The hour hand slowly ticked past midnight. Mu Yanxi’s hair was a mess as she was held like a pillow in someone’s arms. Even the hem of her nightgown under the sheets had ridden up to her stomach.
Even though the blanket and the darkness concealed her, she still felt a little awkward.
After several small, failed attempts to pull it down without disturbing Yi Wulan, Mu Yanxi gave up in resignation.
She was forced to feel the increasingly distinct, warm touch from behind her.
Only when Yi Wulan’s breathing relaxed and became steady did Mu Yanxi see a glimmer of hope, as if a great weight had been lifted.
She moved her slightly stiff and numb body, gently slipping out of Yi Wulan’s embrace. Tiptoeing off the bed, she rummaged through a drawer, glancing back at the bed from time to time, until she finally found the roll of plastic wrap she hadn’t used in a long time.
She looked as furtive as someone sneaking in for a tryst.
Yi Wulan acted as if she had long since come to terms with the car accident. She wasn’t even following up on subsequent treatments, shuttling between home and Rongjia as if nothing was wrong.
If not for the inconvenience of her legs, no one would have thought she was a high-risk patient who could face death at any moment.
Anyone else with such a severe blood clot in their brain would be anxiously trying to find a cure?
Even without the financial means, they would try their best to extend their life.
But Yi Wulan was a contradiction.
Just as Mu Yanxi had read in the novel in that other dimension, Yi Wulan didn’t care about her own physical condition. It was as if she had already passed judgment on her own body, harboring a death wish.
When Mu Yanxi read the book, she hadn’t felt much emotion, but the Yi Wulan now was a living, breathing person, not a simple NPC in a book. Especially after spending more than two months together day and night, Mu Yanxi genuinely wanted Yi Wulan to get better.
It was no longer as simple as just wanting to fight the world consciousness, as it had been when she was first reborn.
The best doctor in the world couldn’t cure someone who wanted to die. Mu Yanxi didn’t know how many disappointments a strong person like Yi Wulan had experienced to lose all hope for her own body.
So, she would bring that hope back to Yi Wulan.
Therefore, the considerate Mu Yanxi could only wait until late at night to secretly transfer her power, making Yi Wulan’s body strong enough for surgery so that she would be motivated to seek treatment.
Mu Yanxi brought the plastic wrap and also grabbed a pair of sharp scissors. This time, she wouldn’t tear the plastic wrap into a messy state like last time, which had made it wrinkled and prone to slipping off when placed on the lips.
Yi Wulan was still lying on her side. After cutting the wrap, Mu Yanxi quietly climbed onto the bed and also lay on her side, facing Yi Wulan, to avoid startling her and causing any awkwardness.
The plastic wrap was carefully placed over Yi Wulan’s upper and lower lips. A profound silence flowed through the room, so quiet that they could hear the rise and fall of each other’s staggered breaths.
With the preparations complete, Mu Yanxi gently closed her eyes and pressed her lips against the plastic wrap, as light as a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface, maintaining a barely-there distance.
As she did so, her power swiftly transferred into Yi Wulan’s body, heading toward the familiar injured area.
Compared to before, her upgraded power was much smoother to control, with significant improvements in both speed and precision.
In addition, during her initial check, Mu Yanxi discovered that the area on Yi Wulan’s thigh that had undergone minimally invasive surgery could now receive her power very smoothly, easily breaking through the invisible barrier that had previously blocked it.
As the power transferred, Mu Yanxi leaned in closer.
Yi Wulan’s lips were thin, and through the plastic wrap, they felt slightly cool to the touch. The lines of her lips were not as distinct under the barrier.
But it was precisely this faint, almost-real sensation that was all the more unbearable.
Their light, hurried breaths intertwined, creating a sensation that seemed like a tickle, yet not quite.
To be precise, it was like being gently tickled by a soft feather—fleeting, yet leaving one wanting more.
Mu Yanxi curled her fingertips, trying to ignore the feeling and focus on her power.
But the more she tried to ignore it, the more it backfired; the sensation on her lips became increasingly vivid.
The entire process lasted only a few seconds before Mu Yanxi pulled back again, not even having had time to check the injury in Yi Wulan’s brain.
The moment her power was withdrawn, Mu Yanxi quickly let go of Yi Wulan.
She looked at the sleeping Yi Wulan, then averted her gaze, feeling a little uncomfortable.
It was hard for her to describe the current situation.
Yi Wulan was still asleep, and not only did Mu Yanxi feel extremely guilty about what she was doing, but she also felt awkward recalling the sensation of their lips touching last time.
Unlike the last time she had treated Yi Wulan like this, many things had happened between them these past few days, and their relationship seemed to have become much more complicated.
For instance, there were the memories she still couldn’t access—memories she had lost but that had truly happened.
And there was what Yi Wulan had done online, her understanding of Mu Yanxi’s career and her proactive concern.
Or Yi Wulan’s rather unusual behavior just before bed…
However, Mu Yanxi couldn’t quite put her finger on what kind of change this complexity had brought about in her.
It was as if by not actively thinking about it, she could pretend nothing had happened.
Mu Yanxi pressed her lips together, trying to adopt a serious, therapeutic demeanor.
But the proximity between them and the overly intimate action made it impossible for her to concentrate.
She closed her eyes and calmed herself for a few seconds before managing to compose her emotions.
To make it easier to continue transferring her power, Mu Yanxi’s right hand caressed Yi Wulan’s delicate eyebrows and eyes, then slowly moved to the back of her head.
After much hesitation, she pressed her lips back again.
As the power slowly flowed between them, Mu Yanxi’s nose twitched. She caught a familiar cold fragrance that was refreshing and cleared her mind, while at the same time making her feel the soft touch of the other’s lips even more intensely.
The power spread along the meridians in Yi Wulan’s body to the areas injured in the car accident. Mu Yanxi focused on controlling it, using the power to clear the blocked veins bit by bit. Even the invisible barrier that had been obstructing her power was growing thinner.
Even if the barrier didn’t disappear, the power could pass directly through it to act on the actual injury. It wasn’t just a superficial treatment of her mental state; the gentle yet domineering power was enveloping and healing it.
The upgraded power was more turbulent and immense, requiring Mu Yanxi to expend more energy to control its flow so that the process wouldn’t be too difficult for Yi Wulan to bear.
With the massive consumption of her power and energy, Mu Yanxi gradually leaned against Yi Wulan’s shoulder.
She kept her head slightly tilted to maintain the position, her black hair fanning out like fine silk in the dim light.
She felt as if her life force had been drained, panting listlessly, and even her control over the power’s transfer speed began to waver.
Worried that the fluctuating power might harm Yi Wulan, Mu Yanxi quickly tried to pull away, but she was a step too late.
In her sleep, Yi Wulan seemed to be affected by that last bit of out-of-control power from Mu Yanxi. She let out a muffled groan, and at the same time, the powerful surge triggered a reflexive movement in her arm.
It landed right on Mu Yanxi’s back as she was trying to retreat, pressing them tightly together again.
The powerful beating of their hearts vibrated against each other through two thin layers of sleepwear.
Mu Yanxi’s heart tightened, and the power she had just withdrawn was transferred over again due to the movement.
The arm behind her seemed to be guided by the power, remaining in the same position.
Mu Yanxi nervously observed Yi Wulan’s expression. Aside from her breathing quickening slightly, there were no other changes.
Mu Yanxi breathed a small sigh of relief.
It was as if she was afraid of being caught in an affair.
Worried that the power she had just transferred was too strong, Mu Yanxi gathered her spirits and sent over the remaining power in one go, carefully checking to see if Yi Wulan had been harmed by the earlier surge.
This time, she was patient, meticulously controlling every wisp of power.
As the power continued to flow in, Yi Wulan’s breathing finally stabilized again, and the hand on Mu Yanxi’s waist went limp, gradually sliding down.
Noticing this, Mu Yanxi took Yi Wulan’s hand and placed it back under the covers.
After an unknown amount of time, once the last bit of power in her core was depleted, Mu Yanxi finally completed her task for the night and gently peeled the two pieces of plastic wrap from Yi Wulan’s lips.
Her fingertips brushed against the damp plastic wrap. No matter how thick-skinned Mu Yanxi was, she couldn’t remain unfazed at this moment.
She frantically threw it into the trash can by the bed, then quickly tossed in a few tissues until the plastic wrap was no longer visible.
It was as if she were destroying evidence.
After all that, she finally allowed herself to drift into a drowsy sleep.
That night, for the first time in a long while, Mu Yanxi had a dream.
Unlike the last dream of a sun-drenched school opening ceremony, this time the weather was overcast, with a fine, dense rain falling from the sky, lending a solemn air to the surrounding buildings.
She dreamed of her parents’ funeral.
When Mu Yanxi opened her eyes, she was once again sitting on a long stone bench. Above her was a lush cypress tree, its gnarled roots spreading deep into the earth, a testament to its many years.
Its dense branches and leaves shielded her from many of the raindrops.
The newly erected tomb was surrounded by people who had come from all over to pay their respects, a procession that seemed to go on for an unknown length of time.
As more and more people came and went, Mu Yanxi became completely immersed in the dream, as if she had returned to that time several years ago.
She was filled with a suffocating grief, shrinking into a corner like a snail, hiding her soft interior to lick her wounds alone.
Not far away, Mu Yanqing was methodically arranging the post-funeral affairs, completely unable to tend to Mu Yanxi.
The mourners looked at the two orphans with various thoughts in their minds. Mu Yanqing was older and already capable of handling matters, so they turned their attention to Mu Yanxi in the corner.
A relative she saw less than once a year came up and began a self-righteous tirade: “It’s been so many days since your parents’ accident, why didn’t you inform us sooner? What kind of children are you? If we hadn’t seen the news, were you planning to hide it from us forever?”
The eyes of the fledgling who had just lost her protectors were filled with helplessness; she had no idea how to respond.
Seeing this, the relative grew even more smug and continued his lecture: “You’re my nieces, after all. Your uncle won’t hold it against you. For your parents’ sake, I’ll help you run Xinyu from now on.”
He said he would help, but his eyes were filled with greed.
Even Mu Yanxi, a student who had long lived in an ivory tower, could sense his malice.
But this was the first time she had encountered such a situation, and her face turned red as she struggled to find a way to retort.
Just as the relative’s words grew more and more unrestrained, a voice suddenly came from behind: “Shut up.”
Mu Yanxi turned to look. The newcomer was tall and dressed in plain funeral attire similar to her own.
It was a stark contrast to the man in front of her who claimed to be a relative.
It was Yi Wulan.
Yi Wulan stood in front of her, facing the rude relative, and said coldly, “How Xinyu is run is not for you to dictate.”
Though young, her early exposure to company affairs had already given her the subtle air of a superior. Even when she spoke like this, no one would dare look down on her.
With so many people watching, the relative was furious and opened his mouth to rebuke her, but when he met Yi Wulan’s cold eyes, he lost his initial confidence. “Who, who do you think you are, t-to talk to me like that? I’m their m-maternal uncle, I…”
“Do you need me to call Mu Yanqing over, repeat what you just said, and ask her how she’d handle it?” Yi Wulan’s words carried a veiled threat.
“No need!” The relative’s expression changed instantly upon hearing this.
“Leave now.”
“Why should I leave? You, who are you? I’m her uncle!” The relative’s expression was ugly. Emboldened by the crowd, he cursed, “What’s an outsider like you doing meddling in our family affairs?”
Hearing the relative curse at Yi Wulan, Mu Yanxi finally couldn’t take it anymore. Without even looking at her so-called uncle, she ordered the bodyguards with red eyes, “Escort President Wen out.”
President Wen. She didn’t even call him uncle.
The bodyguards, who had been waiting nearby, acted immediately. Within seconds, the grating voice was gone.
With Rongjia’s backing, even though Yi Wulan wasn’t part of the Mu family, the guests present had to give her some face.
Furthermore, with Mu Yanqing’s permission, Yi Wulan directly took over some of the duties of receiving guests.
She dealt with those who tried to take advantage of the Mu family’s funeral to bother Mu Yanxi—since they didn’t dare provoke Mu Yanqing—decisively and mercilessly, with a composure and thoroughness beyond her years.
Anyone who tried to use their distant connections to cause trouble was immediately thrown out by her. Mu Yanqing saw it but pretended not to, and all the troublemakers were cleared out, securing a quiet space for Mu Yanxi to say her farewells.
The corner became quiet again.
Mu Yanxi looked at the busy figures of Yi Wulan and Mu Yanqing, then turned her gaze toward the tombstone. Her eyes stung, but it was as if they had been used to their limit.
She couldn’t even cry.
After an unknown amount of time, Yi Wulan’s figure appeared before Mu Yanxi again.
Mu Yanxi’s pupils slowly focused. “Is it over?” she asked.
Yi Wulan softened her voice. “Not yet.”
“Then… is there anything I need to do?” Mu Yanxi bit her lip. “Am I really useless?”
Yi Wulan didn’t answer, simply leaning down slightly and half-embracing her.
Mu Yanxi was still struggling, wanting an answer.
Yi Wulan sighed and coaxed her, “Don’t worry about those people. Your sister and I will handle it. This isn’t something a little kid should be worrying about.”
Mu Yanxi blinked. Like a drowning person grasping at a lifeline, she finally let out a sob and hugged Yi Wulan tightly.
Yi Wulan gently patted her back. “There, there. It’s better to cry it out.”
By the time Mu Yanxi had cried herself tired and looked up, sniffling, she realized that almost everyone at the cemetery had left.
Even Mu Yanqing, who was in charge, was nowhere to be seen.
She looked at Yi Wulan’s clothes, which she had soaked with her tears, and bit her lip, feeling that her earlier self had been utterly pathetic.
So she pulled back and asked, “They’ve all left. Aren’t you leaving?”
She thought she had used a cold tone, but with her tear-choked voice, it sounded more like a kitten whining.
Yi Wulan ruffled Mu Yanxi’s hair and tucked a tear-dampened strand behind her ear. “They have their own things to do, so they left.”
Mu Yanxi was confused. “Don’t you have things to do?”
“I do,” Yi Wulan said slowly.
“Wh-what?”
Yi Wulan slowly knelt down and gently wiped the tear stains from Mu Yanxi’s face with a tissue. “My task today is to stay with a certain little kid.”
“Which li—” Mu Yanxi cut herself off, her eyes filled with a hint of helplessness, before retorting indignantly, “I’m not a little kid! I’m almost an adult.”
“Almost an adult but not yet an adult. Isn’t that still a little kid?” Yi Wulan finished wiping Mu Yanxi’s face and stood up, intending to throw away the tissue.
But she had only taken two steps when the very tough “little kid” grabbed her wrist.
Yi Wulan turned around. “What’s wrong?”
Seeing this, Mu Yanxi frantically let go of Yi Wulan’s wrist, but just as Yi Wulan’s hand was about to slip away, she hooked her fingers around Yi Wulan’s, refusing to let go.
After a long moment, she asked in a small voice, “Fine, I’m a little kid.”
Her hand holding Yi Wulan’s gradually tightened. “So, can you… can you not go?”
But Yi Wulan didn’t speak.
One second, two seconds… after nearly ten seconds had passed, Mu Yanxi finally lowered her head, about to give up, and slowly loosened her grip on Yi Wulan’s hand.
Just as the last long middle finger was about to slip away, its owner seemed to finally react, grasping her hand in return.
She held Mu Yanxi’s hand firmly in her own.
Mu Yanxi stared blankly at her hand, then hesitantly confirmed, “So… you agree?”
“I’m just going to throw away the trash.” Yi Wulan gestured with the tissue in her hand. “I won’t leave.”
But Mu Yanxi, who had just lost her parents, was exceptionally sensitive to the word ‘leave’. Even though Yi Wulan was right in front of her, still holding her hand, tears welled up in her eyes again, betraying her.
Those usually bright fox-like eyes dimmed, and the tears brimming within them spilled out as if they were free. “But, but you’ll always leave eventually.”
Her tone held a hint of stubbornness, yet was tinged with a layer of helpless disappointment.
The hand holding hers squeezed even tighter. Yi Wulan knelt before Mu Yanxi again, using her other hand to gently wipe away the fresh tears, repeating, “I won’t leave.”
“R-really?” Mu Yanxi sobbed. A person in their teens might understand the impermanence of life, but on a day like this, she desperately needed to know she hadn’t been abandoned, stubbornly wanting to be cared for.
Mu Yanxi asked again, “Then, will you always stay with me?”
“I will.” Yi Wulan pulled Mu Yanxi into her arms to comfort her, then added in a soft, ethereal whisper, “As long as you want.”
Perhaps it was because she had been crying for so long that she felt a little breathless.
Mu Yanxi’s heart inexplicably began to race.
And there, Mu Yanxi’s dream came to an abrupt end.
It wasn’t that the dream refused to reveal more information, but that the real-life Yi Wulan had woken her up.
The emotions from the dream carried over into reality. Mu Yanxi stared at the ceiling, panting rapidly, and it took several seconds for her to come back to her senses.
Only then did she notice Yi Wulan propped up beside her, anxiously observing her.
The person before her gradually merged with the person from her dream.
“What did you dream about? Are you okay?” Just like in the dream, Yi Wulan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, patiently comforting her. “Dreams are fake, don’t worry about it.”
“Mm.”
Mu Yanxi responded softly, but after her last dream experience, she had subconsciously accepted this one as real, too.
At least, she could confirm that she had experienced everything up to the point where the relative caused a scene. But when she tried to recall how it was resolved, her mind was a blank.
It was just like last time—she had forgotten everything related to Yi Wulan.
Or rather, she had forgotten anything that would hinder the protagonist’s development.
Anything that could obstruct the protagonist would be erased by the world consciousness… Mu Yanxi’s heart sank, and her mood soured along with it.
At this point, she couldn’t help but form a conspiracy theory about the omnipotent world consciousness from her past life.
Take the dream she just had, for example. Did her parents encounter that sudden plane crash because they were in the protagonist’s way?
Mu Yanxi hugged the blanket and lay quietly in bed, not saying a word.
Yi Wulan thought Mu Yanxi was just frightened by the dream and didn’t mind. She simply pulled the blanket up for her. “It’s still early. You should sleep a little longer.”
After speaking, she made a move to get up.
As if desperately trying to grasp something, Mu Yanxi quickly grabbed Yi Wulan’s wrist.
Yi Wulan turned around. “What’s wrong?”
Mu Yanxi bit her lower lip. “Can you not go?”
Yi Wulan glanced at Mu Yanxi’s slightly pale face. “Still scared?”
Mu Yanxi neither confirmed nor denied it, simply looking at Yi Wulan, waiting for her to give in.
Yi Wulan chuckled. “I was going to ask the auntie to make some of your favorite breakfast. If you don’t want me to, I won’t go.”
Mu Yanxi grew thoughtful. Remembering the Yi Wulan from her dream, she tested her, “If I tell you not to go, you won’t go?”
Seeing that Mu Yanxi was emotionally unstable after a nightmare, Yi Wulan didn’t think much of it and simply nodded along with her wishes. “Mm.”
Feeling the warmth from Yi Wulan’s hand, she finally felt a sense of reality and recovered from the panic that had felt like sleep paralysis.
She had been reborn once; she wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of her past life.
Mu Yanxi let out a breath. Remembering her own unusual behavior, she glanced at Yi Wulan’s face, which was clearly looking much better after a night of her power’s restoration.
Then, she lazily twirled a strand of hair around her shoulder and looked at the concerned Yi Wulan with a half-smile. “If you don’t go find the auntie, what if you get hungry?”
Yi Wulan didn’t say anything, just lowered the leg she had just brought up onto the bed.
Seeing Yi Wulan’s expression that practically screamed ‘come and bully me,’ Mu Yanxi’s mischievous nature, ingrained in her very bones, finally couldn’t be suppressed.
She propped up her head, her eyes full of an ambiguous look. Her eyelashes were still slightly damp from crying in her sleep, which, instead of looking out of place, seemed to add a certain allure to her gaze.
Mu Yanxi spoke with unusual skill, reminding Yi Wulan, “Actually, it’s okay if you’re hungry. You can eat something else.”
Yi Wulan asked warily, “Eat what?”
Mu Yanxi scooted forward, leaning right in front of Yi Wulan, and blinked. “For breakfast, you can eat me.”
With such a seductive and alluring appearance, let alone Yi Wulan who had long been ‘tormented’ by her, any normal person would immediately understand that this ‘eat’ was different from ordinary eating.
Yi Wulan froze for a moment, then averted her eyes slightly. “Nonsense.”
Seeing this, Mu Yanxi’s teasing grew bolder. She even reached out and hooked an arm around Yi Wulan’s waist, pulling her over.
With no leverage for her lower body, Yi Wulan nearly fell on top of Mu Yanxi, a flash of panic on her face.
But she quickly stabilized herself and regained her composure. “Stop fooling around.”
Mu Yanxi was very satisfied with Yi Wulan’s reaction. She seemed certain that Yi Wulan would only scold her verbally but would never actually push her away.
“Shy?” Mu Yanxi slowly hooked her fingers with Yi Wulan’s and smiled. “Good thing you didn’t go find the auntie. Otherwise, if she walked in with breakfast and saw us in this position, she’d definitely think you were bullying me.”
Yi Wulan took a deep breath, her hands braced on either side of Mu Yanxi to avoid putting her full weight on her. “What nonsense are you spouting so early in the morning? Since you’re awake, get up.”
Mu Yanxi looked teasingly at Yi Wulan’s body. “Who’s pinning who down and not letting me get up?”
As she spoke, she hooked her leg around Yi Wulan’s lower body.
Taking advantage of the fact that her upper body was pinned, she did as she pleased.
The veins on the back of Yi Wulan’s hands bulged as she endured it. After looking at Mu Yanxi for a long moment, she suddenly reached out and brushed the messy hair away from her neck.
Her cool fingertips pressed lightly on the fair skin, as if she were genuinely searching for a place to ‘take a bite.’
Mu Yanxi’s smile froze. She looked at Yi Wulan in astonishment, and without even asking a question, she retracted her leg and scrambled out from under her.
Only then did she find the courage to accuse, “You… how could you do that?”
But Yi Wulan just pointed at her neck and said lightly, “It looks like you have a pimple there. Have you been staying up too late recently?”
Mu Yanxi: …
A p-pimple?
Wasn’t she going to eat me?
Mu Yanxi’s awkward expression quickly returned to normal. Then, she expressionlessly moved her hand away from her neck. “None of your business!”
It sounded fierce, as if it were a warning.
But it was more like she was lashing out in embarrassment.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
