The Palaces of the Twelve Sacred Beasts

Translated by Rui of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

"Xiao Yu, turn around."

Gu Ting Yu remained as still as a statue with his back to Nian Xing.

Nian Xing pulled Gu Ting Yu into his embrace and the two curled up together inside the shell. As evening came, Gu Ting Yu prepared to catch up on some sleep after dinner. Little could he expect that Nian Xing would pull off the blankets and squeeze into the narrow shell.

"Whatever." He would normally just let it slide and sleep despite the tight squeeze, but Gu Ting Yu was currently completely naked. He just couldn't tolerate Nian Xing who was holding onto him like an octopus, "I'm going outside to sleep."

"No!!" Nian Xing's pitch suddenly rose by an octave, before it dropped again as he pitifully mumbled to himself, "….I know. You're disgusted by me… I… my leg is too ugly… right…?"

As soon as Nian Xing spoke, Gu Ting Yu hesitated. He narrowed his eyes and meticulously analysed Nian Xing's expression. When he confirmed that it wasn't an indirect manipulation, he sighed before he crawled back into the shell in a dampened mood.

In the dark, Nian Xing hugged Gu Ting Yu's soft figure in contentment and tried his best to stop himself from laughing out loud.

The sounds of crashing tide echoed from outside the window. Gu Ting Yu felt the arms wrapped around his body pulling them tighter together.

"Xiao Yu…"

"What?"

"I want to know more about humans."

'… more specifically their body anatomy,' Nian Xing added inside his head.

"Oh." Gu Ting Yu softly replied. The sound of rolling waves was the best lullaby. He was already feeling slightly sleepy, "What do you want to know about humans?"

"Such as… parts that mermen don't have."

Legs…? Gu Ting Yu yawned, "Don't you have that yourself now?"

"But there are certain parts of my own body that I can't see myself."

"Oh… where?"

"Here." The hand that was rested on Gu Ting Yu's hips suddenly slid down in between his buttocks…

"…"

The shell violently shook like a small boat in a storm. Gu Ting Yu clenched his teeth and pushed Nian Xing over, "You want to learn?! Okay… I'm going to make sure that you learn everything there is to know about the human body!!"

"Aahh… Xiao Yu… that really hurts!!"

Gu Ting Yu grasped Nian Xing's hands into a vice-like grip and ignored his pleads. However, the tone of Nian Xing's cries gradually changed, and it didn't sound quite right…

Gu Ting Yu lifted his hand and lit a candle. In the candlelight, Nian Xing was clutching his own chest, violently writhing in pain. He leaned down on Gu Ting Yu's chest, his breathing rapid and shallow. He had already bitten through his lip and was bleeding, clearly in too much pain to speak.

"Nian Xing??!" Gu Ting Yu's expression instantly changed and his voice unbeknownst to him trembled, "Where does it hurt? Did I hurt you?"

"No…. ugh! …. Xiao Yu, it hurts…"

Gu Ting Yu held Nian Xing in his embrace and stuck his palm against Nian Xing's chest as he constantly delivered a flow of energy to the other.

Beads of sweat rolled down Nian Xing's forehead. He opened his eyes and looked at Gu Ting Yu's emotionally pained expression and couldn't help but laugh dumbly. The warm power of tears suppressed the heart-piercing throbbing pain in his chest. Nian Xing lay in Gu Ting Yu's arms and rubbed his face against the man's chest before he placidly said, "It seems like… Evil Source is awaking early. He is summoning us… to return to his side."

Before he finished uttering those last words, a cold chill suddenly ran down Nian Xing's back. The curtain of darkness hung low as if it symbolised a bad omen. The crashing sound of waves gradually softened. Just then, Gu Ting Yu heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

They had more than one visitor.

Nian Xing and Gu Ting Yu looked at each other and a nervous tension instantly took over the atmosphere. Nian Xing stood in front of Gu Ting Yu as he stared intently at the doorway.

The sound of footsteps gradually drew closer and stopped at the entrance.

Nian Xing clutched his aching chest with one hand, whilst tightly grasping onto Gu Ting Yu with the other. However, something unexpected happened…

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

A knocking sound resounded from behind the door.

***

Black clouds engulfed the moon. Beneath the ancient Clock of Reincarnation, Yuan Ming flowers withered one after another.

The cloud of black fog which rose from beneath the ground gradually transformed from an amorphous entity into its real shape. From afar, it looked like the face of a man.

Jue kneeled down before the Clock of Reincarnation and gazed up at Evil Source's physical form, which was slowly but surely piecing together. On the other hand, the man with ocean blue eyes stood behind Jue imperceptibly and remained silent.

[Jue.]

Even though no sound could be heard, Jue sensed Evil Source's words, and he humbly lowered his head.

[What's the matter?]

Jue knelt before the black fog and constantly deliberated over his options in his head. No matter what, now that the situation had unfolded to this point, neither him nor Huan Sheng could leave unscathed.

[The barrier. Why has it been disrupted?]

Evil Source's message carried zero emotion, yet Jue felt as though he was being crushed by a formless pressure to the point of being unable to lift his head. Accompanied by his increasingly strained breaths, Jue replied with much difficulty, "The barrier has been destroyed by an unknown power. The power is amassed in… the Sixth Palace…"

[Zhuo Yin?]

Jue lowered his head even more.

[Summon all of the sacred beasts.]

"… Your wish is my command."

Once he started uttering the summoning spell, a dusky blue light shone upon the surroundings. However, after the blue light disappeared, only two sacred beasts stood in place of where Evil Source had dissipated.

Thousands of years ago, all twelve of them had vowed loyalty towards Evil Source. Now in the very same location tens of centuries later, only a mere few responded to Evil Source's summoning.

Jue was left speechless. In the end, the thing he had feared most still occurred.

***

Nian Xing opened the door.

The person standing at the front of the crowd outside the entrance… was unexpectedly Zhuo Yin.

Nian Xing opened the door in a daze. Zhuo Yin, Qian Lu and Qing Que all entered the room in a single file.

Gu Ting Yu couldn't believe his eyes as his mouth hung open in astonishment, "… All of you, why are you guys…"

All three of them were completely drenched, and appeared to be rather fazed. A grey storm had unbeknowingly started brewing outside the window. It was just a drizzle at first, but the rain quickly grew heavier and heavier. Amidst the lightning and thunder, the three people seemed more grave than usual.

Zhuo Yin turned to Gu Ting Yu, "How did you come here?" His heart was connected to the barrier, so in theory, if Gu Ting Yu entered the next palace then he should've died a long time ago.

"I didn't pass through that barrier," Gu Ting Yu replied.

"Who told you to act on your own accord?! Do you know that saving me with Ming Lei is equal to you breaking the barrier? That old thing, Evil Source, can just send any sacred beast here to kill you!!" Zhuo Yin seemed strangely tempestuous, but his tone sounded all bluff and bluster, exposing how he was trying to conceal the fact that he he had been moved from the bottom of his heart, "Where did you go after that?"

Nian Xing folded his arms and gazed at Zhuo Yin in an unfriendly manner.

"I returned to the location of the first barrier — that river. I was planning on finding Qian Lu, but after I sunk below the waters I found myself by the sea when I opened my eyes again."

"The barrier has been disrupted," Qing Que said plainly. A moment later, he couldn't help but ask in a sour tone, "Why did you try to find Qian Lu… and not me?"

Qian Lu, who had been standing to the side and glaring at Gu Ting Yu, began to laugh in a self-mocking manner, "Find me? Haha… he probably went to find me in order to save that damn snake!!" While he was still speaking, he suddenly strode towards the man he had been staring at and with a *whoosh* he lifted the blanket that was covering Gu Ting Yu…

The room instantly fell into silence.

Gu Ting Yu stayed inside the shell completely naked. Other than Nian Xing who sported a slight smile, the other people's faces instantly darkened.

"Hey, don't let Xiao Yu catch a cold…" Nian Xing made his way towards the shell in an abnormally agile manner before he carefully covered Gu Ting Yu with a blanket, "Xiao Yu ~ We'll continue where we left off after they leave."

*Boom* A wave of thunder resounded as the atmosphere in the room reached freezing point.

"Xiao… Yu?" Qian Lu repeated each word after a pause in between as he gazed at Gu Ting Yu with a fake smile, "…You… did it with him?"

Before Gu Ting Yu could reply, Zhuo Yin suddenly slapped Nian Xing. Nian Xing, who was not prepared for the attack, cried out in pain as he fell down onto the floor.

"Nian Xing!" Gu Ting Yu hurriedly jumped out of the shell and helped Nian Xing up. He then looked at Zhuo Yin in a blaming manner, "Are you crazy?! Don't you see that his legs still haven't healed?"

Gu Ting Yu didn't notice Nian Xing and Zhuo Yin exchanging glances, for the merman was beneath him. For several brief moments, Nian Xing shot a faint smile towards Zhuo Yin.

Zhuo Yin instantly froze as if he had been struck by lightning.

'A formidable opponent indeed,' Qing Que and Qian Lu frowned as they silently concluded so in their heads.

The rain poured down heavier and heavier whilst ferocious waves of wind blew across the light tower. Gu Ting Yu and Nian Xing sat inside the shell as the others sat in a circle around it. Gu Ting Yu felt as though everything that happened before his eyes up until now was all just a dream. He looked around at everyone in confusion and softly asked, "Why did you guys appear here?"

It wasn't until now did Zhuo Yin, Qian Lu and Qing Que finally remember something important. Back then when they saw Gu Ting Yu's naked body after first walking through the door, they had instantly been struck into a daze, causing them to forget about the critical matter at hand.

Nian Xing lay in Gu Ting Yu's arms, and whilst he appeared to be extremely sweet, he had already secretly cursed at all three invaders. Although he knew that their appearance was definitely linked to Evil Source's summoning, he still felt hostility towards anyone who dared to peep at Xiao Yu. If they dared to run wild in his territory, they'd soon discover that this merman ate more than just seaweed!

Qian Lu calmed himself down and said, "Evil Source's consciousness has already been revived, and the restoration of his physical body will happen sooner or later. Although our powers have decreased after the barrier was damaged, we still broke our way in. However, only the three of us have managed so far."

In other words, it was unknown if Bai Zhi Ao, Xiu Er and Liang Yue were still alive.