GRMFBS CH1

“Yitao Mountain experienced a rare thunderstorm phenomenon, with tourists claiming to have captured a humanoid flying object, while experts stated that the camera lens was just dusty.”

The news article was accompanied by a low-resolution video. The thunder and lightning split the darkness, illuminating the night as bright as day. The footage flickered between light and dark, and even after the video quality had degraded, one could still feel the shock of the thunder’s roar.

Amidst the dense network of lightning, a shadow could vaguely be seen, somewhat resembling a person, but it was very blurry.

Zhan Yan opened the “Gossip System” and typed “Yitao Mountain” into the search bar.

The system quickly displayed an entry containing the keyword:

[Yesterday, the Abnormal Affairs management ‘Tianshi’ (Heavenly Master) performed an A-level anomaly ‘Crack’ elimination task at Yitao Mountain. In a rush to return home, they applied excessive force during the operation.]

Zhan Yan had originally been a firm believer in materialism, but ever since he had bound the Gossip System, his worldview had been reshaped.

Zhan Yan looked at the blurry figure in the low-resolution video, flickering in the lightning, and clicked his tongue in envy. The Tianshi expert was so cool. Unfortunately, his Gossip System could only “eat melon” (i.e., observe news) and couldn’t see the images. It could only occasionally show some parts that were accidentally captured by the news. To this day, Zhan Yan still hadn’t seen the person clearly and didn’t even know their name. Perhaps the expert’s strength was too extraordinary, or maybe the abnormal affairs management had some confidentiality measures, but the Gossip System only displayed a code, not a name.

Zhan Yan scrolled through the comment section, where half of the comments were jokes and the other half were mocking:

—”Which fellow Taoist is crossing tribulation here?”

—”Why didn’t you set up a barrier when the divine artifact appeared?”

—”That little black dot, calling it humanoid is a stretch. It’s clearly our clan’s divine beast!”

—”Letting the camera lens get dusty, this is hilarious, is this ‘Science Walks In’?”

…

Only he knew the truth but couldn’t say it. His feelings were complicated. Zhan Yan continued scrolling.

—”Children from Xinlianxin Kindergarten were caught stealing and petting a wild cat, only to discover that the ‘wild cat’ was a national second-class protected species, the red fox, which has now been sent to the zoo.“

In the picture, the young fox had big, innocent eyes, its red fur all messed up from being petted by the children.

Zhan Yan searched for “Xinlianxin Kindergarten” in the system and quickly found different content:

[The fox demon father, Hu Shanpao, mistakenly sent his cub to the human Xinlianxin Kindergarten. The cub said, ‘This is not my kindergarten. My kindergarten is called Lianxin Kindergarten.’
Hu Shanpao didn’t believe it and said, ‘Do you not want to go to kindergarten?’]

This father was really careless.

Zhan Yan continued scrolling. After the fox demon mother received a call from the demon clan kindergarten and found out that her cub had been sent to the wrong place, she immediately went to the zoo and snuck the child back. Hu Shanpao was now hanging by his ears, clipped by a clothespin, from the eaves.

Ugh! I really want to see it in person!

After scrolling through the trending topics, Zhan Yan didn’t find what he was looking for, so he searched for “Tiansheng Club owner” and “Sheng Maotong,” but still didn’t find any news he was interested in.

Zhan Yan’s mother, Ji Yueming, was a small business owner. Recently, she had some business dealings with the owner of Tiansheng Club, Sheng Maotong, but this person tried to pass off inferior products as high-quality ones. Although he failed, Zhan Yan had already made a note of it. Zhan Yan used the Gossip System to find a bunch of dirt on Sheng Maotong, compiled the information, and reported it, but why hadn’t he heard back yet? This efficiency was unacceptable!

When Zhan Yan went downstairs, he happened to see his father, Zhan Yunkai, returning from his morning exercise.

Zhan Yunkai smiled and said, “Yan Yan, you’re up. Come help me serve the porridge.”

The porridge was cooked by Zhan Yunkai before his morning exercise, and it was just the right time. The rice grains had burst open, and the porridge was thick with oil. When he lifted the lid, the aroma of century eggs and marinated lean meat filled the air.

Zhan Yan swallowed and began serving the porridge. His dad’s cooking skills were truly amazing! But Zhan Yunkai was an actor and had a closed filming task coming up, so he wouldn’t be able to eat this for a long time.

Zhan Yunkai had already washed his hands, changed into an apron, and made a cucumber salad, refreshing and perfect to go with the porridge. There were also steamed shrimp dumplings in the pot, with translucent dumpling skins showing whole shrimp inside.

Zhan Yan served four bowls of porridge—one for his dad, one for his older brother, one for his older sister, and one for himself. His mother, Ji Yueming, was still on a business trip.

Just as they were about to sit down at the table, the door opened, and Ji Yueming hurriedly entered.

Zhan Yan was surprised. “Mom? How did you make it back so quickly?”

When they had talked on the phone last night, Ji Yueming had said she was still busy. Did she catch a late-night flight?

“I finished up last night, and there happened to be a flight, so I came back first. I still have some unfinished business, though, and will need to go to the company later.” Ji Yueming ruffled her son’s curly hair.

“That’s so tiring,” Zhan Yunkai said with concern, serving Ji Yueming a shrimp dumpling.

Ji Yueming bit into the shrimp dumpling, so moved that she almost teared up.

She had rushed back just for this meal. If it weren’t for that damned anomaly being so elusive, she wouldn’t have taken so long to complete the task.

Zhan Yunkai had a closed filming task ahead, and who knew how long it would take to finish. She wouldn’t get to eat this for a long time, sob sob sob…

Zhan Yan’s second sister, Zhan Suiyu, excitedly came downstairs, holding her phone. When she saw Ji Yueming, she said, “Mom, you’re back! The boss who tried to scam you is going to jail!”

Zhan Yan’s eyes lit up, and he rushed over. “Let me see! Let me see!”

The news article had an extremely long headline: “Tiansheng Club Suddenly Shakes, No Casualties, and Unexpectedly Exposes a Mysterious Basement. The Club Owner Was Found Naked Performing a Ritual to Curse Competitors, Using Stolen Smuggled Artifacts for the Ritual, and May Face Imprisonment.”

Zhan Yan was stunned. Sheng Maotong was indeed going to jail, but the process wasn’t quite what he had expected?

“When did this happen? I just checked the trending topics and didn’t see anything about it,” Zhan Yan asked.

“About an hour ago. The news just came out,” Zhan Suiyu replied.

The siblings, both avid gossipers, quickly huddled together.

“Real business wars are so bizarre!” Zhan Suiyu marveled. “When the police asked him why he was smuggling, he said he thought ancient statues were more spiritual.”

“What kind of statue is that? It looks so creepy. Does it have five arms? Why does the lower half look like an octopus?”

The basement cracked open in front of everyone, and many photos and videos were taken by passersby. The floor was covered with strange symbols, and Sheng Maotong himself was covered in them. He looked terrified as he shouted at the cameras, his face flushed with anger. “Stop filming! No one is allowed to film!”

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to him.

“Such an eyesore!” Zhan Suiyu quickly scrolled to the next part. “This isn’t even an earthquake zone, so why did it suddenly crack?”

“They say it’s a construction quality issue. But the crack is so perfectly timed,” Zhan Yan said.

With so much evidence, this guy definitely wouldn’t escape.

Zhan Yunkai happily continued eating breakfast, serving his wife another shrimp dumpling, quietly basking in his unspoken heroism.

He had done this casually while he was out exercising. No one was allowed to bully his wife!

The siblings continued to happily eat their gossip. Zhan Yan’s older brother, Zhan Jinli, drifted over like a wandering soul, nodded a greeting, and silently began eating. Zhan Jinli was extremely socially anxious, didn’t like talking, and didn’t enjoy listening to others talk, but chatting on his phone was fine.

Zhan Yan forwarded the news to his older brother and began typing away, sharing the joy.

With years of gossip experience, Zhan Yan had a feeling this news was unusual. He decided to check it out using the Gossip System later.

After breakfast, the family said their goodbyes at the door. Ji Yueming was heading to the company, Zhan Yunkai had his closed filming task, Zhan Jinli had his cake shop, and Zhan Suiyu was going to her art studio. Only Zhan Yan, the university student on vacation, was staying home.

Zhan Yan hugged each family member.

The family members went their separate ways.

In the empty underground parking lot, Ji Yueming spread her hand, pressing her fingers against the rough concrete wall. A blue light strip lit up above her, scanning her from head to toe. The gate silently slid open in front of her, revealing a metallic corridor. Once Ji Yueming entered, the gate closed seamlessly behind her, becoming an indistinguishable concrete wall.

The voice of artificial intelligence was gentle:

“Tianshi, welcome back to the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.”

In the remote forest of the western suburbs, Zhan Yunkai concealed his form. The next moment, a divine bird with colorful feathers and radiant eyes spread its wings and flew into the sky, scattering invisible red-golden light.

In the cake shop, Zhan Jinli ignored the wriggling shadow in the corner, took off his hat and mask, and began changing into his baker’s uniform. The little ghost in the corner timidly approached and tugged at his pants.

Zhan Jinli crouched down and sighed. “I’ve told you, I’m not the Ghost King anymore.”

In the mall employee elevator, Zhan Suiyu, who had somehow changed into a black windbreaker, gloves, and a wide-brimmed hat, stood with the shadow of the hat obscuring most of her face, as if it held some mysterious power. She pressed a few buttons on the elevator panel, as though entering a password. The elevator descended to the nonexistent fifth underground floor.

When the elevator doors opened, an employee wearing a mask bowed deeply and placed a hand over their chest. “Master Craftsman, welcome.”

At home, Zhan Yan comfortably lounged on the sofa, opened the Gossip System, and typed in the search term: “Tiansheng Club.”