GRMFBS CH285

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Meanwhile, Wan Yan made an unpracticed journey to Beiling City via the Nether Realm paths.

In the past, Wan Yan the cat ghost king rarely traveled through the Nether Realm. He preferred pretending to be a stray cat, bustling merrily through the human world—scamming humans for food from time to time, tasting all sorts of delicacies, and occasionally blending in with strays to wander around. He truly considered himself a cat.

Because he wasn’t familiar with the local Nether Realm paths here, Wan Yan couldn’t reach Beiling Agricultural University directly.

Emerging from the shadows, Wan Yan turned his head left and right.

Ah, went off track. No matter, he recognized this area too and knew how to get there.

The white cat—now a size larger than before—leaped nimbly through the streets and alleys. The inner voices of all living beings brushed past his ears.

He had a destination in mind, so the chaotic chatter of thoughts faded into the background like heavy rain.

The rushing water sounded noisy, yet it didn’t disturb his mind.

“…Yanyan…”

A familiar inner voice suddenly rippled out from the noise.

Wan Yan stopped in his tracks.

Yanyan? Are they calling Zhan Yan? This inner voice sounds a bit familiar…

Curious, Wan Yan traced the inner voice to listen closer.

[What will Yanyan’s parents think of him? How long were they watching? Did they see him drinking boba for the raffle? Why on earth did he drink those six cups of boba?!]

Huh? Isn’t this Zhan Yan’s boyfriend? He remembered his name was Gu Jiancheng.

Back when Wan Yan’s mind was still somewhat muddled, he couldn’t tell the difference between classmates and boyfriends, and he used to find it super annoying that Gu Jiancheng kept clinging to his chef. But now, recalling their interactions in the Eighteen Scenes of the Nether Realm, what was there left not to understand?

They were a young couple. He had barged right in while they were dating… Aaaah, what kind of ridiculous things had he done back then?!

Wan Yan quietly crept toward the direction of the inner voice, piecing together what had happened from the scattered, chaotic thoughts around him.

Oh dear, accidentally meeting the parents by surprise.

Peering through a gap in the crowd, he saw Gu Jiancheng with handsome features and a calm composure. His good physique and posture made the tracksuit look sharp and tailored, giving him a thoroughly respectable appearance.

[What should I do? None of the scenarios Yanyan and I practiced covered this!]

[Aaaaah, all that practice is useless now! How should he introduce himself? First say he’s Yanyan’s classmate? Or directly introduce himself as Yanyan’s boyfriend?]

[How should he explain drinking six cups of boba?!]

With his back straight and a composed expression, Gu Jiancheng instinctively put on the smile he had crash-course practiced with Yanyan. Bright, cheerful, and friendly, yet not overly pushy. His bright black eyes concealed the deep intensity beneath.

Xingxing clung to his shoulder, turning his head around in search of Zhan Yan. Gu Jiancheng adjusted his arm, holding Xingxing securely. The defined muscle lines on his arm shifted with the movement—a clear sign of regular exercise, not the kind of college student who laid around in a dorm all day. Well, at least he scored points for being proactive and healthy.

“Hello, Uncle and Auntie. My name is Gu Jiancheng.”

Look at that straight back and calm tone; you couldn’t tell how panicked he was inside at all.

Wan Yan crept closer.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a performer. Maybe he should step in and help out to let Gu Jiancheng pass this hurdle, as a way to make up for before…

Suddenly, two other inner voices drifted over:

Ji Yueming: [The young man is tall enough, handsome, and judging by Xingxing’s reaction, he treats cats well. He even drank six cups of boba in a row just to pull Yanyan’s merch… a bit goofy, though. He’s a guy… so is the reason Yanyan didn’t tell us he was dating because his partner is a guy? Is he really Yanyan’s partner, or did we get it wrong? Could he just be a normal roommate?]

Zhan Yunkai: [Absolutely impossible! With my heavy-pupiled eyes, the look on this kid’s face when he first saw us, and his current performance—he’s definitely no ordinary roommate! What ordinary roommate drinks six cups of boba in one go just to pull merch?]

With a single glance, the husband and wife shared an instant understanding. When they looked at Gu Jiancheng again, their gazes carried a thinly veiled layer of evaluation and scrutiny.

[Yanyan likes him so much, we can’t be too harsh on the boy.]

[He looks fine on the outside, but who knows what he’s actually like. We’ll have the Special Affairs Administration do a background check later.]

[This appearance… tsk, definitely can’t compare to me, but it passes. Seems fairly steady. Did Yanyan just want to save up an extra thunder talisman for him?]

Wan Yan froze on the spot.

What Special Affairs Administration? What thunder talisman?

And isn’t that second inner voice the Chongming Demon King?!

After listening for a few more minutes, Wan Yan’s eyes went blank.

WHAT! A! MASSIVE! SCOOP!

The Chongming Demon King of the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance and the Tianshi of the Special Affairs Administration were in a relationship and married! And they happened to be his personal chef’s parents!

Zhan Yan’s boyfriend was Dark Shadow—that utterly brutal, terrifying Infinite Player!

The Chongming Demon King’s gaze now rested on the massive shopping bag in Dark Shadow’s hand, probing subtly: “So many things. Are these all to take back to school?”

“Yes, Yan… Zhan Yan made a list of what needed to be bought, so I came out to buy them.” Big Boss Dark Shadow offered a bashful smile, looking just like a bright, cheerful, yet naive and innocent college student—the type whose feelings were exceptionally pure.

[This kid almost called him Yanyan just now, didn’t he? Tsk…]

“Where’s Yanyan? Didn’t he come with you?” Big Boss Tianshi smiled gently, her eyes sweeping over Gu Jiancheng from head to toe.

“The professor called him over for an urgent matter, so I came out to buy the stuff first.” Big Boss Dark Shadow continued to play obedient.

“We’re heading to campus too. Let us give you a ride back,” the Chongming Demon King proposed a change of location.

They didn’t want to keep being stared at outside the boba shop. Once in the car, they could observe this kid properly!

“Such heavy stuff, yet you carry it so effortlessly. Ah, youth—such good health.” The Tianshi’s tone was breezy, sounding just like a warm, friendly elder from next door.

“Zhan Yan often takes me out to exercise.” Dark Shadow lowered his head bashfully, looking equal parts pleased and shy.

Wan Yan tiptoed, tiptoed backward. Once he was far enough from the boba shop, he broke into a sprint.

A! WHOLE! GROUP! OF! METHOD! ACTORS!

Oh, this was terrifying! He had offended both of those big bosses back when his mind was muddled. If he made one wrong move, he’d end up on the receiving end of a tag-team beatdown from the couple!

And Dark Shadow… Dark Shadow had always looked like he wanted to punch him, too.

Escape first. But… THIS WAS SUCH A HUGE SCOOP!

The Chongming Demon King and the Tianshi didn’t know their youngest son’s boyfriend was Dark Shadow. Dark Shadow didn’t know his boyfriend’s parents were the Chongming Demon King and the Tianshi. And right now was their very first time meeting the family!

Ugh… if he wasn’t so afraid of getting beaten up, he would definitely watch this up close!

Such a massive scoop, yet he couldn’t tell anyone… it was suffocating.

He really wanted to find Bai Ze to eat popcorn together. In the past, all the scoops he couldn’t share with the world could be shared with Bai Ze.

With his mind consumed by this massive scoop, Wan Yan unconsciously ran straight to the place he was most familiar with.

Beiling Agricultural University.

Ah, luckily the Chongming Demon King and his wife drove a regular car; he was faster than them!

Since he was already here, he might as well check on his chef, then slip away before Chongming and the others arrived.

Wan Yan wandered around campus, searching everywhere for Zhan Yan. Along the way, he garnered several exclamations of surprise or confusion: “The Wishing Cat!” “Is that the Wishing Cat?” “Feels like I haven’t seen the Wishing Cat in forever…” “I tried to find the Wishing Cat at the end of last semester to offer sacrifices so I wouldn’t fail, but I searched the whole campus and couldn’t find it…”

Ah… his ubiquitous dark history!

After a round of searching, Wan Yan finally found Zhan Yan sitting under the shade of a secluded tree.

The chef was hunched over, his small curls a chaotic mess sprinkled with a few feathers. His eyes were wide, staring into midair, eyebrows slightly knitted, lips unconsciously drawn tight—he looked thoroughly troubled.

What was the chef worrying about? Did he already know his boyfriend accidentally ran into his parents?

That didn’t make sense. Wan Yan had witnessed the scoop live on the scene; neither Chongming, the Tianshi, nor Dark Shadow had time to send him a message.

[Aaaaah… God bless, I hope Xiao Gu doesn’t blow his cover!]

[Thank goodness, the information encryption is pretty effective. Dad didn’t realize Xiao Gu is Dark Shadow.]

[Why on earth did Mom and Dad arrive early all of a sudden?]

[Aaaaah… so it was big sister’s mischief! How did she hoard so much stuff back when she was the Artisan?]

[Big sister even wanted to tag along to watch the drama unfold… hmph!]

…

Wan Yan froze in place once more.

WHAT DID HE JUST HEAR?!

All kinds of inner thoughts from Zhan Yan scrolling through his Gossip Ticker kept spilling out, drilling directly into his ears.

Ah… this familiar feeling of being stuffed full of scoops!

It’s Bai Ze!

Wan Yan’s eyes lit up, and he instinctively wanted to pounce over.

The scoops from Zhan Yan’s inner thoughts kept flowing:

The Black Wolf from the Special Affairs Administration has one white ear.

The Nine-Headed Demon King Xiangliu of the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance sings out of tune yet loves singing nine-part harmonies.

Seventy percent of the legends and fanfiction about Dark Shadow on the Transcendent Forum were contributed by the Retirees Alliance.

That chicken wing cat Wan Yan once scammed from Zhan Yan was personally cooked by the Chongming Demon King Zhan Yunkai…

Huh, huh, HUH?!

Wan Yan was shocked back to his senses by the scoop about him scamming a Chongming chicken wing.

Ah… he remembered now! That was shortly after he first met Zhan Yan. He had blocked Zhan Yan’s path and pestered him until he got an insanely delicious chicken wing… That was made by the Chongming Demon King?!

No, no, no! That wasn’t the main point! What was going on with his whole family?!

Wan Yan spent a long time sorting through the messy pile of scoops.

The Chongming Demon King… the Tianshi… the “Artisan” Rong Sui… and Lin Yuan?!

[Aaaaah, Mom and Dad are almost here by car.]

Wan Yan’s cat eyes went wide and round, his whiskers trembling, his ears twitching back and forth.

Just like Di Ting used to do whenever he heard a scoop from Bai Ze that terrified him, Wan Yan swooshed right into the Nether Realm path and ran all the way back to Mount Chaofu in one breath.

…

Zhan Yan received a phone call. His mother’s voice on the line was exceptionally gentle: “Yanyan, your dad and I are almost at your school.”

Zhan Yan took a deep breath: “Okay, I’ll go to the East Gate to meet you guys.”

It’s here, it’s here. The ultimate test has arrived.

So what if he was secretly dating without telling his family? So what if his boyfriend had a big boss identity that absolutely couldn’t be exposed right now? So what if his boyfriend had bumped into his parents completely unprepared?

He! Could! Handle! This!