GRMFBS CH280

Zhan Yan’s two large suitcases were terribly heavy, more than half filled with delicious food, including those two jars of pickled diced vegetables and potted meat that he hadn’t been able to send out before.

Thanks to his daily workouts, his physical stamina had improved; otherwise, he wouldn’t even have been able to carry them.

Fortunately, there was classmate Xiao Gu, who hauled the two large suitcases up four flights of stairs in a single breath without breaking a sweat.

Halfway up the stairs, enthusiastic classmates offered to help carry them—whatever Zhan Yan brought was bound to be delicious!

Then, one after another, they retreated before the sheer weight of the suitcases. Gu Jiancheng towered above the rest, neither flushed nor breathless, climbing up to the fourth floor amidst a chorus of quiet exclamations like “Holy crap!”, “What kind of stamina is this!”, and “Badass!” Outside the dorm room door, he turned back, continuing to stare at Zhan Yan with sparkling eyes.

Zhan Yan praised him without holding back: “You’re amazing!”

Back in the dorm room, they first started their routine cleaning.

While washing the mop by the sink, Bao Qingshan said to Zhan Yan with great secrecy: “Let me tell you about a massive piece of gossip! I’ve been holding it in for the entire vacation.”

Zhan Yan was also very curious: “What gossip?”

Anything Bao Qingshan pulled him aside to tell in private was definitely gossip from the supernatural circle; other gossip didn’t need to be kept from their roommates.

Bao Qingshan: “You know there are three major organizations around here, right? We have a wanted criminal who was jointly placed on the wanted list by all three major organizations…”

Zhan Yan: ? Why does this sound so familiar?

Then he listened to Bao Qingshan recount a legendary story of a tragic, beautiful, and powerful hero like a professional storyteller. The protagonist was composed, tenacious, aloof, proud, and persistent, with an undulating plot full of twists and turns. Aside from the fact that the protagonist’s codename was Deep Shadow, and that he hadn’t heard of eight or nine out of ten plot points Bao Qingshan mentioned, it was actually quite enjoyable to listen to.

Zhan Yan began searching through gossip posts. When did Xiao Gu experience these things? How did he not know about them?

[Bao Qingshan shared with you a story compiled from the supernatural forum.]

Good grief, he hadn’t checked the off-topic chat section for so long; had everyone developed to this extent now?

No, I know Deep Shadow gained a surge of popularity on the forum because the three-party wanted bounty was revoked, but how did you people manage to weave together such a massive pile of completely unrelated stories from those tiny bits of information?

Zhan Yan opened the supernatural forum to take a peek, and with the help of the Gossip System’s posts, he finally understood what was going on.

The people from the Retirees’ Alliance were truly too idle normally. Ever since Deep Shadow’s wanted bounty was taken down, they had become excited; whenever they had free time, they hopped onto the supernatural forum, “processed and compiled” the legends about Deep Shadow they had heard in Infinite, and posted them onto the forum.

As a mysterious, solitary big boss with dramatic stories attached to him, Deep Shadow’s popularity had never been low. Many people were curious about how his sequelae had actually been cured.

The notification box in the top-right corner of the forum was flashing a little red dot.

Zhan Yan clicked it open and saw the private message sent to him by “I Just Saved the World!”, only then remembering that Approaching Science hadn’t explained to Deep Shadow how he found Di Ting’s single horn yet.

A bit troublesome… Zhan Yan fretted for a moment. Forget it, he had already made up so many lies for Xiao Gu, it was exhausting! Why did he still have to continue making up lies for him when facing “I Just Saved the World!”?

Approaching Science: “It’s too troublesome to explain. In short, it was all thanks to Candle Dragon.”

“As long as the matter is resolved, that’s what counts.”

Gu Jiancheng, who was currently wrapping up cobwebs in the corner of the dorm room: ?

Approaching Science had agreed to explain, and in the end, he brushed him off just like this? What did he mean by “it’s too troublesome to explain”?

Gu Jiancheng was very dissatisfied, but he couldn’t interrogate Approaching Science either. Approaching Science had just done him such a massive favor that he didn’t even know how to repay him. Although Approaching Science had said before that he would provide him with free intel in the future, this had already exceeded the scope of ordinary intelligence.

Repayment, repayment. Gu Jiancheng frowned while holding the clothes-drying pole.

In the past, Approaching Science would still ask for points, but now he seemed truly devoid of desires. But had he saved up enough points? Glancing at the points leaderboard, Approaching Science’s ranking hadn’t changed much, indicating he hadn’t spent points in large amounts. If he had saved up enough points, why didn’t he exchange them for what he wanted? Could it be that he had already obtained it through other channels?

Gu Jiancheng wiped the gathered cobwebs off the pole with a rag, continuing to ponder expressionlessly.

The relationship between him and Approaching Science truly could no longer be defined by simple transactions. Even without points, Approaching Science would still help him; even without repayment, he would still help Approaching Science resolve trouble.

Yet this had also led to Approaching Science starting to brush him off!

He actually felt a bit nostalgic for the days when he transferred large amounts of points to Approaching Science; that way, at least he could spend points to make Approaching Science explain things clearly to him…

Someone poked their head in through the dorm door, and Gu Jiancheng looked over.

Their class monitor gave an awkward chuckle: “Um, you’re the only one here? I brought some local specialties to share with everyone.”

Having been classmates with Gu Jiancheng for a few years, and having seen him dating Zhan Yan to varying degrees, the monitor wasn’t as terrified of him as he had been at the beginning. But the way Gu Jiancheng furrowed his brows with a stern face was still somewhat intimidating…

What was Boss Gu thinking about just now? With that expressionless aura, holding a clothes-drying pole to clear cobwebs looked just like he had wiped blood off after committing a murder…

“They should be in the bathroom.” Gu Jiancheng glanced at the things the monitor was carrying.

Delivering local specialties? He was clearly craving the good food Yan Yan had brought from home. Yan Yan said there was something made specially for him, heh~

Gu Jiancheng: “Come back later when they return.”

Seeing Gu Jiancheng’s furrowed brows relax in the span of two sentences, looking like he was in a great mood, the class monitor was a bit baffled.

Ah? Had he said something that struck the right chord with Boss Gu? Could it be that the specialties he brought hit the spot? The monitor looked down at the plastic bag in his hand.

Although the mugwort rice cakes he brought were earnestly made at home, through the opaque bag, you couldn’t see anything…

In an excellent mood, Boss Gu had already carried the rag to the bathroom.

Bao Qingshan was still speaking with deep emotion amidst the rushing sound of the faucet and the sloshing of the mop: “…And so those three wanted bounties were taken down.”

Zhan Yan: “That doesn’t really count as a massive piece of gossip.”

The story was quite nice to listen to, though. Once all their disguises dropped in the future, he could tell it to Xiao Gu.

Bao Qingshan let out a long breath: “The real gossip is right here: what comes next is my exclusive news.”

He whispered to Zhan Yan with great secrecy: “Let me tell you, over this vacation while observing the stars in the mountains at night, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck me: I think Deep Shadow’s sequelae being cured has something to do with love!”

Zhan Yan’s gaze involuntarily changed.

After not seeing each other for a vacation, had Old Bao’s skills evolved to this level?

Zhan Yan: “Um… could it be that your perception was wrong?”

Bao Qingshan stated very firmly: “Ancestral Grandmother said she didn’t sense it, so I can’t confirm it, but I’m definitely right!”

Zhan Yan: “Why?”

Bao Qingshan: “Intuition.”

Zhan Yan: …

People of the “Inspiration” sect truly relied on gut feelings.

Bao Qingshan was somewhat puzzled by this as well: “Under normal circumstances, I shouldn’t be able to sense it.”

What level of big shot was Deep Shadow? A little squishy weakling of his level couldn’t break through the other party’s innate information interference at all.

When there was such an overwhelming disparity in strength between both sides, being able to sense the other party’s condition usually meant one already had a very close connection with them. Just like the massive difference in strength between him and Ancestral Grandmother; if anything major happened to Ancestral Grandmother, he would certainly sense it.

Yet he couldn’t possibly be close in distance to Deep Shadow and his romantic partner, right?

“I think it’s just because of my hard training during the vacation that inspiration suddenly exploded,” Bao Qingshan asserted firmly.

“After catching wind of this massive gossip, I don’t even have anyone to share it with.” Bao Qingshan was truly suffocating from holding it in.

This gossip couldn’t be shared with ordinary people, but it couldn’t be shared with people in the supernatural circle either; they either wouldn’t believe it, or if they did, spreading it around would actually cause harm.

“What gossip?” Gu Jiancheng’s voice echoed faintly from behind the two.

Washing a mop for this long and leaning in this close…

Zhan Yan: “Nothing much, just a melodramatic story Old Bao got hooked on recently.”

The last few days of the vacation had been somewhat mentally exhausting. Returning to school, far away from the house full of disguise-wearing monsters and the storm center where disguises had just dropped, Zhan Yan actually felt quite happy about school starting.

His mind was no longer tired; what a relief~

Although autumn had arrived, the lingering summer heat was still somewhat fierce. Zhan Yan didn’t open the jarred meat; instead, he fished out the pickled diced vegetables first to distribute them. If this stuff was pickled for too long, it became overly salty, and once too salty, it wouldn’t taste good, so it was better to give it all away.

Zhan Yan received various local specialties in return.

While enjoying a lavish meal, he opened the gossip posts to watch the situation at home.

His sister had already returned home and was facing their parents’ “siege.”

Seeing the gossip post showing their mother asking her sister in a voice gentle as water why she hadn’t brought Yang Ran back, Zhan Yan lit a small virtual candle for his sister.

Fortunately, school had started for him.

Zhan Suiru silently held up two large bags of cookies: “He’s in the Underworld helping Ghost King Tie Lao improve the office system.”

Letting Yang Ran meet her parents later was something she had considered carefully.

Her parents had only just learned about so many shocking events; they were very likely experiencing a bit of stress response and were in a state of ultra-high vigilance. Meeting the parents at this point in time would definitely be extremely difficult.

Moreover, meeting at this juncture meant the focus would undoubtedly be on internal family matters. It wouldn’t be very easy to talk with Yang Ran around either.

Did her parents not want to ask her about Yan Yan’s situation?

With Yan Yan’s mouth, their parents certainly wouldn’t believe everything he said. They would still have to ask her.

“I only found out during this vacation as well,” Zhan Suiru said. “When we went to the game exhibition together, that person back then was targeting Yan Yan.”

Ji Yueming’s gaze instantly turned sharp. She knew about this incident; because of Rong Sui’s involvement, she had read the mission report. So, when they used the “Survival Route” skill back then, it pointed towards Yan Yan… Infinite truly still had means to trace Yan Yan.

Zhan Yunkai didn’t know about this matter and asked: “What happened?”

Zhan Suiru explained it to him.

His Majesty the Demon King’s gaze turned dangerous as well.

Tsk, the Wan Yao Alliance’s hands-off style of not managing anything was indeed not safe enough.

Both big bosses felt a bursting sense of crisis.

“Is there any other risk of Yan Yan being exposed?”

“How about I head to Beiling City tomorrow?”

The two began running through whether Zhan Yan had any risks of exposure.

Daily life was fine; the most dangerous thing was likely the identity of Approaching Science. An information-type who appeared out of nowhere, possessing abilities that were both comprehensive and powerful, could hardly avoid being targeted.

However, the identity of Approaching Science wasn’t as active as before; in the past, he frequently took on missions to earn points to exchange for lightning talismans. Well, now there was no need for him to exchange for them anymore.

Ji Yueming suddenly remembered something: “Yan Yan said before that he wanted to exchange for six lightning talismans. There are only five people in our entire family.”

Who was that extra one for?

Zhan Suiru remained silent.

Yan Yan, your sister wasn’t the one who let it slip; Mom discovered it herself, so there’s nothing I can do.