GRMFBS CH108

Zhan Yan’s curiosity was immensely satisfied.

Weng Yan coughed twice and handed Zhan Yan a card. “Hold onto this. This is your pass to enter and exit the venue. Don’t lose it.”

Once inside the venue, he didn’t plan on keeping Zhan Yan with him anymore. He needed to keep his eyes and ears open in all directions! He had to monitor the surroundings closely and absolutely refuse to give anyone else a chance to mock their Scarlet Sun Sect again!

Zhan Yan curiously examined the card. It was pure white, without even a logo, looking just like a blank business card. He had thought items used in genuine supernatural gatherings like this would be a bit more special. Even if it didn’t have profound runes printed on it, it should at least have some text explaining what it was, right?

“Why isn’t there anything on this?”

“Well, regarding that… it’s mainly because they were afraid a fight would break out,” Weng Yan explained.

Never mind patterns—every cultivation sect and family had their own unique insignias, different demon clans had different styles, and the same applied to the Underworld.

The same went for text. How many languages existed just among humans? Demons had demon script, ghosts had ghost language. Which one to print and which to leave off? Wasn’t that just asking for endless arguments?

At first, someone had actually proposed it. But after several rounds of discussion yielded no results and almost resulted in an all-out brawl, everyone unanimously made a final decision:

“Our Cultivator Convention has always embraced simplicity as its core style,” Weng Yan summarized.

The next day, after entering the Cultivator Convention venue with his access card, Zhan Yan profoundly understood exactly what “embracing simplicity as its core style” meant.

White walls, concrete floors, and every single table, chair, and bench was in a starkly plain, unadorned style. If you didn’t know better, you’d think you’d just walked into an unfinished, bare-shell apartment that was just about to start renovations.

The people coming in, however, wore absolutely anything and everything, proudly displaying their individuality. Everyone strolled around the venue with complete ease.

The venue wasn’t entirely bereft of layout either; it was divided into several zones.

There was a lecture podium with rows of seats below, where individuals could go up to present their philosophies and achievements. Simply moving a table up there allowed two parties to engage in a debate, making it very convenient for onlookers to watch.

There were large round tables with chairs arranged in circles, making it easy for groups to discuss together.

They were equipped with whiteboards and dry-erase markers. Above the whiteboards hung rolled-up projector screens that could be pulled down for use. Those who preferred the traditional way could write by hand, while those who preferred high-tech could use the projector.

There was also an open area fitted with protective barriers intended for sparring matches to the point of yielding, conveniently located right next to the lecture podium.

Although plain, it fulfilled every functional requirement, prioritizing absolute practicality.

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but recall the “supernatural gathering” he had attended with Matthias earlier. Comparing the two, that cosplay event probably fit Matthias’s imagination much better than this.

He had even run into Gu Jiancheng at that gathering. Thinking back on the devil horn headband he had worn on his head still made Zhan Yan chuckle.

It was impossible to run into Gu Jiancheng here, though. Sigh, I was actually looking forward to it a little.

Zhan Yan wandered around the Cultivator Convention aimlessly on his own, listening in here and tagging along there to see if he could gather any useful intelligence.

The venue was plain, but the attendees were a colorful cast of characters. Because there were no ordinary humans here they needed to hide from, everyone was very relaxed. They wore all sorts of clothes: Daoist robes walked side by side with Buddhist cassocks; four-legged creatures paired up with floating ones.

As Zhan Yan was wandering around, the Gossip System slips started updating:

[You walked right through the Ghost Cultivator Lou Dan.]

[The Ghost Cultivator Lou Dan is very unhappy and says, “Hey, kid, why aren’t you watching where you’re going?”]

Zhan Yan: …Mr. Ghost Cultivator, why didn’t you make yourself visible?

Should I pretend I didn’t notice and keep walking, or should I stop?

At this moment, a loud voice from nearby saved him.

“Hello? Yeah, okay, I got it. I’ll go pick her up in a bit.”

This voice sounded incredibly familiar.

Zhan Yan looked over and waved happily. “Hey! Old Bao!”

Having just hung up the phone, Bao Qingshan turned around and saw him, his eyes going wide.

“Zhan Yan?! What are you doing here? You, you, you… Which family are you from?”

Zhan Yan was in high spirits. “What ‘family’? I piggybacked on some connections to get in here. I don’t know anything. Wow, so you’re not an ordinary person either. Take me around for a bit?”

[Learning that you piggybacked on connections to get in and couldn’t actually see him, the Ghost Cultivator Lou Dan is no longer angry.]

[However, the Ghost Cultivator Lou Dan still feels a bit peeved, so he decided to give you a jump scare.]

Zhan Yan: “…”

Watching a person… a ghost, suddenly pop up out of nowhere right next to him.

I knew this was coming in advance, how am I supposed to be jump-scared?

Zhan Yan decided to change his approach.

His eyes widened as he looked at Lou Dan. “Whoa! That’s so cool!”

Lou Dan: Suddenly felt too embarrassed to scare a kid.

“Ahem. It’s just a parlor trick.” Lou Dan walked off, putting on the air of a senior expert.

Bao Qingshan: “…”

The two picked up their previous conversation.

“Don’t tell anyone else,” Bao Qingshan urged him.

“Don’t worry! We’ll just keep hanging out like before. I won’t tell anyone!”

Zhan Yan was always reliable with his promises, so Bao Qingshan felt relieved. But he had something to do right now; he had to go pick someone up.

Zhan Yan listened as he called the person he was supposed to pick up:

“Martial Aunt, you got lost again? Where are you?”

“No, I’m asking if there are any landmarks around you… What? There’s a cloud above your head… Don’t look above your head, look around you. There’s a tree next to you…”

Zhan Yan: “…Pfft.“

“Turn on location sharing,” he quietly reminded Bao Qingshan.

Bao Qingshan taught the person how to turn on location sharing and told her to stay exactly where she was and absolutely not wander off; he was coming to get her.

Hanging up the phone, Bao Qingshan explained to Zhan Yan: “She’s not from our sect. She’s from the sect next door, but we have a good relationship with them. It’s her first time traveling away from home, and she’s not very good with directions, so I have to go pick her up.”

Zhan Yan went with him to pick her up. When they arrived and saw her:

Bao Qingshan: “Martial Aunt!”

Zhan Yan: “Jiejie!”

Yuan Shiyi: “Ge!”

Both of them had been completely led astray by the Northeast dog demon.

Bao Qingshan: ???

“Why is my Martial Aunt your ‘Jiejie’?”

“Why is ‘jiejie’ your Martial Aunt?”

Only after introducing themselves did they figure out the relationship between them.

Despite Yuan Shiyi’s poetic and picturesque name, she actually hailed from the Vajra Sect, the most famous physical cultivation sect. It was located right next to Bao Qingshan’s Withered Pine Ravine, and the two sects had a good relationship. The only issue was that the Vajra Sect’s lineage progressed slightly slower than Withered Pine Ravine’s. After a few generations of accumulation, the generations were out of sync. Thus, Yuan Shiyi ended up as Bao Qingshan’s Martial Aunt.

Zhan Yan stroked his chin, his eyes curving into crescents as he looked at Bao Qingshan. “Come on, let’s establish our seniority!”

Bao Qingshan: “Get outta here!”

Together, the two brought the directionally challenged big sister back to the venue.

Yuan Shiyi felt very embarrassed. “This is my first time here, so there are a lot of things I don’t understand. Master told me to make a name for the Vajra Sect.”

Bao Qingshan: “It’s fine. Your reputation will spread once you participate in a few debates.”

Yuan Shiyi grew even more worried. “But I’m very clumsy with words. I’m afraid I’ll embarrass my sect.”

Bao Qingshan comforted her: “There won’t be any consequences even if you don’t debate well.”

The three of them happened to walk past a lecture podium.

On the stage, with a meditation cushion on the left and right, two senior experts were debating, their words flowing like a river, full of witty remarks and profound insights.

Yuan Shiyi’s expression turned even more worried. She stood rooted below the podium, unable to take another step, anxiously trying to learn by observing.

Zhan Yan also stopped to listen. He heard the two debating experts mention the Candle Dragon.

The two senior experts spoke at a rapid-fire pace, accompanied by physical gestures to emphasize their points, occasionally clapping their hands. As Zhan Yan listened with rapt attention, he felt the two were speaking faster and faster, quicker and quicker.

And then they started arguing.

As they argued, a fight broke out. Without missing a beat, they seamlessly turned left and entered the sparring arena right next door.

Zhan Yan: …No wonder they put the sparring arena right next to the lecture podium.

Yuan Shiyi’s eyes lit up, a look of sudden realization dawning on her face. “So you can debate like this too! I know how to do this!”

Bao Qingshan: “No, wait…”

Yuan Shiyi eagerly rushed toward the sparring arena.

Zhan Yan patted Bao Qingshan’s shoulder. “Let her go. A reputation built on fighting is still a reputation.”

Right, the Vajra Sect wasn’t like their Withered Pine Ravine, which played support.

Zhan Yan began probing: “Hey, I heard those two just now mentioning something about Candle Dragon remnants. What’s that all about? Have you ever seen one?”

Bao Qingshan twitched his mouth as if he had a toothache. “That thing… I’ve been inside one.”

Zhan Yan: Huh?

Weren’t Candle Dragon remnants fractures caused by temporal loops? How could someone go inside one?

Bao Qingshan continued explaining: “That thing is kind of like a dungeon when we play games. If you go inside, you can see certain special visual echoes of the past. But they aren’t completely just visual echoes; they can be lethal. It depends on what kind of scene is inside. Some scenes are very peaceful, but others can be quite dangerous.”

“If you ever happen to be walking along and suddenly realize your surroundings have completely changed, there’s a chance you’ve entered a Candle Dragon remnant.”

“But you don’t need to worry. Right now, most Candle Dragon remnants have already been dealt with. There are only a few deeply hidden ones left that haven’t been discovered yet. Those aren’t very easy to stumble into either.”

“But just in case—I mean just in case—you do accidentally encounter one, remember to find a safe place and hide. Just hiding well is enough. The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau—that’s our official government organization—they developed some kind of instrument that can detect the anomalous fluctuations of a Candle Dragon remnant. Once someone enters a Candle Dragon remnant, it’ll start emitting these anomalous fluctuations. They’ll send people over to rescue you very quickly.”

“On the Wan Yao Alliance’s side—that’s the demon faction—they also have ways to sense the fluctuations of Candle Dragon remnants and will send demons over too.”

“Regardless of who gets there first, you’ll be rescued. The only problem is they might end up fighting each other…”

Zhan Yan: Found it. One of the major reasons why the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance don’t get along: both sides are fighting over the Candle Dragon fragments.

As the two chatted while walking, Zhan Yan saw a tall, burly centaur walk past. He was wearing a long tunic; the part of the clothing that reached the human waist had simply been lengthened backwards to cover the upper half of his equine body.

Zhan Yan poked Bao Qingshan and asked quietly, “Hey, is that a horse demon? Can all demons transform into a half-beast state?”

Bao Qingshan: “No, he’s just a centaur. He immigrated here from overseas.”

Zhan Yan: “Huh?”

Bao Qingshan: “I heard the treatment on their side isn’t as good as ours, so he came over.”

Zhan Yan watched the centaur walk to the back of a line and start queuing. At the very front of the line was a small table and chair set. The person sitting in the chair was blocked by the long line and couldn’t be seen. All that was visible was a cloth banner hanging behind it with white characters on a blue background: “Specializing in Intractable Diseases.” It looked incredibly like a street charlatan’s setup.

Zhan Yan walked a few steps to circle around and take a look. Oh, the person sitting there is Granny Zhuo Shu.

[The centaur Basil Gallagher cannot shapeshift, making life in this country very inconvenient. Hearing that Zhuo Shu excels at solving various intractable problems, he decided to ask her for help.]

Isn’t this just a language translation barrier? Granny Zhuo Shu specializes in curing diseases! It’s not like she can perform surgery to replace his horse body with two human legs…

Speaking of which… a question suddenly popped into Zhan Yan’s mind.

He poked Bao Qingshan, lowered his voice, and asked, “Hey, how do you think the organs inside a centaur’s body are arranged?”

Bao Qingshan: Right!

A human’s internal organs are in the upper body, and a horse’s internal organs are in the horizontal body. The part connecting to the centaur’s human torso would normally be the horse’s neck.

Veterinarian DNA, activated!

The truly tall and burly centaur, Basil Gallagher, suddenly shivered.

He looked around in confusion.