When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 532: I’m Worried

Chapter 532: I’m Worried

"Hey, look over there! Isn’t that a supply box?"

At this hour of the night, the visibility of the Suicide Forest was extremely low. The temperature was so chilling that it made one’s teeth chatter relentlessly, and the ground became all the more slippery due to the high humidity. It was unknown when, but thin fog began to permeate the air, shrouding the silent woods in a haunting and eerie atmosphere which was exacerbated by the strips of white cloth swaying gently from tree branches.

The whole scene was akin to paradise for horror lovers and conversely, an utter nightmare for the faint-hearted.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, it was extremely easy to miss the dark-colored supply boxes if you didn’t pay enough attention.

The duo hadn’t had much luck since the start of the Cycle. Let alone the elusive main rewards, they couldn’t even find enough food to fill their stomachs, causing it to growl from time to time. At this rate, they hoped for nothing but to make it alive until the end. As for the platinum, golden, or silver tickets— sheesh, what did it have to do with noobs like them?

When they spotted a supply box resting under the tree, excitement colored their faces and they rushed forward without delay. "Oh, oh, oh, it’s a red one!" the woman cried out in sheer joy. "And still unopened at that!"

"Let this be strength potions... let this be strength potions..." the man prayed fervently under his breath. He rubbed his hands together and blew on them twice, ready to open it. But at that moment, a soft and tender voice sounded behind him,

"Excuse me."

The two of them whipped around in shock, only to discover a little boy standing behind them since God-knows-when. The boy’s features were nearly indistinguishable; it was a face so unremarkable and harmless that the couple could not use any particular words to describe it. It was as though they would soon forget once they took their eyes off him. In any other situations, they wouldn’t have reacted strongly, but what was this place? It’s the Suicide Forest teeming with ghosts and nightmare creatures!

"AH!" the woman shrieked, her legs nearly giving out beneath her. "A-A-Are you a ghost or a human?!" she asked in a trembling voice, her complexion ashen with fear.

The man stepped forward to shield her and eyed the little boy warily. "Where did you come from? We didn’t hear you at all!"

In lieu of an answer, the little boy merely blinked his round and big eyes and continued with his own query, "Excuse me, can you allow me to open the box first? I’m searching for something. If it’s what I’m looking for, I will compensate you with something of similar value. If it’s not, I will return it back to you." He paused for a beat before batting his long lashes, "... pretty please?"

It was a quite – no, an awfully brazen request despite it being spoken in a polite tone. In this treacherous place, who could afford to yield to another? Who knows, they might even lose their lives the next second without knowing how they died or who had killed them!

But strangely, when the duo looked into the little boy’s eyes, they found themselves unable to muster even an ounce of resistance, their minds muddled as if covered by a layer of haze.

"Oh... oh yeah, sure," the man muttered, stepping aside to reveal the supply box behind him. "Just keep your promise, okay?"

"Don’t worry, Mister." A faint smile finally graced the little boy’s face. "I always keep my words."

Upon receiving a green-light signal from Shen Nianzu, Gu Luoxin darted out of the place he had been hiding, flashed him a thumbs up before making a beeline toward the red supply box. As Shen Nianzu kept the two players occupied with light conversation, he carefully opened the box, his breath hitching in a mixture of nerves and anticipation, only to be disappointed when he found a row of strength potions inside.

He silently shook his head to Shen Nianzu.

The little boy’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly, so faint that no one noticed this subtle movement. His expression, however, remained as unfazed as ever. "Thank you," he nodded toward the two players. "I’ll take my leave first then. Good luck to you two."

When the duo snapped back to their senses, they found the supply box opened beneath their feet, with a row of tubes with green bubbly liquid greeting their eyes.

"These... are the strength potions?"

They glanced at each other in disbelief before breaking into a suppressed cheer, their excitement and delight palpable.

"Hallelujah! We don’t have to worry about our lives anymore!" the man laughed happily as he collected the potions. But halfway through, something suddenly crossed his mind, though it was so fleeting that he failed to grasp onto it before it burst akin to fragile bubbles.

"Wait..." he frowned in confusion. "Did we talk to someone just now?"

"Has your brain become muddled due to hunger?" the woman replied, amused. "Drink one of those if you can’t bear it anymore."

The man’s attention was soon diverted by the mention of their newly acquired potions. He knocked his head with a little apprehension, "Damn right, I must be so tired that I started to dream with my eyes open. Now that you’re offering, don’t mind me then."

Grinning, he uncorked one of the potions and gulped the green liquid down his throat.

***

At this moment, Shen Nianzu and Gu Luoxin had already gone quite far away, their hands empty. All was silent aside from the fallen leaves crunched beneath the soles of their boots. The two of them were not Jin Jiuchi who could sniff out the supply boxes like a police dog, so they could only keep a vigilant eye out for the twisting vines and small crevices around their feet.

Gu Luoxin tried to maintain his focus, yet after five minutes or so, his gaze once again veered toward the little boy beside him. He couldn’t help but notice the faint fatigue and impatience between Shen Nianzu’s brows, which caused his heart to clench in worry.

"Shall we take a rest, Xiao Shen?" he suggested tentatively. "We have been searching nonstop for nearly two hours, after all."

Shen Nianzu shot him a faint glance. "Do you feel tired already?"

Gu Luoxin sensed a hidden danger from that single glance, as though Shen Nianzu was going to add physical training to his schedule later on if he dared to say yes. Driven by a burst of survival instinct, Gu Luoxin shook his head like a rattle drum, even waving his hands for extra emphasis. "No, no no! I’m not tired at all!" He thumped his chest and declared vigorously, "I can still keep going for hours!"

The corner of Shen Nianzu’s eye twitched. "...Keep your voice down."

"Oh." Gu Luoxin immediately made a zipping motion across his lips before tossing the invisible key away. But barely a beat later, he couldn’t resist speaking up once more, "Don’t worry, we still have four hours. Four hours! Wow, that’s quite long. We can definitely find a revival potion for Da Shen before then!" His attempt to comfort could be considered clumsy at most, yet it still warmed Shen Nianzu’s heart nonetheless.

A helpless smile tugged on his lips, one that looked wholly out of place with his childish features. "Am I that obvious?"

At long last, Shen Nianzu called for a break and Gu Luoxin rushed to gather some dry branches without the other needing to say anything. After a small fire was lit between them, Shen Nianzu continued his previous sentence,

"Don’t get me wrong. I’m not worried that we can’t find the revival potion," he released a long sigh while warming his small hands near the fire. "I’m just worried that... he will wreak havoc and cause something to go wrong. Like making this Cycle collapse, for example."

Gu Luoxin thought about it for a while and felt that it made perfect sense. After all, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Not to mention, Jin Jiuchi was now acting without supervision! That man was so violent, impulsive, and unpredictable; who could guess what kind of shenanigans he would be up to on the other side? They were not afraid that Jin Jiuchi would be in any trouble. On the contrary, they were afraid that Jin Jiuchi would bully the nightmare creatures so hard that they would call out to their Daddy aka the Nightmare itself!

Perhaps affected by the other person, Gu Luoxin could feel a sense of dread and restlessness mounting in his heart.

Was this the trepidation one would feel after leaving their hyperactive husky home alone for the whole day, half dreading and half anticipating the chaos they would find behind the closed door?

Oh, just when would they be able to contact Jin Jiuchi?!

Gu Luoxin opened his mouth to say something when all of a sudden, a burst of colorful fireworks erupted in the distant skies, followed by a cheerful celebratory song they had heard once before. The two of them exchanged glances, both seeing the surprise and realization in each other’s eyes. And sure enough, the fake Santa Claus’ obnoxious laughter resounded through the whole forest in the very next second,

"Ohoho! Congratulations to a good child of mine for obtaining the main reward!"

Someone had found either the platinum, golden, or silver ticket!

Unlike the case with Noir, however, the celebratory song wasn’t cut short. It kept going on and on, its exuberant melody forming a sharp juxtaposition to the increasing tension in the air.

It also conveyed a significant message that— the player had decided to keep the ticket on themselves!