When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 370: The Forbidden Area

Chapter 370: The Forbidden Area

Before his brain could even process, his feet had carried him sprinting across the corridor, toward where his dear boyfriend was.

Jin Jiuchi... Jin Jiuchi...!

Shen Nianzu’s heart called out to him ardently. The overpowering force of his longing even offset the bone-aching exhaustion that wore him down to the core. He ran as though he had wings behind his back, as though he had never known what fatigue was. His heart felt stronger and more alive than ever. For God’s sake, never had he expected the day would come when he would miss that silly husky so much as now!

"Nian’er..."

"Nian’er..."

The voice echoed once more, and Shen Nianzu cried out in response, "Jin Jiuchi! Jin Jiuchi, where are you?!" His voice bounced off the walls and returned to him again. Before him was nothing but an endless stretch of corridors. Shen Nianzu’s frustration quickly grew to a fever pitch.

Was it because of what he had just experienced back in the ’Reflection of Emotions’? Was it why he so desperately wanted to see Jin Jiuchi, to touch and hug him, to savor the man’s presence in his arms?

Shen Nianzu did not even realize he was crying until the salty tang of tears slipped into his mouth. "Jin Jiuchi!"

The muscles in his legs spasmed, especially the one which had just regenerated recently. However, Shen Nianzu forced himself to keep going. He couldn’t afford to stop. He must not! He haphazardly wiped his tears away when they blurred his vision, before taking another turn his heart told him to. A fleeting sense of déjà vu teased the edge of his consciousness. He felt like he had gone through something like this before – the endless corridors, the yearning, anxiety and desperation that choked the air out of his lungs – or perhaps it was nothing but a mere dream.

Alas, he did not have the luxury to delve into that thought right now.

As seconds stretched into minutes, Shen Nianzu vividly sensed the man’s voice growing clearer and clearer, and his heart soared in delight. Just a little bit more... just a little bit more and he could—

He abruptly halted on his tracks, eyes widening, when he caught sight of a black door ahead of him.

He had never encountered a black-colored door in this labyrinth before. Previously, all the entrance doors had been white in color, while the exit was bright red with a massive sign on top. But this? This was unprecedented. Taking a step closer, Shen Nianzu’s gaze was drawn to the nameplate beside the door, and he felt his heart running cold.

The Forbidden Area.

He had unknowingly wandered into the Forbidden Area.

Rule 7: Please do not enter the Forbidden Area. If you accidentally get yourself in there, you must leave a piece of memory behind, press the emergency button and wait for the tour guide to bring you away.

The rules flashed in Shen Nianzu’s mind, adding to his hesitation. It was explicitly stated that tourists were not allowed in there, but...

"Nian’er..."

But Jin Jiuchi’s voice had come from the other side of the door!

How? How could he be here? Shouldn’t he be with the Team 14’s Shen Nianzu? Had something gone wrong in the process?! Doubts and questions flooded Shen Nianzu’s mind, almost driving him insane. In the end, he decided that... he should open the door. Jin Jiuchi was right there, waiting for him! What price was leaving a piece of memory behind if it meant he could see his lover?

Making up his mind, Shen Nianzu no longer hesitated and pushed the door open. It felt heavier than usual, and a faint electrical charge ran through his hand as it met the surface, sending a jolt through his heart.

But soon, his attention was seized by the wide expanse of darkness before him. It was so dense and profound that it was almost suffocating in its intensity; an all-encompassing void that seemed to defy the intrusion of light. The depth of this darkness reminded him awfully of... the Nightmare itself. Initially, Shen Nianzu had no idea what he was looking at, as his head felt mildly dizzy just by staring at it. But then as though sensing his presence, the darkness shifted and oh— there he was.

A pair of enormous different colored eyes bore down on him, cold in a way that was both cruel and innocent. One eye glowed like molten silver, the other a glittering abyss with bright golden slits.

Shen Nianzu’s breath seized as he registered the colossal being before him. Slowly, ever so slowly, he took a step in, allowing himself to be embraced by the shadows. "Jin Jiuchi...?" His quiet voice resonated, a slight tremor in his words. From what, Shen Nianzu couldn’t tell. One thing for certain, it was not fear. He would never come to fear the owner of these captivating yet otherworldly eyes.

"Jin Jiuchi, is that you...?" Shen Nianzu took another step forward, then another and another, until he stood right in front of this... creature from the dark. His voice was tender as he spoke, as if he was afraid of disrupting the delicate equilibrium. "Is this your true form?"

Those massive eyes blinked as though grappling with the sight before them, and then a familiar voice rumbled, "Nian’er... Nian’er is here..."

The corner of Shen Nianzu’s lips tugged into a soft smile. "Yes..." he whispered. "I am here."

It made an almost picturesque scene. Amidst the darkness so profound that one would be robbed of their senses, Shen Nianzu seemed to radiate his own light as he stood tall against the creature that loomed over him. Whether it was his flowing silver hair, the pale purple depth of his eyes, or his fair complexion, they emitted a subtle glow, creating a halo of his own.

Light and darkness converged.

It was the reminiscence of his life-and-death confrontation with Medeia earlier. Instead of attempting to suppress each other, these two elements only reached out and sought each other like a much-needed air to survive. Gently entangling and intertwining in a tender and poignant dance.

Jin Jiuchi’s massive form shifted yet again. Shen Nianzu couldn’t actually tell what he really was; the man was just so big that Shen Nianzu could not catch the end of his body even if he were to stretch his neck to the maximum. It was like his stature extended endlessly into the abyss.

But then, in a breathtaking moment, an astonishing spectacle occured.

The darkness condensed and shrank in size until the eyes met Shen Nianzu’s gaze at almost the eye level, and it dispersed, revealing the silly and endearing man he knew best.

"Nian’er..." Jin Jiuchi’s heterochromic eyes roamed all over Shen Nianzu’s body as though he could not believe what he was seeing. His attention lingered on Shen Nianzu’s leg – the leg which had previously been blasted away – now fully intact. "Nian’er is here..." his gaze returned to Shen Nianzu’s face, full of awe and astonishment.

In turn, Shen Nianzu was also busy drinking in his features, noticing how Jin Jiuchi’s lower body remained veiled in shadow, while his upper body was covered in a tattered black shirt that seemed to be crafted from tendrils of darkness themselves. There was no trace of injury marring his body... he was not injured... Shen Nianzu repeated that information in his mind again and again, his nose turning sour.

The last time they saw each other, their conditions had been so horrible. Shen Nianzu had been near death with one of his legs blasted, while Jin Jiuchi... the twins were tearing into each other, all for Shen Nianzu’s sake. Shen Nianzu’s heart still ached immensely at the mere recollection of that.

He watched as Jin Jiuchi raised his arm and opened his palm, revealing a familiar square-sized ticket. "Here you go, Nian’er."

"This..." A surge of shock coursed through Shen Nianzu as he redirected his gaze to Jin Jiuchi’s face. "This is the return ticket? Why would you give it to me?"

Jin Jiuchi tutted, disappointed that he did not get the reaction he was hoping for. "How could Nian’er forget? Haven’t we discussed it beforehand? As long as Nian’er fulfill one task from us, then this ticket will be yours."

Confusion filled Shen Nianzu’s eyes. "But I haven’t—"

"You have," Jin Jiuchi reached out to grasp his wrist and placed the ticket in his palm, his movement gentle yet insistent. Shen Nianzu needed to exert more willpower to focus on the man’s words rather than the searing touch of his skin. "Nian’er has fulfilled our task. Do you remember what we asked of you the last time we met?"

It took Shen Nianzu a while to comprehend Jin Jiuchi’s words, and when the realization struck, the rims of his eyes reddened in an instant. "Don’t tell me..."

"Hehe, that’s right." He flashed a wide smile that showed his sharp canines as he declared proudly, "’You can’t die’ – that’s the task we gave you. And now that Nian’er is standing here in front of us, it means you have fulfilled the task. Congratulations, Nian’er!"