GRMFBS CH120

Zhan Yan had previously seen Ghost King Minghe in the dream where Ghost King Lin Yuan saved Wan Yan Ghost King. She looked like a cold, aloof older sister. He hadn’t expected her to also possess a dark-bellied attribute.

While Zhan Yan was eating melons, Xingxing stepped onto his leg and climbed up his body, trying hard to achieve the goal of sleeping on his chest. Zhan Yan caught the little cat by the armpits and placed it on the floor: “You need to be a little self-aware of your weight!”

With one high leap, Xingxing bounded back onto the bed.

Zhan Yan scooped it off once again.

“I have many little secrets, I just won’t tell you~” The phone rang.

Holding the cat with one hand, Zhan Yan used the other to answer Gu Jiancheng’s goodnight call.

Gu Jiancheng: “Yan Yan…”

Xingxing was very dissatisfied with Zhan Yan shifting his attention to the phone. Even suspended in the air, it didn’t behave, twisting left and right and starting to yowl: “Meow! Meow! Me-ow!”

Gu Jiancheng paused on the other end of the line: “Yan Yan, did you get a cat?”

Zhan Yan freed up his hand to place Xingxing on the floor: “Mhm, it’s a little Li Hua. Do you want to see a picture?”

The two of them chatted about the kitten for a while.

Gu Jiancheng learned that the little Li Hua was named Xingxing, wasn’t afraid of Zhan Yan, and was brought home by his sister.

Sister. Gu Jiancheng’s radar went on high alert again. That essential oil that was effective on him previously was also given by Yan Yan’s sister.

He originally wanted to meet the parents during this holiday, but because of that damn pervert Monster Doctor, his opportunity to meet the parents was delayed!

He was so angry! When he found the Monster Doctor, he would beat him to death!

Gu Jiancheng selectively forgot how readily Zhan Yan had agreed to not meet the parents at the time, and pinned all the blame squarely on the Monster Doctor’s head.

Having been scooped off the bed several times, Xingxing profoundly experienced Zhan Yan’s determination not to sleep in the same blanket as it. This time, after finding an opening to hop onto the bed, it hugged Zhan Yan’s wrist with its two front paws, meowing delicately and acting spoiled, refusing to let go of its claws.

Zhan Yan had one hand hugged by Xingxing while holding the phone in the other. From the earpiece came Gu Jiancheng’s spoiled whining: Want to meet the parents! Want to become official! You promised me last time!

For a moment, he felt like he had an armful of beauties on his left and right.

Zhan Yan decided to first let the ignorant Xingxing loiter on the bed and reason with his boyfriend: “But the holidays are almost over, and school starts the day after tomorrow.”

His boyfriend was particularly difficult to coax this time. After finally pacifying him, Zhan Yan spread out on the bed. Xingxing stubbornly climbed up beside him.

Zhan Yan tilted his head, looked at the unhappy little Li Hua, and sighed.

Forget it, coaxing his boyfriend was too tiring. He had no energy left to teach Xingxing to sleep in its bed, so they would just sleep like this tonight.

…

Early the next morning, Zhan Yan’s well-trained biological clock woke him up at 5:40. He laid in bed, loitering for another ten minutes, unable to fall back asleep, then got up to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Xingxing hadn’t woken up yet. Disturbed by the noise of Zhan Yan getting up, it opened its eyes, gave him a groggy look, stretched its paws twice, and curled back up to continue sleeping.

After washing his face, Zhan Yan was completely awake. Downstairs, his dad had already finished His Majesty the Chongming Demon King’s daily patrol and was back making breakfast.

Zhan Yan stretched his shoulders and back, then ran over to knock on his brother’s and sister’s doors. These two usually got up past seven, so they were definitely still asleep now. But they had agreed earlier that he would teach them morning exercises after he got back, and he had learned so many different kinds!

Hehe, let’s get up early together!

He had barely knocked twice on his brother’s door when Zhan Jinli opened it, a toothbrush in his mouth and foam around his lips, conveying his question with a look.

Zhan Yan was also full of questions: “Brother, why are you up so early?”

Zhan Jinli tapped his phone screen twice and showed him the interface.

A customer who ordered a cake was rushing to catch a train and demanded to pick up the cake this morning.

So Zhan Jinli had to go to the cake shop later and had no time to learn those morning exercise methods from him.

Feeling a little disappointed, Zhan Yan ran over to knock on his sister’s door.

Before he could even knock, Zhan Suiru opened the door, fully dressed and ready.

“Sister, why are you suddenly up so early too?”

“A client has an urgent matter and is rushing me like it’s a matter of life and death.” Zhan Suiru sighed, “I have to leave soon.”

If she didn’t go soon, the Broker would go crazy. He had forcefully messaged her through the emergency contact channel at five in the morning, waking her up.

At the time, Zhan Suiru was suffering from morning grumpiness.

Hearing her poor tone, the Broker was afraid she would cut off communication, but as soon as he spoke, he was led astray: “Hear me out.”

The Broker: …

Fuck!

After being nagged at all night, he had already turned into a replica of Gu Zhixing.

From that silence, Zhan Suiru tasted the Broker’s deep despair.

The Broker: “Artisan, come over. If you don’t come, Master refuses to leave.” The Broker: “Things that must be faced sooner or later are better faced sooner rather than later, don’t you agree?” The Broker: “It’s been a whole night, isn’t that enough? Don’t drag this out, I’m begging you.” The Broker: “If you don’t come soon, I’ll have no choice but to threaten you.” The Broker: “That wouldn’t be good.”

This empty tone half-mixed with chicken soup for the soul—the Broker had thoroughly absorbed Master’s flavor after marinating in it all night!

Forget it, she’d go.

After all, having collaborated with the Broker for so many years, there was still a foundation of trust between them.

Moreover, since the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau had sent Master, it wasn’t something she could just dodge and brush off. The world fragment she wanted was still in their hands.

Sigh, the Deputy Director of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was truly a difficult person to deal with.

Most importantly, Master Gu Zhixing had also been worn down by the Broker all night, so his power had diminished somewhat. Seeing him at this time would definitely be much safer. Thanks to the Broker for his hard work!

Zhan Suiru slowly finished eating breakfast. Before leaving, she typed to Zhan Jinli: I have something to do and need to leave. Learn the exercises properly with Yan Yan.

Zhan Jinli showed her the order interface. He also had to go to the bakery early.

Zhan Suiru understood. No wonder Yan Yan’s expression was so disappointed earlier.

Retracting the foot she was about to step out the door with, Zhan Suiru began comforting her brother: “It’s okay, you can teach Mom and Dad!”

Zhan Yan sighed.

Why would Mom and Dad need him to teach them! Those two were big shots. Only the three of them, ordinary people, needed to practice more.

Having pacified her brother, Zhan Suiru changed into her disguise outfit and headed to the black market. The moment she stepped into the black market, she was stopped by someone.

The supervisor, his face piled with smiles, reached out his hand to invite her.

Zhan Suiru: “I’ll go back and change into a jacket first.”

The supervisor: “No need, no need, whatever you wear is elegant and appropriate.”

Zhan Suiru: “Is there a need to be in such a rush?”

The supervisor: “It’s extremely necessary!”

Tsk, tsk, tsk, it seemed the Broker was being tortured quite badly by Master.

However, she had her own arrangements.

“Whether it’s necessary or not depends on me.” Zhan Suiru said.

The supervisor only saw the pale lips under the shadow of the Artisan’s hat brim curl up slightly, as if smiling. Then, the Artisan strode past him on long legs, heading straight for his own room.

The supervisor didn’t dare stop him, but under the Broker’s strict orders, he didn’t dare let the Artisan just leave either. He could only follow behind with a bitter expression, carefully trying to persuade him along the way.

Annoyed, Zhan Suiru said: “Shut up.”

The supervisor shut up, his expression growing even more distressed.

Today happened to coincide with the black market’s semi-annual auction. The excitement caused the surrounding shops and the streets with free stalls to flourish as well.

Previously, Zhan Suiru had only cared about the “apocalyptic fragment.” Seeing the commotion around her, she just remembered it was time for the auction.

“How many days has the auction been going on?” She turned and cut into the street market.

The black market auction was held once every half-year, lasting anywhere from three to seven days depending on the items being auctioned.

Terrified that the Artisan might suddenly on a whim go participate in the auction, the supervisor hurriedly said: “It just started, just started. The catalog of auction items was sent to you three days ago, I’ll send you another physical copy. It’s running for five days this time, and there’s nothing good for the first three days, you definitely won’t find anything appealing.”

The black market was bustling with people coming and going. A newcomer, seeing the usually imposing and overbearing supervisor following someone so carefully, couldn’t help but ask: “Who is this person?”

“The Artisan? Why is he here?” The shopkeeper who answered was also curious.

These big shots with their own private rooms in the black market had another route in and out, and typically wouldn’t appear here.

Zhan Suiru didn’t plan to wander for long. After passing through the street, she returned to her room. She left the supervisor in the reception room and entered the lounge herself.

The supervisor fidgeted anxiously in the reception room, terrified that the Artisan wouldn’t come back out. Fortunately, the Artisan emerged just a few minutes later, still looking like he was wearing the same clothes as before, with no changes whatsoever.

The Artisan wore this outfit year-round. Everyone in the black market who had seen him guessed whether he had an entire wardrobe full of black trench coats and wide-brimmed hats.

At this moment, the supervisor had no mind to criticize; he only breathed a sigh of relief at the Artisan’s reappearance.

The Artisan who came back out had become much quieter, taking large strides towards the Broker’s reception hall.

The Broker was slumped on a sofa, frozen in place. An express delivery cardboard box covered his head, one hand pressed down on the box, the other hanging off the edge of the sofa, its fingers twitching slightly from time to time.

Sitting on the other sofa was a person dressed in the kind of loose practice clothes worn by park grandpas doing Tai Chi. His hands were folded in front of his abdomen, his eyes looked at the Broker with concern, and his mouth chattered incessantly. Just looking at his sincere gaze and gentle tone, one couldn’t tell at all that he was the one who had tortured the Broker into this state.

Zhan Suiru stared at that express box a few extra times.

What kind of prop was this? Could it help the Broker defend against Master’s “Please Hear Me Out”?

The sound of the door opening startled the sprawling Broker. He jumped up, yanked off the express cardboard box from his head, and looked over with a gaze that gave Zhan Suiru goosebumps all over.

“Why are you only coming now?!”

With that strong sense of bitter resentment mixed with the pleasant surprise of finally seeing someone, anyone who didn’t know better would think she had done something to the Broker.

Zhan Suiru couldn’t help but shudder from his shout.

“What is that thing you had over your head?”

“A prop used to isolate the outside world. This isn’t important, if you want it I can give it to you.” The Broker quickly gave the two of them an extremely brief introduction. “Artisan, this is Master. Master, this is the Artisan.”

Gu Zhixing looked towards the Artisan, shifting his conversational target: “You…”

Before the second character could leave his mouth, the Broker had already run off without a trace, conveniently dragging his trusted supervisor out with him.

The two quickly changed to a different room. With radiant, shining eyes, the Broker turned on the large screen in the room. The screen was divided into over twenty grids, with only one lit up, displaying exactly what was happening in his reception room. Judging by the angle, this seemed to be a hidden camera placed inside a tissue box on the coffee table.

The supervisor was astounded: “Boss?”

Weren’t you looking half-dead just a moment ago?

The Broker: “Be quiet, this is the one and only surviving monitor that I specially modified!”

In such important meetings, both parties would definitely be wearing signal jammers. Just looking at the other twenty-plus darkened screens proved it.

Master was certainly torturous, but he wanted to know even more what the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was planning by insisting on meeting the Artisan. He was the one who discovered the Artisan first! Even though he hadn’t managed to poach him completely, absolutely no one else should even think about poaching the Artisan away!

In the reception room, Zhan Suiru held the cardboard box the Broker had tossed over. She flipped it around twice and discovered that it really was just an ordinary cardboard box.

…Had the Broker been driven mad by Gu Zhixing’s torture?

She looked at Gu Zhixing in absolute amazement: “…What did you do to him?”

Gu Zhixing: “Mr. Gong, please hear me out…”

Zhan Suiru felt incredibly awkward listening to this: “Don’t call me Mr. Gong, just call me Artisan. Where’s the item I asked for?”

Where did Gu Zhixing come up with such a bizarre form of address? Could codenames even be split apart like that?

Gu Zhixing readily accepted good advice and handed over the fragment of the apocalyptic sequence to her: “Mr. Artisan, please hear me out…”

Since the Artisan had arrived anyway, there was no need to withhold the item any longer.

“Save your supernatural powers.” After inspecting it, Zhan Suiru gave a light laugh. Right in front of Gu Zhixing, she opened the panel on her chest cavity, placed the world fragment inside, and then closed the panel again. “The one who came is my remote-controlled puppet.”

She had produced quite a few defective products while building Xiao Ran, and it just happened to come in handy now.

Gu Zhixing: …It’s over. I stayed up all night and couldn’t even recognize that this wasn’t a real person.

How did the Artisan make a puppet look so realistic?!

The Broker: …

“Artisan, you knew how to deal with Gu Zhixing all along, yet you didn’t come to save me?!”