailment" from her, every stone thrown from her hand. He desperately needed more ripples.
His hands clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white. Never before had he hoped so fiercely for a woman to raise her head and look at him...
"...Ah?"
Yingshi could no longer cry.
A hoarse request suddenly popped up in the small hut. No matter how immersed she was in her own world, she couldn't help but become alert, her melancholy mood completely interrupted.
Thinking about it again, that was the male lead, the male lead she had just bullied, talking to her...
Wait, what did he say? Do... do it again?
"...Ah?"
Yingshi let out a second ah, her tone much heavier than her first bewildered response.
She was already in a state of panic and confusion, and now she was even more stunned.
She temporarily lacked the mental energy to deal with the mess she had created under the guise of sleepwalking. Having suddenly lashed out at the severely injured male lead, he wasn't a block of wood; he was bound to have some reaction.
But his reaction... how could it be like this?!
He actually, he actually asked her to do it again??
Judging from his tone and expression, he wasn't making a threat like, "Just try doing that again." He was genuinely pleading...
It couldn't possibly be that he enjoyed having the medicinal soup splashed on him and couldn't help himself, right?
No, that's completely wrong!
The male lead in the original novel would absolutely never react like this. The author never wrote him as a masochist!
Even if the current male lead was still in his pitiful stage and hadn't yet begun his domineering, cool, and awesome path of conquest, his deeply ingrained, immense pride would never allow him to say such a thing... unless...
A flash of inspiration hit Yingshi's mind. She jolted up, her back scraping roughly against the dirt wall, her hair sticking up messily from static electricity. Even though her eyes were still wet, the expression on her face gradually turned solemn and serious.
The male lead's abnormality couldn't help but raise a suspicion in her heart... Could it be
Spring Day
!
After taking a deep breath where she stood, clutching her crumpled clothes, she walked tremblingly toward Shuangjian, who was lying on the haystack.
The other party seemed a bit reactive to her approach. Yingshi noticed him tremble slightly before he tilted his head up to gaze at her.
Now was not the time to be distracted by a handsome face. Yingshi swallowed hard and leaned forward until her toes touched the edge of the haystack. She asked quite solemnly, "Are you... also... a transmigrator?"
She spoke pausing after every word, forcibly suppressing the nervousness and anticipation in her voice.
Since transmigration into a book could happen to her, why couldn't it happen to someone else?
A reaction that obviously defied logic most likely meant that, just like her, the soul inside the male lead had been swapped!
Swapped with a fellow compatriot who also came from their modern world!
She even held her breath while waiting for a reply. She didn't want to be alone; she really, really, really needed a companion!
Being alone in a bizarre cultivation world, she couldn't even imagine how lonely and helpless she would be!
Then, after a wait of several seconds, she watched with her own eyes as Shuangjian nodded.
"...Yes," he replied softly, his voice low and hoarse.
The prolonged silence had already made Yingshi anticipate disappointment, but she never expected to actually receive an affirmative answer!
Now, the previous careful deliberation of the bro who transmigrated into Shuangjian was seen by her as reasonable hesitation.
After all, it wasn't clear yet whether she was a friend or a foe, so it was completely normal to be wary of her!
Yingshi absolutely could not suppress the wild joy in her heart. Having a modern companion who shared the experience of transmigrating into a book was the best possible compensation for her right now.
"Wuwu!" Two joyful whimpers squeezed out of her throat. She suddenly pounced forward, wrapped her arms around Shuangjian's neck, hugged him tightly, and buried her head, rubbing against him. Her voice trembled with excitement, "This is great! Without you, I wouldn't know what to do all by myself!"
"..."
"My fellow earthling—wuwu!"
