GRMFBS CH194

Zhan Suiru felt that her eldest brother was utterly hopeless, so socially phobic that he lacked the cognitive awareness of a normal person.

He actually hadn’t realized all along that Yan Yan could lie!

Her eldest brother was unreliable, and Yan Yan was extraordinarily clever. Zhan Suiru felt she couldn’t handle her younger brother, so she decided to turn to her parents for help.

Ji Yueming was currently at the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau; Ning Xi had already adjusted the formation, only needing her final assistance to activate it.

Zhan Yunkai had just snatched the second Candle Dragon Remnant discovered by the Monster Doctor. Unfortunately, this Candle Dragon Remnant had been spotted by the Monster Doctor in the past, and it had merely noted down the location, preparing to make use of it later. It wasn’t there right now. Otherwise, His Majesty the Demon King would have loved to squash that thing to death on the spot.

Receiving the message, both husband and wife froze for a moment.

The only normal youngest son in the family, after having his aesthetics led astray by their daughter, had now had his taste led astray by their eldest son.

It was as if the only upright, straight little sapling had suddenly veered to the left, then veered to the right, bending into an alluring “S” curve.

Ahhh, how did it come to this?

Both husband and wife couldn’t help but reflect on themselves. Could it be that they were truly detached too far from normal civilian life to be suitable for raising children?

The two began chatting privately.

If aesthetics were warped, so be it, but warped tastes wouldn’t do; eating too many sweets was bad for the body.

The couple decided to take Zhan Yan for a health checkup as soon as they returned. But before that, they initiated remote parental care toward Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yan had just washed the fruit for his sister when his phone suddenly suffered a carpet-bombing of messages from his parents.

He was stunned for a moment. Huh? How did his bread-eating get exposed all of a sudden?

Still holding the fruit platter, Zhan Yan freed his other hand to scroll through his phone.

“Yan Yan, why are you still standing there?” His sister called to him from the living room.

Looking up, Zhan Yan caught sight of Bao Qingshan sneaking into his bedroom.

So it was you, brat!

“Sis!” Zhan Yan set down the fruit platter. “You ratted me out!”

His sister rubbed his head: “Eating too many sweets is unhealthy. Your hair has grown long again, let me trim it for you.”

Zhan Yan could tell his sister was changing the subject. She was trying to dump him onto their parents for discipline.

Zhan Yan puffed up in indignation. Just whom was he stuffing all those bread balls down for!

Pressed down onto a chair by his sister to get a haircut, Zhan Yan kept his head lowered over his phone to placate his parents.

He hadn’t had a haircut in a while; every day he just tied it up messily at the back of his head, leaving it a tangled mop.

Holding a comb, his sister gently detangled his hair first with skilled and gentle movements.

Yet Zhan Yan felt uneasy. His attention kept being yanked back from his phone to his scalp; every stroke of the comb made him feel uncomfortable.

His body tightened involuntarily, making him want to jump out of the chair.

“What’s wrong?” His sister paused and asked.

“Nothing.” Zhan Yan found it strange, but when his sister’s fingers threaded through his hair, he couldn’t bear it any longer.

Leaning forward to pull his head out of range, he stood up.

“Today… let’s not cut it today.” Zhan Yan frowned involuntarily.

In the distance, Zhan Suiru saw her brother’s entire body squirming with discomfort through the puppet’s pupils and let out a soft sigh.

Little brother was so sharp. What was she to do?

Uncomfortably rolling his neck, Zhan Yan began flipping through the gossip threads.

He had been too happy to see his sister today, completely occupied with keeping her company, and hadn’t checked the gossip threads yet.

[You felt entirely uncomfortable all over from getting a haircut by the “Zhan Suiru” puppet.]

Zhan Yan’s eyes widened. What in the world?!

He snapped his head up. His sister stood across from him, looking at him in confusion.

He kept flipping through the gossip threads. The one he had picked up from the intersection today was this puppet. Then where was his sister? Where had his sister gone?!

Zhan Yan’s eyes turned red. He wanted to interrogate the puppet, but his rationality held him back, telling him he couldn’t flip the table just yet.

“What’s wrong?” the puppet asked. The tone of hidden concern was identical to his sister’s.

Zhan Yan covered his nose: “Nothing, my nose is tickling and I want to sneeze.”

Turning his face away, he continued flipping through the threads. He had to figure out what was going on.

His sister’s gossip thread stopped at her logging off under the identity of Red Crystal, and hadn’t moved since.

Although his sister was a big shot, she was a network-type whose physical body lacked the strength to truss a chicken… Wait, no, his sister was very strong physically, but in reality, she was just an ordinary civilian. Could something have happened to her? Why wouldn’t the gossip threads turn!

Gossip System, you piece of trash!! Trash!!!

At the same time, Zhan Yan searched for the origin of this puppet.

For a puppet this intricate and lifelike, he only knew of one person capable of making it: the Artisan…

Had the Artisan already laid hands on his sister?

How did he know her real identity? Why would he understand his sister so thoroughly?

From picking up his sister at the intersection all the way back to the rented apartment, Zhan Yan hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Its demeanor, mannerisms, subtle gestures, and habits were completely indistinguishable from his sister’s. Otherwise, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed.

The more lifelike the Artisan’s craft was, the more terrified Zhan Yan became. What had the Artisan done to his sister? He was trembling as he flipped through the threads.

[The Artisan crafted a “Zhan Suiru” puppet in her own image.]

Zhan Yan froze.

[You committed severe slander against your golden finger!]

He felt his brain was on the verge of stalling completely.

The Artisan… her own image… What did this mean?

“Yan Yan?” The puppet leaned closer with concern.

Zhan Yan saw the hair tie she had slipped off his hair still looped around its wrist. The little hair tie his sister gave him! His sister said she had polished that little blue crystal with her own hands!

“Y-You… give me back the hair tie!”

The puppet slipped the hair tie off and handed it to him.

Taking back the hair tie, Zhan Yan couldn’t hold back a glare at it.

Zhan Suiru felt herself being glared at by her brother through the puppet.

She was somewhat at a loss, but mostly worried.

What was going on? She saw an expression on Yan Yan’s face that looked like he was about to cry. To change so drastically all of a sudden… Alongside her worry, a hint of suspicion arose in Zhan Suiru.

“Y-You sit by yourself first. I… I’m going back to soothe mom and dad.” Zhan Yan scrambled for an excuse.

Zhan Suiru was successfully misled: Mom and dad lectured Yan Yan? So Yan Yan is angry because she ratted him out? Oh dear, little brother is both aggrieved and angry; how should she coax him?

Zhan Suiru fell into deep thought.

Back in his room, Zhan Yan sorted out his chaotic thoughts.

Opening the gossip threads for his sister and the Artisan, he felt his heart hammering wildly.

The Artisan made it in her own image… But wasn’t the Artisan a guy?

With an indescribably complex mood, Zhan Yan dragged his sister’s character entry and the Artisan’s character entry together.

The Gossip System performed its familiar star fusion once again. The gossip threads under the two entries clicked tightly together, refreshing, transforming, and revealing many hidden truths that previously could not be shown.

∵ Older Sister = The Artisan, Older Sister = Red Crystal

∴ The Artisan = Red Crystal

Sis, why do you have two chaofan personas?!

Zhan Yan sniffled and flared up with anger.

Just moments ago, he thought the Artisan had abducted his sister for horrific experiments like soul-scouring, and had been on the verge of tossing everything aside to reveal everyone’s personas to his parents and save her!

From the gaming god “Big Sledgehammer Eighty” to “Red Crystal”, and now to “The Artisan”, this was already the third one!

Why did sister hide so many personas?

Too outrageous!

The puppet outside knocked on the door, gently asking what was wrong.

Zhan Yan didn’t even want to entertain that puppet anymore. His original plans were meant for hanging out with his sister; who would want to hang out with a puppet?!

Sister was too much!!

Yet he couldn’t refuse to entertain it either. He had no justification for knowing it was just a puppet.

Moreover, if his sister was the Artisan, many things would be completely different. The apocalyptic world was about to border theirs; he had to re-sort all his intelligence, and there was still a mountain of work to do.

The puppet was still knocking.

[Zhan Suiru thinks you were scolded by your parents, which is why you’re unhappy.]

Zhan Suiru knocked several times without Yan Yan opening the door, growing even more worried.

What on earth did mom and dad say to Yan Yan? Why was he so heartbroken?

Aiya, wasn’t Yan Yan just eating some sweet bread? Maybe she could find a way to research a sweetener that wouldn’t harm the body?

Zhan Yan opened the door. His expression looked normal on the surface, but his eyes and nose were still slightly red.

As Zhan Suiru coaxed her brother, she pondered the sweetener matter.

Back when she first tasted the cake Zhan Jinli baked, Zhan Suiru had tried researching it. The properties of that sweetener were somewhat similar to gold: in one end and out the other, completely unabsorbed, without causing any burden to the human body. However, its taste was similar to ordinary sugar, nowhere near as sweet as what Zhan Jinli used, so he disliked using it.

Her older brother truly had too many quirks.

Because Zhan Jinli passed all his physical exams year after year without any issues, she had shelved the project.

If Yan Yan’s tastes weren’t as intensely sweet as their brother’s, this normal-sweetness substitute should be sufficient. When the time came, she could dump it onto Zhan Jinli so he could bake pastries for Yan Yan with it.

Throughout the day, Zhan Yan’s company was rather half-hearted—it was just a puppet, not his real sister! He had a mountain of matters to attend to!

In Zhan Suiru’s eyes, her younger brother’s mood seemed exceptionally low, so she tactfully initiated a chat with their parents.

Little brother was just secretly eating a sweet bun, there was no need to be so harsh!

…

Carrying the Candle Dragon power, Zhan Yunkai returned to the Wan Yao Alliance.

Demon King Xunmu was astonished: “Another streak of Candle Dragon power?”

“A lead given by Approaching Science.” Zhan Yunkai felt his eye for talent was superb; it was just a shame such a great kid couldn’t be roped into the Wan Yao Alliance.

“Ah, I remember, that kid you’ve been wanting to recruit all along.” Demon King Xunmu recalled, “Let nature take its course. Perhaps one day you’ll find the problem has resolved itself.”

He shuffled backward slowly, the dense layers of roots parting to reveal a secret passage: “I feel Candle Dragon has been sleeping less and less peacefully lately.”

“Perhaps she is about to wake up.” Zhan Yunkai dropped down from the branch and entered the passage.

The secret chamber where Candle Dragon recuperated was inside a hollow within Demon King Xunmu’s body. Demon King Xunmu’s aura could flawlessly isolate Candle Dragon’s presence, while his vitality-filled energy could nourish the heavily injured Candle Dragon.

The secret passage was formed of thick, coiling root systems coated in a thin layer of bioluminescent moss that emitted faint, glowing yellow light, providing dim illumination for the subterranean depths.

This time, however, Zhan Yunkai noticed a new change.

The bioluminescent moss had taken on an explosion of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, and purple—not a single shade missing. Some moss even shifted colors on its own.

The mysterious, ancient tree hollow had transformed into a flashy disco hall in an instant.

Zhan Yunkai found this aesthetic somewhat hard to stomach: “…What is all this?”

Demon King Xunmu’s voice echoed within his body: “Oh, are you referring to these adorable little mosses?”

Zhan Yunkai said nothing more.

He flew all the way to the innermost secret chamber.

A luminous pearl hung suspended at the top of the hollow, shedding soft radiance. Zhan Yunkai was glad to see this pearl hadn’t adopted a rainbow style as well.

The light cascading from the pearl formed a barrier. From time to time, inconspicuous ripples stirred within the chamber; under the pearl’s illumination, they grew weaker until dissipating, occasionally bumping against the edge of the light.

These were the powers Candle Dragon unconsciously radiated in her slumber. The original items in the chamber had long been ground to ash by the power of time, leaving a thin layer of dust coating the ground. Only a single refined stone from Mount Zhong still survived.

Lowering his head against the light barrier, the Chongming divine bird searched for a long time without spotting Candle Dragon.

“Where is Candle Dragon?”

A vine extended from within the chamber, penetrating the radiant barrier of the pearl. Dodging all the time ripples, it swiftly flipped the refined stone over.

There was a crack on the back of the refined stone. Candle Dragon was only the length of a palm, even shorter than the claws of the Chongming divine bird; she had squeezed herself into the fissure, sleeping in a strange posture. Once the stone was flipped, a section of her tail drooped onto the ground, thumping the floor twice as if annoyed by the disturbance.

Zhan Yunkai fell silent for a moment: “Her leaking power cracked the refined stone?”

This stone originated from Mount Zhong, Candle Dragon’s former dwelling. The rocks there had been steeped in Candle Dragon’s power and would not be easily altered by stray leaks. For it to crack might indicate Candle Dragon’s power had recovered to a strong degree and that she would awaken before long.

Demon King Xunmu: “Oh… she bumped her own head into it in a daze while half-asleep.”

Zhan Yunkai: …Oh.

Regardless, the Candle Dragon power was indeed growing increasingly lively.

When Zhan Yunkai deactivated the barrier to deliver the Candle Dragon power inside, eight distinct time ripples flashed past in succession.

Drawn by the Candle Dragon power, these time ripples flickered even more intensely, nearly snapping two of Zhan Yunkai’s feathers.

Candle Dragon rolled over, curling up the Candle Dragon power that had condensed into candle tears to rest beneath her chin, looking utterly contented.

Zhan Yunkai retreated in time, reactivating the barrier.

Demon King Xunmu breathed a sigh of relief as well: “Good thing you’re fast. I was worried she might snap my roots.”

With the Candle Dragon power becoming increasingly active, flashes of time were completely impossible to dodge outright; one had to sense the abnormal fluctuations, anticipate the arrival of the time ripples, and evade in advance.

Yet the premonitions of time ripples were fleetingly brief; only Demon Kings specializing in speed could dodge in time. Although Zhan Yunkai belonged to the avian Demon Kings, he was not the fastest among them; the fastest was Demon King Qingyun.

“Let Qingyun handle this chore next time,” Zhan Yunkai said.

While taking a hit from a time ripple wouldn’t cause injury, it made feathers lose their luster!

A complete ripple emanated from the candle tears beneath Candle Dragon’s chin. Unlike those previous chaotic leakages, it vanished into midair in a flash.

Yet both Demon King Xunmu and Zhan Yunkai caught its nature.

“Oh, a tiny blessing. Whom is it for?” Demon King Xunmu was unfamiliar with the information this blessing pointed toward.

Zhan Yunkai: “…Approaching Science?”

Tsk. I put in all this effort finding Candle Dragon Remnants and delivering Candle Dragon power to you, so why don’t I see you rewarding me?

Leaving the secret passage, once the blocked signal reconnected, Zhan Yunkai’s phone chimed with a new message notification.

Pulling his phone from his plumage, he was just about to look when a doubt crossed his mind: “When did a signal get hooked up down here?”

Demon King Xunmu never used to have signal here before.

Demon King Xunmu: “Oh, I asked a little eagle to help connect it, the one you introduced.”

Zhan Yunkai couldn’t recall; the eagle demons he had sheltered numbered eight to ten thousand, if not more: “Which one?”

Demon King Xunmu had a poor memory; he pondered for a while before remembering: “Called… Sun Feifei. The one especially skilled with human gadgets.”

Zhan Yunkai remembered. Ah, his human actor persona’s little fan.

Demon King Xunmu continued rambling: “The human internet is quite interesting.”

The mystery behind the rainbow moss was solved.

Opening his messages, Zhan Yunkai saw the message from Zhan Suiru.

Yan Yan seemed exceptionally depressed? He hadn’t said anything harsh; Zhan Yunkai began messaging Ji Yueming to inquire.

Ji Yueming was performing the final calibration on the formation, currently awaiting the final diagnostics to ensure its operation had no issues.

Within the formation’s perimeter, electronic devices would suffer damage and become inoperable. Once everything was concluded, she retrieved her phone and saw the messages from Zhan Suiru and Zhan Yunkai.

The couple exchanged notes and grew worried. Yan Yan was never like this usually; had something happened?

They began sending gentle messages asking Zhan Yan what was wrong.

Zhan Yan: …I just wanted to eat bread and didn’t want to keep a puppet company, but I’m truly out of excuses to make up!