GRMFBS CH172

Crashing and banging noises came from the room next door.

Xing Xing immediately pricked up his ears and stood.

Zhan Yan: “Don’t move, I’ll go!”

Xing Xing shot him a deeply distrustful look.

You just said everything was fine!

Zhan Yan: …

He forcibly kept Xing Xing in the room and ran out to knock on the door himself.

“Bro! Kitty! Stop fighting, this place is rented! If you keep this up, there’ll be no tasty food later!”

Five minutes later, Zhan Jinli opened the door with a cat dangling from his hand.

The cat’s fur was a total mess, and Zhan Jinli’s sleeve had been shredded into ribbons. The room itself, however, was perfectly intact—before beating the cat, the Lin Yuan Ghost King had shielded the place with his power.

Wan Yan kitty was baring his teeth and swearing up a storm. Zhan Jinli, expressionless, typed one‑handed: “Yan Yan, stay in your room for a bit. I’m taking this cat out alone.”

His Majesty the Ghost King stalked out with the cat and slammed the door.

Zhan Yan hurried after him and yanked the door open, but man and cat were already gone.

[The Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli takes Wan Yan Ghost King to a nearby uninhabited area and they start fighting.]

Zhan Yan: …

There was no way he could keep up.
All he could do was spectate remotely.

[Wan Yan Ghost King curses the Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli to go bald.]
[Wan Yan Ghost King’s curse has no effect on the Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli.]
[Wan Yan Ghost King curses the Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli to never get good food.]
[Wan Yan Ghost King’s curse has no effect on the Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli.]
[Wan Yan Ghost King curses the Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli to be hated by the tabby cat he’s raising.]
[Wan Yan Ghost King’s curse has no effect on the Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli.]

Looked like Wan Yan kitty was genuinely furious.

But that curse power came from the Lin Yuan Ghost King’s demon core—it couldn’t work on Zhan Jinli. With every curse failing, the kitty grew even angrier and lunged for Zhan Jinli’s wrist with a furious yowl.

Zhan Jinli sneered and lifted his arm out of reach. This damn cat loved going for his wrist.

Missing the wrist, the cat chomped down on the front of his shirt instead.

Riiip—

Zhan Jinli: …

He hadn’t brought any spare clothes to visit his little brother.

Roll up his sleeves… oh right, no sleeves left. Beat the cat.

While Zhan Yan was still watching his brother and Wan Yan kitty’s “battle report,” Deep Shadow’s private message popped up very inopportunely.

Worried it might be something important, he opened it—only to see Deep Shadow complaining to him about the Lin Yuan Ghost King.

Deep Shadow felt the Lin Yuan Ghost King was getting more and more outrageously “salty.” Before, he’d at least show up to investigate during the day and disappear at night; now he didn’t even come during the day and had said he might not be free in the next few days.

Approaching Science: “Maybe the Lin Yuan Ghost King really has something important going on.”
“And taking proper breaks is normal.”

Gu Jiancheng: ???
What was up with Approaching Science?
He wasn’t like this a few days ago!

Zhan Yan: Sorry, but I’m extremely biased.

Before, Boss Shen knew him better, but now the Lin Yuan Ghost King was his older brother.

And his brother was currently being wrapped around by Ten‑Thousand‑Manifestations.

Approaching Science: “Why don’t we investigate a bit on our own first?”
“You think Infinite is trying a diversion tactic, right?”
“I’ll come help you dig into it later tonight.”

I Just Saved the World!: “…”
“Heh.”

But Approaching Science didn’t reply again.

Sulking!

Zhan Yan didn’t have the energy to answer Lord Deep Shadow, because his brother and Wan Yan kitty had finally finished fighting.

His brother pinned the kitty with one hand and opened the ghost path with the other, ready to forcefully send Wan Yan back to Chaofu Mountain.

Annoying cat should be locked up!

Wan Yan kitty struggled and yowled for a long time but couldn’t get free. Then he suddenly gave up, let out a small, dejected “mew” from deep in his throat, and began to drip tears.

Feeling the cool, wet ghost‑tears on his hand, Zhan Jinli froze.

He stiffened for a moment and asked, “What are you crying for?”

Wan Yan kitty howled like his heart was breaking. His messy fur bristled as his crying grew louder. He ignored Zhan Jinli, just kept shedding tears.

Zhan Jinli had never faced a situation like this before.

When he’d first known Di Ting, Di Ting had never cried. After Di Ting’s death and rescue of his soul, turning into this mentally ill ghost king, Wan Yan had been so bursting with chaotic energy that it made one want to tie him up, stuff him into a hole, and plug it with a boulder so he could never crawl out to play stupid games like “little kitties fishing.” He could go mad, make a scene, stir up trouble everywhere—but he’d never cried.

If he was that troublesome, how could he also cry?

What was he supposed to do if he cried?

Zhan Jinli tried to recall any time he’d had to deal with someone crying.

After reincarnating… he honestly hadn’t, either. His parents had never cried. As a child, his little sister had nightmares; sometimes she’d wake with tears on her face, then go bang on their parents’ door with her pillow and crawl into their bed.

A few times, when their parents weren’t home, she’d come to him instead, saying nothing at all, just sitting beside him. After a while, she’d get sleepy and doze off, and he’d simply let her have his bed.

Once she grew older, she stopped having nightmares and never cried again.

His little brother… truly never cried either, though he did fake‑cry as a kid. Zhan Jinli never spoke, and if anyone talked to him, he hid; to very young Zhan Yan, that just looked like being ignored. Zhan Yan tried all sorts of tricks, even fake crying—no tears whatsoever, peeking at him through his fingers.

Before reincarnation, he had indeed seen ghosts cry. Most of them were dissatisfied—with their lives, their deaths, or their next reincarnation. But the underworld had no place for personal feelings; the wheel of reincarnation had to keep turning. He never changed anything just because of their tears.

In his former life, plenty of people had cried before him as well. Back then, he was a river god. People came and went in his temple—pilgrims, travelers, those who laughed and those who wept.

They wept before him because they wanted something.

He listened to their wishes. Some he ignored. Some he granted. Some were beyond his power, and all he could offer was a little comfort.

Ignore it now?

He looked at Wan Yan kitty sobbing miserably, loosened his grip, and awkwardly smoothed down the mess of fur.

“What are you crying for?”

Most people stopped crying once their wishes were met.

Wan Yan hadn’t wanted to respond, but he heard that airy divinity within Lin Yuan’s voice, along with an indescribable gentleness.

A bit panicked and a bit overwhelmed by a feeling he couldn’t name, he placed a paw on Zhan Jinli’s pant leg.

“I—I hic… I’ve been looking for you for so long,” the kitty sobbed, aggrieved. “It was really hard for me to find you.”

“They locked me up on Chaofu Mountain. I tried so so many times to escape from there.”

“I didn’t forget you on purpose. I really, really tried to remember.”

“I remember it all now.”

“That black iron fish—you opened its eyes.”

Zhan Jinli’s hand paused. “You remember everything?”

If Di Ting remembered, then treating him like a crazy cat really wasn’t very respectful.

Wan Yan kitty nodded. “But every time you see me, you try to run!”

Zhan Jinli’s heart softened a little. “Sorry. I thought…”

The kitty perked up at the first three words, nodding hard. “You’re even keeping another cat!”

Zhan Jinli’s hand stopped again. “You do know you’re not actually a cat, right?”

Wan Yan blinked, confused. “Huh? But I am a cat now.”

He hadn’t been one when alive, but hadn’t he become a cat after death?

“…Why did you come looking for me?” Zhan Jinli asked.

“Because cats are supposed to go fishing, and I—”

Expression utterly flat, Zhan Jinli grabbed Wan Yan again and shoved him straight into the ghost path.

Heh. He’d been soft for nothing.

[The Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli attempts to throw Wan Yan Ghost King back into Chaofu Mountain. Wan Yan Ghost King struggles desperately, veers off course, and falls into the Underworld’s Maze Forest.]

Zhan Yan: Uh… what kind of place is the Maze Forest? How long before Wan Yan Ghost King comes out again to look for his brother? If he does come out, will his brother have any way to dodge him?

Maybe he really should hurry up and help Wan Yan regain his memories—time to contact him using Approaching Science’s account.

He logged into the forum and pinged Wan Yan Ghost King, but there was no reply yet. His brother came back first.

The Ghost King had directly shifted back from there and used a spell beforehand to check whether anyone was around.

When Zhan Yan opened the door and saw his brother, he was stunned.

His brother’s clothes had been torn to utter ruin by Ten‑Thousand‑Manifestations.

He hurriedly dragged his brother inside to change. He’d brought a few sets of clothes, but his brother was quite a bit taller than him. He dug out his loosest set and handed it over.

It wasn’t too short—just a bit tight.

Looking at the shredded fabric on the floor, Zhan Yan thought: normally, anyone whose clothes were torn up like that by a cat would definitely need rabies shots. His brother was a Ghost King, so he’d be fine, and Wan Yan was also a Ghost King—no risk of whatever diseases a stray might carry.

But he wasn’t supposed to know either of them were ghost kings. As a vet‑in‑training, he should remind his brother to go get vaccinated, right?

Even though he’d accepted in his heart that his brother was the Lin Yuan Ghost King, actually lining the two identities up in person was still hard.

Zhan Yan rubbed his face and pulled out his phone to type.

Zhan Jinli typed too: “I’ll get the shots when I go back. It’s late. I’ll take Xing Xing home.”

Xing Xing had already fallen asleep, curled up on his cushion and purring.

Zhan Jinli scooped up the whole cushion in one smooth motion; Xing Xing didn’t even wake.

He opened the door to leave and ran right into the three other college students coming back from work.

Zhan Yan said, “This is my brother—he came to bring me some stuff. These are my classmates.”

Zhan Jinli nodded at them, then walked off, cat‑and‑cushion balanced on one arm.

Chu Chengcheng: “Your brother is so cool.”

Cheng Yichu: “I got a fright when he opened the door. He looked like a special agent from a movie.”

Chu Chengcheng: “What does your brother do? His clothes are all tight—whoa, that muscle!”

From an outsider’s point of view, his brother really did match the Lin Yuan Ghost King’s persona. What a cold, taciturn big shot.

Zhan Yan temporarily had no idea how to talk about his brother and changed the subject: “He runs a cake shop, but his cakes only look good—they don’t taste that great. He brought food for me today. Have you guys eaten dinner? Come eat together.”

Once they started eating, all three quickly surrendered to Zhan Yunkai’s cooking.

Rubbing his stomach, Cheng Yichu muttered, “If you inherit his skills, I totally get why Dr. Mi can’t keep a wishing cat.”

Chu Chengcheng: “He said maybe the wishing cat just wasn’t fated with him.”

Bao Qingshan: “I think your brother and the wishing cat are fated. Did I misread the feeling again?”

Zhan Yan: No, actually, you nailed it.

Back in his room, Zhan Yan logged into the forum again.

Still no reply from Wan Yan Ghost King. What was he doing all this time?

He opened the gossip system to check.

The Maze Forest was a naturally formed labyrinth in the underworld. Wan Yan kitty was terrible at mazes and was temporarily stuck.

[Wan Yan Ghost King has gotten lost for the twelfth time in the Maze Forest. He is furious and decides to log into the Chaofan Forum to argue with the Lin Yuan Ghost King.]
[There is no underworld network access in the Maze Forest. Wan Yan Ghost King cannot log into the Chaofan Forum and is extremely angry.]

Zhan Yan: No signal, huh… then there’s no rush.

All he needed was to make sure that once Wan Yan got out, he’d see his message before charging off to find his brother.

Easy enough—just keep tricking the cat.

—Do you know why you failed after finding Lin Yuan? It’s because you can’t beat him!

Do you know why you can’t beat Lin Yuan? Because you haven’t fully recovered your memories!

Doesn’t the you in your dreams look a lot bigger than now? Way more imposing?

So, we need to completely restore your memory before going to find Lin Yuan.

Once Wan Yan had all his memories back, he should be normal again. At that point, whether he sought out his brother or not wouldn’t really matter.

Zhan Yan went over the plan. Yep—looked solid.

Since Ten‑Thousand‑Manifestations couldn’t reply for now, he logged out of the Chaofan Forum.

He just felt like… he’d forgotten something.

Forgotten what, though…

Support me on Ko-fi