GRMFBS CH32

Jian Yan looked at Wen Yinghui again, his expression now indescribably complicated.  

The tough guy was gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, too preoccupied to notice Jian Yan’s gaze.  

Jian Yan soon excused himself.  

Wen Yinghui managed a stiff nod.  

Matthias whispered, “Yan, what are we doing now?”  

“We’re going to steal a money tree,” Jian Yan said.  

Matthias: “???”  

Of course, they weren’t actually stealing. Jian Yan found a landscaping company and paid them to swap the money tree spirit with an ordinary one.  

In large companies with many plants, maintenance was usually outsourced to professional firms. Wen Yinghui had exploited this to pour boiling water into his rival’s money tree.  

The money tree spirit, now safely extracted, sat smugly in its pot, waiting to be watered and pampered.  

Jian Yan tried a few methods from the forum, but to his muggle eyes, the spirit remained just a plant.  

[Sometimes, knowing when to quit is an art.]  

Jian Yan quit. He opened the gossip system instead.  

[Money Tree Spirit: What’s this curly-haired kid fussing about? Staring at me like that—what, never seen a handsome tree before? Hmph! Unless… Wait, is he one of those rare humans who appreciates my majestic posture, emerald leaves, and elegant silhouette?]  

[Money Tree Spirit: But can this kid even take care of plants? The water here’s terrible. If he dares use tap water on me… Ugh! Such amateurish care doesn’t deserve my beauty!]  

[Money Tree Spirit: And what’s that dumb foreigner doing with scissors? If he dares trim my leaves haphazardly, I’m moving out tonight! But not before breaking his legs!]  

Jian Yan silently turned to look at Matthias, who was holding gardening shears.  

“Put. Those. Down.”  

Matthias set the shears on the table. “Yan, its leaf pattern looks just like the gym guy’s rashes.”  

[Money Tree Spirit: What nonsense is this idiot spouting?]  

Jian Yan ushered Matthias out of the room.  

Matthias blinked his gray-green eyes pitifully. “Yan, can’t I stay?”  

Jian Yan refused firmly.  

The money tree spirit, likely bored from being stuck in a pot all day, had endless mental commentary.  

[Money Tree Spirit: Tonight, I’ll check if that boiling-water-pouring moron’s wounds are healing. If they are, I’ll whack him with my leaves again!  

…  

Jian Yan scrolled back. The spirit wasn’t registered with the Demon Alliance or the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs. It was weak—stronger beings wouldn’t pretend to be potted plants—and while its thoughts were lively, its actions were harmless.  

Overall, a safe little monster.  

Jian Yan decided negotiation was possible.  

He looked at the money tree spirit. “What you’re doing violates the Bureau’s regulations.”  

The tree’s leaves instantly bristled.  

[Money Tree Spirit: SNITCHES GET STITCHES!]  

Seeing how easily the spirit panicked at the mere mention of rules, Jian Yan sat cross-legged in front of it, ready to negotiate. “Not snitching. Let’s talk.”  

The spirit was wary, its thoughts racing with guesses about his identity. It hadn’t cultivated enough to speak—plant spirits lacked vocal structures—so it could only project faint mental waves.  

[You can’t sense the money tree spirit’s telepathy. Thankfully, you have the gossip system.]  

[Money Tree Spirit: “Talk about what?”]  

Jian Yan: “Can you actually boost wealth?”  

[Money Tree Spirit: “Of course I can!”]  

[Money Tree Spirit: Obviously NOT! If I could, I’d have scammed some rich CEO into building me a custom tree pit! With mountain spring water! Cow manure fertilizer! Daily ventilation! Perfect sunlight—shade when too bright, grow lights when too dim! Heating in winter, AC in summer!  

Got it. No need to consider relocating this fraudulent tree to his mom’s company.  

Jian Yan: “Want a rich CEO to build you a custom tree pit? With mountain spring water, cow manure fertilizer, daily ventilation, perfect sunlight—shade when too bright, grow lights when too dim, heating in winter, AC in summer?”  

The spirit paused, first tempted, then suspicious.  

How does he know what I want?!  

“I can introduce you to a rich CEO,” Jian Yan coaxed.  

The spirit wavered.  

[Money Tree Spirit: “You… what do you mean?”]  

Jian Yan recommended Wen Yinghui.  

[Money Tree Spirit tried to hop in outrage (but failed): “I haven’t killed that boiling-water-pouring idiot yet!”]  

Jian Yan: “Think about it. He poured boiling water on you because he believes in your power!”  

The spirit’s mental cursing halted.  

“Where else will you find a CEO who trusts you this much?”  

“Cure his ‘illness,’ send him a dream, and that custom tree pit is yours.”  

[Money Tree Spirit: “He could’ve waged corporate warfare without attacking me! If I weren’t a spirit, my roots would’ve been scalded to death!”]  

“Mountain spring water. Cow manure fertilizer—”  

[Money Tree Spirit: “That’s not the point! A plant’s roots are—”]  

“Shade when too bright. Grow lights when too dim—”  

[Money Tree Spirit: “But—but—”]  

“Heating in winter. AC in summer?”  

The spirit fell silent.  

Jian Yan: “Once he believes in your power, he’ll apologize and compensate you properly.”  

The money tree spirit reluctantly agreed. “If he does all that, I’ll spare him.”  

Jian Yan messaged Wen Yinghui, offering to gift him a money tree for a speedy recovery.  

Wen Yinghui found it odd—money tree for health?—but still gave his home address. Jian Yan arranged delivery, leaving the rest to the spirit. It could handle its own haunting.  

Jian Yan spent a few leisurely days in Chu’nan City, blissfully sleeping in.  

Matthias was dying of curiosity, but Jian Yan couldn’t explain. Why pour boiling water on a money tree? was already a ridiculous starting point.  

So Jian Yan ignored him.  

Bored in his hotel room, he revisited the Supernatural Forum.  

After clearing his inbox, he saw Luowang had assigned him a task two days ago—but he’d missed it. He asked if it was still available.  

While waiting for a reply, he checked other messages. Huh? Why so many intel requests?  

A quick forum browse revealed the reason: Fang Pai had advertised for him! The post was made the night after learning the truth. Had he processed everything that fast?  

Fang Pai hadn’t DM’d him, only publicly thanked him for solving a long-standing problem.  

At the very least, he and Hacker hadn’t fought.  

The post had sparked debate. Fang Pai and Hacker were both high-ranked, and when the daily leaderboard updated, people noticed Fang Pai’s points hadn’t decreased despite claiming Approaching Science completed his task.  

Some argued rewards could be items, techniques, or favors—not just points.  

But others spotted that Hacker had dropped five ranks the day before Fang Pai’s post—his points plummeted.  

Since Fang Pai had originally sought Hacker’s help, the timing fueled speculation.  

Most were just here for the drama.  

Jian Yan was impressed.  

These people dig deep!  

But with so little to go on, let them guess. If anyone got it right, it’d be pure luck.  

By the time he finished reading, Luowang had replied.  

The missed task was already completed, but Luowang assigned him a new one:  

A young leopard demon had befriended a regular leopard while wandering. Though not a spirit, the regular leopard was exceptionally smart and strong—potential to cultivate. They’d lived together for a while until the leopard demon confessed feelings—and the regular leopard vanished.  

The demon, fearing the worst, spent all his savings on a search mission.  

Jian Yan examined the attached photo: a black leopard, sleek and golden-eyed, standing beside a spotted leopard with amber eyes and tear marks, gazing melancholically at the camera.  

Approaching Science: “Looking for the spotted one?”  

Luowang: “The black one. The spotted one is the leopard demon.”  

Approaching Science: “.”  

The black leopard had no name, so Jian Yan searched using the demon’s—Ying Piao, “heroic and swift”).  

Minutes later.  

Approaching Science: “Does he know the black leopard is male?”  

Luowang: “…Probably?”  

Surely a leopard demon can tell genders?  

But no one said Ying Piao was gay?  

Luowang went to ask.  

The leopard demon, anxiously awaiting updates, replied instantly.  

He hadn’t noticed. “A-Hei was tall, young, and handsome—I didn’t check his gender.”  

Ying Piao lamented: “No wonder he disappeared. Did my confession scare him? If I’d known he was male, I wouldn’t have been so blunt.”  

Jian Yan thought gender wasn’t the only issue. Naming him A-Hei (“Little Black”) wasn’t exactly romantic.  

He kept scrolling through the gossip logs—then choked.  

Approaching Science: “That black leopard isn’t named A-Hei.”  

“His name is Jules Grantham.”  

Luowang: “?”  

Wild leopards don’t have human names. A-Hei was just a placeholder. What kind of name is Jules Grantham?  

Luowang: “Is that black leopard a foreign leopard spirit?”

Approaching Science: “No. He’s a foreign druid who didn’t understand local customs and wanted to find a contract beast.”  

The information density was a bit much. Luowang needed a moment to process.  

Luowang: “…Oh. Right. Animals rarely gain sentience abroad.”  

Spiritual energy varied by region, affecting lifeforms differently—like how colder climates bred higher nose bridges and hotter areas darker skin tones.  

In the East, humans cultivated spellcraft, while flora and fauna evolved into yao. Overseas, paths diverged—magic, vampirism, lycanthropy—with wild creatures occasionally mutating but rarely gaining sapience, remaining merely stronger beasts.  

Druids were a human superhuman lineage attuned to nature, capable of shapeshifting and contracting beasts for mutual growth. Jules likely mistook Ying Piao for an exceptionally intelligent, powerful wild specimen—prime contract material.  

Luowang couldn’t help but pity the young leopard demon, who was still frantically asking about A-Hei.  

…For about 30 seconds. Then he bluntly relayed the truth.  

You wanted romance. He wanted a pet.  

What a tragic mismatch.  

Luowang: “What about Jules? How’d he react?”  

This wasn’t part of the task, but Jian Yan didn’t mind spilling the tea.  

Approaching Science: “Fled in terror that night, never shapeshifted back into a leopard.”  

Hence why Ying Piao couldn’t find him—a druid’s human form carried a different scent.  

Luowang: “What a disastrous first love.”  

Approaching Science: “Not necessarily. Druid contracts are exclusive—lifelong bonds based on strength, compatibility, and synergy. They call their partners ‘other halves.’”  

From the gossip logs, Jules had been agonizing too. He’d genuinely felt a connection with the leopard, hence the extended companionship in beast form. He’d hoped for a kindred spirit—not a crush.  

It was hard to say who was more unlucky.  

Approaching Science: “If he still wants to contact Jules after processing this, he can find me.”  

“No charge.”  

“Or he could just stake out their last meeting spot.”  

“Maybe Jules will cave first and come back.”  

Luowang: “Got it.”  

“One more thing.”  

Approaching Science: “What?”  

Luowang: “What’s the deal between you, Fang Pai, and Hacker? Can you share?”  

The forum’s point rankings only showed the top 100, so no one saw Hacker’s missing points transfer directly to Approaching Science.  

If they had, the speculation would’ve been wild.  

But points were just forum currency—transfers were trackable by moderators.  

Luowang was also nibbling on this drama.  

Approaching Science: “No. Client confidentiality.”  

After shutting down Luowang’s gossip cravings, Jian Yan cleared his flooded inbox, deleting low-effort messages and keeping only task offers.  

Even then, the volume was overwhelming. He couldn’t accept all, so he prioritized interesting or valuable ones.  

Then, a wanted notice caught his eye.  

A triple bounty—issued by the Bureau, Demon Alliance, and Chaofu Mountain. This guy had serious clout!  

Jian Yan opened it.  

No image, just a silhouette.  

No name, just a codename: Deep Shadow.  

This puzzled him.  

The forum’s bounty board publicly listed wanted targets—so why hadn’t he seen this one?  

He checked again. Nothing.  

Were triple bounties not top 100 material?  

Unless… hidden listings?  

Jian Yan eyed the sender’s username:  

“JustSavedTheWorld!”  

Why did that sound familiar?  

Oh! The gossip log he’d seen before joining the forum:  

[JustSavedTheWorld! was forcibly logged out of the youth-mode Supernatural Forum for exceeding the 2-hour limit without real-name verification.]  

Tsk tsk. The username and drama were a perfect match. Peak edgy teen.  

But the familiarity didn’t end there. Jian Yan pulled up the point rankings—JustSavedTheWorld! sat at #6.  

This cringelord was a top-tier user. Unlikely to prank him with a fake bounty.  

So the notice was real.  

Hidden bounties… Jian Yan recalled the gossip logs about Zhenke News Agency’s hiring difficulties:  

Ordinary minds couldn’t withstand anomalous information.  

Honestly, Jian Yan still didn’t fully grasp what that meant. He’d been gorging on supernatural gossip daily with zero issues. The other day, he’d been drained, but that was from early workouts…  

A new message auto-pinned itself in his inbox.  

Ling Yu: “Any new gibberish anomalies lately?”  

Approaching Science: “No.”  

While replying, Jian Yan searched the gossip system. Why was Ling Yu reaching out? New developments?  

The logs revealed:  

Ling Yu had noticed his absence and worried he’d been corrupted by anomalous info.  

Watching Ling Yu awkwardly fish for small talk, Jian Yan cut to the chase.  

Approaching Science: “My mental state’s fine.”  

“What does anomalous info corruption look like?”  

—  

On the other end, Nie Yu had just finished the Bureau’s routine mental contamination screening, exhausted.  

She glared at this obnoxiously privileged question. “Ugh!”  

Nie Ling, sprawled on the couch recovering from his screening, lazily asked, “What’s wrong?”  

Nie Yu: “I tried checking on Approaching Science’s mental state with some basic screening questions. He asked me what info corruption feels like!”  

Mental degradation from info pollution was common among info-types—manageable if caught early. Thus, mental resilience was a core competency.  

If an info-type hadn’t suffered corruption, it only meant they were too weak to access hazardous intel!  

Approaching Science had touched tainted data—the unnamed anomaly he’d reported carried corruptive properties. Nie Yu and Nie Ling’s screenings had been moved up because of it.  

How dare he ask what it feels like?! Had he never experienced it?!  

Grumbling, Nie Yu forwarded the Bureau’s info corruption guide.  

Jian Yan thanked her and skimmed it.  

The gossip logs had shown symptoms—dizziness, nausea, hallucinations, even psychosis—but lacked detailed explanations.  

The Bureau’s materials, though sanitized, were comprehensive.  

Approaching Science: “Do you have a classified bounty list?”  

Nie Yu straightened.  

Ling Yu: “Who told you that?”  

Approaching Science: “Guess.”  

“Some anomalies are too corruptive—their bounties become hazards.”  

“I assume those are restricted to qualified personnel?”  

Nie Yu forwarded this to Deputy Director Ning Xi.  

Approaching Science was already on Ning Xi’s radar. This wasn’t her call to make. If he insisted on tangling with the control freak, so be it.  

Soon, Ning Xi’s orders arrived: “Send him this test. Passing grants bounty access.”  

Hidden bounties did require clearance—but not usually via remote quizzes.  

Nie Yu peeked at the “test.”  

Whoa! This wasn’t a mental stability exam—it was a disguised profiling tool!  

If Approaching Science completed this, Ning Xi would dissect his identity in no time.  

Nie Yu, thrilled by the impending drama, sent it over.  

Minutes later.  

Approaching Science: “Hah.”  

“I’ll ask Luowang.”  

Nie Yu: “…Deputy Director, you blew it!”  

—  

Jian Yan didn’t get clearance from Luowang, only confirmation that Deep Shadow was indeed triple-listed.  

Mental contamination screenings were complex—remote tests were unreliable without long-term trust.  

A corrupted superhuman was far deadlier than a tainted ordinary person.  

Approaching Science: “Are all hidden bounties contaminants?”  

Luowang: “Not necessarily. Suspected severe hazards are also restricted.”  

So why had JustSavedTheWorld! sent him this bounty? Trust in his mental fortitude? Or certainty it was safe?  

Jian Yan checked the gossip logs.  

[JustSavedTheWorld! forwarded his own bounty to you.]  

Jian Yan couldn’t comprehend. Jian Yan was stunned.  

What is wrong with him?!