In short, Shang Can dared not move at all.
It seemed more than a month had passed since she last saw Yun Duan’s sleepwalking, but thinking back, she realized that for most of that time, she hadn’t been with Yun Duan. This made Shang Can worry: could it be that Yun Duan had also suffered from this condition in the ghost realm?
She had no one to ask about this concern, but seeing that Yun Duan seemed completely unaware of her own night wandering and had suffered no injuries provided some reassurance—thank goodness.
However, the warmth radiating from her waist and abdomen made it impossible for Shang Can to feel at ease.
No matter how much she tried to distract herself with other thoughts, the presence of Yun Duan, who was straddling her, was tangible and undeniable. It was a weight that was oddly comforting, but it also made her worry whether Yun Duan was too light.
Shang Can felt her little ancestor silently gripping her hand and pulling it tight against her waist, followed by a rustling sound from the clothes that made her scalp tingle.
The tips of her fingers brushed against the smooth, thin fabric of Yun Duan’s nightgown—it was so thin it sent a chill down her spine. When did Yun Duan change into this outfit? Was it a bit too revealing? The weather wasn’t warm enough for that, was it?
At this moment, all Shang Can could do was let out a silent scream of terror in her mind, unable to put up any effective resistance. After all, she was firmly pinned down by Yun Duan, her hand held unreasonable at her waist, and she couldn’t even see—though that had nothing to do with Yun Duan. She felt utterly helpless and powerless.
…How could she not see at all?!
Shang Can felt an unexpected wave of frustration. Even though she knew that if she could see, it would probably only complicate her feelings further, being in this dark, unclear situation made her feel somewhat unwilling to accept it.
Calm down, calm down, Shang Can thought. Now is not the time to dwell on such matters.
With no drowsiness in her mind, Shang Can was made even more alert by this situation. She took several deep breaths to force her irregularly beating heart to settle down a bit.
…After calming down, Shang Can realized that her position with Yun Duan was indeed very strange.
The faint warmth coming from Yun Duan was filled with an unspoken ambiguity. Yun Duan’s legs brushed against her sides, whether intentionally or not, and there seemed to be an inclination to draw closer.
This was bad. Shang Can felt stiff, afraid to move. She had only seen such a position in dramas before she time-traveled.
She could feel the heat rising along her neck, making her head spin. Shang Can silently thought that she was completely at someone else’s mercy; she couldn’t just forcibly shove Yun Duan off, could she? Even Liu Xia Hui wouldn’t do something like that.
Whether this counted as a good thing was debatable. Shang Can self-deprecatingly mused, just when she was sharing a bed with Yun Duan, she had to deal with her sleepwalking.
It was as if this was bound to happen, and when it did, it turned out like this. It had been the same before; during the sleepwalking incident in Biluohuangquan, Yun Duan, usually serene and detached, had unexpectedly sought close physical contact.
Now the person involved was Shang Can—she really couldn’t figure out if this was a good thing, but at least she understood one thing: if the person involved wasn’t her… then it certainly wouldn’t be a good thing.
Things hadn’t been like this when they were in Qingyu. Shang Can furrowed her brows in worry; was it because the thoughts provoking the night wandering were different, causing different behaviors?
When it came to this matter, Shang Can could only acknowledge her fault. She could understand why Yun Duan’s sleepwalking had recurred; guilt started to rise within her.
If it were her, waking up to find that Yun Duan was gone, and their master was avoiding any mention of her, acting as if that person had never existed, she would quickly realize she should behave the same way.
Then, instinctively, she would start to hide. She would have many questions in her heart, anxiously discovering that she had lost a day’s worth of memories. Clearly, everything had been fine before that day, so why had there been such a dramatic change? She wouldn’t even know who to ask.
After some time, she herself might begin to doubt whether those so-called memories were just a dream. But all the traces surrounding her proved that the person had indeed existed; that sword, which had never left her side, was still there, and the master said it was a lost object and told her not to mind it.
Just thinking about it made Shang Can feel suffocated, while Yun Duan had truly spent ten years in such a state.
Yun Duan had searched for her in loneliness for so long, and now that she had finally found her, she chose to remain silent due to Shang Can’s avoidance, simply accompanying her in silence.
With all that had happened, she no longer needed to ask Yun Duan why she would sleepwalk.
As complex emotions welled up within her, Shang Can quieted for a moment and let out a soft sigh.
“… I’m right here.”
Fearing to disturb Yun Duan, Shang Can spoke softly, slowly turning her grip to hold Yun Duan’s hand. There was no resistance, and the other party willingly accepted her, their soft, delicate fingers intertwining with hers.
“Why do you still seem so worried?”
Having successfully moved her hand from Yun Duan’s waist, Shang Can let out a small sigh of relief and smiled, saying, “What’s this position? Are you afraid I’ll run away?”
It seemed that her earlier attempt to get out of bed for water had startled Yun Duan, who wasn’t already stable, triggering the current situation.
Shang Can thought to herself, gently squeezing Yun Duan’s hand and softly saying, “I won’t run away. Can you please—let me go first?”
After her words fell, Yun Duan remained silent and motionless, pulling her hand back and placing it quite unceremoniously on Shang Can’s waist.
“…”
Shang Can felt at a loss and couldn’t help but seriously consider whether her earlier suggestion of “getting off me first” would have had any effect. But she quickly shook her head, discarding such an absurd thought from her mind, and perked up to coax, “We can’t stay like this all night, right? We both need to rest properly, and with you like this, your legs should be getting numb, right?”
While she rambled on with various reasons, to be honest, Shang Can had no idea if a person who was sleepwalking could hear her. Though Yun Duan had generally been obedient during her previous episodes of sleepwalking, who knew if it was because of her words or if Yun Duan herself just felt like doing it.
Her mind was filled with chaotic thoughts. With no expectations, Shang Can suddenly felt the leg beside her move slightly, relaxing a bit.
“… I see. It really does feel like my legs are going numb.”
Feeling both amused and exasperated, Shang Can seized the opportunity to forcefully pull herself upward. Although Yun Duan quickly regained her alertness and tightened her legs, Shang Can managed to break free a little, shifting from lying flat to barely leaning against the headboard.
Whether this shift helped her regain her freedom was hard to say; the awkwardness of their position seemed only to increase.
Cursing herself for thinking about trivial matters while Yun Duan was sleepwalking, Shang Can decided to focus entirely on the task of moving Yun Duan away.
Fortunately, her current position was not as difficult to maneuver as before. Realizing that she had to resort to a bit of brute strength, Shang Can muttered “Sorry” as she reached out her hand, but just as she was about to make a move, she froze.
… Where should I even touch? Should I grip Yun Duan’s waist and lift her like I would a cat? Or should I push her shoulders back to make her fall?
The first option was absolutely out of the question; Yun Duan was certainly not some short-limbed creature. As for the latter—just imagining it made her shudder at how disastrous the outcome would be, especially since she would be the one initiating it.
That absolutely could not happen! Shang Can immediately dismissed both options from her mind, feeling at a loss for how to proceed.
… Heaven help me, the second-in-command of Biluohuangquan’s demon sect, Shang Can, was being pinned down by Yun Zhongjun, the exiled immortal of Qingyu. Who would believe such a story if she told it?
Feeling a sense of desolation, Shang Can realized that she had to take action, or else if they remained in this stalemate, what would she do if Yun Duan woke up? She certainly didn’t want to face that suffocating scene. Resolutely, she reached out her trembling hand toward Yun Duan.
For now, let’s just lift her a bit. Feeling as if she were groping her way across a river with her eyes closed, Shang Can hesitated before she finally touched Yun Duan. Her hand likely landed on Yun Duan’s lower abdomen, and she felt a bit of warmth radiating from it. She couldn’t help but worry that Yun Duan might be catching a cold, so she gently wrapped her arms around Yun Duan’s waist, attempting to exert some force to push her sideways.
“… Mmm,”
Suddenly, the quiet Yun Duan let out a soft hum, startling Shang Can into stopping her movements immediately.
Her heart raced, and she felt as if she were committing some sacrilegious act. She barely had time to think about whether Yun Duan was waking up; she forgot to pull her hand back and stammered, “I just… I just wanted you to lie down, ah, I mean, lie down next to me, not… not anything else…”
But there was no response from across the way; in the quiet room, only slightly irregular breathing could be heard. Shang Can sensed Yun Duan’s breath quickening, then slowing, then quickening again, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
It felt as if she could detect a hint of tears in that breathing.
Shang Can’s heart dropped, and without considering their position or whether it was her own misunderstanding, she hurriedly propped herself up and reached out to touch Yun Duan’s face, panicking as she said, “What’s… what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable? Did I make you unhappy again?”
“…”
Yun Duan remained silent, leaving the anxious Shang Can to verify for herself. She didn’t even notice that she had half-forcefully separated Yun Duan’s legs and was sitting up. In her flurry of movements, she accidentally touched Yun Duan’s neck, causing the other person to twitch again, making Shang Can hurry to slide her hand upward along the delicate, warm skin, finally reaching Yun Duan’s eye corner.
She didn’t feel any moisture; she only brushed against the softly trembling, long eyelashes.
Shang Can paused, feeling uneasy as she explored Yun Duan’s entire face, confirming that the other person wasn’t crying before letting out a sigh of relief. “You scared me. I thought… ah!”
Before she could finish, Yun Duan tilted her head and suddenly bit down on Shang Can’s fingertip.
“Wait, Yun Duan—”
The sudden wet sensation on her fingertip left Shang Can momentarily stunned, her mind blank as she fumbled to call out Yun Duan’s name, completely unsure what to do with her hand. Being blindfolded heightened her sensitivity, and Shang Can distinctly felt Yun Duan’s teeth softly grazing her index finger—not too hard—followed by a fleetingly smooth sensation brushing past her fingertip—
“?!”
Shang Can’s mind exploded, a dazzling eruption that far outshone the brightest fireworks.
She froze completely, forgetting when Yun Duan had graciously released her hand. By the time she regained her senses, Yun Duan had already moved away from her legs, lying neatly beside her again, breathing evenly.
“…”
Shang Can stared blankly at her outstretched hand, feeling at a loss and unsure how to react, wanting to say something but stopping herself.
The night was just right, with a subtle fire igniting within her.
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