When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 207: It’s The Goddess!

Chapter 207: It’s The Goddess!

What the hell did this crazy woman want?!

Jin Jiuchi’s hackles raised. He couldn’t believe the audacity of her greed and hunger-filled gaze. It was him who usually looked at others this way, so how dare she do the same to him?!

A flash of surprise flickered in Lily’s eyes when Jin Jiuchi managed to block her attack. But that surprise soon turned into intense excitement and glee, and they engaged in a fierce battle! Lily’s speed was extremely fast now, so fast that she could be considered teleporting. But they were in the water after all; no matter how fast she was, the water currents would always warn Jin Jiuchi of her location, allowing him to block her time and time again! Much to Lily’s surprise, they were evenly matched!

Shen Nianzu, taken aback by her sudden appearance, felt a surge of anger boiling in his chest. He had warned her beforehand not to touch Jin Jiuchi... then don’t blame him for being ruthless! He brandished his blade and joined the fray, the purple icy glare from his weapon leaving a long bloody gash across Lily’s unblemished arm.

Injuring her body was akin to an unpardonable sin to Lily. Fury washed over her, and her eyes gleamed with a crimson light. She lunged at Shen Nianzu, only to be blocked by Jin Jiuchi who twisted her arm behind her and dislocated it.

Lily might look as if she was in a disadvantaged position right now, but Shen Nianzu’s heart skipped a beat in alarm. That was because he knew that she was about to unleash her ultimate skill card, and he had not fucking warned Jin Jiuchi about it yet!

Without a way to shout a warning, Shen Nianzu was desperate to pull Jin Jiuchi away from the range of Lily’s skill card, but how could he move faster than someone who only had to activate the skill card with a single wave of hand? Shen Nianzu’s mind abruptly went blank when the crimson glow in Lily’s eyes turned brighter and brighter, but just in time, yellowed bandages shot out across the water to wrap around Lily, held by Gu Luoxin!

This prop, once activated, would nullify her ability, leaving her unable to use her skill card!

Shen Nianzu’s heart, which had been hanging by a tight line, finally crashed back to his chest and he gave Gu Luoxin a thumbs up.

Good job, Xinxin!

Gu Luoxin did not actually know what he was doing. He couldn’t join in on the three players’ fight, so he resorted to guarding by the sidelines. When he saw the panic in Shen Nianzu’s eyes as he tried to drag Jin Jiuchi away, Gu Luoxin’s body moved before his brain could process it, and he bound Lily with the bandages. Turned out he had made the correct decision! Receiving the thumbs up, Gu Luoxin showed a relieved grin. Though they were currently underwater, he could feel a layer of hot sweat forming over his skin. Goodness!

Trapped by the bandages, Lily was furious and tried to break free. Seeing her like this, Shen Nianzu’s mind suddenly sparked with a brilliant idea.

He grabbed the end of the rope from Gu Luoxin, approached Lily with a chilling smile, then swiftly kicked her towards the cocoon! Before she could react, he raised his hand and activated his skill card!

At once, an ear-deafening rumble echoed in the far distance. All across the city, merfolk who were desperately fleeing, those hiding in their seashell houses, and guards fighting back the onslaught of the cursed clan, all of them looked up in disbelief as a massive column of water surged from the east of the city. It rolled and churned with boundless ferocity, forming a wall that was even taller than their spires!

In hindsight, they could be considered deep sea creatures and should not have feared this kind of massive wave. But for some reason, this one gave off an intense pressure that made their hearts tremble in fright.

"Ahhh!!" Screams and cries pierced through the water as they swam away from the approaching wave. "Get away! Get away from the buildings!!"

But to their astonishment, when the tsunami swept over them, they could feel none of the deadly force. It did not carry them away with its mighty currents, nor did it harm any buildings. It seemed to treat them gently like a soft breeze brushing by, and instead, it focused solely on the cursed clan and the gigantic cocoon, sweeping them away from the city, farther and farther!

And the person who commanded it was...

Dazed, they looked up at the human hovering above the city border, who had his hand raised as he controlled the direction of the waves. Illuminated by the intermittent lightning above, he seemed to omit a holy light.

A human, with the power to command their sea? No, it couldn’t be possible. He must be—

"The Goddess..."

Murmurs of similar tune spread across the city like wildfire. The merfolk were stunned in place as they witnessed this magnificent scene. It was so dazzling, so awe-inspiring that it was branded into their retinas and seared into their soul.

Tears of reverence slid from their eyes, transforming into sparkling pearls that floated along the currents. United by a singular heart, they bowed deeply to Shen Nianzu like a cascade of falling dominoes, hands on their chests and fins pressed flatly against their heads, a gesture of profound devotion. Even the guards at the border put down their weapons and followed suit, displaying their unwavering allegiance to the human figure before them.

"The Goddess... it’s the Goddess of the Sea!"

"She has descended in another form to protect us!"

"Bow down to the Goddess!"

As the deafening rumbles of the waves subsided, carrying the cursed ones, the queen and Lily together with them, Shen Nianzu showed a satisfied expression. He had not planned to use his skill card at all, but the circumstances were perfect. With numerous enemies to contend with, fighting underwater would only drain his, Jin Jiuchi’s and Gu Luoxin’s strength. Adding Lily to the equation left Shen Nianzu with no other option but to eliminate them all at once. He knew that his skill card might not necessarily kill the queen, but at least he hoped that it would be enough to deal with Lily, or better yet, allow the queen devour her slowly.

That had been Shen Nianzu’s primary intention, but somehow... he found himself being worshipped as the Goddess of the Sea?!

Feeling somewhat helpless, he signaled to Jin Jiuchi and Gu Luoxin to move to the airway chamber. And as soon as they surfaced, Jin Jiuchi exclaimed in excitement, "Nian’er, Nian’er, did you hear what they said?!"

The head guard and a few surviving guards trailed behind them and cried out, "Goddess of the Sea! Goddess, you have descended to help us!" They were so moved that they were on the verge of tears. With reddened eyes, they pressed themselves as low as possible, almost prostrating themselves flat on the ground, wishing that they could worship the ground Shen Nianzu had walked on. The head guard outright sobbed, no longer caring about his image, "I know it... I know you haven’t abandoned us!"

Shen Nianzu was caught off guard. "I’m not—" his words got stuck on his throat when a familiar song echoed across the water. It was the sacred melody the merfolk had performed for the Goddess earlier, but now they were presenting this song to Shen Nianzu. Outside the transparent dome, hundreds of merfolk came together in a heartrending and emotional symphony, their tails swaying in a graceful arc as they worshiped their newfound Goddess.

"You are!" The head guard insisted with unwavering conviction. "No one has ever commanded the sea other than the Goddess. No one is worthy... other than you!"

Shen Nianzu: "..."

At this rate, even if he jumped into the Yellow River[1], he would not be able to wash himself clean.

Jin Jiuchi and Gu Luoxin were ecstatic by this development. Gu Luoxin’s line of thought was simple— if Shen Nianzu could really become the stand-in Goddess, wouldn’t it be easier for them to investigate and solve the mystery of the Goddess when the time came? No matter how he thought about it, this was the most ideal outcome!

Meanwhile, Jin Jiuchi was excited for a different reason. Nian’er... Nian’er is the Goddess of the Sea! It suits him so much. No one can fit in this position aside from Nian’er!

Soon after, Ariel, who had regained consciousness, swam close with red and swollen eyes. She had heard about Shen Nianzu’s miraculous feats from the other merfolk, and though she had no idea why the Goddess would appear in the form of a human, when she thought of Shen Nianzu, there was no sense of violation in her heart at all. If... If there was someone who could become the Goddess, then it could only be the man before him.

"Nian— no, the Goddess," she quickly corrected herself. Gone was the naivety or innocence in her eyes. Witnessing the King’s heroic death had forced her to mature in the span of one night. "My father is gone. According to custom, I should be the one to inherit the throne, but... I can’t," she smiled bitterly. "I have no interest in it, so can you please... take care of the clan in my and my father’s stead?"

"Princess..." The guards were stunned, but they soon regained their composure and felt like this was the most appropriate course of action.

It was only natural for the Goddess of the Sea to reclaim her throne as the ruler of Atlantis— even if she had taken the form of a human male this time!

The merfolk clan had come to an unanimous decision, and they were unmoved whether by coercion or persuasion. In the end, Shen Nianzu was forced to ascend the throne that very night, and a simple ceremony was held to announce it, while they mourned for the death of the King and the merfolk who had died in this one incident.

Everyone worked together to bury the dead, worshiped Shen Nianzu some more, and when everything calmed down, it was already the wee hours in the morning.

Exhausted, Shen Nianzu dismissed the guards and dragged his feet back to the room he had been living in. He collapsed almost immediately to the bed, no longer caring about his half-dried clothes and hair. He seemed to hear Jin Jiuchi’s voice coming from the mirror shard, but he was already too lazy to answer.

And so, Shen Nianzu slept until the next morning and woke up with an extremely parched throat.

"Cough cough—" He covered his mouth and coughed, feeling an unusual warmth spreading through his body. His entire person felt sluggish and even his reaction time was slow. This... was fever? Impossible! He had been through far more challenging situations than this, but he had never developed a fever before. Moreover, his body had been enhanced by the Nightmare so it was very seldom for him to catch a simple cold, especially when he was challenging a Cycle.

Exactly what was—

The train of Shen Nianzu’s thoughts screeched to a halt when his gaze landed on the back of his hand. A ray of sunlight pierced through the calm surface of the sea and spilled into the room, casting a soft glow on the silver scale embedded in his skin.

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[1] Yellow River or Yellow Springs in the underworld, is the lake where the souls of the deceased have to cross in order to reach the afterlife. It is said to wash clean the soul’s sins and memories.