GRMFBS CH212

Hehe, he and Yan Yan were destined!

Destined~ Destined~

After Zhan Yan finished replying to the big shot Deep Shadow, he turned around and saw his boyfriend wearing an apron, happily making cat food.

He didn’t even notice Xingxing frantically pawing at his pant leg.

“Don’t want you to make it! Your food isn’t tasty! Meow already gave you face and ate one meal yesterday! Hurry up and put my food down!”

Zhan Yan: …Pfft.

Zhan Yan went over, peeled the apron off Gu Jiancheng, put it on himself, and made Xingxing’s cat food first. Gu Jiancheng still stuck by his side refusing to leave, so Zhan Yan had him wash vegetables and cut meat. With the two working together, they got Xingxing’s cat food done in just a few minutes.

Xingxing contentedly went to eat his cat food, his little tail swishing slowly back and forth in a great mood.

Zhan Yan crouched in front of Xingxing: “Does Xingxing miss home? The day after tomorrow, we’re going home~”

Gu Jiancheng, who was originally in a great mood: QAQ

The day after tomorrow, Yan Yan was going home.

Zhan Yan felt like an area of gloomy rain had suddenly appeared beside him.

He nudged Gu Jiancheng with his shoulder: “What’s wrong?”

Gu Jiancheng whimpered and hummed, stretching out his arms to hug his waist: “I think we are a match made in heaven!”

It was the first time Zhan Yan had seen someone who could act pitiful and triumphant at the same time.

He was pitiful because they would be separated in two days, but what was he triumphant about? Because he felt the two of them were a match made in heaven?

Zhan Yan found Gu Jiancheng adorable.

Having received confirmation from the Magician, Gu Jiancheng’s ego was currently inflating fiercely.

He whispered into Zhan Yan’s ear: “Let’s go on a date before you go back on Wednesday.”

That was a date he specifically designed according to Yan Yan’s preferences!

“Sure. Aiya, Xingxing!”

Xingxing finished eating and wove his way back and forth between their legs, acting spoiled, all soft and fluffy.

Zhan Yan rubbed Xingxing: “Did you give him a bath?”

Gu Jiancheng: “Yes, washed his ears too, and trimmed his claws. Xingxing is so good!”

Xingxing proudly raised his head and meowed.

When Zhan Yan was away these past few days, Gu Jiancheng had been playing with Xingxing constantly. Under his relentless efforts, Xingxing had grown to like him very much.

The clean and fragrant Xingxing was allowed to sleep on the bed. Zhan Yan wiped his paws for him. Xingxing circled twice on the bed and found his familiar spot: right next to Zhan Yan’s pillow. It was still the spot right between the two of them.

Gu Jiancheng: …

Zhan Yan: Pfft.

He pretended not to notice.

Zhan Yan lay flat on the bed, closed his eyes, opened the Gossip System, and entered the Dawn World to continue eating, eating, eating.

This time he changed his direction, making a round across the entire core area, preparing to find the “Domain” classification first.

After circling around, Zhan Yan discovered there were no “Domain” concept jellies here. Nor were there any “Spirit” concept jellies.

Right, “Domain” belonged to territories, which this world didn’t need to discard. “Spirit” was the same; they had all been integrated into the NPCs of the game world.

Other jellies related to “Abilities”, “Organizations”, and “Items” were also scarce. They were all concepts that were incompatible due to the different rules of the two worlds.

What this world despised the most were all sorts of “Anomaly” concepts, which was why those jellies were piled up into mountains over there.

His most urgent priority right now was still figuring out how to resolve the curse problem on Yang Ran.

Infinite’s will was still around. Although this guy had shrunk back for now, who knew if it would suddenly pop out again to do something? Who knew if it had any other methods hidden in secret?

Having such a thing tangled around Yang Ran’s soul was truly unsettling. The sooner it was eliminated, the better.

Zhan Yan reviewed the ability directions of several tabs. The information depth of the “Organizations” tab and the abilities related to the Candle Dragon in the “Domain” tab were the most likely to be useful.

First, go find the “Organizations” concept jellies accumulated in the core area and inhale them like a storm!

There weren’t many “Organizations” concept jellies. It felt like even the apocalyptic world felt it didn’t matter whether this stuff integrated or not, and wasn’t in a hurry. No one specifically managed them; they were just sprinkled down along with the mainstream.

These concept jellies weren’t enough to upgrade a little star.

Therefore, to collect these information words, he still had to explore the game world.

It was getting late today; he’d sleep first and continue exploring tomorrow.

Zhan Yan exited the Dawn World. Before he even closed the Gossip System, he suddenly felt the blanket on his right side move slightly.

Gu Jiancheng slipped his hand into Zhan Yan’s blanket very lightly and slowly. After feeling for his hand, he quietly covered it with his own, the corners of his mouth lifting involuntarily.

Zhan Yan flipped his hand with his eyes closed, his palm clasping over Gu Jiancheng’s palm.

Gu Jiancheng instantly stiffened.

This time, the corners of Zhan Yan’s mouth were the ones lifting.

Aiya, last night he thought Gu Jiancheng had hugged his arm in his sleep while dreaming; he never expected he secretly reached over to hold his hand while fully awake.

Zhan Yan happily rolled over, preparing to snuggle… and ended up kissing a mouthful of cat hair.

Zhan Yan: …

Xingxing was purring, sleeping soundly.

Pfft, whatever. Zhan Yan closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Gu Jiancheng felt the movement on Zhan Yan’s side, feeling both expectant and nervous, but then there was no more movement, and Yan Yan’s breathing became slow and long again.

Did he… did he just fall asleep like that?

The next morning, Xingxing was the earliest to wake up. He would take short cat naps during the day, so he didn’t necessarily have to sleep for very long at night.

The little guy didn’t make a single sound, very well-behaved. He slipped out of bed by stepping into the gap between the two of them. Halfway there, he stepped right on the hands Gu Jiancheng and Zhan Yan were holding together through the blanket.

This woke both of them up.

On the way to the veterinary station, Bao Qingshan pulled Zhan Yan aside to speak quietly: “I specifically sensed it this morning.”

Zhan Yan was slightly nervous: “How was it?”

Bao Qingshan: “Still didn’t feel anything.”

“I see…” Zhan Yan was slightly disappointed, but also let out a sigh of relief.

He was really afraid Bao Qingshan would say he sensed things wouldn’t go smoothly.

Bao Qingshan: “I’m going to ask my Grand Auntie.”

Zhan Yan: “Ah? That’s bothering her too much, there’s no need…”

Bao Qingshan: “It’s not entirely about the matter between you two; I have my own doubts as well.”

When sensing spiritual inspiration that didn’t involve oneself, how much one could sense depended on the scope of the matter and the strength of the people involved. The last time he sensed absolutely nothing was during the apocalyptic world connection.

He was, after all, an heir of Kushong Ravine; no matter how lacking his cultivation was, he shouldn’t be unable to sense even a little bit about whether a classmate’s relationship and meeting the parents would go smoothly. Zhan Yan’s romance couldn’t possibly involve people as strong as those involved in the apocalyptic world connection, right?

Bao Qingshan suspected there was a problem with his cultivation, so he went to ask his Grand Auntie.

While working, Zhan Yan kept Yang Ran’s gossip thread refreshing in the background, checking it whenever he had free time.

Besides looking into Yang Ran, he currently had another task from the big shot Deep Shadow. But the clues were too vague, and Zhan Yan felt he wouldn’t be able to complete this task for a short while.

This was the first task after the big shot Deep Shadow had done him such a huge favor, and he couldn’t even complete it. Zhan Yan felt really bad in his heart… he was almost getting anxious!

Although he knew it wouldn’t be of much use, Zhan Yan still poked his ability little stars one by one again, to see if there was anything useful…

[…Whether you want to know exactly how many points your sister has…]

Hmm? This was the ability introduction for his newly upgraded “Mini-Encyclopedia Search” star. Earlier, he only thought about whether this ability could be used to save Yang Ran and didn’t pay attention to this sentence.

He remembered this was one of the “Ten Great Unsolved Mysteries” of the forum. The point prize pool for this one had accumulated to a very high amount!

Zhan Yan did the math; the prize pool for this unsolved mystery wasn’t enough for him to save up enough points to exchange for a thunder talisman for Student Xiao Gu. But there were still eight of the Ten Great Unsolved Mysteries left! There were several among them he could now uncover, and they were also ones he was allowed to speak of.

After claiming the prize pools of these few unsolved mysteries, he would be able to exchange for a thunder talisman for Student Xiao Gu, and even have some left over.

Didn’t the big shot Deep Shadow say he wanted points to climb the leaderboard? How about giving the answer to the question “Exactly how many points does the Artisan have?” along with the prize pool to Deep Shadow!

Approaching Science: [Boss, boss, I found out how many points the Artisan has.]

Approaching Science: [74,956,739]

Gu Jiancheng had long forgotten he said he wanted to climb the leaderboard. But he remembered Approaching Science saying the Artisan was first on the point leaderboard!

What did this mean? Was Approaching Science planning to treat him like this?

I Just Saved the World!: [?]

Approaching Science: [Boss, go take the prize pool for that one of the Ten Great Unsolved Mysteries.]

Approaching Science: [There are nearly a hundred thousand points in the prize pool.]

Approaching Science: [After taking it, you’ll climb the leaderboard even faster!]

Gu Jiancheng realized he misunderstood, and felt a bit guilty for a moment.

Sigh, but the last time he talked about climbing the leaderboard was also because Approaching Science felt the Artisan was first on the point leaderboard!

I Just Saved the World!: [Aren’t you trying to save up points?]

Approaching Science: [I’ve almost saved enough.]

Approaching Science: [I don’t have a use for this many; you take it.]

I Just Saved the World!: [What do you think of the Artisan?]

Approaching Science: [Very reliable and very impressive, boss, are you looking to cooperate with the Artisan?]

I Just Saved the World!: [Heh.]

Zhan Yan: ?

What was wrong this time?

I Just Saved the World!: [Thanks.]

Zhan Yan: ???

Unable to figure out what fit of madness Deep Shadow was throwing this time, Zhan Yan decided to stop the topic right there.

A morning passed. Zhan Yan flipped through the forum and found that Deep Shadow hadn’t gone to answer the question of “Exactly how many points does the Artisan have?”. The prize pool was still sitting there quietly.

Tsk, he really didn’t understand what he was being awkward about.

Just as Zhan Yan was about to log off the forum, he suddenly saw a private message from Administrator Luo Wang.

Clicking it open, she came to chat with him about gossip.

Administrator Luo Wang: [Hey, have you heard? The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau brought a group of network-types into the Dawn World, and they customized themselves into the appearance of half-demons. In the end, none of them knew how to move around hahahaha.]

Zhan Yan thought to himself: Not only did I know, I saw it with my own eyes.

Approaching Science: [I feel this should be left to you guys.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [Exactly, exactly.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [Just think of how many half-demons we have in the Wan Yao Alliance.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [It’s a pity there are too few demon kin with network-type abilities. Quite a few demons are just watching dryly, unable to get in.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [Sigh, I also want to go into the Dawn World to take a look.]

Approaching Science: [Did you not go?]

Luo Wang was a Dream Demon; seeing how she managed the forum, she should be able to enter the network.

Administrator Luo Wang: [His Majesty the Demon King won’t let me.]

Luo Wang was also worried. She was a rare demon with compatible network-type abilities. After learning of the existence of the Dawn World, she had always wanted to go in and take a look.

But Vajra Ming Wang issued a ban on her. Luo Wang went to find Chongming Demon King, who stated he couldn’t out-stubborn Vajra Ming Wang and told her to obey. She then went to find Xunmu Demon King, who slowly lectured her with grand principles, persuading her to obey.

Approaching Science: [Why? Lingyu went.]

Zhan Yan didn’t understand. Network-types in the Wan Yao Alliance were already scarce; shouldn’t they let Luo Wang go even more so?

Administrator Luo Wang: [Exactly, exactly.]

Approaching Science: [The Dawn World used the Dawn Continent game as a foundation; there should be quite a few places that are very similar to the game.]

Approaching Science: [Dawn Continent is about to launch officially. If you’re in a hurry, I can get you a beta test account for the Dawn Continent game.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [I want it!]

Zhan Yan had quite a few beta test accounts on hand, all given to him by Luo Luoluo. He sent one to Luo Wang.

Before he had time to read Luo Wang’s reply, Bao Qingshan came over to find him.

Bao Qingshan: “Grand Auntie replied to me.”

Zhan Yan tossed the Gossip System to the back of his mind, feeling both nervous and expectant: “What did Grand Auntie say?”

Bao Qingshan played the voice message: “Destinies set early on are naturally as they are, like a windless wilderness—how could you possibly feel anything?”

Bao Qingshan had already pondered over this beforehand.

Grand Auntie said these two were a match made in heaven and destined for each other. It was as natural as when there was no wind. When a person stood in a place without wind, they naturally wouldn’t feel anything.

He watched as Zhan Yan’s lips started lifting uncontrollably after hearing the voice message, the kind where no matter how hard he tried to press them down, they wouldn’t stay down.

Bao Qingshan: …Where is it windless? He’s eaten so much dog food these past few days he’s about to throw up!

Do you think they are natural like this?

Is Zhan Yan natural? Is Gu Jiancheng natural? How are they natural? In front of Zhan Yan, he acts like he’s been hexed with a Gu worm, alright?!

…

Wan Shitong felt like he had been hexed with a Gu worm.

He realized that the moment he returned to the Dawn World, he could remember his spiritual-type ability, but the moment he left the Dawn World, he only remembered himself as a network-type again.

This was absolutely abnormal! He had to tell his boss about this!

Wan Shitong started trying various methods with great effort. Through relentless effort, Wan Shitong successfully retained the thought “I have a very important matter that I must tell the boss” after going out, and sent the message out the instant he left the Dawn World.

Gu Jiancheng received Wan Shitong’s message.

Wan Shitong: [Boss, I have a very important piece of news…]

Gu Jiancheng waited for a long time but didn’t see Wan Shitong continue.

Gu Jiancheng: [?]

Wan Shitong was pondering hard. What was he going to say? What very important thing had happened recently…

Wan Shitong: [The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau seems to have recently added someone very skilled at making items that reduce pollution. A lot of new items of this type have appeared in the contribution point exchange area.]

Gu Jiancheng: [I don’t need them. If you need them, just use them. If you don’t have enough contribution points, let me know; I’ll help you do tasks.]

An hour passed.

Wan Shitong: [Boss, I have a very important matter I need to say…]

Gu Jiancheng: [?]

Wan Shitong pondered bitterly once again: [The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau also researched something that can block Infinite’s power, and it recently started being put to use. I noticed someone already exchanged for it. I even know that guy; it’s Long Shelan, who used to hang around the black market all year round. It seems the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau sent a large amount of manpower to the black market previously, but they’ve all withdrawn now.]

Another hour passed.

Wan Shitong: [Boss, let me tell you, a major event has happened…]

Gu Jiancheng: […?]

Wan Shitong really couldn’t think of any other major events. So he had no choice but to search for one on the spot:

Wan Shitong: [I heard the black market Broker threw a huge tantrum recently, scolding several subordinates.]

Gu Jiancheng: [Are you okay?]

Wan Shitong: [QAQ Boss, I feel like I’ve been hexed with a Gu worm.]

Looking at this string of chat logs, he also felt his brain wasn’t quite normal.

Gu Jiancheng: [Where are you right now?]

He planned to have his shadow clone make a trip.

Tsk, Wan Shitong encountered problems the moment he joined the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau; the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was truly incompetent!

It was best not to let Wan Shitong help investigate that network-type who wanted to dig up his identity online for the time being.

Gu Jiancheng thought of another clue to investigate Yan Yan’s sister’s supernatural identity—Yan Yan’s sister had a boyfriend. Back then, he was focused on Yan Yan’s sister and didn’t pay much attention to her boyfriend.

Was that man an ordinary person? Or was he also from the supernatural world?

But this clue was also very vague. Gu Jiancheng tossed the vague clues to the Magician as usual, while his shadow clone went offline to find Wan Shitong.

Wan Shitong was very distressed.

He had already checked himself carefully beforehand and found absolutely no problems. But why did he feel there was a very important matter he must tell the boss?

Wan Shitong decided to continue investigating. If he could find that very important matter, he could also solve the problem he was distressed about right now, right?

Gu Jiancheng’s shadow clone found Wan Shitong.

Wan Shitong’s eyes lit up: “Boss, boss! I know why the Broker is angry. Hasn’t he always wanted to keep the Artisan in his hands? The Artisan ran away hahahaha!”

In the past, when he was in Infinite, he suffered quite a few losses in the Broker’s trading black market.

Gu Jiancheng: “Are you stupid from eating melons?”

What did the Artisan running away and the Broker getting angry have to do with them? The focus right now was Wan Shitong’s possessed-like state.

Wan Shitong lowered his head in dejection: “Oh.”

Gu Jiancheng: “Stand still and don’t move.”

Wan Shitong’s shadow wrapped around his body like flowing water, and after a moment, the shadow receded.

Gu Jiancheng frowned. He didn’t find any problems.

“I’ll leave a piece of shadow within your shadow.” Gu Jiancheng tapped Wan Shitong’s shadow with the tip of his foot, “Be careful when you’re in the network world.”

He could only provide protection in reality. If the problem was in the network world, Wan Shitong could only rely on himself.

Gu Jiancheng wanted to give a few more instructions, but saw Wan Shitong looking at him as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Speak.”

Wan Shitong’s eyes sparkled brightly: “I suspect the Artisan ran over to the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau. The Broker guarded against this strictly before, but the Artisan didn’t want to go back then. Now the Artisan wants to go himself, and the Broker has absolutely no way to stop him. The Broker was so furious he started screening the black market, kicking out all the people from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau he found hahahahaha.”

Gu Jiancheng: …

Before he could speak, the Magician contacted him. She had done another divination using the new clues.

The Magician was slightly hesitant: “Let me say this first, the divination result this time is not very favorable for you.”

“Go ahead.”

Gu Jiancheng had long made psychological preparations. In the past, he lived having today but no tomorrow, and had offended who knows how many people long ago. As long as it wasn’t the type of deeply-rooted offense, they could just interact anew. If it was the type of deeply-rooted offense… then he wouldn’t let go either!

The Magician: “Judging from my result just now, your future sister-in-law just joined the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau for love.”

“I remember you seem to still be wanted by the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, right?”

“Do you want to have a chat with the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and have them revoke your wanted poster?”

Gu Jiancheng wasn’t thinking about the wanted poster. His mind had been constantly filtering through every person he had met in the past, trying to see who could match with Zhan Suiru.

The new clues the Magician just provided spun in his head along with the other clues:

Zhan Suiru just joined the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau for love; someone who could create pollution-healing items recently arrived at the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau; the Broker was very angry because the Artisan ran away; the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau originally activated an array formation to block the apocalyptic world connection, but the apocalyptic world integrated anyway; the relationship between the Artisan Yang Ran and Lord Rong Sui; the Magician saying he once deeply influenced Zhan Suiru’s fate…

Suppose all this was connected… the clues hooked together one by one, forming a conjecture. The massive sea of memories surged, churning up a piece of the distant past.

That was not long after Gu Jiancheng had just reached the top of the player leaderboard.

His points were still far from what was needed to exchange for “Return,” and Infinite’s will sought him out at this moment.

It proposed a transaction:

Resolve the out-of-control apocalyptic dungeon, and it would waive all subsequent point requirements and open a passage home for him.