When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)-Chapter 694: Legendary Level Test

The memories returned to him in waves.

That’s right, he was no longer the sickly dodder Young Master Shen who could only rely on others to survive. He was Shen Nianzu, an Elite player who was undergoing the Legendary level test, and the man before him... the person whom he had been subconsciously missing... was his lover.

"Jin Jiuchi..." he savored the sound of that name, rolling each syllable on his tongue as if it was his most favorite delicacy, as if it was the first time he had uttered it all over again.

A weak smile formed across his pale face. "I’m sorry, did I make you wait?"

Jin Jiuchi blinked once, then tears suddenly poured out of his eyes and cascaded down his face, nearly startling Shen Nianzu into sitting upright. "It-It’s alright, not too long... hic...!" He clutched Shen Nianzu’s hand tightly as he blabbered his heart out, his face a mess of tears and snot, "Even though I felt like dying out of worry, even though I almost shriveled up waiting for you to open your eyes... it’s okay, Nian’er, you... you can take as much time as you need wahhh!!!"

Shen Nianzu was torn between laughter and tears. Seeing a grown male bawling his eyes out should have been jarring at best and repulsive at worst, even more so a big muscle guy who stood six feet tall like Jin Jiuchi. Yet somehow the man managed to pull it off quite decently, even making Shen Nianzu feel sorry for him.

Despite the weakness all over his body, Shen Nianzu still exerted some force to lift his hand and ruffle the man’s fluffy hair, smiling,

"I have really made you worried, huh?"

The more Shen Nianzu thought about the nightmare he had been trapped in, the more he got chills down his spine.

The Nightmare was truly cunning and insidious. Knowing that Jin Jiuchi’s presence served as an uncontrollable factor, it deliberately erased everything about the man from Shen Nianzu’s mind, not even leaving a single trace behind. It placed him in a setting most familiar to him, then dismantled it slowly, meticulously, forcing him to tear it apart with his own hands.

For the most devastating thing that could drive a person to the brink was not just fear or any negative emotions, but the collapse of their faith and their own self.

It skillfully weaved a strand of lie into the truth, making him doubt everything and causing his mind to fracture.

Shen Nianzu couldn’t help but suspect that if the car had truly hit him back then, he would have also died in reality.

And worse of all, the events in the nightmare remained vivid and clear in his mind.

In usual cases, you would find yourself forgetting what you were dreaming as soon as you woke up— but no, the same did not apply here. Shen Nianzu could remember every single moment, every single frame, from the very first second he woke up, to the increasing paranoia and despair he experienced that led him to commit the last desperate act of murder.

How malicious, he thought. Now he knew how it felt to kill his parents and Qing Mo, to brutally murder them with his own hands.

He could not even forget it even if he wanted to.

Qing Mo’s disbelieving gaze during his last moments, his mother’s weakening cries and pleas of mercy, his father’s tearful curses and agonizing howl as he dug his eyes out, the sensation of their warm blood splashing onto his face and body that gradually cooled down...

All of these would continue to haunt Shen Nianzu for as long as he lived.

"Ugh..." the nausea struck him once more. He turned over to gag, but there was nothing in his stomach he could eject, causing him to dry-heave.

Jin Jiuchi immediately forewent his tearful act in lieu of patting his jade doll’s back, soothing him, "Sssh, it’s okay, everything is over now. Don’t be afraid anymore, Nian’er."

"I’m not afraid," Shen Nianzu forced himself to retort through his spasming throat. "I am beyond disgusted. Fuck the Nightmare... this Legendary test is really inhuman. I’d rather enter ten more Cycles than go through something like that again. No wonder no one is keen on challenging this level. It’s truly..." halfway through his rant, he suddenly recalled something important and whipped his gaze toward Jin Jiuchi,

"What about your test? Did you pass?"

At this question, Jin Jiuchi scratched his nose, puzzled. "I’m not sure about that? Nian’er, you know that the Nightmare has no effect on me. I opened my eyes here and found you, so I’ve just been waiting for you to wake up as well. I did try entering your consciousness to see if I could rouse you up, but it seemed to have the opposite effect... I almost harmed you instead..." the more he talked, the more dejected he became until his entire person resembled a wilted eggplant.

Shen Nianzu suddenly recalled the voice calling out to him in the hospital, and how it almost induced him into a cardiac arrest. That was also when the doctor delivered his final verdict, telling him that he was dying. After that, he had never heard from Jin Jiuchi again.

So that’s how it is... Shen Nianzu nodded in understanding, but then there was one more thing that confused him:

"But I saw you—I mean, your past selves..."

"Ah, that..." Jin Jiuchi’s eyes lit up in pure delight. He tapped his finger on the side of Shen Nianzu’s neck, looking unbearably smug. "Did you forget, Nianer? I marked you here. It allows me to track you wherever you are, and vice versa, it can also lead you back to me."

A subtle feeling welled up in Shen Nianzu’s chest.

When Jin Jiuchi randomly bit him when they first met, he had never envisioned it would end up saving his life at the very last moment. Much less that the path it opened would lead him straight to Jin Jiuchi’s old house— the place he had lived before Shen Nianzu found him.

Back then, Jin Jiuchi told him he had mysteriously acquired that house when he first found his way to Shen Nianzu’s world. Hence, it could be considered an entrance for him.

And now, that very place had become the exit of Shen Nianzu’s nightmare.

This feeling was truly magical, like watching the gears of fate clicking and falling into place.

"You saved me again..." Shen Nianzu muttered.

Jin Jiuchi leaned in to nuzzle his nose affectionately, "And I will do it again, as many times as you need me to."

Shen Nianzu felt his nose tingle and the back of his eyes stung with tears, but he was too embarrassed to cry again after how hysterical he had been inside the dream. Clearing his throat, he deliberately turned his gaze away and pretended to study his surroundings instead.

The room was narrow, containing only the futuristic pod he had woken up in. White walls, white floor— everything about it screamed sterility, cold and immaculate.

Shen Nianzu couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of place this was. A temporary transit station? A limited-time safe house? One thing for certain, he sensed no danger for the time being, plus the presence of Jin Jiuchi here gave him an immense sense of security.

But in the end, he still couldn’t resist asking, "Where are we now? Could this be another test from the Nightmare...?"

No sooner had Shen Nianzu tensed up at the prospect of another grueling test than he heard Jin Jiuchi chime in, "Nope, this is not a test. Welcome to the Nightmare City, Nian’er!" he beamed, his demeanor oh so casual as if he was the tour guide and the host of this Cycle, leaving Shen Nianzu utterly dumbfounded.

"...This is the Nightmare City?!"