GRMFBS CH105

“I know, I know. Hurry up and go rest, go, go!” Ning Xi urged once again.

Ji Yueming stretched lazily. “I’m heading home, then.”

With a wave of his hand, Ning Xi snagged Da Wule, who was trying to slip away unnoticed. “Don’t run! There’s plenty of work ahead, you need to lend me a hand.”

Those who need to be arrested must be arrested, those who need re-evaluating must be re-evaluated, plus all sorts of follow-up and clean-up…

Da Wule: “…”

Ji Yueming waved at him with a beaming smile.

Da Wule: If I had known, I wouldn’t have come to watch the spectacle!

After heading home for the Lantern Festival, Boss Tianshi took advantage of the long vacation she had been granted to make a trip to the company. Upon returning, she passed a message along to Zhan Yan:

“Yan Yan, are you interested in shooting a commercial?”

Zhan Yan was still immersed in the exhilarating high of Boss Tianshi blasting Infinite with lightning and tearing the tribunal a new one; he couldn’t immediately process something so mundane. “Huh?”

Ji Yueming excitedly explained. It turned out that the game project Shoude Company had invested in needed to shoot a short live-action promotional video. However, translating 2D characters into live-action required extremely high aesthetic standards. The partners had searched around but couldn’t find anyone suitable—there were certainly good-looking A-listers in the entertainment industry, but they were too expensive. The partners wanted someone cheaper, and so they set their sights on Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yan: “Huh? When did they set their sights on me? If they’re looking for high face value, shouldn’t they be looking for Dad?”

“Didn’t you attend some birthday banquet a while ago and run into one of our clients there?” Ji Yueming asked. “Old Zhan’s age doesn’t fit the role; they want someone with a youthful vibe.”

Zhan Yan remembered now. He had run into Ban Weidong at the birthday banquet—that guy who had posed as someone from Shoude Company in an attempt to poach their client!

So it was that client! Chatting me up so enthusiastically to my face, while secretly scheming to use me as free labor behind my back!

Ji Yueming: “What do you think? Want to give it a try?”

I’ll do it!

Saving money for my own family, why wouldn’t I?

However, the promotional shoot would have to happen a bit later. The video required one male and one female lead. The female role had been given to Lan Xiqiao. She was the one whose Meihu opera tour had taken off thanks to Shoude Company’s sponsorship. After hearing they were short on people, she agreed to do a cameo out of friendship. However, her schedule was packed right now, so the commercial shoot would have to work around her availability.

That was perfectly fine. Zhan Yan was just about to piggyback on Weng Yan’s entry pass to attend the cultivator convention anyway.

It was currently the dead of winter, and Zhan Yan had bundled himself up into a ball. Because there happened to be a hot spring city along the route—and because Zhan Yan had never soaked in a hot spring before—he enthusiastically bought a transfer ticket to rest in the hot spring city for two days and enjoy a soak.

The hot spring water could be drawn straight into the room. As Zhan Yan filled the tub, a faint sulfur smell rose with the steam.

The Gossip System chimed in perfectly on cue:

[You have entered a fake hot spring hotel that uses sulfur powder and hot water to pass off as a hot spring.]

Zhan Yan: ???

Isn’t this a hot spring city?!

The item description immediately followed up with a string of chemical analyses:

[This is tap water with added sulfur powder. H2O content is 99.98%, S content is…]

…Is there any trust left between humans!

Report! Refund! Expose!

Furious, Zhan Yan marched down to the front desk, only to find someone already causing a scene.

[The Dog Demon Gou Hou, having saved up money working at a dog café to experience a hot spring, sniffed out that the hot spring water was fake. Extremely angry, he is loudly demanding a refund.]

…That is a bit tragic.

But why is a dog demon working at a dog café? What kind of employee is he making money as? Zhan Yan’s mind couldn’t help but wander, uncontrollably wanting to search up which dog café it was.

Fortunately, Gou Hou’s aggrieved and furious shouting snapped his attention back.

The front desk staff here were battle-tested veterans, deeply well-versed in the arts of gaslighting and deflecting. They demanded evidence from Gou Hou, stating that without it, he was making false accusations and would have to bear the legal consequences.

“Why are you guys actin’ like this? Let me tell ya, you’re gonna pay the price for this sooner or later! Don’t think this is over, y’hear me?!”

So it’s a dog demon bro from the Northeast.

[The Dog Demon Gou Hou is extremely angry, but out of fear of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, he doesn’t dare use violence. He has decided to wait until the dead of night to break the owner’s legs.]

Having seen the front desk’s attitude, Zhan Yan had already returned to his room. He first opened the Gossip System and used the data from the item description to photoshop an electronic inspection report online. Next, he grabbed an empty beverage bottle and, while screen-recording the entire process, collected a sample of the “hot spring water” from his room.

Phone in hand, he walked back to the lobby. “Friends, I’ve screen-recorded the entire sampling process this time. You all saw it. I’m going to send this straight to a testing facility right now. This water hasn’t been tampered with.

“Last time I pulled up a lab report, someone tried to find fault and claim I swapped the water. This time, you’re all witnesses.”

The front desk panicked immediately, assuming Zhan Yan was livestreaming.

Using the photoshopped lab report, Zhan Yan successfully secured a refund for both himself and Gou Hou.

Gou Hou shook his hand passionately. “Brother, you really did me a huge solid! These immoral scumbags, they pissed me off so much! They got off easy!”

“Don’t be mad, don’t be mad,” Zhan Yan smiled, holding up his phone. “I never promised I wouldn’t report and expose them just because I got a refund.”

“Brother, you really got some moves!” Gou Hou gave him a thumbs-up. “From now on, we’re friends. Let’s exchange contacts, bro’s treating you to barbecue!”

After eating barbecue, he still needed to soak in a hot spring. Having learned his lesson, Zhan Yan used the Gossip System beforehand to search for a high-quality, genuine hot spring hotel and checked in alongside his newly acquainted dog demon bro.

Filling the tub with hot spring water, he lay back into it. Mm, so comfortable!

It had to be said, humans were naturally inclined to love slightly scalding hot water. All the exhaustion from his earlier ordeal melted away in the heat. Every pore opened up, the winter chill accumulated in his body dissipating as his muscles relaxed under the gentle lapping of the water…

Closing his eyes in bliss, Zhan Yan opened the Gossip System and logged onto the chaofan forum.

He needed to keep doing missions and hoarding points to exchange for his boyfriend’s Lightning Talisman as soon as possible.

Glancing at the leaderboard again—sigh. Even though the massive sum of points Deep Shadow had transferred him last time bumped him onto the leaderboard, he was still far short of what he needed for the Lightning Talisman!

Unfortunately, Deep Shadow had been busy searching for “Monster Doctor” lately, so it was unlikely he’d be able to fleece him for points again anytime soon.

It wasn’t good to keep shearing the same sheep anyway; he needed to develop a few more big bosses as clients.

Hmm, the Wan Yao Alliance won’t work, that’s Dad’s organization. The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau won’t work either, that’s Mom’s organization. Mount Chaofu… they’re all too lazy! Those Ghost Kings slack off all day playing hide-and-seek; they never do missions or hoard points. Last time Ghost King Wan Yan posted a mission looking for Ghost King Lin Yuan, he only offered 20 points.

I might as well just look straight at the leaderboard!

Scrolling all the way to the top, the number one spot belonged to “Artisan”—a boss with so many points that since taking the number one spot, he had never once fallen from it, earning him a place among the Top Ten Unsolved Mysteries of the Forum!

“Just how many points does Artisan have?” remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

This is a fantastic sheep to shear!

Moreover, Artisan frequently posted missions, and the rewards were always extremely generous! Zhan Yan had been eyeing him for a long time, but unfortunately, he had never come across an information-type mission posted by Artisan before.

Going into the task section to search, there happened to be an Artisan mission available. The content was hidden; only those who met the acceptance threshold could click in to view it.

The threshold seemed to have been set very high. The mission had been posted for days, yet the view count was still in the single digits.

Without holding out much hope, Zhan Yan clicked on it.

Most of Artisan’s missions involved gathering materials, with the occasional experience exchange—nothing he could actually do.

The mission interface expanded.

Oh ho! I can do this!

The mission required gathering information from inside the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau; no wonder the threshold was so high. The description was also very vague, merely stating it was asking about content related to the Infinite Research Institute. Information-types unable to access this data would give up upon seeing this.

I know about the Infinite Research Institute! I watched a remote live broadcast of my mom blowing up the Infinite fragments!

However, whether or not he should take this mission wasn’t certain yet; it depended on what Artisan wanted to ask. If it involved the Tianshi, he had to make sure it wouldn’t harm his mom’s interests.

Speaking of which, Artisan was a Tianshi fan, so he probably wouldn’t do something like that, right? But you never knew! Who knew if he was one of those crazy, obsessive fans?

Regardless, he’d poke Artisan and ask first.

Approaching Science: [[Mission Link]]

[What do you want to know?]

Artisan replied very quickly: [The research subjects inside the Infinite Research Institute.]

Approaching Science: [Those Infinite fragments?]

Zhan Yan could answer this without worry. Those fragments were all destroyed; there was nothing that couldn’t be said.

Artisan: [Yes.]

Approaching Science: [Which one do you want to ask about?]

Artisan: [The biggest one.]

Approaching Science: [OK, I accept this mission.]

[This fragment was a remnant left behind twenty-six years ago, existing until it was destroyed a couple of days ago.]

[The Infinite Research Institute was built around it, partly for research, and partly to seal off the corruption.]

[However, the corruption wasn’t sealed off completely successfully; there was still a minor leak.]

[But there’s no need to worry about it anymore.]

[Its code name within the Infinite Research Institute was the ‘Apocalyptic Fragment.’]

Chongnan Slope. This was the closest populated area to the Infinite Research Institute.

Because there was a decent-sized wild pond at the bottom of the slope that often attracted wild anglers, a small convenience store and a cleared-out camping area had sprung up around it.

Zhan Suiru was currently here.

She had pitched a tent in the campsite. From the outside, it looked no different from any other camping tent. But once inside, lifting a blanket spread on the floor revealed a door. Opening it and heading downstairs led directly into her studio.

Zhan Suiru sat cross-legged in front of the door, one hand holding the blanket back.

She had brought the studio along with Xiao Ran over here. But since bringing it over, she hadn’t gone down a single time.

She stared blankly at the door for a long while before opening it and walking down the stairs. The door closed automatically behind her, and the blanket smoothed itself back over the floor, concealing all secrets.

The puppet butler was still waiting for her inside the studio. Upon seeing her, he bowed gracefully, exuding the aura of a classical aristocrat. However, the mud staining his hands completely ruined this perfect, elegant posture.

He truly had been earnestly executing Zhan Suiru’s order to continue making sculptures.

“Go wash your hands first.”

While Xiao Ran was washing his hands, Zhan Suiru began inspecting the work he had done during this time.

After listening to Ji Lele’s artistic analysis, Zhan Suiru had installed a row of shelves on the far right side of the studio, which were now a quarter full. These sculptures occupied the top-left corner of the shelves, arranged diagonally downwards from the very top-left—this was Yang Ran’s habit.

Simulated sunlight streamed in from the fake window on the left side of the studio, spilling over the shelves and the sculptures. The uncalibrated light and shadow exposed every single detail of these sculptures.

Still just as ugly.

Tsk, it’s a wonder how Yan Yan managed to appreciate this.

Zhan Suiru looked at them very closely.

She was trying to see the soul hidden within these ugly sculptures, ideally like a measuring tape, able to delicately and accurately measure every minuscule shift.

Her eyes rivaled a vernier caliper, and her hands were precise to the milligram. But what was the unit of measurement for a soul?

“Are you attempting to change your aesthetic sense?” the puppet butler asked politely from behind her. “I do not believe that is a good idea.”

“Then you need to work hard to elevate your aesthetic sense as soon as possible,” Zhan Suiru sighed.

“I do not believe that depends on me. I must point out an issue: you did not install an aesthetics module in me.”

Zhan Suiru replied without a shred of guilt, “Yeah, so I’m purposely making things difficult for you. Do you have a problem with that?”

The puppet butler fell silent for a moment. “…No problem.”