Intimacy
Shuangjian was petrified.
The young woman's body heat tightly enveloped him. The fragrance emanating from her gradually overpowered the bitter scent of the medicinal broth. Her breath brushed against his ear, and her hair rubbed back and forth against his neck, creating a numb and ticklish sensation.
She practically pressed her entire weight onto him, unreservedly pouring out her reliance and friendliness toward him, her supposed fellow earthling.
She paid no mind to his injuries, nor did she care about his face, neck, and clothes that were soaked after being splashed with medicine.
...So vivid, so... overwhelming.
In all his three lifetimes combined, no one had ever been this intimate with him. He was extremely uncomfortable with such close contact. Even in the past, when he was restricted by the unseen rules that forced him to interact with others, he resisted until his meridians were in chaos, never truly allowing anyone to get close.
Spouting words against his will and putting on fake expressions was his absolute limit. He could not bring himself to offer up his body merely to satisfy the amusement of the rule that governed him.
Fortunately, the rule had never been able to completely force him on this point.
Yet at this very moment, in this instant where he had nearly broken free from the rule's restrictions, his defenses utterly collapsed...
Shuangjian felt miserable all over, as if being roasted by a raging fire, and his heart felt completely stifled. He intentionally wanted to push her away, but vaguely worried that doing so might not fit the conventional reaction of a fellow earthling. Out of caution, he struggled to remain perfectly still.
His affirmative answer was most likely correct, causing this unique Yingshi to drop all her defenses at once and completely treat him as one of her own. He just hadn't expected the price of being right to be so heavy.
His acceptance of the transmigration claim was naturally just a calculated move after careful consideration.
The Yingshi before him had very shallow thoughts; her joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness floated on the surface, making her easy to see through at a glance.
Whether this simplicity was her true nature or a deliberate disguise, she was distinctly different from the Yingshi of his previous two lives. He didn't even need to discern anything; she spilled everything right from the start—You transmigrated too.
The word too clearly expressed that she herself had transmigrated, which he guessed was likely some sort of spell related to soul traversal.
A soul from another world had entered the body of the Yingshi of this current plane, and all of this was forced, as she was extremely unwilling and emotionally broken.
Shuangjian lowered his eyes. The most important and bizarre point was the familiarity she revealed toward him.
The very first moment she arrived in this different world, she actually cursed at him in a daze. She clearly knew who he was, who she herself was, and what kind of world this was.
Her confusion had always stemmed from her rejection of her situation, not from the unknown—she possessed an omniscient perspective; she had once looked down upon this world.
Likewise, she had looked down upon him, who was like a wooden puppet.
And Yingshi absolutely loathed him.
The points of her disgust lay in him being fickle, deeply scheming, and a scumbag.
Regardless of whether these accusations were true, her impression of him was already fixed, so he could not be himself.
A compatriot who had also transmigrated from another world—since Yingshi had developed such suspicions about him, it meant his behavior was already leaning in that direction, so why not go with the flow?
Shuangjian had thought it through perfectly beforehand, but he never expected that this would bring upon himself an intimacy akin to being entangled by a python.
He even vaguely regretted it a little.
You... Shuangjian tried to speak and found that he could still say what he wanted normally, so he said, Could you get up first?
After saying that, he immediately tried to cover it up: This body of mine has unhealed injuries, so inevitably my chest feels stifled and painful...
He was terrified that any word he said to distance the two of them would make Yingshi feel he was being cold.
She was his only breakthrough to regain his freedom. As long as there was a sliver of hope, he would not let it go...
Ah! Yingshi indeed bounced away instantly. She scanned his chest in a bit of a panic, and her face grew even redder when she saw the dampness caused by the medicine. While trying to wipe it for him with her sleeve, she said shyly, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. At first, I thought I was dreaming, dreaming about the dog of a male lead in this novel...
A novel. A dog of a male lead.
Shuangjian's brow twitched slightly, but his expression remained unchanged. He even shook his head politely and comforted her, It's fine.
He seamlessly intercepted Yingshi's hands that were busy on him, asking, Are you saying that this world we transmigrated into is a novel? And this body of mine belongs to... the dog of a male lead?
Yes! So you haven't read 'I See Frost and Snow'? I thought only unlucky readers were prone to transmigrating into books, but it turns out innocent bystanders face this risk too... Thinking of her unlucky experience and the home she couldn't return to, Yingshi couldn't help but show a bitter expression again.
Realization dawned in Shuangjian's heart.
His fingers gripping the edge of the haystack secretly tightened, but his expression remained calm and breezy.
He understood. It was just like the relationship between a macrocosm and a microcosm.
All of his real struggles and pain were perhaps nothing more than a few lines of text to someone like Yingshi, who came from the macrocosm.
My real name is Xu Yingshi, which is why I transmigrated into this body... Then is your real name also Han Shuangjian, the same as the male lead? Seeing him nod, Yingshi gathered her emotions and continued, I'm from Jing City, and I was a college sophomore before I transmigrated. I never expected that just staying up late reading a novel could make me so angry on the spot that I'd directly transmigrate... I still don't know what to call you. How old were you before you transmigrated? What was your situation over there?
With one question after another being thrown out, her curiosity about him completely overflowed.
Even though there was no physical contact right now, the fragrance radiating from her still wafted over continuously. Her gaze was fervent and focused, no different from countless invisible hands stroking his body.
Shuangjian leaned back imperceptibly and faked two coughs. I was born in a small mountain village, one you've probably never heard of. Because my family was poor, I never really studied since childhood. Before transmigrating, I fell seriously ill... I had just passed my seventeenth year before I died.
As he spoke, his voice gradually lowered, because the woman opposite him looked at him with increasing pity. Mingled with that pity was a bit of awkwardness, as if she had heard some sensitive answer.
Shuangjian believed his answer was already very appropriate. Poverty and lack of education could serve as a smokescreen to cover up his ignorance of the different world Yingshi came from. This way, when she discussed things from that world with him, he wouldn't give himself away.
So where did the problem lie? And was this feeling of pity ultimately good or bad for him?
Shuangjian pondered in his heart, keeping a straight face, and lowered his head to match Yingshi's gaze.
I'm sorry, I didn't know... Yingshi sighed.
He wasn't clear on what she was apologizing for, nor what she needed to know.
Shuangjian frowned inwardly.
Then he heard her lowered voice brighten up again: I'm actually two years older than you. I didn't expect you to be so young, clearly still at the age of a high schooler...
What?
Shuangjian was somewhat surprised this time. The original Yingshi's physical age was about seventeen. The current Yingshi hadn't stated her age directly at the beginning of their conversation. He had thought that "being a college sophomore" meant studying in some sort of enlightenment academy, guessing she was at most fifteen. Unexpectedly, she was almost twenty.
Then her behavior was... a bit more childish than her age suggested.
Chun Ri
He wondered if it was deliberate or just her nature.
Shuangjian pursed his lips slightly and asked softly, "I wonder if you'd be willing to tell me about the novel, 'I See Frost and Snow', Sister?"
"..."
An eerie silence followed.
Shuangjian looked up to see the young woman staring blankly at his face. When she noticed him looking back, she blinked rapidly and smiled, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"What did you call me?" she asked.
"..."
This time, it was Shuangjian's turn to fall silent.
He hadn't originally felt there was anything strange about the title. After all, even in his past two reincarnations, he had only lived to be nineteen at most, making him barely the same age as Yingshi. In the context of this life, seeking a bit of verbal closeness with her was perfectly reasonable.
But now, faced with Yingshi's rather odd reaction, an inexplicable burden weighed on his heart.
"...I should just call you by your name, is that alright?" he asked hesitantly.
Yingshi neither nodded nor shook her head; she merely stared at him in silence, her eyes sparkling.
Shuangjian only saw the small hair bun on her head tremble slightly. A single strand of hair that had been neatly tucked away playfully escaped, pointing straight up at the thatched roof of the hut.
He couldn't help but feel a bit... strange inside.
"...Yingshi?" Shuangjian called out to her again.
This time, Yingshi seemed to snap out of her daze. She let out a delayed "Ah," and then smiled at him awkwardly. "S-Sure, just calling me by my name is fine!"
It wasn't that she disliked being called 'Sister', but rather... she had never really been called that by anyone before. She hadn't realized until now just how sweet the term sounded—it was almost too much to handle.
Coupled with Shuangjian's handsome appearance, it made everything feel increasingly surreal and entirely unreal...
Such a feast for the eyes could indeed only be seen after transmigrating into a book.
She wondered what this body, which belonged to Yingshi, looked like...
Yingshi couldn't remember if it had been described in the novel, but in male-oriented web novels, no named female supporting character was ever lacking in looks. She was so curious. Why wasn't there even a mirror around?
Then, Shuangjian watched as the young woman before him pursed her lips in a smile for half a second before suddenly raising her hands in a daze to touch her face, as if confirming her own features. The next second, she abruptly leaned in close to him—
"..."
Shuangjian was stiffly backed into a corner. Yingshi's face drew near to his, so close that they could feel each other's breath, yet their bodies made no actual physical contact.
She stared intently into his eyes. For that brief moment, Shuangjian was certain he couldn't breathe. Fortunately, just a second before he lost control and pushed her away, Yingshi retreated back to her original spot on her own. Her hands were still cupping her face, and her expression was somewhat bewildered.
"Why do I look exactly the same as I do in reality?" She couldn't tell if she felt more regretful or relieved. But at least the body she was using was her own, which provided a rare sense of familiarity in this strange, alternate world.
"Does that mean... you looked like this before you transmigrated, too?" Yingshi stared at Shuangjian, her brain a bit short-circuited. Seeing Shuangjian nod in silence, she felt a complex mix of emotions.
...Fate really loved to play tricks on people. It had given Shuangjian outstanding looks, yet trapped him in a barren mountain village, preventing him from witnessing the vastness of the world. It had even stripped away his health and life, denying him the chance to turn his destiny around...
Her brows furrowed tightly, and her heart felt heavy. She couldn't help but sigh for him.
Shuangjian also frowned imperceptibly, but he maintained his reserve and didn't speak, suppressing the itch in his throat.
Yingshi, meanwhile, felt the urge to encourage him again. She looked at him with utmost sincerity and said, "Although your previous life was very hard, and you're plagued by illness now, everything will get better. This identity you transmigrated into is the male lead of the novel. In the future, you can dominate the cultivation world!"
Shuangjian's gaze narrowed slightly, and his eyes shifted slowly from her to the area behind the door.
"It's just tough on you right now. Being in the early stages of the plot, the male lead is always getting sick and injured, and every so often, he has to endure the Demon King's curse seal..." Yingshi furrowed her brows, growing worried as she recalled this setting from the original text. She was about to continue when Shuangjian raised a hand to interrupt her, an apologetic look on his face.
"Wait, someone is coming," Shuangjian said in a low voice.
As soon as his words fell, the dilapidated door of the thatched hut, which had been blown shut by the wind, was violently kicked open.
A savage male voice rang out loudly: "Han Shuangjian, do you think hiding in here like a turtle will keep you safe? I want to see just what kind of abilities a vile beast like you has to make my dear Sister Yingshi look at you differently..."
The voice came to an abrupt halt.
The intruder stopped in his tracks, making eye contact with the young woman standing by the bed inside the room.
"...N-No way?! Sister Yingshi, w-why are you here..." The man's face turned crimson in a flash, and he stood frozen on the spot, utterly speechless.
