GRMFBS CH271

Zhan Yunkai: ??! Ji Yueming: ??!

Who did you say you are?!

Zhan Yunkai’s double pupils dilated, staring fixedly at his youngest son.

Zhan Yan hung his head in an obedient posture, revealing the messy crown of his pitch-black, curly hair.

His youngest son—the gluttonous, sharp, adorable boy who was occasionally a little mischievous but obedient and well-behaved most of the time—was actually that rapid-fire, sharp-tongued commenter from the forum who, despite being a fan of his, coveted Tianshi’s lightning talismans even more?

Zhan Yunkai couldn’t help recalling those forum threads.

The first time Approaching Science unleashed his venomous wit on the forum, it was to defend him against trolls—and later, he defended Tianshi just the same; He worked hard to become the forum’s universally acknowledged fan of the Chongming Demon King—and later, an equally renowned fan of Tianshi; Whenever he had any intel, he would proactively inform the Wan Yao Alliance and was even willing to work for free—and later, he investigated leads for the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau as well; And no matter how hard anyone tried to recruit him, he couldn’t be poached.

Very well, everything made sense now.

Ji Yueming was also looking at Zhan Yan, seeing only that slightly ruffled mop of curls.

Ah… it really has been a long time since he put on this act of feigned obedience.

Whenever Yan Yan got into trouble as a child, he would put on this exact expression.

Ji Yueming leaned forward, ruffled her son’s curly hair, and sighed softly: “Yan Yan…”

Zhan Yan stiffened in nervousness for a brief moment before relaxing.

Ahhh, is this matter considered settled? Mom is the best!

Ji Yueming said gently: “…Playing dumb won’t work.”

Zhan Yan: …

Hmph.

“My abilities suddenly appeared last year…” Zhan Yan began his honest confession.

Ji Yueming: “No rush for that. What was going on with you entering the Candle Dragon Remnant just now?”

Zhan Yunkai: “Did you run into any trouble?”

Wuu… this is why Mom and Dad are the best.

“I’m completely fine.” Zhan Yan flashed his parents an utterly disarming, heart-melting smile.

Mom and Dad care about me~ So happy. But he couldn’t tell them everything that happened inside the Candle Dragon Remnant. If he spilled everything, he wouldn’t be able to explain why Deep Shadow was in there; if Mom and Dad found out… Xiao Gu would be thrown straight into nightmare difficulty.

“I stumbled upon that Candle Dragon Remnant purely by accident. Before I could find anything, I had to rush back out…” Zhan Yan’s voice grew smaller and smaller.

Why did he rush out in a panic… Naturally, it was because he noticed Mom and Dad were about to throw down!

Hmph, I even put myself on the line to take the heat for Xiao Gu—this debt must definitely be settled on Xiao Gu’s tab!

Sigh, I wonder how things are going on Xiao Gu’s end, and if he has started searching for Di Ting’s single horn yet…

Having successfully diverted his parents’ attention, Zhan Yan took advantage of them exchanging glances to peek at his gossip strips.

—Xiao Gu was currently cursing him.

Zhan Yan had left in far too much of a hurry earlier; when he forcefully shoved the key into Gu Jiancheng’s hands, he had literally tackled him.

Gu Jiancheng had been completely unprepared for it.

He had merely seen the lunatic Di Ting abruptly stop halfway through searching for items, thinking some danger had emerged. Just as he was raising his guard, the only entity he hadn’t guarded against suddenly scrambled to his feet, lunged forward in a leap, and slammed violently into his chest.

Gu Jiancheng was smothered head-on by a soft wall of fur.

Boss Deep Shadow was knocked back a step on the spot, his back foot digging into the earth while his core locked tight.

That was close; he nearly got shoved flat onto the ground.

Gu Jiancheng’s rage meter instantly shot to the max.

“You…” Boss Deep Shadow reached out, grabbing a fistful of the fluffy fur before him, preparing to beat up this oversized cat.

Suddenly, his hands grasped empty air; the soft, thick wall of fur vanished without a trace.

Di Ting was gone.

The surroundings were empty and still. A faint breeze drifted through Gu Jiancheng’s curled fingers, carrying a delicate chill and tickle, like a frosty sneer.

Gu Jiancheng: … “Is Di Ting out of his damn mind?!”

After locking eyes for several seconds, Mom and Dad deeply felt that their own scores had yet to be settled, and right now was not an opportune moment to open that topic. Instinctively, both shifted their gazes back to Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yan: … He hastily reeled his attention back from the Gossip System.

Ji Yueming: “Approaching Science first logged into the forum on August 9th. Did your supernatural powers awaken back then?”

Zhan Yan confessed honestly: “A bit earlier than that, around early July. At that time, I didn’t even know supernatural powers existed. At first, I honestly thought I had suffered a sudden mental breakdown.”

He considered himself young, untroubled by heavy pressure, living in a harmonious and happy family; he had no idea why hallucinations would suddenly manifest, and had even wondered whether his biological parents had a family history of hereditary mental illness.

However, he had been right in the middle of final exams back then, with no time to visit a hospital. After doing a self-assessment, he felt that apart from the hallucinations, he had no other symptoms—neither an urge to harm others nor thoughts of self-harm. Since that was the case, it wasn’t an immediate crisis, so he decided he would secretly visit a hospital on his own once exams were over.

Ji Yueming stroked his head again.

Zhan Yunkai was already pondering what delicious food to cook for his youngest son.

Awakening supernatural powers out of nowhere without knowing anything—he must have been terrified and uneasy at the start, right?

Zhan Yan: “After finishing my exams, I played around estimating scores with a classmate.”

—In reality, it was with Xiao Gu.

Xiao Gu had never engaged in such childish antics in the past, considering them frivolous. During those days, Xiao Gu noticed his mood was off and tried every possible way to divert his attention; the two of them had even childishly made a bet—if you win, you get a kiss; if you lose, you have to be kissed.

Of course, there was no need to elaborate on that detail.

“Before the results were released, I used my ability to check. The next day, when the scores were announced, I found they were identical to what I investigated, and only then did I realize it was real.”

Both his and Xiao Gu’s scores matched the results he retrieved using the system. If it were just himself, it could still be explained as an overpowered subconscious hunch. But with Xiao Gu included, it definitely couldn’t be that his mental illness flared up and he sleepwalked in the dead of night to peek at the grading rubric early.

Naturally, he had entertained plenty of wild fantasies afterward about being blessed with a golden finger and rising to the pinnacle of life. And then, he stumbled upon the gossip strips of other supernatural users.

“Later, I discovered there were so many supernatural users in this world, along with dangerous anomalies. As a little weakling who only possessed the ability to eat melons, completely devoid of combat power or self-preservation, I naturally shrank back into hiding,” Zhan Yan explained. “Back then, I thought everyone in the family was an ordinary person, so I didn’t dare say anything either.”

“I only found out about Dad’s identity on Mom’s birthday.”

He continued confessing, determined to steer their attention away from Xiao Gu first.

Zhan Yunkai: “How did you find out?”

Zhan Yan’s gaze shifted evasively: “Ah… do I really have to say?”

Zhan Yunkai: “Speak.”

Zhan Yan: “Then I’ll say it. It was that day—Dad, when you came back, you smelled strongly of perfume. So I investigated and found that while chasing that Corpse Flower Amorphophallus demon, the tips of your wings accidentally got dusted with pollen. You incinerated those few feathers, took seven showers, and even dumped an entire bottle of…”

Zhan Yan trailed off. His dad was glaring daggers at him.

Ji Yueming: “Pfft.“

Tianshi broke into a radiant smile.

Zhan Yunkai stopped glaring at his son and began staring dazedly at his wife.

Zhan Yan obediently kept quiet and lowered his head.

Zhan Yunkai cleared his throat lightly: “When you wanted to exchange for lightning talismans back then, had you already discovered your mother’s identity by that point?”

Zhan Yan shook his head: “I only found out on New Year’s Eve. Mom came home especially late that night.”

Zhan Yunkai matched the timeline. Oh… during that period, the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was collecting Infinite fragments, and Tianshi was cleaning up the mess.

So the reason Yueming came home late that night was because of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau… Tsk, I said long ago they were unreliable.

Though… I actually helped out that night too, hehe.

Zhan Yunkai: “Then why did you want lightning talismans before…”

Zhan Yan looked at him without speaking.

Zhan Yunkai understood.

—Because lightning talismans were genuinely cool!

He instinctively turned his head to look at Ji Yueming.

Yan Yan has great taste; it’s completely normal to want lightning talismans.

Ji Yueming suddenly turned her head. Zhan Yunkai’s gaze was caught squarely by hers.

Zhan Yan felt that his presence was somewhat redundant in this atmosphere.

Still, he could finally lay some of his worries to rest. Looking at Mom and Dad like this, even if conflicts arose in the future over ideological differences, they were still a very, very long way from reaching the point of breaking up.

Just work hard to eradicate Infinite in the meantime, and everything will be solved!

“With that kind of relationship between the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance, I didn’t dare say anything either. You have no idea how much hair I stressed out of my head…” Zhan Yan grumbled his grievances.

Seeing that the atmosphere between his parents was quite good, and that keeping things hidden would only delay any breakthrough indefinitely, he figured it was better to lay it all bare.

Now it was Zhan Yunkai’s turn to ruffle his hair: “You’re actually turning the tables on us.”

Ji Yueming: “Don’t change the subject. Keep confessing.”

Fortunately, after bringing things into the open, although that lingering, hesitant tension between them had dissolved, that subtle barrier had also vanished.

The couple regained their tacit coordination in pressing their son for answers.

Zhan Yunkai: “You asked for the Candle Dragon’s blessing before—was that related to this Candle Dragon Remnant?”

Zhan Yan: … Why did the topic loop right back around?

“Mmh, the Candle Dragon’s blessing allows me to investigate things that are otherwise untraceable.”

His eyes darted between the two of them, and he whispered, “When I discovered that Sister was Rong Sui, it was thanks to the Candle Dragon’s blessing taking effect.”

The faint, ambiguous atmosphere lingering in the air instantly froze solid.

“What did you say?” “Suiru is who?”

Zhan Yan lowered his voice to a whisper: “Rong Sui. She used the account ‘Artisan’ on the forum before.”

The two big shots maintained placid expressions and gentle tones.

[The Chongming Demon King Zhan Yunkai was utterly shocked upon learning that his daughter Zhan Suiru is Rong Sui, his mind flashing through all his past interactions with the “Artisan”…]

[Tianshi Ji Yueming was utterly shocked upon learning that her daughter Zhan Suiru is Rong Sui, rapidly reviewing her past experiences alongside Rong Sui…]

Big shots truly live up to being big shots, remaining completely poised even through this.

Zhan Yan decided to confess everything in one go, ideally making Mom and Dad completely forget about the Candle Dragon Remnant: “And Brother…”

Zhan Yunkai: “There’s more?”

Ji Yueming: If she weren’t Tianshi, she would have wanted to clutch her heart by now.

Her youngest son usually acted so well-behaved, yet when he hid things, he hid earth-shattering secrets!

And not just one!

Putting on an obedient act, Zhan Yan gave the two of them an overwhelmingly sweet, soft smile: “Brother is the reincarnation of Lin Yuan Ghost King.”