When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 202: Normal Fish Or Cursed Fish?

Chapter 202: Normal Fish Or Cursed Fish?

"The cursed ones are here?" Jin Jiuchi immediately looked around in vigilance. "Oh shit, does it mean the queen is here too?! Where? Where is it?!" However, there was only a calm surface of the ocean as far as he could see. Not satisfied, Jin Jiuchi nudged the thin leg of the mummy soldier beside him with his elbow. "Hey, how about you guys? Did you see a white ball floating around?"

Gu Luoxin reminded him gingerly, "It might have broken out of its cocoon..."

At Jin Jiuchi’s question, the horde nightmare creatures immediately looked around in unison just like trained soldiers, then shook their heads in response.

Gu Luoxin couldn’t describe how complicated his feelings were when he saw this scene. Once, he had been terrified to death by the mere sight of them, and the thought of fighting one still sent chills down his spine. But who knew that these creatures would become their helper one day? The more he thought about it, the more uncertain he felt. Was it okay to summon these colossal mummy soldiers just to show them off and inflict fear on others?!

As he grumbled inwardly, he heard Noir murmur, "...No, something is not right."

"Hmm?" Gu Luoxin whipped his head around attentively. "What is it, Great God? Did you say something?" He had been using that nickname so many times that it flowed out smoothly of his lips without a hint of the initial hesitation and bashfulness.

Alas, Noir did not seem to pay attention to it. His attention was fixed on the scene of utter chaos below the sea. "Their number is too small for a sneak attack. It looks more like someone is using them to..." he trailed off and sucked in a breath of surprise.

"What’s wrong? What is it?" Gu Luoxin asked. Somehow he had a premonition that things would turn for the worse.

Sure enough, Noir’s voice held a tinge of glum as he informed them, "It’s infectious. If you get injured by them, you will also become the cursed."

"What?!" Jin Jiuchi and Gu Luoxin exclaimed in shock at the same time, and their thoughts immediately turned to a specific someone.

"Oh no, Ariel!"

"Nian’er!"

Their gazes locked, and invisible sparks flew between their line of eye contact.

Jin Jiuchi argued, "Who cares about her? We already have the return ticket, so she can go die for all I care!"

Gu Luoxin leveled him with an unimpressed stare, "Da Shen, have you forgotten that you’re supposed to eat her? Do you want to eat a normal fish or a cursed fish? I’m fairly certain Xiao Shen can hold on by himself until we get there."

Jin Jiuchi was stumped by that question, "If... If I eat a cursed fish, does it mean I will get infected too?!"

Gu Luoxin nodded heavily in response.

"Damn it," he cursed softly under his breath. Gritting his teeth, he finally resigned to his fate and scanned the chaotic water, "Where is she? Hurry up and get her onboard! I want my food fresh!!"

***

As the two players charged towards him, Shen Nianzu swiftly raised his blade, parrying one while his other hand threw out a silver needle, freezing the second in place. With a powerful swing of his blade, a surge of icy purple energy crackled through the air, sending the two hurtling into the opposite wall! They collapsed to the ground and coughed out a mouthful of blood, unable to get up anymore.

Shen Nianzu regarded Lily coldly, "I think you underestimated me too much if you think these two players can harm me."

Lily stared at the scene in utter disbelief. She knew that both of them were weak chickens, but she did not expect them to be so weak even in their transformed state, so much that they could not defend against one attack from Nian! She gnashed her teeth in secret, though she still flashed a sweet smile at Shen Nianzu, "You have grown stronger."

Shen Nianzu immediately cut to the chase and gave her a severe warning, "We could have passed this Cycle together peacefully, but if you insist on targeting him, don’t blame me for being cruel."

With a huff, Lily retorted, "Okay, fine! Let me just get out of here and get my ticket!" She turned around and vanished from her spot in the matter of seconds.

Shen Nianzu did not let down his guard until he was certain that she had left. Only then did he move to kill the two players who had long since lost their human selves. He checked their skill card and props, but found nothing of use. It seemed like their luck was really good to have made it here, but unfortunately, their journey ended now.

Sighing, Shen Nianzu rose to his feet and flicked the blood off his blade. He gazed at the chaos unfolding outside the window and murmured to himself, "When will the queen come?"

Alas, he had overlooked an extremely crucial fact— it was futile to use normal logic to reason with a nutcase. In their case, once they set their sights on something or someone, they would not give up even if they had to sacrifice one or two limbs. After all, the more effort they needed to obtain something, wouldn’t they receive double or triple the satisfaction and pleasure when they finally got their hands on it?

Of course, this was the event for later.

At the moment, in the heart of Atlantis, Ariel was panting heavily as she sought refuge behind a wall, hiding from a merfolk who had been infected. She couldn’t help but curse under her breath, feeling so angry that she couldn’t breathe. Despicable... how despicable! These cursed creatures were not satisfied with what they had, and they still had to come here to cause trouble!

Her hometown, once a beautiful and peaceful city, now reeked of tension, despair and the disgusting stench of blood. A wave of helplessness overcame her. How could they make the cursed ones disappear? What could they do? Realizing that her thoughts had strayed far, she slapped her cheeks to refocus, "Don’t think too much, Ariel," she told herself. "For now, you need to find Daddy and the guards to go to Nian together!"

Decision made, she poked her head out of the wall and looked around. After ensuring that no cursed creatures were nearby, she continued on her way towards the hall where the King usually resided, but halfway through, the faint sound of a baby crying reached her ears!

Oh no, it must be the baby merfolk! Had they been left behind by others? Were they hurt?!

Filled with anxiety, she quickly swam to the direction of the cries and spotted a blue-tailed baby merfolk crying outside the seabed, curling up in fear and sadness. Ariel’s heart ached and she hurriedly approached the baby, "Hey, come here! It will be dangerous if you stay there. Big Sister will bring you away, okay?"

As she got closer to the baby, they suddenly lifted their head, revealing a pair of wet bloodshot eyes, scaled skin and a mouth full of sharp fangs. Ariel’s heart thudded in his chest. T–The baby... was cursed too?! Too shocked by this revelation, Ariel was unable to react when the baby pounced on her with a ferocious expression, ready to bite a chunk of flesh off her body!

"AH!" She raised her arms instinctively and squeezed her eyes shut, screaming in fear.

Despair permeated her chest as she sensed death looming over her neck like the reaper’s scythe. No, she... she had not completed her mating dance with Nian yet...

However, the pain she anticipated never came. Instead, her waist was suddenly seized by a soft and elastic-looking bandage. And the next thing she knew, she was fished out of the water and thrown into the Flying Dutchman’s ship!

"Good job, Xinxin!" Jin Jiuchi clapped enthusiastically. "Your fishing skill is really one of a kind!"

Gu Luoxin wiped the sweat on his forehead and showed a proud smile, "Hehe, what did I tell you? Fortunately, we rescued her in time before—"

"AHHH—!" Ariel shrieked in panic as she struggled to free herself from the bandages wrapped around her body, only to find that she could not remove them at all. Her eyes were wide in fear as she stared at Jin Jiuchi, who was still wearing his jackal headpiece, and the towering mummy soldiers around him that resembled creatures from hell. "W–What do you want? Let go of me ahhh!!!"

Hearing this ear-piercing broken bird voice, Jin Jiuchi, Gu Luoxin and Noir fell into a contemplative silence. That’s right, without Shen Nianzu, the translator, they could not understand each other’s language...

Jin Jiuchi rubbed his chin and suggested solemnly, "Should I just eat her right now?"