GRMFBS CH276

The entire family indulgently accepted Zhan Jinli’s riddled, excuse-laden explanation.

Things hadn’t been easy for their eldest brother either.

“Oh, right. The super-sweet bread and cakes Ge makes can actually restore spiritual energy,” Zhan Yan yawned. “Is there anything else you want to ask?”

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming exchanged a glance, both reading the deep worry in each other’s eyes.

So the reason Yan Yan had developed a sudden, overwhelming fondness for Jinli’s baked sweets was to replenish his spent spiritual energy!

Glancing at the clock, Yan Yan would usually have been asleep by this hour. Even if a young man with a regular schedule stayed up late once in a while, he shouldn’t be this exhausted.

Had Yan Yan overextended himself too much? Had his past injuries truly not healed yet?

There was nothing pressuring or urgent left right now anyway.

The issue with their eldest son Zhan Jinli’s divine ability had begun its resolution, and their second daughter Zhan Suiru’s troubles were already completely settled.

“Nothing else. Go get some sleep first, Yan Yan. There are rooms here at the base,” Ji Yueming said with gentle, motherly affection.

Zhan Yunkai added, “We’ll talk through everything at home together once we get back. Well… Jinli can’t join for now, so we’ll wait until he’s done.”

Zhan Yan: “I won’t be able to join either.”

Oh, right, the child is starting school soon.

Then they could only chat with Suiru first.

Zhan Yan silently rooted for his sister, who would have to face their parents all by herself.

“I’m heading to sleep then.”

Zhan Yan let out another yawn.

The layout of this small base was quite modest; the guest room lacked decoration and the bed wasn’t large, but the mattress and pillows were exceptionally comfortable.

Collapsing into bed, Zhan Yan felt his eyelids droop instantly.

Ugh… so sleepy.

Before sleeping, he checked WeChat once more.

Because of the sudden incident, Xiao Gu had been dragged into the Candle Dragon Remnant with him and hadn’t gotten the chance to call him tonight, so he had just messaged an explanation.

Zhan Yan sent him a sweet goodnight kiss in reply.

On the chaofan forum, Deep Shadow had also been messaging Approaching Science one text after another—ranging from various questions before entering the Candle Dragon Remnant to even more questions after exiting it.

Judging by this barrage of inquiries, if he didn’t reply, Xiao Gu probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

Approaching Science: [Nothing's wrong.]

Approaching Science: [I'll explain tomorrow.]

Approaching Science: [Too tired, going to sleep.]

Turning off his phone and the Gossip System, Zhan Yan rolled over, wrapped himself in the blanket, and drifted into a deep sleep.

Switching off the lights and closing his eyes, only darkness remained in his vision.

Zhan Yan slept heavily, his consciousness floating through this darkness, relaxed and serene.

In the dark, a few stars quietly lit up. Gradually, more and more stars appeared, charting out peculiar star tracks. Following these star tracks, his consciousness bounded lightly across the starry sky.

He ran and leaped; just as he was about to spring clear of the night sky, he bumped into a warm, soft, pale-red wall, thick and pliable, like molten wax.

Curled within it, he let out a shallow yawn and sank back into sweet, dark dreams.

Meanwhile, Gu Jiancheng couldn’t fall asleep at all.

First, he listened repeatedly to the voice message Zhan Yan had sent him, grinning foolishly.

They would see each other in two days once university started, and he had already won over most of his future brother-in-law. Once Lin Yuan Ghost King emerged from his secluded cultivation, Gu Jiancheng would just need to put in a little extra effort to farm daily favorability and build rapport; then dropping his secret identity to meet the parents in the future would be a breeze~

Filled with anticipation, Gu Jiancheng listened to the voice clip blissfully once more.

Then he opened the chaofan forum again.

After emerging from the Candle Dragon Remnant, he had sent another message to Approaching Science asking about the situation, but Approaching Science hadn’t replied. Gu Jiancheng couldn’t help feeling a bit anxious: how had Approaching Science even located such a concealed Candle Dragon Remnant in the first place? Where was he right now? Was he still safe?

If Approaching Science still didn’t reply tomorrow, he would have to ask others to look into his situation.

Seeing the red notification dot flash in the forum’s private message box, Gu Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he’s safe, that’s what counts. Gu Jiancheng checked the time; it wasn’t even midnight yet, far too early to go to sleep. Had Approaching Science overextended himself from tracking down Di Ting’s single horn?

I’ll ask him tomorrow.

Gu Jiancheng’s thoughts drifted to recovery methods for information-types.

Information-types… what they consumed should count as mental or spiritual energy?

Mental… Gu Jiancheng furrowed his brows unconsciously. He kept feeling as though he had overlooked something.

This sensation had persisted for several days; faint at first, it was growing stronger now.

Thinking back carefully, it seemed to have started right after Dawn World connected with this world’s Reincarnation system.

Yet he had participated in the entire process without noticing any abnormalities. Infinite had tried to stir up trouble midway, but they had resolved it all; could there be some hidden danger he had failed to spot?

Gu Jiancheng decided to consult someone else.

Lin Yuan Ghost King was in secluded cultivation, but Rong Sui wasn’t.

Gu Jiancheng sent the message to Zhan Suiru.

Zhan Suiru hadn’t gone to sleep either.

Her younger brother had dropped a massive bombshell on her and vanished without replying ever since. It left her and Yang Ran scrambling in an emergency discussion over how to face the parents.

Yang Ran was beside himself with anxiety and had run off to bake cookies again. Baking cookies had practically become his go-to method for easing mental tension: zoning out his brain to alleviate nerves, he accidentally dumped sugar in three times—this anxiety wasn’t fading in the slightest.

Zhan Suiru leaned lazily against the sofa, supported by her silk throw pillow.

Watching Yang Ran alternate between “adding water when there’s too much flour, and adding flour when there’s too much water,” she comforted him, “Don’t worry, your situation is different from Deep Shadow’s.”

Mom and Dad had known for ages that Rong Sui and Yang Ran were a couple; they had only just found out about her secret identity, so their acceptance would be far higher than it was for Deep Shadow.

Relax, relax, no need to be this nervous…

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

A new WeChat message arrived from her parents.

Ji Yueming: [Sui Sui, will you be home tomorrow? Your dad and I are coming back tomorrow.]

Zhan Suiru bolted upright on the sofa.

Why so fast?!

Her younger brother knew the most, so shouldn’t Mom and Dad focus on interrogating him first?

Yang Ran reminded her softly: “Your brother starts classes the day after tomorrow.”

Zhan Suiru: … Oh, right.

Her eldest brother had entered secluded cultivation, her younger brother was heading off to university, leaving only herself to face Mom and Dad alone…

Dammit…

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

On the other side, neither Ji Yueming nor Zhan Yunkai planned on sleeping tonight.

There was quite a lot to handle. Their relationship couldn’t be broadcast widely, but it needed to be disclosed to a select few trustworthy friends.

Building synergy between the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance couldn’t rely solely on them. A broad public announcement was out of the question, at least for now.

Whether it was Tianshi or the Chongming Demon King, maintaining an ordinary mortal persona wouldn’t draw excessive attention, but if their mortal personas got married, the implications changed entirely. Infinite would be the first to fixate on them, relentlessly digging into their identities, which would inevitably expose Yan Yan’s existence.

Nobody knew to what extent his recovery had progressed, but they had to do everything possible to prevent Infinite from noticing Yan Yan.

Zhan Yunkai murmured, “I feel like feather talismans aren’t safe enough anymore… Can parents accompany their kids to university?”

Ji Yueming: “…While I also feel they aren’t safe enough, accompanying him to class probably isn’t feasible. I’ll have Luoluo set up some business in Beiling City.”

That way, she could legitimately travel to Beiling City on business trips, making it perfectly natural to visit her son while there.

Zhan Yunkai: “Then I’ll have Xiao Xia check if any film crews are shooting in Beiling City.”

If there weren’t any, he could simply start one.

Ji Yueming nodded: “The bread Jinli makes is useful for Yan Yan; there should still be stock in his shop.”

Zhan Yunkai: “I’ll go fetch some.”

A Demon King of action, he spread his wings and arrived in the blink of an eye. Touching down on the street where the bakery was located, darkness enveloped his surroundings; aside from the moon in the sky, only the streetlamps remained lit.

He had lost track of time; by this hour, all the shops were long closed.

Walking up to the bakery, Zhan Yunkai fell into deep thought before the pitch-black glass door.

Should I just cast a spell to sneak inside and grab the bread?

While Zhan Yunkai was deliberating, the five little ghosts inside the shop were peering outward with wide, bulging eyes.

Huddled in a circle behind the counter:

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

White Ghost: “Ahhh, he’s so much better looking than on TV!”

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

Green Ghost: “Right, right! So handsome!”

Red Ghost: “What should we do?”

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

Yellow Ghost: “…Calm down, you two!”

Earlier, Lord Lin Yuan had asked them to help wage a counter-offensive against Zhan Yunkai’s online haters, which led the five ghosts to binge-watch Zhan Yunkai’s dramas; two-fifths of them had already turned into loyal fans.

Yellow Ghost: “The real question is: should we open the door or not?”

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

Black Ghost: “It’s so late; logically, there shouldn’t be anyone in the shop, so how do we open the door?”

Green Ghost: “But before Lord Lin Yuan entered secluded cultivation, he instructed us to take good care of his family.”

Red Ghost: “If we open it, how do we explain being here so late?”

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

White Ghost flicked the light switch with a snap, instantly illuminating the shop.

“What’s there to hesitate about? Who cares why he came; coming at this hour means there’s definitely something he needs, so aren’t we responsible for resolving it?”

Green Ghost had already slipped into the baby-faced puppet, its fake glass eyeballs gleaming brightly.

The other three ghosts: !

“Come back! No cutting in line!”

After standing outside in contemplation for a long time, Zhan Yunkai ultimately decided that since he was already here, he might as well proceed.

Just as he was preparing to cast his spell, the lights inside the shop suddenly flared on.

A baby-faced employee walked over, unlocked the door, and offered an enthusiastic smile.

“Hello, you’re the shop owner’s father, right? May I ask what you need?”

Zhan Yunkai narrowed his eyes slightly.

A puppet steered by a little ghost, dragging four other little ghosts around its feet.

Oh, so this was the ‘staff’ his eldest son had hired.

The other ghosts shuddered under his gaze.

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

Red Ghost: “He must be frightened! I told you nobody should be in the shop at this hour.”

Baby-Face (Green Ghost edition): “I live here at night.”

Zhan Yunkai: … His son made himself sound like an absolute skinflint landlord.

It was truly a miracle that Jinli’s secret identity had stayed hidden until now. Their complete inability to concoct plausible lies was the spitting image of Jinli himself.

All of them needed supplementary tutoring from Yan Yan.

Considerately, he refrained from asking questions.

Zhan Yunkai: “I came to pick up some bread Jinli made.”

The five little ghosts grew excited all at once.

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

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

White Ghost: “Ah… more and more people can appreciate Lord Lin Yuan’s taste.”

Black Ghost: “Wuwuwu, I knew Lord Lin Yuan possessed the makings of a God of Cooking! Sooner or later, he will become the Cake King!”

Zhan Yunkai: ?

Jinli actually harbored that kind of aspiration?