GRMFBS CH296

Zhan Suiru had rushed over in too great a hurry and hadn’t had time to change yet, still dressed in the disguise she previously used as the “Artisan”.

Ji Yueming had already seen this getup, but this was the first time Zhan Yunkai had ever seen his daughter dressed like this.

A black hat, black trench coat, black suit, black trousers, paired with black boots—one couldn’t tell her gender, and even her voice was masked into a neutral tone using an item. This outfit couldn’t be called ugly; it was just… very mysterious, very unique, and very suited for appearing at the sort of cosplay conventions the Nine-Tailed Demon King once mentioned. Dashing, yet distinctly chuunibyou.

Had Yueming not called out her identity, he wouldn’t even have recognized her as his daughter at first glance.

Under her father’s sweeping scrutiny, Zhan Suiru only then realized she was still wearing her disguise and couldn’t help but stiffen slightly. She felt the exact embarrassment of secretly trying to act cool, only to be caught red-handed by a parent.

And then there was her mother’s gaze… which carried a guilty sense of: “Sigh, my daughter is all grown up now, keeping little secrets and telling her mother nothing.”

Zhan Yan chimed in: “Um, the amulets were almost completely drained because they traced the spiritual imprint sister found and took down all of Monster Doctor’s split avatars.”

He forcefully shifted the topic back to serious business.

Zhan Suiru: Younger brother is still the best after all!

Zhan Yunkai cast a spell. All the machinery on the pasture ground ground to a halt. The divine Chongming bird had been venerated by mortals since antiquity to grant protection. As the divine technique descended, the panicked crowds paused where they stood, each closing their eyes with calm, peaceful expressions. As long as no one disturbed them, they would remain immersed in this tranquil state for a while, providing plenty of time for the people from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau to arrive.

Zhan Yan continued: “…And then I came out of the black nest…”

Serious business was paramount, serious business was paramount!

Zhan Suiru listened obediently.

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming quietly watched Zhan Yan, their gazes clearly conveying: We know what you’re doing; we’re just choosing not to expose it.

Zhan Yan blinked, his expression just as unmistakably signaling back: I know you know what I’m doing, yet you still didn’t expose me. Mom and Dad are the best, I’m so touched!

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming: … Who could possibly resist their youngest son acting so obedient and adorable? Forget it, forget it.

Yet as the explanation of serious business progressed, it inevitably led to Deep Shadow’s sudden appearance and why he had laid down a layer of the Sea of Shadows beneath the grassland.

Gu Jiancheng hadn’t retracted his Sea of Shadows even now.

“There are no traces of Infinite; it looks like Monster Doctor acted alone,” Gu Jiancheng stated.

When discussing business, his demeanor was entirely solemn, laying out what he had discovered, what he hadn’t, and all his suspicions and deductions with crystal clarity. Looking at that face alone, the atmosphere seemed about to be dragged into a serious conference room by him. However, down below, the hand laced fingers-interlocked with Zhan Yan’s refused to let go.

Zhan Suiru watched on with immense admiration. You’re something else, daring to hold younger brother’s hand so brazenly right in front of Mom and Dad.

Mid-sentence, Gu Jiancheng suddenly paused. He looked down toward the shadows beneath his feet.

“Lin Yuan is here.”

Zhan Jinli had been worried nearly out of his mind the entire journey.

Now that his divine abilities were restored, he could sense the state of the Ghost King Seal he had left behind. All the energy accumulated within it had been nearly exhausted! What on earth was targeting Yan Yan?

The depletion of the Ghost King Seal amulet’s power had halted, but only a final sliver of strength remained. If another formidable anomaly attacked Yan Yan right now, he feared the Ghost King Seal wouldn’t be able to protect his younger brother.

While rushing over to rescue him, Zhan Jinli had been constantly sending messages to his brother, but there had been no reply, nor would calls connect.

That Ghost King Seal amulet was crafted when his divine abilities were still incomplete, so it lacked perfection. Under depleted energy conditions, vulnerabilities could easily arise. His younger brother wasn’t answering the phone even now—could something have happened to him?

Zhan Jinli took the Nether Path whenever one was available, and traversed the Yang Realm when none existed. During the final stretch after reaching Tailin Gao City heading toward the grasslands, he traveled along the Nether Path.

The exits of the Nether Path all lay within the shadows of the mortal world. The shadow of a cloud, the shadow of a single grain of sand—human realms rarely lacked shadows. Yet, when Zhan Jinli arrived at that grassland pasture, he discovered the exit was completely blocked.

It wasn’t that the pasture lacked shadows, but rather that every shadow had merged into a singular sea, and the entire sea of shadows had been marked by someone. It displayed dominance over the territory with absolute overbearance and force—This place is Deep Shadow’s turf.

Zhan Jinli: ??? What does this have to do with you, Deep Shadow? Don’t tell me you’re the one harming my brother?!

Just as the Lord Ghost King was about to force his way through, he sensed a shift in the shadows before him as they parted to clear a passage.

Zhan Jinli breathed a slight sigh of relief. Good, good; by the looks of it, it wasn’t Deep Shadow. Deep Shadow’s sequelae had already healed, and their interactions a while back were quite pleasant. Although his taste in gourmet anime was a bit peculiar, he had helped retrieve Di Ting’s single horn later on. In fact, Zhan Jinli still owed Deep Shadow a favor.

It seemed Deep Shadow had noticed the anomaly here and arrived in the nick of time; his younger brother should be safe.

Over the short span of his journey, Zhan Jinli had visualized what he might find upon emerging countless times. Perhaps his younger brother was unharmed, but as an ordinary mortal, he would inevitably be startled by suddenly witnessing supernatural phenomena. Anomalies came in all shapes and horrors; his brother might merely be startled, or he might have been scared out of his wits. Deep Shadow wasn’t a patient man—if his brother turned to him for help, would Deep Shadow snap at him? Or perhaps his brother was slightly injured, and it was Deep Shadow’s timely arrival that prevented the Ghost King Seal amulet from being completely drained. He and Deep Shadow were on decent terms now; for the sake of the Ghost King Seal, he surely wouldn’t treat his brother harshly, right?

Tossing all sorts of chaotic thoughts around in his mind, Zhan Jinli broke directly out of the Nether Path.

At that moment, Zhan Yan and Gu Jiancheng were still standing side by side, holding hands. Facing them were the transformed Zhan Yunkai and the still-masked Ji Yueming. To the west stood Zhan Suiru, and the emerging Zhan Jinli just happened to fill the opening to the east.

Ghost King Lin Yuan, clad in gold-patterned black robes, drifted into appearance amidst chilling, solemn yin energy. Yet no sooner had this cold, imposing figure manifested with surging ghostly energy than he froze completely in place.

Zhan Jinli’s burning, anxious heart turned completely numb at the sight.

Wasn’t that man beside his brother his classmate? Why were they holding hands? Where had Deep Shadow gone? Why was Rong Sui here? Why had Tianshi come as well? And most terrifying of all: was that his father standing next to Tianshi?!

Although he looked somewhat different from his usual father—much more handsome, with long hair refracting rosy twilight under the sun, an exquisite countenance and awe-inspiring presence. The features were clearly his father’s, but that aura… that was unmistakably Chongming Demon King!

His brother looked like he was unharmed. The classmate in work clothes holding his hand didn’t seem simple either. Why would Dad be Chongming Demon King? For real? He’d never heard that the divine Chongming bird was exceptionally skilled at cooking. …

Countless pieces of information and questions whipped through Zhan Jinli’s mind like a rapid-fire screen barrage. He stood there completely motionless, utterly silent. Having played the role of a socially anxious person for so long, he felt as if he genuinely suffered from a speech impediment at this moment.

Seeing his brother unresponsive for so long, Zhan Yan grew a little worried. Could his brother have frozen up and crashed?

Zhan Suiru was kind enough to speak: “Everything’s fine now, don’t worry.” Of course, she had already switched off the voice-altering item.

Zhan Jinli, having just opened his mouth, froze up once more. Why did Rong Sui speak in the exact same voice as his sister?!

An absurd thought sprang up in Zhan Jinli’s heart: Could Rong Sui possibly be his sister? That couldn’t be, right? Hasn’t Rong Sui used the identity of the Artisan for a long time? The magical artifacts custom-made for him were all perfectly normal. But the artistic aesthetic of the sculptures in his sister’s studio was indescribably bizarre. No matter how one looked at it, the two didn’t seem to be made by the same person.

“Ge, calm down first,” Zhan Yan tried to soothe him.

Sigh, talk about poor timing. There had originally been an opportunity to tell his brother in a peaceful setting, but the plan to uncover their secret identities had been interrupted. Now that his brother had come out of seclusion, he ran right into the incident of Zhan Yan being targeted by Monster Doctor. Facing the shock of his entire family’s secret identities in the heat of an emotional rush certainly wouldn’t be easy to swallow.

Zhan Jinli abruptly whipped around toward him. He was currently using the identity of Ghost King Lin Yuan, sporting his appearance from before reincarnation, entirely distinct from the image of “Zhan Jinli.” How had his younger brother recognized him?!

“How did you know…” Zhan Jinli asked halfway before snapping his mouth shut. There were still outsiders present.

Zhan Yan: “Uh…” Shoot, forgot about that detail.

Zhan Jinli didn’t dwell on his brother’s slip-up. His gaze swept over the people present. His brother was awkwardly tugging at the seam of his trousers, looking thoroughly troubled. Rong Sui… Rong Sui had already silently removed her hat, revealing his sister’s bright, striking face. His father… was indeed Chongming Demon King. The double pupils outlined in gold could not be faked.

All that remained was Tianshi and the classmate holding his brother’s hand. His classmate was dressed in rough work clothes, looking like he had been interning at the cattle ranch alongside his brother. Although Tianshi’s character was respectable, relations between the Wan Yao Alliance and the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau were not particularly amicable. Both of these were outsiders; since this involved his father, sister, and brother, it was best not to sort things out in front of strangers. What’s more, there was still Deep Shadow, who knew whether he was lurking somewhere beneath the Sea of Shadows under the grassland.

Though his head was still spinning with confusion, Zhan Jinli had already sorted out his priorities.

He placed a hand on Zhan Yan’s shoulder, sweeping his ghostly energy through him to conduct an inspection. Excellent. By his assessment, his younger brother was as healthy as an ox; barring unforeseen accidents, his brother’s constitution ensured that Zhan Jinli wouldn’t have to worry about meeting him in the Underworld for at least sixty years.

As for the matters regarding his father and sister…

“Let’s leave this place for the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau to handle; we should move elsewhere,” Zhan Jinli said with a distant tone, quite clearly excluding Tianshi.

Ji Yueming found his reaction rather amusing. She silently took off the lightning-pattern mask.

Zhan Jinli: ?!! A seismic earthquake shook his pupils. What in the world was going on here?!

Could it be that he was actually still in secluded cultivation at Mount Chaofu, and an error during the fusion of his divine abilities had produced a inner demon hallucination?

His father was the Wan Yao Alliance’s Chongming Demon King; his mother was the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s Tianshi; his sister was the terrifying apocalyptic boss legend “Lord” Rong Sui—none of them were the ordinary mortals he had assumed them to be. His brother seemed to hold no small secrets either.

There was still one left.

“Deep Shadow…” Zhan Jinli momentarily didn’t even know how to begin asking.

Gu Jiancheng silently turned his head to look at him: “I can’t really be considered an outsider either.”

Zhan Yunkai: … Ji Yueming: … Their hands were itching to hit someone. Both powerhouses fixed their gazes onto Gu Jiancheng, their eyes radiating sheer hostility.

Zhan Suiru looked at Gu Jiancheng with a gaze that said, “You truly are fearless.”

Zhan Jinli first spent two seconds processing the information that “the dorm roommate who went traveling with my brother is actually Deep Shadow,” spent another two seconds pondering what he meant by “can’t be considered an outsider,” and finally fixed his gaze on the hands still linked tightly between him and his brother.

Fingers intertwined. No matter how close best bros were, they never held hands like this.

So…

Zhan Yan whispered softly: “He’s my boyfriend.” There was even a hint of bashfulness.

Zhan Jinli drew in a sharp breath. For some reason, hearing that “Deep Shadow is my brother’s boyfriend” didn’t actually bring him that much shock. Zhan Jinli reflected calmly: it was likely because he had already been overstimulated by the previous revelations.

He once again surveyed everyone present, though this time his gaze was entirely different from the last. Everyone was remarkably calm, showing no signs of being shaken in the slightest. No matter how one looked at it, this was impossible to be a reaction from having just found out.

Zhan Jinli fell silent for a few seconds before asking, “So, you all already knew, and I was the only one in the dark, is that right?”

Ah, well… The entire family guiltily averted their eyes. Everything was said in silence.

Zhan Jinli’s mental state suffered a bit of a collapse. He had only entered secluded cultivation for a brief spell—why had the entire world changed the moment he came out?