The Palaces of the Twelve Sacred Beasts

Chapter 4: The Young Man in the Maze

The sky darkens as the night descends.

The rhythmic drizzle had long since stopped.

With its wound cleaned up and the anti-inflammatory drugs setting in, the white canine's temperature started to return to normal, no longer icy cold.

Just as Gu Ting Yu prepared to leave, the white canine crooned.

"Is it still hurting..." he mumbles to himself as he smooths it, his hand on the white canine who squints its eyes in enjoyment.

"... There should not be any serious problem for now." Gu Ting Yu picks up his bag and he turns away to leave, he again hears a painful whine from the whine canine.

"... ." The human and canine stare intently at each other.

Gu Ting Yu sighs as he glimpses at the night skies. He removes his jacket placing it over the white canine, opting to sit further away under a tree.

The nightfall compliments the forest's tranquility with its cerulean colors. Gu Ting Yu leans against the tree as he observes little white flakes occasionally falling on him, the rich fragrance floating in the forest. Admist this world of unfamiliar bewilderedment, Gu Ting Yu did not feel as fearful as he thought he would be.

Even though he could not shake off the uneasiness in his heart, he could sense that the white canine would not hurt him.

The night went by without dreams.

The morning arrived with icy dews forming as the light wind breezed past.

Gu Ting Yu opened his blurry eyes to find a blanket of witness filled the view in front of him.

Did it snow? He thought. Why am I surrounded by warmth if I'm lying in the snow?

Seconds pass as he realized that it was not any snow he saw but the snow-white fur of the white canine.

Gu Ting Yu felt agitation arisig within himself as realization set in. How did he end up lying in the arms of the beast and not realize it? How did the white canine, who was supposed to be a distance away from him, get near him and even wrap itself around him?

The white canine was still out cold as Gu Ting Yu gathered his belongings and stumbled away.

Walking alone through the forest filled with mysterious scents, he left markings around as a guide. Yet no matter which direction he headed, he eventually would always end up at the spot where he left the markings.

Then it dawned upon him; Gu Ting Yu had been going around in circles.

As his stamina gradually depleted, he started to imagine things: that something was following behind him, but when he looked back, there was nothing.

Suddenly, rustling noises came from above him. As Gu Ting Yu cast his eyes towards the source of the noise, he was shocked to find on the branches a few skeleton-like monsters staring back at him. Those creatures were the legendary forest goblins, Wang Liang[G1] . In a split second, cutting his cheeks.

"AH!!"

The forest goblins may be skinny but they possessed sharp claws and fangs. More and more forest goblins descended down the trees. Thay had been starving for far too long, with a delicacy suh as a human being, naturally they were not going to let go of it.

The forest goblins scrambled to attack.

Gu Ting Yu was bitten on several parts of his body, barely able to protect his head. His consciousness started to slip away as he lost the ability to resist, his body slid down the tree trunk.

In an instant, a roar tone through the forest. The pack of forest goblins paused as they seemed to sense something. They started to communicate, creaking with one another with fear in their voices. Then out of blue, something ran out of the woods, forcing the forest goblins to scatter away, leaving behind their meal.

Gu Ting Yu could sense that the creature was in front of him, its shadow blocking out the sun rays.  Except that he was too weak to even lift his head, he succumbed and blacked out.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but when he regained consciousness again, he could feel someone feeding him water. What felt weird was there was something soft other than the water. It swirled around in his mouth, tracing along his teeth, sucking on his tongue.

"Mnn..."

Gu Ting Yu snaps open his eyes terrified.

After a series of stimuli, he sure that he would continue to encounter even scarier things. But what was not on the list would be a handsome, gorgeous, young man.

Much less for that young man to be kissing him.

"MNN?!"

Becoming aware that Gu Ting Yu was now awake, the young man let go of his lips. The pair of pure, amber eyes quietly looked back at him as the young man smiles gently.

Gu Ting Yu got even more confused at the situation as he lost himself in that young man's warm smile.

"Who... are you?" Gu Ting Yu questions puzzledly.

The young man smiled even brighter as he moved closer towards Gu Ting Yu. He pecks lightly on the injured cheek, then speaks into his ears:

"I... lost my way..."

_ _ _

[G1] (wăng liăng): Forest goblins that lives deep in mountain forested areas.