GRMFBS CH61

A group of lunatics were dancing wildly downstairs.

171F:

@Approaching Science @Approaching Science @Approaching Science

173F:

Aaaah I’m going for plastic surgery right now!

174F:

@Approaching Science Quick, say you’re ugly!!!

175F:

Great Ritual Dancer likes good-looking people.

I’m good-looking.

= Great Ritual Dancer likes me!

176F:

Jealousy has me undergoing plasmolysis!

Zhan Yan felt like he was being flirted with.

He was in the middle of searching for gossip about Great Ritual Dancer. Wasn’t this boss way past the stage of “flirting” with him?

[Great Ritual Dancer has no current missions and is feeling very bored, so he decided to tease a kid.]

Zhan Yan: …

He couldn’t even tell whether the guy was human or ghost through the screen, and he was already dropping flirty lines? Truly worthy of being Great Ritual Dancer.

As he kept scrolling, Zhan Yan came across a different piece of gossip:

[Butterfly demon Balan, obsessed with Great Ritual Dancer and unwilling to get married, robbed a gold shop just to get arrested and avoid the wedding. While grabbing jewelry, she reminded the clerk: “I’m robbing you, call the police!” Then complained the police were too slow: “If they don’t show up soon, I’m gonna run!”]

Pfft. What kind of magical method of avoiding marriage is this?

190F Approaching Science:

Thank you for your love, but I don’t know music or dance—might not be suitable.

191F:

You! Actually! Rejected him?!

Zhan Yan had just scrolled to the post where Great Ritual Dancer and the Tianshi were discussing him:

[Great Ritual Dancer told the Tianshi: “What harm could it do? Kids are so much fun to tease.”]

Then he saw Great Ritual Dancer’s latest reply:

193F Great Ritual Dancer:

I can teach you. I think you’re very suitable.

194F:

Crazy! Jealousy has me undergoing factorization now!!!

Hah! Hah! So teasing, huh?

197F Approaching Science:

That’s a bit hurtful.

One of the little demons you flirted with previously even robbed a store just to go to jail and avoid a wedding because of you.

The thread’s tone quickly derailed:

199F:

What little demon?! What wedding dodging?! What gossip?! Let me have a bite!

200F:

Great Ritual Dancer flirted with a little demon?! Which one?!!

201F:

Spill the tea!!

203F:

@Approaching Science If you’ve got the guts to start spilling, have the guts to finish! Don’t stop halfway!

Meanwhile, in Lingzhou Wendie’s private messages:

Tianshi: “You flirted with a little demon?”

Nie Yu: “Lingzhou Lingzhou, what kind of demon do you like?”

Ning Xi: “If you need to liaise with the United Demon Alliance, contact the foreign affairs department.”

…

A moment later, Ning Xi sent two more messages:

“What’s the specific situation with that little demon?”

“If it’s suitable, go and form a political marriage.”

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance didn’t get along, true, but Ning Xi had always hoped the two sides could cooperate. Integration of resources means efficiency! Optimization! Organization!

Lingzhou Wendie: …

You’re ready to sell me off over a gossip post that might not even be true?

Wait, you trust this Approaching Science person that much?

When did he ever flirt with a little demon?

Why doesn’t he remember?!

He decided to ask Nie Yu.

Nie Yu: “Pfft! Scumbag!”

Great Ritual Dancer: “? You believe an outsider but not me!”

Nie Yu: “Approaching Science has never been wrong with any of the info they’ve posted so far.”

Now he understood what the Tianshi meant by “easy to suffer losses”…

Private message! Time to message Approaching Science directly!

He had to get to the bottom of this little demon rumor!

But Approaching Science didn’t reply.

Zhan Yunkai had come home. Zhan Yan happily rushed to greet his dad.

He ran up to give his dad a hug—oh yeah! He was finally going to get to eat his dad’s cooking again!

He didn’t manage to hug him. His dad instinctively dodged.

Zhan Yan sneezed twice, overwhelmed by the strong perfume scent coming off his dad.

“Dad?” Zhan Yan rubbed his nose and looked at him. “Why do you smell so strong?”

What, did he spill a whole bottle of perfume on himself? His dad never even used perfume before.

“Accidentally broke a bottle of perfume,” Zhan Yunkai explained. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Zhan Yan watched his dad’s hurried back with suspicion.

“What’s up with Dad?”

Zhan Suiru had already backed away the moment she smelled that overpowering perfume. She stood ten meters away, waving her hand in front of her nose: “The desperate, yearning scent of extreme love?”

Zhan Yan sneezed again: “What love? It smells more like a giant powder puff drenched in medicated oil.”

Like he’d stuck his face straight into it.

Zhan Suiru laughed at him: “Who told you to stand so close.”

Zhan Yan stood by the window for fresh air, still puzzled. His dad’s expression had looked off, and if it was just a broken bottle of perfume, he wouldn’t have dodged him like that.

And that scent… it really was a bit too strong. What did his sister call it? “Extreme Love”? That name sounded a bit… suggestive.

Wait a minute… no way…
Did someone force his dad or something?!

Zhan Yan was confident in his parents’ relationship.
But his dad was so good-looking, and the entertainment industry was a chaotic place. It was fine when he wasn’t famous, but now that he had suddenly risen to fame, wasn’t it easy to become a target?
Sure, his dad had strong combat abilities—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be drugged!

What if someone became obsessed with his dad’s beauty, and his dad firmly rejected them? They kept pursuing, his dad kept refusing. Then, in a fit of rage, they harmed him…

Zhan Yan shook his head violently. No, no, no! He must’ve been watching too many melodramas with his sister these past few days!

He opened the gossip system:

[Zhan Yunkai was worried that his family would smell something on him, so he used up an entire bottle of perfume before coming home.]

Zhan Yan became nervous.
What kind of smell would require a whole bottle of perfume to cover?

Although… he truly didn’t smell anything other than perfume.

Zhan Yan kept scrolling back but surprisingly found no relevant gossip threads. The last update about his dad was from a few days ago, when he was still on set.

That didn’t make sense. If he had picked up a scent, surely there should be some gossip about it!

Scent contamination… Zhan Yan suddenly thought of another piece of gossip.

He pulled out the gossip thread about the Chongming Demon King and placed it side-by-side.

Right before his dad sprayed the perfume, the Chongming Demon King had also gotten covered in flower pollen and taken seven showers.

This was a bit of a wild theory, but… Zhan Yan rubbed his face.

His dad—the same dad who lit up whenever he saw his wife, whose cooking skills rivaled Michelin chefs, who had been in the entertainment industry for over ten years and still delivered lines like an AI and remained a D-lister—could he really be the incredibly powerful Demon King of the Wan Yao Alliance?

Wishful thinking, huh?

But still—what scent had his dad been trying to cover?

Zhan Yan forced himself to calm down and decided to probe his dad a bit after he finished his shower.

Zhan Yunkai came out of the bathroom, and the overwhelming perfume had finally faded to a more acceptable level. He let out a sigh of relief. Even he had been suffocating in the scent all the way home.

As he was towel-drying his hair, Zhan Yan suddenly asked, “Dad, why’d you suddenly decide to buy perfume?”

Huh? Hadn’t he said earlier that he accidentally broke a bottle of perfume? When did it become buying it…?

Zhan Yunkai saw the receipt in Zhan Yan’s hand.

Crap! He forgot to throw away the receipt because of the perfume fumes!

“I got a bit of something dirty on me. Even after washing, I still felt gross, so I bought some perfume,” Zhan Yunkai explained, then quickly changed the subject. “I’ll go make something to eat!”

Zhan Yan: …Ahhhh this lines up with the Chongming Demon King again!

His mind started spiraling again:
“My Dad the Demon King”
“Urban Fantasy: My Dad Is the Demon King”
“Graduated College Only to Discover I’m the Demon King’s Heir”…

Zhan Yan lay on the bed for a bit, dazed, then suddenly sat up straight.

Mom, did you know you might’ve married a demon?!

But he still couldn’t be completely sure. The gossip system didn’t log timestamps down to the minute, so overlaps were still possible.

Tomorrow!
Tomorrow, after his dad went out for morning exercises, he’d check to see if the gossip system posted anything about the Chongming Demon King circling Qixia Mountain. He’d track the time himself. If the two events overlapped again, then it really couldn’t be chalked up to coincidence!

Zhan Yan struggled with his thoughts, and only after exiting the gossip system did he realize there were several unread messages from Gu Jiancheng.
He checked the time—it was almost midnight! Way past his usual bedtime!

He quickly sent Gu Jiancheng a reply.

Gu Jiancheng had just returned from the black market, still carrying a chilling aura of blood. Birds flew from the trees he passed beneath.

When a broker got serious, they moved fast.

Not long ago, someone had traded away a Heart-Thread Tether, and the broker gave the news to Gu Jiancheng first. They kept investigating.

Gu Jiancheng directly tracked down the seller, forced information from both his suppliers and buyers, and eventually retrieved the Heart-Thread Tether.

The delicate white thread sat in his palm, looking soft and harmless—but this tiny thing could bore into one’s soul, stringing together all three spiritual and seven corporeal souls, threading through each node. It would silently change a person’s thoughts before they even noticed—and once they did, it would become a torture device even crueler than wires in the flesh.

A certain “monster doctor” once tried to use this on him. Thankfully, it failed.

Gu Jiancheng’s fingers tightened on the thread. The pristine silk turned black, then crumbled into ash.

Seeing the Heart-Thread Tether again dredged up old, unpleasant memories, leaving him in a foul mood.

He opened his phone and looked at the chat with the little watermelon icon, unable to help but smile.

He tapped the icon and began messaging.
It was almost Zhan Yan’s usual bedtime.

Still no goodnight kiss tonight.

The other side hadn’t replied.

Hmm? Sleeping early tonight?

Well, that could be. His mom’s birthday was today, after all.

Gu Jiancheng’s thoughts wandered, but he couldn’t stop himself from sending another message after a while.

His mind, so often filled with killing intent and disgust, was calmed by the little watermelon icon, even if there was no reply. The quiet presence tethered him, lifting him from the darkness, leaving only a faint, tired melancholy.

Zhan Yan actually forgot about him tonight!

Just before midnight, he finally received a reply.
Ah—he hadn’t forgotten about him! Just forgot the time!

Gu Jiancheng, happy now, called him.

“You’re still awake?” Gu Jiancheng asked.

“Yeah. A bit too excited tonight. Can’t sleep,” Zhan Yan replied.

“Put your phone by your pillow, don’t turn it off. I’ll tell you a story,” Gu Jiancheng said softly.

“A scary story?” Zhan Yan asked instinctively.

Gu Jiancheng paused: “No.”

“Oh, okay, go ahead,” Zhan Yan quickly said, realizing he’d ruined the mood.

Not entirely his fault! Gu Jiancheng had just told such good horror stories before!

Gu Jiancheng sighed helplessly and began:
“Let me tell you a story… about a little bear.”

“Once upon a time, there was a little wandering bear who accidentally fell into Alice’s rabbit hole.

“The rabbit hole said, ‘If you beat all the challenges, you can leave and return to your forest.’

“The little bear beat all the challenges and wanted to go home.

“But the rabbit hole said, ‘You’ve grown too big to fit through the entrance now.’

“The bear got angry.
“So the rabbit hole gave him a mirror.
“The bear saw tomato sauce from the kitchen challenge on his fur, and ink stains from the amusement park challenge. His face was all messy now, and no one in the forest would recognize him anymore.

“‘See,’ said the rabbit hole, ‘we all have messy faces here. Stay, and I’ll let you manage the challenges.’

“Then the rabbit hole connected to a grassland, and new animals began falling in.

“The bear looked at the grassland and said to the rabbit hole, ‘Let’s make a bet.’”

On the other end of the phone, the breathing gradually became slow and steady. Gu Jiancheng paused and quietly listened for a while.

Then he said softly:

“Good night.”