◎Drawing Blood◎
"Can you bite it for me... please?"
An eerie silence fell over the thatched cottage.
Shuangjian suppressed the astonishment welling up in his eyes. Aside from a significantly faster blinking rate, he looked fairly composed, though the tone of his reply sounded a bit tighter: "As cultivators, we naturally have other methods to draw blood from a fingertip."
Yingshi's mindset was still too confined to the modern era, thinking that without a knife or needle at hand, the only primitive option was to use teeth. Now, hearing Shuangjian's answer, she sluggishly let out an "oh" and carefully pulled her hand back.
However, she didn't completely withdraw it. Her open palm still hovered between them as Yingshi's gaze darted around: "...Then, can you still draw the blood for me, please?"
Actually, the so-called "other methods" merely involved channeling spiritual energy to form a microscopic wind blade to create a cut on her finger.
It was impossible to draw blood out of thin air without breaking the skin.
So, essentially, it still required her to "self-harm," which Yingshi simply couldn't bring herself to do.
"..."
Shuangjian didn't say whether he agreed or not. He just silently reached out and lightly held Yingshi's wrist over her sleeve.
Yingshi realized he was about to make his move. Her heart rate spiked instantly, and she felt her legs turning to jelly.
She quickly called for a timeout: "Wait... Shuangjian, let me find a place to sit first!"
Saying this, she plopped down on a haystack, pulling Shuangjian down next to her. Because they were holding each other's hands, they were very close, their knees and legs almost touching.
Shuangjian shifted slightly in the opposite direction to create some distance between them, but Yingshi immediately followed, her other hand grabbing his sleeve, so nervous that her lips turned slightly pale.
"I'm... ready, Shuangjian. R-remember to be gentle," she said in a daze.
"...Alright."
Shuangjian glanced at her hand clinging to him, his expression darkening as he pursed his lips and agreed.
His freedom depended on her, and there would only be more occasions to utilize her in the future. He would just consider this the price he had to pay and tolerate it.
Shuangjian condensed the faint spiritual energy in his body at his fingertips and lightly tapped Yingshi's finger. However, right at the moment he was about to make the cut, Yingshi seemed to suffer a bout of dizziness, unable to even sit up straight, and simply buried her face in his chest—
Her face was completely buried in his chest, almost sitting in his lap. This whole situation was far too improper, making Shuangjian feel even more like he was sitting on pins and needles. Yet, he could feel the warm body pressed tightly against him trembling slightly, overflowing with a sense of helplessness...
"..."
Shuangjian's breathing subtly paused for a moment.
She wasn't doing this on purpose, either.
People having uncontrollable instincts only proved a weak temperament, making them easier to manipulate, didn't it?
He convinced himself of this in his heart, forcing himself to stay still. He closed his eyes to calm his mind for a moment, then swiftly used spiritual energy to make a microscopic, invisible cut on Yingshi's finger.
Expecting the "cowardly turtle" in his arms to dot the eyes of the paper figures herself was impossible. Shuangjian tried to ignore her strong presence in his arms, keeping his face stiff as he took the paper figures he had personally cut out and wiped each one across Yingshi's fingertip.
"It's done," he said stiffly.
"...Is it done?" Yingshi, her hair disheveled from rubbing against his chest, sat up somewhat dazedly, reacting a beat too late. "It actually didn't hurt!"
She had indeed been very nervous just now, feeling like her brain was deprived of oxygen. But Shuangjian smelled nice, a faint and pleasant scent. It felt like she had only sniffed a few times, and the blood drawing she had dreaded so much was already finished. Shuangjian had even done the eye-dotting for her.
She gathered her courage to look at the finger that felt completely fine, only to see every single one as smooth as before. If she didn't have the memory of being touched, she would have had a hard time telling which finger the blood was drawn from.
"Shuangjian! Thank you so much, your skills are amazing, you'd make a great nurse!"
Yingshi was pleasantly surprised and started praising him again.
Every word she said was sincere; she felt that everything about Shuangjian was perfect right now!
The psychological barrier that had troubled her for so long was crossed so easily. Shuangjian was clearly younger than her, yet so reliable, like a heat source radiating infinite security.
She once again felt fortunate to have transmigrated with him. Perhaps this had used up all the good karma she had accumulated in her past life by helping old ladies cross the street, giving up her seat on the subway, and taking stray cats in her neighborhood to be neutered...
"This is for you!" As she spoke, she untied the storage bag at her waist and handed it to Shuangjian with a beaming smile.
Yingshi realized she was also a person driven by her emotions.
Earlier, she had been reluctant to part with the precious storage bag, but now she wanted to give Shuangjian the best gift in return.
When she became more capable in the future and obtained more treasures, she would give Shuangjian even more!
Shuangjian also noticed the change in Yingshi's attitude, feeling a strange sensation in his heart for a moment. He lowered his eyes and politely declined, "There's no need. This is the birthday gift Xu Mingcheng gave you."
"That's true, it would be easily discovered..." Yingshi calmed down and added, "I remember I have four or five spirit stones on hand. I'll bring them all to you tomorrow!"
When Xu Xiaoran asked to borrow money, she was completely broke; but if it was for Shuangjian to spend, she would give everything she had—this was Yingshi's simple set of values right now.
Shuangjian seemed to find it hard to hold back a smile. Yingshi thought she saw the corners of his lips curve up slightly for a moment, but perhaps it was an illusion. When she looked closely again, she found him expressionless once more.
"No need. It was just a small effort, no thanks are necessary," Shuangjian said lightly. "Let's continue with the puppetry technique first. Now that the eye-dotting is complete, you just need to connect with these paper figures using your spiritual energy... Close your eyes."
Yingshi immediately complied.
Actually, it was very natural for normal cultivators to use spiritual energy; they didn't need to close their eyes to focus and look inward at their spirit veins like she did.
But there was always a barrier between her will and the spiritual energy in her body. Presumably, the "Great Thousand World" she originally came from was even more "ordinary" than the mortal realm, devoid of supernatural powers and completely lacking the concepts of spiritual energy and cultivation. Yingshi instinctively doubted these things; subconsciously, she didn't believe in her own power.
Shuangjian thus spoke again to guide Yingshi in controlling her spiritual energy.
"You can practice this process more often every night before going to sleep," he said. "Now, let the spiritual energy disperse from your body, imagine that it has completely taken control of those paper figures, filling their flesh and blood... and then let them move with you."
Shuangjian picked up a writing brush, placed it in Yingshi's hand, and had her hold it tightly.
"I-I think I understand!"
Yingshi's closed eyelashes fluttered. The few paper figures lying on the table beside them suddenly stood up with a "swish." Their flat paper bodies actually displayed an extraordinary sense of strength as they each curled around a writing brush that was a head taller than they were.
"Success," Shuangjian said. "You can open your eyes, just ensure the spiritual energy is not cut off."
Yingshi's eyes were truly opened wide. Looking at those flat paper figures, she actually found them somewhat endearingly clumsy!
"So amazing! But why aren't they moving?" Her almond eyes widened as she reached out to touch the paper pieces with curiosity, finding them incredibly fascinating.
"This is the most basic puppetry. At best, they follow your thoughts and imitate your actions. Therefore, you need to start first."
"So that's how it works..."
In other words, she still had to copy the book, just not as much.
It was like tying five pen refills together to copy a textbook back in the real world...
"I'll start copying right now." Yingshi stood up with a mix of gratitude and guilt, yielding her spot on the straw pile. "Shuangjian, hurry and get some good rest. Thank you so much for teaching me puppetry, you're really the best!"
Shuangjian pursed his lips and smiled politely.
He tried his best to hide his physical discomfort. Just using that tiny bit of spiritual energy to help Yingshi draw blood had unexpectedly left him feeling drained.
Before the seal loosened, it was this difficult to move forward, every step a struggle, making him feel as lowly as an ant...
He didn't make any further excuses and lay back down as told, to avoid looking pathetic by pushing himself too hard.
Yingshi actually really wanted to go back to her room to copy, saving Shuangjian from being disturbed while he rested. However, he had previously asked her to stay and even offered to imitate her handwriting to help her, which showed he wanted her company.
Emotionally, Yingshi also preferred staying with Shuangjian.
So she lightened her movements as much as possible, carefully flattened the paper, and focused on copying the book in the quiet thatched hut.
The spiritual connection was still there. The little paper figures jumped back onto the ground, hugging their brushes and scribbling away furiously.
Yingshi took a moment to check their writing. Sure enough, there was no difference from hers; it was absolutely flawless proxy work, which inevitably filled her with joy.
At this rate, she wouldn't even need to burn the midnight oil tonight. She figured she could finish the task by evening!
And all the credit for this belonged to her dear, wonderful teammate!
Yingshi's mind wandered happily for a bit, her copying pen involuntarily pausing on the paper for a moment. She quietly turned her head to look at Shuangjian, who was resting his eyes on the straw pile.
...He looked so incredibly handsome.
His eyelashes were so long that they should have looked a bit feminine, but his features were truly clear and handsome. That handsomeness overpowered the beauty, turning any femininity into just the right amount of refinement.
At this moment, he was just lying there quietly, without any pretense, yet he naturally exuded a relaxed aura that made one unable to resist... wanting to keep staring at him.
Yingshi stared blankly, only abruptly withdrawing her gaze after a long while. However, the handwriting under her pen had become somewhat messy, as if crawled over by a little bug.
Bizarrely, her heart also felt as if it had been crawled over by a little bug, itchy, yet impossible to scratch...
How strange! She hurriedly leaned over to hide her expression, continuing to copy the book with a serious, even solemn face, as if she had just accidentally drifted off and was deeply remorseful, leaving her no choice but to work twice as hard.
Little did she know that while her mind was wandering, those little paper figures had also lost their rhythm.
They stopped writing in unison, lifting their tiny paper faces to gaze in the boy's direction. Ink dripped from the tips of their brushes, leaving identical smudges on different pieces of paper.
The most basic puppetry could not allow puppets to break free from the simulation state and act entirely autonomously according to the caster's thoughts.
But occasionally, when there was a fluctuation in the caster's spiritual energy input, exceptions would occur.
At the same time Yingshi was distracted by his good looks, a little paper figure silently broke away from the group. It dropped its brush, wobbled over to the straw pile, climbed up, and smoothly approached the lying boy on its own accord. The piece of paper symbolizing an arm suddenly and gently touched the boy's hand resting by his side...
The brief touch lasted no more than half a second. As the caster herself suddenly snapped out of it and withdrew, it hurriedly scrambled back to the ground, obediently picking up its brush to continue copying the book.
That posture was truly a bit of a clumsy scramble, yet the caster herself remained completely unaware of it...
But since it happened, someone was bound to know.
Shuangjian had indeed been lying with his eyes closed for a long time, but he had never fallen into a deep sleep.
Resting with his eyes closed was merely an effort to repair his depleted spiritual veins; it did not mean completely cutting off his perception of the outside world...
Especially for someone with inherently sharp senses, a burning gaze cast upon them felt almost tangible.
Shuangjian could feel Yingshi's gaze, which she thought was carefully hidden. The look was light and gentle, inherently non-aggressive, yet inexplicably scorching. It was a bit like fine pollen in the wind, falling lightly on the body, yet making the heart itch. It was an uncomfortable feeling he had never experienced before.
His breathing was long and steady, but seemed somewhat lighter than before. His body remained motionless, yet gradually became stiff.
And at the moment the paper figure's touch landed, his stiffness finally reached its peak.
...
This experience was far too bizarre for him!
It simply left him entirely at a loss for what to do!
Shuangjian was certain he would open his eyes the very next second to put a stop to this unbearable disturbance. Fortunately, before he could take any action, Yingshi turned her head away, and the paper figure returned to its original place...
He breathed a very soft sigh of relief, his curled fingers silently relaxing.
However, even though the physical impact had vanished, the confusion and bewilderment left in his heart lingered on.
The paper figure represented the caster's heart. Yingshi wanted to touch him.
...Why?
