When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)-Chapter 709: Don’t Remember?

Shen Nianzu snapped his eyes open, gasping as if he was taking his first breath of fresh air after being submerged underwater for a long time.

For a moment, he could only stare blankly ahead.

The familiar layout of his villa greeted him. Clean lines. Warm lighting. It was a scene that should have made him feel safe, yet at the moment, Shen Nianzu felt as if his entire person had plunged into an icy cellar, the coldness sinking straight into the bones. He began to tremble, tears welling up in his eyes. He did not even register the weakness weighing down on his body.

He was back... back in his world already?

In a panic, he staggered to the nearest window, but all that he saw was a quiet and serene scenery. The sky in winter was a muted gray, heavy with clouds, and the view was as beautiful as it was dreary. Where was the ruin shown to him by the Nightmare? Where was the fractured sky? The nightmare creatures prowling through the streets? The dead bodies strewn carelessly about and endless flow of blood seeping into pavements?

...Was it all a nightmare?

Yes, that’s right. That was it! Everything must be a nightmare— a long, terrifying nightmare!

He must have been so nervous to enter the last Cycle that he had such a long and bizarre dream! The more Shen Nianzu thought about it, the more plausible it was. He had to tell Jin Jiuchi about this; the man would definitely laugh at how paranoid he was, hug him and say, You’re so silly, Nian’er. How could I bear to be apart from you even for just one second?

With that in mind, Shen Nianzu spun around and rushed through the villa, throwing doors open one after another, calling out Jin Jiuchi’s name.

"Da Shen!"

"Da Shen, come out!"

"Jin Jiuchi, if you dare hide from me, I’ll get angry!"

"I beg you... just come out, okay?"

The commotion finally drew Qing Mo over, who approached him with concern and alarm written all over his face. "Young Master, are you okay? Do you need something?"

"I-I’m looking for Jin Jiuchi!" Shen Nianzu grabbed the man’s arm like he was holding onto a lifeline, his gaze frantic and pleading. "Do you know where he went? Tell him— tell him to come out, I want to see him right now..."

"Jin Jiuchi?"

"Yes—yes, if you—"

"Who’s that?"

Shen Nianzu froze, staring at Qing Mo in sheer disbelief. But his life assistant didn’t seem to be joking— no, he wouldn’t joke about something like this. Shen Nianzu could see the genuine puzzlement on his face, and it made him feel like he had sunk into the dark abyss.

"I haven’t heard of that name before," Qing Mo said carefully, feeling uneasy at his young master’s unusual state. "Are you looking for that person, Young Master? I will help you search, okay? Madam and Master will be very worried to see you like this..."

Shen Nianzu’s lips parted, but no words came out.

It took him a few attempts before he could squeeze out a single question that seemed to have been scraped from the hollow of his throat. "You..." his voice shook. "You don’t remember?"

A part deep inside him seemed to wither and die the moment Qing Mo responded,

"Remember what?"

***

No one remembered Jin Jiuchi.

Not Qing Mo, not even his parents. It was as if the man’s existence had been wiped off the surface of Earth. If there was any consolation, it’s that he still existed in the memories of fellow players. Otherwise, if the only one who remembered him had been Shen Nianzu alone, Shen Nianzu was certain he would have gone insane.

However, since that day, the Nightmare Cycle had also disappeared.

Thoroughly, cleanly.

The identity ’player’ and abnormal supernatural powers no longer existed. Even the app that had downloaded mysteriously on his phone could no longer be found.

Shen Nianzu had no idea what Jin Jiuchi did, but he seemed to have succeeded. Shen Nianzu confirmed with the other players that yes, the overlap did happen and nightmare creatures filled the Earth. It was a scene of literal hell. Countless people had died. The traces of destruction also remained. However, after the Nightmare withdrew, everyone collectively lost their memories of the horror that had happened and simply believed that a global natural disaster had occurred— or at least that was the most reasonable explanation given to the public.

Their world managed to evade this disaster, and it was gradually healing.

Everything was turning for the better.

Except, there was no longer a Jin Jiuchi in this world.

.

.

.

Eventually, even the Nightmare Cycle began to fade from the players’ memories.

It was like they were gradually waking up from the long, horrid nightmare that had ensnared them for years.

Qian Hui, the Harbinger of Doom and the number one player on the leaderboard, could now remove the bandages around her eyes and attend school like an ordinary child. XXX’s eye condition, which was caused by the backlash of his divination, gradually healed, though they remained sensitive, requiring him to wear sunglasses at all times. Ying, too, was thriving in the police force. The last time Shen Nianzu had heard from her, she would soon be promoted into the team leader and would lead her own team.

Bit by bit, the damage and scars caused by the Nightmare Cycle disappeared from their lives—as if spring was finally arriving after a prolonged winter.

Shen Nianzu feared that he would forget too. Rather than Jin Jiuchi’s absence, the mere notion that he would one day wake up and forget the existence of such a unique person filled him with intense fear unlike anything else. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Therefore, Shen Nianzu started to write.

It was supposed to be a documentary at first. If the day truly came that he forgot, he wanted solid proof that a man named Jin Jiuchi had once existed in his life. He wanted a reminder that they had truly met, fell in love, and parted. From their very first encounter, to every battle they had survived together, every bickering, every smile and kiss they had shared, every precious moment he could not bear to forget— Shen Nianzu wrote them all.

But what he did not expect was that people would flock to his blog posts. They left heartfelt comments, praised his intriguing plot and ingenious concept and interesting characters, believing it to be a mere fiction.

And then...

The story went viral.

***

Three years had passed since then.

Player Shen Nianzu, who had once been as sharp as an unsheathed sword, gradually started to mellow down with time. It added a wisp of melancholy to his already exquisite features, making his beauty all the more striking and peerless.

Seated alone on the balcony of his villa, he was a sight more breathtaking than the full moon overhead.

On the round table before him was a laptop whose screen was still displaying a blank document, while a frustrated, pleading voice came from the phone beside it:

"Ancestor, my great ancestor, may I ask how the first draft is coming along? You’ve written something, haven’t you? Please tell me there are at least five thousand—no, three—fine, even a thousand words will do! I’m being hounded from every direction here! I’m about to have PTSD whenever my phone rings!"

Shen Nianzu lowered his gaze and blew gently on his steaming tea before taking an elegant sip. His silence fueled Qing Mo’s frustration and helplessness more.

"Can you at least tell me what’s troubling you?" Qing Mo pressed. "It’s been months— and this will be the last volume of your series! Shouldn’t you be the most excited to finish it?"

Shen Nianzu set his teacup down with a clink, his rosy lips pressed into a thin line.

Over the past three years, he had gone from being an unknown blogger to a best-selling author nationwide. Qing Mo, too, had become not only his life assistant but also his agent, editor and official representative. Despite having sold millions of copies, with the worldwide translations ongoing and even negotiating adaptations into a movie series, Mr. Jade Doll—Shen Nianzu’s pen name—remained incredibly lowkey. He never appeared in public, nor did he participate in both online or offline events. Every appearance, interview, and business meeting was handled by Qing Mo alone. It was to the point where his readers mistook Qing Mo as him.

Shen Nianzu didn’t mind, of course. His purpose of writing this story had never been for fame.

Nobody knew that he had been waiting, always been waiting for the other protagonist of the story.

And yet, even until their story was reaching its final, the person still had not appeared.

Sighing, Shen Nianzu finally opened his mouth to answer, "I know, I’ll do something about it."

"Okay, so how many words—"

Beep. He ended the call, set it on silent and ignored the barrage of messages coming from Qing Mo.

Gazing at the blank document, he couldn’t resist releasing another sigh and pinching the space between his brows. Shen Nianzu was, frankly speaking, stuck in a massive slump called writer block. No matter how much he forced it, he simply could not write the last volume of the series.

It was too painful, like a wound too tender and raw to be touched.

Handle it carelessly and it might reopen again, spewing out an endless gush of blood.

Even until now, that last farewell still remained vivid in his mind, almost like it had just happened yesterday. Shen Nianzu had no idea whether he should consider this a blessing that he still remembered everything about Jin Jiuchi, or a curse that he could not escape from the nightmares when everyone around him had already moved on.

Giving his head a gentle shake, he placed his slender fingers on the keyboard and began to type:

[The Beast proposed a plan. A truly bold, audacious and unbelievable plan that only he alone could accomplish...]

He paused, and a look of pain crossed his mind. "I can’t..." he muttered, slamming the laptop shut. "I can’t do this."

Maybe he should just let the book end here, he thought. Maybe it’s best to leave an open ending so that he didn’t have to revisit the painful memories anymore. Only God knew he had always had nightmares every night ever since the series was near its ending.

Rising to his feet, Shen Nianzu moved toward the balustrade and gazed up at the clear night sky full of twinkling stars, a wisp of sorrow glimmering in his pale purple eyes.

"It’s been three years. You’re still not planning to come back yet?"

He whispered to the wind, hoping it would carry his longing to the other world.

Sometimes, he felt so foolish to keep waiting, because Jin Jiuchi clearly didn’t promise him that he would come back. He didn’t even dare to move from the villa, fearing that when Jin Jiuchi returned later he would get lost and unable to find him. He had originally stayed here because of the Nightmare Cycle, but now this place had become his permanent residence.

No one in his family could understand his decision—the same way as they couldn’t fathom why he couldn’t bring himself to face them the first year after his return. And he had no way to explain it either.

Another wistful sigh escaped his luscious lips.

Perhaps because he kept being hounded by Qing Mo’s incessant nagging, Shen Nianzu was reminiscing more and more these past few months and the more he thought about it, the angrier he was.

Damn it, he hadn’t even gotten married yet and here he was, already mourning like a widow being left behind by her husband!

He slammed his fist down on the stone surface and gritted out through clenched teeth, "I swear to God, if you don’t come back soon, I will—"

"What will Nian’er do?"

Shen Nianzu froze, his pupils dilating sharply.

His entire body was petrified on the spot, not daring to move. For a moment, he could not believe his own ears. Was he... was he hallucinating right now? Was he hallucinating because he had missed Jin Jiuchi too much? After all, this was not the first time something like this had happened.

But then a pair of arms came around him, hugging him tightly from behind. Strong, warm and impossibly real; a warm embrace he thought he had lost.

And with it came a breath he knew all too well and a voice that had etched itself into the depths of his soul.

"What will Nian’er do if I don’t return soon, hmm?" The voice chuckled softly. "I’m very curious."

The entire world seemed to come to a halt.

Shen Nianzu’s heart stopped for two whole seconds before slamming back into motion, faster and faster, until his breaths turned shallow and uneven and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He trembled, whispering in a voice oh so small it was heartbreaking as if he feared raising his voice would make this unbelievable moment pop like a fragile bubble,

"J-Jin Jiuchi...?"

"Mn," a warm and hoarse laughter echoed beside his ears, "I’m back, Nian’er. Your Jin Jiuchi is back."

At long last, Shen Nianzu’s tears fell, splashing right onto the muscular arm wrapped around him.