The Palaces of the Twelve Sacred Beasts

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

The climate here was truly odd.

When the blueish night sky covered up the eye-piercing sun, large amounts of clouds tumbled towards them, and the scorching temperature lowered almost instantly. The bare volcanoes had calmed down, white smoke rose from the volcanoes in the freezing night.

Tong Ying was accustomed to the weather, so he just silently walked behind everyone.

When he heard the people in front of him chatting, he tilted his head, trying to hear their conversation.

"Xiao Yu, how about we take a rest?"

Gu Ting Yu crossed his arms, his face pale and his walking posture was bad, but all he said was, "I'm not tired."

Tong Ying frowned.

Qing Que took a layer of his clothes off, covering it on the shivering Gu Ting Yu, his movements were soft but his voice was steadfast, "Put it on."

Gu Ting Yu had his head down, and there was hesitation in his eyes. Qing Que seemed to have seen through his concern, so he could only sigh, and without giving Gu Ting Yu any chance of refusing, he buttoned up the clothes on Gu Ting Yu carefully.

Tong Ying saw everything and concluded that this human would never accept others' goodwill willingly. Even if that person was his partner, he would never selfishly ask for their love—or rather, he seemed to be very wary of becoming someone's burden.

This person… is so awkward. Tong Ying added this point in his understanding of the human.

Tong Ying silently painted an image of Gu Ting Yu in his mind. A few strokes on the left and some on the right, and without him even noticing it, that person's portrait was already clearly carved in his heart.

He subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, remembering the warmth of that person's tears. Tong Ying licked his lips, slightly squinting; his fiery red eyes were darker than usual under the night's sky.

He stared at Gu Ting Yu. How they touched this morning lingered in his head, and he wondered what it would feel like if they hugged naked…

A cold gaze came towards Tong Ying head-on, and he couldn't but shiver. When he looked in the direction the gaze came from, his eyes met with the glacier-like Zhuo Ying who stared at Tong Ying while wrapping his right arm around Gu Ting Yu.

Seriously, what an annoying guy, even a hen protecting its chicks isn't as arrogant as you are.

Tong Ying turned his gaze away from him, not realizing the jealousy in his eyes. To distract himself, he tried thinking of ways to deal with Mian.

They had talked about it quite a few times, but still couldn't come up with any good methods in the aspect of dealing with Mian.

Gu Ting Yu's state was worrying, but he just wouldn't tell them anything about his dreams. When he finally calmed his rampaging emotions down, he would lean onto Zhuo Ying and pant; the first thing he said was, "Keep going ahead, there's no need to worry about me."

Tong Ying was furious again when he trailed his memory back to this point. Don't worry, don't worry… How could he not worry… What a slow, stubborn, infuriating human!

"Hey! Xiao Yu!?"

The abrupt scream cut into Tong Ying's thoughts. He immediately looked up only to see Gu Ting Yu stumbling and falling face-down onto the ground. Tong Ying's heart nearly stopped, and he rushed forward to check up on him.

He shook the unconscious human. Tong Ying's head was in a complete chaos… What should he do in response to this, what kind of magic should he cast? He couldn't remember at all.

After a while, Tong Ying tried his best to focus, forcing himself to cast an awakening spell; beams of warm and bright light surrounded Gu Ting Yu, but even as time passed, Gu Ting Yu wouldn't wake up.

"… Don't sleep, don't sleep," he muttered like an idiot, until he was pulled away by someone else.

Gu Ting Yu had his eyes shut and was frowning unconsciously; intermittent moans escaped his mouth, sweat drops were running down his forehead.

No… That's not right. Tong Ying scratched his head, this shouldn't be his reaction… the people attacked by Mian usually died quietly without any fuss. However, Gu Ting Yu's reactions showed that he retained his sane mind in all of this. Also why didn't his spell work… why…

"Gu Ting Yu!!!" Zhuo Ying held his hand tightly, he pulled his hand to his own chest. His eyes showed how frantic the king of snakes was. Qing Que and Nian Xing stayed close to Gu Ting Yu, they closed their eyes and used their spirit power to comfort the human.

Seeing their closely connected bodies, Tong Ying stupefied.

That scene pierced straight into his heart. He didn't understand the reason, but all he felt was… bitterness, a sour bitterness.

"Ah, ah…"

Shivering moans poured out of Gu Ting Yu's mouth, it was as if he was being tortured by something, he kept shivering, curled up into a ball. Tong Ying suddenly realized something—if Mian attacked by going into one's mind, then he could try going in himself as well, and he could try stopping Mian's assault…

Tong Ying didn't care about the fact that he wasn't especially good at going into one's mind, he also didn't care about facing the stronger Mian head-on. He only touched the black dot on his forehead and muttered, "Asshole, Ye Yin Ju, all of this is your fault… So please, just pray for your damned Gu Ting Yu to wake up soon."

Tong Ying's consciousness turned into dark mist, permeating into Gu Ting Yu's head through his forehead. In that instant, Tong Ying felt freezing cold; immense pressure made it hard to breathe, it was painful and suffocating like drowning in water.

This feeling… could this be what Gu Ting Yu was feeling right now?

As he slowly infiltrated the core of Gu Ting Yu's consciousness, that terrifying fear and coldness intensified. Amongst the chaos, Tong Ying could hear a familiar cry; trying to search for the origin of the sound frantically, he was in a state of confusion himself. Coldness reached deep into his marrow, and a wave of fishy smell rushed up his throat.

The painful cries sounded closer and closer. Tong Ying increased the use of his spirit energy; bright flames spread and pushed the fog all away.

What he saw next was something that he would remember for a lifetime.

At the end of the fog, a man with ocean-blue long hair had his hands bound behind his back; he was like a god with his serious divine face. Someone you could mistake for a god… if it weren't for the things at his back.

For some unknown reason, a few ugly tentacles sprouted out from beside his spine where ribs should be, and on every tentacle, more tentacles grew. They intertwined and intersected, just like an ancient tree's roots, but it was a lot more hideous and gross than the roots of a tree.

They… could move.

Moving his view along the tentacles, Tong Ying's eyes focused on a human body on the ground, who was wrapped up in layers of tentacles.

Tong Ying's heart skipped a beat.

Gu Ting Yu was lying on the ground, completely naked, his legs were stretched apart, scores of tentacles wrapped around his slim waist, thrusting into the narrow path, while Gu Ting Yu's body shook in helplessness.

Mian had his eyes open, and he stared at the human beneath him with unfocused hollow eyes.

"You son of a bitch!!!!!!"

Tong Ying's shaky scream echoed among the fog; he dashed forward while screaming, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't reach Gu Ting Yu.

He tried to call to the human, but instead of words, blood gushed out of his mouth.

That was where the vision ended; Tong Ying's consciousness was forcefully returned to his own body.

"Um…" At the same time, Gu Ting Yu moved his fingers slightly, though he felt no strength in his body, he once again returned from Mian's spell with his own power.

It was really tiring… Gu Ting Yu didn't even have the strength left to open his eyes, but as he sank deeper into his fear, he felt that he was getting closer to that huge monster.

Suddenly, Gu Ting Yu felt a heavy, shivering body nearing him.

Tong Ying hugged Gu Ting Yu tightly as if he had gone mad. Gu Ting Yu kept his eyes shut, breathing meekly, but his hands were on Tong Ying's back, patting him lightly as if he was trying to comfort him. In that instant, a familiar heart-wrenching feeling permeated Tong Ying's whole body…

Who was it, that person who hugged him just like this before, gently patting his dirty fur, using his feathery light voice to comfort his exhausted soul?

… Tong Ying lowered his vision; clear tears slid out of his red eyes, disappearing into their intersecting hair.