When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 195: Foolish...

Chapter 195: Foolish...

Confusion flickered in Shen Nianzu’s eyes. Why would Jin Jiuchi hand this over to him? If he remembered correctly, this should be the shard where the nightmare creature, who had been scared shitless by both Jin Jiuchi and Noir, resided right? He did not even know that Jin Jiuchi was still holding onto this! Not wanting to arouse the guards’ suspicion, he discreetly slipped the mirror into his pocket and cast Jin Jiuchi a faint meaningful glance before he left.

The subtle action went unnoticed by Gu Luoxin, and in his eyes, the two of them were exchanging a sorrowful glance, just like the main protagonists in the novel ’Wuthering Heights’ where Catherine chose to marry another man instead due to the influence of social class differences. But in Jin Jiuchi and Shen Nianzu’s case, it was clearly a whole clan of merfolk and the vicious Cycle that forced them to separate!

"D–Da Shen..." Full of concern, Gu Luoxin intended to give Jin Jiuchi a few words of comfort, but the man decisively turned into the room and shut the door, leaving his hand hanging in midair.

Gu Luoxin glumly retracted his hand but before he could return to his own room, the loud commotion next door drew his attention, which sounded as if a glass had shattered followed by the heavy thud of a body falling to the ground. Gu Luoxin was stunned for a second before he realized that the commotion had come from Noir’s room! Without even thinking, he rushed towards the door and slammed it open, panicked, "G–Great God!"

Noir was sprawled on the ground while Lucius sat not far from his head, licking its paw without a care in the world.

Gu Luoxin sprinted to the man and carefully lifted him up. A gasp escaped his lips when he saw how horrible Noir’s complexion was. His skin was ghastly pale, his eyes tightly shut with deep furrow between his brows and his lips were bloodless. His entire person looked like his life force had been drained away.

"Great God!" Gu Luoxin cried out in alarm, not even realizing how his entire body was shaking and how close he was to crying. "Great God, are you okay? Please don’t scare me!" He tried to shake Noir awake to no avail.

Oh no, w–what should he do? This was his fault! He had noticed early on that Noir seemed off along the journey, but because he still held a trace of apprehension towards the man, he held himself back from saying anything because he believed that such a powerful player like Noir would surely be able to handle anything that came his way. Only now did he realize how foolish that thought was. He should have gone and talked to the man sooner. Perhaps then he would have noticed earlier that something was wrong!

Tears welled up in his eyes. "G–Great God, where are you hurt? Please don’t die...!" The corner of his eyes caught sight of a slight movement and he quickly raised his head to find Lucius staring back at him calmly. But Gu Luoxin was not calm at all right now. He felt like he was going to go crazy. "W–What should we do?!" He asked Lucius tremblingly. "H–He is about to die!"

Lucius stared at him for one long moment before walking to Noir’s side, raising a paw and slapping the man right across his cheek. "Meow!"

Gu Luoxin’s eyes flew wide. Having seen the black cat’s real prowess, he was frightened when he saw Lucius’ action. What if this one slap damaged Noir’s brain permanently?! He shakily hugged the man to himself, mustered every drop of courage in his body and expressed firmly, "L–Little ancestor, no! Please don’t hit him! He is dying already!"

The next moment, Noir tilted his head and coughed softly, immediately drawing all of Gu Luoxin’s attention to him. "Great God, are you okay?!"

Without opening his eyes, Noir replied in a weak and hoarse voice, "Not... okay..." Gu Luoxin’s heart instantly sank to the pit of his stomach when he heard that, as the scenario of Noir dying in his arms flashed through his mind like a cheap afternoon soap opera. Just as he was about to burst into tears, Noir continued, his breathing light and shallow, "W–Want to..."

"What?" Gu Luoxin was extremely anxious. "What do you want?!"

Noir failed to utter another word. Instead, as soon as he opened his mouth, he retched violently and threw up the contents of his stomach, and Gu Luoxin – who had not managed to react on time – became the sole victim of this tragic accident, while Lucius had long evacuated to a safe and clean place.

Noir, a player ranked 28 on the leaderboard, who had always done everything as he pleased and feared neither God, Buddha nor Devil, finally succumbed to his extreme aversion to water and admitted defeat.

On the other hand, Shen Nianzu followed a different passageway that led to a more central part of the city, indicating that the merfolk clan truly held him in high regard. Halfway through the journey, the guard escorting him was replaced by the previous head guard, who had come to meet them through a water canal.

Shen Nianzu clutched the mirror fragment in his pocket tightly as he continued down the elegant corridor with its transparent dome-like roof. "This area was primarily used to welcome the envoys from the land. Unfortunately, our relationship soured a long time ago, and it has not been lived in for ages. We have always tried to maintain it, but I hope you won’t mind, Sir..." he trailed off.

"Nian," Shen Nianzu told him.

The head guard smiled, "Mr. Nian. I have watched Ariel grow up, and this is the first time she has ever shown such blatant interest towards someone else. She must cherish you a lot..."

Shen Nianzu spent the rest of the journey engaged in a light talk with the head guard. As he was still an outsider in the eyes of others, he dared not breach into any important matters like the reward Ariel promised them, the return ticket or the witch’s bane. He reckoned that it would be better to address them directly in front of the King later.

Instead, he casually brought up the Goddess of the Sea, and the head guard passionately recounted everything to him. What he said more or less similar to what Ariel had told him previously, but the head guard added that they still prayed to the Goddess of the Sea in every occasion.

In his words, they had not lost the Goddess’ blessings, but she had simply fallen into a long slumber, and the merfolk clan would be faithfully waiting for the time when she awoke and reclaimed her glory once more.

When the head guard was not looking, he discreetly took a deep breath before exhaling, repeating it a few times to loosen his tense nerves. ’Calm down, Shen Nianzu,’ he told himself. ’You must proceed with caution. Everyone’s livelihood lies in your hands now.’

How could he not be nervous? The calm countenance he showed was nothing but a façade. This time, he was not only responsible for his own life. One mistake and the whole merfolk clan could turn against them, and everyone would end up being dragged into danger— Noir, Gu Luoxin and most importantly, Jin Jiuchi...

"We have arrived," the head guard stopped and gestured at the door a few meters ahead. "This is as far as I can escort you. I know you have gone through a difficult journey, so feel free to rest for a while until we are ready with the preparation of the banquet."

Shen Nianzu nodded with a thin smile, "Thank you so much."

He walked into the room, closed the door behind him and upon hearing the merman swim away, the first thing he did was to retrieve the mirror in his pocket to inspect it carefully. He had expected to see the nightmare creature who could possibly be of assistance to him or something, but much to his surprise, it was the reflection of Jin Jiuchi with his black eyes staring back at him!

Shen Nianzu almost dropped the mirror out of shock. "Y–You... how can you—?!"

"Of course, I can," Jin Jiuchi grinned mischievously. "Surprised, Nian’er?"

Inside his mind, Shen Nianzu quickly recounted everything that had happened to them in this Cycle, and he realized that the only time he was separated from Jin Jiuchi was during their time trapped in the enclosed realm. It must be during that period that Jin Jiuchi encountered his other half. Another realization soon dawned on him. "So that’s why his eyes are like this. You’re here, does it mean he has gained a part of his missing soul?"

"Nope," Jin Jiuchi shook his head as he tapped on the surface of the mirror with his finger. "The mirrors in this Cycle are special. It can be used to travel between realms, connect me with my brother, and also... to communicate with you like this."

He put on a troubled look and sighed heavily, "What should we do if Nian’er is crying all alone without anyone knowing? So that’s why, you don’t need to be afraid anymore. We are here for you, okay?" His sincere gaze pierced through the mirror and straight into Shen Nianzu’s heart, causing it to twinge in soreness.

So the reason why Jin Jiuchi handed him this mirror shard at the last moment... was for this seemingly silly reason? Because he worried that Shen Nianzu would be afraid and cry all alone? Shen Nianzu couldn’t help but snort, "Foolish..." he murmured, warmth spreading across his heart. "Who told you that I will be afraid?"

.

.

Mini theater

Black-eyed JJ: Alright, Nian’er will not be afraid, he will not cry, but it’s all me, okay?! I will cry if my jade doll is snatched away! QAQ