After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Under the deadly silent night sky, the dried patches of dark blood on the ground reflected a faint light.In this empty and barren place, the people present stared at each other in shock.The atmosphere was particularly strange and awkward.“.........”In fact, Ye Jia regretted it as soon as he said it.Shit.He actually didn’t know how to explain this situation!!!At this moment, Ji Xuan suddenly spoke up and broke the silence.“The box can be opened.”After saying that, he very naturally withdrew his arm that was wrapped around Ye Jia’s waist and took a step back. His scarlet eyes that were slightly lowered looked towards the grey box in Ye Jia’s hands.Those words immediately drew everyone’s attention back.They all looked towards the box in Ye Jia’s hands.Ye Jia looked over at Ji Xuan with surprise.With a personality like that, he didn’t expect the other party to suddenly help him out.Even more unexpectedly, Ji Xuan seemed to have noticed his surprise. He raised his eyes and looked towards him, a faint smile appearing on his lips and dark scarlet spreading across his dark eyes. He slowly mouthed:“You owe me now.”Ye Jia, “.........”His personality was still the worst.The other three had gathered around at this moment, their gazes falling onto the box in Ye Jia’s hand —- Ye Jia had already mentioned the importance of the contents in this box earlier so they couldn’t help but feel nervous.Wei Yuechu raised her eyes and looked slightly vigilantly at Ji Xuan who stood on the side.Although she didn’t trust in this fierce ghost before her at all, she had to admit that he did help them out earlier and there was also something more important requiring their attention right now.Wei Yuechu turned to look at Ye Jia, took a deep breath, and said slowly:“Open it.”“En.”Ye Jia quietly answered and then reached over to gently push up the lid.Because it wasn’t locked, it opened very easily.Everyone stretched out their necks and looked inside.—-There was another box inside the box.Ye Jia, “.........”Everyone fell silent, “................................”“Oi oi oi!” Blast was so angry, his eyebrows almost reached the sky. He raised his voice and shouted, “Does this ghost have a problem?!”Chen Qingye pushed up his glasses and said slowly:“For once we share the same opinion.”Ye Jia took out the small box inside and examined it carefully.It was a cube with a smooth surface on all sides and no keyholes or crevices in sight. You could however hear something inside when you shook it.Wei Yuechu asked, “What about that fierce ghost? Since it can spit out information about the box’s location, it should also know how to open it.”Ye Jia took a deep breath and answered, “About that……I’m afraid it might be a little difficult.”—--So much time had already passed. Puppet Master most likely had already turned it into a ghost puppet.With some hope, Ye Jia turned to look at Ji Xuan.The man shrugged, expressing that his guess was correct.Ye Jia, “..........”Wei Yuechu frowned, “What’s wrong?”Ye Jia pinched the bridge of his nose with a tired expression, “The body was destroyed.”Wei Yuechu, “...........” What a terrifying person.“But….” Ye JIa looked at the small grey box and narrowed his eyes. A cold light shone at the tip of his finger, reflecting the moonlight.He said, “We can always try opening it with force.”But before Ye Jia could take action, Chen Qingye suddenly shouted, “Hey!”He pushed up his glasses and leaned over to look at the small box in his hand, “What is this?”Chen Qingye pointed at one of the corners of the box and said:“It looks a little familiar.”Ye Jia was slightly taken aback.He turned the small box around such that the side facing Chen Qingye now faced up and looked at where the other person was pointing to.There was a very shallow etching there that was almost impossible to see unless the moonlight hit it at just the right angle.Wei Yuechu also came over.She carefully found the right angle and frowned, “It looks a little familiar.”She looked at Ye Jia, “Have you seen it before?”Ye Jia’s gaze darkened slightly.His fingers lightly brushed over the uneven surface on the box, the depths of his amber eyes reflecting the cold moonlight, He slowly said:“Of course.”Ye Jia’s voice was calm, “It is the Bureau’s logo.”Everyone was stunned. They all looked over at Ye Jia.What…….?!?.Five minutes later, Ye Jia patted off the embers from the paper in his hand and walked over.“How was it?” Wei Yuechu hurriedly asked.Ye Jia’s eyes narrowed slightly and he shook his head, “Wu Su has never seen a box like this before.”Chen Qingye rationally analysed, “This is normal. After all, he hasn’t been working in the Bureau for a very long time so the things he knows are limited….”Time…..?Ye Jia was a little stunned.He pulled out his phone, pointed one side of the box to the moonlight, took a picture at a nice angle and then sent it to someone on WeChat.A moment later, his phone rang.As soon as the call connected and a deafening roar sounded from the other end. With no one else around, it was particularly clear, “What the hell did you send me in the middle of the night?! You think no one sleeps at this time?!”Ye Jia calmly moved the phone further away from his ear.He asked, “Head chief, do you recognise this symbol?”Liu Zhaocheng sounded like he was a little in disbelief.“Ye Jia, have you just been wasting time away at the Bureau these past few years? You don’t even recognise the symbol for your own Bureau?”“Yes, I know it, but………” Ye Jia coughed lightly and said, “This isn’t it. It’s still a little different from our current logo, that’s why I wanted to ask….and see if you have an impression of this one.”He had noticed earlier that although it was indeed the logo for the Bureau, there was still a subtle difference in the details.The phone went silent.Ye Jia waited patiently.A minute later, Liu Zhaocheng’s voice sounded again, “Oh this…..This is the Bureau’s old logo.”There is hope.Ye Jia asked, “What do you mean?”“About thirty years ago, the Bureau was once reorganised.” Liu Zhaocheng said, “This thing was used by them in the past and then it was abolished.”Thirty years ago…..?Ye Jia frowned slightly, “Reorganised? Why was it reorganised?”Liu Zhaocheng, “How would I know? I had only just joined the Bureau at the time and was one of the low-level employees. How could I know what the people at the top were thinking? In any case, it seems there was a big change up at the top and the overall structure changed a lot. After all these years, the Bureau gradually became what it is today.”He asked, “Why are you asking this?”Ye Jia answered, “No reason….Just saw something that might have belonged to the Bureau in the past and was a little curious.”“Something belonging to the Bureau in the past? What thing?” Liu Zhaocheng ordered, “Show me a picture of it.”Ye Jia fiddled with the phone for a long time and, with Chen Qingye’s help, he finally figured out how to send the photo without hanging up.The other end pondered for a while before saying, “Ah this, I know it.”Ye Jia became spirited, “Go on.”Liu Zhaocheng’s voice travelled over from the other end, “This was something developed a long time ago. It was used by the Bureau to store high risk props and if forcibly destroyed, it will destroy the contents inside too.”Ye Jia was shocked.Fortunately he hadn’t used force to open the box as originally planned or all their hard work would’ve been in vain.Liu Zhaocheng continued, “But there aren't many of these things because they’re not very practical so after the Bureau reorganised, it was no longer produced. Where did you get this?”Ye Jia’s eyes were dark. He didn’t answer the other party’s question and just asked:“Then do you know how to open it?”“I’m not sure about that.” Liu Zhaocheng said, “But over there in the capital, there should still be files left behind about it. You can contact the people there and ask…..”It just so happened that they are currently in the capital.Ye Jia, “Okay, thank you for your help.”But before he could hang up, Liu Zhaocheng’s voice that carried suspicion sounded from the other end.“You aren’t getting involved in something bad again, are you?”Ye Jia immediately denied it, “No, no, of course not!”Liu Zhaocheng snorted, “Hurry and return. There is still a lot of work here in M City. If you don’t finish them, you won’t be getting your end of year bonus!”The call then ended.On the side, Blast crossed his arms and looked over at Ye Jia with a frown. His tone was particularly bad:“Hey you…..You’re just going to let him talk to you like that?”The surroundings were quiet so even if they didn’t want to eavesdrop, they couldn’t help but hear the other party’s voice —- Although they already knew that Ace’s hidden identity was a small employee of the Bureau but when they heard his superior speaking to him so rudely, it made them unhappy.Very clearly, the others present also thought the same.“Yeah!” Wei Yuechu jumped over to Ye Jia’s side and said this angrily.Out of the people here, she had been with the Bureau the longest and she had witnessed Head Chief Liu making things difficult for Ye Jia numerous times when she wasn’t aware that Ye Jia was Ace. She didn’t think much of it at the time but now that she knew that the other party was being rude to her male god, anger surged inside her.Wei Yuechu revealed a particularly harmless smile, looking like an innocent and lovely young woman:“If it’s inconvenient for you, I don’t mind teaching him a small lesson…..”Chen Qingye wondered, “Is he afraid of insects?”“Wait, wait, wait!” Ye Jia felt a headache forming. He hurriedly interrupted their plans to teach Liu Zhaocheng a ‘small lesson’, “Are you that bored?”Wei Yuechu rubbed the back of her head and said with some embarrassment:“It doesn’t have to be now. After returning to M City—-”“Actually, Head Chief Liu is just a kind hearted fool.” Ye Jia sighed.His eyes lowered slightly:“You guys returned to the real world together with the fierce ghosts after the game crashed but…..when I returned, this place was still an ordinary world.”Memories that had gathered dust returned to him in waves.At that time, there was only one word that could be used to describe him—-Lost.Lights that were too bright, crowds that were too packed and an environment that was too calm.And Ye Jia who had been living in the game’s cruel environment for many years was completely out of place.At that time, even a passing car would trigger his vigilance and hostility and he almost had to use all his self-control to stop himself from cutting it in half. Every night, he would suddenly be startled awake by the lights or sounds coming from the distant city with his entire body covered in cold sweat and his hand gripping tightly onto his weapon, subconsciously preparing to fight — He seemed to have really left the game but it was also as if he hadn’t left it.You should know that Ye Jia had always been at the top of the leaderboard but he was still tens of thousands of points away from being able to leave the game.After killing Ji Xuan, the game determined that Ye Jia had killed a high-level fierce ghost and his points immediately soared, allowing him to obtain the ticket to return to the real world.And so, before leaving the game, the last thing Ye Jia experienced was Ji Xuan’s betrayal.The impact of this incident continued to haunt Ye Jia even after returning to the real world.The game had turned into a nightmare that constantly haunted him, whispering in his ears.Moreover, the real world was no longer what it used to be.The identity ‘Ye Jia’ had been missing for a long time and had long been identified as dead, the place where he once lived had long been auctioned off, the people and places in his hometown had changed.He could no longer find any traces of the past he was familiar with. With no relatives or identity, he wandered around the world alone with nowhere to go.Even the game felt more like home than the real world.This continued until—----A kind hearted fool appeared.Ye Jia looked up at the three people before him and shrugged, “He got someone to help me make an ID card and he was also the one who gave me this job. Even the apartment I rented, he was the guarantor and he helped me pay the first three months of rent.”And the reason he helped was so simple, it was a little ridiculous.According to Liu Zhaocheng himself, it was because they were lacking in people in his logistics department at the Bureau at the time and, because of a decision he had made on a whim, he had made the mistake of recruiting an employee who would only laze around and slack off all day.But, in fact, before joining the Bureau, Ye Jia also did some research in that regard.He was very vigilant, after all. How could there be kindness without any strings attached in this world? —---And so, Ye Jia found Liu Zhaocheng’s records in the police department.Five years ago, Liu Zhaocheng’s only son had died in a disturbance caused by a B-Level fierce ghost. At that time, he just happened to be the same age as Ye Jia.Later, Ye Jia chose to accept his goodwill and became an employee of the Bureau’s logistics department.Although Liu Zhaocheng was loud and bad-tempered, often deducting money from his pay, Ye Jia was very tolerant towards him.At a time like this, there really aren’t many kind hearted fools like him anymore.“Ah….So it was like that?” Wei Yuechu scratched her head, “I didn’t expect that old man with an empty plain in the middle of his head to actually be such a good person.”Chen Qingye, “Yeah. Although he doesn’t have much hair, he has a good heart.”Blast mused, “I seem to know of a brand of shampoo that can help with hair growth….”Ye Jia, “.........”Oi, oi, oi! You’re all missing the point!!!!He took a deep breath and massaged his temples, “Stop. Is now the time to talk about hair growth?”With Ye Jia’s efforts, the topic that had strayed returned back onto the right tracks.Wei Yuechu lowered her eyes and glanced at the small and securely bound box in Ye Jia’s hand. She asked, “Then what are you going to do now?”Chen Qingye, “Contact Wu Su. Didn’t he work in the capital before? Maybe he would have some information…..”Ye Jia lowered his head and looked at the small box in his hand carefully before suddenly speaking up:“But we are in the capital right now, aren’t we?”Chen Qingye was stunned, “So you’re saying?”Ye JIa raised his eyes and smiled, “No time like the present. Let’s go and take a look at the main headquarters.”“But…..” Chen Qingye frowned, “It’s the middle of the night…..”Blast impatiently interrupted him, “Hey, why are you acting like an old man? Why are you such a stickler for rules? Who says we can’t visit at night?”“And…..didn’t you understand?”He laughed and continued with his eyes blazing with fire that was the same colour as his flames:“We’re going to sneak in this time!”*At the Paranormal Investigation and Management Bureau.Compared to the branch in M City which had the ‘Recycling Clean Energy’ sign hung up, the headquarters here looked much more imposing. At the very least, it was an entire building.Since the night of the ghost rampage, the existence of the Bureau had been made public so the disguise it had used was removed and a more official sign was put up. Just above that sign was a logo engraved. It was similar to the logo on the box.Although it was late at night, the lights on several of the floors were still turned on. After all, night is when the fierce ghosts and monsters are active and because of that, the Bureau must ensure that there are staff working there overnight.Because the Bureau’s headquarters was too big, they had decided to act separately. Each of them were to go and find the materials mentioned by Liu Zhaocheng that were left behind from before the Bureau was reorganised.But—--“.......” Ye Jia took a deep breath, “Do you not understand the meaning of ‘acting separately’?”Ji Xuan calmly followed behind Ye Jia and said without a change to his expression, “I just happened to choose the same path as you. Don’t think too much of it.”Ye Jia, “..........”Don’t think too much my ass.Ji Xuan quickened his pace so that he was walking next to Ye Jia. He turned his head slightly, his scarlet eyes shining a strange light in the dark corridor.“You didn’t tell the other three the reason why you chose to come here at night, did you?”Ye Jia’s steps paused slightly.He resumed his original pace and asked calmly, “Oh? You know me well.”A smile spread across Ji Xuan’s lips. He leaned closer and said in a low voice:“Of course. I am the person who understands gege the most in this world.”Ye Jia coldly glanced at him, “And that’s why you tried to turn me into a fierce ghost in the game?”Ji Xuan, “...........”His footsteps subconsciously came to a stop and he was immediately left behind by Ye JIa.Ji Xuan hurriedly increased his pace and chased after Ye Jia. He hurriedly apologised:“Gege, I was wrong….”Ye Jia didn’t pay him any attention.At this moment, he felt his sleeve sink down a little.Ye Jia turned to look, only to see a black-haired, red-eyed little boy carefully holding onto his sleeve, looking very pitiful:“Gege, I really was wrong.”He was very proficient in matters like this.Ye Jia frowned and said, “I won’t fall for this trick.”But Ji Xuan was able to keenly notice that the other party’s tone had softened somewhat.—-What nonsense. You’re clearly falling for it.The little boy took a few steps forward and used his cold and slender fingers to hold onto the young man’s hand that was hanging by his side, interlocking their fingers in the process.He looked up at Ye Jia with a pair of watery and red eyes and called out softly:“Gege……”Ye Jia’s eyelid twitched, “Go and change back!”Ji Xuan, “Don’t want to.”“Change back!”“Don’t want to.”Ye Jia, “..........”This exchange was extremely familiar.He took in a deep breath and changed the subject, “But you are correct about one thing.”He lowered his eyes, a dark and cold light flashing across the depths of his amber-coloured eyes, “I indeed didn’t tell the other three the real reason why I chose to come here at night.”According to Liu Zhaocheng, this equipment had basically been discontinued from production since before the Bureau was reorganised and is rather hard to find nowadays.Ye Jia didn’t know where that skeleton looking fierce ghost got it.Perhaps it was stolen or even snatched.After all, although something may be hard to find, it didn’t mean that it didn’t exist. As a lord-level high level fierce ghost, it would have had many tricks up its sleeve. Even if there were internal spies in the Bureau, it wouldn’t be a surprise.But….Ye Jia however was worried about another possibility that he was reluctant to think about.And the reorganisation that happened more than decades ago….Did it have something to do with mother?The other three hadn’t been exposed to the game in the past but Ye Jia was different.Even now, he still clearly remembered that stormy night when his father had repeatedly stabbed his mother’s cold body with a knife, pounding her flesh and internal organs into minced meat and then raising his head to look at Ye Jia who stood at the door with eyes filled with madness —- It was just like the man he saw last time.And that was fifteen years before he was dragged into the game. It happened to match the timing of the Bureau’s reorganisation.Ye Jia pursed his lips and seemed to have fallen into his own thoughts.Suddenly, he felt the small hand he was holding suddenly grow bigger, turning into an adult man’s icy cold hands.Ye Jia raised his head in astonishment and looked over.He saw Ji Xuan smile at him, “I know where the place you’re looking for is.”Ye Jia was stunned, “What?”The smile on Ji Xuan’s lips deepened, “What? I’m not allowed to hide a few internal spies in your Bureau?”Ye Jia, “..........”That attitude of yours is too self-righteous alright?!The man’s grip tightened slightly and the next moment, Ye Jia felt his vision turn blurry.He then found himself standing inside a large storage room. It was densely packed with documents, thick enough to reach the ceiling, and there was a faint smell of decay and mould.Ye Jia saw a small table with different sized grooves in the corner of the storage room.And the size of those grooves…..was exactly the same size as the box in Ye Jia’s hands.Ye Jia looked down at the box in his hands, the emotions in his eyes unknown.He carefully raised his hand and placed the box into one of the grooves.It fit perfectly.With a faint ‘click’, twisted lines appeared on the surface of the small metal box and then--------It slowly opened.A strong smell of blood escaped.Ye Jia held his breath and stepped closer.The box was filled with slimy blood.And within the blood floated two eyeballs. The irises were pitch black and the whites of the eyes were very clean. There was even the optic nerve attached to the back. The sight of it floating in the small box that was filled with blood was particularly horrifying.Ye Jia was a little startled.Eyeballs?Why eyeballs?In an instant, a thought flashed through Ye Jia’s mind and his eyes widened slightly. For a moment, he almost forgot to breathe ---- It was as if all the clues had connected with each other.The woman whose heart was dug out and had her stomach stabbed into paste by her crazy husband.The skin that had been peeled off.And….In Dream Maker’s vault, the box that contained something.He recalled the giant, squirming ball of flesh he saw in Ji Xian’s memory, floating in the air.Ji Xuan had once said, “The King is Mother’s proxy.”..….Because she is unable to come out to the human world for the time being.At this moment, Ye Jia finally realised what task Mother had assigned to her children.----She wanted to piece together a body for herself.