Chapter 12
The past two days had been very turbulent making Ye Jia, the salted fish who had grown accustomed to living a stable life in reality, a little uncomfortable.
Therefore, after leaving the hospital, like what all corporate slaves with seven days of paid leave would do, the first thing he did when he returned home was to——-
Sleep.
Ye Jia buried his head in his blanket and slept for twelve hours straight.
When he woke up again, it was already dark outside.
There was only a faint blue light in the distance along with the sound of cheerful music.
Ye Jia narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw a phone with its screen lit up floating in mid-air. The small black hand had produced two hands and was currently sliding its finger across the screen in fascination.
Ye Jia, “…..What are you doing?”
Small black hand, “You’re awake!”
It held the phone and floated towards the bed as it exclaimed excitedly, “This thing called a mobile phone! It’s fun! There are so many interesting things in it! Look at this……”
Ye Jia glanced at the screen.
Fight The Landlord. (KKnotes: A card game.)
The small black hand puffed itself up triumphantly, “I have already won a lot of golden beans!”
Ye Jia glanced at it again.
—– And it was playing against other players.
Ye Jia: “……It’s good that you like it.”
He got out of bed, put on his slippers and slowly entered the kitchen to make himself a cup of hot tea.
Before he could take more than a few sips, he heard a knock on the door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Ye Jia was taken aback.
He had never told anyone his home address and he didn’t have any friends in the bureau close enough to come and visit him.
Who was it?
Ye Jia frowned and walked over to open the door.
As soon as the door was opened, Cheng Cezhi was revealed. He carried a goofy smile on his face and held a large basket of fruits in his hands, “Brother Ye, it’s me!”
Ye Jia’s right hand hanging to his side relaxed slightly and the sickle which had started to take shape very quickly disappeared.
He asked, “Why are you here?”
Please read this from kk translates
Cheng Cezhi, “The people from the Combat Division guarded me for three days but nothing happened, and they later had a shortage of staff on their end, so they let me go.”
He grinned, “After I returned to the logistics department, I heard that you had taken a week off due to a work injury so I’m here to check on you……..”
Ye Jia rubbed his messy hair, sighed and moved to the side, “Come in.”
Cheng Cezhi placed down the basket of fruit and Ye Jia came over with two cups of hot tea. He quickly got up to receive the tea and then carefully sat down on the sofa.
“Speaking of which,” Ye Jia sipped his tea, “how did you know my address?”
Cheng Cezhi was a little at loss, “Huh? The others don’t know? I…I asked my uncle.”
Ye Jia had a bad feeling.
“Your uncle? Who?”
“Heheh, you have probably heard of him……” Cheng Cezhi laughed with some embarrassment, “It’s that Cheng Ze.”
Cheng Ze, the director of the M City branch of the Paranormal Investigation and Management Bureau.
Ye Jia: “…….”
Oh, someone with connections.
No wonder their head chief’s attitude towards this newcomer was so good!! Double standards!!
Suddenly, Cheng Cezhi sucked in a deep breath. His expression showed great fear and he quickly lowered his voice, “B-brother Ye, d-don’t look back!”
Ye Jia: “?”
Cheng Cezhi’s gaze was fixed at a spot behind Ye Jia. He then spoke extremely quietly and extremely slowly, “I……I think a ghost has followed you back……”
Ye Jia’s heart fell.
Could it be that the small black hand had become completely addicted to Fight The Landlord and let the phone float around?
At this moment, the small back hand skilfully climbed onto his shoulder, “What is that human talking about? If a ghost really followed you back, I would’ve already noticed it.”
It wasn’t holding the phone.
But before Ye Jia could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Cheng Cezhi let out another gasp, “B-brother Ye…..I think…..it’s on your shoulder…..”
Ye Jia: “?”
Small black hand: “?”
Ye Jia turned to look at the small black hand on his shoulder and a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes.
…..Cheng Cezhi could see it?
When they were in the elevator last time, the small black hand had suddenly become stronger due to the malicious energy left behind by a fierce ghost. At that time, its level had increased by almost two levels, so it was possible for ordinary people to see it but, after it had been dealt with by Ye Jia, it had become very weak, so it was now almost impossible for ordinary people to see it.
Cheng Cezhi’s teeth chattered as he reached to his waist, “I-I’ll call the Bureau…….”
Ye Jia pinched the bridge of his nose, “…….Wait.”
Cheng Cezhi didn’t listen. He continued to rummage around while trembling.
Ye Jia turned his head and ordered the small back hand, “Go and grab it.”
“On it.” The small black hand flew over and ruthlessly snatched away the emergency call device from the panicking Cheng Cezhi’s hands.
Cheng Cezhi’s face was pale. He pressed himself firmly against the back of the sofa, “Y-you two……..”
Ye Jia pointed at the small black hand on the side, “Let me introduce you. This was the one who subjected you to a nightmare in the building back then.”
The small black hand waved at him in a friendly manner.
But Cheng Cezhi looked like he would pass out any second.
Ye Jia narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
How should this story be explained……
—- Twenty minutes later.
Cheng Cezhi held a cup of hot tea in his hands. Although his face was still pale, his expression was a lot better than before.
“So, you mean, it attacked me before because it was contaminated by another fierce ghost?”
Ye Jia nodded.
“Then……why can I see it?”
“I don’t know.” Ye Jia shrugged, “Perhaps it’s because you have seen too many ghosts recently.”
When ordinary people are exposed to excessive yin energy, it would result in a certain degree of spiritual vision.
“Th-then what about you?” Chen Cezhi asked cautiously.
Although Ye Jia had always been gentle and easy-going, for some reason Cheng Cezhi had always felt that there was more to it. He couldn’t help but feel admiration towards him as well as the urge to know him better.
“Born with it.” Ye Jia replied without a change to his expression.
He didn’t have spiritual vision before entering the game but after living in that place with such high concentration of yin energy, he naturally acquired that ability.
—–After all, those who didn’t acquire it are already dead.
“Since you have this talent, why didn’t you join the Combat Division?” Cheng Cezhi became excited, “Do you need help? I can ask my uncle……”
Ye Jia: “……..”
Join the Combat Division?
Did he think that there was too little overtime, or was he worried that the reward for the hatred leaderboard was not high enough?
Ye Jia: “No, I think it’s good to just pass my days idly like this in the logistics department.”
Cheng Cezhi: “But……”
Ye Jia resolutely interrupted him, “I love this job very much and I want to dedicate all my time and energy to the field I love.”
Cheng Cezhi, “…….”
How could someone make wanting to live a salted fish life sound so honourable?
Ye Jia sent the visibly recovered Cheng Cezhi to the door. Before the other party left, he rested his arm on the door frame and smiled lightly at Cheng Cezhi, “You won’t tell other people about what happened today, will you?”
The bright light in the living room cast a golden light over the side of his face and with his pair of light-coloured eyes slightly narrowed, he looked particularly amiable at this very moment.
Please read this from kk translates
But for some reason, Cheng Cezhi suddenly felt a chill down his back.
He shook his head like a rattle.
Ye Jia smiled and waved at him, “Goodnight.”
As soon as the door closed, the small black hand appeared from behind Ye Jia’s shoulder, “Do you really believe that he would keep quiet?”
Ye Jia lowered his eyes and smiled gently, “Of course.”
With his fingers slightly bent, a wisp of dark air emerged from his fingertip and left through the space under the door.
Small black hand, “!”
Ye Jia placed a finger on his lips, “Because I am watching him.”
Small black hand: “……….”
Fuck, this man is scary.
I want to go back to the game wuwuwuwu.
.
The dark night spread out like black ink, immersing the entire city in it.
In an empty street corner stood a single streetlamp. Its faint yellow light was almost submerged in the darkness.
“Bzzz——”
With the intermittent sound of electric current, the light flickered a few times.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the moment the light went back on, a figure had suddenly appeared in the corner of that street.
A dark shadow stretched out from under the man’s feet, splitting the light like a sharp blade and finally melting into the darkness in the distance.
Ji Xuan raised his eyes and looked up at the sky.
M City.
No one else could see it apart from him. The sky above this small city was enveloped by a thick layer of ominous looking dark mist. The dark mist was condensed together and seemed to be secretly waiting for an opportunity of some sort.
He retracted his gaze indifferently and showed no interest in that change.
Bright red lines slowly appeared on the ground. They bulged out like ocean waves and rushed towards Ji Xuan’s direction
It grew more and more scarlet in colour before gradually morphing into a physical entity. Large white bones formed wings and there were still blood and flesh remnants hanging between the bones. Underneath all that was a moving mass of blood-red fluid in which blurred and horrified human faces loomed about.
It raised its goat-like skull head and looked at the man before it through its dark eye sockets.
Ji Xuan leaned down and gently brushed his pale and slender fingers across its skull. His voice was calm and gentle, “Good child.”
At this moment, from the darkness in the distance, a faint whisper sounded, “King, do you need us to find him?”
“No.” Ji Xuan didn’t even raise his eyes, “As long as he wants to hide, you will never be able to find him.”
He approached the monster and whispered something in its ear.
The huge monster turned around, its crimson and white spine arched out and then, like a fish submerging back into the sea, it quietly sank back into the ground and disappeared without a trace.
Ji Xuan raised his eyes. Cold light flashed across his eyes.
“Track all the fierce ghosts in this city and find their gathering point.”
The higher levelled the fierce ghosts are, the more likely they are to be drawn to each other.
They are eager to fight and consume each other to further nourish and develop themselves. This was an instinctual behaviour of theirs. The darker and purer their energy was, the sweeter and more attractive they appear to others.
—- Except for the game, there was no other place with such strong ghost energy.
And the person he wanted to find was the cream of the crop.
He was a natural magnet. Although he had deliberately concealed himself and this effect had weakened considerably, the attraction still existed.
Even if he had hidden himself perfectly in human society, there would always be a series of strange things happening around him.
“Investigate everything about that human organisation and look for patterns.”
The man’s voice was calm and indifferent as he gave his order.
“Understood.”
A faint voice sounded in the dark.
Immediately afterwards, everything fell silent again.
Ji Xuan looked at the dark sky in the distance. His eyes were deep, as if he had fallen into some distant memory.
A faint smile carrying slight bloodthirstiness appeared briefly on his face.
Unknowingly, so much time had passed……
Have you missed me, big brother?
Chapter 12
The past two days had been very turbulent making Ye Jia, the salted fish who had grown accustomed to living a stable life in reality, a little uncomfortable.
Therefore, after leaving the hospital, like what all corporate slaves with seven days of paid leave would do, the first thing he did when he returned home was to——-
Sleep.
Ye Jia buried his head in his blanket and slept for twelve hours straight.
When he woke up again, it was already dark outside.
There was only a faint blue light in the distance along with the sound of cheerful music.
Ye Jia narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw a phone with its screen lit up floating in mid-air. The small black hand had produced two hands and was currently sliding its finger across the screen in fascination.
Ye Jia, “…..What are you doing?”
Small black hand, “You’re awake!”
It held the phone and floated towards the bed as it exclaimed excitedly, “This thing called a mobile phone! It’s fun! There are so many interesting things in it! Look at this……”
Ye Jia glanced at the screen.
Fight The Landlord. (KKnotes: A card game.)
The small black hand puffed itself up triumphantly, “I have already won a lot of golden beans!”
Ye Jia glanced at it again.
—– And it was playing against other players.
Ye Jia: “……It’s good that you like it.”
He got out of bed, put on his slippers and slowly entered the kitchen to make himself a cup of hot tea.
Before he could take more than a few sips, he heard a knock on the door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Ye Jia was taken aback.
He had never told anyone his home address and he didn’t have any friends in the bureau close enough to come and visit him.
Who was it?
Ye Jia frowned and walked over to open the door.
As soon as the door was opened, Cheng Cezhi was revealed. He carried a goofy smile on his face and held a large basket of fruits in his hands, “Brother Ye, it’s me!”
Ye Jia’s right hand hanging to his side relaxed slightly and the sickle which had started to take shape very quickly disappeared.
He asked, “Why are you here?”
Please read this from kk translates
Cheng Cezhi, “The people from the Combat Division guarded me for three days but nothing happened, and they later had a shortage of staff on their end, so they let me go.”
He grinned, “After I returned to the logistics department, I heard that you had taken a week off due to a work injury so I’m here to check on you……..”
Ye Jia rubbed his messy hair, sighed and moved to the side, “Come in.”
Cheng Cezhi placed down the basket of fruit and Ye Jia came over with two cups of hot tea. He quickly got up to receive the tea and then carefully sat down on the sofa.
“Speaking of which,” Ye Jia sipped his tea, “how did you know my address?”
Cheng Cezhi was a little at loss, “Huh? The others don’t know? I…I asked my uncle.”
Ye Jia had a bad feeling.
“Your uncle? Who?”
“Heheh, you have probably heard of him……” Cheng Cezhi laughed with some embarrassment, “It’s that Cheng Ze.”
Cheng Ze, the director of the M City branch of the Paranormal Investigation and Management Bureau.
Ye Jia: “…….”
Oh, someone with connections.
No wonder their head chief’s attitude towards this newcomer was so good!! Double standards!!
Suddenly, Cheng Cezhi sucked in a deep breath. His expression showed great fear and he quickly lowered his voice, “B-brother Ye, d-don’t look back!”
Ye Jia: “?”
Cheng Cezhi’s gaze was fixed at a spot behind Ye Jia. He then spoke extremely quietly and extremely slowly, “I……I think a ghost has followed you back……”
Ye Jia’s heart fell.
Could it be that the small black hand had become completely addicted to Fight The Landlord and let the phone float around?
At this moment, the small back hand skilfully climbed onto his shoulder, “What is that human talking about? If a ghost really followed you back, I would’ve already noticed it.”
It wasn’t holding the phone.
But before Ye Jia could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Cheng Cezhi let out another gasp, “B-brother Ye…..I think…..it’s on your shoulder…..”
Ye Jia: “?”
Small black hand: “?”
Ye Jia turned to look at the small black hand on his shoulder and a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes.
…..Cheng Cezhi could see it?
When they were in the elevator last time, the small black hand had suddenly become stronger due to the malicious energy left behind by a fierce ghost. At that time, its level had increased by almost two levels, so it was possible for ordinary people to see it but, after it had been dealt with by Ye Jia, it had become very weak, so it was now almost impossible for ordinary people to see it.
Cheng Cezhi’s teeth chattered as he reached to his waist, “I-I’ll call the Bureau…….”
Ye Jia pinched the bridge of his nose, “…….Wait.”
Cheng Cezhi didn’t listen. He continued to rummage around while trembling.
Ye Jia turned his head and ordered the small back hand, “Go and grab it.”
“On it.” The small black hand flew over and ruthlessly snatched away the emergency call device from the panicking Cheng Cezhi’s hands.
Cheng Cezhi’s face was pale. He pressed himself firmly against the back of the sofa, “Y-you two……..”
Ye Jia pointed at the small black hand on the side, “Let me introduce you. This was the one who subjected you to a nightmare in the building back then.”
The small black hand waved at him in a friendly manner.
But Cheng Cezhi looked like he would pass out any second.
Ye Jia narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
How should this story be explained……
—- Twenty minutes later.
Cheng Cezhi held a cup of hot tea in his hands. Although his face was still pale, his expression was a lot better than before.
“So, you mean, it attacked me before because it was contaminated by another fierce ghost?”
Ye Jia nodded.
“Then……why can I see it?”
“I don’t know.” Ye Jia shrugged, “Perhaps it’s because you have seen too many ghosts recently.”
When ordinary people are exposed to excessive yin energy, it would result in a certain degree of spiritual vision.
“Th-then what about you?” Chen Cezhi asked cautiously.
Although Ye Jia had always been gentle and easy-going, for some reason Cheng Cezhi had always felt that there was more to it. He couldn’t help but feel admiration towards him as well as the urge to know him better.
“Born with it.” Ye Jia replied without a change to his expression.
He didn’t have spiritual vision before entering the game but after living in that place with such high concentration of yin energy, he naturally acquired that ability.
—–After all, those who didn’t acquire it are already dead.
“Since you have this talent, why didn’t you join the Combat Division?” Cheng Cezhi became excited, “Do you need help? I can ask my uncle……”
Ye Jia: “……..”
Join the Combat Division?
Did he think that there was too little overtime, or was he worried that the reward for the hatred leaderboard was not high enough?
Ye Jia: “No, I think it’s good to just pass my days idly like this in the logistics department.”
Cheng Cezhi: “But……”
Ye Jia resolutely interrupted him, “I love this job very much and I want to dedicate all my time and energy to the field I love.”
Cheng Cezhi, “…….”
How could someone make wanting to live a salted fish life sound so honourable?
Ye Jia sent the visibly recovered Cheng Cezhi to the door. Before the other party left, he rested his arm on the door frame and smiled lightly at Cheng Cezhi, “You won’t tell other people about what happened today, will you?”
The bright light in the living room cast a golden light over the side of his face and with his pair of light-coloured eyes slightly narrowed, he looked particularly amiable at this very moment.
Please read this from kk translates
But for some reason, Cheng Cezhi suddenly felt a chill down his back.
He shook his head like a rattle.
Ye Jia smiled and waved at him, “Goodnight.”
As soon as the door closed, the small black hand appeared from behind Ye Jia’s shoulder, “Do you really believe that he would keep quiet?”
Ye Jia lowered his eyes and smiled gently, “Of course.”
With his fingers slightly bent, a wisp of dark air emerged from his fingertip and left through the space under the door.
Small black hand, “!”
Ye Jia placed a finger on his lips, “Because I am watching him.”
Small black hand: “……….”
Fuck, this man is scary.
I want to go back to the game wuwuwuwu.
.
The dark night spread out like black ink, immersing the entire city in it.
In an empty street corner stood a single streetlamp. Its faint yellow light was almost submerged in the darkness.
“Bzzz——”
With the intermittent sound of electric current, the light flickered a few times.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the moment the light went back on, a figure had suddenly appeared in the corner of that street.
A dark shadow stretched out from under the man’s feet, splitting the light like a sharp blade and finally melting into the darkness in the distance.
Ji Xuan raised his eyes and looked up at the sky.
M City.
No one else could see it apart from him. The sky above this small city was enveloped by a thick layer of ominous looking dark mist. The dark mist was condensed together and seemed to be secretly waiting for an opportunity of some sort.
He retracted his gaze indifferently and showed no interest in that change.
Bright red lines slowly appeared on the ground. They bulged out like ocean waves and rushed towards Ji Xuan’s direction
It grew more and more scarlet in colour before gradually morphing into a physical entity. Large white bones formed wings and there were still blood and flesh remnants hanging between the bones. Underneath all that was a moving mass of blood-red fluid in which blurred and horrified human faces loomed about.
It raised its goat-like skull head and looked at the man before it through its dark eye sockets.
Ji Xuan leaned down and gently brushed his pale and slender fingers across its skull. His voice was calm and gentle, “Good child.”
At this moment, from the darkness in the distance, a faint whisper sounded, “King, do you need us to find him?”
“No.” Ji Xuan didn’t even raise his eyes, “As long as he wants to hide, you will never be able to find him.”
He approached the monster and whispered something in its ear.
The huge monster turned around, its crimson and white spine arched out and then, like a fish submerging back into the sea, it quietly sank back into the ground and disappeared without a trace.
Ji Xuan raised his eyes. Cold light flashed across his eyes.
“Track all the fierce ghosts in this city and find their gathering point.”
The higher levelled the fierce ghosts are, the more likely they are to be drawn to each other.
They are eager to fight and consume each other to further nourish and develop themselves. This was an instinctual behaviour of theirs. The darker and purer their energy was, the sweeter and more attractive they appear to others.
—- Except for the game, there was no other place with such strong ghost energy.
And the person he wanted to find was the cream of the crop.
He was a natural magnet. Although he had deliberately concealed himself and this effect had weakened considerably, the attraction still existed.
Even if he had hidden himself perfectly in human society, there would always be a series of strange things happening around him.
“Investigate everything about that human organisation and look for patterns.”
The man’s voice was calm and indifferent as he gave his order.
“Understood.”
A faint voice sounded in the dark.
Immediately afterwards, everything fell silent again.
Ji Xuan looked at the dark sky in the distance. His eyes were deep, as if he had fallen into some distant memory.
A faint smile carrying slight bloodthirstiness appeared briefly on his face.
Unknowingly, so much time had passed……
Have you missed me, big brother?
