GRMFBS CH36

“I’m off.” Zhan Yan waved goodbye with a cheerful smile.

After parting ways with Zhan Yan, Gu Jiancheng let out a breath and gently pressed his temple. After a while, his thumb couldn’t help but brush the corner of his lips again.

The familiar, dull pain started to resurface once he was away from Zhan Yan.

Gu Jiancheng had gotten used to it. Compared to before he met Zhan Yan, the aftereffects had improved a lot—just a bit of headache and insomnia now. With that essential oil, he didn’t even have trouble sleeping. Back when it was at its worst, he could still hide it well enough that no one could tell, so there was no reason he couldn’t endure it now.

But every time he just parted from Zhan Yan, his tolerance seemed to drop drastically.

That essential oil helped Gu Jiancheng a lot. But more than that, it filled him with unease.

Zhan Yan had gotten it from who knows where. He’d already come into contact with the supernatural world—and it was a part that even Gu Jiancheng wasn’t familiar with.

That gave him an overwhelming sense of loss of control.

When Zhan Yan was still just an ordinary person, he could protect him. But once Zhan Yan stepped into the world of the extraordinary, Gu Jiancheng couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be accidents.

He had thought about hiding part of his own ability in Zhan Yan’s shadow—this way, he could protect him.

But that wouldn’t work. His ability, having devoured so many anomalies, had already been tainted with some abnormal traits. It might not carry corruption, but since Zhan Yan was blessed with auspicious fortune, Gu Jiancheng feared that his powers might affect him negatively.

Agitated, Gu Jiancheng ground his heel into the floor a couple of times, then called Wan Shitong: “Any anomalies nearby?”

Wan Shitong: “…Boss, Yunjin City was just swept clean by the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.”

Gu Jiancheng: “Useless.”

Wan Shitong: …Why am I getting scolded for this?

It’s not like it’s his fault!

Zhan Yan came home still smiling.

“Had fun at work?” Zhan Suiru looked at him like he was some rare specimen.

“Quit, actually. School starts next week—I’m not that much of a workaholic.” Zhan Yan leaned in. “What are you watching?”

His sister was sitting cross-legged on the couch, scrolling through her phone with a mysterious smile on her face—definitely gossip.

Hearing him, Zhan Suiru gave him a very peculiar expression. “Come look!”

Zhan Yan leaned over and saw that the gossip was… about him.

After that perverted manager who had investigated their dad was arrested, fans of the victimized celebrities celebrated and then started wondering how the whole thing came to light in the first place. That led them back to the video of Zhan Yunkai being confronted.

Zhan Yunkai had still been holding a grocery bag in the footage, clearly a victim of personal-life stalking too.

Then they noticed Zhan Yan yelling in the video. At first, they thought he might be someone in the industry, so people started asking who that curly-haired young guy was. But after looking around and not finding anything, they realized he was probably a civilian.

So then the fans collectively told everyone to stop digging.

They were grateful, sure, but they didn’t want to invade a civilian’s privacy—otherwise, they’d be no better than Pan Mi.

Most of the fans were decent and called it off quickly, so it didn’t really affect Zhan Yan’s life.

Now they were all going to Zhan Yunkai’s Weibo to thank him—and while they were at it, they decided to boost his rankings on the charts.

“What does ‘boost rankings’ mean?” Ji Yueming came over curiously.

Zhan Yan only half-understood it. He didn’t usually care much about celebrity gossip, only paid some attention because of his dad.

Zhan Suiru explained: basically, it’s participating in competitions or polls to push someone’s popularity to the top of the rankings.

Those fan groups had picked a contest that didn’t overlap with their own idol’s schedule and sent Zhan Yunkai right to the front.

Now that she got it, Ji Yueming happily went off to scroll through the rankings.

As for the whole “Zhan Yunkai is famous now” thing—it didn’t really impact the family much. The worst was that he couldn’t go buy groceries in person for a while, and had to wear a mask when going out in the summer. Everyone else’s personal info was still well-hidden, so they had their freedom.

Zhan Yunkai didn’t mind the heat, but he wasn’t thrilled about sneaking around like a thief. Bored at home, he started spending more time on the supernatural forums, getting absorbed in online sleuthing.

What he was most invested in lately? Approaching Science.

There were quite a few demon species in the Wen Yao League that were good at tracking, but none were good enough.

“Ten Thousand Mile Tracker,” “Circular Light Retrospect,” “Heart Listening Technique”… those arts and divine powers weren’t bad, but still not quite there.

The most adept beast at information-gathering in this world was already gone.

Same with the Abnormla Affairs Management Bureau—they had information-based espers too, some network-based, some with odd powers like appraisal, but still not enough.

Both sides lacked top-tier info-based espers, and that had led to plenty of friction.

He wondered what kind of relationship Approaching Science had with the other side. Was there any chance of getting him to join the Wen Yao League?

Zhan Yunkai reached out to Luowang to ask.

Luowang: emmm… it’s not that there’s no progress, but we’re stuck on taking the next step.

She often enjoyed gossiping with Approaching Science, but every time she hinted about joining an organization or faction, she got rejected.

Zhan Yan: Don’t mess with me, I’m just a regular gossip-loving civilian. I want nothing to do with your supernatural drama.

That made things harder.

Zhan Yunkai thought for a moment and asked, “Does he want anything?”

Approaching Science was his fan—if he had a small, reasonable wish, Zhan Yunkai would totally fulfill it.

Luowang thought about it and realized… maybe he did.

Luowang: Approaching Science has never spent any points, but he’s super enthusiastic about taking missions.

If he was stockpiling points, that meant he wanted something—but didn’t have enough yet!

Zhan Yunkai had Luowang open a shared screen, then used her DM to ask Approaching Science directly.

Geez, if he’s saved up this many points without spending them, whatever he wants must be super rare and valuable. Like maybe… a bronze sculpture of a Chongming blessed personally by the Chongming King himself…

If he’s willing to join the Wen Yao League, they could totally gift him one.

Does the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau have such great benefits? Hah!

After chatting with his sister, Zhan Yan returned to his room. While casually scrolling through the forum, he saw a message from Luowang asking why he had been saving up his points without spending them.

Zhan Yan had gotten pretty familiar with Luowang by now, so he answered frankly:

“I’m saving up to exchange for the Tianshi’s thunder talisman.”

Luowang stared at the chat window he was sharing with the Chongming King. Uh…

Zhan Yunkai: ?!!

You’re actually a fan of the Tianshi from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau??

Weren’t you supposed to be my fan?!

Zhan Yunkai’s overflowing affection for his little fan was instantly doused with a bucket of cold water. The fact that Luowang was still watching made him feel even worse.

What’s so great about the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau?!

What’s so admirable about the Tianshi?!

What’s so powerful about thunder talismans?!

His feather talismans were awesome too!!

No, wait—don’t jump to conclusions. Maybe “Approaching Science” just needed a thunder-element talisman, so he set his sights on the Tianshi’s version?

Zhan Yunkai used Luowang’s chat interface to send another message.

Luowang: “Do you need a thunder-element talisman for some reason?”

Approaching Science: “No, I just need a strong protective talisman.”

Luowang: “Then why specifically the Tianshi’s thunder talisman? Thunder is violent by nature—not really suitable for protection.”

Whereas his own Chongming Bird feather talismans were on another level! He was a divine bird known since ancient times for protecting all living beings. His aura could ward off all evil, and his divine light could pierce through all illusions! No one was more suited to provide protection!

Approaching Science: “But lightning is cool.”

But lightning is cool.

Cool.

Cool.

Zhan Yunkai’s illusion-piercing eyes stared intently at those words.

Confirmed.

Approaching Science was a fan of the Tianshi!

What’s so great about the Tianshi!

He closed the shared screen.

Not reading this anymore!

Done!

Zhan Yan chatted with Luowang for a bit more before “JustSavedtheWorld!” forwarded him a mission link, asking if he could take it on.

A lot of the missions on the forum were composite-type. The one Deep Shadow forwarded him was just that—the mission required clearing out an anomaly in a certain area, but the poster didn’t know exactly where the anomaly was located.

That meant they needed an information-type supernatural to first locate the anomaly before someone could clear it.

Deep Shadow said if Approaching Science could pinpoint the location, he’d go clean it up, and they could split the reward.

Sounds good!

Zhan Yan couldn’t take on this kind of composite mission before—he had no ability to deal with anomalies. But now, teaming up with Deep Shadow, he was opening up a whole new lane!

Zhan Yan settled on the profit split with him, dug through his “Gossip System,” sent the info over, and then just had to wait for the money to come in.

With time to spare, Zhan Yan continued digging through Yunjin City’s supernatural factions via the Gossip System. That long-term mission could also earn him another payday with Deep Shadow!

Lately, because he had been frequently digging through that mission, the “Organization” energy bar on his information panel filled up once, earning him a little star.

[You’ve been buffed—go get ‘em! …Go eat?]

The little star didn’t grant any flashy powers—it just boosted his gossip-hunting abilities. For example, previously when checking Deep Shadow’s gossip threads, he could only go back two years. Now, he could dig three years back.

After a while, Zhan Yan got tired of digging. He patted his stomach—using the gossip system burned brainpower and sugar. He was hungry.

He shut the system and went downstairs to find himself a late-night snack.

At that hour, his sister was already off on her beauty sleep, so Zhan Yan quietly closed the door and tiptoed down to the kitchen.

The small commotion sounded like a mouse rummaging around to the still-awake Zhan Yunkai, who got up to check it out.

Ji Yueming hadn’t gone to bed yet either and asked, “What’s up?”

“I heard a noise outside. Gonna take a look,” Zhan Yunkai replied.

Ji Yueming heard the sound too and figured it was Zhan Yan. Guessing he was just hungry again, she thought, If Lao Zhan ends up cooking something, I might snag a bite too, and said:

“Go ahead.”

Zhan Yunkai stepped out and saw his younger son rummaging through the fridge.

“Hungry, Yan Yan?”

“Dad, did I wake you up?” Zhan Yan asked sheepishly, holding half a bowl of leftover red dates from a stew. “I’ll be quieter—go back to sleep.”

Zhan Yunkai looked at his obedient son and felt all warm inside. He rolled up his sleeves and said, “It’s fine—I wasn’t asleep anyway. What do you want to eat? Daddy’ll make it for you!”

Zhan Yan’s eyes lit up: “Anything’s good! I’m craving something sweet!”

Zhan Yunkai rummaged through the fridge and decided to stir-fry some sweet corn kernels.

Zhan Yan never held back on praising his family. Every few minutes it was “Dad, everything you cook is delicious!” or “Dad, I love you!”—he had Zhan Yunkai grinning from ear to ear.

So what if one fake fan liked the Tianshi? Who cares? His Yan Yan was still the best!

Feeling extra happy, Zhan Yunkai upgraded the corn to sweet-and-sour pork. Watching his youngest enjoy the food so much made him incredibly satisfied, and he even plated up a portion to take back to his wife.