When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 364: We Will Meet Again

Chapter 364: We Will Meet Again

Wholly unprepared, Shen Nianzu choked on a mouthful of water as the frigid ocean engulfed him. Amidst the ceaseless undulation of waves, he was akin to a tattered boat who had lost sight of its way, struggling to find the surface. Tears flowed out of his eyes, only to mix with the salty ocean water. A string of bubbles escaped his lips as he felt himself losing precious breath at each passing second.

Oh no, he was drowning...

His limbs twitched spasmodically before going eerily still, allowing his body to sway in the rhythm of the water’s buoyancy.

Was this it?

Was he really going to die here?

Perhaps... perhaps he should have seen this coming. Even without being stranded on this bizarre island, he was already dying either way. He could tell, despite his parents never telling him anything about the medical results. He could tell, by the sadness that was hidden beneath his mother’s soft voice, or the tears his father secretly wiped away when he thought his son was not looking. From the moment he was born into this world, he was not fated to live long in the first place. Maybe he should have even perished from the very first day on this island rather than holding on until the last.

But it no longer mattered now.

Shen Nianzu was going to die young, and it was a fact he should have accepted a long, long time ago.

So why...

Why was he so reluctant to close his eyes? Why was he still so fixated on that faint light that was getting further and further away from him?

Why was there a tiny voice incessantly whispering to him, telling him that he should wake up instead of giving up here?

Unwillingness surged in Shen Nianzu’s heart. He had no idea from where he gathered the energy, but somehow he did. His limbs, numbed and encased in an icy chill, began to move as he propelled himself towards that distant beacon. The water lapped around him, the aqueous tendrils akin to chains that sought to drag him into the depths. However, Shen Nianzu did not cease his struggles. Hurry... he had to hurry up and get out of here! Someone was waiting for him... someone who...

Who? Who is waiting for him?

Who was it that he so desperately wanted to return to?

"Ah, I really wanted to be there with you during your first Cycle..." a distinct voice resonated within his consciousness, so familiar that it tugged on every single one of his heartstrings. "I could have carried you across the sea, then Nian’er wouldn’t have had to tire himself."

Ba-thump!

Time seemed to come to a stand still. The roaring thunder, the torrential rain, the terrified shrieks, even the rhythmic pulse of his own heart— everything ceased in that suspended moment. Warmth enveloped Shen Nianzu’s frozen body, and if he wasn’t so delirious that he couldn’t think straight now, he would have thought that someone was embracing him from behind, gently pushing him toward the surface.

No, it was not only one, but two people— or to be exact, two small children.

The corner of Shen Nianzu’s eyes caught sight of a head of silver hair, and a flash of radiant golden pupils that shone brilliantly amidst the abyssal ocean.

And in that instant, he knew. He knew who they were.

His trembling lips parted, struggling to form words. Jin...

His body abruptly broke out of the surface of the water, and he wheezed weakly. No longer did he have any energy to even move his fingers.

"T–There! I saw someone over there!"

"Where’s the rope?! Quickly pull him up!"

Shen Nianzu felt a powerful force yanking him out of the water, and he shivered violently as the frigid wind embraced his drenched body. The abrupt shift of temperature managed to sober him up a bit, and he mustered every ounce of energy left within him to cast a look downward.

Just one glimpse... he just wanted to have one last glimpse...

Through his fading vision, he could discern two indistinct silhouettes amidst the vast ocean, their hands seeming to wave in his direction. They were just like a mirage— a phantom image conjured up by desperate individuals in the throes of death. Otherwise, how was it possible for Shen Nianzu to catch the movement of their mouths in such vivid clarity?

Goodbye, Nian’er. We will meet again.

.

.

"Gasp—!"

Shen Nianzu’s eyes snapped open with a gasp, his heart pulsating in such an erratic manner as if it had just come back to life after a period of dormancy.

"Oh, thank God! Xiao Shen!!"

His hazy vision gradually cleared, allowing him to register the familiar face that was currently hovering above him— Gu Luoxin, with a baby Toki clinging to his chest like a koala.

As soon as awareness returned to him, Shen Nianzu immediately remembered everything that had transpired previously, as well as how he had relived the final moments of his struggle in his first Cycle. He remembered the feeling of suffocation as water flooded his lungs, the merciless chill that seeped into his bones, and... Jin Jiuchi.

He remembered the twins saving him at the nick of time.

Goodbye, Nian’er. We will meet again.

The movements of those smiling lips still lingered so vividly behind his eyelids, causing Shen Nianzu’s heart to lurch. In his first Cycle, he had indeed been pulled into the ocean by a struggling player nearby, but then... he blacked out, and when he came to, he found himself back to the real world. He could not remember how he made it out of there, but he reasoned that his survival instinct had likely intervened at the moment of near death or perhaps a kind player had dragged him out of the water, saving him from his predicament. And then his brain proceeded to erase that traumatic event from his memory as a form of defense mechanism.

However, what if... what if someone indeed saved him back then? And that person was—

"Xiao Shen?" Gu Luoxin shook his shoulders upon seeing him in a daze. "Xiao Shen, are you okay?!"

Shen Nianzu snapped out of his reverie and shelved the thought to the back of his mind. He could dwell on that matter later, for now... he had to focus on getting out of this Cycle first!

"What is going on?" He asked in a hoarse voice as he propped himself up. Sensing something different about his body, he looked down and discovered that any traces of metals had vanished from his skin.

What? Shen Nianzu’s eyes widened in surprise as he examined his body. What was going on? He was no longer alienated?

Recalling something, he raised his gaze to the sky and saw the words formed by the twinkling stars.

Selected emotion: despair

Alienation: 100%

Tourists who have done sightseeing, please proceed to the exit.

"This is our guess so far," Gu Luoxin informed him, and Shen Nianzu couldn’t help but notice that his legs had gone back to normal as well. "The ’Reflection of Emotions’ allows us tourists to relive one event that reflects a certain emotion the most— and in our case, it’s despair. As long as we manage to get through it, we win. But if we fail, then we will become a nightmare creature. As for the strange appearance of these creatures here..." his lips twisted into a grimace. "Great God suspects that it’s the work of Momoko. She badly wants to get rid of us, after all. And when’s the best time to do it than when we’re weak and vulnerable?"

Seven types of nightmare creatures were still pouring relentlessly into this place, but Noir did a good job in fending them off, securing the area around Shen Nianzu safe. Qiuqiu was assisting him as well.

"I went back to the time when I was bullied because of my androgynous face," Gu Luoxin added somberly, but then he lifted his chin up with a proud look, declaring, "But I beat them all up and got rid of my alienation! When I came to, Great God was already awake, then it was Qiuqiu, and you..."

Shen Nianzu keenly noticed that he had left one person out.

"How about Ying?" He asked.