GRMFBS CH42

The day before returning to school, Zhan Yan received a delivery. He went to a tea restaurant where he had pre-booked a private room to open the package.

He had agreed to meet Gu Jiancheng here. Since he arrived early, he wanted to check the package first, so he could slap one straight onto Gu Jiancheng when he arrived.

The package was flat, containing only a poker-sized card. This was Fang Pai’s sealing talisman.

Fang Pai had given him a password—like unlocking a phone—that required connecting the symbols on the card’s back in a particular order to activate. Inside were six groups of seals; each time he slapped the card onto someone, one group would be applied.

Foolproof operation! Definitely worth the points he spent on Fang Pai!

Zhan Yan tested it on himself first.

A strand of hair on top of his head, the silver locket on his neck, the elastic band with a charm on his wrist, and the charm on his phone all flashed. Within the card, the Danxiang Seal split into six parts let out an inaudible cracking sound. The sealed power burst out like water surging from a gate, instantly dividing into four streams that were absorbed cleanly as if sucked in by great whales.

Faint, illusionary burping noises seemed to echo in the air.

Come on, whatever anomaly dares appear—my little guys will smash it to dust!

Zhan Yan was totally unaware of this. All he saw was a notification in his Gossip System feed: [You have successfully used the Danxiang Seal Talisman Card.]

All good!

His system feed continued to update:

[Danxiang Seal Talisman Card energy depleted.]

Just then, Gu Jiancheng arrived. Zhan Yan shut the system without noticing the latest message.

Gu Jiancheng handed him a small gift box.

“What’s this?” Zhan Yan asked curiously as he opened it to find a fitness tracker.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to work out? This can monitor your daily activity and physical condition. It’s waterproof—you don’t even have to take it off when showering,” Gu Jiancheng explained.

Of course, the real point was the modification he had arranged afterward. Hidden inside the tracker was a small sealing array that contained a sliver of his own shadow. If the device detected Zhan Yan’s physical condition reaching danger levels, the seal would automatically break open. Normally, the seal stayed dormant and harmless.

Holding it, Zhan Yan felt something odd about the back’s texture. He flipped it over and saw their initials carved into the case.

He looked up at Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng’s eyes were bright, the tips of his ears red.

Zhan Yan smiled as he held out his wrist.

Gu Jiancheng lowered his head to put the tracker on him. Zhan Yan’s wrist was pale and dazzling under the light, the dark blue veins under the skin clearly visible. With his eyes lowered, his expression was unreadable; his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

Zhan Yan grinned, watching him adjust the strap’s tightness.

Ah, now even the tips of his ears were red.

Gu Jiancheng really had been unusually clingy lately. Zhan Yan hadn’t had time all day to check his Gossip System. Before they parted, Zhan Yan slipped the talisman card into his phone case. While hugging Gu Jiancheng, he casually pressed his phone against him—one done!

That evening after getting home, Zhan Yan gave his sister Zhan Suiru a big hug in the living room.

Zhan Sui’s eyes were sharp. While gently stroking her brother’s head during the hug, as soon as she let go, she stared at his wrist and asked, “What are you wearing on your wrist?”

What kind of thing dared to share wrist space with the hair tie she gave him?!

“Bought a fitness tracker,” Zhan Yan replied smoothly, omitting who gave it to him.

Oh—he bought it himself. Fine, then.

Zhan Yan then went to hug his mom and dad one by one. His brother stood in the stairwell’s shadow, watching with dark, unreadable eyes.

“What’s up with Yan Yan today?” Ji Yueming smiled, enjoying her youngest son’s rare affection.

Zhan Yan opened his arms wide to Zhan Jinli and said deliberately, “I’m going back to school tomorrow! You won’t see me for days! Aren’t you going to give me a hug?”

He’d annoyed his brother the other day and was trying to make it up now!

Zhan Yan blinked his big, bright eyes at Zhan Jinli.

Zhan Jinli stood with folded arms, saying nothing.

Zhan Suiru lightly kicked his calf.

Ji Yueming smiled at him. “Jinli—”

Zhan Jinli finally stepped forward and opened his arms, letting Zhan Yan throw himself into a full embrace.

Zhan Yan sneakily pressed his phone against him mid-hug—second one done!—and even clung on for a while longer, tangling and pestering until Zhan Jinli gave in with a helpless pat on the shoulder. Who could stay mad at him like this? Especially when he hadn’t really been angry to begin with.

Zhan Suiru texted Zhan Jinli furiously: [Yan Yan’s being so sweet—what are you still sulking for?]

Zhan Jinli wanted to scoff.

Sweet? Sure, to her! To Mom and Dad, too! But when it came to him—completely different story.

Zhan Yan had loved teasing him since they were kids. With his sister, he’d pull her along on adventures. With him—always poking and bothering.

Zhan Suiru kept typing: [With your terrible temper, you should be thrilled Yan Yan even likes sticking to you!]

When Zhan Yan was little, he’d been afraid of his brother. But after falling sick once and being carried on Zhan Jinli’s back, he’d suddenly wanted to get close. Unfortunately, Zhan Jinli had always been withdrawn and antisocial—silent even when spoken to—which left Zhan Yan frustrated time and time again.

Back then, he hadn’t even been ten years old. He’d been discouraged countless times, but each time he picked himself up and tried again, thinking of new ways to make his brother respond, until teasing him became a habit.

Even Zhan Suiru wondered how he’d managed to stick with it. But Zhan Yan had never given up.

Isn’t it lonely being an older brother all by yourself?

Ji Yueming smiled gently as she watched them separate and ruffled Zhan Yan’s hair. “Stop bullying your brother.”

Zhan Yan let out a cheeky laugh. No way his brother would really get mad at him!

He opened the Gossip System:

[The Danxiang Seal Card’s energy has been depleted.]

Good, all done!

Back in his room, he logged onto the forum and started counting his points.

The six sets of Danxiang Seals had cost him quite a bit—his points were down by more than half.

Ouch… but also satisfying!

Tonight he’d do a few more tasks and earn enough charms for everyone!

Zhan Yan picked a few invitation tasks from his messages. These private commissions usually paid more than the general ones posted in the mission hall. Not just points—connections mattered too! He’d only been able to redeem real-world goods this time because of Fang Pai’s help.

He wasn’t worried about people knowing he was in Yunjin City. When he had the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau handle the No. 1 Code Anomaly, they’d already figured out he was somewhere nearby. Yunjin City was huge, and the surrounding area was packed with various supernatural forces. Plus, with his Gossip System’s info protection, no one could trace him any further.

What he did fear was the Bureau sneaking tracking spells into the package. Even if the Gossip System noticed, he had no way to deal with them. After all, he was a total mundane who couldn’t even open his Yin-Yang Eye =_=

Thankfully, Fang Pai’s sealing technique took care of it.

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau felt so wronged. Ning Xi hadn’t let anyone track him at all.

They were trying to make friends, not offend him to death, okay?

Besides, it was nearly impossible to sneakily track an information-type supernatural without getting caught.

Zhan Yan finished a few tasks and checked his points again.

Ugh… not restoring these spent points was making him uncomfortable!

But these small tasks wouldn’t be enough to make up what he’d spent anytime soon.

Zhan Yan browsed the forum’s Top Ten Unsolved Mysteries prize pool. He’d solved one already—only nine left. But the rest were either completely untraceable or things he couldn’t talk about even if he knew.

Like “What does the Grandmaster look like under the mask?”—that was one he couldn’t reveal unless he wanted to offend someone big.

Zhan Yan had actually searched the Gossip System for this out of curiosity but found nothing. The system didn’t show images, and he couldn’t even find a text description. But he did see a few gossip threads where someone who had seen the Grandmaster’s face had ended up blushing and breathless!

No matter how much the forum speculated, the Grandmaster didn’t seem to care. Zhan Yan had discovered during his searches that the Grandmaster was too busy to even register an account. He’d borrowed an admin’s access once or twice to peek but quickly lost interest.

Another unsolved mystery that made him drool: “How many points does The Craftsman have?”

The forum’s points leaderboard only showed ranks, not actual numbers. Because points could be traded, the rankings shifted a lot—top players could drop dozens of spots after buying something.

But The Craftsman was different. Ever since climbing to the number one spot, he’d never fallen.

Some suspected The Craftsman never spent points, but this was quickly disproved—people had completed tasks for The Craftsman and were paid in points, often generous amounts.

So The Craftsman just earned points at an insane rate—far outpacing second place by who knows how much!

Zhan Yan searched the gossip threads but couldn’t find The Craftsman’s exact point total—just like how the system wouldn’t give him forum URLs, the data was vague.

But he did find out how The Craftsman earned so much!

Recently, The Craftsman had completed a huge contract for the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and received a mountain of rewards—points included!

Zhan Yan drooled with envy. Crafting exclusives really was a money-making business!

If only he could get his hands on some of The Craftsman’s points…

Sadly, none of the gossip threads gave him anything he could sell as intel. The most common gossip was about The Craftsman maintaining his doll-like housekeeper…

Zhan Yan opened his DMs with “Just Save The World!”—no big jobs lately, but even small ones would do.

But for the past two days, “Just Save The World!” hadn’t invited him to any collab missions. Slacking off?

Approaching Science: “Want to do a collab mission?”

Normally, “Just Save The World!” picked the mission—they called the shots, and Zhan Yan just did the legwork.

Just Save The World!: “Taking a break lately. No missions.”

“You could finish my personal task instead.”

Zhan Yan winced. Just thinking about that task gave him a headache. Every day he combed through Yunjin City’s gossip threads using various keyword combos for efficiency. At first, he’d dug up plenty of minor supernatural groups. But it got harder and harder—he’d tried every combo he could think of. Now he was stuck going through posts one by one.

He really needed to unlock the “fuzzy search” feature!

What a bottomless pit of a task…

Approaching Science: “What exactly are you looking for? Give me something more specific. This is such a pain right now.”

Just Save The World!: “No can do. Can’t handle it?”

Zhan Yan: grinding teeth

He’d long realized this guy was arrogant and annoying—just look at that username. Plus the time they tested everyone’s skill by tossing out their own wanted poster—that was not normal behavior!

Approaching Science: “Your points, spend them however you like.”

“[File]”

Zhan Yan sent over the intel he’d compiled over the past two days.

Someday, I’ll earn all your points back!

Gu Jiancheng accepted the file and casually transferred points to him.

Hmph. Collaboration? Tomorrow they’d take the train back to school together—where was the time for missions?

Approaching Science could just keep finishing his posted task.

Checking the time—yep, time for the daily goodnight kiss.

Gu Jiancheng logged out of the forum and called Zhan Yan.

Zhan Yan sounded off. Was something wrong?

Zhan Yan took a deep breath, calming himself. “It’s nothing. Just ran into a chuuni online!”

Gu Jiancheng instantly got fired up. “Want me to curse him out for you?”