The Palaces of the Twelve Sacred Beasts

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

【Wind Feather】: A deadly offensive attack that put one's own life on the line! It was characterized by its extreme speed, often leaving the opponent with no chance of evasion… Zhuo Yin remembered teaching his subordinates this spell, he even reminded them to only use it as a last resort.

Ha…

What irony that it would be used against him in the end.

However, countering Wind Feather was simple in this case, he just had to hold Gu Ting Yu, who was underneath him, up as a human shield…

Except…

Zhuo Yin's focus began to blur. How foolish… Just why was his first instinct to protect the person beneath him, even the thought of evading the attack was forgotten…

A charred hole appeared on Zhuo Yin's back, he collapsed like a smashed brick wall. Zhuo Yin gasped for air as he lay on Gu Ting Yu. Still, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Gu Ting Yu, refusing to give the assailant any chance of harming him.

The red-eyed male was taken aback by Zhuo Yin's actions, the sense of satisfaction from his successful assault remained on his face; he hadn't expected Zhuo Yin's defence to be down so easily.

Wind Feather was a kind of suicide attack, it consumes a huge amount of energy, if it failed to kill the target, then the user would have no strength left to launch another round of attack.

However, Zhuo Yin was hit by Wind Feather directly, so he was barely hanging onto life. The red-eyed male crawled towards the edge of the bed, wanting Zhuo Yin dead… completely dead…

Gu Ting Yu slowly opened his eyelids, he looked at Zhuo Yin with a puzzled expression; Zhuo Yin seemed to be in a lot of pain… what happened just now?

"… I return…"

Zhuo Yin's husky voice echoed the room. "I return your freedom to you…" Zhuo Yin said as blood seeped out the corner of his mouth, the drops making their way down onto Gu Ting Yu's face.

"!!" Gu Ting Yu was shocked by the sensation; his hands were touching Zhuo Yin's back, but all he felt was cold, sticky blood. Gu Ting Yu looked at his bloodied hands, it was as if his world was struck by a storm making his heart clench in pain.

The red-eyed male was only a few feet away, his crimson red eyes filled with flames of darkness… just a little bit more… a little bit more and he could avenge his loved one…

"Siii… siii…" The snakes gathered at the door; Zhuo Yin's eyes darkened. Such was the nature of snakes… After Zhuo Yin would be dead, they would not hesitate to devour him. To them, his body was an absolute feast which could increase their own strength.

"Listen to me, wait until I am dead… the key to the next palace is hidden inside my own heart." Zhuo Yin emotionlessly whispered in Gu Ting Yu's ear, "—but for now, close your eyes and don't look…"

"You…"

"Close them."

Among the twelve sacred beasts, only Zhuo Yin dared to link the palace barrier and his heart together. Before, he was certain that no one would be able to pass through his palace, he was certain that emotions were the most worthless burden in this world, he was certain that he didn't have a heart…

He was certain.

However, who was the one to have changed whose entire world…

Zhuo Yin covered Gu Ting Yu's eyes with a pillow cover. Once he died, the spell he had put on Gu Ting Yu would lose its effects. Only then he was to be truly free.

Zhuo Yin finally understood—he never wanted to have a puppet to play with. If he could start over, he would never have ordered a human to fall in love with him.

The room suddenly became very crowded as hordes of human-snakes rushed into the room. They bared their fangs in excitement mixed with hints of fear. The snake tribe's strongest king was now as weak as a newborn hatchling.

"Siii…Siii…" To a king, when he was no longer powerful… devouring him… was a way of showing respect…

The flames burning bright in the room suddenly quieted down.

Cold walls of the room reflected the shadows at the bed rear… The human shadow transformed into that of a huge snake!

The huge snake's scales sparkled with cold and mysterious brightness. It had a diameter which equaled to that of two human skulls, and its height reached the top of the ceiling; there was an obvious wound on the snake which continued to bleed.

The red-eyed man crawled on the floor as he opened his mouth in shock, he looked at the huge snake as its tail swept his way. The man shut his eyes.

Zhuo Yin was too strong.

He knew that everything was over now.

… At the very least, he could now go join his partner.

Hissing, sounds of battle, gusts of wind and sounds of mantras…

…Um?

The man opened his crimson eyes again, why was he not dead?

Among the shaking flames, the huge snake had swept all the other snakes out of the room; thick blood was coming out of his wound… He lowered his head, staring straight into the red-eyed male's eyes with yellow ones as big as lightbulbs… The red-eyed male felt as though he was about to be eaten whole by Zhuo Yin.

The huge snake opened his mouth wide, slightly acidic poisonous gases seeped out around his fangs—Suddenly, a blood-red aura burned in the air… it became lesser and lesser in size, finally condensing into a small, blood-red stone.

Zhuo Yin was staring at the red-eyed male from the beginning, his stare was cold and impossible to read.

As the stone glowed brighter by the second, the red-eyed male finally realized what it was! The scent of the it… it was…

When the small stone fell safely into the man's palm, the huge snake swept him out of the room with great force. The stone door closed shut at the same time, leaving only Gu Ting Yu and the huge snake that was Zhuo Yin in the room.

The red-eyed male collided with the wall outside… A great number of gravely injured snakes was surrounding him… They were whispering and debating, wondering why Zhuo Yin had not killed them…

Only the red-eyed male knew as he held onto the small piece of red rock.

Zhuo Yin didn't explain a thing.

But. The warm rock in his palm explained all—Zhuo Yin mustered all of his strength to mend the blue-eyed male's crushed heart…

"You didn't look, did you?" Zhuo Yin reverted back to his human form and said that softly as he lay on the floor.

"… No, I didn't." Gu Ting Yu kneeled down beside Zhuo Yin, who no longer had the strength to keep his eyes open.

"I'm really ugly when I become a snake… Haha," Zhuo Yin laughed softly. "I was planning to kill all of them, but then when I imagined the whole room filled with decapitated snakes… It would be very gross and I didn't want you to see that."

He didn't use to complain to Gu Ting Yu, but he did so now, "Um… It's actually really painful."

"… You bled a lot." Gu Ting Yu replied softly.

Zhuo Yin's eyes were still shut, he sighed slightly, "You. Recovered already, haven't you?"

"…"

"I knew it… you falling in love with me, it wasn't real." Zhuo Yin started laughing at himself.

Gu Ting Yu, however, sounded extremely calm, "You should stop the bleeding first."

Zhuo Yin shook his head.

[I knew that you didn't love me… But I just don't want to believe it.]

Just a little… If there were even the tiniest bit of hope that Gu Ting Yu had actually loved him, this is even scarier than falling into the abyss of desire.

"Ah right, one more thing…" Zhuo Yin suddenly remembered the emotions he saw in Gu Ting Yu when he was prying into his mind—Gu Ting Yu's remorse. "Stop blaming yourself, don't think that… you are tainted, or that giving into one's desires means to be dirty. Actually, you aren't dirty at all…"

Then… What was purity?

Purity wasn't transparent ignorance; instead, it was the quality to stay sane among dirt and filth.

Zhuo Yin was cold-hearted and a man who excelled in controlling people's hearts… But perhaps, he was the one who understood Gu Ting Yu the most.

Zhuo Yin stopped talking, and he would never open his eyes again… A clear mist rose from Zhuo Yin's chest, it slowly floated up and swirled in front of Gu Ting Yu—this was the barrier to the next palace.

Zhuo Yin who had his eyes shut all that time was never going to see the tears Gu Ting Yu shed for him.

He also couldn't hear anything—including the words, "I… was never affected by your spell…"

T/N: The author didn't explain why, so let's assume Ming Lei had something to do with it.

What kind of a journey was this?

Was it God's will that Gu Ting Yu had to finish his quest by stepping on their corpses?

The further he went, the more he had to carry on his shoulders; did he truly have to finish this journey?

Did he have to see this through, even if he was the only one left alive?

On the shore, Gu Ting Yu sat in a daze, hugging his own legs.

Beyond the barrier, there were vast oceans; except for the sound of waves, no other melody could be found.

He took in the slightly salty air, feeling the pure ocean breeze brush his face. However, even in such a tranquil environment, his heart was not at peace. He didn't want any more pain to befall them, even if he had to carry all the pain and responsibilities himself.

"Clink…"

Gu Ting Yu returned from his thoughts.A small transparent vial got swept up the shore by the waves; it made its way to Gu Ting Yu's feet. Gu Ting Yu bent down to pick up the vial. A piece of rolled-up paper was stuffed inside; he shook the vial around and finally decided to open it.

T/N: So this concludes the sixth palace: The Palace of Lust.

And from here onwards there is going to be a little change in the story's direction ^~^