GRMFBS CH117

Five little ghosts—red, yellow, white, black, and green—were working hard at kneading and coloring fondant, ordered around in circles by Zhan Jinli.

Zhan Jinli rapidly pinched the fondant, his hand speed so fast it left afterimages, possessing the absolute aura of a Culinary God.

Even with all five little ghosts acting as assistants together, they barely managed to keep up with his speed.

After finishing one fondant cake, Zhan Jinli gave them some rest time. He could work fast, but he couldn’t be too fast. His family knew he was the only one running the bakery. If he worked too fast, the production speed wouldn’t match up.

The five little ghosts wiped away non-existent sweat, looking at each other and seeing a trace of desolation in each other’s eyes.

—Wuwuwu, Lord Ghost King has been back for so long, how come he hasn’t risen to power yet?

—You can’t say he hasn’t risen. If you look at it from another angle, our Lord is currently taking the Cake King route.

—Oh, right! Have you guys watched the God of Cookery anime? The kind of world where they can make glowing dishes. So our Lord is currently taking the first step towards fame and ascension!

—But we’ve never seen any dishes glow around here.

—Believe in the Lord! Since the Lord has decided to walk the path of the Culinary God, he will definitely make glowing cuisine in the end!

Zhan Jinli let this group of silly little ghosts exchange looks. He had previously tried to correct their bizarre thought processes, but they always interpreted things in the most outlandish ways. When he said he wanted to rest well and lie flat as a salted fish, this group of little ghosts firmly believed he was hiding his capacities and biding his time. When he felt that the psychotic cat Wan Yan Ghost King was too annoying and he had to hide carefully to avoid being found, they thought he was enduring hardships to wait for the right opportunity.

To sum it up, everything centered around the core belief that “Lord Ghost King Lin Yuan will definitely reach the absolute pinnacle,” from which they extrapolated all sorts of paths and possibilities.

After trying a few times, Zhan Jinli gave up. Anyway, these little ghosts were very obedient, and as long as they were useful, they could think whatever they liked.

Besides making cakes, Zhan Jinli was also pondering the recent disturbances.

Previously on the forum, Approaching Science had warned him that some troublemakers were using his supernatural powers. Following the clues, he discovered that someone had used the ghost scales he had dropped when he was injured back then to create an anomaly called “Cursed Scales.” Following this trail further, the clues completely cut off after reaching an old, abandoned urban district.

Inside an abandoned old house in the old district, there were traces of a massive battle. Judging from the lingering auras, one side possessed multiple anomalous auras that blended and shared similarities; this reminded Zhan Jinli of the Black Nest he had once seen in Infinite. As for the other side’s aura, it reminded him of a person—the one who broke out of Infinite twenty-six years ago, the absolute Top 1 among the players: Deep Shadow.

Zhan Jinli had only met Deep Shadow once, but he had heard many rumors about him from others afterward.

The players who walked out of Infinite had a very complex attitude towards Deep Shadow; they yearned for him, yet feared him.

And in that single, distant glance Zhan Jinli had caught, he hadn’t seen Deep Shadow’s appearance clearly. He only saw a shadow that seemed to swallow even the light rushing out from Infinite.

Zhan Jinli originally thought that shadow would leave—his aura was far too deathly still. That kind of icy indifference was something even the Underworld had never possessed. Even Ghost King Minghe, who was born from the materialization of the Ming He River, didn’t have that kind of secluded, freezing deathly stillness.

The Ming He River was accustomed to life and death; she sent ghosts to the Reincarnation platform, where life followed death. But that shadow only had an empty, absolute deathly stillness left.

With nothing left, he wouldn’t care about anything anymore. Since he wanted to leave, he would inevitably leave after breaking free from his shackles.

But Zhan Jinli then saw that shadow turn back.

He pointed out the core of Infinite for them and smashed into it without hesitation. For a moment, Zhan Jinli felt he resembled a meteor, its trailing flames a deep, gaping abyss.

Through the dark, withered crust of the earth, Zhan Jinli caught a glimpse of the flames of madness burning below.

Zhan Jinli was very grateful for Deep Shadow’s help, but also felt that it was indeed necessary for him to be placed on a wanted list.

Whether it was that deathly stillness that cared about nothing, or the madness hidden beneath the surface, both meant that Deep Shadow was someone on the verge of losing control. And this person also possessed terrifying power.

But for twenty-six years, there had been no news of Deep Shadow. Only occasionally, at the scenes where anomalies were exterminated, would there be traces suspected to be left by Deep Shadow.

This time, in his confrontation with the Black Nest, looking at the traces left at the scene, Deep Shadow should have been the victor.

But this was also the first time traces of a Black Nest had appeared in their world.

The appearance of the Black Nest meant that Infinite had not truly perished; it had even accumulated enough power. With a Black Nest, there was a spawning ground for the birth of anomalies.

It wanted to revive, and the largest surviving fragment of Infinite held within the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was its biggest target.

The Tianshi’s commotion on New Year’s Eve should have been precisely for this—to pull the firewood from beneath the cauldron and eliminate its momentum.

Whenever he thought of the alarm he felt upon discovering the traces of the Black Nest, Zhan Jinli couldn’t help but think how fortunate it was that the Tianshi was so decisive.

It was also fortunate that Deep Shadow had discovered and resolved this Black Nest in advance. When it came to understanding Infinite, they ultimately couldn’t compare to these top-tier players who had survived it.

Perhaps Deep Shadow had found a way to resolve his loss of control.

Zhan Jinli decided to find Deep Shadow for a chat; ideally, they could cooperate, and also finally clear that wanted poster that had hung for over twenty years.

However, finding Deep Shadow was a troublesome matter. This guy had absolutely no desire to communicate. After that great war twenty-six years ago, the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau had tried various methods to pass messages and get Deep Shadow to communicate with them, yet Deep Shadow never gave any response. It was only a few years later that the wanted poster was issued.

But Zhan Jinli absolutely did not want this dangerous individual to have any connection with his family. Therefore, he had to be even more careful in separating the identities of Ghost King Lin Yuan and Zhan Jinli. He absolutely couldn’t let anyone follow Lin Yuan and find his family!

As a result, Zhan Jinli decided not to go out as Ghost King Lin Yuan recently. He would merely collect news about Deep Shadow remotely and focus on finishing the cake orders at home first—and conveniently hide from the once-again-excited Wan Yan Ghost King.

On the chaofan forum, the thread {Does anyone know what’s going on with Mount Chaofu recently?} was bumped up again.

When Zhan Jinli got home, Zhan Yan was scrolling through the thread.

555L: Didn’t Wan Yan Ghost King go out to find Ghost King Lin Yuan? Why is Mount Chaofu acting up again?! 556L: Grabbed seeds and a stool. What happened at Mount Chaofu? 558L: It might not necessarily be Wan Yan Ghost King, right? Didn’t Wan Yan Ghost King leave Mount Chaofu previously? 560L: I have connections at Mount Chaofu. According to the grapevine, it’s not Wan Yan Ghost King making a fuss at Mount Chaofu this time. Rather, it’s Ghost King Tie Lao who couldn’t stand the 007 year-round no-rest schedule and went on strike…

Hmm? Really? He hadn’t eaten this melon (gossip) before!

Zhan Yan used the Gossip System to start searching.

Ghost King Tie Lao broke through during the great war twenty-six years ago, and was quite lucky not to sustain any injuries.

At that time, the Underworld was chaotic to the extreme. Di Ting died in body, leaving only a tiny clump of soul that was barely preserved. Ghost King Lin Yuan nearly had his soul scatter and was forced to recuperate at the bottom of the frigid pool. Ghost King Minghe had to support sending souls to Reincarnation, and beyond that, had no energy left whatsoever.

Ghost King Tie Lao was entrusted with a mission in a critical moment, taking over the burden of Mount Chaofu, and worked diligently for a solid twenty-six years.

Over these twenty-six years, Ghost King Tie Lao could be said to have borne the burden of hard work without complaint.

Having experienced the miserable conditions back then, he held immense respect for the sacrifices of his seniors. He believed that since his seniors had risked their lives, he, as a junior, ought to share the burden of these miscellaneous chores so they would have time to heal their wounds.

Thanks to Ghost King Tie Lao’s efforts, the cycle of Reincarnation in the Underworld quickly stabilized and never experienced any further disturbances.

Although Mount Chaofu appeared very ‘salted fish’ to the outside world, that was simply because corporate slave Ghost King Tie Lao truly had no energy left.

Despite the heavy workload, Ghost King Tie Lao always felt a strong sense of accomplishment; looking at the fruits of his labor also brought him great satisfaction.

Look at how stable the Underworld was under his efforts! Wasn’t this worth being happy about? Wasn’t this a great undertaking? Even though he hadn’t managed to contribute much in that massive war twenty-six years ago, he too had his own direction and ability to protect the world!

Besides, this work wasn’t forever. Once the other Ghost Kings had finished recuperating, they could take over a portion of the tasks.

Harboring such beautiful expectations, Ghost King Tie Lao began his life as a corporate slave.

He didn’t have to wait long before Ghost King Minghe was the first to recover her condition. However, her condition wasn’t very stable, and she still needed to sleep and recuperate from time to time.

Furthermore… after giving it a try, Ghost King Tie Lao discovered that this Ghost King was truly completely ignorant of administrative affairs.

It didn’t matter, it was understandable. Ghost King Minghe was born from the Ming He River, had very little communication with the outside world, and had a completely different perspective on things.

Since that was the case, he wouldn’t count on Ghost King Minghe to take over these jobs; as long as she could continue to keep Reincarnation stable, that was enough.

Ghost King Tie Lao pinned his hopes on Ghost King Lin Yuan and Wan Yan Ghost King.

Wan Yan Ghost King woke up.

Wan Yan Ghost King’s sanity seemed to have a problem; he had turned into a cat, and his thought processes had changed as well. He completely lacked the all-encompassing wisdom Di Ting had in life, leaving only a scattered, leap-frogging mindset that was incredibly difficult for people to understand.

Such a Wan Yan Ghost King, naturally, could not help Ghost King Tie Lao share the workload.

It didn’t matter, Ghost King Tie Lao could understand. Back then, Di Ting’s soul was snatched back from the brink by Ghost King Lin Yuan; it was perfectly normal that he hadn’t fully recovered.

So Ghost King Tie Lao continued his diligent work and very lovingly made time to look after Wan Yan Ghost King, who remembered nothing.

But Wan Yan Ghost King was not interested in him. After grasping some basic information from him, he ran off to find Ghost King Lin Yuan to play.

Ghost King Tie Lao felt there was no problem. Hearing that Ghost King Lin Yuan nearly dispersed his own soul to save Wan Yan Ghost King’s soul, they must be very good friends.

Thus, Ghost King Tie Lao felt at ease leaving Wan Yan Ghost King at Mount Chaofu and continued heading out for work.

Ghost King Lin Yuan hadn’t recovered yet, so he temporarily couldn’t leave the frigid pool. But hearing that he had always been a reliable Ghost King who had once served as a River God in the human realm, he could certainly handle all kinds of tasks well.

Harboring expectations for Ghost King Lin Yuan, Ghost King Tie Lao worked outside for five years before finally freeing up some time, preparing to return to Mount Chaofu to check on the recovery status of the several Ghost Kings.

Then he discovered that Ghost King Lin Yuan had gone missing. It seemed that during his recuperation, he couldn’t stand Wan Yan Ghost King’s harassment and ran away on his own. Meanwhile, Wan Yan Ghost King, unable to find Ghost King Lin Yuan, was throwing a tantrum. Due to his damaged sanity, he had become incredibly obsessive and was currently turning Mount Chaofu upside down in an attempt to dig Ghost King Lin Yuan out. Ghost King Minghe, unable to tolerate the annoyance, was currently beating the cat. The entirety of Mount Chaofu had been turned into a complete mess because of the two great Ghost Kings fighting.

Ghost King Tie Lao: It doesn’t matter, it’s underst…

Understandable my ass!

Why did things turn out like this?!!