Chapter 120: Conflicted

    Jin Jiuchi tilted his head sideways and a lazy smile tugged on the corner of his lips. "Nian’er, you are here! Come and join me, will you? You haven’t had the chance to bathe properly these past two days, plus you’re in such a messy state now, so I thought you would enjoy the pool," he said with a soft chuckle. "One of the perks of being the ruler of this place, you know?"

    Shen Nianzu could not decide what to address first — Jin Jiuchi’s lax attitude despite the players’ attempt to kill him, his rare show of thoughtfulness or the shocking fact of how quickly he had adapted to his role and taken advantage of it. As if he was born to sit on the throne.

    Perhaps it was the dense mist in the air, Shen Nianzu felt a little light-headed, especially as his gaze landed on the masculine contour of the man’s back that cascaded with droplets of water.

    Shen Nianzu knew that the right course of action right now was to discuss countermeasures for Jin Jiuchi’s imminent death, yet for some reason, his body did not want to obey him right now.

    His feet silently padded across the marble floor until he reached the edge of the pool, where Jin Jiuchi was lounging as if he was in some kind of vacation house and not a deadly Cycle.

    From this vantage point, he could catch a clear glimpse of the man’s naked chest, the taut muscles rising and falling with each breath he took, and the honeyed skin that shimmered under the dim light. The man’s torso was partially submerged, while his long legs could be vaguely seen through the rippling water.

    As he tried desperately not to think of how naked Jin Jiuchi was right now, he found his eyes fixated on a droplet of water tracing its way down the man’s cheek before descending the side of his neck to leave a moist trail behind.

    Why... hadn’t he realized that a droplet of water could be so sexy?

    Swallowing hard, Shen Nianzu said in the most neutral tone he could muster, "My arms are bound now and the pool looks so deep. I can’t get in by myself."

    Jin Jiuchi’s laughter filled the air as he rose to his feet and turned to face Shen Nianzu, causing the warm water to splash all over the floor. This position had their eyes almost at the same level.

    "My bad," he said as he reached around Shen Nianzu to grab the ropes behind his back. With a forceful tug, the ropes which Shen Nianzu had failed to struggle out from were torn to shreds as if they were mere papers. "I forgot how tiny Nian’er is right now. I don’t think you can sit in the pool. Do you want to use my lap instead?"

    Shen Nianzu’s breath hitched on his throat when Jin Jiuchi’s warm and wet body enveloped him. He had been quite used to the man being a block of ice that feeling this warmth left him momentarily disoriented.

    Wait a moment...

    The Jin Jiuchi in front of him right now... did he have silver eyes or black eyes? Or perhaps... it would be heterochromatic as the ones he had glimpsed upon in the previous Cycle?

    Heart thudding in the mixture of trepidation and anticipation, Shen Nianzu tore his gaze off Jin Jiuchi’s sharp and beautiful collarbones and dragged his eyes to the man’s gorgeous face. There, he found Jin Jiuchi’s bright silver eyes peering down at him with delight through the headpiece.

    Shen Nianzu fell into a daze. Clearly, he had been with Jin Jiuchi all this time, but why did he feel like he had missed this man quite a bit? "Jin Jiuchi..." he murmured softly, without even realizing it.

    Jin Jiuchi responded sweetly, "Yes, Nian’er?"

    Something tugged at Shen Nianzu’s chest, making him feel bittersweet. Before he knew it, he threw himself into Jin Jiuchi’s embrace and wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, cursing under his breath, "You foolish husky, do you know how much you scared me? One moment, your heart is not beating, and the next moment, you..." he trailed off, unsure whether he should tell Jin Jiuchi about his counterpart or not.

    Jin Jiuchi, however, was in utter bliss upon being hugged by the jade doll. As expected, preparing the pool had been the right decision! During the span of time they had spent together, he noticed that Shen Nianzu liked to take care of his appearance. Thus as soon as he saw the boy’s disheveled state, he knew he had to do this! Lo and behold, he received a hug for the very first time!

    Cradling the jade doll gently in his arms, he descended into the pool. Jin Jiuchi had not lied when he mentioned that Shen Nianzu could not sit in the pool; his height was only slightly higher than the water’s depth. As such, he could only keep the jade doll in his arms to ensure that he would not fall off and drown to his death.

    "You...!" Shen Nianzu was shocked when he suddenly entered the pool. Moreover, he was sitting on Jin Jiuchi’s naked lap right now! "P–Put me down! I can just sit on the steps, you crazy pervert!"

    He dared not to struggle much and could only glare at Jin Jiuchi to convey his murderous thoughts, but unfortunately Jin Jiuchi – who had just been enlightened by his brother of his desires – was extremely reluctant to part from the jade doll even for a second and hugged him tighter instead. He narrowed his eyes sharply at Shen Nianzu, "I am the God in this realm. Is Nian’er certain he wants to go against my words?"

    "Y–You... You..." Shen Nianzu could not even utter a word at that shameless remark. Damn it, what had gotten into this stupid husky?! Had he been addicted to role-playing?!

    Seeing that his attempt of coercion had not worked, Jin Jiuchi swiftly switched to selling meng and put on his best puppy eyes. "We haven’t seen each other for sooo long, and you already want to push me away?"

    ’Ha! Take this, Nian’er! My acting skills have been honed under the arduous time of pretending to be Anubis!’ Jin Jiuchi secretly rejoiced in his heart when he saw that Shen Nianzu was starting to waver. He tightened his arms around the jade doll and continued to appeal, "Just for a while... ten minutes! Okay, Nian’er? Okay???"

    "Okay, fine!" Shen Nianzu finally caved under the pressure and pinched the man’s thick and muscular arm. "Don’t hold me so tight, you damned husky! You are going to suffocate me to death!"

    ’Success!’ Jin Jiuchi beamed from ear to ear and loosened his arms a bit, but still tight enough to keep Shen Nianzu in place. Leaning against the marble pool, he hummed a random tune under his breath.

    Did he have to be so happy over something so silly? Shen Nianzu snorted and shook his head, finally allowing himself to relax as he leaned against Jin Jiuchi’s chest. The warm water washed the tension away from his body and a sigh of relief escaped his lips. Why hadn’t he realized how tense he had been all this time?

    "You... seem to be doing well," he could not help but comment. It looked like Jin Jiuchi would be able to adapt and thrive no matter what kind of ridiculous situation he was forced into. And to think that he had been worried that this silly husky would be bullied in the underworld...

    Hmph, who could have guessed that he would become Anubis instead?!

    "Nian’er, you have no idea..." the man chuckled, and Shen Nianzu felt the deep vibration on his back like he had been electrified. Fortunately, he could chalk up his blushing cheeks on the warm water.

    Before he could continue to ask what Jin Jiuchi meant by that, he was startled when the man suddenly cupped his face and tilted his head to the side. But he soon realized that Jin Jiuchi was only trying to help him rub off the dirt on places he could not see. ’Do not get your mind down the gutter, Nian!’ he chided himself severely.

    However, as Jin Jiuchi bowed his head in concentration, the snout of his jackal headpiece kept bumping against Shen Nianzu’s head, making him irritated.

    "You’re bathing right now." He turned and regarded the headpiece with a frown. "Can’t you take it off?"

    "Nope," Jin Jiuchi replied without looking up, his gaze transfixed on the jade doll’s swan-like neck. "I’ve tried it, can’t take it off. It seems I have to keep this on until the hidden task is completed."

    Shen Nianzu’s heart sank when he heard that. He had seen the murals himself, and thus he knew that Wind was not lying when she said that they had to behead Anubis. However, he had hoped that they could find another way, perhaps by faking Jin Jiuchi’s death so that they could obtain the headpiece without resorting to such a drastic measure. After all, they only needed to perform this particular scene, right?

    But now, that little hope of his was dashed by Jin Jiuchi’s affirmation. If Jin Jiuchi could not take the headpiece off, then it meant that they really had to sever his neck to acquire it...

    Shen Nianzu felt a surge of conflicting emotions weighing down heavily on his chest.

    "Nian’er?" Jin Jiuchi’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He felt the man’s finger pressing on the space between his brows. "What’s wrong? Look at these little lines on your small face."

    Shen Nianzu parted his lips, but all of the words were stuck on his throat. How was he supposed to tell Jin Jiuchi that he needed to die for the task to be completed? In the first place, why must Jin Jiuchi stand on the opposite side of the player?

    It was almost like... the Nightmare was targeting him. Or was it really the case?