GRMFBS CH51

Zhan Yan had a lot on his plate lately.

Classes; continuing to track Anomaly Code No. 2; sorting through the chaotic notes on Anomaly Code No. 2 to figure out what felt off about it; practicing how to understand animal language; and researching how to improve his affinity with animals…

He’d already solved the issue of understanding animal language, but so far, there was no progress on improving his animal affinity.

Zhan Yan squatted in the livestock area, trying to charm the rabbits while following the methods sent by his mentor. He was trying to release his “natural aura.” As for what exactly that was supposed to be, Zhan Yan had rolled around in the rabbits’ haystack before coming, and now he was holding half an apple to tempt them.

The rabbits kept their distance.

Attempt failed.

Next time, he decided, he would try spraying himself with catnip extract. That had to be a cat’s natural aura!

Zhan Yan sighed, placed the apple on the ground, and stepped back.

Immediately, the rabbits rushed over to snatch the apple.

Forget it. No need to rush this—he didn’t need this skill urgently anyway.

Which is exactly why you should never jinx yourself. Just as Zhan Yan left the livestock area, he got a call from a senior.

The senior, Guo Jiang, was someone he knew from a school club. He was now in grad school at the same university, studying animal husbandry.

On the phone, Guo Jiang was yelling, “This is an emergency! Our experimental pig got loose! Do you have class right now? If not, come help us find it!”

Zhan Yan: “I don’t have class, but right now I’m—”

Guo Jiang: “Great! Where are you?”

Zhan Yan: “The livestock area. Wait, I—”

Guo Jiang: “I’ll come find you! Please, this pig is our entire group’s hope! We’ll treat you to a big meal after!”

Zhan Yan: “Actually—”

Beep… beep…

The call disconnected.

Gu Jiancheng (Zhan’s friend): pfft

Zhan Yan glared at him.

Gu Jiancheng: “It’s fine. We can still make it work. We’ll head somewhere quiet and scare the pig out of hiding.”

Zhan Yan: “But it’s a pig!”

It’s not like a little bunny you can’t see once it hides. A pig is huge—how could anyone not see it?

Guo Jiang arrived shortly after, running toward them and reaching to grab Zhan Yan’s arm. “Zhan Yan!!! Please help us! If we can’t find that pig, our entire group won’t graduate!”

But Gu Jiancheng reacted fast and stepped in between. Guo Jiang accidentally grabbed Gu Jiancheng’s arm and started pulling him along. “We need—”

But he couldn’t budge him.

Guo Jiang felt like he was pulling a steel pillar. He looked up and realized he had grabbed the wrong person.

Guo Jiang blinked at him in confusion.

Zhan Yan: snorts

“Senior, I can help, but my constitution has changed lately. Animals are starting to avoid me,” Zhan Yan explained.

“…Huh?” Guo Jiang was confused.

Zhan Yan leaned against a post, and the nearby rabbits instantly scattered.

Guo Jiang’s eyes went wide.

Zhan Yan used to be the animals’ favorite whenever he came to the livestock area. What the heck happened?

“Can we… try again?” Guo Jiang was unwilling to give up.

They walked past the chicken area, the duck area, the goose area—chaos erupted wherever they went, with animals fleeing in panic at the sight of Zhan Yan.

Guo Jiang looked utterly devastated. “What the hell happened to your aura?!”

Zhan Yan: “I assisted in a few neutering surgeries last semester.”

Guo Jiang: … sobbing noises

Without his junior’s gift, it might be impossible to find their pig; and if they couldn’t find the pig, they couldn’t finish their thesis; and if they couldn’t finish their thesis, their entire group couldn’t graduate; and if they couldn’t graduate, they’d have to raise a new pig; and that would take at least two years—and the pig might just get lost again…

Seeing his senior on the verge of tears, Zhan Yan tried to comfort him. “It’s a big pig—we’ll definitely find it.”

Guo Jiang looked like he might cry. “Our advisor once raised some experimental chickens… Later, we found them in someone else’s hot pot. They were already marinated.”

Zhan Yan had heard that story. Agricultural students had it tough—their research was often stolen by people who just wanted a few bucks’ worth of groceries, destroying years of effort just to save on market costs.

As they walked past the experimental fields next to the livestock area—lush with late-summer crops—Guo Jiang grew even more sorrowful.

“Agriculture students have it so rough!” he wailed, remembering another heartbreak. “My girlfriend’s tomatoes were stolen, and she ended up failing her class!”

Just then, a scream erupted from the field: “MY CROPS!!!”

Guo Jiang: “See? That’s what I was—”

“DAMN PIG! GET OUT OF MY FIELD!! I’LL STEW YOU ALIVE!!!”

Guo Jiang’s face went pale. He sprinted off. “MY PIG!!!”

A large, muscular white pig was chomping happily on vegetables in the test field, while several tanned, boot-wearing seniors tried to shove and pull it away—unsuccessfully. The pig was either too well-fed or the veggies were too good, and it wasn’t moving. On the contrary, it had knocked a few of them over—including Guo Jiang, who had just arrived.

The scene was utter chaos.

First things first—they needed to get the pig out of the test field. Otherwise, even if they caught it, Guo Jiang might not live to see his pig again once the furious agricultural students got their hands on it.

Zhan Yan rushed in.

The pig, proud and powerful, looked up from the veggies. It paused when it saw Zhan Yan… then turned and bolted.

The pig ran out of the field, and the ag students abandoned their vengeance to rescue their devastated crops.

Only Guo Jiang scrambled to his feet and kept chasing the pig, wailing: “Zhuang’er!! Zhuang’er, don’t run! Stop!! Please!!”

His cries were heart-wrenching.

Zhuang’er didn’t even look back.

He chased, it ran—and even wings wouldn’t save it now…

Ptui! Zhan Yan yanked his thoughts back from flying off the rails. He didn’t chase after the pig—if he joined in, Zhuang’er’s speed would probably jump by another few dozen miles per hour, and Senior Guo Jiang would definitely never catch up.

But fortunately, Gu Jiancheng had run after them. With him helping, that pig wasn’t getting away.

Zhan Yan stood atop the field ridge, watching from afar.

Zhuang’er was running like the wind when, suddenly, someone darted out from the side, grabbed its thick, powerful neck with one hand, hooked one leg around its sturdy hoof, gave a shove and a trip, and—bam!—flipped the big white pig over onto its back.

Zhuang’er was stunned for a second. Its burly waist twisted as it tried to get up from the ground.

But at that moment, Guo Jiang had already caught up. With a flying tackle, he pinned Zhuang’er down with all his might.

Zhan Yan, still watching from a distance, couldn’t help but marvel at how well-fed the pig was—so strong, so muscular.

Thank goodness Gu Jiancheng was there to help hold it down. Otherwise, Guo Jiang might have ended up giving a live performance of “Pig Rodeo” across the school campus.

By now, the rest of Guo Jiang’s group had caught up. Some brought ropes, some carried bamboo poles. Working together, they finally managed to tie Zhuang’er up.

As this grand-scale pig-chasing operation was about to reach its satisfying conclusion, the agriculture department students stormed over, looking furious.

Yup, now it was time for the great negotiation: animal science majors vs. agricultural majors.

Zhan Yan and Gu Jiancheng stepped to the side to… spectate—not really, just to wait.

In the glow of twilight, the two boys in light shirts stood on the edge of the field. The greenery rippled in the wind like waves.

Not far off, a snow-white, muscular pig was tied down to bamboo poles, surrounded by a group of young men with tanned skin and strong arms.

From the distance, a campus photographer out shooting scenic shots saw this scene and clicked the shutter.

Ah… what a harmonious pastoral image of youthful vigor.

As they waited, Zhan Yan received a call from his brother.

Zhan Yan was shocked.

Knowing his brother’s extreme social anxiety—that he’d rather send a message than speak—what could possibly be urgent enough to make him call?

Zhan Yan answered right away: “Bro? What happened?”

Previously, Zhan Jinli had crafted a special dark art based on the remnants of a hungry ghost’s soul. Using this, he followed the trail of spiritual disturbances all the way to Beiling City.

He could feel it—he was close. That abnormal entity must be hiding somewhere in Beiling!

His phoenix eyes narrowed, and the oppressive aura of a ghost king began to rise.

This time, he would definitely catch the thing.

But… Beiling City…

Wait—wasn’t his little brother attending university in Beiling?

Crap! His brother could be in danger!

Zhan Jinli immediately made a call.

“Where are you right now? Are you okay?”

Zhan Yan: “I’m at school. All good. Why are you calling all of a sudden? Did something happen?”

Hearing Zhan Yan was still on campus, Zhan Jinli finally relaxed. The location indicated by the dark art didn’t match the coordinates of Beiling Agricultural University.

His ghost king seal hadn’t reacted either—his little brother wasn’t in danger.

Zhan Jinli hung up immediately.

Zhan Yan: “…”

He exited the call screen, and sure enough, got a message from his brother.

Zhan Jinli: “Don’t leave campus.”

Zhan Yan: “Huh?”

Zhan Jinli: “Focus on your studies.”

Zhan Yan: “?”

What was up with his brother?

Still uneasy, Zhan Jinli recalled the background noise during their call—it had been chaotic—and asked: “Why was it so noisy on your end?”

Zhan Yan: “Oh, just finished catching a pig. You sure you’re okay, bro?”

Zhan Jinli: “???”

His little brother was… doing what at school every day?

Well, no matter what, at least he was safe. But that strange anomaly was still rampaging through Beiling—it could run into his brother at any time. He had to capture it as soon as possible!

With that sense of urgency surging again, Zhan Jinli replied, “It’s nothing,” then slipped into the shadows, stepping into the spirit path with ghostly footsteps to continue the pursuit.

The sun slanted low in the sky. Gu Jiancheng casually moved closer.

“Your brother?”

“Yeah,” Zhan Yan replied.

“Why did he hang up halfway through the call?” Gu Jiancheng asked, feigning casual interest.

This was his future brother-in-law, after all—gotta gather intel early for smoother relations down the line.

“My brother’s super socially anxious,” Zhan Yan sighed. “He hates talking to people, can’t even stand people talking to him. Usually he won’t call—he only communicates through texts.”

Gu Jiancheng mentally jotted that down. Got it. When he finally met his future brother-in-law, do not speak. All communication should be via phone.

Zhan Yan looked at the text reply—“It’s nothing”—and couldn’t help but feel speechless. If it were really nothing, would he have called?

Time to dig into his brother’s activity logs!

[Zhan Jinli bought a train ticket to Fengyu City.]

Yeah, he knew about that. His brother was planning to go learn how to make cakes in Fengyu.

[Zhan Jinli did not board the train to Fengyu City.]

Huh? He missed the train?

Well, he could just buy another one—his brother wasn’t exactly strapped for cash… probably? Mom invested in his cake shop every year. Zhan Yan didn’t know the exact amount, but it had to be plenty. His brother used top-quality ingredients, after all.

Or maybe… he intentionally skipped the train? Wanted to do something shady in secret, so he used the ticket as a cover?

Let’s keep scrolling.

[Zhan Jinli entered a hidden and unknown location.]

Zhan Yan immediately remembered that time his brother booked a love hotel.

Brother!!!