GRMFBS CH298

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“Ge, why are you fixated on this? I haven’t even gossiped about you and Ghost King Wan Yan yet,” Zhan Yan grumbled, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Zhan Jinli: … Are those two things even comparable?

Of course he had to focus on what was going on between Deep Shadow and his younger brother. No matter what secret identities their family members held, those were internal matters they could close the door and slowly explain among themselves. But Deep Shadow was different. This was a guy who managed to claw his way to Top 1 out of a hellhole like Infinite; he was bound to be deeply calculating and scheming. How could his younger brother possibly outplay someone like him?

Is Deep Shadow genuinely dating my brother? Does he have an ulterior motive?

Could it be that he found out about our family’s background and approached my brother on purpose?

Zhan Jinli stared sternly at his brother: “I’m serious.”

Left with no choice, Zhan Yan gave a small humph: “Because he was close by. We’ve been together for almost three years.”

Three years. Deep Shadow had targeted his brother that early on?

Zhan Jinli shifted his intense gaze to Gu Jiancheng: “When did you find out I was Lin Yuan?”

Gu Jiancheng gave a faint smile: “During summer vacation while playing at the Eighteen Scenic Spots of Yin Mountain, when Ghost King Wan Yan pounced on you.”

Zhan Jinli: …

He remembered. That agonizing, chaotic feline disaster of a love triangle.

Zhan Jinli: “So, when you suddenly changed your attitude while Dawn World was connecting to Reincarnation, it was because of this?”

Gu Jiancheng was completely forthright: “Correct.”

Zhan Jinli slowly exhaled.

So the reason Deep Shadow finally stopped pressuring me to grind was all thanks to my brother.

Deep Shadow’s willingness to change his attitude for my brother’s sake proves, at the very least, that he genuinely cares about him.

His attitude is acceptable. But that still doesn’t mean they’re a good match.

My brother has always been a well-behaved student; how could he possibly attract a pervert like Monster Doctor for no reason?

Deep Shadow, on the other hand, has always had major beef with Monster Doctor. Could my brother have been caught in the crossfire because of him?

Zhan Jinli turned back to his brother: “Do you know that his method of trying to get on my good side was dragging me to watch food anime with him?”

Deep Shadow’s thought process is completely abnormal. What kind of sane person chooses this method to build a relationship with a Ghost King?

Gu Jiancheng: ?

Talking bad about me right to my face? I can’t tolerate this!

“I was merely catering to your interests,” Gu Jiancheng said, his voice low.

Zhan Jinli remained unruffled: “I have no interest in food anime.”

Gu Jiancheng: “Are you not aware of your own cake-making skills?”

Opening a cake shop when his baking is that awful—if that isn’t harboring a culinary dream, what is?

Zhan Jinli shot back: “…I didn’t open the cake shop to become famous. Are your deductive skills always this unhinged?”

Gu Jiancheng produced fresh evidence: “That is what the five little ghosts under your command said.”

Zhan Jinli: …

He couldn’t argue with that at all. The five little ghosts under his command, with their bizarre thought processes, truly did think that way. So… Deep Shadow forcibly dragging me to watch food anime was because he got faulty intel from the five little ghosts?

Zhan Yan had been snickering secretly, but upon being caught by his brother, he immediately cleared his throat and schooled his features into a serious expression.

Zhan Jinli glared at his brother, then continued his relentless interrogation of Gu Jiancheng: “Why would they tell you that?”

Though the five little ghosts had bizarre thought processes, they were fiercely loyal and would absolutely never divulge his matters to an outsider. How did Deep Shadow find out? This made no sense!

Gu Jiancheng opened the chaofan forum and shared the fanfiction written by the little ghosts, Return of the Ghost King: After Becoming the God of Cooking, I Am Renowned Throughout the World, with Zhan Jinli.

Zhan Jinli had barely read the title.

Zhan Yan leaned over curiously.

A fanfic about Ge? He hadn’t read it either.

Zhan Jinli slammed his phone face-down on the table with a smack, expressionless: “Stop being curious about nonsense.”

Some Ghost Kings might appear stoic, aloof, and cool on the surface, but internally they had already cringed hard enough to dig out a three-bedroom apartment with their toes.

Zhan Yan stifled a laugh: “Okay, okay, I won’t look.”

Zhan Jinli began staring at Gu Jiancheng again.

What method should I use to make Deep Shadow forget this story too…

The two were now each gripping one end of Gu Jiancheng’s phone. When Zhan Jinli flipped the phone over just now, Gu Jiancheng had applied force, yet he hadn’t let go either. Sparks and lightning flew between their gazes.

Gu Jiancheng flashed a smile at Zhan Jinli.

Talking bad about me in front of Yan Yan, right to my face, huh? How can I not spread this story to your mom, dad, and sister?

Zhan Jinli couldn’t deduce what he was planning, but felt his smile harbored malicious intent.

Zhan Yan’s phone rang; looking down, it was a message from Mom.

Ji Yueming: [It’s noon. There’s a small cafeteria at the base. Remember to go eat.]

Ji Yueming: [[Route Map]]

Wuu, Mom is the best! Remembering to remind me to eat even in this situation.

The base here was relatively small, so the cafeteria didn’t provide seating; they could only pack the food and bring it back to eat.

Zhan Yan looked at his brother and Xiao Gu: “I’m going to go get our food.”

Gu Jiancheng smiled considerately: “Go ahead.”

Zhan Jinli was steady and calm: “Alright.”

Zhan Yan looked at them both for a moment longer, not entirely at ease. Well, one is the reincarnation of a Ghost King, and the other is a Top 1 Boss. Xiao Gu never acts childish around outsiders, and Ge’s personality is stable. Plus, this is the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s turf; surely they wouldn’t end up throwing hands.

He stepped out of the break room.

The door clicked softly as the latch slid into place.

Gu Jiancheng swiftly yanked his phone back, while Zhan Jinli instinctively gripped his end tighter. Without utilizing any supernatural power, the two exchanged a flurry of pure martial arts moves over the tabletop, darting back and forth like martial arts masters.

Gu Jiancheng: “This is my phone.”

Zhan Jinli: “You kidnapped my younger brother!”

Gu Jiancheng: “Has your divine ability recovered now?”

Zhan Jinli: “I will repay favors using my divine ability. You kidnapped my younger brother!”

Gu Jiancheng: “Wan Yan freeloaded 271 meals off of us.”

Zhan Jinli: …

How could Wan Yan eat so much?!

“You kidnapped my younger bro—”

The door opened, and Zhan Yan stood in the doorway carrying a large takeout container.

The two instantly froze. Gu Jiancheng’s shadow flickered, snatching his phone back before Zhan Jinli could react; his actual body was already sitting back in his chair in the blink of an eye, back straight and hands resting on his thighs, looking perfectly prim and proper.

Zhan Jinli: … Scheming bastard!

He sat properly as well, as if nothing had ever happened.

Zhan Yan: …

“Chatting so enthusiastically, huh?”

He placed the large takeout container on the table.

Flipping through the gossip strips. Whatever, let them fight. They both know their limits. Maybe fighting will actually improve their relationship. Throwing hands seems to be the way these ultra-high combat power big shots get to know each other. Xiao Gu fought with Sister for three months back then too.

The small base’s food lacked the touch of a master chef, tasting inferior to the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau headquarters’ cafeteria. However, none of the people eating right now had their minds on the food anyway.

After finishing the meal, Zhan Yan prepared to return the takeout container. He shot the two of them a hesitant glance.

Zhan Jinli and Gu Jiancheng: Somehow it feels like our younger brother suspects we’re going to fight again.

Gu Jiancheng had already gathered the tableware: “I’ll take it back.”

Before leaving the room, he and Zhan Jinli exchanged another look—both expressionless, their gazes deeply meaningful.

Gu Jiancheng headed to the cafeteria carrying the container.

Heh, doesn’t Lin Yuan just want to badmouth me to Yan Yan while I’m away? Yan Yan won’t listen anyway!

Dammit. Lin Yuan Ghost King was better when he was a man of few words. The moment his divine ability gets fixed and he can speak freely, he starts flapping his gums to badmouth me. What kind of person is this?!

Following lunchtime, the small cafeteria began serving freshly made desserts and beverages for afternoon tea.

Gu Jiancheng took a look around. The desserts looked very average, but the aroma wafting into his nose wasn’t bad.

Mmh, Yan Yan likes sweets. After encountering Monster Doctor today and dealing with so much aftermath, Yan Yan must be tired.

I’ll bring some desserts back.

Gu Jiancheng headed back carrying the refilled container.

Inside the break room, seeing Gu Jiancheng gone, Zhan Jinli began glaring at his younger brother.

He still retained doubts regarding Deep Shadow’s true feelings—setting everything else aside, if you posted the news that Deep Shadow was dating on the forum, how many people would believe it? Even the crowd writing Deep Shadow fanfiction would jump up and scream that they were out of character.

Deep Shadow: ruthless, merciless, heart of stone, relentlessly grinding himself and others to death, arrogant and untamed… Would such a person really fall in love with his lively, adorably naive younger brother?

No matter how you looked at it, their personalities were incompatible!

Benefiting from his brother’s years of feigning social anxiety and silence, Zhan Yan had mastered the ability to read his brother’s micro-expressions. Staring at his brother for a moment, an epiphany struck him.

“Ge, when we started dating, neither of us knew about any of this stuff.” Theirs was a purely free love. Still, everyone else had seen how he and Xiao Gu interacted, while Ge hadn’t; it was normal for him to have reservations, so explaining it clearly would fix everything.

Zhan Jinli looked at him with utmost seriousness: “Do you know what kind of person he is?”

Zhan Yan: “I know.”

Zhan Jinli: “No, you don’t!”

He assumed his brother had merely heard of Deep Shadow’s existence and some rumors from others, but didn’t actually know much about him.

“Deep Shadow is extremely dangerous.” Zhan Jinli wore a severe expression. “He is ruthless toward others, and even more ruthless toward himself.”

—Grinding others like a workaholic, and grinding himself even harder.

“As long as he achieves his goal, he doesn’t really care what consequences his methods might bring upon himself.”

—Deep Shadow was the very first ruthless individual to experience the disastrous consequences of his blessing-and-calamity divine ability, yet still continued coveting it, persistently wanting to use it as a wishing well.

“Moreover, his actions are brutal and reckless, with total disregard for the fallout.”

When there were clearly safer ways to resolve problems, he absolutely had to attract every single anomaly over to slaughter them…

In short, such a dangerous individual was entirely unsuitable for his younger brother!

Zhan Jinli: “He even swallowed a Black Nest whole once…”

Zhan Yan’s expression didn’t change; the corners of his mouth even turned up slightly as he spoke in a soft voice: “I know. He also hands out candy to kids who get scared to tears by anomalies.”

Zhan Jinli: “…He is extremely dange—how do you know?”

Did everyone else in the family find out and then tell Yan Yan? How did they all agree to Yan Yan dating Deep Shadow? Are they not worried at all?

Zhan Yan lowered his head somewhat bashfully: “Ah… um, actually, I am Approaching Science.”

Gu Jiancheng, returning from dropping off the tableware, pushed the door open at that exact moment.

His eyes went perfectly round, and the food container in his hand slipped, smashing onto the floor with a splat.