When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 157: To The Crew Areas

Chapter 157: To The Crew Areas

Upon hearing Gu Luoxin’s words, Shen Nianzu’s breath caught in his throat and he immediately commanded in a hushed voice, "Leave the NPC behind and let’s go!"

The trio sprinted down the corridor. Just as they turned into a corner, two people appeared from the opposite end. Shen Nianzu only had time to catch their silhouette – one tall and robust while the other petite and slender – before his sight was cut off by the wall. A woman’s voice faintly drifted to his ears, sounding both amused and intrigued, "Huh, someone was here?"

Shen Nianzu’s eyes darkened. As soon as he heard that voice, he knew that his previous conjecture was correct.

They took a detour to the staircase. After ensuring that nobody was within earshot, Shen Nianzu whispered to the two others, "Let’s go straight to the crew areas."

Gu Luoxin was taken aback, "Don’t we need to check on the balcony where the body was thrown off?"

Shen Nianzu shook his head and replied, "No need. It’s not like we can retrieve the body from the ocean." Noticing that Jin Jiuchi had been strangely silent, Shen Nianzu turned to check on him only to be speechless when he saw the man pinching his nose while breathing through his mouth like a dumb goldfish. The corner of his lips twitched and he could not help but ask, "Is it that bad?"

In return, Jin Jiuchi gave him an obscure look that seemed to imply, ’Young lad, you don’t know anything about the world yet.’ It was not until they reached the eighth floor that Jin Jiuchi let go of his nose. "Puah! Ha... damn it..." he gasped for breath and desperately gulped in a few mouthfuls of fresh air into his lungs. "Nian’er, that woman, she..."

Jin Jiuchi scrunched his face in disgust. Just the mere reminder of the horrid odor he had smelled earlier was enough to make him retch. This was the first time Jin Jiuchi had ever smelled such a thick scent of blood and death on someone. Let’s not mention Dance of the Wind who liked to prey on the weak and unsuspecting Intermediate players and robbed them of their skill cards and props, the woman they had just encountered was even worse than any nightmare creatures he had encountered in the Cycle!

Knowing what Jin Jiuchi wanted to say, Shen Nianzu let out a brief hum in response, "You’re right, she is the culprit behind these murders. Player ranked 45, Lily. Her skill card seemed to be related to blood consumption. Try to steer clear of her in the future."

Utter shock and horror was plastered on Gu Luoxin’s face when he heard that, "S–S–She drinks blood?! Is it like the vampire in fantasy books where the more blood she consumes, the stronger she will be?!"

"Vampire?" Jin Jiuchi mouthed the foreign word with thick curiosity. "What is that?"

Gu Luoxin snapped to him, incredulous. "Damn it, Da Shen! You don’t know what a vampire is?!" He could not believe that Jin Jiuchi was utterly oblivious to this legendary folklore that even little children knew. He thought that Jin Jiuchi was tricking him at first, but upon noticing the genuine ignorance and interest in the man’s silver eyes, he realized that Jin Jiuchi truly did not know anything. As such, Gu Luoxin took it upon himself to introduce the renowned mythical creature to Jin Jiuchi. In the end, he even said, "I have a few super exciting novels in my dorm. Let me lend them to you once we return to the real world..."

Shen Nianzu had been listening to the heated conversation behind him, though outwardly he pretended to be focused on scanning the surroundings in front. Upon hearing Gu Luoxin’s last sentence, he knitted his brows in disapproval.

What kind of messy novels Gu Luoxin was going to introduce to this foolish husky? It couldn’t be that certain saga about the unorthodox romance between a human and a vampire, could it? The more Shen Nianzu thought about it, the more plausible it was. After all, it seemed like the type of story that Gu Luoxin, with his maiden heart, would enjoy!

No! He could not allow Jin Jiuchi to read those kinds of mature rated books! Otherwise, his efforts to keep the TV channels strictly only for kids would be all for naught!

He cleared his throat and steered the conversation back on track, "I’ve met Lily once in another mid-level Cycle. All I can say is she is an utter nutcase. Unlike other players who kill for skill cards and props, she does it for fun. Her targets are typically young and vigorous males and I was lucky to escape her radar last time because I disguised myself as a child but now..." he turned and gave them a grave look. "It seems like we will cross paths with her sooner or later."

Gu Luoxin paled, his joy and enthusiasm for introducing spicy novels for Jin Jiuchi waned in an instant. "Oh no, what should we do...?" But then he suddenly recalled something and his eyes lit up. "But Xiao Shen, your rank is higher than hers, right? That means you’re stronger!"

"I am," Shen Nianzu deadpanned. "But I am sane, while she’s not. And that’s what makes her all the more dangerous. I think someone right here serves as a good example." As he spoke, he cast a subtle glance at Jin Jiuchi.

Jin Jiuchi, who was shot while lying down: ?

"I don’t really understand but..." he tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "That doesn’t sound like a compliment? Nian’er?"

Gu Luoxin swallowed hard. T-That’s right, even though Jin Jiuchi was not a top 50 player, he had a record of destroying each Cycle he was challenging. It happened to both the Shishen Apartment and the Temple of Anubis! Such a madman could not be taken lightly, regardless of their rank on the leaderboard!

’Oh God...’ Gu Luoxin bit his nail nervously. ’Can this Cycle hold on with the presence of two insane players? What if it collapses halfway? We will all drown in the middle of the sea!’

At that moment, Gu Luoxin had no idea that Murphy’s Law indeed existed. The more one feared something happening, the more likely it was to occur.

Seeing that he had succeeded in distracting the two people from the discussion about vampires, the corner of Shen Nianzu’s lips subtly curved upwards and he turned around, saying with an aloof look, "Let’s go."

They continued to make their way to the second floor, until they were met with a door leading to the crew areas which had the sign of ’Limited Entry – Staff Only’. The three of them exchanged glances before they slipped inside, carefully descending the stairs. The first floor was brightly lit, likely due to regular crew patrols, and the sound of purring engine filled the air.

"Where should we go?" Gu Luoxin asked.

Shen Nianzu, however, turned to Jin Jiuchi, "Can you sense them?"

"Hmm..." Brows furrowing, Jin Jiuchi sniffed the air a few times and murmured, "Smells weird..."

"W–What?" Gu Luoxin looked around warily for fear that something – or someone – would pop up out of nowhere. "What smells weird?"

Jin Jiuchi opened his mouth only to close it again as he struggled to elaborate on the bizarre scent with his limited vocabulary. "I can’t really explain it, but... should we check it out, Nian’er?"

Shen Nianzu pondered for a while and nodded, "Lead the way." Together, they walked through the empty and winding corridor that resembled a maze, as the loud rumbling engine and crashing waves echoed beside their ears.

Until all of a sudden, Jin Jiuchi abruptly skidded to a halt.

Gu Luoxin almost twisted his foot and planted his face on the ground in an attempt to brake himself in time, whereas Shen Nianzu was not so lucky as his nose directly collided with Jin Jiuchi’s hard and solid back. He rubbed his aching nose, frowning, "Why the hell did you—"

He had not even finished his sentence yet when Jin Jiuchi looked around and pulled them into the nearest room that appeared to be a storage room filled with the sheets, blankets and curtains.

"Sssh!" Jin Jiuchi pressed a finger to his lips and gestured at them to keep silent.

In the next moment, they heard a series of footsteps approaching. Two patrolling crew members walked past the storage room as they chatted with each other, "Has the navigation system been fixed yet?"

"Yeah, Captain Rick said that there’s no problem. Something to do with electromagnetic interference in the deep sea, I don’t really get it."

"Well, if the Captain says so, then we can be rest assured. But hey, have you noticed that the Captain has been acting strangely?"

"What do you mean?"

The two NPCs’ voices were drifting further and further until they could no longer be heard, or at least it was the case for Shen Nianzu and Gu Luoxin. In tacit understanding, both of them turned to Jin Jiuchi, and sure enough, the man did not disappoint at all,

"They said that the Captain seems to be unwell. One second he is vomiting nonstop, then the next second he will get extremely thirsty and hungry. He also lashes out on the crew members who advised him to rest. In short, the Captain has become weird since the cruise ship sailed."

"Isn’t it just seasick..." Gu Luoxin blurted out that sentence without even thinking, only to realize how ridiculous it sounded soon after. The Captain of a cruise ship getting seasick? It was just like a fish that had suddenly lost the ability to breathe underwater! He swallowed his words and changed it in the nick of time, "Okay, that sounds suspicious."

Shen Nianzu echoed his opinion, "Even if he is not the core NPC, he might know something else. Let’s find him first."

Jin Jiuchi rubbed his nose helplessly and once again resigned to his fate to be the tracking dog. He led Shen Nianzu and Gu Luoxin forward, avoiding a few NPCs along the way, when all of a sudden Shen Nianzu remarked, "Something doesn’t feel right."

That caused them to halt on their tracks. "Huh?"

Creases formed between Shen Nianzu’s brows as he looked around, "We’ve been here for at least ten minutes, but we haven’t encountered any other players. Moreover," his jaw tightened, "we’ve crossed paths with the same NPCs three times."

Jin Jiuchi would not realize it because all NPC smelled the same to him, whereas Gu Luoxin’s observation skill was not as meticulous.

"H–How can we bump into the same NPCs thrice...?" He asked, his voice shaky for some reason. A possibility crossed his mind, causing chills to run down his spine. "No way... have we hit the ghost wall?!"

Before his last word could even settle in the air, all of a sudden, the lights in the corridor turned off with a snap, engulfing them in pitch black darkness!