After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Chapter 27

The moment the other party finished speaking, Dong Gua seemed like he had just returned to his senses. With his legs trembling terribly, he turned and tried to escape.

But his body was too uncoordinated. After only a few steps, he tripped over the pile of things gathered on the ground and collapsed onto the floor.

The other tall and thin man had already fallen to the ground, his legs weak with fear. He stared dumbfoundedly at the scene before him.

Ye Jia approached the two of them unhurriedly.

"Don't! Don't!!" Dong Gua screamed out in horror, "Brother Ace! Let's talk it out! I-In order to live, I also had no choice!"

"No choice?" Ye Jia stopped. He tilted his head suspiciously, "As far as I know, reselling cursed items in the game is not something someone who has no choice would do?"

Yes, this wasn't this person's first time doing something like this.

Dong Gua was a player.

He had accidentally acquired the special ability where he was immune to all the cursed items in the game, so his thoughts began to go awry. He collected all kinds of items with insidious curses in the game and then used them to attack his teammates. Once his teammate died, he would then take their points as his own. On the side, he would also sometimes resell cursed items to players with twisted intentions to earn extra points.

Relying on this ability. Dong Gua progressed smoothly —- This lasted until he and Ye Jia ended up in the same instance.

At that time, the name Ace had already become a target many players vied to go after so Ye Jia had purchased an item that allowed him to conceal his name with a code name before entering the instance.

Before entering, all the players could see the other players they had teamed up with and the points of these players would be arranged in descending order. Although Ace's name wasn't revealed on the leaderboard, he was still at the top of the list with the points he had.

In the game, as long as a player was killed, all their points could be taken.

As such, Dong Gua set his eyes on Ye Jia.

He used his old tricks and tried to use a cursed item to kill the other person but didn't expect to run into a formidable foe.

Please read this from kk translates

No one knew what Ace did to him afterwards. All they knew was that from that day onwards, Dong Gua washed his hands clean and never dared to resell any of those cursed items anymore. He only relied on helping others deal with cursed items to earn some extra points on the side.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes slightly. He turned his head and looked in the crowded room before letting out a light laugh.

"After the game crashed, you seem to be living quite well."

The other ghosts and players all ran out and only Dong Gua seized this opportunity and started reselling things from the game to the real world.

Dong Gua's face was pale. A smile surfaced on his face as he tried to flatter Ye Jia, "B-big brother, t-this is also because I had no choice. You should know that it's hard making a living nowadays. After being inside the game for so long, when I came back out, I didn't have my ID card and all the skills I had had become redundant. Without any of that, how could I make a living?!"

Ye Jia's voice didn't fluctuate.

"But why do I feel that you're raking in money?"

The small black hand peeked out from Ye Jia's shoulder and glanced towards the table. It gasped: "Damn, it's true!"

It continued angrily, "And he's earning more than you!"

Ye Jia: "…"

There's no need to be so sharp eyed.

He expressionlessly pressed the small black hand back and then stepped onto Dong Gua's knee. As he mercilessly exerted force down, the other party's kneecaps let out a tooth aching groan.

"Arghhhh!!" Dong Gua cried out, "Please! I-I won't do it anymore! I swear I won't do it anymore!"

"All these things of yours, I'll be confiscating them." Ye Jia pointed at the cursed items in the room and then stepped on the same place without a change to his expression, "And you will go surrender yourself at the bureau. Understand?"

Dong Gua's meaty face trembled. He wailed and nodded desperately, "Yes, yes, yes!!"

Behind Ye Jia, a bitter scream suddenly sounded, "No!!!!!"

The tall and lanky man had stood back up at some unknown point in time and was glaring angrily with bloodshot eyes at the person standing before him. In his hands was a large mirror. He proceeded to throw it at Ye Jia, "No one can stop me from making money!! No one!!"

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes.

His finger moved slightly and a large scythe appeared from his palm. Following a bright flash which lit up the room temporarily, there was the sound of the mirror shattering. The countless fragments were like stars as they fell to the ground.

The next second, the young man's body swayed.

"Hehe…hehehehehe….." The tall and lanky man laughed like a madman.

"And you were so proud just now. Let's see who has the last laugh." His expression was a little crazed, "No one. No one can stop me from making money!"

The young man fell among the fragmented glass on the ground.

"Nooo—–" Dong Gua's pupils constricted and he shouted out in despair.

The tall and lanky man recovered from his fierce emotions and turned to look at Dong Gua, "What is it? Was that mirror important?"

Strangely enough, Dong Gua appeared more panicked than before. His face was pale and stiff like melted wax and his eyes trembled like crazy. He fearfully climbed up from the ground and splattered saliva with each word, "Do you even fucking know what you just did?!"

He rushed towards the door using the fastest speed possible, as if there was something terrible behind him.

The tall and lanky man was still unaware of the situation, "What's wrong? That person has already passed out. What are you afraid….."

He couldn't finish speaking. The next words were stuck in his throat.

The temperature of the surroundings rapidly dropped. In an instant, it changed from the sweltering heat of summer to the chilling winter cold. An extremely terrifying ghost energy escaped from the young man's body. As if it had a mind of its own, it invaded the surroundings. This energy was particularly horrifying. Like a beast released from its cage, it unscrupulously displayed its strength and terror to the surroundings.

Dong Gue had already reached to door at this time. He shook the doorknob frantically making a clanging sound.

The doorknob however didn't move.

—-Everything was too late.

He leaned against the door with his face was as white as paper. He trembled like crazy and slowly slid down onto the ground, muttering, "It's over, it's over, it's over…….."

The tall and lanky man stared in horror at the unconscious young man as well as the terrifying shadow behind him that gradually grew bigger.

"W-what is that……."

He looked dazedly at Dong Gua, "I-is that the mirror? What was inside it?"

His question returned Dong Gua to his senses. Dong Gua raised his head and looked viciously at the tall and lanky man standing not far away. Under the influence of both despair and fear, his expression was particularly horrific, "Mirror? Forget that mirror!"

That was an ordinary mirror artefact that could draw people into the wonderful dreams it creates, leaving people in an extremely vulnerable state —- When used in the game against ordinary players, it could practically be used as a killing item.

But it wasn't like this for Ace.

Definitely not.

In this room, there was only one monster.

And that was the unconscious young man before them.

Dong Gua's saliva splattered everywhere as he roared, "Do you think I have never dealt with him before?! Do you think I have never tried to use those things against him?!"

It was precisely because he had tried that he was so terrified at this very moment.

—-No one knew what happened that day that made Dong Gua wash his hands clean and put a stop to it all.

Even after rumours about Ace successfully clearing and leaving the game spread, he still didn't dare start his old business again.

In fact, it was because he knew very well how terrifying of a monster this seemingly weak young man really was.

People say that Ace was powerful and ruthless with no weakness to exploit and no instance he cannot conquer.

But only Dong Gua knew that, compared to Ace when he was conscious, he was even more reluctant to face an Ace who had lost consciousness.

That was a terrifying beast that hunted its prey purely using its instincts. It only had the violent desire for destruction, as it sought for blood and death.

Dong Gua closed his eyes in despair.

Looks like his life might really end here.

Suddenly, without warning, an unfamiliar energy intruded into the space that was already covered in the terrible ghost energy.

Like Moses parting the sea, a figure suddenly appeared in the cramped room and walked towards them.

"This…..!" Dong Gu's eyes widened in shock. A ray of hope burned in his eyes, "Save….."

But before the rest of his words could come out, he found that it was stuck deep in his throat.

The man didn't spare him any of his attention. Those scarlet eyes of his stared fixedly at the young man collapsed on the ground not far away. As if it was his entire world, he didn't have any energy to pay attention to anything else.

—-But the reason why Dong Gua lost his ability to speak wasn't because of this.

It was because he suddenly realised that the moment this man entered Ace's range of attack, the originally cold and fierce ghost energy didn't react to the intruder. It was as if it was already familiar with the other person's existence.

What was even scarier was that the energies of the two people strangely blended well together. It seemed to have a terrifying sense of harmony.

Dong Gua's back was wet with cold seat. He firmly kept his mouth closed.

The reason why he was able to preserve his life for so long was precisely because of his good senses.

—-Only monsters can live in harmony with other monsters.

Ji Xuan slowly got closer and bent down. He gently picked up the unconscious Ye Jia and pulled him into his arms.

The use of a blood mirror was limited.

In fact, the image created using the blood droplet only allowed him to barely distinguish the other person's figure. At most, it was only enough for the blood gu fish to track their approximate location and it cannot reveal the other person's complete appearance. The worst thing was that one drop of blood could only be used a maximum of six times.

As such, he didn't do anything this past week and only patiently waited for their meeting today.

But when the day came, the shadow ghost reported that it had not been able to contact the other party.

Hearing this, Ji Xuan used the blood mirror to check and saw the moment the other party collapsed.

Since he could remember, no one except this person in front of him could make him feel such strong feelings. The heart that had been silent for so long felt like it was covered with sharp barbed wires. It tightened mercilessly until it felt suffocating, and panic spread all through to his fingertips.

At that moment, no matter what it was, everything was instantly tossed aside.

Ji Xuan lowered his head and stared deeply at the young man unconscious in his arms.

—-It was only when he finally had the young man in his arms that he could finally felt relieved.

A faint sigh escaped from his lips. His scarlet eyes narrowed in contentment. It was as if he had become complete again the moment he held the other person.

Ji Xuan traced the other person's face with his eyes. Rubbing his cold and pale fingers carefully across the young man's chin, he looked at him as if he was a precious treasure.

He had wanted to do this since their first meeting.

Only God knew how much willpower he needed to use to restrain this impulse of his.

—–Take it slow, don't rush.

Ji Xuan looked at the young man in his arms. All the suppressed emotions in his scarlet eyes were finally able to be released.

Deeply exposed without any reservation.

Purely evil desires stirred in his eyes. Like a dark fire, it constantly burned, urging and enticing him to take more extreme actions.

It would be great if he could eat this person.

From his bones to his blood and flesh, consume everything into his stomach so that he wouldn't need to worry about the other person leaving again.

They would never separate again.

Ji Xuan took in a deep breath. He looked way with difficulty and tried his best to suppress the dark and vicious desires inside him.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the remaining mirror fragments on the ground. He then raised his eyebrows somewhat in surprise.

……Mirror spirit?

.

Ye Jia stood in a bustling street. The people around him hurried past while only he stood still like a landmark.

He knew exactly where he was.

The one that was sealed in the mirror just now was probably a mirror spirit.

It had the ability the create illusions and show a person their innermost desires—-Whether it was power, reputation, beauty or wealth, anything could be obtained. It made people indulge in their own desires until they gradually forget about their real past, until they're completely swallowed up by this world.

If one wanted to leave, one must find the mirror spirit's true body.

It would take on the appearance of a certain person. It could be someone you are close two or it could just be a passer-by, or even an animal.

Only by killing the mirror spirit could this illusion be destroyed.

Ye Jia watched the endless stream of people pass by. He was a little troubled over where to start.

"….Ye Jia?" A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Ye Jia turned to look, only to see Cheng Cezhi standing behind him, looking at him with some surprise.

"Why aren't you going home after work? What are you doing standing here?"

Ye Jia asked calmly, "Do you know where my place is?"

"Of course." Cheng Cezhi smiled heartily, "We happen to be in the same community. Do you need me to give you a ride?"

Ye Jia was silent for a couple of seconds before accepting the offer.

Although the mirror spirit could be any creature, based on his experience, this cunning monster liked to pretend to be the victim's most important person. The best method now was to stay still and watch the changes.

Cheng Cezhi spoke a lot. Under Ye Jia's clever guidance, he was able to quickly dig out information about this illusory world.

He grew up normally, performed stably in the college entrance examination and was admitted into university before finally joining this company through graduate recruitment.

This year was his fifth year working in the company and a project had just been finalised today. The team originally planned to have a celebration banquet, but it was rejected by Ye Jia.

Cheng Cezhi glanced over at Ye Jia through the rear-view mirror and said with a laugh: "Brother Ye is a good family man."

Ye Jia didn't answer. He just narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to look at the lights flying past outside the window.

They soon arrived at their destination.

Ye Jia unexpectedly found that this was the same community as the one he was currently living in.

Cheng Cezhi dropped him off and then hurriedly said goodbye, "See you tomorrow Brother Ye!"

Ye Jia looked up at the familiar residential building in front of him. He proceeded to step inside.

When he got out of the elevator, he had reached his own floor.

But before Ye Jia could take out the key from his pocket, the door opposite his place suddenly opened and a voice range out behind him, "Xiao Jia? Why are you back so late?"

Ye Jia's hand holding the key stiffened. He didn't look back.

The other party's soft hand fell on his shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Ye Jia placed the key back into his pocket and turned around without a change to his expression, "…..Nothing."

The woman in front of him wasn't tall. Her hair had white strands mixed in and her face was thin. Even despite this, one could see the vibrance and liveliness from her youth. She glanced at Ye Jia accusingly and reprimanded not very seriously, "You should have said something if you were going to come back so late. We almost couldn't wait any longer for you. Hurry up, dinner will get cold."

Ye Jia followed her into the place opposite his.

Please read this from kk translates

There were four or five familiar faces sitting at the dining table. The table was filled with food. They all smiled brightly when they saw Ye Jia and shouted at the same time, "Happy birthday!"

All the furnishings in the room were warm and cosy, filling up the small space.

Whether it was a photo or an ornament, it was just like how it was in his distant memories.

Ye Jia stood in the middle of the room. His gaze turned cold.

His fingers habitually rubbed against each other.

—-This mirror spirit was seeking death.

His mother sat down at the dining table and called out, "Hurry and sit. What are you standing around for?"

Ye Jia turned and smiled softly, "Coming."

He approached the table and pulled out the chair to sit but just before he sat, a large crescent-shaped scythe coldly cut through the air with a brief flash before retracting back into his palm.

The blade however seemed like it only cut through water. Nothing had changed.

The mirror spirit wasn't in this illusion.

Ye Jia slightly clicked his tongue —– This one was quite cunning.

His mother smiled at him, "What's wrong? Why aren't you sitting?"

At that moment, the other person's appearance and his memory overlapped. Stained with blood, pale and ashen without any signs of life, those lifeless eyes looked at him with stiff, half open lips.

Ye Jia lowered his eyes and sat down.

"Just a little tired today."

At this moment, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Coming." Just like how she was in his memories, his mother could never stay still. She wiped her hands on her apron, promptly stood up and went over to open the door.

The yellow light in the corridor entered, falling onto her body.

His mother smiled brightly, "Xiao Xuan, you're here?"

Ye Jia was taken aback. He looked up. In his memory, there was no one called Xiao Xuan.

He saw a black haired and black-eyed woman enter. Wearing a yellow duck oven mitten and holding a steaming pot of stew, she smiled shyly, "Mother, please be careful not to get scalded."

She had a slender figure with long legs and her features were beautiful but also not excessively so. She gave off a natural feeling of gentleness.

"Why are you still so polite?" Ye Jia's mother pulled out another chair and placed it right beside Ye Jia, "You even brought something over?"

Xiao Xuan blinked a few times and smiled, "Isn't it because I'm usually busy? Since I have time this time, I thought it would be nice to give it a go."

She glanced at Ye Jia begrudgingly, "Otherwise Brother Jia might go find someone else to eat with."

Ye Jia's hand holding the chopsticks stiffened, "……."

Now he understood.

This mirror spirit must have a problem. In addition to dragging him into an illusory world, it even wanted to play matchmaker along the way.

The not so savory meal soon ended.

Ye Jia was a little absent-minded as he listened to the group of people in the illusion chat. He turned to look out the dark window.

Night had fallen and the lights outside had quietly turned on. It looked almost no different from reality.

Ye Jia retracted his gaze.

After his 'wife' said goodbye to the others with a smile, she turned to look at him, "Coming? Let's go home."

Ye Jia nodded and stood up.

As soon as he stood up, he realised that something was wrong. Ye Jia was taken aback. He turned around and glanced at his tall and slim 'wife' beside him.

Perhaps it was because of her figure, he hadn't noticed until now how tall she actually was.

After standing up, he realised that his wife seemed to be a few centimetres taller than him.

The others seemed to pay no heed to the height difference between the two and just enthusiastically said goodbye to them.

Ye Jia and Xiao Xuan crossed the corridor and entered their place one after another.

As soon as they opened the door, it was the same as his current place in reality.

Looking at the tall woman in front of him, Ye Jia narrowed his eyes. The tip of his finger glowed slightly.

Although he felt that the mirror spirit wouldn't be so stupid, it was better to be safe.

But before he could make a move, the woman in front of him suddenly turned around pressed against him.

Ye Jia was taken aback for a moment. For a while, he couldn't react.

The woman's beautiful features were no longer as gentle as it was earlier, and it now looked sharp and aggressive. She proactively leaned down for a kiss.

Her lips were very thin and couldn't be considered as soft. It actually conversely felt somewhat cold. She pressed down against Ye Jia's lips without restraint.

Ye Jia: "!!!"

He was caught off guard and stumbled back a few steps from the force until his back hit the closed door with a 'bang'.

The kiss was intense and rough and filled with possessiveness, as if she wanted to eat him up.

Ye Jia's mind wasn't working.

When he finally returned to his senses, he noticed that the other party was pressed firmly against him, leaving no gaps.

Ye Jia's entire body was stiff. He awkwardly avoided the lips of the other party who continued to kiss him and reached out to push the other person away: "W…..wait!"

Xiao Xuan narrowed her eyes. Her long, narrow eyes were dark and deep and her long, black hair fell past her shoulders. She curled up her dark red lips and looked rather seductive, "Husband, what's wrong?"

She moved a little closer again. Her slender and pale finger fell onto Ye Jia's chest, and she proceeded to undo his buttons one after another.

Her voice was a little husky, "No need to be shy."

"No….." Ye Jia's eyelid twitched. He hurriedly stopped the hand that still wanted to continue, "I….don't…."

He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and quickly pushed the other person away.

"I'm tired."

"Is that so?" Xiao Xuan sighed regretfully. Her gloomy black eyes slowly moved downwards, and her gaze lingered at the exposed collarbone and upper chest. It was hot and burning.

A faint red light briefly flashed across her lowered eyes.

It was like a flash of fire ignited inside a deep and dark abyss. It carried the desire to devour the other person.

Under that gaze, Ye Jia felt extremely uncomfortable.

For some reason, he felt as if the other person was using their eyes to strip him naked.

But the next moment, Xiao Xuan withdrew her gaze nonchalantly. She stored away the aggressiveness earlier and smiled gently, "If that's the case, do you want to go to bed early tonight?"

"I'll heat up some milk for you."

After saying this, she turned around and entered the kitchen.

Ye Jia was left alone in the living room. He had to take a few deep breaths to finally pull himself back to his senses.

He raised his hand and hesitantly touched his lips. He hissed in pain.

Sore, hot and swollen.

It was probably bleeding a little as well.

There was the sound of bubbling in the kitchen. The milk was being heated up. A sweet scent slowly drifted out.

Ye Jia pursed his still sore lips. He looked in the direction of the kitchen with some doubt.

Through the semi-translucent door, he could see the other party busying around. Under the cover of the night, it looked exceptionally homely and nice. It was clearly a scene he liked.

—-As long as he ignored the tear at the corner of his lips.

Logically speaking, the illusions presented by the mirror spirit should be a person's deepest and truest desires.

Ye Jia frowned and began to doubt life.

N-no way….

Turns out…..his ideal type was actually like this??