GRMFBS CH283

Mount Chaofu, beneath the Wenyu Tree.

Di Ting lay curled up with his eyes closed, the single horn on his forehead shimmering with a soft glow.

Looking at the giant beast before him, the tension in Zhan Jinli’s brow slowly eased.

He buried his hand into the thick fur of Di Ting’s neck; moments later, a demon core slowly floated out.

Di Ting’s massive form gradually shrank, reverting back into the appearance of a small white cat—albeit slightly larger than before.

Although he had regained his divine ability, Di Ting hadn’t completely recovered yet; having been separated from Zhan Jinli’s demon core, he temporarily couldn’t maintain his original form for extended periods.

Holding his demon core, Zhan Jinli stood to the side, his gaze following the majestic mythical beast from high to low as it slowly shrank into a little white cat curled up in the hollow of the tree.

The little white cat’s whiskers twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

His memories had returned, his soul was whole, and the “Eternal Unrest” curse was gone, meaning his normal brain had returned as well.

Past memories scrolled rapidly through his mind: fishing, climbing trees, searching everywhere for Lin Yuan, surfing in the Ming He River, cursing the Chongming Demon King to lose his feathers, wildly slinging curses around the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, pretending to be a stray cat to scam food and drinks, biting Lin Yuan’s wrist, fighting with Ming He, tormenting the poor junior Tie Lao…

For a fleeting moment, Wan Yan wished he were dead.

Oh wait, he was already dead. Why did he have to experience social death all over again after already dying?

He didn’t want to open his eyes. Just pretend I’m dead thoroughly.

Zhan Jinli’s gaze pierced through him like X-rays.

Wan Yan’s divine ability had recovered, and Zhan Jinli’s undisguised inner voice rang out loud and clear: [Let’s see how much longer you can pretend.]

Wan Yan: … His cat eyes stealthily cracked open a sliver.

Holding the demon core in one hand, Lin Yuan was looking down at him from above, his face completely expressionless.

Wan Yan: “…That, ah… um…” Before he could even finish a single sentence, he watched Lin Yuan’s indifferent, handsome face gradually enlarge.

Zhan Jinli bent down, picked the cat up by the scruff, and tossed him out.

Now, he was the only one left in the secluded cultivation area.

Zhan Jinli sat cross-legged, shoved his demon core back in, and began restoring his own divine ability.

Tossed out, Wan Yan stared blankly ahead, while the Wenyu Tree rustled its leaves in mockery.

Lin Yuan stared at him for half the day, just waiting for him to open his eyes so he could pick him up and throw him out?

Lin Yuan has a… Wan Yan held it in for a long time; thinking about everything he had done before, he truly couldn’t say anything either.

Meow… The little cat’s ears drooped.

Ghost King Minghe looked up at him, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly upward: “Wan Yan. You’ve recovered?”

Ghost King Wan Yan’s ears instantly shot straight up with a zing. No matter how he looked at it, Minghe’s smile seemed incredibly dangerous.

[How should we settle this score?]

Wan Yan couldn’t help taking a step back.

“I… sorry, I need to go find someone first.” The little kitty darted out of Mount Chaofu in a flash.

Having bolted out, Wan Yan stood on Mount Chaofu in the world of the living, staring blankly. Who, who should he look for?

He still had many questions. How was his horn found? Lin Yuan definitely knew. But he had been thrown out before he could even listen for the related inner voice.

Right, Bai Ze… Bai Ze is definitely still alive, they just can’t find him.

He wanted to find Bai Ze, but he had no idea where to start looking right now. Wan Yan’s tail swished back and forth behind him; he thought of another friend.

I might as well go find Zhan Yan first.

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming were at home packing things.

The location for Yan Yan’s upcoming internship had already been announced: Antai Ranch. This place was on the northern grasslands, very far from their home; unlike his previous internship location, which was only a few hours’ drive away. Although ranches were relatively lax, one still couldn’t come and go as they pleased, so it was best to have everything fully prepared.

Ji Yueming: “They’re interning for four months this time; he needs to bring enough clothes.” From early autumn to winter, the temperature difference would be massive.

Zhan Yunkai: “How about I add a Dust-Clearing Charm and a Constant-Temperature Charm to all his clothes?” In the past, because they were all keeping their secret identities hidden, they hadn’t dared to give him good items to use. Now that they knew there wasn’t a single ordinary person in the family, there was no need to be overly cautious and fearful of being discovered in many areas.

Zhan Yunkai had been using magic to cook these past few days; using a Dust-Clearing Charm to wash vegetables felt truly amazing.

Ji Yueming: “Add them, but don’t make it too obvious, otherwise it’ll be hard to explain if Yan Yan’s classmates notice.”

Zhan Yunkai: “Then I won’t put the Dust-Clearing Charm on his outerwear. Should I add a Force-Deflection Charm instead?”

Ji Yueming understood instantly: “Afraid a cow might kick him? Add it. Is there anything to keep the air fresh? The smell of a cattle farm probably won’t be too pleasant.”

Zhan Yunkai: “Right, right. Sigh, I don’t know much about cows either; how about I go find some cow demons and ask if they have any special items or spells we can use?” Like something that quiets cows down the moment they hear it, or something useful for herding…

While the husband and wife were discussing, Zhan Suiru returned and saw a massive pile of things on the floor and the sofa.

“Packing things for Yan Yan?” She noticed a few of Zhan Yan’s clothes. “I still have a lot over at my place.”

Zhan Suiru dragged out a large trunk filled with all sorts of bizarre yet incredibly useful little gadgets. It even included an automatic haircutting hat—it looked like an oversized plush hat on the outside, but once worn, it provided a fully automatic wash-cut-and-dry service all in one go.

Both Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming were stunned. “When did you prepare all this?”

Zhan Suiru answered vaguely: “Just prepared them casually in the past.” Actually, she had prepared them during the time before the apocalypse border merger. Not only were there things for Yan Yan, but also items for Mom, Dad, and Brother. Although everyone’s secret identities were still hidden back then, even after she made these items, she hadn’t dared to bring them home for everyone to use.

Zhan Suiru had been exceptionally well-behaved these past two days. She had made her parents sad, and in return, her parents treated her with overwhelming care, consideration, gentleness, and amiability—even more excessively than the time right after they watched Ji Lele’s movie. She truly couldn’t handle that look in her parents’ eyes.

Thanks to Zhan Suiru’s magical gift bundle, Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming had everything packed and ready in less than an hour.

“Then there’s no need to wait until tomorrow.” “Let’s go today.”

Xingxing bounced around the luggage room excitedly. Zhan Suiru had specially prepared a cat carrier with an enormously spacious interior just for him! He gets to go out and play too~ Yay, yay!

Zhan Suiru scratched Xingxing under the chin. She actually really wanted to go too. Deep Shadow meeting the parents! What a fun spectacle that would be. Unfortunately, she was going to be busy researching how to pinpoint Infinite’s location using the spiritual imprint lately…

Meanwhile, still at Northern Agricultural University, Zhan Yan and Gu Jiancheng were completely oblivious to all this.

“Antai Ranch, that’s the place we were assigned to last time but never got to go to,” Zhan Yan said while organizing their list.

Seeing this name made Gu Jiancheng feel stifled. Originally, he was supposed to go here with Yan Yan last time. But back then, he had been too busy joyfully treating his future brother-in-law as a wishing well; he accidentally dug a hole for himself, resulting in them being separated for over three months.

There definitely wouldn’t be any problems this time!

“Let’s go out and buy things together,” Zhan Yan said. The conditions at a ranch were completely different from a veterinary clinic or a pig farm. They needed to bring quite a lot of things this time.

The young couple, armed with their list, were preparing to head out shopping.

Zhan Yan suddenly received a call from a classmate. Upon answering, what came through the phone was Professor Miao’s panicked voice: “Xiao Yan, can you help me find a bird?”

Zhan Yan: “Huh? What bird?”

Professor Miao explained the situation. Northern Agricultural University was currently running some sort of event, selecting certain teachers to hold live-streamed video classes. He was right in the middle of broadcasting his class when a bird suddenly flew over and snatched his phone away.

In the background of the call, a group of classmates could be heard shouting raucously: “Hey, it flew toward the rice paddies!”

Zhan Yan checked the gossip strips. Professor Miao’s livestream was still running, and this group of classmates was watching the broadcast on their own phones, trying to deduce where the bird had flown with the phone based on the camera feed.

The camera was shaking violently, pointing at the sky one second and the ground the next, with feathers frequently flapping into view; trying to get a clear look at its location wasn’t easy.

A university professor’s specialized course livestream normally wouldn’t have many viewers, but because of this accident, it had attracted quite a bit of traffic; the comments were flooded entirely with “Hahaha.”

[It really got snatched away by a bird!]

[Which outdoor streamer is this unlucky?]

[Not an outdoor streamer, looks like a university professor from an agricultural school.]

[He was in the middle of a live lecture when a bird flew over and robbed his phone.]

[Hahahahaha]

[Professor, can you start another livestream? We want to watch how you guys search for the phone.]

A few students had the livestream open next to him, squinting as they quietly read the comments out loud: “…start another livestream… want to watch how you search…”

Professor Miao: … These netizens only know how to ‘Hahaha’ and gloat!

Zhan Yan told Gu Jiancheng to go buy things on his own first, while he went over to help Professor Miao look for the phone.

The gossip strips only indicated that the bird was still flying randomly around the campus; they couldn’t pinpoint it precisely. He needed to determine the bird’s general area; only after getting close could he use the minimap to lock onto its location.

“Xiao Yan, you’re here. If you can find it, great; if not, just forget about it.” Professor Miao had given up hope. Sure, Zhan Yan could attract small animals, but he couldn’t summon them across vast distances. The bird had already flown too far; how could humans chasing on two legs ever keep up with it? The phone’s camera was shaking uncontrollably, making it impossible to determine the location.

“Let me try first.” Under the curious gazes of a group of underclassmen, Zhan Yan opened the livestream. He squinted at the footage for a moment.

“It’s heading toward the lotus pond.” Wasting no words, Zhan Yan immediately sprinted toward the lotus pond.

A whole crowd ran after him, panting heavily. “Senior, with a speed like that, Senior must be a sports major, right?”

By the time they reached the lotus pond, Zhan Yan had already picked a direction and stood firmly in place. Everyone looked up at the sky. No bird in sight…

Professor Miao actually ran faster than a few of his students. Zhan Yan looked at him and smiled: “Professor, those morning exercises didn’t go to waste.”

Having already prepared himself for the loss of his phone, Professor Miao had calmed down by now. He looked rather smugly at the few students trailing behind him: “Your physical stamina is terrible; you’re so young and you still can’t outrun me.”

“Hey! Here it comes, here it comes!” “Is that the bird?”

A large bird flew past the teaching building, angling toward the side of the lotus pond, its talons seemingly clutching something. The viewers in the livestream also spotted the group of people by the lotus pond through the feed.

[Hey, they actually found it.]

[The direction is a bit off.]

[Even if they found it, they can’t catch it. Are they supposed to shoot the bird down?]

[They can’t, right? A bird this big might be a protected species.]

[What kind of bird is this?]

[Don’t know, can’t tell just from a few flaps of its wings.]

[If it can carry a phone, it shouldn’t be small.]

Blue skies, white clouds, brilliant sunshine. Zhan Yan looked up, squinting against the sun, his lips moving slightly. A string of melodious bird calls pierced the sky.

The large bird abruptly banked and flew straight toward them.

In the livestream footage, it skimmed over tall trees and dove toward the lotus pond. The old professor and students by the pond rapidly grew larger in the frame; one could clearly see the expressions of surprise or delight on their faces.

The young man shielding his eyes from the sun puckered his lips and whistled a bird call. Once he was the only one left in the frame, he stretched his arm straight forward.

Amidst gasps of surprise, the large bird opened its talons and landed squarely on Zhan Yan’s arm. The weight of the bird yanked Zhan Yan’s arm down; using the momentum, he bent over and caught the phone it had dropped.

“Here you go, Professor.” Zhan Yan handed the phone to Professor Miao.

A flurry of comments rolled across the screen. [Handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome!] [Is this guy an animal trainer?] [Probably not? Looks like a student.] [Are students this awesome nowadays?] [The guy is good-looking, has a nice voice, and is this badass.]

Professor Miao took the phone, completely dumbfounded, even forgetting the livestream was still running: “Xiao Yan, has your animal-attracting constitution leveled up again?”

[I see the bird! Looks like some kind of falcon.]

[This is 100% a nationally protected animal, no doubt about it.]

[Why look at the bird? Look at the guy! The guy is so handsome!]

[Professor, adjust the camera! We can’t see the whole thing from this angle.]

The camera was pointing diagonally upward, capturing Zhan Yan from a deadly selfie angle. The unidentified species of falcon stood on Zhan Yan’s upper arm, tilting its head to look at him. Its lively black eyes were full of curiosity; lowering its head, it began pecking at his mop of curly hair.

Zhan Yan raised an arm: “Shoo! Shoo!” The falcon flew up, circled once, and landed on his other shoulder.