GRMFBS CH230

Zhan Yan felt thoroughly sweetened by Xiao Gu.

However, he now faced a tricky predicament: having pulled an all-nighter, the adrenaline had kept his spirits afloat while he was anxious, but now that the crisis was settled, the tension in his mind snapped loose, instantly drowning him in crushing exhaustion.

Yet Dad and Brother were both home, so he needed to concoct a plausible excuse to catch up on sleep… How could he explain pulling a massive all-nighter? Claim he got hooked on a melodramatic TV drama again?

The Gossip System popped up with another fresh entry:

[Zhan Yunkai has returned home.]

Ahhh, right. His dad’s routine was to rise at 5:20 AM, head back to Mount Qixia, transform into the divine Chongming bird to soar in a loop above the city skyline, and then fly back.

Today his dad had even handled a few matters at Mount Qixia; otherwise, he would have returned even earlier.

If he didn’t drag himself out of bed to wash up right this second, his dad would be calling him down for morning exercises in no time.

Ah… what a tragic tale.

Zhan Yan scrambled out of bed to wash his face, resolving to tough it out just a little longer. As long as he held out through morning workouts and breakfast, he could casually make up an excuse to retreat to his room and sleep straight through the morning until lunchtime.

The cold tap water helped clear his head. Staring into the mirror, Zhan Yan began to fret. How was he supposed to get rid of these dark circles under his eyes?

Honestly, why was it that his classmates could pull consecutive all-nighters without a trace of dark circles, while his were glaringly obvious after missing just one night of sleep?

He had to find something to cover it up… Dammit, why does nobody in this house wear makeup?

Heading downstairs, Zhan Yan wore a baseball cap pulled down low.

Passing the kitchen doorway, he fired off a brisk greeting to his dad without breaking stride, making a beeline for the front door—opening it, slipping out, and pulling it shut in one seamless, lightning-fast motion.

Zhan Yunkai didn’t even have time to turn his head to catch a full glimpse of him, seeing only the retreating back of a figure in a baseball cap.

…His youngest son had whipped past him like a gust of wind.

Was he really that eager to do his morning exercises today?

Once outside, Zhan Yan found a 24-hour convenience store, bought a concealer and a bottle of sunscreen, patted the concealer over his dark circles, and layered the sunscreen on top to provide plausible deniability.

Returning home, Zhan Yan discovered his father was gone, leaving breakfast on the dining table alongside a note stating he had errands to run and needed to step out.

[Chongming Demon King Zhan Yunkai has decided to go have a chat with Teng Jian right now to avoid wasting time while his wife, Ji Yueming, is home.]

Zhan Yan: …

Had he known earlier, why did he even bother fussing around with concealer?!

Zhan Yan decided to finish his portion of breakfast before his brother woke up so he could head straight back to his room to catch up on sleep. In any case, his brother would just assume he was being a shut-in again, so there was no need to worry.

Zhan Yan had barely taken a few bites when his brother came downstairs.

Zhan Yan was stunned: “Brother, why are you up so early?”

Zhan Jinli typed:

Zhan Jinli: [I have some business and need to head out today.]

Zhan Jinli: [What did you put on your face?]

Zhan Yan: “Ah… that.”

Remembering to type, he replied:

Zhan Yan: [Sunscreen.]

He knew that slathering something on his face would never escape the sharp eyes of his family. Regardless, his brother couldn’t tell the difference between concealer and sunscreen anyway.

Zhan Jinli paused.

Sunscreen? His younger brother had never touched such products before; why was he suddenly fretting over his appearance?

A boy who had never cared about his looks suddenly starting to care about his image… Could our brother be dating someone?!

Zhan Jinli mentally combed through whether his brother had shown any recent signs of romance… but couldn’t reach a conclusion. However, he remembered that his sister had once brought up the possibility of their brother dating.

His sister was indeed far more perceptive in these matters than he was.

He needed to ask his sister.

Without a word, Zhan Jinli gave a nod.

Once breakfast was done, he would ask his sister.

Zhan Yan quickly finished his breakfast, dashed upstairs to wash the concealer and sunscreen off his face, and buried himself under the covers.

So sleepy, so sleepy. There was nothing left requiring his watchful eye anyway. Sleep!

Inside the Gossip System, unnoticed by anyone, a fresh piece of gossip steadily refreshed:

[Ghost King Lin Yuan Zhan Jinli sent a message to his younger sister Zhan Suiru asking whether you are dating someone.]

Inside the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.

Even though the matter was concluded, Ji Yueming had no immediate intention of leaving. She wanted to investigate the matter regarding Teng Jian.

Yan Yan’s social circle was truly far too abnormal. Previously, when he wanted to invest in the “Lirong” large grapes, Luo Luoluo had sent personnel to conduct research and sensed something amiss; only after digging did they discover that the cultivator of these massive grapes was a grape demon.

When the person in charge asked Puyang Xia how he had met their young boss, Puyang Xia explained that he had run ads selling grapes back then; Zhan Yan bought them, found them delicious, exchanged contacts with him, and that was how they connected.

They had also dug up Puyang Xia’s past promotional campaigns on other platforms.

A white-bearded old grandpa stood before the camera, stern and solemn as he hoisted a bunch of grapes with a thumbs-up: “Mentong County large grapes—sweet!”

Just by buying some grapes, Yan Yan had connected with a great demon nearing a thousand years of age. At the time, Ji Yueming hadn’t thought much of the coincidence. Yet this time, he merely went to watch a movie and ended up adding Teng Jian. Not only did Teng Jian add Yan Yan, but she also wanted to purchase Suiru’s sculptures. With two of her children involved, Ji Yueming felt it was necessary to remain vigilant.

Upon learning that she wanted to look into Teng Jian, Da Wule remarked, “You should be asking me about that.”

Teng Jian had once been revered alongside other mythical beasts that devoured ghostly auras as the Twelve Beasts, their likenesses carved into effigies for worship and supplication during Nuo sacrificial dances.

Nuo dances counted as a type of ritual, which fell squarely within his realm of expertise.

The so-called sacrificial rites of dance and music served functionally to harness the powers of heaven and earth, while stylistically aiming to commune with and delight the deities.

There were no gods or spirits in this world. Heaven and earth merely needed to be resonated and communed with, not entertained. To the ordinary folk of antiquity, mythical beasts born with innate divine abilities were indistinguishable from gods; hence, dance and music were composed to please them and plead for their divine protection.

When Lingzhou Wendi had studied sacrificial music and dance, he had also learned various rituals designed to commune with divine beasts. However, his talents were predominantly allocated toward resonating with heaven and earth; thus, while he had learned them, he had rarely put them into practice.

After giving Ji Yueming a comprehensive rundown of Teng Jian, he shifted into gossip mode:

“Including Teng Jian, there were twelve beasts worshiped collectively back then. But Qiong Qi was a shameless freeloader who barged in on his own; he didn’t even eat ghostly auras!

“The reason the Twelve Beasts Nuo Dance vanished later was that they had a massive falling out over aesthetic disagreements.

“Teng Jian favored subtle, enigmatic styles; Jiazuo loved fierce, monstrous beastly aesthetics; and Qiong Qi, despite being a gatecrasher, loved demanding his own specific acts all day long. The dance shamans were driven completely mad by them, and the beasts ended up brawling and disbanding. After that, nobody offered sacrifices to the Twelve Beasts anymore.”

Lingzhou Wendi clicked his tongue repeatedly: “Look at that—why fight when everything was going fine? In the end, none of them had any offerings to eat, right?”

Having absorbed an earful of gossip, Ji Yueming confirmed that Teng Jian indeed possessed a fondness for subtle, enigmatic styles. Reflecting on Ji Lele’s horror films and her daughter’s sculptures—yes, they were indeed quite subtle, and rather difficult to understand.

Teng Jian might genuinely have just added him as a contact upon encountering someone with matching artistic tastes. Still, prudence was warranted. She would find an opportunity to meet Teng Jian in person.

Having finished his lore dump, Lingzhou Wendi continued to pry:

“Could that ‘fan friend’ Deep Shadow mentioned actually be himself?”

Earlier, Ji Yueming had asked Deep Shadow about his friend who was a fan of Tianshi, but Deep Shadow had dodged the question.

Gu Jiancheng had acted mainly out of consideration for Approaching Science. He naturally wouldn’t want Tianshi to find out that Approaching Science had taken a convoluted detour through Deep Shadow just to snag her autograph.

Lingzhou Wendi said, “Everyone nowadays knows that ‘a friend of mine’ is practically synonymous with ‘myself.'”

In the past, he hadn’t cared much about fans, but ever since experiencing Approaching Science’s glaring double standards, he couldn’t help paying attention to these things. Speaking of which, Approaching Science was also a fan of Tianshi.

Ji Yueming pondered for a moment before stating, “I don’t think so.”

The look Deep Shadow gave her was remarkably tranquil, lacking the giddy excitement of a fan meeting their idol.

“Oh, come on,” Lingzhou Wendi said, twirling his small flute as his eyebrows shot up at Ji Yueming. “What if he’s just an exceptional actor? Let me tell you, folks who look stern and serious on the outside often have the wildest internal drama running behind closed doors. That’s speaking from pure experience.”

Gu Jiancheng and Zhan Suiru had already departed from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau together.

The two exited through the “Polar Brilliance” shop as well, where the clerk on shift was still Shan Zhi.

This role served as a welfare perk for family members of Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau personnel, boasting generous pay and perks: working three days a week across four rotating six-hour shifts in a 24-hour operation. Shan Zhi happened to be on the morning shift from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

He put on a picture-perfect customer service smile, treating the fact that these two patrons entered the darkroom yesterday and only emerged today as completely run-of-the-mill.

Hah, just another pair of genuine supernaturals. Working this position, I’ve seen it all.

Consequently, the staff were impeccably polite to everyone, never knowing whether a customer was an anime geek or a true powerhouse, or whether someone in eccentric garb was cosplaying or wielding genuine supernatural powers.

Gu Jiancheng made a direct stride toward the exit, but Zhan Suiru lingered inside the store.

Gu Jiancheng glanced back at her: ?

Zhan Suiru: “I want to take a look at the merchandise here.”

She hadn’t been in the mood upon arriving, but now found these gadgets rather amusing, wondering if she could replicate genuine supernatural versions of them.

Perhaps her younger brother might like toys like these? thought a certain Artisan who had once attempted to forge an authentic Iron Man armor suit.

Gu Jiancheng: … His future elder sister-in-law likes stuff like this?

So chunibyo… But does this mean Yan Yan might like them too?

Speaking of Yan Yan’s tastes, he was reminded of the lotus pond surprise last time. Wuu… If Yan Yan disliked melodramatic TV shows, why did he stay up late crying over them? Or was it that he only enjoyed watching them, but disliked experiencing them?

Whether to cater to Yan Yan’s tastes or to flatter his future sister-in-law, Gu Jiancheng decided to walk over and take a look.

Shan Zhi launched into a polished, professional presentation with a smile. Who declared that a genuine supernatural powerhouse couldn’t be an anime fan who loves cosplay?

See? That man who scared the living daylights out of him yesterday isn’t scary at all! Isn’t he also a fan of oversized chunibyo toys?

Zhan Suiru was mildly surprised. Does Deep Shadow like these toys as well?

Given that there were no other patrons in the shop and the sole clerk was privy to supernatural secrets, their conversation steadily took a menacing turn.

Zhan Suiru: “Do you like this sort of thing? I can forge a real one for you.”

Gu Jiancheng was genuinely intrigued this time: “To what extent can a real one perform?”

Zhan Suiru: “Laser cutting, shape transformations—I can incorporate other features if you’d like. If you just want to fool around with it, slicing through a few meters into the earth is child’s play.”

Shan Zhi: …

Gu Jiancheng: “Toys are boring.”

Zhan Suiru: “It can also be crafted to synchronize with your abilities, though I can’t manage that alone; we’d have to wait for Xiao Ran.”

Once Yang Ran’s soul recuperated a bit further, she would be able to return his supernatural core to him.

The two powerhouses conversed in utter harmony. After parting ways, Zhan Suiru received a text from her brother asking if Yan Yan was dating anyone.

My, my, her dense older brother had finally caught on.

Unfortunately, she already knew Yan Yan’s partner was far from ordinary. Thus, she absolutely could not allow an ordinary mortal like her older brother to get mixed up in this.

Zhan Suiru: [Nope.]

Zhan Suiru: [Putting on sunscreen is probably just a sudden whim.]

Zhan Suiru: [Kids his age are always prone to sudden whims.]

Having successfully brushed off her brother, Zhan Suiru was reminded of Gu Jiancheng. She had dragged her feet on investigating her brother’s boyfriend for far too long; now that Xiao Ran’s dilemma was resolved, she couldn’t delay her brother’s matter any further.

Lacking proficiency in intelligence gathering, Zhan Suiru decided to seek help from a professional.

Among the information-type users she knew, only one was both entirely reliable and peerlessly capable.

Upon waking up, Zhan Yan discovered a private message on the chaofan forum from the Artisan.

His sister expressed her profound, heartfelt gratitude, and then asked if he could help investigate an individual.

Zhan Suiru had compiled the clues:

High probability of being a player from Infinite—Zhan Suiru found Gu Jiancheng familiar;

Suffers from aftereffects—required her essential oils and blended incense beads;

Likely began improving around summer of last year—last summer break was the first time Yan Yan had asked her for essential oils to give to a friend.

Refusing to sit out the fun, the Gossip System chimed in:

[Zhan Suiru deeply understands the principle of “leaving professional matters to professionals,” and thus decided to commission your persona, Approaching Science, to investigate who your boyfriend, Gu Jiancheng, truly is.]