GRMFBS CH295

Gu Jiancheng was focused on investigating the surrounding environment. Although he still had many questions and was about to face an unforeseen meet-the-parents trial, safety was the most important thing.

Under the cover of grass blades, the shadows sank and expanded; the grassland floated upon a Sea of Shadows.

The last time Gu Jiancheng pushed his supernatural power like this was when the apocalyptic world bordered theirs.

He was actually a little triggered. Had he not been stunned upon arrival by the fiercely striking thunder, the Demon King’s avatar, the Ghost King Seal, and the protective arrays, he would have wanted to hide Zhan Yan into the Sea of Shadows right then and there.

He had seen too many people die in front of him.

Humans are very tenacious, able to crawl out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Humans are also very fragile; a sharp branch or a poorly placed rock could take a person’s life.

Gu Jiancheng didn’t know Zhan Yan’s secrets or identity, but he could tell that Zhan Yan didn’t have much ability to protect himself.

Even now, he wanted to hide Zhan Yan in the Sea of Shadows. To hide him, protect him, where no one could find him, where no one could hurt him…

His restless fingers, wanting to grab something but trying desperately to control themselves…

This wasn’t a side effect; it was a psychological issue he had never been able to completely resolve.

Gu Jiancheng’s face remained calm, his brows furrowed slightly in an inconspicuous way, but seeing Zhan Yan looking at him, his downturned lips curled up: “I’m fine.”

The Gossip System had already lost the ability to pry into people’s hearts, but Zhan Yan didn’t need it to see into Gu Jiancheng’s heart.

He hooked his fingers around Gu Jiancheng’s constantly curling ones, looking earnestly into his eyes: “Don’t worry, see? I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?”

Zhan Yan saw Gu Jiancheng’s dark, ink-block-like eyes seem to absorb a drop of water, slowly melting into spreading ink in an inkstone, every dipped stroke painting his image.

He smiled within the reflection of the ink pool, pulling on Gu Jiancheng’s hand and drawing him into a hug.

Gu Jiancheng embraced Zhan Yan. On one hand, he felt his tense body gradually relaxing; on the other, he felt his steady heartbeat gradually winding tight.

Listening to Zhan Yan’s breathing by his ear, he let out a long, slow breath.

Yan Yan had cured his side effects, only to give him another kind of side effect.

Zhan Yan was still quietly comforting him by his ear: “I’m actually quite safe.”

A majestic aura rapidly approaching from afar could be felt. Gu Jiancheng abruptly raised his head, his eyes sharp.

Wind like flowing clouds swept over.

“Safe from what?” The divine bird landed and took on human form, an imposing pressure radiating from the Chongming Demon King’s golden-patterned double pupils.

Tianshi stepped out from behind him, her wind-billowed robes slowly falling still.

Zhan Yan jolted in shock, instantly breaking away from his hug with Gu Jiancheng.

Zhan Yunkai’s gaze swept over their hands, and he scoffed inwardly.

They had let go of the hug, but their hands were still hooked together. Earlier it was just two fingers hooked together, now their fingers were fully intertwined!

The two faced Zhan Yan, but both sets of eyes landed on Gu Jiancheng.

Safe? The energy on the protective talismans the two of them had given him was almost depleted!

When Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming first felt the talisman trigger, they were caught between shock and fury. Midway, when they sensed the talisman recovering, they calmed down quite a bit. Although they were still burning with anger, they were no longer overly worried. The talisman being activated was better than a disappearance. At least they could be sure that even though Yan Yan had encountered danger, he was fine now.

But when they noticed the situation here halfway through their flight, the couple was forcefully shocked two more times.

The first was discovering that the area where their youngest son was located had already been encircled by Deep Shadow. Beneath the seemingly tranquil grassland was a bottomless dark abyss.

With Infinite making a move, it was perfectly normal for Deep Shadow to get involved. But his temper was notoriously bad, and both worried that Deep Shadow and Zhan Yan might have come into conflict.

Even if there was no conflict, Deep Shadow wasn’t blind. Seeing the talisman being triggered, he would inevitably notice Zhan Yan.

It was very troublesome.

The fewer people who noticed Yan Yan, the better. If it were anyone else, they could figure out a way—whether through supernatural powers or a mix of threats and bribes—to protect Zhan Yan’s existence.

But the one who discovered him just had to be Deep Shadow. Deep Shadow was incredibly strong, having neither desires nor weaknesses; his only goal was to kill off Infinite. Yet he wasn’t the sort of paranoid, reckless person who would do absolutely anything to achieve his goals. Even during the period when his side effects were at their worst and his personality at its most extreme, Deep Shadow’s behavioral logic remained sharp and decisive.

If Deep Shadow wanted to use Zhan Yan, it would be very difficult for them to restrain him with other methods. The best-case scenario would be persuading Deep Shadow, but if they couldn’t, their only viable option would be to resort to force.

The bigshot Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King had both prepared for battle. Yet, after flying a bit further, they saw their youngest son standing in the center of the abyss, hugging his boyfriend—the very same one they had met last time, who drank six cups of milk tea in one breath.

The couple’s thoughts froze for a second.

What was going on? Was Yan Yan coincidentally with his boyfriend when he encountered danger?

The next second, that polite, shy, and slightly goofy young man raised his eyes and glanced at them. His gaze was profound and dangerous, his arms resting on Yan Yan’s waist and back in an unmistakable posture of protection.

From a hundred miles away, Gu Jiancheng’s gaze locked onto them precisely, causing the couple’s nerves to instantly pull taut.

Deep Shadow!

Violent waves crashed in the hearts of both Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming.

Yan Yan’s boyfriend was Deep Shadow!

But how could that be?

Wasn’t Gu Jiancheng Yan Yan’s classmate? The classmate who had shared a dorm with him since freshman year. The idea of Deep Shadow going to university sounded completely absurd.

But the facts were right in front of them.

The gaze Gu Jiancheng cast over was dangerous and icy only for the first instant; after that, he looked away nonchalantly.

Looking at his expression, it didn’t seem like he was looking at Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King; rather, it was as if he already knew their secret identities—when did he find out?!

Zhan Yunkai was so provoked that he forced his speed up by another ten percent, diving down from thousands of meters in the sky to land beside his youngest son.

After landing, Zhan Yunkai first used his double-pupil divine ability to check Zhan Yan’s condition. Good, no injuries.

Then he looked at Gu Jiancheng, his gaze holding a hint of dissatisfaction. This brat had spotted them ages ago, yet he kept hugging Yan Yan without letting go!

Ji Yueming was also staring at Gu Jiancheng. He and Yan Yan were university classmates, sharing a dorm since their freshman year.

Was he doing it on purpose? Did he come specifically for Yan Yan?

Both of their gazes were extremely guarded. It was as if crackling electrical sparks sounded in the air, the invisible string pulled so taut it felt like it would snap in the next second.

“Ah… Mom, Dad, you’re here.” Zhan Yan gave them an incredibly sweet and well-behaved smile, forcefully ignoring the atmosphere and steering the channel toward a lighthearted, everyday “bringing the boyfriend to meet the parents” scenario.

Seeing him act like this, Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming wanted to both affectionately rub his head and put on a stern face to scare the kid.

Pretending to be so well-behaved—then let go of his hand already!

“Let me introduce you. These are my parents, and this is my boyfriend, Deep Shadow. Let me tell you what just happened first. Also… oh, Mom, have the people from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau arrived? The commotion earlier was a bit loud; my classmate and the staff here all saw it.”

Zhan Yan swiftly glossed over the trickiest part of the introduction—they had all figured out each other’s identities anyway.

It wasn’t that he was intentionally avoiding conflict; it was just that the current situation still had a lot of troublesome matters to deal with. His classmate who had fainted from fright, the veteran staff who were frantically contacting people, and others at a complete loss… the grassland was in chaos right now!

His little schemes were plain as day.

The couple looked at Gu Jiancheng. He didn’t speak or smile; he just looked at them earnestly.

Stripped of that layer of disguise, Gu Jiancheng’s eyes were neither upright and open, nor clear and peaceful. His profound eyes were bottomless. Even a dull ordinary person would sense danger when looking into these unshielded eyes.

But these eyes were indeed sincere. This was perhaps Deep Shadow’s truest state. His danger, the accumulation of his past experiences, the reflection of his obsessions and desires…

No matter the time, an honest soul is always touching, let alone someone like Deep Shadow.

…If only what he desired wasn’t their youngest son.

Zhan Yan was still rambling: “…I was startled. After tossing my classmate onto the motorcycle—the motorcycle my sister gave me—I was just about to get on when I was yanked down by Monster Doctor. My classmate is still unconscious…”

By the looks of it, if they continued to stay silent, he could just keep talking forever.

His mouth wouldn’t rest, and his large eyes were looking at them pitifully.

Ji Yueming’s heart softened first. She contacted people from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau to come handle the situation.

Zhan Yunkai, meanwhile, was sizing up Gu Jiancheng.

When they met last time, he actually hadn’t noticed anything off about Deep Shadow! The Chongming Demon King once again began to doubt his own eyesight.

Looking at Deep Shadow’s current attire, he was wearing a standard-sized work uniform and clumsy, heavy black rainboots. The boots still clung to the smell of the cowshed; at a glance, it was obvious he had been doing serious manual labor.

It wasn’t their fault for failing to guess Gu Jiancheng’s identity. Who would have thought that Deep Shadow would actually go intern in a cowshed?

Forget it, time to focus on business first.

Infinite had drawn way too much aggro. Seeing Deep Shadow stealing away their youngest son didn’t even make them that angry in comparison right now.

What was going on with Infinite and Monster Doctor, and how Yan Yan was discovered, were the most important things. As for what was going on between him and Deep Shadow, that could wait until they finished dealing with this.

Zhan Yan acted incredibly well-behaved: “…Cough, should we move to a different spot first?”

Zhan Yunkai: “No need.”

Ji Yueming: “We still need to lock down the area in a bit.”

Zhan Yunkai: “Keep explaining how you encountered Monster Doctor.”

Zhan Yan: “Oh… After he pulled me down, I entered the Black Nest. Inside the Black Nest…”

Before he could finish speaking, the air suddenly distorted.

A pale blue hexagonal magic circle appeared out of thin air right next to Zhan Yan, and Zhan Suiru materialized amidst the scattered fluorescence.

She had come over directly using her spiritual energy and the channel to the Dawn World. This type of teleportation was faster than other methods. However, Monster Doctor had specifically targeted and blocked her earlier, causing her to take some time to break free.

The talisman Zhan Suiru gave Zhan Yan had a function that automatically sent her his location and data upon being triggered. In just a fleeting moment, more than half of the energy in the protective barrier had been drained.

What on earth did Infinite do to her brother?!

Zhan Suiru was worried sick. Teleporting over using the location data, she grabbed hold of Zhan Yan—the closest to her—from the snow-like fluorescence before she could even see the situation clearly.

“Yan Yan, are you okay? Where is Deep Shadow? Why did he…”

The teleportation ended, and the pale blue fluorescence dispersed. Catching sight of her parents, Zhan Suiru’s words ground to an abrupt halt.

Ji Yueming: “So, you also knew that your brother was dating long ago, right?”

Zhan Suiru: …

“Ah… well…”

How did this fire suddenly spread to me?