The Palaces of the Twelve Sacred Beasts

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

The rain finally stopped.

Odor of salt lingered in the air, tides were low, and the ocean was calm. Gu Ting Yu lifted his head, watching the morning sun slowly rise on the horizon. He suddenly thought that the waves were like soldiers awaiting the beginning of a holy war.

The mist Gu Ting Yu breathed out blurred his vision; he made two cups of seaweed tea and brought them into the room.

Seaweed tea was more similar to boiling shredded seaweed into a pot of porridge. Nian Xing loved drinking it, while Gu Ting Yu usually just held the cup in his hands, using it for warmth.

When Gu Ting Yu walked out of the room quietly, Zhuo Yin, who was in the corner of the room, abruptly opened his eyes.

Zhuo Yin looked down at the worn-out blanket, then curled up in it, hiding from the sun with a lazy smile. Although, his body temperature would change along with the environmental temperature, so he wouldn't feel cold to begin with.

The top of the tower was an observatory. Qing Que stood watch there for the whole night. Gu Ting Yu walked up the spiral staircase, each hand holding a cup; just when he almost turned the doorknob to the observatory, an icy hand grabbed his ankle.

— "Shuu~~"

The teacups rolled off the stairs, and Gu Ting Yu was pulled into a familiar embrace.

Zhuo Yin was following behind Gu Ting Yu from the second he left the room, and now he was blocking Gu Ting Yu's mouth while undoing his shirt quickly.

The two were lying on the staircase. Gu Ting Yu's white, slim legs were exposed to Zhuo Yin in no time.

"Zhuo… Umm…" Is he crazy… Qing Que is just a few steps away, and Nian Xing's snoring can be vaguely heard through the door…… Zhuo Yin isn't going to do it here, is he… "Ah…"

The steps forced Gu Ting Yu to keep his chest up; the two pink plump nipples on his chest were bitten into by Zhuo Yin who was carefully savoring the taste.

Intermittent moans were blocked by Zhuo Yin's passionate kisses, as white, misty puffs of breath came out of their noses. Scores of wet traces remained on Gu Ting Yu's body as Zhuo Yin licked and bit him thoroughly.

Gu Ting Yu mustered all of his strength to stop the moans that were pouring out of his mouth; the blue murals were reflected in his black eyes… He was about to suffocate, and surrender to Zhuo Yin, letting him do whatever he wanted.

"En… ough, they might see us…"

"You are lying again… You clearly want me." In truth, Zhuo Yin had been waiting for this chance for quite a while; with the scourge named Nian Xing pestering him, it would be hard to intertwine (i) with Gu Ting Yu in the future.

Gu Ting Yu hadn't experienced something like this ever since leaving the Palace of Lust, and morning was exactly when male hormone secretions were at their highest, so the sudden passionate caressing made Gu Ting Yu lose his reason. As Zhuo Yin's exploration and teasing became rougher and rougher, he knew that he couldn't handle it anymore.

"You want me, right?" Zhuo Yin grabbed Gu Ting Yu's bulge, holding it in his hand.

Gu Ting Yu was so embarrassed that he wanted to jump off a building.

Only his arms were in contact with the floor; Zhuo Yin was holding his legs up, and the rest of his body was all in midair. Gu Ting Yu arched his head up unbearably to give an embarrassingly long moan which he couldn't accept himself.

When he opened his eyes, a person stood in the center of his inverted vision; in that instant, he felt his blood turn solid.

The person in question was Qing Que.

Gu Ting Yu had never seen him with such cold eyes; Qing Que walked down the stairs, passing them wordlessly, and walking straight into Nian Xing's room.

From beginning to end, Qing Que ignored them completely.

A gust of freezing wind pierced into Gu Ting Yu's heart… He wondered what he was even doing…

Bai Zhi Ao, and the others are missing, Qian Lu disregarded his own safety to rescue them, Qing Que didn't sleep the whole night to stand guard… And what did I do… nothing but fooling around…

He had planned on… planned on going up to the observatory, and giving Qing Que a cup of hot tea, telling Qing Que how happy he was to see him again… He wanted to talk with him, because Qing Que wouldn't make unreasonable demands, he would just silently protect him.

And now everything was falling apart.

"You…" Zhuo Yin sensed Gu Ting Yu's sorrow, he was a little worried, remembering the scenes he saw in Gu Ting Yu's mind, he felt sick, as if the food in his stomach were rotting, and emitting an unbearable stench.

Gu Ting Yu shook his head, and put his clothes back on in embarrassment, returning to Nian Xing's room with Zhuo Yin.

The sky was already completely bright. Nian Xing in the room had woken up, crawling out of the shell messily, he said out loud the moment he saw Gu Ting Yu, "Xiao Yu… Where did you go~~~"

Gu Ting Yu ignored Nian Xing, and instead secretly looked at Qing Que, who was sitting by the window.

Qing Que's delicate face had an obvious hint of fatigue; as if he sensed Gu Ting Yu's gaze, Qing Que suddenly lifted his head, and their gazes met.

There was no blame in his eyes… nor disappointment… There was only simple, pure sadness in those deep green eyes.

"Qing…"

"Alright." Qing Que cut into Gu Ting Yu's sentence, "Nian Xing is awake now, let's prepare to leave."

"To where?" Nian Xing asked.

"To the next palace."

"But," Zhuo Yin frowned as he spoke, "none of us are at our top condition, don't you think that waiting here for Qian Lu to return is a better idea?"

"We can't wait anymore. Our only chance is the little time we have now before the Evil Source awakens completely." Qing Que continued, "Deep inside the twelve palaces, where the Evil Source had dissipated before, the first three palaces surround the Evil Source in a triangular shape, and the beasts would not leave the Evil Source's side at such dire times."

"So what you are saying is, the only opponents we will be facing now are the sacred beasts of the eighth and ninth palace, right?" Zhuo Yin asked.

"Yes."

Everyone fell into a long silence, processing the information while Nian Xing held onto Gu Ting Yu's hand, rocking back and forth happily. Zhuo Yin leaned on the wall with his arms crossed in deep thought.

Qing Que looked at the east sky that was getting more and more turbid, "Let's go."

"Hmn. Let's go." Nian Xing smiled brightly as he picked up a few paintbrushes and scrolls to bring. After a long time, Nian Xing finally noticed that everyone was looking at him, so he frowned, and said, "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go."

"Go where, only you know where the exit of this palace is," Zhuo Yin said.

"ME!?" Nian Xing opened his eyes widely, and said in shock, "I know absolutely nothing, I was just washed up here by the waves, I have never laid eyes on the Evil Source… Wait, don't be so mad…… Ah! I remember now. There was a green-eyed person who asked if I wanted to stay on the lighthouse, and I thought that sounded quite nice, so I agreed."

"So after we wasted so much time, turns out you are really here just to meet the number requirement!" Zhuo Yin hissed between his clenched teeth. "So what do we do now? Where is the exit of this palace!?"

"You're the one who's here to meet the number requirement—the number requirement for liking Xiao Yu…"

"Stop fighting," Qing Que stopped Nian Xing's anger before it could boil over. "I've observed the surroundings; except for a small island, there's just ocean, there are no other places to go."

What Qing Que said reminded Gu Ting Yu, "I had woken up on that island… But it's just a deserted piece of land, and there's nothing there."

"No matter what, let's try swimming over there first," Qing Que said.

Suddenly, the hand that was holding Gu Ting Yu's tightened; Nian Xing clenched his teeth, "Xiao Yu…"

—Nian Xing still didn't know how to swim yet.

If he used the Freezing Technique again, it would consume a lot of energy, if they came across danger in the next palace, Nian Xing wasn't sure if he would still have enough strength to protect Xiao Yu.

Nian Xing had this feeling that the exit of the palace had a lot to do with him. Strong waves separated him from the others thousand of years ago, he leaned up against the lighthouse, his defective legs made him scared and timid; if he had the courage to swim back to the island back then, then he would still be a merman in the deep sea.

Swim across… Swim across…

This is the only thing he could help Xiao Yu with now.

"Can you, Nian Xing?" Gu Ting Yu asked with a low voice.

"Humph. Even if the great me (ii) became a salted fish, I'd still be better than the dried-up snake on land!"

Swimming from the lighthouse to the island, Gu Ting Yu felt that the distance was far longer than when he first came. Qing Que and him sandwiched Nian Xing, supporting him, and preventing him from sinking. However, as Gu Ting Yu continued to use his strength, and his body temperature lowered, he felt his limbs becoming heavier. Nian Xing was also intermittently swallowing seawater…

Seeing that both Gu Ting Yu, and Qing Que were going to sink with him if this kept up, Nian Xing struggled to push Gu Ting Yu away, the icy cold water drained into his nose and mouth, Nian Xing heard someone speaking in a cold voice, "How foolish, as a fish, you can't even swim…"

All of a sudden, a dark, long shadow rose from under the sea, Nian Xing was stared down by a pair of lightbulb-like eyes before he could react to what was happening…

The three crossed the rest of the way riding on Zhuo Yin's back.

Once they reached the beach, Zhuo Yin said teasingly, "So who just said that even if you became a salted fish, you would be stronger than me?"

Before Zhuo Yin finished, the world around them shook vigorously; the small island racketed like in a great earthquake…

The deserted island sank and scattered under everyone's shocked gazes. Nian Xing held Gu Ting Yu's hand tightly; Qing Que and Zhuo Yin rushed over to shield Gu Ting Yu from the falling rubble, they all held their breaths, waiting for seawater to rush over their heads—

After a while, the sea was calm, the lighthouse stood tall afar, the clouds above were rolling past… everything was normal.

Except that the island that had existed for thousands of years was nowhere to be seen, as it disappeared without a trace.

T/N:

(i) Intertwine: The word used in Chinese means intertwine, but also has the hidden meaning of "having sex", also probably is a pun since Zhuo Yin is a snake ^^

(ii) Great me: In Chinese it says "Big Grandpa" if I directly translate it, but it is basically just something one refer to oneself with, meaning great, and awesome, similar to "ore sama" in Japanese

Sacred Beast: ?

Sacred Beast: ?

Sacred Beast: ?

Sacred Beast: Huan Sheng (幻生) / Green butterfly

Sacred Beast: Jue (決) / ?

Staying with the Evil Source