When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 175: No Warning

Chapter 175: No Warning

Before the effect of the silver needle wore off, the trio agreed to knock Scarred Man out and dumped him on the ninth floor where Lily would be able to spot him easily.

At first, Shen Nianzu had indeed planned to kill Scarred Man since he was Lily’s teammate. Even though the man was crass, brazen and impulsive, he ought to possess one real skill or two for Lily to accept the man by her side. Shen Nianzu did not like to leave such a large risk factor that could potentially come back to bite him in the ass.

However, he promptly changed his mind upon noticing the signs of alienation on Scarred Man.

In the end, Shen Nianzu decided to keep him alive not only because he would be a ticking time bomb by Lily’s side, but also because he realized that the man’s alienation seemed to be different from the others he had encountered so far. Hence, he chose to observe the man a little longer.

"How different?" Gu Luoxin asked curiously as the four of them sat in the inner part of a restaurant, where a privacy screen had been put up to shield prying eyes. Sitting beside him was Noir who was elegantly devouring a plate of fish and chips, and in front of him was Jin Jiuchi who kept stuffing his mouth with fried rice.

Shen Nianzu took a sip of his smoothie before saying, "Previously, the player showed extreme thirst, fin-shaped ears and glossy skin, just like the creature in the mirror. But Lily’s teammate is different. Aside from his eyes and nails, there seemed to be no further changes."

Gu Luoxin furrowed his brow and suggested tentatively, "What if his symptoms are delayed, and his skin and ears change in the near future?"

"That’s possible," Shen Nianzu pondered. "But I can’t shake off the feeling that it’s different. Do you notice anything from his scent?" He nudged Jin Jiuchi beside him.

Suddenly cued, Jin Jiuchi quickly swallowed the fried rice down his throat and said, "I don’t know. All nightmare creatures smell pretty much the same for me..." he paused for a beat as though recalling something. "...except for the Nightmare."

"The death condition is different," Noir suddenly piped in, drawing three pairs of eyes to him. "The player we saw yesterday was alienated by the creature in the mirror. It is not the same for the man earlier."

Gu Luoxin was taken aback. "Different death conditions? Could it be related to... the warning from the bus officer?"

When Noir gave him a look of confusion, Gu Luoxin glanced at Shen Nianzu and upon receiving his leader’s approval, he told Noir about what the bus officer had warned them about. In the end, he added while observing the minute shifts in Noir’s face, "...Also, he gave us some souvenirs."

Hearing this, Noir was so surprised that he forgot to move his utensils, allowing Lucius to successfully snatch a piece of fish from his plate. He stared at Gu Luoxin, bewildered, as if he could not understand what the young man’s words once they were strung into one sentence.

Shen Nianzu raised an intrigued brow and guessed, "You didn’t receive the same warning?"

He had actually expected this since there was no way a player would so casually ignore the warning given by the creature in the Cycle, even if it came from a bus officer. If Scarred Man had received the same warning as theirs, he wouldn’t have thrown the NPC’s body into the ocean even when someone held a knife to his throat. This action was not only foolish, but also downright reckless.

And sure enough, Noir shook his head. "Nothing is out of the ordinary on my bus."

The trio exchanged glances and could see the same confusion in the other’s eyes. In that case, what made them so different, to the point where the bus officer would tell them a free death condition and also give them souvenirs whose purpose they were still unsure of? Was it random luck or...

Shen Nianzu resisted the urge to peek at Jin Jiuchi and fixed his gaze on Noir in front of him instead. "What a coincidence," he said without batting an eyelid. "I guess we got lucky."

But Jin Jiuchi, this pig teammate[1], gasped in realization and wondered out loud, "It can’t be... is it because of m—aoow!" He let out a pained yelp when Shen Nianzu stomped down on his feet under the table. With grievous tears welling up in his eyes, he cried out, "Nian’er, what was that for?!"

This dumb husky! Why couldn’t he learn to keep a low profile for once?! Shen Nianzu gnashed his teeth angrily. In that moment, he deeply learned what ’the eunuch was anxious but the Emperor remained carefree’ meant. He had painstakingly tried to keep Jin Jiuchi’s real identity a secret, but the person himself already couldn’t wait to expose it to the whole world! Despite the fire raging in his heart, Shen Nianzu showed a sweet and apologetic smile to Jin Jiuchi, "Oh my, I’m so sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose! Does it hurt?"

Looking at Shen Nianzu’s beautiful yet murderous smile, Jin Jiuchi experienced a wave of déjà vu that sent a tingling sensation through his scalp. It seemed like they had gone through something like this before. Driven by survival instinct, Jin Jiuchi could only lie, aggrieved, "N–No, it doesn’t hurt..."

Satisfied with that response, Shen Nianzu withdrew his smile and adjusted his expression to a cool and aloof one.

With the previous topic forgotten, he finally recalled one thing he had not asked Jin Jiuchi yet, "That’s right, I forgot to ask you. Why did you insist on checking the hull when we were diving this morning? Did you find something?" Earlier, everything had been too chaotic with Jin Jiuchi’s injury and the discovery of the core NPC that he had no choice but to shelve the question to the back of his mind.

"Oh, that..." Jin Jiuchi replied casually. "I found the same sticky substance on the hull. It seems like that fish creature was stuck there last night."

Three pairs of eyes snapped to him in surprise.

"No way..." Gu Luoxin was in a state of disbelief. "Don’t tell me, was it the source of the heartbeat you detected last night? Did the nightmare creature know that we were looking for it?!"

It knew when to retreat and advance when the situation called for it, proving that it possessed high intelligence to some degree. H–How scary!

Shen Nianzu’s expression darkened as he pondered on this revelation. But in the end, all he said was, "I don’t have enough information yet, so I can’t say for sure..." Despite his words, he did not actually hold much confidence. It was a fact that they could not find the fish creature everywhere last night. What if... what if it was really hiding beneath the ship, silently monitoring their every move? The mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

The four of them quickly finished dinner, packed a portion of raw sashimi for the mermaid to nibble on, and returned to their rooms.

After the brief flying session with Noir, Ariel seemed to have lost half of her soul. Right now, she listlessly stayed in the bathtub, her delicate face pale. Even after Shen Nianzu took out the raw sashimi to entice her, she did not have any appetite to eat. It was not until he told her that she would be home soon that her spirits lifted, and she finally conceded to fill her empty and churning stomach.

Subsequently, the group planned to take a nap for a while and wake up at 10 pm.

Shen Nianzu suggested they take turns to keep watch in case someone came knocking on their doors, but Noir shook his head and offered his black cat, saying that it would be enough for Lucius to stand guard for a while. Having witnessed Lucius’ capability, the trio finally agreed and went to bed happily.

As soon as their heads hit the pillow, all the tension dissipated from their body and exhaustion took over, allowing them to drift into a deep sleep within minutes.

That night, Jin Jiuchi had a dream.

He saw that little girl again, whom he encountered outside the ship the day before.

.

[1] Pig teammate: useless teammate that can only drag you down