When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 419: Lovesick Fool

Chapter 419: Lovesick Fool

Heavy silence blanketed the table, with the only sound coming from Jin Jiuchi munching on his food. "Oh come on, what’s the big deal? It’s not like the personal task is particularly difficult." He recalled his last task which only required him to devour a certain fish, and he nodded firmly – en, it’s really quite simple.

"What about you, Nian’er? What are your personal tasks like?" he asked Shen Nianzu with undisguised curiosity.

"Well, you’re not wrong when you said that they’re not so difficult," Shen Nianzu responded. "The Nightmare targets your weaknesses, but it’s not like you will be left with no way out. In my case, I needed to swim across a lake in the middle of the night to obtain the talisman that could seal a bunch of jiangshi[1]. The lake wasn’t that deep, nor were there any dangerous creatures lurking below. All it required was courage to swim through. It’s only on my second advancement test that..." his expression turned gloomy at the memory.

As far as he knew, the personal tasks from the Nightmare were relatively harmless, targeting the fears and cowardice nestled inside the heart. It was only during his second test that the level of difficulty skyrocketed. This was, without a doubt, linked to the presence of the Nightmare itself.

Whenever the Nightmare descended into a Cycle, the level of difficulty would increase a few folds – it was a common knowledge among players. It’s just that the number of times it had occurred was far and few in between, so much that this rule had almost become a myth.

Until he crossed paths with Jin Jiuchi.

Starting from the Shishen Apartment, he had encountered the Nightmare three times, which was an astronomical and nearly impossible frequency. This was the reason why his last advancement test was super difficult – no, ’difficult’ was an utter understatement to describe it.

Traumatizing. Yes, it was horrible and traumatizing. The grotesque image of the twins devouring and tearing into each other right before his eyes was etched into Shen Nianzu’s memory, a horror he doubted he would ever forget.

Shaking his head, he dispelled the lingering fear inside his heart and turned to look at Jin Jiuchi, who was staring at him unblinkingly. "Nian’er?"

Shen Nianzu huffed and pinched his cheek. "It’s nothing." To avoid dampening the atmosphere further, he shifted his attention to the one who had never spoken since the start. "What about you, Noir?" he inquired. "What have your tasks been like so far?"

"Ah yes!" Gu Luoxin’s eyes sparkled. "I really want to know it too! Senior, please share a little bit about your personal tasks and enlighten me!"

Noir had his eyes lowered as he leisurely stirred his coffee. Since arriving at this place, he had not uttered a single word to the trio, leaving them in the dark about whether he was following the conversation or simply lost in his own thoughts. Two full seconds of silence ensued following Gu Luoxin’s eager remark, and the smile almost slipped from his face. Jin Jiuchi and Shen Nianzu exchanged silent glances, but before one of them could speak up to break the frozen atmosphere, Noir opened his mouth and said,

"Do not underestimate the Nightmare."

Gu Luoxin blinked. "O–Oh..."

That’s all? What about his personal tasks? Did he not hear the question or... was he just unwilling to answer?

"But," Noir suddenly raised his eyelids to meet Gu Luoxin’s eyes, startling the young man so much that his heart almost leaped out of his throat. It seemed like... this was the first time their gazes had met directly today. Under Noir’s blatant scrutiny, Gu Luoxin’s heart clamored like a bunch of frenzied flying chickens were somersaulting within. Droplets of sweat rolled down his back as he hastily dropped his gaze, unable to bring himself to meet those beautiful emerald eyes. Then, he heard Noir add,

"With your current rank and divine prop, it will be an utter humiliation if you were to fail."

Gu Luoxin snapped his gaze up, shocked.

Wait a minute...

Setting aside the subtle mockery and sarcasm in those words, Noir was... cheering him on, right? He believed that Gu Luoxin would pass with flying colors. Right???

As soon as the realization dawned on him, it was like he had been injected with a renewed surge of energy, making his eyes light up impossibly brighter. Unable to be suppressed, the corner of his lips curved up higher and higher, and a faint blush dusted his cheeks.

"Hehe," he tugged on his bangs shyly. "Do you really think so?"

Just with that one sentence, Gu Luoxin had basically forgotten who had tormented him all night, leaving him unable to catch a wink of sleep.

Such was the tragic fate of a fanboy.

"Pssst, Nian’er," Jin Jiuchi leaned closer to whisper into Shen Nianzu’s ear, "What is it? Why does Xinxin suddenly look so foolish? It’s not like Noir has said anything particularly special...?"

Shen Nianzu cast him an exasperated glance. "Shut up." With his low EQ, Jin Jiuchi wouldn’t understand how it felt to be a lovesick fool.

The four of them wrapped up breakfast, strolled around the beach resort and had a little fun. In a blink of an eye, it was time for them to head back.

The Shen Family’s driver had been on standby, helping them to move their luggage into the car. The seating arrangement remained the same as when they came here; Shen Nianzu in the shotgun seat, while Jin Jiuchi, Noir and Gu Luoxin in the backseat.

This time, however, Gu Luoxin was no longer a nervous wreck. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t slept all night, or maybe it was the reassurance he received from Noir’s words, he quickly dozed off as soon as the journey started, and he didn’t even wake up once until the car entered the city and stopped in front of his college.

"...Guh?" He cracked his eyes open when he suddenly couldn’t breathe, only to realize that Jin Jiuchi was pinching his nose. Swatting the man’s hand away, he straightened up, shocked to see a familiar building in front of him. "Wait, we’ve arrived?!"

He hastily rubbed his eyes and wiped the corner of his mouth to make sure that he hadn’t left any embarrassing marks, then he climbed out of the car after Noir. After grabbing his backpack from the trunk, he bowed to Shen Nianzu and the uncle driver, "Thank you so much for bringing me back. Thank you so much for the vacation. I enjoyed myself a lot!"

Shen Nianzu waved his hand good-naturedly, "Go back and have a rest."

"See you two later!" Jin Jiuchi waved at them enthusiastically.

Gu Luoxin waved back, and he stood in place until the car drove away and disappeared from sight. When he turned, he found that Noir was still standing beside him. He asked awkwardly, "S–Shall we go inside, Senior?"

Nodding, Noir took the lead to enter the campus, and Gu Luoxin could only trail behind him, making sure that he was more than three steps away.

The campus ground on a Sunday evening was buzzing with activity, filled with students roaming around, chatting and laughing, while some were jogging on the field tracks. The lively noises surrounded them, yet for some reason, they were all muffled in Gu Luoxin’s ears, for all he could focus on was the back of the man in front of him.

Against the backdrop of the setting sun, Noir’s brown curls took on a subtle crimson tint, and his elongated shadows stretched toward Gu Luoxin. Feeling a little mischievous, Gu Luoxin tentatively stepped into the shadow, and he almost yelped out loud when Noir turned around.

"Have you received your ticket?"

It took Gu Luoxin a good two seconds to grasp the man’s meaning, then he quickly shook his head. "I–I haven’t. Is... is there something wrong?" He peeked at Noir through his lashes, trying to discern the man’s expression to no avail.

Noir was always like a closed book to him – obscure, mysterious and full of enigma. It was simply impossible to guess what was running in his mind.

This time, too, was no exception.

"Tell me if you get it."

"Huh?" Gu Luoxin gaped at him, fearing that he had misheard. But his doubt was shattered the next moment when Noir added, still with his usual deadpan expression,

"I will enter with you."

Gu Luoxin remained in a dazed state even after he separated from Noir. The man claimed that he had an errand to attend to before heading to his department building, whereas Gu Luoxin floated to his dormitory, his steps light and surreal. The only thing grounding him to reality was the warmth his phone emitted, which he was clutching tightly in his hand.

Inside the phone, there was a new addition to his contacts.

It was Noir’s.

.

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[1] Jiangshi, also known as a Chinese hopping vampire, is a type of reanimated corpse that moves around by hopping with its arms outstretched.