Transmigrated as the Little Concubine of a Paper-Thin Man - Chapter 27

The pitch-black sky was like a curtain, hung with numerous stars.

Under the starry sky, the silent lake water rippled, sparkling like a pool filled with broken diamonds. Shi Yunji had lived in the city for a long time and rarely saw such a sight, fixated on the lake’s surface, almost entranced.

Just as she tossed out the twentieth pebble, a roasted fish was suddenly presented to her.

She turned her head and saw Yan Ling’s earnest and beautiful face in the firelight.

Shi Yunji’s face flushed for a moment, but she quickly lowered her head, wanting to use the darkness of the night to conceal her untimely shyness. Yet, she didn’t realize that the blazing bonfire by the lake only made her look more like a cooked shrimp.

“Try my cooking,” Yan Ling held up the roasted fish again. “Didn’t you say you wanted to eat it?”

Shi Yunji nodded.

When Yan Ling lived here by herself before, conditions were limited, and she often subsisted on wild fruits from the mountains and fish from the lake. Shi Yunji couldn’t personally experience the hardships of this secluded mountain life, and every time she saw Yan Ling camping and foraging, she found it quite interesting.

So, when Yan Ling offered to prepare a meal for her, she politely declined everything else and only requested this roasted fish.

At that time, Yan Ling looked at her deeply, confirmed her choice once more, and then began the preparations.

Her movements were very quick, and she absolutely refused to let Shi Yunji help, doing everything herself, allowing Shi Yunji to fully experience the feeling of being thoroughly taken care of.

Now, Shi Yunji took the roasted fish, sniffed it at her nose, and eagerly put it into her mouth.

“Awoo—” She took a large bite, and the boneless, delicious fish meat immediately filled her mouth.

“Slow down,” Yan Ling instructed with a smile, but her tone was full of indulgence. “There’s plenty more, it’s all yours.”

Shi Yunji gave her a thumbs-up while eating.

The roasted fish tasted truly excellent. Perhaps because Yan Ling was now wealthy, with her storage pouch having everything one could need, the seasonings were used exceptionally well. The fish tasted even better than Shi Yunji had imagined, far surpassing those she had tasted at famous internet-famous restaurants.

Yan Ling watched her heavily munching on the fish and suddenly gained an appetite herself. The two of them worked together to clear all the food prepared for the evening.

After the meal, Shi Yunji lay back on the rocking chair Yan Ling had brought out, rubbing her full belly and gazing up at the starry sky.

Yan Ling sat on another chair beside her.

“Want to talk?”

Shi Yunji looked over and nodded: “Mhm.”

Yan Ling looked at her, seemingly hesitating for a long time before asking, “You… are not ‘Yunji’, right?”

Shi Yunji nodded, confirming her guess: [Yes, I am not her.]

The confusion on Yan Ling’s face did not lessen much. She took a deep breath and asked again, “So, you are now trapped in this body for some reason?”

Shi Yunji: [Yes.]

“Since you are not the original Yunji, why are you helping Yunji with her revenge?” Yan Ling asked the deepest question in her heart. “Did Yunji’s enemies ever insult you?”

[I want revenge to fulfill Yunji’s wish,] Shi Yunji said.

She had become accustomed to communicating with Yan Ling using lip movements, and even though she knew she couldn’t make a sound, she tried hard to readjust to the act of speaking: [Only by fulfilling Yunji’s wish can I go back.]

The moment the words “go back” were uttered, Yan Ling froze.

She stared blankly at Shi Yunji, even forgetting to respond.

Shi Yunji found it a little strange, leaning over to ask: [Yan Ling?]

“I’m fine.” Yan Ling snapped back to reality, turning her face away so as not to look at her.

In the corner Shi Yunji couldn’t see, the hand hidden beneath her long sleeve was tightly clenched into a fist. After a long while, she took a deep breath, turned back to look at Shi Yunji: “Can I know… where you are going back to?”

Shi Yunji had actually pondered this question for a long time.

She hadn’t figured out how to tell Yan Ling the truth. Should she directly tell the other person—this world you are in is just a game on my phone?

But saying that wasn’t quite right either. This world was so real that it clearly exceeded the scope of a “game.” Shi Yunji was more inclined to believe that the game had opened a connection between the two worlds for some reason, allowing her to meet Yan Ling, who was in this world.

Taking a deep breath, Shi Yunji looked up: [Back to… my world.]

Yan Ling was stunned: “And… after you go back?”

[After?] Shi Yunji hadn’t expected her to ask this question.

She was a little puzzled but still flashed a smile and answered truthfully: [After I go back, everything will be the same as before.]

“The same as before?” Yan Ling murmured, repeating her words.

Shi Yunji nodded: [The things I gave you before, I can compensate you double for them after I go back.] She took the opportunity to ask: [Is there anything you particularly like? Before, I just gave you things based on what I thought, and I don’t really know what you like or dislike.]

“Actually… as long as it’s from you, I like it very much,” Yan Ling replied, her voice gradually dropping. “Only… those things from before…?”

Shi Yunji didn’t quite catch the last part: [What?]

Yan Ling looked at her: “Nothing.”

She stood up: “So, as long as you help Yunji, the original owner of this body, complete her revenge, you can return to your original appearance, is that right?”

Shi Yunji looked up at her and nodded: [Yes.]

“After you go back…” Yan Ling lowered her head to meet her gaze. “Will you come back?”

Shi Yunji blinked: [Come back? Come back to do what?]

Yan Ling pulled at the corner of her mouth: “Come back… to see me?”

A night breeze blew, making Yan Ling’s white skirt billow in the air. Between the two of them, Yan Ling was standing, and Shi Yunji was sitting, a clear difference in height, but the tone of Yan Ling’s voice carried an almost undetectable pleading, as if she were the humble one.

Shi Yunji was silent for a moment, then shook her head: [After I go back, I won’t be able to come back.]

Of course, if the accident was the only way to get here, she hoped she would never come back. After all, who would want to go through a string of misfortunes?

Yan Ling swayed and took two steps back: “So, so that’s how it is.”

[Yan Ling…] Shi Yunji felt her expression was off. [Did you find anything when you went to investigate the Yun Clan’s sect information?]

She bit her lip: [Is helping Yunji get revenge… a very difficult matter?]

Yan Ling didn’t speak, only stared blankly back at her.

What was difficult was, of course, not the revenge itself, but the tangled knot in her heart that couldn’t be undone—on one side was absolute loyalty to the deity she believed in, and on the other, the increasingly rampant desire that was secretly growing within her.

“Then if…” She heard the voice of the self controlled by dark desire, using her mouth to ask, “If the wish for revenge can never be achieved, will you…

“Be stuck here forever? Stuck forever… in this body?”

For some reason, hearing this sentence made Shi Yunji feel a chill down her spine.

The Yan Ling in front of her seemed a little unfamiliar. She leaned back, maintaining a certain distance from the other party. After a moment, she finally said: [I, I don’t know, maybe… but if Yunji’s wish isn’t completed, I don’t know how long I can stay in this body either.]

Yan Ling, however, said, “If you want to, you can stay in it forever?”

This time, Shi Yunji clearly heard her words, but she couldn’t understand the other party’s meaning: [What?]

Yan Ling turned her head away again: “I just want you to be assured that even if you can’t get revenge, I will protect you and not let any accident happen to you.”

Shi Yunji stiffly pulled the corners of her mouth: [So… the matter of the Yun Clan’s sect is really complicated?]

Yan Ling turned around.

She put away the chair next to her: “Not really…” Then she looked up: “It’s getting late, you should rest first.”

Shi Yunji nodded along with her words: […Mhm, alright.]

She followed Yan Ling into the house and, with the other’s help, nestled comfortably into the quilt. After the two exchanged goodnights, Yan Ling politely turned and left, taking the candlelight from the room with her.

The door closed behind her, and the cold moonlight shone in through the window, spilling onto the bed and resting on Shi Yunji’s cheek.

She slowly sank into slumber, sleeping soundly and deeply, completely unaware that someone spent the night sleepless, standing rigidly outside her door for the entire night.

When she woke up the next morning, the sound of her getting out of bed reached the door, and Yan Ling finally stirred.

She wiped away the small mountain of wax pooled on the floor and reopened the door with a perfectly nonchalant expression.

“Good morning.”

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