She stare at him in a daze.
Then remembered that his unconscious. She crouched beside him, heart pounding, and hesitated—he was still breathing. His chest rose and fell in slow, steady waves. She slipped a fingertip just beneath his nostrils and felt the hot pulse of each exhale.
She scrambled back.
What do I do?
"Should I bring him to my house?" she ask herself, then shake her head.
"It's impossible, bringing him home will probably cause a ruckus," she mumble, "And I can't let anyone see him. Not yet."
Silence.
Another silence.
"Fuck," Chen Kangle hissed.
Chen Kangle slid behind his head, tucked her arms under his shoulders, and locked her hands across his chest. Then she braced her legs and heaved.
Chen Kangle thought she had strengthened her muscles a bit through cultivation.
But how can he be this heavy?
He weighed more than she'd expected, every inch of that unconscious body felt like a boulder placed in her back. Her teeth ground together as her back screamed. She dragged him ten feet before setting him down to catch her breath, sweat stinging her eyes.
Chen Kangle feels like there's a lightning bolt across her spine.
She drag him one more time before stopping for a break. She carefully set him down, then stretch her sore arms and legs. Her limbs ached and her back feels like there's a boulder sitting on it.
She struggled to breath, huffing and panting.
The sun is already at its peak.
It's getting hotter, and with this dead weight she'll be bringing along, it'll be a tough climb.
Chen Kangle drank a little from the gourd she brought along with her to quench her thirst then resume her journey of carrying him to her cultivation spot.
Well—more like dragging him.
After what feels like an eternity, Chen Kangle finally reached the mountain cave.
She drag him inside the cave and carefully placed him on the smooth rock, where straw had been laid out— to cushion her butt whenever Chen Kangle went to cultivate.
She wiped the sweat off her forehead, her arms trembling slightly as she took a step back to look at him.
Looking at his face... it's the first time Chen Kangle had seen him like this. Peaceful. So different from the cold, aloof, and sharp-eyed professor who made my life hell in my previous one.
Shen Moxuan.
He was still unconscious. His chest rising and falling steadily. His face looked peaceful.
Her chest tightened. This was the same man whose icy glare she'd dreaded more than the final exam. Now he looked like a stranger.
And yet…
Could he have transmigrated too?
Chen Kangle remembered how she woke up in Duan Yanyan's body, sick and disoriented, only to learn she'd died in her old life. Maybe fate had other plans for him, too. But if that was the case, why did he still look like Shen Moxuan?
Chen Kangle's head throbbed with questions. She leaned her back against the cool rock and closed her eyes to rest for a moment, but before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
...
A sudden flutter under her elbow jolted her awake. Chen Kangle's eyes flew open to him stirring beside her, and she freeze in her spot.
Thankfully he isn't awake yet.
She rose to her feet slowly and wiped the dust and dirt in her dress tunic.
Thinking that when he wake up, he'll feel hungry. Chen Kangle decided to go back to the village and bring some food for him to eat.
She left the cave and notice the darkening sky. She hurry down so she can still come back before darkness falls. She know it's dangerous to stay in the wilderness after dark, specially with her previous encounter in Wuhen Forest.
But leaving him here by himself while his injured is cruel.
She run quickly, slowing down at times to keep herself from falling on the slopes.
After reaching the village gate, she went straight to her house and fetch a pitcher filling the gourd full and then tied it to her waist. Pulling out the hidden box underneath their bed and opened it. There's only a little bit of copper coins left. She grabbed them all without hesitation.
I'll just have to go to the outer ring of Wuhen Forest tomorrow.
Walking out the door, the wind whoosh past her, and she shivered from the cold. Thinking that it might be cold tonight she went back inside and grab the only blanket she owned.
Chen Kangle went to a fruit stall and bought a small basket of fruits. Leaving her with only 2 copper coins. Which also left her palm after buying a covered lamp.
Ouch. It really hurts to be poor.
She walk back to the mountain cave where she left Mr. Shen or is it Mr. Shen.
Thinking back to her time on Earth, whenever Mr. Shen—Shen Moxuan—their professor walked into the auditorium, everyone would hold their breath and fall silent. That's how he is. He carried an air of command without saying a word, like the quiet before a storm or the stillness of deep water. His presence didn't ask for attention—it demanded it.
And although she was afraid of him, because he's extremely strict, especially when it comes to her. Chen Kangle doesn't know if he has any grudge against her. Almost everyone at the University knows that he's especially intolerant of mistakes that Chen Kangle makes. But he's also an excellent teacher despite he's age. And Chen Kangle appreciated him for that.
She focused on the path as the sky turns dark. She watched her step as she nearly tripped, and her heart nearly jumped out her throat.
She stop at the cave entrance, eyeing the opening thoughtfully. It might be wise to add a cover, something natural, like a curtain of vines or a few well-placed branches to conceal it from plain sight. Just in case. You never know who or what might be watching at night.
Chen Kangle looked at her surrounding, stretching her hand with the lamp as she look for possible cover. She spotted a dense cluster of shrubs a few steps to the right—thick enough to serve as a decent cover.
She pulled them over the entrance, arranging them carefully, adding a number of leaf branches she found nearby and made the cave entrance all but invisible.
She slid through the entrance, careful to keep the branches in place behind her.
Chen Kangle approached the slab of stone where she had set him earlier when she suddenly saw movement.
Her breath caught.
He shifted. Just slightly. His fingers curling, as if grasping something in a dream.
She froze, her heart pounding. Was he waking up?
She set down what she brought with her and stared at him closely.
He blinks once, then twice, as if awakening from a dream. His shoulders twitch, and a soft groan leaves his lips. Her heart hammers against her ribs, did I misjudge his state? Is he injured somewhere I can't see? Chen Kangle thought.
He shifts, rolling onto one side, and she scramble forward, crouching beside him. "You're awake," she whisper, relief and apprehension twisting in her throat.
His lashes flutter, revealing cool gray eyes that focus on her with cloudy bewilderment. For a moment, he doesn't speak, just blinks.
"Where… am I?" His voice is hoarse, each word a rasp against the silent cave walls.
Her heart stopped for a moment. Even his voice is the same. Is it really him?
"You're safe," she say, pressing a hand to his arm. Her fingers linger on the rough linen of his tunic. "You collapsed here. I—" Chen Kangle hesitated, remembering her own shock. "I brought you to my cultivation spot."
Recognition flickers behind his eyes, but he doesn't elaborate. Instead, he lets out a slow breath and sits up carefully, as though testing his strength.
He pauses, gaze drifting upward to the cave's ceiling, where shafts of light spill in through cracks. "Cave…" he murmurs. "How long?"
"Not long," she answer quickly. "A few hours, maybe." her voice sounds thin in her own ears. Chen Kangle is afraid he'll ask questions she can't—or won't—answer.
I think I'll just keep it to myself that I am not the real Duan Yanyan, and that I just took over her body and my real name is Chen Kangle.
She thought.
It's not like she can just say it to him.
Chen Kangle is still deliberating. She's also hesitant to ask if he's really Shen Moxuan.
He closes his eyes, flexing his fingers. "Thank you," he says, quietly. "For… helping me."
"It's only right that I help someone in need." she say, just as quietly.
Chen Kangle opened her mouth slowly as she picked up the resolved to ask him directly.
"What's your name?" she held her breath as she waited for his response. Her chest hammering through her ribcage.
He stared straight into her eyes. And Chen Kangle feel like he's staring straight into her soul.
Without breaking eye contact, he opened his mouth as he said slowly.
"Shen Moxuan."
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Hello guys I already edited this part and made it a third person's point of view. I'm still editing the other chapters. :)