GRMFBS CH169

Wan Yan, the cat, was very easy to fool—just saying “something’s wrong over there” was enough to make him come running.
But right now he was far away, and it would take him some time to get here.

Zhan Yan’s days were packed recently. During the day, he interned at the veterinary hospital; at night, he had to comfort his boyfriend at the pig farm; and in his spare time, he helped Deep Shadow gather intel. Ever since the Linyuan Ghost King lost the use of his Blessing Bound to Curse ability, Deep Shadow had been trying to bear with it for a few days—but soon he couldn’t stand it anymore, so he started asking Approaching Science for outside help with the investigation.
He also complained to Approaching Science about the Linyuan Ghost King’s laziness.

The great expert who’d clawed his way out of Infinite Worlds despised Chaofu Mountain’s “slacker style.”

I Just Saved the World!: “He still insists on going home at night. What home? Ghosts don’t need to sleep, that’s half the day wasted!”

Zhan Yan was spineless.
Approaching Science: “You’re right.”
He always favored his friends—and he wasn’t close to the Linyuan Ghost King.

Deep Shadow was equally unprincipled.
I Just Saved the World!: “All right, that’s enough for today. Go get some rest.”

Even when it came to data analysis, there’s such a thing as overworking—Deep Shadow didn’t want Approaching Science to get information pollution from overexertion.

After logging off the forum, both of them called their boyfriends.

Student Gu was now famous at the pig farm—somehow, word had spread about his “one-handed pig-subduing” skills.

Zhan Yan laughed so hard he couldn’t stop; on the other end of the line, Gu Jiancheng smiled gently, the faint scent of sandalwood beads on his wrist filling the air.

Neither call lasted long; both had work the next morning.

The clinic had admitted several dogs these days—and a large parrot. Dr. Mi Man led them in giving IV drips to the dogs, muttering as she worked:
“Nowadays there are more people bringing their pets here. In the past, they all went to proper pet hospitals.”

The parrot was kept in a cage apart from the other animals, imitating both dogs and cats:
“Woof woof! Big doggo~ come eat din-din~”

Mi Man warned them, “Keep an eye on that one. Whatever you do, don’t let it out. It can open its own cage door—once even stole dog food to feed the dogs. These ones can’t eat right now.”

The parrot had a playful personality, so everyone couldn’t help but go have a look.
It started singing and bobbing its head like a little performer.
During break time, a few students teased it.

“Hello?”
Parrot: “Hello, hello!”

“Oh, you know English? Speak English!”
Parrot: “Speak English!”

Zhan Yan tried Spanish: “¿Puedes hablar español?”
Parrot tilted its head: “Can you speak English?”

Zhan Yan laughed. “Teacher Mi, what kind of animals have you treated before?”
Mi Man thought for a moment. “Me? I once treated a wild fox that came down from the mountain to ask for help.”

While waiting for the IVs to finish, Mi Man chatted away about animals she’d treated—an injured wild fox that sought treatment on its own, an owl someone picked up that repaid her by bringing mice and snakes as gifts.

But her strangest experience involved a weasel.

“I even met a weasel asking for recognition—you know what that is, right?”

Student Cheng Yichu was from the south and had never heard of it.
Chu Chengcheng explained: folklore said that when a weasel cultivated for long enough, it might disguise itself as a human and ask someone, “Do I look like a person?” If the answer was “yes,” the weasel would advance a level in its cultivation and would repay the one who said it. If the answer was “no,” it would lose power.

Cheng Yichu asked: “Then everyone just says yes, right?”
Mi Man shook her head. “You can’t answer carelessly. If you say no, you offend it—it might haunt you later. But if you say yes, and that weasel goes on to do evil things, then you’ve created karma tied to its deeds. Dangerous both ways.”

Cheng Yichu blinked. “Really?”
Chu Chengcheng shrugged. “That’s how the story goes anyway. Best not to answer.”

“So what did you say, Teacher Mi?”
Mi Man grinned proudly. “Heh, I pretended not to understand Chinese and said, ‘Sorry, can you speak English?’

“Then the weasel left. I was scared it might realize I actually knew Chinese and come back for revenge, so I transferred my job out here afterward.”

Cheng Yichu laughed. “Was that… real?”
Mi Man waved a hand, walking off. “Just treat it as a story.”

Zhan Yan actually found this “recognition” idea interesting. He’d only ever heard of it as folklore before, but now he had the means to check.

He logged into the Chaofan Forum and searched “recognition.”
He found a very academic thread titled:

[On the Feasibility of Asking for Recognition in Foreign Languages]

Zhan Yan: “???”

Clicking in, he found it surprisingly serious.

The target for “recognition-seeking” couldn’t be chosen at random.
First, it had to be someone with affinity—a person with whom the weasel had shared a fortunate karmic tie. Picking someone carelessly usually ended in failure and damaged cultivation.
Second, the person chosen had to possess great fortune or virtue, because their reply affected the success. Pick a fool, and even success might bring calamity.
Recognition was a form of karmic bond—done with the right person, it blessed both sides; done wrongly, it could create lifelong grudges.

For that reason, weasels who found the “right one” usually wouldn’t change targets lightly.

Mid-thread, a user asked:

16L: Doesn’t this kind of behavior violate the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’ regulations?
18L: Bah, they just find remote places to do it. Takes only a few words. As long as they scram before the Bureau notices, no problem. Besides, there’s still the Wan Yao Alliance—what, now that the Bureau exists, no one’s allowed to become a spirit anymore?
19L: Let Zhenke News chase them—it’s not like their constant fake reports are anything new.

And so, this half-regulated conflict zone between the Bureau and the Demon Alliance continued existing—seriously debating the linguistic feasibility of foreign-language recognition rituals.

Zhan Yan couldn’t resist gossiping further—was there really a weasel spirit who failed at recognition and then started researching foreign-language alternatives?

Cheng Yichu, still intrigued by northern legends, was puzzled by Mi Man’s last remark. “Was that real or not? Have you guys heard of this?”

Bao Qingshan said, “There are lots of similar stories, who knows what’s true.”
Chu Chengcheng added, “Just treat it as a funny story. It’s not like we’ll ever run into one.”

Indeed, using English to confuse a weasel sounded just like an internet joke.

Before Zhan Yan could finish scrolling, the great Deep Shadow messaged Approaching Science first. Zhan set down his feed to check the PM.

I Just Saved the World!: “Something feels off.”
Approaching Science: “?”

Deep Shadow explained: at first, when he used the Linyuan Ghost King’s Blessing Bound to Curse, their investigation’s resistance rapidly increased. But after that ability was disabled, their pace slowed down—and at the same time, the resistance decreased. Now that Approaching Science was helping again, the resistance was once more growing stronger.

The shift was subtle and delayed—easy to miss. But Deep Shadow, a veteran of Infinite Worlds, recognized a pattern: it felt like they were being baited.

Zhan Yan understood at once.
Approaching Science: “You mean it’s a diversion tactic?”
I Just Saved the World!: “Exactly.”

For Infinite to divert both the Linyuan Ghost King and Deep Shadow, it must be paying a hefty price. Those two had obliterated plenty of its hidden forces all along the way.

If the plan was a feint, then what was Infinite trying to protect—the hidden anomalies on the Net, the self-growing anomaly generators, the Monster Doctor, or Record Keeper?

It made sense to distract the Linyuan Ghost King—his Blessing Bound to Curse truly messed up Infinite’s systems. But Deep Shadow didn’t use network-based abilities—so why divert him, too? Was it because they’d been acting together and couldn’t be separated, or was Infinite hiding something physical that fell within Deep Shadow’s domain of attack?

Too many possibilities; Zhan Yan couldn’t untangle them yet.

“Let’s go, time to clock out,” Mi Man called.

Zhan paused his thoughts, packed up, and prepared to leave work.

It was overcast, unusually dim, the wind moist and cool. They were the last to leave the clinic.

“Make sure all windows and doors are shut,” Mi Man reminded. “It might rain tonight.”

After checking the enclosures, everyone followed her toward the door. Mi Man opened it—and froze.

A human-sized yellow weasel stood upright in the doorway, staring up at her. It was wearing clothes and a hat—at first glance, it looked like a scrawny child.

Cheng Yichu’s eyes went wide. He was about to shout when Chu Chengcheng, pale-faced, clamped a hand over his mouth.

And not just the doorway—behind the windows, beside the steps, everywhere—small and big yellow weasels surrounded the building. Their eyes glowed eerily in the dim sky, all fixed on them.

Bao Qingshan muttered, “Yeah… this is the vibe exactly.”

To be fair, those round faces and dark, shiny eyes were actually kind of cute individually—but when so many were gathered in silence at dusk, it was more chilling than adorable.

Even the dogs inside had gone quiet.

Zhan Yan’s gossip feed finally loaded.

[Weasel Spirit Huang No. 24, after failing recognition, studied English and began testing foreign-language recognition possibilities.]
…
[When the other weasels heard he planned to try in English, they all came along to watch the show.]

Huang No. 24, dressed neatly with shoes, socks, and a little hat, bowed politely to Mi Man:
“Do you think I look like a human?”

Mi Man’s knees nearly gave out. “C-Can… can you speak English?”

Huang No. 24: “Yes, I can. Do you think I look like a human?”

Mi Man thought despairingly, Good heavens, the ancestor actually learned English?!

Her hands shook; her legs turned to jelly. She grabbed the nearest object to keep from collapsing—
—and unfortunately, that thing was Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yan: “……”
“…¿Puedes hablar español?”

Inside, the clueless parrot squawked loudly, “Speak English! Speak English!”

The smaller weasels burst into squeaks and chuckles, their laughter circling the building, creepy and spine-tingling.

Huang No. 24’s face darkened.

Being laughed at by his own kin was unbearable.

He cursed furiously, “You dare mess with your granddaddy?! Cut the crap and speak Mandarin! I heard you all loud and clear in there before—try fooling me again with your backwoods language and I’ll roast you alive!”

At that point, Bao Qingshan stepped forward, intending to negotiate with Huang No. 24—
—but before he even took a step, a white blur came hurtling from the distance, slapping Huang No. 24 square across the face.

“Meow! Meow! Hiss-meow!!”

How dare you lay a paw on my chef?!

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