The Palaces of the Twelve Sacred Beasts

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Nian Xing embraced Gu Ting Yu from behind, lifting his clothes up, fingers reaching for his chest along his waistline as Gu Ting Yu gasped for a breath of fresh air.

The sensitive spots on his chest swelled up under Nian Xing's stimulation.

"Umm!?" Gu Ting Yu's eyes were red as he stared at Zhuo Yin who was in front of him, holding Gu Ting Yu's hands to encircle and rub Gu Ting Yu's hard member.

Zhuo Yin was in front of him and Nian Xing was behind him, so Gu Ting Yu was helplessly sandwiched between the two of them. He extended his neck, asking for help from Qing Que who was quietly making the bed, "… Qing Que… Stop… them…"

Qing Que stood up while blushing, he swallowed hard and said seriously, "Stop it."

Zhuo Yin and Nian Xing turned their heads around to face Qing Que, looking extremely dissatisfied, while Gu Ting Yu took a sigh of relief in secret.

However, Qing Que's next sentence completely drowned his hope, "… If you guys have to do it, then do it properly on the bed."

"You guys leave me with no choice…" Gu Ting Yu tried to calm himself down; he unsteadily stood up and kissed Qing Que. Even though it was just a peck as light as a bird's feather, it made a huge impact on Qing Que.

Then, Gu Ting Yu moved Nian Xing's hands away, unintentionally brushing his fingertips across Nian Xing's abdomen. He crawled over to lick the remaining liquid at the corner of Zhuo Yin's mouth, while Nian Xing was still in a daze.

The situation took a turn for the worse—just when they were all grateful to Gu Ting Yu for cooperating, he started fleeing away from them when they were all in a trance. He disregarded his shoes, clothes and just started running at full speed. His last resort was to run away from them for the whole night. Maybe they could run off their excessive "energy"…

Qing Que's eyes were wide open as he was in shock, Nian Xing even forgot to use his "dirty language". Seeing Gu Ting Yu trying to run away, Zhuo Yin he jumped up like a spring and caught Gu Ting Yu after a few steps.

"Gu Ting Yu!!" Sounds of grinding teeth reached Gu Ting Yu's ear, and he knew that his plan had failed.

Zhuo Yin was furious; he sat on Gu Ting Yu's back and tied his hands up a bit too roughly. Qing Que stopped Zhuo Yin as he frowned, "You're going to hurt him this way."

"Stop… just stop…" Gu Ting Yu was on the floor, his voice was trembling from tears.

Zhuo Yin didn't want Gu Ting Yu want to be sad either. He turned him over and said with a frustrated expression, "Gu Ting Yu, I'm only going to ask you one thing… Can you… still not accept me?"

Zhuo Yin had to force the last few words out of his mouth.

Gu Ting Yu's chest was rising up and down… Hearing Zhuo Yin's words he lifted his head to look at Zhuo Yin, he had no idea what to say.

"…"

Zhuo Yin didn't get a reply. He stood up while laughing, sadness showing at the corner of his eyes.

He used to proudly toy with people's feelings, but now in front of the person he loved, he just collapsed into millions of pieces.

Air flowed into his lungs, cold and piercing, Zhuo Yin turned around, "You guys can continue… Haha, right, I should go away and leave you guys to it, shouldn't I?"

Nian Xing sighed, he squatted beside Gu Ting Yu and patted his soft hair, just like how Gu Ting Yu used to pat his head, "… Then, what about me? Xiao Yu?"

Gu Ting Yu curled up, he had known this was inevitable… He didn't want to lie to them, he couldn't promise them anything irresponsibly, but what they wanted wasn't something so unstable.

In truth… Gu Ting Yu himself really didn't know either.

He didn't know what to do.

Qing Que took off a piece of his clothing and put it on Gu Ting Yu, "Who among us do you want gone? … Or…" Qing Que stopped mid-sentence. He couldn't continue on; perhaps none of them actually were in Gu Ting Yu's heart at all.

However, it didn't matter.

It really didn't matter—Qing Que really wanted Gu Ting Yu to understand that even if he couldn't get what he wanted the most, he would still stay by Gu Ting Yu's side, protecting him, never regretting.

The night was long and quiet.

Gu Ting Yu trembled slightly, giving out a sound as small as that of a mosquito.

"… What?" Zhuo Yin nestled up to him to hear what he said.

Gu Ting Yu hugged his own legs even tighter, he was saying—

Stay.

"Who?"

Everyone…

A hard and bitter word to say, one that seemed to have taken all of his strength.

Feeling shameful and embarrassed, he let go of all the barriers he had set for himself… He prayed to God, even if what he chose was a sin, even if he might hurt them gravely in the future, at least for this moment…

This was what Gu Ting Yu wanted to say.

"I'm sorry…" Tears dampened his face. He couldn't explain why he had to apologize; a huge rock was always on his heart, it had been weighing him down for a long time now.

Zhuo Yin couldn't hold it back anymore, he embraced Gu Ting Yu tightly.

"You guys… Staying with me… Won't you guys regret it?" That was something that had hung over his head for some time, his voice trembled as he asked.

Qing Que and Nian Xing squatted down as well, the three of them hugging Gu Ting Yu tightly together.

Strong heartbeats rang in their ears; none of them knew what the future held for them, but at this very moment, even without a single word, they all understood each other.

Loving you.

Staying with you.

Wanting to be with you.

The ice in their hearts began to thaw.

Though mixed with tiny hints of pain, ice-melting kindness soothed their souls.