Warm And Solid Cushion

Jin Jiuchi stared unblinkingly at the nightmare creature clinging to the ceiling on the corridor outside. It was a grotesque sight, a twisted abomination that defied all logic and reason. Just like the blood parasite, but a thousand times creepier.

The top half of its body was that of a woman with a torso and arms that looked eerily human. But from the waist down, the creature's body resembled a spider with four pairs of long, spindly legs that moved in a bizarre, insect-like way. As it crawled across the ceiling, the creature's spider legs tapped against the surface in a staccato rhythm. Thanks to Jin Jiuchi's excellent eyesight, he could even spot the wiry black hair that covered its legs, the dark color standing out against the pale, sickly skin of its human torso. Its sharp mandibles clicked together hungrily, its eyes – large and multifaceted – gleamed in the dark corridor with sinister intelligence. However, this bizarre sight was not one that shocked Jin Jiuchi the most.

It was the creature's face that looked just like… Madam Liu!

"N–Nian'er…" He reached out haphazardly to draw the jade doll's attention and ended up patting him right on the head. "Nian'er! Nian'er! Nian'er!"

"What?!" Nian angrily swatted his unruly paw away.

"Look up. There's something else on the ceiling."

"What?" Nian raised his head, yet he could not see anything past the boundless darkness of the corridor outside. He could only spot something dark and huge moving, but that alone was already enough to send alarm bells ringing through his mind. "What is it you are seeing?"

Jin Jiuchi belatedly realized that Nian's eyesight was not as good as his, thus he took it upon himself to describe the abomination he had seen with simple and limited vocabulary. However, the words 'half woman and half spider with Madam Liu's face' was already enough to give Nian a clear image of what kind of nightmare was waiting for them outside.

As the paper dolls were getting closer and closer to them, he silently tugged Jin Jiuchi to sit on the floor, his little forehead furrowed deeply. "I think I have figured out the main rules of this Cycle."

Jin Jiuchi blinked a few times in confusion. "Uh… great?"

Nian shot him an exasperated look and explained it in a way that a simple-minded fool like Jin Jiuchi could understand. "I have told you before that the most important thing after entering the Cycle, aside from completing the task by the NPC and earning the return ticket, is to find out all of the death conditions. Only this way can we avoid triggering it and increase the likelihood of our survival."

"Oooh!" Jin Jiuchi hit his palm with a fist. His expression was full of awe as he praised the jade doll wholeheartedly, "Nian'er is so good! It's only the second night and you already figured them out?!" He wanted to continue singing praise to high heavens, only for Nian to clamp his mouth shut with a small yet ruthless palm.

"Don't be so loud! Do you want to attract them again like last night?!" he hissed in a low voice.

Jin Jiuchi gave him a wounded look and signaled that he would be silent, and only then did Nian let him go, not without sending him a warning glare.

They waited for a few minutes until the paper dolls walked past their room and ascended the floor before Nian got up to switch on the light and re-joined Jin Jiuchi on the floor. Alas, before he could even settle down, Jin Jiuchi suddenly tugged on his arm, causing him to lose his balance and landing straight on the man's lap.

Jin Jiuchi winked at him with a roguish look that made Nian want to bash his head. "Won't it be better this way so we can talk quietly?"

'Patience,' Nian repeated to himself like a mantra. 'This man is nothing but a husky. He doesn't understand anything at all!'

Through their close interaction these past few days, he had realized that Jin Jiuchi severely lacked common sense which ordinary people possessed. He would often spout out weird nonsense and do things that would cause him to be labeled as a pervert. When in fact, he truly did not mean anything by that at all! That's why Nian learned not to take anything the man said at face value. Even though his appearance was one of a high-caliber specimen, inside he was no more than a five years old child!

Too lazy to argue, Nian made himself more comfortable on Jin Jiuchi's lap, treating him just like an overly warm and solid cushion, then he reached into his pocket and took out a piece of crumpled paper.

"Hmm?" Nian was startled when the vibration of Jin Jiuchi's questioning hum reverberated from the man's chest to his back, sending small tremors of shock throughout his body. Then Jin Jiuchi placed his chin on Nian's small shoulder and reached out to open the folded paper, which automatically caused Nian to be engulfed within his powerful and muscular arms. "What is this? A newspaper clipping? Nian'er, this is the thing you took from Madam Liu's body downstairs, right?"

The man's heated exhale fanned across the tender skin of his neck, causing him to shiver and let out an involuntary gasp, and his voice… oh that deep and low voice that rumbled right into his ear…

Nian took his words back! It was simply impossible to treat this man like a cushion when he was oozing intense male pheromones with every breath he took!

Nian clenched his teeth. He had no idea whether to be grateful or regretful that he was in this form now…

"Hmm?" Jin Jiuchi sniffed the air a few times, then he abruptly pressed his nose to Nian's pulse point and took a deep inhale out of it, sounding intoxicated. "Nian'er, your smell becomes sweeter…"

'This damned husky!!' Unable to endure it anymore, Nian summoned his needle and stabbed Jin Jiuchi's arm with it, effectively locking his movement in place. He rolled out of Jin Jiuchi's lap and glared at the man who was looking at him with a pair of mournful and betrayed eyes, his chest still heaving both from fury and adrenaline raging in his system.

'If I don't teach him a lesson now, then I will cut my head off and let him play with it like a football!'