GRMFBS CH78

Black Wolf was a burly hulk of a man, work pants tucked into combat boots, high bridge nose and thick brows radiating a fierce, wild handsomeness.

Right now, this big shot was squatting on a wall, one arm resting on his knee, the other pinching “Killing Game” by what looked like a rat’s tail between finger and thumb.

“That’s it?” He shook the little trinket in his hand and snorted in clear displeasure.

This assignment felt like someone was walking him like a dog.

His squad members were collectively speechless.

Their investigators had already pieced together a preliminary sequence of events.

“It did start as an A‑class anomaly. Because everyone’s murderous intent targeted the same person, it kept rebinding to whoever was preparing to act. Each rebind dropped it a tier, and… now it’s like this.”

Black Wolf clicked his tongue. “Does it have a hole in its head?”

“If they subcontract a few more times, will it knock itself down to death?”

“Killing Game” wept bitterly. Was this what it wanted?!

What is wrong with people in this world? You can subcontract murder?! In the end the ‘hitman’ even gave up!

The investigator reminded Black Wolf, “Captain, its potential is very high. Although it’s downgraded now, in essence it’s still A‑class. Once it amasses enough energy, it can form a game‑field domain—this is a high‑risk anomaly. Please don’t crush it.”

Battle‑hardened, Black Wolf had razor instincts for danger. Hearing “game‑field domain” and “high‑risk anomaly,” he reflexively clenched his palm, nearly grinding the thing to death on the spot.

“Lead with the critical points next time,” he growled, almost startled by his own reaction.

The investigator continued, “The Institute says they’ve never encountered such a safe high‑risk anomaly. It’s extremely valuable material—they want to study it thoroughly.”

“Fine.” Black Wolf tossed the gasping “Killing Game” to a teammate and stalked off, face dark.

Whoever fed the tip moved fast! If they’d been even a little slower, this job wouldn’t have come to him; a small unit could’ve wrapped it.

His teammates muttered behind him, “Captain didn’t get to fight—he’ll be steamed. Better not cross him.”

“Not only no fight, we got taken on several laps. How many places did we chase, again?”

…

Zhan Yan devoured this melon in under an hour. The remote subcontracting chain among the hitmen was brutally efficient; had Black Wolf reacted even a hair slower or worked any less efficiently, he wouldn’t have been run in circles four times.

The police, too, worked fast—already nabbing the string of hitmen and Qin Jinwei, the one who put up the money.

Qin Jinwei, a veteran of decades in the business world, was bewildered by how he’d been caught, but he still stuck to “I know nothing.”

“Hire a killer? Got evidence?”

Then he heard the recording of the hitman calling Zhao Wen to propose splitting the money together.

Qin Jinwei was thunderstruck.

Zhao Wen is a cop! Is the hitman brain‑damaged?

He held the line, still repeating he knew nothing.

Later he learned how his 2 million had been subcontracted layer by layer, until the final 100,000‑yuan “small‑time hitman” didn’t even know Zhao Wen was a police officer.

Qin Jinwei’s defenses crumbled.

Qin Jinwei exploded into curses.

…

Munching Aunt Bai’s pastries, Zhan Yan watched him crack in the gossip feed.

Serves him right.

Zhan Yan brushed pastry crumbs from his fingers.

Bao Qingshan rushed to grab the broom; seeing Duan Hong leave two desserts untouched, he teased, “Saving those for someone?”

Duan Hong: “The wish‑cat.”

Bao Qingshan: ?

Duan Hong sighed. “The wish‑cat’s in a bad mood lately—pickier about food, and even less willing to entertain people.”

He pulled up Weibo. “Look—doesn’t it just scream ‘unhappy’?”

Zhan Yan leaned in. The account: “Beinong Wish Cat.”

College kids really had time on their hands—they’d made a dedicated account for the Wan Yan Ghost King. It was full of submissions about the wish‑cat.

The recent photos and videos were at bad angles—clearly candid. The cat wasn’t as cooperative as before. In the few shots showing its face, the displeasure was obvious. The comments even turned one into a meme: [grim_little_cat_face.jpg]

A crowd guessed why the wish‑cat was sulking.

“Lost a fight?”

“Impossible! I can testify—no stray cat on campus dares cross the wish‑cat! The wish‑cat’s got presence! Strong, too! I saw a stray dog pick a fight once, and the wish‑cat’s flurry of slaps had it howling.”

“Didn’t get the girl‑cat?”

“Doesn’t look like it. Haven’t seen it chase any cat. Isn’t the wish‑cat always a loner?”

“Is the wish‑cat male? How do we know?”

“No idea—just guessing. Might be female.”

“Nobody knows? Wasn’t it ever caught for neutering?”

“No ear‑tip, so definitely not fixed.”

“Aww, I thought it was just post‑neuter blues.”

Thanks to the university’s affiliated vet hospital, the school conducted TNR every spring and autumn; the fixed ones got ear‑tips as markers.

Unsurprisingly, the thread drifted into neutering talk. But Zhan Yan knew why the Wan Yan Ghost King was actually upset.

Ever since the Lin Yuan Ghost King replied to him on the forum and then “screw‑it‑mode” kicked in, he stopped lurking. He’d pop into interesting threads, chat with other heavyweights. Just—he ignored the Wan Yan Ghost King.

The Wan Yan Ghost King was livid.

Zhan Yan opened the forum for a look. Latest development: the Wan Yan Ghost King had started posting bounty missions for the Lin Yuan Ghost King’s address!

Reward points… 20.

Not much. Understandable—the Wan Yan Ghost King’s account was newly registered; odds are those were all the points His Ghost Majesty had.

But the Wan Yan Ghost King added other rewards: magic tools, a ghost king seal, and heaven‑and‑earth treasures.

Tsk, even Zhan Yan felt a twinge of envy. The rest he couldn’t use, but that ghost king seal—solid protection.

If he hadn’t already unmasked his dad’s Chongming Demon King smurf, Zhan Yan really might’ve tried to snag a few seals for the family.

Plenty coveted the rewards, but few dared dig.

Completing the Wan Yan Ghost King’s task would be a surefire way to offend the Lin Yuan Ghost King to the bone.

Plenty of onlookers piled in to bet on when Wan Yan would find Lin Yuan.

Even braver souls bet on when Lin Yuan would finally acknowledge Wan Yan.

Zhan Yan thought: that depends on when the Lin Yuan Ghost King finishes sorting the folks stirring trouble with his curse power.

His PM box lit up.

Admin_Will_Never_Keep_Cats: “Take a job?”

[Congrats—you’ve collected all three forum admins.]

Zhan Yan thought: might as well give me an achievement pop‑up.

Lin Yuan reached out to Approaching_Science because of the group abusing his curse power.

He’d already nabbed a batch. The reason those people could use his power was that they all carried a flesh‑parasite anomaly.

The thing looked like a fish scale, with fleshy tendrils beneath, anchored into the host’s blood vessels, swimming fish‑like toward the heart.

The flesh anomaly contained the Lin Yuan Ghost King’s curse power; once parasitized, a person could use that power.

They’d nabbed the people, but pushing deeper got tough.

Zhan Jinli had his own channels, but he had to keep dodging Wan Yan. So he went to Luo Wang—this was already something he and Luo Wang were handling together.

Luo Wang’s side was short‑staffed. She started gossiping with Lin Yuan: “What’s going on with you and Wan Yan?”

If it wasn’t too bad, maybe she could mediate—Lin Yuan hiding like this was wasting manpower.

Zhan Jinli was pinching a fondant cat, today’s classwork—he’d photograph it later for the family chat. The moment Luo Wang mentioned Wan Yan, his annoyance spiked; staring at the fondant cat in his hand, he felt annoyed at it too.

He had nothing against cats originally. Though he’d been a fish demon in his last life, cats didn’t even rank high among fish‑eaters. Aquatic vs. terrestrial—rarely intersecting.

But Wan Yan was insufferable.

Over twenty years ago, Lin Yuan was recuperating at the bottom of a cold pool when Wan Yan dangled his tail down, swishing it.

Lin Yuan didn’t need to ask what nonsense Wan Yan was up to. Fishing for a cat.

Lin Yuan assumed human form, lazily reclined on his stone bed. Wan Yan’s big fluffy tail hung right before his eyes, its tip crooking teasingly.

He grabbed the tail tip, the cold edge of a smile on his face, and yanked hard.

Fishing? Come down, then.

Wan Yan, not fully recovered either, couldn’t resist his strength; the whole cat was tugged into the water by its tail. Luckily he was dead, so he couldn’t drown.

Wan Yan floated, fur streaming with the current, a long tail stretched behind—like a kite Lin Yuan was flying underwater.

The cat‑kite paddled its paws, trying to swim to Lin Yuan, but moved like it was learning to control its limbs.

After a while, realizing he couldn’t swim, he eyed his lengthened tail, then Lin Yuan’s hand clutching it with a cold smile—and had an idea.

He shortened his own tail; the entire cat zipped forward, reeled into Lin Yuan’s grasp.

Wan Yan’s newly patched soul was only palm‑sized. Lin Yuan let go, pinched him by the scruff, and flattened the cat against the stone bed. “Act up again and I’ll make cat stew.”

There were other ghost kings on Chaofu Mountain. Lin Yuan knew why Wan Yan only pestered him.

His demon core was lodged in Wan Yan’s soul. Wan Yan felt his aura intimately familiar, so he only wanted to draw close.

But Wan Yan’s roughly reassembled soul wasn’t thinking straight. His “affection” was not something most could tolerate.

Wan Yan wriggled under Lin Yuan’s palm, flipped over, and bit his wrist, scales flaring. Righteously: “Cats eat fish. If it’s a fish, it’s mine!”

Lin Yuan: “…Let go! Let go, I said!”

In the end, with a cat dangling from his wrist, he went to the Minghe Ghost King for help.

After prying the cat off, Lin Yuan seized the chance to hide via reincarnation. Finally enjoying twenty‑odd years of peace, he had no desire to be entangled with Wan Yan again.

Luo Wang couldn’t squeeze any fresh melon out of him, but she enthusiastically recommended Approaching_Science.

Zhan Jinli had reservations, but with Luo Wang vouching, he decided to try—and contacted Approaching_Science.

Zhan Yan took the job. He didn’t lack points now, but he did want these matters settled sooner.

He’d assumed this batch of anomalies were garbled‑code types; instead, what he found had a name: “Curse Scales.”

Twenty‑six years ago, when the Lin Yuan Ghost King was injured, many ghost scales shattered off him—these became the materials for “Curse Scales.”

The curse power of the same origin as Lin Yuan’s came from these scales. They’re consumables—once used up, they’re gone.

But who forged the “Curse Scales” anomaly with that batch of ghost scales remained unknown.

Zhan Yan was running fuzzy searches when he pulled up a set of messages that would be explosive to Lin Yuan:

[The Wan Yan Ghost King is furious and has decided to temporarily abandon the cushy life of food, drink, and offerings at Beiling Agricultural University to go all‑out searching for the Lin Yuan Ghost King.]

[The Wan Yan Ghost King has caught the scent of the Lin Yuan Ghost King’s curse power on hosts parasitized by Curse Scales.]

[The Wan Yan Ghost King is heading toward the source of that curse scent.]

Lin Yuan, still not fully trusting Approaching_Science, asked for a status update.

Admin_Will_Never_Keep_Cats: “When can you find them?”

Approaching_Science:
“I’ll tell you one piece first.”
“The Wan Yan Ghost King has smelled your power inside the ‘Curse Scales’ anomaly and has already started looking.”

Zhan Jinli: !!!

Admin_Will_Never_Keep_Cats: “Where is he now?!”