When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 440: Unexpected Savior

Chapter 440: Unexpected Savior

The little brown mouse darted desperately through the bustling crowd, trying to reach his teammate, his one and only hope to escape from this hellish situation. But alas, the clamor of the royal procession’s music was too loud, and the cheers too rowdy, easily drowning the mouse’s frantic cries. Even though the distance between them was less than ten meters, it felt more like an insurmountable gulf for Gu Luoxin’s current form.

Disregarding everything, Gu Luoxin urged his small limbs to move faster, his gaze locked onto Shen Nianzu’s distant figure with a single-minded determination.

Unknowingly, tears fell freely from his eyes, leaving a faint watery trail in his wake.

"Ciit—!" Xiao Shen, please... please notice me!

Unfortunately, it seemed like Gu Luoxin’s luck was really bad in this Cycle. The first person who noticed him wasn’t Shen Nianzu as he had hoped, but a small child whose hand was held by her mother. The child, upon seeing a mouse bravely rushing through the street, pointed at him and exclaimed happily, "Mama, look! There’s a mouse there!"

That crisp and childish voice attracted the attention of a few, including that of a woman who harbored genuine fear of such small dirty creatures.

Noticing Gu Luoxin heading straight to her direction, her pupils dilated and a hysterical shriek escaped her lips. "AH—! Mouse... there’s a mouse! Get that away from me!"

She instinctively lifted the hem of her skirt and leaped away, only to collide with others and creating a cascade of commotion.

That’s how people discovered Gu Luoxin’s presence.

"Wha— how can there be a mouse here?!"

"Haven’t this street been cleaned?!"

"Ahhh, someone get rid of it!"

"Hurry, we must not let His Highness see such a dirty little thing!"

Gu Luoxin was so focused on Shen Nianzu that he willed himself to ignore the mayhem around him. He even thought that the bigger the uproar, the better. It would be easier to catch Shen Nianzu’s attention this way. However, that notion only lasted for a scant few seconds in his mind when a colossal shadow loomed over him, as a gigantic sole of a shoe hurtled toward his small frame.

Fearing that the mouse would disrupt the royal procession, a man swung his leg to kick the mouse away. "Scram—!"

Gu Luoxin’s pupils dilated as they reflected the shoe. A sharp gust of wind cut through the air above his head, and his entire mouse froze in place, terrified. His poor little heart abruptly seized as if it was on the verge of bursting apart.

H–Help...!

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Shen Nianzu sharply turned around, a furrow appearing between his brows.

"What’s wrong, Sister?" Eva asked when she noticed him halting in his tracks. She followed his gaze and tried to see what had seized his attention, but she only saw a sea of people packed like sardines. It seemed like there was a commotion meters ahead, but she couldn’t discern what it was all about.

Failing to find anything of interest, she impatiently tugged on his arm, pulling him away. "Come on!" she whined. "Mother will scold us if we’re late!"

Despite her insistence, Shen Nianzu’s keen eyes continued to scan the surroundings, though he could see nothing past a sea of people obstructing his view. He could only make out a piercing scream and scattered shouts of ’mouse’ and ’dirty little thing’. Apparently, a mouse had popped up in the street which had been thoroughly cleaned for the royal procession. No wonder the citizens made a ruckus because of it.

Just as he was about to turn away, a sudden realization struck him, causing him to freeze in place.

Sure, it was not weird for the citizens to miss one or two small animals when they cleaned the street, but... what kind of rodent would run straight into the crowd rather than avoid it, like how it was supposed to act?

As Shen Nianzu’s mind raced with possibilities, his breath hitched and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. "Don’t tell me..."

Unable to drag her sister away, Eva grew sullen and stomped her feet on the ground, demanding in frustration, "Sister, what are you even looking at?! We have to—"

Without warning, Shen Nianzu agilely slipped out of her grasp, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Go to the carriage first, Eva. I will catch up with you soon." Without waiting for the other person’s reply, Shen Nianzu swiftly weaved through the crowd and soon vanished from sight.

Left behind, Eva could only stare after him, utterly dumbfounded. She only blinked back to her senses when someone bumped into her shoulder, and she quickly gave chase,

"W–Wait for me, Sister Rosie!"

Shen Nianzu, on the other hand, was sweating buckets as he frantically scanned the ground, attempting to locate the mouse. If his intuition served him right, then that mouse was not an ordinary mouse. It could be an important plot device that held the key to a crucial clue, or worse yet... it could also be his missing teammate, Xinxin!

Shen Nianzu couldn’t help but curse at the second possibility. If that was the case, this Cycle was truly insidious!

"Excuse me," Shen Nianzu stopped a random NPC and hastily inquired, "Wasn’t there a mouse here just now? Where did it go?"

"Ah, you’re looking for the mouse?" The middle-aged auntie responded with a disdainful harrumph. "It’s gone already!"

"G–Gone?" Shen Nianzu was stunned. What did she mean by that?

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Gu Luoxin panted like an exhausted dog, his entire body trembling and shivering with the lingering rush of adrenaline from narrowly escaping death.

T–That was so close! He really thought that he was going to die today, under the foot of a random NPC at that!

"Are you okay ciit?"

Turning to the sound, Gu Luoxin laid eyes on the mouse before him. Its size was bigger than him, its fur matted with dirt and dust, seemingly as if it had weathered through a fierce storm. A vertical scar ran across its left eye, leaving only the right to shimmer with warmth and concern. It was this rodent which had appeared out of nowhere, swooped him from under the NPC’s foot and forcibly whisked him away, thus saving his little life.

Gu Luoxin couldn’t even begin to describe how complicated his feelings were right now.

Who would have imagined he would live long enough to be rescued by a mouse, even having a civilized conversation with the said mouse?

However, it did not change the fact that this one-eyed mouse was his savior, so Gu Luoxin bowed his head – wait, how should a mouse convey gratitude again? – as low as possible without touching the ground and expressed sincerely, "T–Thank you ciit..." his voice shook, tinged with a lingering fear. "I would have been done for if not for you..."

"Don’t be," it replied good-naturedly. "I know how difficult it is for us to survive ciit. Just remember to stay away from crowds from now on, understand?"

Gu Luoxin nodded, albeit he was wailing inside his heart. There goes his chance to get in touch with Shen Nianzu! Now that he’d lost him, who knew when they would cross paths again? As despair began to fester within him, he heard the one-eyed mouse chime in tentatively,

"Forgive me for the sudden question ciit..."

Gu Luoxin raised his head, puzzled.

It continued, "But may I ask if you used to be a human?"

It took Gu Luoxin’s sluggish brain two full seconds to process that question, and his fur instantly exploded in shock. A sharp yelp escaped him by pure reflex, "Ciit—!"

How... How did this mouse know that?!