GRMFBS CH70

After handing over pastries as a “toll fee,” the little white cat cleared the path.

Carrying the pastries in its mouth, it quickly ran away, distancing itself from the two perverts who wanted to check its butt and get it neutered.

Back in the dorm, before catching up on sleep, Zhan Yan first sent a message home to let his family know he was safe and asked how they were doing.

His brother’s fondant cake class had already started, and he was currently showing off the results of his coursework in the group chat: a beautiful fondant flower.

Zhan Yunkai: “Awesome!”

Ji Yueming: “It looks so beautiful!”

Zhan Suiru: “Amazing, my brother!”

The main theme was vigorous encouragement.

Zhan Yan also activated his crazy praising mode, firing off round after round of flattery.

His brother replied with a shy face-palm emoji.

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but sigh. If only his brother could communicate this smoothly and naturally with people in person, what would there be to worry about?

While Zhan Jinli was chatting with his family, the ground beside him suddenly bulged, and a little yellow ghost popped out.

This was the Yellow Ghost, one of the Five Ghosts. All Five Ghosts were highly skilled in teleportation and movement arts, with the Yellow Ghost being the best at earth-element movement.

Before leaving, Zhan Jinli had left the Five Ghosts in his neighborhood to keep an eye on things, just in case something happened at home while he was away.

The Yellow Ghost threw itself at Zhan Jinli‘s feet and cried out, “Lord, this is bad! This is terrible! Lord Wan Yan has found his way into the neighborhood!”

Zhan Jinli shot up from his chair.

How on earth did that psycho Wan Yan find his neighborhood?!

…

Zhan Yan saw his brother’s replies and figured he hadn’t been bullied by anyone, so he relaxed, climbed into bed, yawned, and started catching up on sleep.

As he slept, he began to feel cold again.

But this coldness wasn’t a physical sensation; it was a coldness recognized by his consciousness.

He found himself in endless, rolling mountains. Dark green trees grew on the mountains, and a dark red river flowed through them.

There was neither sun nor moon in the sky, only a hazy layer of light, like the first glimmer of dawn in the mortal world.

In the misty light, his gaze involuntarily fixed on a distant point: there stood an enormous tree. The trunk was vigorous and ancient, and the leaves were a lustrous white, each one emitting a soft glow, like a moon that had fallen to the earth.

He wanted to go over and take a look, so he dropped into the river. The dark red blood river flowed, carrying him all the way toward the massive tree.

As he traveled along the river, Zhan Yan realized that this mountain had likely just suffered a catastrophe.

Shattered rocks and broken trees were everywhere. Lost souls trembled in the shadows of the trees and the crevices of the rocks, casting terrified and pleading glances his way.

Oh… this was Mount Chaofu, a special place that existed simultaneously in both the Underworld and the mortal realm.

This was the Mount Chaofu of the Underworld.

The river of blood flowed quickly, but not quickly enough. His chest was filled with an uncontrollable anxiety, so he swung his tail fin and swam forward… Swam?

Zhan Yan realized he had turned into a fish.

It had a white body with ink-black patterns, like a stroke of traditional watercolor, with only a touch of golden-red texture on its forehead.

The perspective in the dream was very strange. He felt as if he were both attached to this koi fish and floating high up in the sky, watching this beautiful, large fish struggling to swim in the dark red river of blood. It was undoubtedly beautiful, yet also in a sorry state. There were torn wounds on its fins, its sturdy, gleaming scales were densely covered with cracks, and the flesh beneath the shattered scales was a pallid gray.

But none of this affected its vigorous strength. Its silk-like fins kicked up massive waves, leaving behind a trail of light resembling shattered gold.

The lost souls hiding in the crevices of the mountain forest seemed drawn to this beautiful big fish. One by one, they emerged from their hiding spots, bowed by the blood river, and stepped into the water.

Their pain and injuries healed in the blood river shimmering with shattered gold light. However, none of them could catch up to that beautiful big fish. After drifting in the water for a while, under the influence of a profound power, they floated into another tributary of the blood river and were carried away to their proper destinations.

The big fish rapidly swam along this river channel that belonged only to him, nearing the massive, moon-like tree.

Beneath the tree lay an enormous snow-white beast. Kneeling beside the beast was a woman dressed in red. Her long red sleeves trailed along the ground, flowing out into a long, dark red river.

One of the four great Ghost Kings of Mount Chaofu—Ghost King Minghe.

The big fish leapt from her sleeve, transforming into a man draped in an ink-black robe as he landed.

Ghost King Minghe looked up at him, her pale face contrasting with her blood-red eyes.

“Lin Yuan.” Her voice was soft and full of pity. “Say goodbye to Wan Yan. He can’t hold on any longer.”

The beast lying on its side gasped for air with great effort. Its four hooves were curled up, and the single horn on its forehead was broken off.

Hearing the sound, he opened a pair of golden eyes and struggled to lift his head, turning toward Ghost King Lin Yuan.

Ghost King Minghe supported his head, letting him rest it on her lap.

Ghost King Lin Yuan knelt down behind his front hooves, resting his icy palm on the beast’s laboriously heaving chest.

Wan Yan wasn’t a ghost cultivator; he was a demon living in the Underworld. The auspicious beast Di Ting, capable of listening to all things.

But now, this demon who could listen to all things was dying, along with his heavily battered soul. He had lost his single horn and couldn’t even use his innate divine abilities. He could only laboriously force words from his stiff, cold throat to ask: “What is the situation?”

“We won,” Ghost King Lin Yuan said. “Candle Dragon is returning.”

“Is that so…” Di Ting‘s golden eyes slowly closed.

He could finally relax and no longer had to endure the corrosive, agonizing pain on his soul, sinking into eternal slumber.

But suddenly, he felt a tightness under his neck.

Ghost King Lin Yuan‘s icy hand forcefully gripped that patch of soft fur. At some point, he had knelt upright, leaning his upper body over Wan Yan’s head, staring intently into those golden eyes.

A bone-piercing chill penetrated through the fragile skin of his neck. The soul that was on the verge of shattering seemed to freeze for a moment under this cold.

Wan Yan’s closing eyes paused. Through his half-lidded golden eyes, he saw Ghost King Lin Yuan‘s eyes, as deep and cold as the Nine Springs.

“No, Wan Yan.” Ghost King Lin Yuan reached his hand toward his own chest. “You will die, but you will not disappear.”

“Lin Yuan!” Ghost King Minghe knitted her brows and reached out to stop him.

But Ghost King Lin Yuan had already forcefully ripped out a lustrous demon core, swirling with Yin energy, from his own chest.

He had transitioned from a demon cultivator to a ghost cultivator. His demon core from his life still remained, containing half of his cultivation.

He pressed the demon core into Wan Yan’s head. “Using half of my cultivation, I curse your soul to never find peace.”

Misfortune is what good fortune leans upon; good fortune is where misfortune hides.

If there is no soul, how can the soul be restless?

The last trace of life vanished from Di Ting‘s massive body. His heavily battered soul clung to that perfectly round demon core. A powerful curse energy emanated from the demon core, wrapping around Wan Yan’s soul like wisps of black mist. As those wounds and the filthy power upon them came into contact with the curse energy, they melted into the mist and dissipated along with it.

The demon core continuously emitted curse energy until all the scars were taken away.

Wan Yan’s soul was also consumed during the healing process, gradually shrinking to the size of a palm. Without its horn, it looked exactly like a little white cat. It held onto the demon core, which had also shrunk considerably, and slept soundly with its eyes closed.

Unable to support himself any longer, Ghost King Lin Yuan collapsed onto the beast’s remains. Patch after patch of fine scales began to sprout under his eyes, behind his ears, and on the side of his neck.

Ghost King Minghe supported the soundly sleeping soul of Wan Yan with one hand and placed the other on the back of Ghost King Lin Yuan‘s neck. Her hand met a patch of fine, icy, broken scales that trembled uncontrollably against her palm.

Dark red river water flowed from between her fingers, moistening Lin Yuan’s violently shuddering ghost body.

A moment later, Ghost King Lin Yuan‘s body stopped trembling. The fine scales on his body didn’t fade, but instead spread to his arms.

Ghost King Minghe furrowed her brows deeply. “You act far too recklessly.”

To forcibly extract his demon core while severely injured—he had nearly scattered his own soul.

Lin Yuan rolled over and leaned exhaustedly against Di Ting‘s remains. “Aren’t you here?”

He looked at the little white cat nestled in Ghost King Minghe‘s arm, sleeping soundly while clutching his demon core.

“I couldn’t just let his soul scatter and perish.”

…

Zhan Yan opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He felt he needed to calm down for a moment.

After a while, he opened the Gossip System.

That dream just now was definitely not his own!

The gossip thread he had previously placed in his favorites folder regarding Ghost King Wan Yan and Ghost King Lin Yuan had now changed.

From [Loading…] to [Loading complete.]

So, that dream just now was the content of this gossip thread?

The system really had upgraded. Although it still didn’t provide him with pictures, audio, or video, it now provided a fully immersive holographic experience in his dreams.

Zhan Yan slowly took two deep breaths. The amount of information in that dream was overwhelming; he needed to sort it out.

Ghost King Lin Yuan had been missing for over twenty years, and Wan Yan Ghost King had participated in the construction of the forum using powerful curse techniques…

Di Ting was an auspicious beast that listened to all things and did not possess divine abilities related to curses. Yet Ghost King Lin Yuan could forcibly snatch back Wan Yan’s near-shattering soul with a single curse… Earlier, when capturing Garbled Anomaly No. 2, the former Ghost King had also used curse techniques!

The one skilled in curse techniques was not Wan Yan, but Lin Yuan. Ghost King Wan Yan’s curse techniques originated from Ghost King Lin Yuan’s demon core.

But there was another detail that made it hard for him to stay calm:

How come Ghost King Wan Yan’s soul, after shrinking, looked so much like that persistent little white cat?!

Zhan Yan opened the gossip threads for the little white cat and Ghost King Wan Yan simultaneously and began matching the timelines.

After verifying the timelines, he dragged them together to overlap.

The two entries successfully merged, and the Gossip System rewarded him with a golden confetti special effect.

Zhan Yan: …

He recalled how Ghost King Wan Yan fought everyone everywhere in search of Ghost King Lin Yuan, got upset when he couldn’t find him, and tore up all the clothes in the Disrobing Pavilion. He even threw curses all over the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, causing people to go bald or find no toilet paper when they pooped.

The little white cat rubbed against him demanding cat food, chased him from Yunjin City to Beiling City just for a bite to eat, and its golden eyes showed nothing but the persistence of “I want it” and “I won’t leave if you don’t give it to me”…

In the dream, Di Ting‘s golden eyes were clear, wise, and open-minded. How did he become… become so weird after shrinking?

…

Meanwhile, far away in Fengyu City, Zhan Jinli was wearing an apron, expressionlessly kneading fondant.

The Five Ghosts had explained the situation clearly to him, and he cast a spell to investigate. Wan Yan ending up in his neighborhood was an accident, but his brother had been targeted by this psycho!

A dignified Ghost King, playing a stray cat with such practiced ease! And he even tricked his brother out of chicken wings!

Was Wan Yan seriously sick in the head?! Was he crazy?!

He even tracked Zhan Yan all the way to his university, just for a bite to eat!

But Zhan Jinli couldn’t do a single thing about it. If he did too much and Wan Yan sensed his identity, he really would never be able to shake him off!

He had also seen that psycho Wan Yan’s post on the forum looking for him. But he had no desire to reply.

Twenty-six years ago, Minghe sent him into the cold pool to recuperate. Everything was fine at first. Although the recuperation was very slow, he really enjoyed sleeping at the bottom of the pool.

That is, until half a year later when that psycho Wan Yan woke up.

His memories of the past were fragmented, and who knew what went wrong, but he latched onto Lin Yuan. Every single day, he jumped into the cold pool to “catch fish”.

Lin Yuan was annoyed to death by it. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he simply reincarnated, borrowing a mortal body to rebuild his cultivation and nourish his soul. Most importantly, it was to hide from Wan Yan, that psychotic cat.

He hadn’t seen Di Ting when he was little either. He didn’t know if this guy’s personality was just this psychotic as a child, or if something had gone wrong with his curse—”your soul will never find peace,” did it mean this kind of restlessness?

Wan Yan seemed pretty happy, while everyone else was disturbed to the point of never finding peace!

The fondant teacher came over to check on Zhan Jinli‘s progress and said, “Too much force, too much force. You don’t need to use this much strength to knead fondant.”

Zhan Jinli smoothly reduced his force.

The fondant teacher praised him with satisfaction, “Not bad, not bad! You learn very quickly!”

He was very pleased with Zhan Jinli. Although this student didn’t speak and refused to listen to anyone outside of class, he learned fast and well!

Once he finished his apprenticeship, snapping a few photos of his work would serve as an excellent wave of advertising!

After finishing today’s class, Zhan Jinli went back, washed up, rested, and logged onto the forum.

That post from the psycho Wan Yan titled “If you have the guts to log onto the forum” was still floating high at the top.

I gave him my demon core, why should I have to endure this psychotic cat throwing fits everywhere?!

Heh, so what if I log onto the forum?! I’m just going to ignore him!

I’d rather die than raise a cat!