GRMFBS CH276

The entire family indulgently accepted Zhan Jinli’s riddled-with-holes excuse. Their older brother didn’t have it easy either.

“Oh right, the super sweet bread and cakes that Brother makes both have the ability to restore mental energy.” Zhan Yan let out a yawn. “What else do you guys want to ask?”

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming exchanged a glance, both catching the worry in each other’s eyes. So that was why Yanyan had suddenly become super fond of eating the desserts Jinli made; it was to replenish his mental consumption.

Checking the time, Yanyan would usually already be asleep by this hour. But even if a young person with a regular schedule occasionally stayed up late, he shouldn’t be this exhausted. Was Yanyan’s energy consumption too high? Had his past injuries still not fully healed yet?

Right now, there weren’t any particularly urgent matters left. Their eldest son Zhan Jinli’s divine ability issue had begun its resolution, and their second daughter Zhan Suiru’s troubles had already been thoroughly settled.

“It’s nothing, Yanyan. Go to sleep first. There are rooms here in the base.” Ji Yueming spoke with gentle tenderness.

Zhan Yunkai added, “We’ll have a big family chat about home matters once we get back. Well… Jinli can’t join for now, so we’ll wait until he’s done with his business.”

Zhan Yan chimed in, “I can’t participate either.”

That’s right, the boy’s school term was about to start. In that case, they could only chat with Suiru first. Zhan Yan silently cheered for his sister, who now had to face their parents all by herself.

“I’m going to sleep first.” Zhan Yan let out another yawn.

The layout of the small base was relatively simple. The guest rooms lacked decoration and the bed wasn’t large, but the mattress and pillows were exceptionally comfortable. The moment Zhan Yan threw himself onto the bed, his eyelids began to droop. Ugh… so sleepy.

Before sleeping, he scrolled through WeChat one last time. Because of the sudden incident where he had brought Xiao Gu into the Candle Dragon Remnant, Gu Jiancheng hadn’t had the chance to call him back tonight, so he had just sent a message to explain. Zhan Yan replied with a sweet goodnight kiss emoji.

On the chaofan forum, Deep Shadow was also spamming messages to Approaching Science, one after another. From various questions prior to entering the Candle Dragon remnant to even more queries after leaving it. Looking at this relentless barrage of questioning, if he didn’t provide a reply, Xiao Gu probably wouldn’t be able to catch a wink of sleep tonight.

Approaching Science: “I’m fine.”

Approaching Science: “I’ll explain tomorrow.”

Approaching Science: “Too tired, going to sleep.”

Shutting down his phone and the Gossip System, Zhan Yan rolled over, curled himself into the blanket, and fell fast asleep.

Turning off the lights and closing his eyes, his vision dissolved into total darkness. Zhan Yan slept profoundly, his consciousness drifting within this darkness, relaxed and unburdened.

A few stars quietly lit up within the void. Gradually, more and more stars emerged, tracing out bizarre stellar tracks. His consciousness moved along with these stellar tracks, bounding lightly across the starry sky. He ran and leaped, and just as he wanted to spring right out of the night sky, he bumped into a warm, soft wall of pale red. It felt soft and viscous, much like melted wax. Nestled inside, he let out a faint yawn and plunged right back into a deep, sweet slumber.

Meanwhile, Gu Jiancheng found himself utterly unable to sleep. First, he repeatedly replayed the voice notes Zhan Yan had sent him, grinning like a fool.

In just two more days, school would start and they could meet. Furthermore, he had already successfully won over more than half of his future brother-in-law. Once the Linyuan Ghost King finished his closed-door cultivation, Gu Jiancheng would just need to put in a bit more effort to farm daily favorability and build a closer rapport. After that, dropping his cover and meeting the parents wouldn’t be an issue at all!~

Filled with anticipation, Gu Jiancheng happily listened to the voice notes once more before opening up the chaofan forum again.

After exiting the Candle Dragon remnant, he had sent another message to Approaching Science to ask about the situation, but Approaching Science hadn’t replied. Gu Jiancheng couldn’t help but feel slightly worried. How had Approaching Science managed to locate such an incredibly well-hidden Candle Dragon remnant? Where was he right now? Was he still safe? If Approaching Science still didn’t reply by tomorrow, he would have to find someone to investigate his circumstances.

Seeing the little red notification dot flashing over Approaching Science‘s inbox in the backend, Gu Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the guy was safe, it was fine. Checking the time, it wasn’t even midnight yet; sleeping at this hour was far too early. Had Approaching Science overexerted himself from investigating Di Ting’s single horn? He would ask again tomorrow.

Gu Jiancheng’s train of thought drifted toward recovery methods for information-types. Information-types… what they consumed should count as mental energy? Mental energy… Gu Jiancheng furrowed his brows involuntarily. He consistently felt as though he had overlooked something.

This sensation had persisted for several days now. It was incredibly faint at first but was growing stronger by the moment. Thinking back carefully, it seemed to have started right after the Dawn World’s reincarnation cycle bordered this world. Yet, having participated in the entire process, he hadn’t discovered any issues. The Infinity had attempted to stir up trouble midway through, but they had solved all of it. Could there be some hidden danger he failed to detect?

Gu Jiancheng decided to ask someone else. The Linyuan Ghost King was in closed-door cultivation, but Rong Sui wasn’t. He forwarded a message to Zhan Suiru.

Zhan Suiru hadn’t gone to sleep yet either.

Her younger brother had dumped a massive bombshell on her and bolted, failing to reply up until now. He left her and Yang Ran alone to frantically discuss how to meet the parents. Yang Ran was so nervous out of his mind that he ran off to bake cookies again. Baking cookies had already become his go-to method for relaxing his mind, emptying his brain, and alleviating anxiety. However, he had accidentally added sugar three times—this anxiety wasn’t being alleviated in the slightest.

Zhan Suiru reclined lazily on the sofa, leaning back against her silk throw pillows. Watching Yang Ran follow the chaotic rhythm of “adding water when there’s too much flour, adding flour when there’s too much water,” she reassured him, “It’s fine. Your situation is entirely different from Deep Shadow’s.”

Mom and Dad had known for ages that Rong Sui and Yang Ran were a couple; they had merely just found out about her secret identity. Their level of acceptance would be far higher than it would be for Deep Shadow. Relax, relax, there’s no need to be so tense…

“I reckon Mom and Dad will take another couple of days to return. We still have time.”

Right then, a new message from her parents popped up on WeChat.

Ji Yueming: “Suisu, are you home tomorrow? Your dad and I are coming back tomorrow.”

Zhan Suiru snapped upright on the sofa. Why so fast?! Her younger brother knew the absolute most; shouldn’t Mom and Dad focus on thoroughly interrogating him first?

Yang Ran reminded her in a hushed voice, “Little brother’s school starts the day after tomorrow.”

Zhan Suiru: “…” Right.

Their eldest brother had gone into closed-door cultivation, and their younger brother had to go to school, leaving her entirely alone to face their parents… Dammit…

“Mom and Dad quite liked the cookies I brought back last time.” Zhan Suiru lunged into the kitchen. “Come, come, let’s make them together. Let’s make a few more varieties!”

On the other end, neither Ji Yueming nor Zhan Yunkai planned on sleeping tonight. There were far too many matters to handle.

Their relationship couldn’t be publicized on a grand scale, but they still needed to notify a few trustworthy friends. If the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance wanted to break the ice and coordinate, they couldn’t rely solely on the handful of them. A wide-scale announcement was out of the question, at least for now.

Whether it was the Tianshi or the Chongming Demon King, having a single ordinary persona wouldn’t draw much attention, but if their two ordinary personas were married, the implications changed entirely. The Infinity would be the very first to focus its gaze here, bound to dig up their identities, which would subsequently expose Zhan Yan’s existence. No one knew to what extent he had currently recovered, but regardless, they had to do everything in their power to prevent the Infinity from noticing Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yunkai murmured, “I feel like the feather talismans aren’t entirely reliable either… Is it possible to move in as a parent-guardian for university?”

Ji Yueming: “…Though I agree they aren’t fully reliable, moving in to accompany him probably isn’t feasible. I’ll have Luo Luo set up some business in Beiling City.”

That way, she could legitimately head to Beiling City on business trips, making it perfectly reasonable to drop by and visit her son along the way.

Zhan Yunkai added, “Then I’ll have Xiao Xia check if there are any film crews shooting in Beiling City.” If there weren’t any, they could simply fund one.

Ji Yueming nodded. “The bread Jinli makes is useful to Yanyan. His shop should still have stock.”

Zhan Yunkai declared, “I’ll go grab some.”

The Chongming Demon King was a man of immediate action. Spreading his wings, he flew to the destination in the blink of an eye. Touching down on the street where The Bakery was located, the surroundings were completely pitch black; aside from the moon in the sky, only the streetlamps remained lit. He had forgotten about the time—at this hour, all the storefronts had long since closed.

Zhan Yunkai walked up to the bakery, falling into deep thought as he faced the dark glass doors. Should he cast a spell to slip inside and retrieve the bread?

While Zhan Yunkai was pondering, the five little ghosts inside the shop were also staring wide-eyed out at him. They crouched in a circle behind the counter:

Yellow Ghost: “Is that Lord Linyuan’s father?”

White Ghost: “Ah, ah, ah, he looks way better than he does on TV!”

Black Ghost: “Why would he come here so late at night?”

Green Ghost: “Yeah, yeah! So handsome!”

Red Ghost: “What should we do?”

White Ghost: “Do you think we can get an autograph?”

Yellow Ghost: “…Can you two calm down a bit?!”

Previously, Lord Linyuan had asked them to help counter Zhan Yunkai’s online haters. Because of this, the five ghosts had started binge-watching Zhan Yunkai’s dramas, and two-fifths of them had already converted into full-blown fans.

Yellow Ghost: “The question is whether we should open the door.”

White Ghost: “Of course, we open it! That’s Lord Linyuan’s father.”

Black Ghost: “It’s so late, logically there shouldn’t be anyone in the shop. How do we explain opening the door?”

Green Ghost: “But Lord Linyuan explicitly instructed us before his closed-door cultivation to take good care of his family.”

Red Ghost: “But once we open the door, how do we explain why we’re still in the shop so late?”

Green Ghost: “Just say we live in the shop.”

With a click, the White Ghost flipped the light switch, and the shop instantly lit up.

“What’s there to hesitate about? Who cares why he came, since he came at this hour there must be something going on. Isn’t it fine as long as we take responsibility for resolving it?”

The Green Ghost had already slipped inside the baby-faced puppet, its faux glass eyes shining bright.

The other three ghosts: “!” “Come back! No cutting in line!”

Zhan Yunkai had spent a long while deep in thought outside the shop, ultimately concluding that since he was already here, he might as well proceed. Just as he prepared to manifest his magic, the lights inside the shop suddenly flickered on.

A baby-faced clerk walked over and pushed open the door, flashing a warm, enthusiastic smile.

“Hello, you are the shop owner’s father, correct? May I ask how I can assist you?”

Zhan Yunkai narrowed his eyes slightly. A puppet controlled by a little ghost, with four more little ghosts trailing right at its heels. Oh, so this was the “staff” his eldest son had hired.

The other little ghosts shivered under his gaze.

White Ghost: “Why isn’t Daddy speaking?”

Red Ghost: “He must be startled. I told you there shouldn’t be anyone in the shop at this hour.”

Baby-face (Green Ghost version): “I live here at night.”

Zhan Yunkai: …His son truly sounded like a ruthless, slave-driving boss.

It was a sheer miracle that Jinli’s cover had remained hidden up until now. This complete inability to fabricate a proper excuse to lie looked exactly like Jinli. They all ought to take remedial classes under Yanyan.

He considerately refrained from voicing his doubts. Zhan Yunkai stated, “I came to pick up some of the bread Jinli made.”

The five little ghosts grew instantly excited.

Red Ghost: “This is the third one, right? This is the third one!”

Yellow Ghost: “Yes, yes. First it was the younger brother, then the older sister, and now even the father has come.”

White Ghost: “Ah… more and more people are becoming capable of accepting Lord Linyuan’s tastes.”

Black Ghost: “Sob, sob, sob, I knew Lord Linyuan possessed the natural talent of a Chef God! Sooner or later, he will become the Cake King!”

Zhan Yunkai: ? Jinli actually has that kind of aspiration?