After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Chapter 37

M City was close to the mountains and the sea.

The night was getting dark. Most of the city lights were out, leaving only a few remaining spots scattered around.

On the other side, the sea was already calm. It was completely dark without a single source of light. One could only faintly hear the sound of waves crashing.

A car stopped by the dock.

There were many warehouses by the pier. In the darkness, it looked a little spooky.

The car door opened and a middle-aged man wearing a singlet and shorts came out. He scratched his stubbled chin and then turned to the other person in the car, "Wait a minute. I'll go talk to them first."

The young man in the car nodded, "Okay."

The middle-aged man disappeared in the dark gap between the warehouses, his figure instantly swallowed up by the darkness.

Ye Jia opened the car door and similarly got out.

The temperature here was a little colder than the city.

The salt-filled sea breeze ruffled his hair.

Ye Jia raised his eyes and his gaze fell thoughtfully onto the warehouses. The dark sky above his head was reflected in the depths of his eyes.

Ahead…….Nothing.

But this 'nothing' was completely different from what he felt from that man earlier—–That person didn't have any residual yin energy on him or traces of props being used and only had the scent of an ordinary human. This place however was different.

Ye Jia couldn't feel anything at all.

There was no yin energy, no signs of life, or even the moisture in the air from the sea. It was just completely empty.

As if this place was cut off from the rest of the world by something.

….Was it a prop?

Ye Jia calmly analysed inside.

If his guess was correct, then the other party's act of using it either meant that they are extremely cautious, or that they already knew that they were caught.

However, as for whether it was the former or the latter, it was something he couldn't be certain about for the time being.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes slightly and seemed to be in thought.

He pulled the small black hand out from his pocket, "Smell it."

Small black hand, "…..Huh? Smell what?"

"Can't you feel it?" Ye Jia raised a brow and pointed at the darkness ahead, "Don't you think that this place is a little strange?"

The small black hand hesitated "N-no?"

"Alright." Ye Jia nodded and stuffed the small black hand back into his pocket, "Don't need you anymore."

The small black hand in the pocket: "………."

Am I just a tool for you to use?!

.

Ten minutes later.

The middle-aged man hurried over. His aged face showed some frustration.

"What's wrong?" Ye Jia asked.

"Haa, don't even ask." The man's voice was filled with anger that had not yet settled.

He complained, "Didn't get any goods and instead got a scolding. They said I was too careless……..Damn this."

Ye Jia said, "It's okay, I understand. After all, it's a grey area."

He smiled warmly and turned to get back into the car, but he heard the man behind him say:

"That's why, I'm sorry about this, brother."

The middle-aged man raised his hand. There appeared to be a pitch-black monster sticking tightly to his palm. Its eight tentacles were wrapped tightly around the back of his hand, and it let out some odourless liquid from its sucker-like lips. As soon as that liquid reached the young man's back, it seemed to penetrate straight into him and disappear without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, the young man swayed slightly and then weakly fell to the ground.

The middle-aged man tore off the tentacles with a look of disgust and then proceeded to stuff the struggling eight-legged monster into a small glass bottle.

He wiped his palm against his clothes and then spat onto the ground:

"Fuck, it's disgusting."

The middle-aged man bent down and shouted towards the darkness behind him, "Hey, it's done."

Two figures stepped out from the darkness.

They were pushing a cart which made a dull sound as the wheels rolled across the floor.

The cart stopped beside Ye Jia.

The two men bent down and placed the unconscious young man into the cart.

The hood fell, revealing the young man's pale face and sharp chin. The middle-aged man commented, "Looks pretty good."

The other two didn't pay him any attention.

One of them took out a palm sized device from their pocket and carefully scanned it across the young man. It didn't emit any lights or sounds the entire time.

"How is it?" The other person asked.

The man stored the device back into his pocket, "No problem. Just an ordinary human. Not a fierce ghost or a player."

They seemed to be relieved.

The middle-aged man listened to their conversation with a blank expression. He clearly understood the individual words, but he didn't understand it when it was strung together like that.

He grumbled, "What are you on about?"

What fierce ghost, what player?

The two seemed to only now notice his existence.

One of them glared at him coldly, "Something like casually bringing another person here should not happen a second time."

The middle-aged man tried to explain himself, "Before he entered my place, I already scanned him with the thing you gave me. There's nothing wrong with him. He's just a rich idiot who likes the paranormal so I……"

Before he could finish his words, he was mercilessly interrupted, "The next one to be lying here would be you."

That person sneered and warned darkly, "And at that time, the cart won't be taking to you the memory clearing studio."

The middle-aged man immediately shut his mouth. His muddy eyes flashed with fear.

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The wheels sounded again. Pushing the cart, the two men slowly disappeared into the dark night.

Looking in the direction in which the two men disappeared at, the middle-aged man spat onto the ground, "Fuck, I have been working my ass off for them and finally managed to bring a customer over but all I get is this kind of treatment."

He turned and got back into the car.

A moment later, the engine roared and the lights turned on. He slowly drove away from the dock.

The dock was silent again. Only the sound of waves could be heard.

In the depths of the warehouses.

The two men pushed the cart through a somewhat complicated terrain. They familiarly pushed it right and left through the dark, as if they had walked that route hundreds of times.

After an unknown period of time, they finally stopped.

One took out a key and opened the metal door to a warehouse.

The door was rusted by the sea breeze. It let out a low groan as it opened.

They pushed the cart in.

The lights turned on.

The inside of the warehouse didn't match with its deserted and barren external appearance. The white walls were clean and there were four metal carts placed in the centre. The space near the door was empty, waiting for the arrival of the cart they were pushing to fill up the gap.

The back of the room was completely blocked.

One of them went over and pulled open the curtain, revealing a huge water tank that took up the majority of the wall behind it. The water tank was filled with dark, murky liquid.

He skilfully put on some thick protective gloves and then picked up a special clamp on the side and slowly inserted it into the water.

A dark creature resembling a starfish was taken out. Its five arms were covered with grotesque-looking bumps and boils, and on its stomach was a mouth filled with jagged teeth from which foul-smelling secretion dripped out of. Those five arms struggled and squirmed about. It seemed to be wanting to break free from that strange metal clamp that was binding its body.

The man carefully carried the ugly creature and turned around:

"Hold him down….."

As soon as he turned around, the rest of his words were stuck in his throat.

He saw that the young man who should be unconscious on the cart had sat up at this moment. As his hood hadn't been put back on again, his slightly messy hair over his forehead and his lowered eyes were revealed. Under the light, his beautifully defined face appeared even paler than before. Next to him laid his partner who had at some unknown point in time fallen unconscious.

The man stared at the scene before him dumbfounded. It was as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

At this moment, the other party raised their amber coloured eyes which seemed to contain a faint golden glow. It appeared distant and indifferent, as if the person who had taken down a brawny man just now wasn't he himself.

Ye Jia hopped off the cart unhurriedly and landed lightly onto the ground, like a cat leaping down from a high place.

He smiled and greeted, "Good evening."

—–Regardless of what the other party's purpose was, for someone who would conceal themselves and hide their whereabouts, it was impossible for them to allow anyone to bring outsiders over to their hideout and risk having themselves exposed.

The first scenario would be him being denied entry.

The solution to that was very simple. He could just secretly sneak in later.

The second scenario would be the other party not willing to take the risk of being exposed and trying to eliminate the risk entirely.

That scenario was even better.

—-It would save him the time to search for a way to enter without being detected.

The only pity was that in order to disguise himself as an ordinary human, he could only use the hood.

But it didn't matter anyway. After all, he had a way of making the other party forget himself.

Ye Jia stretched his shoulders and slowly approached the man. A smile lingered at his lips, "Don't be nervous, I just want to ask you a few questions."

The man's limbs were stiff. He instinctively slowly backed away until his back hit the cold tank.

The next second, a vicious smirk appeared on his face and a huge head emerged from his stomach. In a flash, that head broke free from the skin shackling it and it charged towards Ye Jia with it's mouth wide open.

This person was definitely a player.

Ye Jia's eyes turned cold. A faint light appeared at his fingertip.

—–This was a forbidden technique where one strengthened themselves with ghosts. It was equivalent to gaining control of fierce ghosts in exchange for their life. Even in the game, very few players dared to do something like this.

That head had its mouth wide open. Drops of mucous fell onto the ground, corroding away the surface.

It had to be dealt with quickly.

These players clearly weren't alone. If others were attracted over, then his 'secret infiltration' plan would be ruined.

Just as Ye Jia was about to pull out his scythe, he suddenly heard the man behind that face cry out in pain.

He was taken aback for a moment.

The huge head before him revealed a painful expression. It then quickly disappeared into the air.

Ye Jia looked ahead.

He saw that the man had slumped down onto the ground. The metal clamp in his hand had fallen onto the pool of mucous which had accumulated on the ground and the starfish-like monster was at this moment clinging tightly onto his face. Its five arms were wrapped tightly around the man's head, and it seemed to be wriggling towards the other party's mouth.

The man was convulsing. He was already unconscious.

The small black hand floating next to him exclaimed angrily, "Well deserved!"

Very clearly, it had taken advantage of the time that face attacked Ye Jia to knock over the clamp in his hand and let that grotesque monster attack the other party.

Ye Jia retracted the sharp blade and approached the other party. He looked down at the other party's face which was still covered by that monster for a few seconds.

"……..Memory worm."

This was a monster in the game that lived by devouring human memories.

The small black hand settled on Ye Jia's shoulder. It was a little nervous, "Uhh…..I hope I didn't make the situation worse?"

After all, this guy didn't seem to be in a state where he could be interrogated.

Ye Jia shook his head, "This person nurtured a ghost using his body and has become corrupted. Even if I manage to capture him, I probably wouldn't be able to get anything out from him."

He retracted his gaze and put his hood back on again.

A layer of yin energy appeared, covering up his scent.

"Let's go."

Under the shadow of the hood, his eyes darkened.

He felt that…..this matter of reselling game props wasn't anything simple.

Ye Jia took out a set of keys from the unconscious man's pocket and then closed the warehouse door, making it look the same as usual.

The night outside was dull and gloomy.

Ye Jia carefully walked through the narrow paths. Everything was indistinct in the dark. It was as if there was a huge curtain covering this place that was filled with maze-like paths and alleys.

Most of the warehouses were very normal.

There were piles of goods transported from overseas as well as some neglected miscellaneous items.

Ye Jia raised his head and closed his eyes. He seemed to be feeling for something.

——–Since the other party had concealed themselves using props, he would not look for their scent and instead would search of a place that seemed 'isolated' or 'cut off'.

Where there is nothing at all, that would be the place he was searching for.

He opened his eyes and fixed his gaze somewhere in the distance.

There.

To the east of the warehouses, there was a final row of large warehouses.

The doors were tightly closed. In the night, it looked very lifeless and gloomy.

Ye Jia stopped before one of them.

He didn't plan on using his ghost domain. Because the other party must have detection devices for yin and ghost energy, the sudden increase would inevitably raise an alarm.

Ye Jia tried the keys from the keychain he picked up just now and sure enough, he was able to successfully open the door with one of the keys.

He stepped in.

The space inside the warehouse was a lot larger than how it looked from the outside, but much of this place was empty. There were only a few large cardboard boxes in the corner, looking lonely and pitiful.

This empty warehouse was filled with a strange stale smell.

In the corner near the main entrance was a round sphere half his height. The surface was soft and smooth, and it looked like it was of a half-liquid state. It faintly flickered. It was unknown whether it was a monster or a prop, but regardless of which it was, it was something Ye Jia had never seen before.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes slightly.

He lowered his head and looked at the marks on the floor. There probably used to be a lot of things piled up here but had been removed. Based on the scratches on the floor, it was probably only taken away quite recently.

While Ye Jia examined this large warehouse, suddenly, a familiar noise sounded outside.

Metal wheels rolled across the ground, making a low rumbling sound. It slowly got closer and closer.

Faint voices could be heard through the door.

"……Why didn't you lock the door?"

"I wasn't the last one to leave!"

"Dammit." That voice cursed, "It must be Sun Yuan that fucker. I'll kill him if he does this again."

Ye Jia stepped back a little and silently hid himself in the shadows behind the large boxes.

The harsh sound of the metal door being pulled open broke the silence.

Immediately afterwards, a container about five or six metres long was pushed in.

"Apart from this, that should be all?"

"Yes, this is the last one."

As Ye Jia listened to the two converse, he examined the large cardboard boxes in front of him.

The tip of his finger gently twitched, and a faint light flashed. The edge of the box quietly split open.

Inside was a large water tank very similar to the one in the one in the warehouse earlier. The tank was filled with severed limbs and body parts soaked in sticky, scarlet liquid. Some were half rotten while others were still intact. With bare bones revealed amongst the rotting flesh, it was both an eerie and terrifying sight.

Ye Jia was slightly stunned.

A skull the size of a fist in the tank suddenly turned around and looked at Ye Jia through its dark eye sockets and the next second a harsh scream escaped from its mouth, cutting through the silence.

It frantically slammed its head against the glass, and the glass instantly began to crack.

"Who is it?!" The other two people outside suddenly became alert.

Dammit.

Ye Jia lowly cursed.

The next second, a huge face identical to the one earlier suddenly charged out from one of the man's arms. It used its long, seaweed-like hair to violently attack the direction of the sound—-!

But unexpectedly, there was no one there.

All that was heard was a crash as the water tank burst open.

Viscous scarlet blood spread across the warehouse floor and countless severed limbs and body parts squirmed about. With the fist sized skull as the centre, the body slowly spliced together and a huge, deformed monster gradually took shape.

"Fuck!" A trace of panic flashed across the attacking man's face. He didn't seem to expect his attack to cause something like this.

"Dammit, what are you standing around stupidly for? Run!" The other person cursed, "Don't you fucking know what that is?"

The other person quickly returned to his senses.

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They stumbled into the night and soon disappeared without a trace.

Ye Jia stood in the middle of the pool of blood. His grip around the scythe in his hand tightened and his gaze was fierce.

—-He knew what this was.

This was a blood gu fish.

Even in the game, the blood gu fish was definitely one of the most terrifying monsters. They were spawned from severed body parts of wronged souls and used dead corpses as a medium. Only extremely large amounts of blood and resentment could spawn a blood gu fish so even in the game, there were very few of them.

In addition to this, they must also have a core to allow them to command all the body parts.

Blood gu fish were terrible killing machines. They have no reason, no emotions and no intelligence and would only follow their instincts to consume and kill.

Even fierce ghosts would be too afraid to be close to a creature like this that was created from pure resentment.

—–That was why Ji Xuan's blood gu fish was so special.

And this one……

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes slightly and his gaze fell onto the core that was surrounded by numerous body parts.

There was a small test tube floating in the blood that contained a green drop of blood.

Among the severed body parts, Ye Jia saw frogs, cats, dogs, deer and even an arm with a suit sleeve and a watch.

This was an artificially created blood gu fish.

Moreover, it wasn't complete.

As these severed body parts moved, small pieces of flesh broke off and scattered across the ground. The warehouse at this moment looked more like a slaughterhouse.

It crawled across the ground, let out a sharp howl and charged towards Ye Jia, attacking him indiscriminately.

Ye Jia for once was struggling.

—-He wanted to use the scythe as little as possible.

One should know that a blood gu fish is made up with pure resentment energy as well as terrifying malice.

For Ye Jia, this was what he was most unwilling to eat.

But in his ear, there was a small voice that got clearer and clearer. It quietly tried to bewitch him and persuade them.

Use your weapon.

Kill it. Eat it.

Become stronger, and then continue to eat.

Ye Jia gritted his teeth.

His head was still roaring inside. He had no choice but to divert some of his attention to resist those desires.

While he was distracted, the artificial blood gu fish seized this opportunity and attacked without any hesitation! The attack was tough and fierce, and its mouth was wide open, revealing sharp teeth inside. It seemed to be wanting to crush his throat.

However, just at this critical moment——–

From a pool of blood, a huge goat skull slowly emerged.

It roared and lunged towards the fake.

The two blood gu fish quickly got entangled in a fierce battle. The smell of blood was overwhelming. Severed limbs and body parts in the pool of blood squirmed, as if it was struggling.

The clacking sound of bone hitting bone, a large roar, the sound of blood falling to the ground. All these sounds echoed in the huge warehouse.

The metal warehouse wall at this moment seemed like it was as fragile as a piece of paper. Another invisible force cut it open, and it soon became tattered.

The blood gu fish suddenly bit the fake and slammed it against the wall.

The next second, a figure swiftly stepped onto its ribs. Their hand moved and a large scythe suddenly appeared, accurately piercing the fake's chest.

The test tube with the green drop of blood had rolled off somewhere.

"Clang." It reached the open space in the distance.

The fake no longer moved.

The blood gu fish slowly swam back.

As it left, the other party collapsed heavily like it didn't have any bones, directly hitting the containers behind it with a loud crash.

Ye Jia jumped down. Several drops of blood spattered onto his pale face.

He frowned slightly. A faint light flashed across his dark eyes.

The blood gu fish slowly swam towards him and pressed its head against his palm as if it was asking to be praised.

Ye Jia calmed his breathing and rubbed its head, "……Good child."

But logically speaking, since the blood gu fish was here, its master shouldn't be far away.

Ye Jia raised his head and looked out the warehouse.

But before he could find Ji Xuan's figure, his gaze was attracted by something else.

The contents inside the containers that were crushed just now were now exposed.

It was a row of hangers.

But what hung from those hangers weren't clothes, but complete sets of human skin.

Hair, face, fingers, nothing was missing. Like some kind of weird leather suit, it hung from the hanger neatly lined up in a row.

Ye Jia was stunned.

As if he enraptured, he stared fixatedly at one of the 'leather suits' and slowly approached the hangers.

It was the appearance of a young girl—-A fair complexion, brown hair and well-kept fingers.

Ye Jia had seen her before in his files.

She was one of the missing girls.

She had mysteriously disappeared after entering a building and the surveillance camera at the entrance only captured her entering but had no recordings of her leaving.

It wasn't until a week later when the residents complained about the foul smell that people eventually discovered her body that had been completely skinned inside room 404.

—–Her belly swollen and expression peaceful, there weren't any traces of struggle.