GRMFBS CH222

Zhan Yunkai didn’t just make soup — as a bonus, he’d also whipped up cat food for Xingxing. Cat food was quick and simple to make.

Zhan Yan, his older brother, and his sister ate the soy milk, fried dough sticks, and side dishes they’d bought.

After finishing her cat food, Xingxing happily purred and rubbed against Zhan Yunkai’s feet.

Meow meow hasn’t eaten such amazing food in ages!

Zhan Yan, who had made cat food for Xingxing for half a month, let out a couple of disgruntled “hmph” sounds. Zhan Jinli, who had made cat food for Xingxing for an entire semester, kept a perfectly expressionless face.

So what exactly is the point of feeding a cat? With all that energy, you could make bread and feed a little brother instead.

After finishing breakfast, Zhan Yan discovered he’d been bombarded with messages in the “Did You Have Any Gossip Today?” group.

He’d been too busy lately and hadn’t checked the group in a while. He logged into the small inner circle for information-type big shots.

Happy Guessing Game: “@Approaching Science — Keke!”
“Do you know Deep Shadow?”

Pure White Puzzle: “Huh?”
“Where did that come from all of a sudden?”

Happy Guessing Game: “[Link]”
“Look at this post — Keke is defending Deep Shadow.”

Eating Big Melon: “That still doesn’t prove that Keke actually knows Deep Shadow.”

Happy Guessing Game: “Think about it — Keke previously dug up info on Deep Shadow before! It wasn’t much, but there’s a very good chance they have some kind of connection!”

Waltz: “That’s quite a stretch, don’t you think?”
“By the way, @Approaching Science hasn’t shown up in the group for ages either.”

Pure White Puzzle: “Right, right. No idea what he’s been busy with lately — he’s barely completing forum missions anymore.”
“He used to be the most active one in the missions section.”

Too Lazy For A Username: “He didn’t even pop up during the last Apocalypse Border incident.”

Pure White Puzzle: “But this guess is way too out there.”
“Approaching Science and I Just Save The World! — those two used to flash in and out on the points leaderboard together.”
“I Just Save The World! fires off Deep Shadow bounty notices to anyone he can find at the drop of a hat. How could Approaching Science possibly be close to Deep Shadow?”
“Keke probably just personally admires Deep Shadow?”

Waltz: “Guess Guess, why are you so fixated on this?”

Of course it’s because he’s actually a fan of Deep Shadow! Zong Xiaoping fumed internally. He’d even gotten beaten up by Brother Zhuo multiple times over Deep Shadow!

That I Just Save The World! — the first thing he does when contacting anyone is fire off a Deep Shadow bounty notice asking them to dig up information. Absolutely unhinged. Was Approaching Science also fed up with this guy?

Happy Guessing Game: “I’m curious! Aren’t you all curious?”
“@Approaching Science — Is I Just Save The World! wailing about losing his bounty notice? About his delusional dreams of earning points off Deep Shadow going up in smoke?”

Zhan Yan had just finished catching up on the group’s recent chat history.

Heh. Happily lurking in silence.

Happy Guessing Game: “Do you think I Just Save The World! feels awkward still going by that username now?”

Pure White Puzzle: “HAHAHAHAHA”

Happy Guessing Game: “Honestly, this bounty notice should have been lifted ages ago. Didn’t we already know Deep Shadow’s condition had stabilized?”

Too Lazy For A Username: “Probably because they needed an observation period — to determine whether his condition was temporarily stable or truly and completely healed.”
“For the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau to lift the bounty now, they must have confirmed that Deep Shadow’s stability isn’t temporary, but a genuine, full recovery.”

Secretary Of Mysteries: “Correct.”
“Can any of you find out who the healer-type is that cured Deep Shadow?”

Eating Big Melon: “So there really is a mysterious healer-type big shot?”

Happy Guessing Game: “Impossible! I don’t believe it!”

Waltz: “The single dog Guess Guess doesn’t believe in love.”

Zong Xiaoping let out a huff. Doesn’t believe in love my ass.

Okay, admittedly, he couldn’t picture Deep Shadow going on a date. But he found it even harder to believe that Deep Shadow happened to know a healer-type powerful enough to cure him. So many members of the Retirees Alliance were relying on seals to manage their after-effects, and every single one of them would have been more than willing to pay any price to resolve the problem. If Deep Shadow genuinely knew a healer-type that capable, how could he possibly have not introduced them around?

Compared to that scenario, he’d much sooner believe in love!

Happy Guessing Game: “The world’s most powerful healer-types have already been thoroughly investigated long ago. A healer-type this powerful, completely unknown to everyone, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and curing someone with after-effects as severe as Deep Shadow’s — does that sound remotely possible?”
“In today’s environment, you can’t go into hiding the way people once could. And even in ancient times, the Wan Yao Alliance had no shortage of old demons who’d been alive for centuries.”
“A healer-type that none of them know about — did they fall from the sky?”

That was actually a fair point.

Secretary Of Mysteries: “I still suspect there’s someone at Deep Shadow’s side. Even if that person isn’t a healer-type themselves, they may possess some kind of item with the ability to cleanse contamination — one that promptly helps him recover every time his condition begins to fluctuate.”
“@Approaching Science — do you have any leads?”

Tu Yue was genuinely curious.

He knew it was Approaching Science who had brokered the connection that led to their cooperation with Deep Shadow, and it was also him who had facilitated the lifting of the bounty notice. Approaching Science’s ties to Deep Shadow ran far deeper than any of them had previously assumed.

After the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau first noticed that Deep Shadow’s condition appeared to have stabilized, they hadn’t immediately relaxed their vigilance toward him. Everything needed an observation period. Under normal circumstances, that period would last at least a year — even three years wouldn’t be considered excessive. The Will of the Infinite was still lurking around. Who could say whether Deep Shadow’s after-effects weren’t also lying dormant?

And yet Ning Xi had suddenly changed his stance, declaring that Deep Shadow posed no threat and could be cooperated with.

That was very unlike Ning Xi.

So what on earth had suddenly persuaded a control freak of Ning Xi’s caliber to such a degree?

Tu Yue was dying to know.

But Ning Xi refused to tell him!

Approaching Science made a fashionably late appearance.

Approaching Science: “Ah, I don’t really know either.”
“I spoke up for Deep Shadow because he genuinely is a good person.”
“He even comforts frightened dogs after clearing anomalies, you know.”

Zhan Yan was very happy.

Heh heh heh, go on and guess. Guess away.

I know everything but I’m just not going to tell you~

You only need to know that he’s really, truly a good person~

LovesPineappleBuns: “Huh?”

Pure White Puzzle: “Huh huh?”

Waltz: “Huh huh huh?”

LovesPineappleBuns: “Okay I’m done — I can’t go back. My whole image of Deep Shadow has always been this quiet, steady type, and now it’s been replaced by a man crouching on the ground petting dogs.”

Pure White Puzzle: “Mine is different — I always thought he was cold and unhinged. The type who slaughters anomalies, flips his windbreaker, and walks off without a backward glance.”

Waltz: “I think it’s fine, though — isn’t gap moe a huge thing right now?”

Secretary Of Mysteries: “…”

Eating Big Melon: “Does the word ‘moe’ not feel deeply wrong when you stick it on him?”

Happy Guessing Game: “Get out of here! This just means all of you had the wrong mental image this whole time. Why can’t Deep Shadow be an outwardly cold but inwardly warm good person?”

Zong Xiaoping felt a warm glow of fellow-fan camaraderie toward Approaching Science.

Zhan Yan scrolled through the group chat in high spirits.

Xingxing, having finished her post-meal rubbing against the family’s best cook, came back to find Zhan Yan.

Food is food — but this human is still the one this meow loves most.

Zhan Yan scrolled through the gossip with one hand and petted the cat with the other.

These next few days — his sister needed to familiarize herself with Yang Ran’s soul map, and the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau needed to reinspect the sealed room and reinforce its isolation. Little Gu… was waiting for the snacks he was mailing over.

Everyone was moving at a good pace. They’d planned to formally begin the day after tomorrow. The only unknown was how long the process of clearing the Infinite Curse would take. If things went smoothly, little Gu would finish the job just in time to eat the snacks he’d sent.

In the kitchen, the soup had come to its first boil. Zhan Yunkai washed his hands and went to turn the heat down low.

Fragrance drifted out of their family’s enormous clay pot. Xingxing gulped audibly.

Zhan Yan laughed helplessly: “Didn’t you just finish eating?”

Dad’s pot of soup was planned to simmer all the way until the afternoon — Xingxing would be drooling over it for an entire day.

Zhan Suiru patted Xingxing on the head and smiled: “You’re all going to be drooling for a day.”

Zhan Jinli sent them a message: “The two of you. Not me.”
“I’m going to the cake shop.”

Dad had monopolized the kitchen for soup-making and found him getting underfoot whenever he tried to work on bread in there.

Zhan Suiru: “Not me either. I need to go to my studio. Oh well — looks like it’ll just be Yanyan and Xingxing drooling together for a day.”

She needed to go familiarize herself with Yang Ran’s soul map in advance.

Zhan Yan stared at her, eyes wide.

Is this really how you comfort your little brother?!

Zhan Yunkai called back from the kitchen without even turning around: “It’s fine. When the time comes, I’ll give those two the two smallest big bones.”

He adjusted the heat, wiped his hands, and came out of the kitchen. “Come on — let me see how your training has been going.”

Zhan Yan: That whole thing already passed, didn’t it?

【Chongming Demon King Zhan Yunkai believes that your sudden change in taste — specifically your new fondness for Zhan Jinli’s sweet bread — may indicate a physical health problem. He has decided to give you a full physical check-up under the guise of “checking your training results.”】

Zhan Yan, being dragged over to the exercise equipment: …You could just do the check-up directly, you know — you don’t need to use training as a cover!

Whatever, whatever. If it’s just a check-up, it won’t be that tiring.

He closed the Gossip System and started cooperating with his dad.

In addition to checking Zhan Yan’s physical condition, Zhan Yunkai also intended to use the results to determine whether additional training was warranted.

His Demon King Majesty had already looked up the standards for ordinary humans. By those standards, Zhan Yan was currently considered healthy. However, having studied human health standards with extraordinary thoroughness, Zhan Yunkai had also identified another problem: the standards kept declining!

Zhan Yunkai had read many online articles claiming that modern people generally didn’t exercise enough — sitting at desks during school, sitting in offices at work, spending all day on phones and computers, their physical fitness nowhere near what it used to be. And junk food was everywhere, all of it bad for the body. Just look at how far the physical fitness benchmarks had dropped compared to ten years ago!

Zhan Yunkai found these articles entirely reasonable. Basic training alone wasn’t enough for Yanyan. He had no time during school, so he absolutely had to train harder during vacation.

The fitness fanatic Wen Yinghui — whom Zhan Yunkai followed — had released a fitness course. Zhan Yunkai had purchased it and already watched it carefully from start to finish. The course was very professional: it started with a self-assessment program, and the training plan was then customized based on the results.

Zhan Yunkai began guiding Zhan Yan through the self-assessment according to the video.

All the assessments were fairly simple, and Zhan Yan completed them with ease, looking at his dad with pride.

See?! I told you I exercise every single day!

Zhan Yunkai pondered with a thoughtful expression. Hmm… looking at these results, Yanyan’s current exercise level is way too light — he needs to step it up!

In the afternoon, Zhan Jinli came home carrying sweet bread he’d made specially for his little brother.

He’d already checked — his little brother’s body showed no problems, and his spiritual consciousness didn’t reveal any obvious issues for now either. It was probably mental overexertion requiring some nourishment.

Zhan Jinli had even specifically looked up what veterinary students’ coursework was like. The internet was full of complaints. Medical students only need to memorize the anatomy diagrams and diseases of the human body. Veterinary students have to memorize cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys… chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, pigs — and even fish.

That was genuinely brutal. He hadn’t yet worked out the concentrated sugar balls, but he could certainly make more sweet bread for his little brother.

Zhan Jinli opened the door and found Zhan Yan sprawled on the sofa with the expression of a man who had lost all will to live.

Zhan Yan glared at the sweet bread with deep resentment. It was because of this bread that he’d been forced to start extra training.

I want to blow every single one of your cover identities wide open!

Zhan Jinli: What happened to little brother?

Zhan Suiru came home carrying small cookies too. Three bags this time — one for her brother, and one each for Mom and Dad. As for big brother and his abnormal palate, Yang Ran had truly given up. Zhan Suiru had told him not to worry about it. Hadn’t she already sent him a fishing rod and bait? When the bait ran out, she’d make more and send it along.

“What happened here?” Zhan Suiru asked.

“Dad made me do extra training again!” Zhan Yan said with profound grievance.

He had already deployed his full arsenal of wheedling and cuteness, but Zhan Yunkai had lured him in by promising he could order whatever food he wanted.

Zhan Yan’s willpower hadn’t been strong enough, and he’d surrendered to the siren call of good food. He’d initially assumed it was just a simple test — but after it was done, his dad had produced Wen Yinghui’s fitness course and declared that his current exercise level was too light and that he needed to train harder!

Zhan Suiru: “Pfft — HAHAHAHAHA.”

Zhan Yan: …Go ahead and laugh. I’m telling you now, don’t expect to get back in your little brother’s good graces for this entire vacation.

Xingxing stood on the sofa and kneaded Zhan Yan with both little front paws. A kitten massage didn’t have much force behind it, but it was very heartfelt.

Ah — only Xingxing was a soft, warm little angel who never caused him any trouble!

Zhan Yunkai knew well that raising children required plenty of encouragement and timely positive reinforcement.

“Yanyan is amazing — what do you want to eat?”

Zhan Yan: “Braised pork in a clay pot! Pickled vegetable dice!”

Zhan Yunkai: “Hmm… those will take a few days.”

You had to marinate them first and let the flavors soak in.

Zhan Yan: “A few days is fine too.”

Braised pork and pickled vegetable dice kept well — he could even mail some to little Gu. Heat it up in a small pan and the flavors would bloom right back, no cooking skills required~

Zhan Yunkai: “All right. I’ll start on them today. Keep training tomorrow — whatever you want to eat, Dad will make it for you.”

Zhan Yan: …QAQ

Ji Yueming came home before dark.

Zhan Yunkai swiftly moved to open the door. In their family, the youngest son had always had the quickest hands — when Mom came home, he’d rush to open the door first; when Zhan Yunkai himself came home and was hoping to see his wife first, his son would also rush ahead of him.

This time, Zhan Yan didn’t rush. He lay slumped on the sofa, raised one arm, and waved hello to his mom.

Ji Yueming took one look at him and laughed: “What’s wrong with Yanyan?”

Zhan Yunkai was extremely satisfied with the effect: “He got too tired from training.”

Ji Yueming: “Did you make Yanyan do extra training again? If you push too hard all at once, he’ll be really sore the next day.”

Zhan Yan nodded vigorously. Exactly! Exactly!

Ji Yueming: “I’ve heard that after this kind of workout you need to use a fascia gun to loosen up, otherwise the next day will be rough.”

Zhan Yan stared at his mom in alarm.

“No need for that, Mom — stretching is enough!”

【Tianshi Ji Yueming believes that your sudden change in taste — specifically your new fondness for Zhan Jinli’s sweet bread — may indicate a physical health problem. She has decided to give you a physical check-up under the guise of “post-workout relaxation.”】

No fascia gun — they didn’t have one at home. But Ji Yueming still gave him a couple of firm pinches, and used some unknown instrument strapped to her wrist to run a scan on him.

Mom’s situation was special — she could only draw on the power of thunder, not her own power, to do a check, so she had to use instruments. The instrument was a new gadget developed by the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, disguised as a bracelet. If he hadn’t opened the Gossip System, he wouldn’t have recognized it at all.

“Your shoulders have gotten broader.” Ji Yueming squeezed them.

Young people grow fast — his bones were becoming sturdier, his frame gradually shedding that lean, spare build. In the blink of an eye, even the youngest had grown this big.

Seeing that his dad was already practically searching for a fascia gun, Zhan Yan quickly cut in.

“Mom, how long are you home for this time?”

Ji Yueming: “I have something to take care of the day after tomorrow and will need to head out — not sure how many days it’ll be.”

Zhan Yunkai immediately stilled, his handsome face going visibly unhappy.

Ji Yueming comforted him: “It might not take long — maybe I can come home the same day.”

Zhan Yan was puzzled. What did Mom have to do the day after tomorrow?

He opened the Gossip System for a quick peek.

Ah — they had scheduled the day after tomorrow to clear the Infinite Curse from Yang Ran’s soul. Just to be safe, Mom would be going along to keep watch.

Oh oh — in that case, Gu Jiancheng’s cover identity and Mom’s cover identity were about to come face to face!

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