When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)-Chapter 706: So Be It

Shen Nianzu must have gone unconscious at some point, because when he came to, it was to the sensation of gentle rocking as if he was a small boat buoying amidst the vast ocean.

He cracked his eyes open groggily, only to realize he was being carried on Jin Jiuchi’s back.

Jin Jiuchi instantly picked up the subtle shift in his breathing and greeted him with a tone full of smiles, "Nian’er, you’re awake?"

"Where..."

Shen Nianzu swept his gaze around but failed to discern their current location. Nothing could be seen on each side except for the stretch of road they were walking on, which led to somewhere unknown. The only source of illumination came from the sparse streetlamps on the sidewalk, but even then, the lights were so dim as if they were ready to gutter out at any moment. Tiny gray flakes drifted down from the sky akin to goose feathers, blanketing the ground like a thick carpet.

Was it snow or ashes? He couldn’t tell.

The entire world was so still, so unbearably quiet, save for the soft crunch of Jin Jiuchi’s footsteps and the quiet rhythm of their breathing.

It almost felt like... they were heading to the end of the world.

"This is a world that has been abandoned after the Nightmare’s rampage. So don’t be afraid, Nian’er, we are safe for the time being." Jin Jiuchi reassured his jade doll of their safety first and foremost, and then he fell silent for two seconds before breaking the news, "The Nightmare is searching for us, so I’ve been moving all this time. But it has a lot of words like this... countless... so maybe it will take a while to trace us here."

Despite Jin Jiuchi’s light and almost casual tone, Shen Nianzu felt his breath seize painfully in his throat.

The horror of their last confrontation seemed to linger on his body, sending faint but uncontrollable tremors throughout his body. He had not forgotten the bone-crushing pressure, the strong certainty of death, the chilling despair.

At that time, he had truly thought he would die.

Feeling his heart tighten, Shen Nianzu opened his mouth to ask—

How long has it been since I lost consciousness? How about our world? Is it still holding on against the Nightmare or... or is it already too late? What will happen if the Nightmare finds us again? Also, how much longer can we continue to run?

Alas, all those questions lodged in his throat before he could voice them aloud, turning into a heavy lump he could neither swallow or spit out.

He suddenly realized that... he was afraid. Terribly afraid to hear the answers. This was the first time Shen Nianzu learned he could also become so timid, so cowardly, so unlike the usual him. But the recent defeat had truly dealt too severe of a blow on him. To think that they had charged forward with steel-like resolve and determination, ready for a life-and-death battle... yet in the Nightmare’s eyes, everything was nothing more than a child’s play. How laughable.

It was stronger than he could have imagined, and far more cruel. Even in its dying state, it still possessed a power unimaginable to them.

Besides, even without asking, Shen Nianzu seemed to have an answer in his heart already.

A deity...

When a deity descended and brought catastrophe in their wake, could mortals even hope to resist?

In its eyes, maybe humanity’s last struggle was no different than an amusing spectacle of ants scrambling in blind panic to preserve the nest that would crumble no matter what they did.

It was too naïve of him to think that he could defeat such an unfathomable entity. All of the preparations he had done now seemed like nothing but a joke. And he couldn’t even bring himself to open his mouth and ask Jin Jiuchi to do something about it. Shen Nianzu knew his husky quite well; if Jin Jiuchi could win, he would never have chosen to run away and hide like this. He was the kind of person who always bulldozed through the challenges in front of him head-on. And his avoidance right now could only mean...

They could not win.

They could not win against the Nightmare. All they could do was hide, to buy some more time to survive. Because by the time it found them— everything would be over.

Shen Nianzu tightened his arms around Jin Jiuchi’s neck. He found that, much to his surprise, he did not feel much fear or apprehension at the prospect of death. Maybe because Jin Jiuchi had always stayed by his side... or maybe because in the far corner of his mind, he had already considered this possibility—of losing, of failure, of death. After all, he had always been meticulous enough to think of the worst case scenarios.

But when it truly happened... he found that there was nothing left to prepare.

In the face of absolute power, what choice did humanity have but to surrender to their fate?

Shen Nianzu should have felt bitter. He should have raged and resented such a pathetic, humiliating end. And yet what filled him right now was just hollowness, resignation, and regret so deep that it ached. Regret for the beautiful world he lived in, regret for the people he loved, and regret that he had not spent more time with them.

But if they were going to die... so be it.

Dying together did not sound too bad... right? At least they wouldn’t have to face the end alone.

Shen Nianzu had no idea whether this resignation was truly his own or it was the Nightmare’s effect that amplified all of his negative emotions— either way, it was all the same. The conclusion had been written, and the losers had no choice but to accept the bitter consequences of their defeat.

Sighing, he leaned his cheek on Jin Jiuchi’s broad shoulder and asked softly, "Are you badly injured?"

Jin Jiuchi’s steps paused a beat, presumably taken aback that Shen Nianzu had not inquired more about their current predicament but had asked about his condition instead, but he recovered swiftly and let out a dismissive snort, adamant on saving face until the very end, "Not really, it just caught me a little off guard."

Shen Nianzu couldn’t help but smile despite himself, knowing that it was a lie.

Jin Jiuchi’s body temperature had always run higher than normal people, but now Shen Nianzu could sense that the man’s fingers supporting his thighs were ice cold, and his breathing seemed heavier than usual. But Shen Nianzu could not tell where the man was injured, which made him very worried.

He tapped on Jin Jiuchi’s neck, signaling to be put down, but Jin Jiuchi tightened his grip on him instead and hoisted him up a little for a more comfortable position. "Hold on tight, Nian’er. You have lost a lot of blood. Let’s find someplace we can rest."

Shen Nianzu arched his brow, musing, "Is there even a resting place here?"

No sooner had he spoken those words than a different scenery suddenly appeared in front of him. It was truly sudden. The road, which he had thought would stretch on forever, came to a jarring halt. And in front of him was a small town. The mismatch made it seem like two pieces of random puzzle had been forcibly meshed together.

Perhaps sensing Shen Nianzu’s surprise, Jin Jiuchi remarked, "I told you, this is an abandoned world. The space and time is chaotic here."

As soon as they stepped into the boundary of the town, Shen Nianzu could sense the temperature rising. Only then did he realize how cold he had been. His limbs were numb and sluggish, no doubt from the earlier blood loss.

The town was even more disordered inside.

Ruined houses lay toppled on both sides of the road, while skyscrapers and buildings from entirely different eras jutted out at impossible angles, with some embedded sideways and others hanging inverted against the sky. It was a bizarre scene that defied all logic and reason.

Carrying Shen Nianzu on his back, Jin Jiuchi walked down the empty street and chose the first house that appeared relatively intact, bringing his jade doll inside. The house was surprisingly clean, with a lot of decorations that exuded life— a vase of fresh, blooming flowers on the kitchen counter, messy magazines on top of the coffee table, little trinkets scattered here and there. Shen Nianzu even saw intact photo frames on the table, depicting a beautiful couple smiling in each other’s arms.

He couldn’t help but fall into a daze.

If not for the abnormal silence in the air, he would have thought that he had intruded into someone else’s house.

"Has time stopped here?" Shen Nianzu asked as he was gently placed down on the sofa.

"Mn," Jin Jiuchi replied, gazing down at him. This was the first time they had seen each other face-to-face since the last battle.