GRMFBS CH68

Weng Yan glanced at Zhan Yan, hesitated for a moment, and said:
“Let’s exchange contact information. If you run into trouble, you can come to me.”

Even though this kid, even if he awakened his superpower, would probably be able to handle himself, it was still better to be safe than sorry.

Zhan Yan wanted to ask him more about what happened twenty-six years ago and about the Candle Dragon, but Weng Yan felt that wasn’t something ordinary people should know, so he avoided the topic altogether.

Just then, Luan San—Luan Jin—came knocking on the door.

Earlier, when he had been about to go look for Yu Xia, he was interrupted by the commotion on stage, and when he turned back again, Yu Xia was gone.

He ended up scouring the hall in search of her, but out of nowhere, his big brother caught him and made him deliver a message, saying the old man needed to be found to deal with some matter.

Luan Jin was a little unhappy. Couldn’t you just get a servant to pass along a message?

But his brother shot him down with one sentence:
“Not like you have anything important to do anyway.”

Under his brother’s stare, Luan Jin really couldn’t bring himself to say he was busy trying to find the stand-in for his white moonlight. So he had no choice but to stop looking and come to deliver the message.

Since Old Master Luan needed him, Weng Yan wasn’t planning to stay either—he wanted to go back and sort out his own cultivation issues.

Old Master Luan casually assigned the task:
“Zhan Yan is my friend. You take care of him. After all, you’ve got nothing better to do all day.”

Luan Jin: …

What! Dad! I do have something important! I’ve been single for more than ten years and finally met someone who looks just like my white moonlight!

“Do you have anything else to do?” Old Master Luan’s gaze was stern.

“…No,” Luan Jin said.

The banquet wasn’t over yet. Luan Jin took Zhan Yan back to the hall. But with other things on his mind, he kept looking around, halfheartedly chatting with Zhan Yan as they walked. Zhan Yan didn’t mind at all—he just carried his plate and kept picking out pastries he liked.

While they were walking, Zhan Yan suddenly overheard someone talking about his mother’s company.

“…Right, there’s no need to doubt Shoude Company’s eye for investment. Go back and check—have we ever backed a project that lost money?”

The voice was a little familiar.

Zhan Yan turned his head and—sure enough—it was Ban Weidong! Wasn’t this the guy who had tried to poach Matthias, whose luck had been steadily declining, and who had been secretly keeping tabs on his mom for years?!

What did he mean by that? Had he jumped ship to Shoude Company?

Ban Weidong was still enthusiastically inviting someone:
“I know a great club nearby. Why don’t we head there later to talk in detail?”

Zhan Yan quickly pulled up a gossip strip from his system:

[At the banquet, Ban Weidong spotted a Shoude Company client and decided to impersonate an employee to steal the client.]

Zhan Yan: …

He walked up with a bright smile.
“Oh my, what a coincidence, Mr. Ban. Weren’t you working at Dajun Group?”

Ban Weidong kept a straight face.
“Ah, I just changed jobs recently.”

“Really? Funny, I hadn’t heard.”

Ban Weidong eyed the sudden young man in front of him. He did look familiar, but he couldn’t place him. Not that it mattered—thick skin was the lifeblood of his line of work.

So he stayed calm and even subtly belittled him:
“Forgive me for not recognizing you. Whose young master are you? The dance floor is full of people your age—shouldn’t you be playing there instead of interrupting a formal business talk with a plate of cakes?”

This kid probably hadn’t even graduated yet. What business did he have meddling here?

Zhan Yan: “Shoude Company is my mom’s.”

Ban Weidong: …

The client: …

Luan Jin: “…Pfft!”

Ban Weidong felt like he could still salvage this!

“Sorry, I’m still new here and haven’t met all the official employees yet.”

“Oh, Mr. Ban, what a memory you’ve got! We’ve met before.” Zhan Yan smiled faintly. “You tried to poach Matthias not long ago, and I happened to be there.”

Ban Weidong froze, then remembered.

That young man trailing behind Matthias that time! He had assumed he was just a translator Matthias had hired!

So he had tried to poach someone right in front of the boss’s son?!

Ban Weidong’s whole composure crumbled, his expression collapsing completely.

Defeated, Ban Weidong made a hasty exit.

And Zhan Yan gained a client.

Luan Jin, delighted at the spectacle, was in a great mood.

He threw an arm around Zhan Yan’s shoulder.
“You carry on, I’m off. Come find me if you need anything.”

Then, with light steps, he walked away.

That show of closeness was just for outsiders to see. Though as the Luan family’s third son he wasn’t in charge of anything, he still represented the family. Acting chummy with Zhan Yan was a way to give his father’s little friend some backing—no one could say he hadn’t entertained the guest properly.

And with that, he seized the chance to slip away to chase his white moonlight lookalike!

Zhan Yan gave him a somewhat hesitant look, unsure how to warn him.

Before he could figure it out, Luan Jin had already dashed off.

…Well, forget it then. Judging from his personality—needing half an hour of rehearsal just to muster the courage to speak—once that initial impulse faded, there was no way he’d be able to bring up the whole “stand-in” thing anyway.

The client studied Zhan Yan more closely, eyes growing brighter.

Zhan Yan blinked at him, puzzled.

“Nothing,” the client smiled. “We already had an appointment scheduled with your company next week. Let’s just stick to that.”

He didn’t try to rope Zhan Yan into talks here, just parted ways politely.

But once he reached a corner, the client immediately called Luo Luoluo.

“Hello, Miss Luo? Yes, it’s me. Remember how you said you hadn’t found a suitable spokesperson for your brand? Well, I think your young boss looks perfect for it!”

“And it’d save money too, right? If he’s shooting for his own family’s company, surely he won’t charge! That frees up funds for other things!”

…

Zhan Yan had no idea he’d just been spotted as a “money-saving option.” He left with the spirit stone and a pile of boxed pastries—courtesy of Luan Jin. Remembering how Zhan Yan had poked at pastries the whole time, Luan Jin figured he liked them, and felt quite proud of himself: See how thoughtful I am!

But the elder Luan brothers were speechless. Seriously? You give an important guest you just met some takeout desserts?

Luan Jin, however, was self-righteous. That’s what you call treating him like family!

In good spirits, after parting with Zhan Yan, he quickly found Yu Xia.

Though once he found her, he didn’t dare bring up the “stand-in” business. Instead, he nervously just made friends.

Which was fine too—this way, he didn’t have to feel guilty about using a stand-in. Just keeping her company as a reminder of his white moonlight was enough.

Meanwhile, with plenty of desserts boxed up, Zhan Yan ate all the ones that wouldn’t travel well and saved the sturdier cookies and palmiers to share with his roommates later.

That evening, he first took out the spirit stone again, letting the gossip system continue analyzing it. Then he logged into the Transcendent Forum.

About Candle Dragon… Zhan Yan had never tried asking the admins “Ling Yu” or “Luo Wang” directly. They almost certainly knew the truth. But since there wasn’t a single thread on the forum about Candle Dragon, that meant the whole affair had been deliberately suppressed.

He didn’t know how far the cover-up went. If powerful means had been used to erase the information, and he managed to uncover it too easily, then they might use equally powerful means to investigate him. What if the gossip system couldn’t withstand it?

But now he had a reason. If even Old Master Luan, an ordinary man, could dream of it, then he could dream too!

And besides, his dad was the Chongming Demon King! Even if his identity were exposed, he still had his dad. Nothing to fear!

Before messaging Luo Wang, Zhan Yan wandered into the forum’s off-topic zone.

There, a viral thread had exploded:

{Lin Yuan! If you’ve got the guts to log into the forum, then don’t you dare hide! I know you’re in the human world!}

The poster: an unmistakable newly verified account—Wan Yan.

Now the entire forum knew: the Ghost King Wan Yan, who had been making a fuss for over twenty years, had been searching all along for the Ghost King Lin Yuan. Gossip fever ignited instantly!

4th reply:
Wait, what? So Lin Yuan Ghost King has been hiding from Wan Yan Ghost King all this time?

12th reply:
Did they have a falling out?

17th reply:
Doesn’t seem like it. If they really had, Wan Yan wouldn’t be making such a scene searching for him.

18th reply:
So Lin Yuan Ghost King is one-sidedly avoiding him? Smells like gossip!

21st reply:
@WanYanBoss So, uh, maybe tell us what you did to Lin Yuan Ghost King first? Then we can give you advice.

22nd reply:
Also, how did Wan Yan Ghost King even know Lin Yuan Ghost King logged into the forum?

23rd reply:
Try @LinYuan

24th reply:
No verification. @LinYuan isn’t registered, it’s blank. Means Lin Yuan doesn’t have a verified account. If he logged in, it must’ve been with a small alt.

27th reply:
But alts are easy to make. How could Wan Yan Ghost King tell which one is Lin Yuan’s?

32nd reply:
Guys, can we gossip about the real question?

Why is Lin Yuan Ghost King hiding? And why has Wan Yan been searching for twenty-plus years?

35th reply:
He chases, he flees, their wings clipped by destiny…

Zhan Yan was curious too!

But after reading the whole thread, no one actually knew the inside story. So he pulled up the gossip system again.

Using both Ghost Kings’ names as keywords, he searched how Wan Yan had discovered Lin Yuan’s log-in.

Turned out: back when Wan Yan had caused trouble at the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, he had been suppressed by a Heavenly Master. But the Master couldn’t stay there forever, so they struck a deal.

The Bureau used back-end admin powers to confirm that the Morning Floating Mountain admin account had recently logged in. From there, Wan Yan knew. Then he created his verified account and began searching the forum.

Tracing back further only brought up: 

【Wan Yan Ghost King once again failed to find Lin Yuan Ghost King, is very unhappy】 and similar gossip strips.

Clearly, that wouldn’t lead anywhere. So Zhan Yan tried different keywords and fuzzy searches.

Eventually, the gossip strip changed:

【Loading…】

Zhan Yan: ?

Oh, so it had a temper now?

Was it annoyed at his constant searches, or was this one really complicated and needed more time to load?

He waited a bit, but since it stayed stuck, he tagged it and put it into his collection to load slowly later. Then he went to message Luo Wang about Candle Dragon.

Admin Luo Wang: “How did you find out about Candle Dragon?”

User ‘Scientific Investigation’: “I dreamed about it.”

Admin Luo Wang: “?”

Scientific Investigation: “Is that a problem?”

Admin Luo Wang: “Usually, people dream of it only before awakening a superpower. You’ve been awakened a while now—how are you only dreaming of it now?”

This “superpower” of his… Zhan Yan still wasn’t sure if the gossip system counted. After all, he’d never heard of anyone with a superpower who couldn’t even open yin-yang vision.

But that didn’t stop him from using it. It worked, and that was enough. Plus, he often flipped through gossip strips right in front of his dad. If there were anything wrong with it, surely his dad would have noticed already.

Scientific Investigation: “I don’t know either.”

Luo Wang couldn’t figure it out.

But then she suddenly remembered something.

Admin Luo Wang: “You should be able to see the hidden wanted list by now, right?”

“Besides wanted notices, there are other missions in there—some related to Candle Dragon.”

Because Zhan Yan had previously helped capture the #2 glitched anomaly, he had that ability, meaning he could face possible information-pollution type missions.

Scientific Investigation: “I can’t see it.”

Admin Luo Wang: “I’ll open the permissions for you now.”

Ling Yu had probably just been too busy and forgotten.

Once the permissions were opened, a new section appeared in the forum’s mission area. The first one listed was a wanted order for Shen Ying.

Before he could read it, though, a message popped up:

‘I Just Saved the World!’: “Hurry up and find me a healer mission.” The tone was as arrogant and domineering as ever.

Zhan Yan: Heh.

Scientific Investigation: “You’d better start being polite to me! I’ve got your hidden wanted order now. Keep annoying me, and I’ll report you and rack up points!”