When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 646: An Offer

Chapter 646: An Offer

Amidst the constant tremor that shook the ground, Gu Luoxin struggled to make his way to the hangar where the flying shuttles and hover cars were parked. That was his only way out of here—and to survive.

Had he been a genuine garuda, perhaps he might have been able to escape by soaring into the sky. Alas, it was just bad luck for him to be a mere human. Even if grew out a couple more legs, it was simply impossible for him to escape an island on the verge of collapsing at any moment!

Therefore, he had to snatch a flying vehicle for himself no matter what!

Even if his teammates were right outside, Gu Luoxin could not bear to see them plunge head-on into danger because of him. He was not that helpless that he could only wait for others to come rescue him, crying and lamenting his fate like some damsel in distress. Although he did feel like crying at the moment, at least he ought to do something to save himself!

Alas, while that was the plan, Gu Luoxin soon found an obstacle standing—or to be exact, lying—on his path.

Strewn along the corridor before him were dismembered body parts that belonged to the servants of this residence—limbs, heads and torso separated—creating a bizarre and unnerving scene as though a truckload of broken mannequins had been dumped here. A river of blood pooled on the floor, the overpowering stench causing Gu Luoxin’s stomach to contort with nausea.

He hastily turned away but could only vomit out acidic fluids. His stomach, which had not digested anything since breakfast early in the morning, was now clamping and spasming in pain.

"Ugh... hoek!!" Tears and snots covered Gu Luoxin’s terror-stricken face, bloodshot eyes peeking out through the sweat-dampened strands of his hair.

Even without a closer look, he could already see their expressions—each of them bore a similarly distorted, painful look on their faces with their eyes wide open as if they had died a slow and excruciating death!

This... what the hell was with this situation?!

Standing in a deserted corridor filled with dead bodies, Gu Luoxin felt himself on the brink of mental breakdown. His surroundings were so quiet, so much that he could hear nothing but the sound of his harsh breathing and erratic heartbeats. He had no idea they could sound so jarring, so grating to the ears.

How could it be so quiet? There were countless servants in this residence, where did all of them go? What about the players?

Had all of them... died?

Or was it him? Gu Luoxin even had the notion that maybe he was still strapped to that bed. Maybe he had not woken up yet since the doctor knocked him out, and everything he had experienced after that was no more than a bad dream. How good could that be if that were true...?

No, snap out of it, Xinxin!

—PA!

The crisp sound of him slapping his own cheeks reverberated in the air. He had used too much strength that he could even taste blood in his mouth. But the strategy worked wonders. The sharp and throbbing pain served as an anchor for him, grounding him to the present and forcing him to face the terrifying reality.

No matter how shaken he was, he couldn’t stop here!

Clenching his trembling fists, Gu Luoxin summoned every last bit of courage he had left within him and braced himself to step over the broken limbs, his shoes creating a sticky squelching sound with each step he took.

He fought against another urge to retch, willing himself not to look down for fear of meeting those hollow, resentful eyes that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

A single stretch of corridor seemed to have transformed into a path full of thorns and falling blades, making his teeth chatter uncontrollably in dread. And by the time Gu Luoxin finally stumbled through to the other end, it felt as though his soul had been dragged through Hell and back. His knees wobbled like a newborn calf and his entire body was covered in cold sweat like he had just been fished out of water.

G-Good... he made it! He actually made it! Good job, Xinxin!

Gu Luoxin gave himself a small, breathless cheer, only to realize that somewhere along the way, his wings had gotten soaked, dripping a trail of blood behind him. Since they were fake anyway, Gu Luoxin decisively ripped them off his back before continuing on his way, making his body so much lighter.

After passing through this grisly hurdle, it did not take long for Gu Luoxin to encounter another—also a corridor of dead servants with dismembered bodies.

It was as though everyone was in the midst of fleeing, only for death to sweep through and claim their lives within a breath’s time. He could almost picture the despair and heartwrenching horror they felt during their last moments as they desperately reached for their severed body parts.

Once, Gu Luoxin was terrified to death. But after seeing a similar scene twice and thrice, his face and heart had become numb, so much that he could leap over them to rush to his destination.

The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that this was all the doctor’s doing.

Who else could, but him?

As for the reason why he went on this mass slaughter, Gu Luoxin could more or less guess based on the doctor’s obsession. It was none other than to gather more energy for the Nightmare. Hadn’t he mentioned it fed on evil and negative emotions?

Damn psycho! Gu Luoxin couldn’t resist cursing inwardly.

Just to achieve his goal, he treated others’ lives as if they were worth nothing, as if they were mere objects he could milk dry and throw away once deemed useless. What a terrifying creature!

And much to Gu Luoxin’s horror, when he finally reached the hangar with much difficulty... he found the very person he had been cursing standing at the gate, seemingly having waited for him for a long time!

Gu Luoxin tensed up, but before he could turn tail, their eyes clashed in midair.

It was too late to escape!

Damn it... damn it all! The hangar was just right behind this nightmare creature! If he turned around now, wouldn’t all his efforts amount to nothing? He would be akin to a cornered mouse, left with nowhere to go but to wait for his imminent death! But if... if he somehow found a way to slip past this man, would he be able to jump on the first flying vehicle he found and—escape?

Should he take this risk for the slimmest chance of survival?

"Do you not wish for this island to collapse?" the doctor asked before Gu Luoxin could make a decision, his smile oddly harmless and persuasive. "If you don’t, I can lend you a hand. I can even stop Ares for you—once and for all. By then, this world will no longer face the risk of destruction all the time."

...What?

Gu Luoxin looked at the doctor in sheer disbelief.

Was there something wrong with his hearing? Had he finally gone crazy and developed visual and auditory hallucination? How else could this person offer such a good thing out of nowhere? It’s like he was saying he... he was ready to abandon the lifelong mission entrusted to him by his God! How utterly absurd! Gu Luoxin would rather swallow his own tongue than to believe a single word that had come out of that shrewd mouth!

Sensing Gu Luoxin’s vigilant stance, the doctor simply smiled and spread his hands with a helpless look,

"I am telling the truth. I can really do that—no, at this rate, I am the only one who can do that. Grinu is on the verge of dying. In the matter of minutes, he will die, and the magic sustaining this island will dissolve. Aren’t you desperate to stop that from happening?"

Although the night air was cool, Gu Luoxin could feel hot perspiration sliding down his temple, and the palpable tension caused his head to throb painfully. "What do you want?" he gritted out hoarsely, unable to hold himself back any longer.

It sounded to him that this nightmare creature was making an offer to him. Surely, there must be something he wanted, right?

But what could it be, to the point where he was willing to forgo his original purpose?

"What I want... is very simple. It has come to my attention that the heir," a sinister glint flashed through the man’s eyes, "the very heir that the Nightmare has been missing—is present here, in this Cycle. And he seems to be... on your people’s side."

"Bring him to me," the doctor instructed, his voice low and luring akin to a devil’s whisper, "and you can save this world and everyone else in it from total annihilation."