When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 510: Drunken Episode

Chapter 510: Drunken Episode

"Mad Hatter...?" Jin Jiuchi’s tone carried a hint of confusion as though he was digging deep into his chaotic memory. "Mad Hatter— oh! The guy who hosts the tea party! Good guy... he’s a good guy! There is so much free food and drinks! Hehehe..."

Damn it, Shen Nianzu resisted the urge to facepalm with a frustrated groan. It’s no use. Jin Jiuchi was simply impossible to talk to at the moment. He’d already had a few loose screws on his head to begin with and now it had gotten worse due to digesting the mysterious concoction. He truly had not learned his lesson from the previous Cycles, even after all the efforts Shen Nianzu had put in to caution him against putting anything – edible or not – into his mouth!

This damned husky must be a hungry ghost in his past life!

Shen Nianzu gnashed his teeth in anger, suppressing the urge to beat Jin Jiuchi up while the man was utterly open and defenseless right now. Should he be grateful that Jin Jiuchi was a nightmare creature, and thus, would only become high like the skeletons??

Alas, the situation did not allow Shen Nianzu to ponder for too long because shortly after, a piercing scream, which sounded very much like Gu Luoxin’s, reverberated through the forest, "HELP, THE SKELETONS HAVE GONE MAD AAAAH—!!!"

Shen Nianzu sucked in cold air. Not good! It seemed like those nightmare creatures had managed to free themselves from the snare of his illusion. They must not stay still any longer. Who knew what kind of abomination had they transformed into under the influence of the Red Zone?!

"Come on, Da Shen!" Grabbing Jin Jiuchi’s collar, Shen Nianzu delivered hard slaps to his face left and right, partly to wake the man up while the other part was to vent his anger a bit. He snarled fiercely, "Don’t you dare sleep here, for fuck’s sake! Otherwise I will just go and leave you behind!"

That one threat did wonders to yank Jin Jiuchi back to awareness. "Whyyy?!" He caught Shen Nianzu utterly off guard when he pounced forward without warning and pinned Shen Nianzu’s small body beneath him, almost smothering all the air out of the jade doll’s lungs. He did not hold back at all; his entire weight bore down on Shen Nianzu akin to a heavy, stable mountain. "Nian’er, you can’t be so cruel to leave me behind— hic!" he hiccuped mournfully, his head nuzzling into the jade doll’s chest like the doggy he was. "Haven’t we promised to stick to – hic – each other at all times like... like conjoined twins?!"

"When have we—" Shen Nianzu wheezed as he painstakingly forced out the words through gritted teeth, his delicate face turning red from the lack of oxygen. "You let go first... or we will both die here!!!"

Through Jin Jiuchi’s shoulder, Shen Nianzu’s pupils constricted sharply as he caught sight of a skeleton guest stumbling out of the crimson woods. His tattered hat was nowhere to be seen, and his threadbare clothes were torn here and there as though he had just braced through a storm. Upon closer inspection, one of his leg bones seemed to be broken, causing him to limp and stagger with each step he took.

But the most unsettling of all was the ghostly flames in his eye sockets, which were now glowing an ominous, blood-red hue!

Those sinister eyes landed on them, and in that split second, Shen Nianzu sensed a visceral, raw hunger emanating from them. A garbled, utterly inhuman growl leaked out of the skeleton’s throat before he charged straight toward them with a terrifying speed!

As if things were not bad enough, a few thorny vines began to writhe up from the ground, their jagged tips swaying like serpents in the air. Seemingly perceiving the two players as prey and not wanting to lose its share, the vines twisted together into a massive appendage nearly as thick as an adult’s waist, and they flung straight toward Jin Jiuchi’s back!

They were besieged by enemies from both sides!

Cold sweat broke out on Shen Nianzu’s back. "Damn it!" With a vehement curse, he moved his hand, intending to activate his skill card and bring the two of them into his domain for the time being.

But before he could do that, Jin Jiuchi suddenly moved.

Still with the jade doll secured in one arm, he planted his free hand on the ground as a pivot, and with a powerful kick of his legs, propelled his entire body off the ground just in time to dodge the vine’s vicious strike!

All of a sudden, Shen Nianzu found his views being turned upside down, but his instincts kicked in almost immediately as he reached for the gun in a smooth motion and fired two successive shots! Both bullets struck the skeleton squarely, knocking him back a few steps!

But alas, this was not enough to deter the creature as he surged forward once more, a loud growl rumbling out of his throat!

"So noisy..." Jin Jiuchi grumbled. In this intoxicated state, everything became a chaotic shift of kaleidoscopes in his eyes.

Two gigantic crescent moons hung above the night sky akin to a pair of crossed swords, close enough to reach with a stretch of his hand, while the forest below became splotches of glaring red and green as though someone had spilled a massive tank of paint in a fit of madness. The person in his arms no longer appeared human but more like a green, slimy creature with no apparent features.

Had it been any other person, they wouldn’t have been able to endure such bizarre scenes. They would have descended into hysteria and attacked everyone around them – friend and foe alike.

But the same case did not apply to Jin Jiuchi. His SAN value was already low to begin with, so a little more decline would not make much difference.

Besides, even if his eyes betrayed him, he could still rely on his other senses. The warmth in his arms was intimately familiar, the same he had held in his arms each morning. And this scent... there was no way he would confuse Shen Nianzu’s scent with anything else. In this world and even the ones beyond, only Shen Nianzu’s scent held such allure and attraction to him. Plus, there was also his own mark which he had personally left on Shen Nianzu’s soul...

With this mark, Jin Jiuchi would be able to track him down even to the corner of the world.

Hence, despite his eyes telling him otherwise, he stubbornly held on. For there was no power under this universe that could make him mistake Shen Nianzu with someone else, no matter what kind of appearance the other person was wearing.

[Current SAN Value: 43]

[Current SAN Value: 40]

[Current SAN Value: 39]

So noisy! Jin Jiuchi quickly grew irritated by the continuous prompts buzzing incessantly beside his ears, and he took it out on the poor skeleton, who was torn apart bone by bone until he could no longer pick himself up.

Shut the fuck up, will you?! he growled inwardly. He thought he was complaining aloud, but in fact the conversation was all in his head. What are you yapping for?! Can’t you see that you’re causing me a headache?!

[Current S-S-SAN Value... bzzz... bzzz... error detected!]

[Unable to calculate the SAN Value!]

[Initiating re-re-re-recalculation...]

[Recalculation is cancelled.]

[...]

Now that’s more like it! With a powerful kick, Jin Jiuchi sent the skeleton’s skull soaring high up in the air like it was nothing but a football, and only then did the heap of bones cease their restless movements. He harrumphed in satisfaction when his world turned silent and peaceful once more.

Perhaps it was the ferocity and wildness exuded from Jin Jiuchi’s body, but the other trees and vines seemed to sense the danger and conscientiously kept their distance, leaving an empty space around the duo. For a while, the whole forest seemed to hold its breath nervously, and even Shen Nianzu, who had known the man for quite some time, was shocked to the point of speechlessness at this brutal display of savagery.

Realizing that he had been gawking, Shen Nianzu clicked his jaws shut, swallowed tensely, and asked in a hesitant tone, "A–Are you okay...?"

What was most concerning was the fact that Jin Jiuchi’s eyes remained slightly out of focus – it was apparent that he had not recovered from his drunken episode yet!