Chapter 78: Help Each Other

    Jin Jiuchi dreamed that he was floating amidst a sea of pure white cotton candy.

    He was in a state of literal bliss while being surrounded by the fragrance he liked the most. It was sweet and pure, and the more he smelled it, the more entranced he was. He opened his arms and hugged the cloud of cotton candy to himself, then nibbled on it bit by bit. When it moved and tried to escape from his clutch, he tightened his grip and nuzzled his face deeper into the sweetness until—

    SLAP!

    "Ow!!" Jin Jiuchi was jolted awake by that harsh slap and he snapped his eyes open to see the jade doll glaring down at him while covering the back of his neck. His waist-length silver hair was let loose and draped around him like a divine cloak, each strand sparkling and shimmering under the morning sunlight. His silk blouse was wrinkled, and a pillow mark was imprinted on his cheek, yet they failed to diminish his beauty at all.

    Once again, Jin Jiuchi was mesmerized by the ethereal jade doll in front of him.

    "Y–You... You kept chewing on my hair and even wanted to bite my neck!" Shen Nianzu gritted out with a bright colored flush on his cheekbones. "Exactly how hungry are you?!"

    Now that he said it...

    It took Jin Jiuchi a while longer to snap out of the spell of the jade doll’s charm to recall that they had spent all night to peruse the store while Shen Nianzu introduced some of the common and must-have props to him.

    He was shocked to find that there were tens if not hundreds of props in the store, all divided into five ranks – Common, Valuable, Unique, Epic, and Divine. The higher the rank, the rarer and more powerful they were. Alas, with the amount of experience points Jin Jiuchi had, he could only buy three valuable props at most. Such was the woe of a poor man.

    Both of them must have fallen asleep unknowingly for Jin Jiuchi to wake up on Shen Nianzu’s bed, much to the jade doll’s protest last night.

    Jin Jiuchi blinked away the sleepiness in his eyes and hugged the jade doll’s slender waist closer to himself, nuzzling his face into the soft fabric of the blouse. "Nian’er, I’m hungry. Why do you have to smell so good?"

    Shen Nianzu’s scent in the morning had a slightly different undertone, but Jin Jiuchi still liked it nonetheless. There was a hint of musk that was not there previously and the more he took it in, the more intoxicated he was. He couldn’t help but raise his head and seek the source of the scent, only for the jade doll to suffocate him with a pillow.

    "Ah—!" Jin Jiuchi let out a muffled cry. "Help! I’m going to be murdered!"

    Shen Nianzu hissed in a furious tone, "Serves you right!"

    When Jin Jiuchi managed to throw the pillow off him and take the much needed fresh air, Shen Nianzu had already jumped off the bed and was rushing toward the bathroom. "Wait—" Jin Jiuchi also wanted to follow, but the jade doll slammed the door right on his face, almost breaking his handsome bridge nose.

    Jin Jiuchi stared at the door in front of him, aggrieved. "Nian’er is also very violent this morning..." he looked down at himself and saw a very noticeable bulge tenting his trousers, and it finally dawned on him where the scent of musk that enticed him had come from.

    With a mischievous grin, he knocked on the door and called out, "Nian’er, do you have problems with solving it yourself? Don’t be angry, you are not the only one who suffers from it. Or should we help each other—" Jin Jiuchi’s words were once again cut off by a resounding bang that shook the door, as if the jade doll had hurled the bottle of his soap there.

    "Get lost!" He hollered in the mixture of rage, embarrassment and arousal.

    Damn this psychological reaction! He could barely ignore that massive cock in the Cycle when he was still in the body of a child, but it was a different case altogether when he was in his real form! Only God knew how many times he had been tempted to jump on the man when they snuggled together in the Cycle. But now...

    No! Shen Nianzu shook his head like a rattle drum and turned on the cold shower to cool the heat in his own body. Do not be seduced by that husky!

    Moreover, how shameless Jin Jiuchi could be to suggest they help each other? The more Shen Nianzu thought about it, the more enraged he was. When he sensed Jin Jiuchi’s presence still lingering outside the door, he barked out, "If I still see you when I come out later, there will be no breakfast for you!"

    Of course, food would always be the final word for Jin Jiuchi.

    Shen Nianzu could finally breathe in relief when he poked his head out of the bathroom to find no Jin Jiuchi in sight. He dressed up quickly, tied up his damp hair in a high ponytail and made his way out of the bedroom to find Jin Jiuchi standing outside the balcony with a tiny adorable bird perching on his index finger.

    He halted in his tracks and took in the dazzling sunshine that fell on the man, making it look as if a layer of halo was surrounding him from head to toe. He had a bright grin on his face as he let out a soft whistle, while the bird on his finger chirped in response.

    "What is this? Can he communicate with birds too..." Shen Nianzu murmured lightly and scoffed, amused. He lightly knocked on the balcony glass to draw Jin Jiuchi’s attention, yet the bird on his finger flew away, startled by the sudden sound.

    "Nian’er!" Jin Jiuchi swiveled around to flash him a brilliant smile. "Are you done? You look pretty as usual today!"

    "Hmm," Shen Nianzu merely let out a light hum, even though his heart was jackrabbiting in his chest. "What kind of bird is it?"

    "I don’t know," Jin Jiuchi said with a casual shrug. "It was perching on that tree over there, so I was just saying good morning to it."

    "You can really communicate with birds?" Shen Nianzu was truly taken aback this time.

    Jin Jiuchi sing-songed with a devilish smile on his face, "Maybe I can, maybe I can’t. Which one would you like to hear?"

    ’Forget it,’ Shen Nianzu rolled his eyes and turned away with a harrumph. He forgot that this silly husky could not stay serious even for a minute. "It’s your turn to wash up. I have no clothes with your size here, so you should bear with it for a while until we go out to buy the new ones later along the way."

    Jin Jiuchi’s eyes lit up, "Oh, are we going out?"

    Shen Nianzu nodded. "Last night, I told you that the skill card’s description will be obscure and mysterious and it will be up to us to explore it. Actually, there is another easier method we can take. There is a player nicknamed ’The Broker’; he can be considered the eyes and ears in the Nightmare Cycle and also, he has the ability to translate the skill card for us to some extent. We will go to him today and learn more about your skill cards before your second Cycle starts."