After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Caught off guard, Ye Jia was embraced by the other party.

The other party's body was as cold as ice and as soft as a snake. It didn't carry any warmth at all. Their arms wrapped around his shoulders and arms like a clingy ghost.

Ye Jia instinctively wanted to avoid the other party but as soon as he tried to pull his arm out, he came into contact with something soft.

He stiffened, "?"

You actually have that too?!

Ji Xuan didn't think that there was any problem with it.

He turned his head, his black, wavy hair falling like a waterfall, and narrowed his dark eyes slightly as his gaze fell onto Wei Yuechu who stood before Ye Jia. His thin scarlet lips were slightly raised, revealing an amorous small smile and he asked in a soft, coquettish voice, "Who is this little sister?"

At this moment, Ye Jia's brain had crashed.

His expression was stiff, neither moving nor not moving, and the word 'rejection' was written all over his body.

After hearing the other party's question, Wei Yuechu immediately frowned.

—– Ji Xuan's words just how had hit a sore spot.

Because she wasn't very old when she was dragged into the game, although her mental age was now particularly mature, after leaving the game, her physical age still remained at when she was still a young woman. Although she didn't say anything about it, Wei Yuechu wasn't particularly happy with this appearance of hers.

She asked back in a bad tone, "And who are you? This is a private premise. Uninvolved people cannot enter."

Ji Xuan's eyes darkened further.

He was very tall but he leaned against Ye Jia like he had no bones supporting him up. He tilted his head slightly and rested his sharp chin on Ye Jia's shoulder.

Those devilish eyes of his narrowed slightly, "I am his girlfriend."

The people around them watching the show gasped in shock.

Wow, amazing.

Ye Jia finally returned online.

All the hairs on his body were now standing on end. He no longer cared what the other party was doing. All his efforts were concentrated on breaking free from the other party's shackles.

Ji Xuan didn't show it on his face, but he was holding onto him with a lot of force.

He leaned close to Ye Jia's ear, rubbed his cold lips lightly against the other party's earlobe and said in his low and hoarse male voice, "I have found a clue…."

Ye Jia was taken aback.

He glanced at the other party.

Ji Xuan blinked back at him, teasing him ambiguously.

Ye Jia, "…….."

Suddenly had an urge to kill a ghost.

But in the end, he took a deep breath and suppressed the surging anger inside him.

Ye Jia turned to look at Wei Yuechu who was becoming increasingly suspicious and forced an unnatural smile, "Myself…..and this…."

"Girlfriend…." That word seemed like it was spoken with much difficulty, "…need to have a talk outside…."

Wei Yuechu shrugged, "Alright then………"

Ye Jia dragged Ji Xuan out.

His steps were hurried, as if there was something coming after him.

On the contrary, the woman beside him smiled faintly. She followed along with graceful steps.

She even had the time to turn back and wave at the others.

Outside of the factory, Ye Jia threw away Ji Xuan's hand.

Ji Xuan's eyes had already turned dangerously scarlet.

He gracefully leaned against the wall and played with his long, black hair, "So heartless? Darling…."

Ye Jia, "……."

Damn you and your darling.

Fearing that he would do something irreversible, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and then asked with each and every one of his words forced out through gritted teeth, "What the fuck do you want?"

He rarely cursed.

But he really couldn't hold it in this time.

The person before him always seems to be able to find a new way to step on his bottom line.

The smile on Ji Xuan's lips deepened, but he still continued to voice his innocence, "I promised you that I wouldn't appear in front of your colleagues using my previous two appearances but I was anxious to look for you so I….."

Ye Jia was about to explode, "So you came to find me looking like this?!"

"Why?" Ji Xuan did a little twirl in front of him, "I don't look good?"

Ye Jia, "……."

Deep breaths, deep breaths.

He closed his eyes and squeezed out a few words with much restraint, "What, on, earth, do, you, want?"

Seeing that the other party might really explode, Ji Xuan was keenly aware that he shouldn't mess around any longer.

He cleared his throat and said seriously, "In the early hours of this morning, my subordinates caught the fierce ghost in the eastern parts of the city and discovered something inside it."

Ji Xuan stretched out his hand.

A long thread as thin as spider silk gleamed in the sun. It swayed in the air like it was alive and trying to break free.

"A puppet thread…." Ye Jia was taken aback.

He hadn't seen this thing in a very long time. In his memory, this was something used by a certain fierce ghost."

Ye Jia raised a brow, his expression instantly turning solemn, "Puppet Master?"

"Correct……" Ji Xuan nodded. He lightly narrowed his eyes, his voice cold, "I didn't expect him to come to this city."

Puppet Master, a renowned S-Level fierce ghost.

His signature weapon was the puppet thread. His own ability wasn't particularly powerful, but it was one that was difficult to deal with. Regardless of whether it was a fierce ghost or a player, as long as he captures their weak point, he would be able to draw out the soul and turn them into a puppet that he could manipulate. Being able to manipulate a troop of thousands of puppets, he belonged to an existence that no one wanted to face in the game.

Ji Xuan put away the thread and continued, "I also caught another fierce ghost close to A-Level in strength to the west of the city that was also looking for you. It also had a puppet thread like this in its body."

He looked at Ye Jia and casually added, "Everyone knows how much he treasures his puppets….I had no idea the feud between the two of you was this bad."

Ye Jia, "……."

He averted his gaze. He didn't want to talk about this.

He asked, "Have you managed to locate him?"

Ji Xuan laughed and didn't continue asking about that matter just now, "I did find some clues…."

He asked, "Want to come hunting together tonight?"

Ye Jia thought about it for a while and agreed.

If he let an S-Level fierce ghost that can manipulate other existences wreak havoc in the city, who knew what kind of trouble it could lead up to.

Furthermore, Puppet Master had come to this city in order to find him.

—– If that was the case, then he would go find him himself.

Ye Jia lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes concealing the cold light in his eyes.

Ji Xuan chuckled, "I'm looking forward to it….."

Fighting together.

How long had it been since they did it last?

He could no longer remember.

Ji Xuan retracted his gaze, his expression still calm.

Just as he turned to leave, he was suddenly stopped by Ye Jia behind him, "Wait……"

Ji Xuan was surprised. He turned to look at Ye Jia.

Please read this from kk translates

He saw the other party quickly glance over at him before slightly averting his gaze and asking with some difficulty, "You…..Will you be like this tonight too?"

Ji Xuan almost couldn't hide the smile deepening on his lips. He pretended to be disappointed, "Oh….you don't like this?"

"Then…." He once again used his sweet female voice to ask, "Gege, which appearance of mine do you like?"

In an instant, Ye Jia felt goosebumps forming all over him.

As if he had encountered a snake, he quickly retreated back to increase the distance between the two of them, "Just….just the one from before is fine."

The enchanting woman blinked a few times, "Big one or small one?"

Ye Jia was embarrassed, "Big one….."

He realised that something wasn't right as soon as he said that and a blush immediately formed all over his thin skin.

Ji Xuan's gaze fell onto the base of the other party's red ears, his eyes dark. He slowly raised the corners of his lips and used his low adult male voice, "Understood….."

After sending Ji Xuan away, Ye Jia returned to the abandoned factory wearing a cold expression on his face.

The newcomers he was guiding immediately surrounded him.

They had been working with Ye Jia for a while and already knew that the other party wasn't a superior who liked to place himself above the others. All their faces were flushed with excitement for gossip as they stared brightly at Ye Jia and asked, "Hey, Brother Ye, who was that just now?"

"Your girlfriend? So blessed!"

"Yeah, yeah. She was certainly very beautiful, but I didn't expect Brother Ye to like this type of beauty…."

"Huh, what are you talking about? If my girlfriend looked that good, no matter what type she is, I would always wake up with a smile on my face, alright?"

"But it's a pity. There were several ladies in the other departments who have asked me for Brother Ye's WeChat. If they knew that Brother Ye is already taken, they might be very upset."

Ye Jia: "…………"

Hearing them gossiping next to him, he maintained a wooden expression. Inside, he viciously drew a cross next to Ji Xuan's name.

Sooner or later, I will kill you!

That night……..

Ye Jia arrived at the agreed place.

As soon as he stepped out of his ghost domain, he was almost knocked over by the blood gu fish who had charged over.

It had been too long since it last saw him. The blood gu fish seemed to be particularly excited to see him again as it wagged its tail and swum around him over and over again. From time to time, it would press its skull head against Ye Jia's hand, asking to be pet.

Even if he had already made up his mind that he was only here for official matters, Ye Jia couldn't help but smile and scratch the blood gu fish's chin.

Ji Xuan stood on the side.

He had returned to his true appearance. With his sharp and deep features, broad shoulders, tall height and long legs, even if he didn't say anything and just stood there, he still gave off an invisible oppressive air.

He lowered his eyes, his scarlet blood-like eyes hidden under the long eyelashes, and his gaze stopped on Ye Jia who was petting the fish not far away.

There was no particular expression on this man's face, but the air he gave off was exceptionally soft.

Ye Jia finally broke free from the overly enthusiastic blood gu fish and stood up and looked over at Ji Xuan, "How was it? Have you found Puppet Master?"

Ji Xuan pointed at a dark street not far away, "Mostly."

It was a traditional street located in M City with bluestone slabs on the ground gleaming bleakly under the moonlight and rows of traditional shops lining along both sides of this street. As the city had not yet completely recovered economically, the shops here hadn't been open for a while and even some of the doors hung lopsidedly from the doorframes. Overall, the entire street looked dark and desolate in the night.

There were no unusual yin energy fluctuations here but if one had enough experience, it was clear that……..

Something wasn't right.

The blood gu fish slowly sank down into the ground.

A few minutes later, circles of blood-red ripples appeared on the ground and the blood gu fish's skull head appeared again. It gently rubbed its head against Ji Xuan's palm.

Ji Xuan lowered his eyes and narrowed them slightly, "Let's go……"

—– Looks like it had found a clue.

Ye Jia nodded.

The two walked towards that street one after another with the blood gu fish slowly swimming beside them, but before it could swim more than a few metres, it was stopped by Ji Xuan: "Wait for us here."

The blood gu fish looked at Ye Jia and waved its tail as if it was pleading.

Ye Jia, "He's right….."

Puppet Master's ability was too difficult to deal with and he was also an S-Level fierce ghost. If the blood gu fish was accidentally taken control of, then the situation wouldn't be very good —– When facing Puppet Master, the fewer people, the better, or it would give the other party a chance to retaliate.

The blood gu fish hung its head in disappointment. It obediently waited at the entrance to the street, no longer following them.

Ji Xuan retracted his gaze and raised a brow, "Compared to me, it seems to listen to you more."

Ye Jia didn't look at him. He just said coldly, "Then shouldn't you do some self-reflection?"

Ji Xuan, "……."

The two walked on side by side. Cold night wind slowly swept through the unmanned shops on both sides of the street and the cold and distant moon above them would occasionally be hidden by the dark clouds blown its way, making the street appear particularly dark and gloomy.

In the dead silence, only the sound of their footsteps could be heard.

Suddenly, a hoarse creak sounded not far ahead. Two door panels slowly opened to both sides, revealing the darkness inside that couldn't be dispersed by the moonlight.

It seemed to be inviting them in.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes, his fingers emitting a cold light.

The two approached the open door.

The moment they crossed the threshold, a dim light slowly lit up, illuminating the shop.

The space inside was unexpectedly large, but it was also unexpectedly crowded. From the top to bottom, on the tables and on the shelves, they were all filled with dolls, leaving only a narrow passage in the middle. Those dolls that filled the place were either standing or sitting or lying down, but they all maintained the same strange smile on their faces which looked particularly eerie in a dim room like this. All of them stared straight at the door, their soulless eyes watching the intruders.

"This really is his style." Ji Xuan lowered his eyes and scanned across the row of dolls sitting on the table.

The door behind them slammed shut.

Ye Jia looked around at the inside of the shop and reached a conclusion—–

This place had been transformed by yin energy. It was almost half a ghost domain.

And the other party was hiding inside it, waiting for their arrival.

Ye Jia gripped his weapon tightly and wordlessly followed the passage. As he advanced ahead, the surrounding dolls also turned their heads, following his figure with their soulless eyes.

At this moment, a hoarse voice travelled over from above his head, "I didn't expect the great Ghost King to come in person."

Please read this from kk translates

"Heeheeheehee…." Puppet Master let out strange laugh, "Did you know? Mother is very upset about you."

"But our loving Mother still has no idea that you have taken refuge with the humans. She still holds hope for you, believing that you wouldn't lose your way and would return to her arms and become her good child." Puppet Master's voice moved from one end of the place to the other, "Heeheehee, but I don't think so….Your well-behaved act may have fooled Mother, but you can't fool me….You have never had the same goals as us, have you?"

Ji Xuan's expression was calm. It was as if he wasn't affected by the other party's words at all.

He raised a brow, "So you were sent here by Mother?"

"Heeheeheehee……" Puppet Master let out a low laugh, "Yes, and also no."

His voice again moved to the other end of the room. It seemed like it was coming from all directions, "It could be said that we all want the same thing and we all want to achieve the same goals….Perhaps you are the same, no?"

Ji Xuan's eyes darkened.

Of course, he knew what the other party was talking about —- But this was the only thing he wasn't willing to give up on.

The moment Puppet Master was done speaking, the sound of something sharp cutting through the air broke the silence—-

As fast as lightning, numerous puppet threads that were as sharp as knives flew towards them!

Ye Jia was already in a highly alert state.

His crescent shaped scythe appeared in an instant, drawing a gorgeous arc in the air. Along with loud snapping sounds, countless broken puppet threads slowly fell, resembling falling snow.

"Heeheeheehee……"

Puppet Master seemed to have already expected this. His strange laughter sounded from all directions.

The broken puppet threads on the ground seemed to be alive. It crawled towards the surrounding shelves and swiftly entered the lifeless dolls there.

Following that, clattering sounds could be heard in the dark.

It sounded like bones rubbing against each other. Just the sound alone made one feel a chill run down their backs.

All the dolls started to move.

Their bodies expanded and strange smiles hung from their pale faces. Their limbs twisted and moved and, using a terrifying speed, they charged towards the two people standing in the middle of the room!

"Even after all this time…." A male voice spoke with some mockery, "you still like to use the same old tricks huh?"

Scarlet waves surged from the ground. They charged towards the dolls.

The sea of blood contained a terrible power. All the dolls were crushed and washed away as soon as they were hit by the waves. Sounds of their joints breaking echoed in this dark space.

The surging blood-red waves rushed through between the shelves, dividing the entire place into dark and red colours. It swallowed up anything within its reach.

Only Ye Jia who stood in the middle of the room was completely untouched by the bloody waves.

"So crude…."

Puppet Master's voice became a little dark.

He seemed to be in a bad mood, "You think you can get away with destroying my collection?"

"But….before I left, Mother gave me a small gift. It's something that would allow me to no longer be threatened by you, or that so called direct descendant connection of yours." Puppet Master's voice turned sharp. He began to cackle loudly, "Hahaha, Mother's love, isn't it just wonderful?"

The next second, Ye Jia's vision turned hazy.

The sea of blood and Ji Xuan, they were all gone.

Only darkness was left as well as the seemingly endless shelves that were filled with dolls of all sizes, all staring at him with different expressions.

Silence filled the place.

Ye Jia gripped tightly onto the scythe in his hand and vigilantly looked around at his surroundings.

He quickly made a judgement inside.

No matter how powerful this so-called Mother's gift was, it was impossible for one to directly eliminate the Ghost King, Ji Xuan. As such, the only possibility was that the other party and himself may have been sent to two different locations.

Ye Jia lowered his eyes and scanned the shelf in front of him.

He was a little surprised.

The dolls here didn't look the same as the ones before.

Although each of the dolls earlier had their own characteristics, they were all of human figures and they all had the same strange smile on their faces, but here, it was different. In addition to human dolls, there were also ugly and grotesque ghosts and monsters. All their expressions were extremely exaggerated and fixed in looks of fear, panic and despair.

—-This was that Puppet Master's real collection.

Ahead, Puppet Master's voice sounded.

"Look……." Two large hands appeared from the darkness. Those hands had no skin or flesh, it was purely bones with sharp needle-like fingers. In the large palm that was almost half his size sat a small doll.

That doll had light-coloured hair and amber eyes. It held a scythe in its arms and looked at Ye Jia with a sorrowful gaze.

"Only one more step until it's complete."

Puppet Master's voice trembled with uncontrollable excitement, "You will become part of my most precious collection."

Ye Jia sneered, "Go to hell……"

"Heeheehee……." Puppet Master slowly stored away the doll. His voice was low and vicious, "Last time I let you leave, but it won't be the same this time."

As soon as he was done speaking, thin puppet threads appeared above him and the countless puppets on the shelves started to let out low whispers.

Ye Jia raised his head.

As if the lid covering a huge doll box had been removed, a bony hand appeared in the darkness above. Countless puppet threads fell onto the dolls on the shelves.

The clattering sounds could be heard again. Countless fierce ghosts who had become a puppet raised their heads and began to move.

They faced Ye Jia and their mouths all opened and closed at the same time. "Welcome……"

.

On the other side.

With a cold expression, Ji Xuan followed the narrow passage. The sea of blood around him roared and, following his steps, it engulfed all other existences along his path.

"Where is he?"

The man's scarlet eyes held clear killing intent. Dark energy surged in the depths of his eyes as he enunciated each word with great emphasis, "Where is he?"

The surrounding dolls tied to resist, but they were all completely swallowed up by the blood.

"Heeheeheehee….." Puppet Master chuckled, "He's mine now….."

Ji Xuan immediately narrowed his eyes.

His expression had never been this terrifying. Terrible ghost energy rose from his body, cutting through everything around him like a sharp knife.

The darkness was torn apart by that overwhelming force, revealing what's concealed behind it.

A young man's figure appeared.

With light-coloured hair and amber eyes, he turned and looked at Ji Xuan with a sorrowful gaze, "A'Xuan….."

He said.