GRMFBS CH239

The most terrifying boss of the Infinite world, the zero-survival-rate nightmare of countless players, the one who forced Infinite to issue an exclusive quest, and the “Lord” Rong Sui who once hunted Deep Shadow for three months fell silent once more.

Speaking of reputation among the players, hers might actually be even more frightening.

Zhan Suiru couldn’t help but ponder Deep Shadow’s shortcomings: He used to be a fugitive wanted by three factions—now he wasn’t. His aftereffects used to cause an unstable mental condition—now he was cured. He was universally known for having a terrible personality, arrogant and aloof—yet he wasn’t like that toward Yan Yan, and even extended that love to her, treating her with such warmth this past month that she thought she had misunderstood his personality all along.

The most crucial point was that his love for Yan Yan was overwhelming.

Whatever, forget it.

Zhan Suiru sighed.

In truth, those virtues Deep Shadow listed weren’t really that important; as long as Yan Yan liked him, that was enough. The only thing capable of convincing her to accept Gu Jiancheng was this single fact: Deep Shadow loved him so deeply that he actually self-cured his aftereffects. In that case, there truly might not be another person in this world who loved Yan Yan more than he did.

“Do you need to capture the Chronicle of the World directly, or use him to bait out his destination?” Zhan Suiru replied to Tu Yue.

The summer night breeze carried warmth, and crickets chirped incessantly in the bushes. Gu Jiancheng felt that the moonlight in the sky had grown brighter, and the air around them felt indescribably gentle.

The corners of his mouth couldn’t resist curling upward.

Oh yeah! He had handled the biggest obstacle standing between him and Yan Yan! From now on, there were no more hurdles!

Ah, I want to see Yan Yan so much, even just a phone call would be great… but it’s so late, Yan Yan must be asleep already.

Hmm… since he’s already handled Zhan Suiru, could he get Zhan Suiru to cover for him in the future so he could go see Yan Yan?

Zhan Suiru had just finished communicating with Tu Yue.

“No need for baiting,” these were Ning Xi’s exact words. “Capture him. Interrogate him directly for whatever we want to know.”

Every day a dangerous figure like this remained on the loose was an active risk. Those ordinary people he had used as “cicada molts” were still receiving medical treatment in the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s hospital.

“I’ll go intercept, you carry out the pursuit.” Zhan Suiru looked up at Gu Jiancheng, catching the smile he hadn’t yet managed to tuck away.

Zhan Suiru: …

Fine, she believed that Deep Shadow truly loved her younger brother. Look at that grin—love really lowered one’s IQ.

Gu Jiancheng swiftly switched back to his disguised face, appearing thoroughly calm and dependable.

“No problem.”

The next morning, Zhan Yan woke up to the sound of cicadas.

He let out a yawn. The cicada swarms were way too energetic; how did they manage to screech twenty hours a day?

Summer cicadas only sounded charming in literature, not to mention that in Zhan Yan’s mind, they were now associated with another troublesome individual—the Chronicle of the World.

Zhan Yan got up to wash his face. While brushing his teeth, he opened the search bar to look up the Chronicle of the World and “Molting Cicada”.

Hmm… not caught yet, and the updates are still a whole string of [Loading…]. So annoying! Sooner or later I’ll upgrade until every single [Loading…] gets loaded!

Dad was downstairs preparing breakfast. Zhan Yan went out for his morning exercise as usual. It wasn’t too hot in the early morning, so many people took advantage of the time to walk their dogs. Zhan Yan petted cats and teased dogs all along the way, only to get sniffed aggressively by Xingxing upon returning.

Xingxing bared his teeth and meowed in displeasure. Zhan Yan was forced to change into fresh clothes and wash his hands again.

Morning sunlight bathed the dining table, where cold tossed noodles were laid out. The noodles, chilled in cold water, were wonderfully chewy and springy; shredded toppings were neatly arranged on the plates, with sauce ready in small bowls.

Mom, Dad, and Brother were all seated at the table, while Xingxing squatted before his own little bowl eating with his head buried, his tail sweeping back and forth in high spirits. Zhan Yan tossed his noodles blissfully. Life was still tranquil and wonderful.

If only Sister were here too. The potted braised pork and diced pickled vegetables were ready, but mailing them to Xiao Gu right now wasn’t safe.

Zhan Yan picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and opened the forum on the side to clear out his background message inbox.

This activity generally didn’t require any brainpower, making it perfect to finish casually over a meal.

Artisan: [No need to search for that person I asked about before. I’ve already found him.]

Zhan Yan: “Cough, cough, cough, cough!!“

Mom, Dad, and Brother’s eyes snapped over instantly.

Zhan Yunkai: “Did you mix in too much sauce? Is it too salty?”

Ji Yueming: “Choked? Go get a glass of water.”

Zhan Jinli had already stood up and poured a glass of cold water for Zhan Yan.

Drinking the water, Zhan Yan explained, “I’m fine, I’m fine, just accidentally choked.”

What did “already found him” mean? Did Sister already strip Xiao Gu’s secret identity? Or did she “find” someone among that pile of staller players he had sent over? Did she mistake someone else for Xiao Gu?

Seeing his eyes rimmed with red from coughing, Zhan Yunkai said, “Eat slowly. If it’s not enough, Dad can make more for you.”

Why was this child in such a frantic rush during a meal? Couldn’t he just order whatever dish he wanted?

Tears welled up in Zhan Yan’s eyes; he had genuinely choked.

After coughing a few more times, Zhan Yan recovered and immediately began searching the gossip strips.

[Zhan Suiru discovered that Deep Shadow is Gu Jiancheng.]

Ahhh! Waking up only to find that classmate Xiao Gu’s identity dropped in front of Sister… What on earth happened last night?!!

What actually went down? How did Xiao Gu get exposed? Most importantly, how is his relationship with Sister right now?

Ji Yueming looked at him with concern: “How is it? Feeling any better?”

Zhan Yan: “Mhm, mhm, all good now.”

No, he had to hold back his urge to keep searching the gossip strips right this second.

He was currently having breakfast with his family. If he looked while eating… Zhan Yan couldn’t guarantee he could keep his facial expressions under control.

Zhan Yan began devouring his food like a whirlwind.

Ji Yueming: Why is this child starved to this degree?

She turned to glance at Zhan Yunkai.

Zhan Yunkai: I swear I didn’t starve him!

Zhan Yan slurped down the noodles, rushed upstairs in a flurry of panic, and began investigating what exactly had transpired last night.

Librarian Tu Yue sought out Sister to gossip… He even said that Deep Shadow having a partner came from Approaching Science… Once her preconception that “Deep Shadow wouldn’t date” shattered, Sister immediately realized Gu Jiancheng was Deep Shadow…

Ah! After guarding against this and that, the one who ended up exposing Xiao Gu’s identity was actually myself!

What kind of situation was this?! How did it turn out like this! Why would something like this happen! Zhan Yan practically wanted to roll around on his bed in agony.

Had he known Deep Shadow was Xiao Gu, he never would have cracked those jokes in the first place, wuwuwu. What did it mean to eat a melon only to find out you were the melon itself!

Still, the fact that Deep Shadow with that foul temper of his could find a partner was genuinely shocking to everyone… Who could have guessed that Deep Shadow—who constantly glared down coldly, scoffed disdainfully, and went all-out arrogant and domineering—and the Gu Jiancheng who acted spoiled and cute all day were the exact same person!

Besides, why was Tu Yue, a perfectly respectable information-type big shot, so gossipy?! Did the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau not give him enough work to do?

Wait… that’s not right. When did I ever tell Tu Yue that Deep Shadow was dating? I only jokingly mentioned “because of love” back in the information-type big shot group ‘Have You Eaten Melons Today?’. Could Tu Yue be in that group too?

Hmph! He was definitely going to dig out Tu Yue’s secret identity!

Still, that wasn’t urgent right now; he needed to scroll down first to see how Sister and Xiao Gu had handled things. With the prerequisite of having helped save Yang Ran, at least they wouldn’t end up throwing hands…

Full of prayers, Zhan Yan continued scrolling through the gossip strips. Looking on the bright side, Xiao Gu’s identity had dropped last night, yet Sister still hadn’t come hunting him down, which meant the problem probably wasn’t too severe, right?

[After Zhan Suiru pointed out his identity, Gu Jiancheng dispelled his disguise and said: “While I don’t think right now is the best time to discuss this, since you brought it up… mm, let me reintroduce myself: Gu Jiancheng, Zhan Yan’s boyfriend.”]

Zhan Yan: … Bro, did you really have to be that blunt?!

He continued reading nervously.

Losing his nose… pfft.

Ah, how wonderful! Although Sister didn’t explicitly say she accepted Xiao Gu, she clearly acquiesced! Saving Yang Ran really scored massive points!

Zhan Yan let out a huge sigh of relief.

Having cleared the hurdle of his sister, he could now focus his efforts on farming favorability with his brother.

Though farming Brother’s favorability was likely going to be tough—who told Xiao Gu to grind the man into the dirt earlier?

What a headache.

Still, it couldn’t be said there was no good news; at the very least, he no longer needed to figure out how to use the Approaching Science account to cover for Xiao Gu in front of his sister. Being able to scratch one task off his plate was pretty nice too.

Zhan Yan comforted himself with pure optimism.

And then he received a message from his sister—this time sent directly to Zhan Yan using Zhan Suiru’s identity.

After leaving last night, Zhan Suiru had thought about it all night long, and still felt she couldn’t simply let Deep Shadow dating her brother off the hook so easily.

Sure, Yan Yan was very sharp, but Deep Shadow was an old monster who had clawed his way out of a place like Infinite… Heh.

Zhan Suiru: [An old cow eating tender grass!]

Zhan Suiru typed indignantly while venting to Yang Ran.

How long had Gu Jiancheng survived in Infinite? And how old was her brother?

No matter how clever Yan Yan was, it would still be difficult to match a deeply calculating, cunning old fox like him.

Zhan Suiru remembered asking Deep Shadow to investigate Gu Jiancheng before. That bastard had actually pretended to agree! Heh!

What Zhan Suiru truly worried about most was Gu Jiancheng’s mental health. Even without aftereffects, the impact Infinite left on a person’s psyche and cognitive state was indelible; was Deep Shadow’s view of romance truly healthy?

Could Yan Yan distinguish whether Gu Jiancheng was genuinely treating him well, or merely deliberately guiding him just to satisfy his own cravings?

Yang Ran: [Why don’t you go ask your brother how they usually interact?]

Due to a lack of experience, Zhan Yan might mistake certain subtle forms of controlling behavior for affection. But they would be able to discern it from those actions.

Zhan Suiru found this made a lot of sense, so she went to ask her brother.

Starting with subtle, roundabout probing.

Zhan Yan checked the gossip strips detailing the conversation between his sister and Yang Ran.

Oh, what’s there to worry about with this? I’ll prove it for Xiao Gu right now!

Zhan Yan: [He’s super hilarious hahaha.]

Zhan Yan: [Before, he thought I liked melodramatic TV shows and wanted to give me a surprise.]

Zhan Yan: [So he went and memorized melodramatic drama lines, prepared eight speakers to blast BGMs, and since it happened to be raining that day, he acted out a melodramatic scene for me right in the rain.]

Zhan Suiru: ?

Is this something Deep Shadow is physically capable of doing?!