When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 293: Make An Offer

Chapter 293: Make An Offer

Shen Nianzu, Jin Jiuchi and Gu Luoxin soon left the shopping mall with their newly acquired tents and other equipment in tow. The next thing they should do now was to find an open and secure shelter for themselves, preferably a place where it would be easy to defend but hard to attack.

Shen Nianzu was contemplating where to start when a dark shadow soared overhead, and he looked up to find Noir gliding gracefully through the sky, his bone wings fully unfurled in a magnificent display. It was evident that the man was doing a general observation of the Cycle from above.

At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed in Shen Nianzu’s mind, prompting him to call out, "Noir!"

Beside him, Gu Luoxin flinched in shock and clutched his chest which almost jumped out of his throat. It seemed like this would be his conditional reflex from now on whenever he heard someone mention Noir’s name, just like a timid mouse’s reaction to a lurking cat. He stared at Shen Nianzu in utter disbelief. W–Why would Shen Nianzu be calling him over now? Did he not know how Gu Luoxin had been desperately trying to ignore the emerald-eyed man’s presence and pretend as if he did not exist?!

He had already undergone a mini mental breakdown upon seeing him on the train earlier, but then he quickly reassured himself that it should be okay for them to be in the same Cycle as long as they continued to maintain the smallest amount of interaction possible. But now, Shen Nianzu was calling Noir over? Right here, in front of Gu Luoxin?!

He cautiously snuck a few glances at the imposing figure soaring across the sky, secretly praying that Noir would overlook the call or at least pretend that he had not heard it. But his hopes were dashed in the next second when Noir abruptly halted mid-flight, his wings flapping to adjust the momentum. Noir looked down, and Gu Luoxin’s heart skipped a beat when their gazes seemed to lock in midair. But then when he blinked again, he found that Noir’s eyes had been on Shen Nianzu from the start. Perhaps he had been thinking too much...?

He pursed his lips, trying to suppress the irrational sense of loss that welled up within him. Unaware of his emotional turmoil, Shen Nianzu signaled to Noir that he wanted to talk.

Jin Jiuchi cast a glance at the wilted Gu Luoxin and decided to be generous for once. "Nian’er, what are you calling him for?" He questioned. "Can’t you see how afraid Xinxin is?"

"...!" Gu Luoxin was shocked by this bullet that struck him out of nowhere even when he was lying down. "I–I’m not afraid!" He retorted in a slight stammer. "Who said that I’m afraid of him?!"

"You two still haven’t resolved the misunderstanding from last time?" Shen Nianzu asked with his brows furrowed. "Forget it, what happened in the real world stays in the real world. We’re in the Cycle now, and he can be considered our ally, so try to get along, alright?"

Gu Luoxin wanted to cry but had no tears. What misunderstanding? From the start, there had been no misunderstanding between them at all! It was Noir who had made himself loud and clear that he did not want Gu Luoxin anywhere near him!

Upon receiving the signal, Noir gracefully descended from the sky and retracted his bone wings behind his back. He asked, "What’s the matter?"

"I’d like to make you an offer, are you interested?" Shen Nianzu proposed, to which Noir responded with an arched brow and a motion for him to continue.

"We need your ability to find a suitable shelter and locate the survivors in this city, if there are any. In exchange, we will provide you with meals three times a day. How does that sound? You don’t have to scavenge for food or compete with others for resources, and all you need to do is scour the area and relay information to us."

The offer Shen Nianzu had made was a win-win situation for both sides — information in exchange for food. Moreover, he had managed to see through Noir’s weakness very well, guessing that the man would find it disdainful to forage through scraps which would consume a lot of time and energy. They, on the other hand, had a food detector by their side.

Shen Nianzu patted Jin Jiuchi’s arm and instructed, "Tell him what kind of food we have in our hands."

Jin Jiuchi looked extremely reluctant at the prospect of sharing their limited resources to others, but under the jade doll’s menacing glare, he begrudgingly grumbled under his breath, "We have canned vegetables, dried fruits, beans, pasta, powdered milk, rice, honey—"

"Deal," Noir agreed in a heartbeat.

Shen Nianzu showed a satisfied smile and stepped forward to shake his hand, sealing their agreement. "Happy cooperation. Now could you please tell us what you have discovered so far?"

Noir was not stingy and immediately upheld his part of the deal. "The scope of the Cycle seems to encompass the entire city this time. Beyond that, a transparent barrier prevents me from leaving and it reaches as high as the sky. We’re currently at the city center where most of the buildings are concentrated. I haven’t come across any NPCs on the street, nor are there suitable buildings that can be considered a base for survivors. The whole city looks completely uninhabited. However, I did detect some activity a few kilometers to the west, though I’m still uncertain whether they are survivors or a dormant nightmare creature."

The trio was genuinely impressed by the wealth of information Noir had gathered in such a short time. Even Gu Luoxin momentarily forgot about his embarrassing history and stared at the man with newfound admiration. He finally understood why Shen Nianzu had been so willing to offer meals in exchange for information. The details Noir provided were invaluable and were not something they could gather easily, even after days of exploration!

"No base, no NPCs seen on the street?" Shen Nianzu knitted his brows in thought.

"This is just my initial assessment," Noir clarified. "I wouldn’t know if they were hiding inside the buildings right now."

"No, this is already more than enough," Shen Nianzu said appreciatively. "If there are survivors, I reckon they will show up sooner or later, especially after the sky darkens and the Cycle becomes treacherous later." He raised his head and squinted his eyes against the sun. The sky looked brilliantly clear right now, alas he could not measure the time due to the lack of equipment. Moreover, with this being a time-related Cycle, the flow of time might differ from what they were used to.

It looked like finding a nice shelter was their top priority at the moment.

Next, Shen Nianzu began to explain in detail the kind of shelter they were looking for, and in the end, Noir exclaimed softly, "Ah, I seem to have come across a place that meets your requirements."

Shen Nianzu’s eyes brightened when he heard that.

However, Noir was not done yet. "And if I’m not mistaken, there is also a..." he paused briefly to search for a suitable word to say. "...hot spring."