After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle

Zi City Bug (3)

The faint green moonlight shone on his body and Chi Nan unknowingly stopped and looked up.

You Yu was standing half a step away from him. He looked at Chi Nan and his heart was suddenly blocked by an inexplicable unease.

Every now and then, he had the illusion that Chi Nan was standing far away from him, quiet and ethereal. There was even some lofty divinity.

It was like he was out of reach.

However, Chi Nan just stood silently as usual. His green eyes faced the full moon that was the same color and he was as calm as the moonlight sinking to the bottom of a lake.

He blinked and his eyes were filled with subtle emotions, so subtle that even Chi Nan was unaware of them.

Hei Cha also sensed Chi Nan’s strangeness and turned his head. “What’s wrong?”

“Before…did the moon turn green?” Chi Nan’s mind returned.

Hei Cha was starving and dizzy so he became sluggish in observation. He belatedly looked up at the vent and was stunned for a moment. Then he shook his head. “No, I have never encountered this situation.”

He paused before adding, “It might also be that I didn’t pay attention to the changes in the sky before.”

Chi Nan didn’t speak. Then You Yu walked over and said casually, “It is just the color pollution caused by the bug. Don’t worry about it and let’s go.”

Chi Nan was a bit concerned, but in the end, he nodded. After stepping out, he instinctively looked back at the green moon.

“By the way, why did you happen to be waiting at the station?” You Yu rarely took the initiative to ask Hei Cha a question.

Hei Cha explained, “After my memory came back, I remembered that Chi Nan would definitely go back to Zi City after finishing an instance. However, Zi City is like this. If Chi Nan came back alone, then he definitely wouldn’t be able to cope with it. That’s why I thought of waiting at the station every day. In any case, now there are no clues and there is nothing else to do other than make some self-defense items.”

Chi Nan looked over at Hei Cha and said sincerely, “Thank you.”

Hei Cha scratched his neck in an embarrassed manner. “Well, I was also thinking that the dining carriage of the train that sent you back would have food… In the end, I am still empty-handed…”

Hei Cha sighed. “I didn’t expect you to come in the end. In fact, I really hoped that you wouldn’t return to this ghostly place.”

Chi Nan opened his mouth. “So apart from the hunters trapped in Zi City and the sleepwalkers who have already fulfilled their wishes and returned to reality, this is the first time that exceptions like 229 and I have appeared?”

Hei Cha nodded. “Apart from the two of you, no one alive has come in during this time.”

Even so, Hei Cha wasn’t surprised to see Chi Nan. After all, this young master could always break the inherent rules and even change from being dominated to being someone who controlled the rules.

Miracles always happened with Chi Nan.

The group continued to walk deep into the tunnel. Less than five minutes later, the walls of the tunnel suddenly cracked like the surface of ice that had been smashed open. The cracks continued to expand and spread, and rubble and gravel fell in clusters, covering Chi Nan with dust.

Hei Cha’s expression abruptly changed and he immediately stopped, his voice trembling as he exclaimed, “Let’s go back quickly! There are monsters coming through the vents into the safe passage!”

The rescue team had arranged a series of defense mechanisms outside the safe passage, but it was inevitable that there would be accidents, whether it was from a monster or a killer. Five sleepwalkers had already died from the sudden attacks of the instance monsters.

At the same time, there was a strange sound from the depths of the tunnel. This type of sound didn’t exist in nature. It was like the sound of fingernails scratching on a blackboard or steam expanding when steaming buns, mixed with a strange sound that made people’s teeth ache.

Countless fine lines cracked the wall and something viscous similar to red blood spilled out wildly. The slimy, scarlet substance spread across the entire wall of the tunnel in the blink of an eye.

It was as if red algae had filled the tunnel with destructive force. The three of them were surrounded with patches of sticky, red pollution that quickly cut off their retreat.

“There were two sleepwalkers who encountered this monster before… It is said that it digests humans like piranha, but it grows and reproduces much faster than a piranha. One person had his limb cut off…the other had his entire body pulled into the sticky scarlet liquid. After a minute, he was turned into bones and spat out.”

Hei Cha stared at the red monster that was spreading wildly. He stood in the middle of the tunnel and was unable to advance or retreat.

They were surrounded by a fast growing, pervasive, red viscous substance that digested human muscles and tissue. Hei Cha had the illusion of being in the stomach of a man-eating monster.

The viscous and disgusting liquid was trying to reach out to them, just like a monster’s stomach could corrupt a person’s gastric juices.

Hei Cha’s heart was beating wildly in his chest, but he was quieter and more awake than ever before.

He knew very well that death would come soon and take him away from this scarlet hell.

All the long nights of starvation, cold, helplessness, and collapse of his willpower due to fear would disappear at the moment of death.

Maybe it was a relief…

No one respected life more than him, but long torture could easily destroy a human’s desire to survive.

They couldn’t escape…

“Chi Nan, the two of you will hide behind me later. It is better if you can live a bit longer. I have already…”

In the end, he still instinctively protected his most important friend.

Chi Nan’s expression was still calm. “Do my tears work when dealing with this type of thing?”

“We will know after trying it.” The equally calm You Yu put his lips to Chi Nan’s ear. “Is it okay?”

He had promised that he would ask Chi Nan’s consent for any touch in the future.

The moment that Chi Nan nodded, You Yu’s lips gently pressed against the edge of his ears.

It was an ambiguous and dangerous kiss.

You Yu could clearly feel Chi Nan’s body tensing up. Chi Nan’s ears became soft and red due to his touch and the thin fluff stood up cutely.

The person he loved lived in his body, skin red and hot due to his actions… You Yu smiled silently. At the same time, he quickly put the knife to Chi Nan’s eyes and caught the dripping tears with the blade.

The knife dipped in Chi Nan’s tears shone with a wet light. You Yu raised the knife and slashed it toward the wall contaminated with the ‘red algae’ with the expression of a chef looking at high-end ingredients.

This methodical posture was like cutting a high-grade piece of beef.

“……?” Hei Cha, who was ready to die, was confused. What was going on?

However, a miracle happened and no one was surprised by it except for Hei Cha.

The moment the knife pierced deeply into the wall, a sound that resembled frying steak was heard from inside the wall. The tunnel was a circular closed environment, so it made the sound seem like it was being emitted from 360 degree surround sound stereo speakers…although no one would use speakers to play the sound effect of frying steak.

The red viscous substance that was spreading wildly acted like the tentacles of an octopus that had been burned. It rapidly retracted the tentacles along the gaps in the walls, but You Yu’s movements weren’t as harmless as his expression. He increased the strength of his hands and quickly and fiercely cut and peeled off a large piece of the red wall, throwing it to the ground.

The wall wrapped in scarlet slime struggled for a while. Then it gradually returned to silence. The red substance peeled off the bricks and shrank into a large mushroom with a diameter of half a meter.

Hei Cha was stunned. “What is this?”

You Yu wiped the knife with his handkerchief and picked up the big mushroom. He replied, “This is the dinner ingredient for tonight’s rescue base. Can you use it as a big red mushroom?”

Hei Cha had recovered from the shock but he was skeptical about the ingredient in You Yu’s hands. “…Can this thing really be eaten?”

You Yu nodded firmly. “The monster you saw just now was called Scarlet Wallflower and I happen to be its designer.”

Hei Cha: “……”

Chi Nan commented, “This wallflower is really unlucky.”

You Yu shrugged. “The name might be slightly chuuni sounding but it is essentially a hyphae-like being that quickly grows, ferments, attacks, and devours humans. I’m pretty sure it can be eaten.”

Hei Cha’s lips twitched.

You Yu picked up the Scarlet Wallflower and examined it for a moment. “As for the taste, I can’t say for sure. We have to try it to know.”

Hei Cha wondered, “It really isn’t poisonous?”

You Yu shook his head. “No. In addition, the nutritional value might be quite high. After all, it is rich in protein.”

Chi Nan took the Scarlet Wallflower from You Yu’s hand and examined it for a moment. Then he gave an evaluation, “The name isn’t good but it looks good.”

You Yu’s lips curled up. “Hopefully.”

Hei Cha: “……”

Chi Nan turned to him. “Can mushrooms be roasted?”

He remembered that Hei Cha’s barbecue technique was first-class. Last time when they ate on the rooftop of the North District Building, the three of them ate until they couldn’t walk. He was greedy when remembering this.

Hei Cha responded, “I can try…”

Therefore, they carried the bloody mushroom back to the rescue base that Hei Cha mentioned.

The so-called base was a basement-like existence. It was less than a hundred square meters of space and there was a campfire in the middle of the small space. The surviving sleepwalkers were sitting around the campfire to keep warm.

Chi Nan counted it. Including Hei Cha, there were now only 11 sleepwalkers left at the rescue base.

The fate of the other 10 was self-evident. They either committed suicide because they couldn’t stand the extreme cruelty of the environment, or they were killed by predators or monsters.

“Brother! Why did you come?”

A little girl’s eyes lit up the moment she saw Chi Nan. She was so hungry that she could hardly stand up, but she still waved at Chi Nan with all her strength. Her thin arms exposed outside her sleeves were extremely thin.

Then the little girl saw that there were two ‘Chi Nans’ and reacted the exact same way as Hei Cha. She was confused.

Chi Nan recognized the little girl as Rui Rui and calmly made an introduction, “My twin brother.”

For the current situation, twins was the most convenient explanation.

Rui Rui’s eyes wandered over Chi Nan and You Yu’s faces for a moment before she said sincerely, “I’m really envious.”

The mother sitting next to Rui Rui took her daughter into her arms. After a greeting, she sighed at Chi Nan with mixed feelings. “I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky to see old acquaintances here.”

Tears filled her eyes as she spoke.

Hei Cha wondered, “Huh, do you know each other?”

Chi Nan nodded. “We met during the Candleman Festival instance.”

The mother and daughter were once again pulled into the Nightmare World, indicating that they had previously fulfilled their wish to revive their father.

At this time, more than 10 pairs of eyes stared at the Scarlet Wallflower in Chi Nan’s hand. Chi Nan shook the wallflower. “Tonight’s ingredient.”

Everyone: “?”

Why did this ingredient look a bit familiar? Wasn’t it the red slime monster that killed two of their teammates?

Rui Rui pointed to the poor Scarlet Wallflower. “Brother, is this a big mushroom?”

You Yu nodded. “It is a versatile ingredient and is delicious, no matter whether it is for barbecue or stew.”

Hei Cha, who almost switched from being the supernatural streamer to a food streamer, silently raised his hand. “I can be responsible for making it delicious…”

He met everyone’s skeptical gaze and added in a low voice, “…If you dare to eat it.”

Proofreader: Kat