After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Chapter 4

"Creak——"

The bus leaned to one side. There was a harsh sound of metal rubbing against each other that seemed like it could pierce through one's eardrums.

Five slender fingers that resembled dry twigs slowly gripped the side of the bus and a tall and thin man with disproportionately spider-like limbs entered through the narrow door.

The temperature inside the bus immediately fell. Dark and gloomy air penetrated through their skin and bones.

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes.

This was a type of hungry ghost. In the game, it would mutate with nourishment from resentment energy.

They are greedy, cruel, never content and they also love to torture their prey before eating them up when they are at their most despaired and fearful state. What was worse was that their skins are extremely hard and impenetrable. They practically had no weakness.

And he happened to know this one.

He was an instance boss Ye Jia had encountered shortly after he entered the game.

Although he was only B-Level, Ye Jia didn't have much experience at the time and suffered quite a bit in his hands, barely managing to stay alive.

But Ye Jia wasn't very worried about the other party recognising his face.

In the game, players didn't enter the instances with their real appearances from the real world —– Right now, Ye Jia had to admit that he was very thankful that there was such a rule in the game or he would have had a rather spectacular scene of numerous ghosts knocking on his door.

It was just that, his scent was very difficult to hide or change.

—– Especially for hungry ghosts who are extremely sensitive to smell and taste.

So Ye Jia wasn't certain whether he would be recognised by the other party.

Cheng Cezhi was stunned.

Suddenly, all the details that he had overlooked earlier entered his vision: The overly silent carriage, the motionless passengers, as well as the misty and dark sky outside the window.

Cheng Cezhi's eyes instantly widened. He quietly gasped.

In an instant, eight hundred profanities whizzed through his mind.

……Fuck, two days in a row.

W-what was up with his luck?!

Cheng Cezhi's legs felt weak.

But as he was someone with some experience after all, he managed to prevent himself from fainting this time.

The contents of his training courses came back to his mind.

Cheng Cezhi lowered his voice and said tremblingly to the person standing behind him, "B-Brother Ye, d-don't worry. I-I activated the emergency call device. T-the C-Combat Division will be able to rescue us soon. J-Just hold on for a few minutes……."

As a result of interacting with paranormal events more than the average person, ordinary people who work in the Paranormal Investigation and Management Bureau are more likely to attract ghosts than normal civilians. As they don't have the ability to deal with them and protect themselves, they are often equipped with an emergency call device.

Once activated when their life is threatened, the device would send their last coordinates to the communicator of a combat personnel nearby.

As an ordinary person, Ye Jia also has one, but he had never used it.

After hearing Cheng Cezhi's words, Ye Jia silently withdrew his hand.

It was a pity. If it weren't for those few seconds of distraction, he wouldn't have missed the best timing to knock the other person out.

The small black hand sitting on Ye Jia's shoulder slowly shrank back. Little by little, it moved under his collar in attempt to hide its own existence.

Something seemed to be struggling about under the hungry ghost's pale face. There was no mouth, but the voice seemed like it came from all directions: "You two shouldn't be here."

There was some hissing in the voice, like those that belonged to slithery cold-blooded animals. It brought along with it a kind of creepy feeling.

Cheng Cezhi instantly broke out in cold sweat. He supported himself with the back of a bus seat, barely keeping himself from collapsing onto the ground because of his soft noodle-like legs. He gathered up some courage and stammered: "S-sorry…..w-we can get off immediately……"

"It's okay." The other party let out a strange laugh. Those twisted and slender limbs made some creaking sounds, "I don't mind having a snack while travelling."

Cheng Cezhi: "…….."

This topic cannot go on!

The man with slender limbs that almost resembles that of a spider stepped forward. His half-arched body stretched instantly, covering the space at the front of the bus. His withered arms stretched forward: "So fragrant……"

He hissed.

Although there were no facial features on his face, Cheng Cezhi could clearly sense that the other party's line of sight had moved away from him and stopped at the figure standing behind him.

"Hmm……The scent from your body……" The movements under the face seemed to grow more intense. It was as if it was responding to a familiar smell.

It was deep in thought, "It's….."

"Thank you." Ye Jia interrupted without a change to his expression, "It's men's perfume."

The man: "……"

Cheng Cezhi: "……."

Ye Jia: "If you like it, I can give you the store address."

The air went still.

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After hearing Ye Jia's answer, Cheng Cezhi's vision went dark. He almost fainted.

A fierce ghost's sense of reason was often distorted and corroded by strong resentment energy. Even if one doesn't do anything, they could anger the other party……

Not to mention using such a provocative tone!

All his hopes were gone in an instant.

It's over. It seems that his life is really going to end here.

Sure enough, after several exceptionally long seconds, an angry roar travelled out from the hungry ghost's throat. Following that, his shadow-like thin and slender limbs moved and attacked the two before him.

Ye Jia reacted quickly and pulled Cheng Cezhi back by his collar to avoid the attack.

Cheng Cezhi almost showed the whites of his eyes from the strangulation. He stumbled backwards from the force.

"Where is the protective device issued by the bureau?" Ye Jia leaned close and quickly whispered, "Do it now! Activate it!"

Cheng Cezhi reached into his pocket with some difficulty and searched around.

The next second, there was a loud bang and an invisible barrier appeared, wrapping the two inside like a hamster ball. The space in the bus was small so the barrier caused the thin man to be squashed against the wall.

It was extremely angered.

A large opening slowly opened across his abdomen. It was like a huge mouth, with numerous sharp shark-like teeth inside.

It gnawed and gnawed, and the barrier began to creak under the pressure.

Immediately afterwards, the bus door slowly closed with a clack and the car started move again.

The bus continued to slowly move towards the fog and darkness ahead.

This wasn't a good thing.

Ye Jia quickly glanced out the window.

—— The support hadn't come yet.

In that case, there was no need to wait any longer.

The stronger the fierce ghost, the larger the area occupied by the domain it produced, and the concept of time and space in there was different to that of the outside world. If they waited any longer, it would be more difficult to explain the situation when the matter was over.

"Crack———"

Under the other party's fierce attacks, a series of small cracks appeared on the barrier. It was soon about to break.

At that moment, Ye Jia raised his hand to grab the small black hand clinging to his collar and proceeded to throw it at the thin man lying against the barrier without any hesitation.

The small black hand screamed: "Ahhhhhh—–!!!"

The other party's actions stagnated for a moment.

Seizing the opportunity, Ye Jia struck the back of Cheng Cezhi's neck with his hand.

Cheng Cezhi immediately collapsed.

"Ahhhhh——–!" The small black hand landed onto the tall and thin man's face. Its screams sounded even more miserable, and it laid affixed to it.

The man was furious.

His body suddenly stretched, and his slender limbs instantly covered most of the bus. The opening on his body opened even wider until it looked like the upper body was about to be torn in half, before it viciously bit into the protective barrier before him——

"Boom!"

The protective barrier exploded into shattered crystals. It floated in the air for a short time, and then disappeared suddenly like a spot of light.

Now was the chance.

In the cold and dark bus where shadows swayed about, the young man's thin body charged towards the fierce ghost without any hesitation——

The fierce ghost grinned excitedly, revealing his mouth filled with jagged teeth, as he waited for his food to be delivered to the door.

There was no need to hide anymore.

Another very aggressive ghostly energy exploded inside the bus. That familiar force startled the fierce ghost.

His body suddenly froze.

It was as if memories that had been sealed from a long time ago had sudden resurfaced.

Wait a minute…..This……

While the hungry ghost was distracted, the young man smiled slightly and then stretched his hand into the large mouth without hesitation.

——In fact, it was true that none of the props in the game could penetrate through the hungry ghost's hard skin, but they weren't without a weakness. The large opening filled with sharp teeth wasn't only their most powerful weapon, it was also their only weak point.

Once they are provoked by their prey, they would open their mouth to the maximum.

This was also their weakest moment.

Ye Jia looked at the pale face that was less than a few inches away from him. The smile on the corners of his lips deepened, and he greeted in a friendly manner, "Long time no see."

The next second, the dark energy in his hand took a physical form.

A huge sickle penetrated through the other party's stomach, tearing through it from the inside.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" The tall and thin fierce ghost let out a painful roar. His thin limbs danced about madly, almost tearing the bus apart. The colour on his body faded rapidly, as if he was being absorbed from the inside.

Ye Jia's wrist twisted, and the huge sickle instantly cut the fierce ghost's body in half. As the white blade cut through the air, the cold gleam from the blade swept across the wall of the bus—–

As if colour was fading off, the original clean and tidy appearance inside the bus gradually disappeared, revealing aged and rusted walls.

This was an empty old bus which seemed to have not been in use for a long time. It was in tatters and looked like it would fall apart at any time.

The fog outside the window was dissipating.

"——-And, goodbye."

Ye Jia looked down at the remnants of the fierce ghost on the ground and added this calmly.

The back of his hand was cut by the other party's sharp teeth. Blood dripped down his fingertips. The sickle in his hand had already disappeared without a trace.

The remnants of the hungry ghost in front of him slowly turned transparent. Thick and dark ghost energy quickly drained out from his wounds.

He was still screaming and roaring, but the weakness in his voice couldn't be concealed.

The small black hand quickly retreated back onto Ye Jia's shoulder. It clutched his collar tightly and screamed: "Ahhhhhhhh!! Scared me to deathhhh!!"

"What are you screaming for?" Ye Jia glanced at it inexplicably, "His mouth isn't on his face."

The small black hand: "….."

Fuck.

……Couldn't be refuted.

Escaping ghost energy slowly gathered in the corners of the bus and rushed towards Ye Jia.

It was as if there was some terrible existence quietly lurking inside the seemingly weak young man. It both hungrily and greedily consumed all the energy around him, quickly absorbing it into his blood vessels and becoming a part of him.

On the back of his pale hand, the bright red wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Finally, only a pale pink trace remained.

At that moment, the small black hand suddenly stiffened.

It seemed to have felt something, and instinctively turned its head to look at the young man whose collar it held.

The cold and damp fog outside slowly dissipated. Dazzling sunlight shone through the windows.

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The profile of the young man was pale and clean and the fine hairs on his cheeks were clearly visible in the sun. His eyes were slightly lowered and his expression calm. It gave off an almost mysterious feeling of gentleness. His body and scent was also no different from that of ordinary humans.

The small black hand looked at Ye Jia with some uncertainty.

Was it just its imagination just now?

Why did it feel…….That the smell from this human sudden became a little…..

Scary?

The bus had now completely returned to its original appearance. Although it had only travelled through fog for several minutes, the urban cityscape outside the window was gone and wilderness replaced it.

Ye Jia stared at the hungry ghost on the ground, his expression suddenly becoming a little complicated.

"What is it? What is it?" The small black hands attention was diverted. It grabbed Ye Jia's collar and followed his line of sight to look down at the ground, "Did you find any clues?"

It only then heard Ye Jia sigh quietly, "Did you know? The salary of people in the Combat Division is six times that of the Logistics Department."

Small black hand: "……."

Ye Jia, "And the benefits are better."

Small black hand: "…………."

Ye Jia: "I'm doing a Combat Division's job while getting paid the Logistics Department's salary. I'm so tired."

Small black hand: "……………………."

Ye Jia, "Want a vacation."

The small black hand fell into a long silence.

——–It was probably just its imagination just now.

At this moment, the hungry ghost who was about to disappear completely seemed to have been stimulated by his words. He suddenly started struggling and raised his pale face to look at Ye Jia. His voice hissed viciously, "Ace…..It's actually you……..Hahahahaha. Did you think that you would no longer need to worry about anything after leaving the game? Your name on the hatred leaderboard will not be gone until the day you die…….Haha, Hahahaha……."

Ye Jia's eyes darkened.

The hatred leaderboard……..?

Regarding this matter, could it be that the small black had was speaking the truth?

"King will find you………" The hungry ghost let out a spiteful laugh, "No one can get away unscathed after doing something like that…….."

Ye Jia: "???"

Wait a minute?

Do what?

But before he had the chance to ask about that, the hungry ghost was gone.

Ye Jia took a deep breath and then pulled the small black hand off from his shoulder and shook it.

"What did I do? Do you know what he was talking about?"

The small black hand replied hesitantly, "I…..I don't know…….."

Ye Jia shook harder.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" The small black hand was shaken until it was dizzy and cried out, "Alright! Okay! I just heard that…….."

Ye Jia pressed, "Heard what?"

The small black hand stammered, "It's just…….it seems like…….you played with King and threw him away…..or something….like that………"

Ye Jia: "………"

Wait a minute. What?

.

A turbulent sea of blood.

Blood slowly seeped across the dark ground, gathering into the silently surging scarlet river. Torn off limbs and piles of bones; white and bright red mixed together, forming the bloody kingdom of death.

This was a domain.

To be able to create such an unimaginably large domain, no one knew how powerful the owner was.

In the centre of it all, on a large throne made of bones, sat a man who had his eyes closed.

His eyelashes moved.

As if he had sensed something, the man slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes were a dark red, much like the colour of the sea of blood.

He looked in a certain direction and his pupils constricted slightly. Like a cold-blooded predator who had finally caught its prey, a fleeting icy smile appeared in the depths of his eyes.

At last.

The next second, a breeze carrying a strong scent of blood passed by. The bony skeletons lying scattered around creaked.

On the throne made of bones, the man's figure slowly faded and finally disappeared without a trace.