When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 385: A Different Path

Chapter 385: A Different Path

"W–Wha—" Gu Luoxin choked on his tea. The liquid made a mess all over his face but he ignored it in lieu of gawking at Jin Jiuchi in disbelief. "Da Shen, y–y–y–you’re a nightmare creature...?!"

"Tsk, you only realized it now?" Jin Jiuchi shot him a stinky glare, not unlike a father who was dissatisfied with his son’s idiocy, as if hating that iron couldn’t become steel.

That look on his face offended Gu Luoxin so much that his shock rapidly morphed into anger. "How... How am I supposed to know something like that?! Do you think I would one day wake up and think ’oh my god, could my teammate be a nightmare creature?’ or something like that?!"

"Look at me, look into my eyes!" Jin Jiuchi shoved his face right in front of Gu Luoxin and pointed at his different colored eyes. "Do you think these super awesome, handsome and otherworldly eyes can possibly belong to a human???"

"I... I..." Gu Luoxin was struck speechless as he stared at Jin Jiuchi’s left eye which had indeed changed since he returned from the Cycle. However, he would rather die than acknowledge his error in front of Jin Jiuchi. So he raised his chin and retorted haughtily, "S–So what?! Contact lenses are so common nowadays! Who knows, you might want to follow the current trend!"

"Haha..." Jin Jiuchi laughed angrily. "Just admit that you’re dumb. Even Nian’er guessed it early on!" He pulled down the skin beneath his eye with a finger as he mocked the other, "Lalalala, little dumbdumb Xinxin!"

"You—!" Gu Luoxin’s hackles raised as he rolled up his sleeves. "You’re the dumb one, your whole family is dumb!"

Before the two of them could break into a messy brawl right there and then, Shen Nianzu cleared his throat to intervene. "Children." Despite the sweet smile on his face, his pale purple eyes were brimming with thick murderous intent. "Shut up, or I will drown you in the stream below."

That threat successfully doused their fighting spirit like icy water poured over the flickering flame. Exchanging a heated glare, they proceeded to turn their backs to each other with a loud harrumph.

"Pfft..." Grandpa Song’s shoulders shook, and he burst out into a fit of hearty laughter. "Hahahaha!" He laughed so hard that he doubled over while pounding his fists on the table. But he might not pay close attention to his strength, as cracks began to form on the solid wood surface. Seeing that, Jin Jiuchi agilely snatched up the plates of cookies before they could become collateral damage.

"Oh dear..." Still shaking with laughter, Grandpa Song directed a mirthful look at Shen Nianzu, "You got your hands full with them, huh?"

Shen Nianzu apologized sheepishly, "I’m extremely sorry for their behavior..."

"Don’t be," Grandpa Song grinned. "Just from this, you can tell that they’re good children. The same goes with you too. To know that people like you still exist in the top 50 makes me happy. I’m so glad that the three of you form a team."

"So..." Gu Luoxin snuck a few sneaky glances at Jin Jiuchi, still unwilling to address him directly. "H–He is really a nightmare creature? How?"

"How?" Grandpa Song echoed with a thoughtful hum. "That’s a very good question, indeed. I also want to know how you ended up here."

"Dunno," Jin Jiuchi shrugged nonchalantly. "I don’t remember. Is that a problem?"

"Oh, it sure is. Just think about it. The fact that you could cross over to this world means that a path has opened up— a path different from what we humans take everytime we board the bus. A path that allows creatures from another realm to enter our world. Once there is a first, there will always be a second and third. Who knows, another nightmare creature might be roaming the Earth right now as we speak."

"Uh, it sounds bad?" Jin Jiuchi scratched his head, commenting just for the sake of it. He was about to throw another cookie into his mouth when he noticed that Shen Nianzu was deep in thought, so absorbed that his pretty brows were creased into deep lines. Feeling amused, he nudged the cookie into Shen Nianzu’s lips. "Hello, Earth to Nian’er~ what are you thinking about?"

Without a warning, Shen Nianzu grabbed his wrist and chomped down on the cookie. He shot Jin Jiuchi a look that said ’I will deal with you later’ before turning his attention back to Grandpa Song, "You’re right, it is a troubling matter. But don’t worry, Grandpa, I will try to get to the bottom of this. By the way, you mentioned meeting a boy that looks like Jin Jiuchi inside the Cycle..." he shifted the topic back. "Does it have something to do with the reason why you sought out the Calamitous Twins? Truth to be told, I’ve heard something similar from the Harbinger of Doom..."

Once again, Gu Luoxin choked on his tea and almost hacked his lungs out. He gazed at Shen Nianzu with sheer incredulity. Holy shit, his leader had already met the number one player in the leaderboard, who was also the strongest in the entire country???

As though this revelation was not shocking enough, he heard Shen Nianzu add, "She came to me a few months ago while searching for Jin Jiuchi, saying something about the prophecy from the Divine Oracle..."

"Oh?" Grandpa Song raised a brow, intrigued.

Shen Nianzu swallowed subtly. Along the way here, he had taken into account the possibility that Grandpa might not be willing to divulge any information to them, especially with Jin Jiuchi’s identity as a nightmare creature. After all, it had been ingrained into their minds that they were enemies.

Grandpa Song might still act cordial on the outside, but there was no telling how cautious he had become on the inside. For that reason, Shen Nianzu had to show his cards. He had to throw out a bait that would pique the other person’s interest and compel him to share his discovery in a fair trade. It was fortunate that Grandpa did not seem to be aware of the prophecy. It seemed like, despite being the Oracle’s clients, the two legendary players seldom come into contact with each other.

After Shen Nianzu did a quick summary of the events, Grandpa stroked his chin with a thoughtful look. "Interesting..." he gazed intently at Jin Jiuchi, who was busy stuffing his mouth full. "I can’t help but notice an intriguing fact— the prophecy doesn’t mention anything about his true nature; instead, it seems to be painting him as one of the players."

Pouring himself another cup of tea, Grandpa released a resigned sigh, "The reason why I searched for the Calamitous Twins... it’s quite complicated to explain. Perhaps I have to tell you everything starting from the moment I crossed paths with that boy."