When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 527: Big Stinky Liar!

Chapter 527: Big Stinky Liar!

Of all the most bizarre things he had experienced in the Nightmare Cycle so far, Jin Jiuchi felt like this could rank in the top three.

When the oracle attacked him all of a sudden earlier, he had indeed been caught off guard. But it’s not like he could not dodge it. The main reason why he had stayed still like a moron was because, surprisingly, he did not sense an iota of malice coming from the other person. And Jin Jiuchi was fairly confident in his keen senses and innate instinct. Even though XXX was weird, licentious, and super annoying, Jin Jiuchi had to begrudgingly admit that he’s not a bad guy at all.

Of course, he still couldn’t bring himself to like the man at all!

Going back to the point— once XXX’s fist connected to his chest, while everyone else saw him crumbling to the ground like a piece of discarded tissue paper soaked in the muddy rain, what actually happened was that his soul was ejected from his body.

He couldn’t quite describe the odd sensation into words.

All at once, the world around him faded into dull shades of black and gray as though someone had applied a monochrome filter on his eyes, and the sounds, which were usually loud and crystal clear to his ears, became muffled as though there was a layer of thick, frosted glass separating him from others.

Still somewhat dumbfounded, he raised his hands and found a thin layer of halo outlining his body, causing his skin tone to turn ashy white.

"What the hell...?" he muttered, stunned.

Before he could process what was happening, he was forced to witness the scene of Noir thrashing the oracle for good. Jin Jiuchi was not ashamed to admit that he had crouched on the side and cheered for the emerald-eyed man, urging him to knock out one or two teeth at the very least.

His loud declaration earned him a peal of hearty guffaw from the oracle, which planted the first seed of doubt in Jin Jiuchi.

"You...!" He jumped up in surprise, his heterochromatic eyes narrowing sharply in accusation. "You can see me, can’t you?! You must. It’s you who put me in this situation!"

Alas, he did not get the answers he wanted, for he was startled by the sound of Gu Luoxin’s nearly hysterical cries. The fact that he could still be taken aback despite his subdued perception of the other world proved how hard Gu Luoxin must be weeping for his death.

For a second, Jin Jiuchi felt a tad touched by this display of revolutionary friendship, even to the extent of wiping the fake tears on the corner of his eye with his pinky finger.

However, he stopped playing around for real when he caught sight of Shen Nianzu’s silhouette – small, lovely, and cute little Shen Nianzu – staring at his dead body with a vacant look in his beautiful eyes. Despite his grayscale vision, Jin Jiuchi could somehow guess how pallid his complexion must be, how shaken he must have felt.

When a teardrop slid down his fair cheek, Jin Jiuchi downright panicked.

He had always been, whenever he spotted his jade doll’s tears. Shen Nianzu had always been strong, independent and confident, which made this tiny crack of vulnerability all the more agonizing.

Jin Jiuchi abhorred the sight of his Nian’er’s tears, even more than he hated the gnawing hunger that used to stir in the pit of his stomach.

"Nian’er, Nian’er, don’t cry!" He hovered around Shen Nianzu, extremely flustered. "I am here. See? I’m not dead! Not dead at all!"

He reached out to brush away the wetness on Shen Nianzu’s cheek, only for his hand to go right through. His current soul form was unable to touch Shen Nianzu’s soft cheek or even create a breeze to caress Shen Nianzu’s silver hair. Meanwhile, the other three were locked in a heated argument, not paying heed to his predicament at all, thus the little jade doll had to wipe his tears on his own.

For a while, Jin Jiuchi’s features distorted, manic rage flashing in his inhumane eyes.

Fortunately, the situation was cleared soon afterwards and Shen Nianzu regained his lively vigor, though it did nothing to assuage Jin Jiuchi’s wrath. Not in the slightest. He mentally placed the Divine Oracle in his black list, vowing that he would make the man regret ever toying with them!

"If JJ is not dead," his ears instantly perked up upon hearing Shen Nianzu’s voice, just like a husky sniffing the milk scent on a little kitty, "then where is he now?"

"Nian’er, I’m here! I’m right here!" He anxiously jumped to answer, even thrusting his face right in front of the jade doll. Alas, his voice fell into deaf ears of everyone present – except the oracle, if his suspicion was correct.

XXX, in a rare bout of conscience, decided to be honest for once, "He’s right here."

Jin Jiuchi’s head snapped toward him at once, his eyes murderous. "I knew it! I know you can hear me!"

The other three regarded the second-ranked player with a touch of skepticism, though they were mostly relieved at this point. Despite his eccentric and... less-than-pleasant method, facts had proven that XXX had never lied to them – not even once. Still, being honest was one thing, and acting obnoxiously was another thing altogether. After the horrible prank he had just played, the trio wouldn’t be so naïve to place their trust in him anymore!

"Aww, why don’t you believe me?" With a regretful look, XXX raked his fingers through his hair and put his sunglasses on, hiding his peculiar eyes from sight. "Although I can neither hear nor see him, I know for certain that he must still be around, eavesdropping on our conversation."

"You big stinky liar!" Jin Jiuchi pointed at the man’s nose, seething in anger. "Let’s see how long you can keep pretending! And I’m not eavesdropping— I’m listening in a frank and honest manner!"

"Pfft—" XXX abruptly covered his mouth, coughing hard until his entire body was shaking like a sieve. "Sorry... cough, I choked on my saliva..."

Straightening up, he put on a dignified expression, though the occasional twitch on the corner of his lips betrayed his inner amusement. "Alright, now that you know the best method to explore the Red Zone, what happens from here onwards will depend on you. I wish you luck."

Still with that ever obnoxious grin, XXX lazily gestured toward the direction of the Red Zone where Noir had pointed out earlier, the one where the main reward was supposed to be. Shen Nianzu, Gu Luoxin, and Noir were puzzled, unable to figure out what the oracle was trying to imply, but it was not the same with Jin Jiuchi.

"Woah!" He stood still with his jaws hanging open in astonishment, his wide eyes reflecting a sea of vivid crimson.

Amidst the dull, monochrome world, the Red Zone was the only color that remained vivid and striking. Thousands of red lanterns hung from the tree canopies, exuding a bright and festive aura. Some players were still desperately fleeing from the area, yet they could have never imagined that among them, countless ’people’ were strolling through the woods, talking and laughing merrily.