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“…….” Ye Jia narrowed his eyes. His amber coloured eyes flickered with an indecipherable light under his long eyelashes.
After a long time, he rolled up the documents and used it to whack Ji Xuan’s head.“Huh?”Ji Xuan was stunned for a moment. He raised his hand to cover the back of his head and blinked blankly as he looked at the other party.“Thank you for the offer.” Ye Jia slowly stood up and picked up a few more documents in front of him.He smiled and said, “But no thanks.”Ye Jia picked up his phone and called the Bureau. After a simple greeting, he asked, “How did the investigation of Dream Maker’s company go?”Liang Yi on the other end sounded a little troubled, “We have already contacted the commercial side as well as the authorities. That company is legally compliant in all areas and there are no issues with their tax payments or their finances nor were there any criminal records…..We have sent people to watch over them but the possibility of us obtaining information from the outside is very low….”Ye Jia nodded thoughtfully.This was something he had expected. Since Dream Maker dared to step into the light from the darkness he had hidden himself in all this time, it meant that he had absolute confidence in himself.After thinking for a few seconds, Ye Jia lowered his eyes and said slowly, “I now need detailed information on a few cases.”He lined up the documents he had just picked out and read the labels.Liang Yi immediately took note of it, “No problem….”Very soon, Ye Jia’s phone dinged. He tapped through and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.“Lastly, please check a licence plate for me.”“No problem. Go ahead.” Liang Yi’s voice sounded from the phone.----This was the plate number of the car driven away by the man yesterday. Although he hadn’t said anything when he left, Ye Jia had silently noted down his licence plate number.Soon, information about the car owner was pulled out.That man’s name was Wang Chengze, forty-five years old this year, married. His daughter was thirteen years old this year and currently hospitalised in the city hospital.Ye Jia, “Can you pull up the daughter’s case?”The keys on the keyboard tapped on Liang Yi’s side and a few minutes later, he replied, “This….it seems to be an unexplained case of organ failure. The hospital appears to still be trying to look for a reasonable explanation for it.”“Send me the details.”“Roger….”After Ye Jia gave him his thanks, he ended the call.He lowered his head and briefly flipped through the information Liang Yi sent over and a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes.Looks like his guess this time was correct.Ye Jia quickly formulated the next strategy in his mind and then placed the phone back into his pocket.After doing all this, he turned and looked at Ji Xuan who was still sitting on the bed.----- Alright. Now is the time to deal with the issues on this end.Ye Jia narrowed his eyes and stared at the young boy before him. He asked directly, “So what is your current state now?”Ji Xuan raised his beautiful little face that sported an innocent and blank expression, “Huh?”Ye Jia lightly smiled but there was no smile in his eyes, “You still want to continue acting?”When Ji Xuan first woke up the other day, Ye Jia believed that his dazed state was most likely real.But from then onwards, Ye Jia was no longer certain.This guy coming here to F City and reminding him about the origin of the scar on his wrist, and also his actions yesterday….it all pointed in the opposite direction.----Not only was he quietly providing Ye Jia with clues, but he was also even able to predict in advance that one cannot enter Dream Maker’s company from the outside hence prompting him to leave a mark on Ye Jia to allow him to quietly sneak in.All of this gave Ye Jia a hint.Although fierce ghosts would fall into a weak state due to damage to their soul, but as Mother’s direct descendant and as the king of ghosts, Ye Jia was certain he would have thought of the consequences before splitting his soul. Since he still did it anyway, then it must mean that he was confident that he wouldn’t be too affected by this so-called ‘weak’ state ---- After all, a Ghost King wouldn’t let themself be in a weak state for a long time.
And so, there was only one explanation left.Ye Jia lowered his eyes and looked calmly at the other party, appearing as if he was waiting for something.The atmosphere in the air gradually grew tense.The young boy looked back at Ye Jia unblinkingly, his scarlet eyes flickering a strange light, almost looking like half coagulated blood.A long time later, he lightly raised the corners of his lips and said casually, “Ah….As expected, I can’t hide it from gege.”Ji Xuan frowned, looking troubled. When this somewhat cute expression appeared on this face, it somehow gave others a creepy feeling, “I thought I could drag this on for a little longer…..What a pity.”Ji Xuan jumped off the bed and walked towards Ye Jia.His figure distorted with each step.By the time he reached Ye Jia, he had returned to his normal appearance.He was very tall, almost a half a head taller than Ye Jia, and when he got close, Ye Jia had no choice but to raise his head to look at him.The man’s shoulders were broad, giving people a feeling of oppressiveness. His pair of scarlet eyes were lowered, and his defined brows were downturned. There was a slight, almost imperceptible arc in his lips and his icy gaze carried a strong meaning of possessiveness. Ye Jia felt like he was being looked at by a cold-blooded animal.Ye Jia narrowed his eyes slightly and looked back at the other party without showing any signs of retreating, “So tell me, how long has it been since you’ve recovered?”Ji Xuan lowly chuckled.“Not that long….” He skilfully avoided answering the other party’s question, “But….”Ji Xuan’s words went straight to the point, “It’s enough to be of assistance.”“Assistance?” Ye Jia raised a brow. His lips carried a sarcastic smile, “What? Are you going to directly tell me what the loophole in Dream Maker’s contracts is? Or do you have a way of killing him without killing those thousands of people?”“………” Ji Xuan, “No……”Ye Jia looked at him with a smile, “I thought so….”After saying that, he used the rolled-up documents to push the other person away from him, “So don’t get in my way.”The smile on Ji Xuan’s lips deepened. He obediently gave way and watched Ye Jia get ready to go out and slowly spoke up, “So what are you going to do now?”“Wang Chengze. He has signed a contract with Dream Maker.” Ye Jia put on his coat as he replied, “All the cases I have right now are of contractors who have died. Only he is still alive.”Ye Jia raised his eyes to look at Ji Xuan and his gaze darkened slightly as he continued calmly, “His contract has not been completed yet. He is our only breakthrough.”As he said that, he pulled up his hood.A shadow spread over, hiding his amber-coloured eyes.Ye Jia contacted Wei Yuechu, Chen Qingye and Blast using his identity as Ace and asked them to investigate a place.Ji Xuan stared at the other party as they walked out the door.Ye Jia opened the door and turned back to look impatiently at Ji Xuan, “What are you standing around for?”This time it was Ji Xuan’s turn to be surprised.“Aren’t you almost all better?” Ye Jia’s voice didn’t contain any unnecessary emotional fluctuations. It was as if he was just talking about today’s weather.----Since he’s here already, he might as well make use of him.He asked, “Aren’t you coming?”After a brief moment of surprise, Ji Xuan returned to his senses. A faint smile slowly seeped into the depths of his eyes and the scarlet colour lightly rippled, “As you command.”Very soon, Ye Jia arrived at the hospital.At the intensive care unit.A little girl laid quietly on the hospital bed with her eyes closed and face pale. Her long brown hair was scattered across the snow-white pillow and her entire body was so thin, she looked as light as a piece of paper.Countless machines next to her displayed charts of various colours on the screens. It was as if it was slowly recording the ending of this young life.Wang Chengze was anxiously pacing around outside the ward.
The dark shadows under his eyes had worsened considerably and his worried look along with his slightly hunched back made him appear older than his actual age.Wang Chengze had never believed in the existence of gods and ghosts before. Even after the ghost rampage in M City made him aware that they truly existed in this world, he still scoffed at them.He had never thought that there would be a day…..where he would be hoping that these paranormal powers could help him.It didn’t matter even if it cost his life and soul.Wang Chengze looked at the little girl through the glass. After taking a deep breath, he seemed to have made up his mind.“Mister Wang…..” At this moment, a both familiar yet also unfamiliar voice sounded behind him.He saw the young man who had approached him yesterday outside DM Company standing just a few steps away from him. The cold light in the hospital corridor fell onto the top of his head, the shadow cast by the hood hiding his face ---- Just like yesterday, that man gave off a distant and mysterious air.Wang Chengze vigilantly took a step back and asked slowly, “What do you want?”The young man took a step forward, raised his pale hand and took off his hood.Under the hood was a handsome face. His hair and eyes were on the lighter side, looking light brown in colour under the bright lights. There was a faint smile on his lips that made people feel at ease, “I just wanted to talk to you.”Wang Chengze was slightly surprised.His attitude was no longer as prickly as before, “I believe I’ve already made my thoughts clear yesterday. What exactly do you want to talk about?”Ye Jia said, “Why don’t we go out and talk?”His gaze travelled briefly over to the isolation room, “After all, I wouldn’t want to disturb your daughter.”Wang Chengze hesitated for a moment. After turning to look back at his unconscious daughter inside the intensive care unit, he agreed, “Alright…….”At the hospital rooftop.The sky was an almost jet-black dark blue. There were several clouds slowly floating by, looking particularly distant and unreachable.Wang Chengze retracted his gaze and looked at the young man who stood not far away, “Go on……”The young man’s light-coloured hair was made messy by the wind and there were ripples in his glass-like eyes. He slowly stepped forward, rolled up his sleeve and showed his wrist, “Does this look familiar?”Wang Chengze was stunned for a moment, His pupils instantly constricted.The young man’s wrist was thin and slender, and his skin was pale to the point that you could see the veins underneath.There was a small, inconspicuous scar at the wrist joint; one horizontal, one vertical, crossing diagonally.Wang Chengze lowered his head subconsciously and looked at his own wrist.The shape of the wound was exactly the same, but the other person’s scar looked like one that had healed a long time ago and would easily be overlooked if you didn’t look carefully enough. His wound on the other hand was one that had just been inflicted and was still blood-red and raised.He raised his head with his eyes wide, “You….”“That’s right…” Ye Jia calmly rolled down his sleeves, “I have dealt with him before.”Wang Chengze looked at him in surprise. He didn’t know if he should trust this person before him.Ye Jia continued, “And it is also because I have dealt with him before that I know exactly what kind of contract you have signed.”He stated calmly, “You have been deceived….”In fact, ever since he knew that their opponent was Dream Maker, Ye Jia had always been thinking about a certain question-------How did Dream Maker fulfil other people’s wishes?This continued until Wei Yuechu and Blast inadvertently mentioned something during their conversation ---- You think he’s a genie?A kind of existence that can satisfy all wishes can only exist in fairy tales.And Dream Maker wasn’t a genie. He was just a very powerful fierce ghost.But no matter how powerful the ghost is, there is always a limit to their strengths. He was just a fierce ghost, not an all-powerful God ----- Even if he was strong, it was impossible for him to be able to satisfy any player’s wish. What if the player’s wish was the leave the game? Could Dream Maker really be able to send them out of the game?So, after thinking about this, Ye Jia once again called the wife of the office worker who had died from the steel pipe and asked, “Do you currently still have feelings for your husband?”“Of course…..” But the other party seemed to have hesitated for a moment. She then said slowly, “But, it’s very strange. After he died, the feelings I had that felt like I was falling in love again disappeared….It’s as if it had gone back to how it was before everything changed.”
The answer was something Ye Jia expected.----It was impossible for Dream Maker to fulfil everyone’s wishes. He wasn’t that powerful. What he could create was nothing but a false illusion.A Dream Maker creating dreams. That was all that he could do.But the person who had signed the contract with him would be paying the real price.And so, Ye Jia selected several cases similar to Wang Chengze’s.He took out his phone, turned on the screen and threw it over to Wang Chengze.Wang Chengze hurriedly caught the phone.He flipped through the information on there and the more he read, the more frightened he became. Fine beads of sweat formed across his forehead. His face was pale and his breathing was erratic.Zhao XXX, male, died in a car accident. On the third day after his death, his mother who had shown signs of recovery after receiving a heart transplant suddenly suffered from heart failure and was unable to be saved.Liu XXX, female, died from falling from a building. On the third day after her death, her son who had miraculously recovered from advanced gastric cancer died at home because of cancer metastasis.And addition to those, there were many more.When he reached the end, Wang Chengze’s hands were shaking so hard, he could barely hold the phone. He raised his head to look at the young man before him and stammered, “Th-this…..”Ye Jia took his phone back and said slowly, “This is the price of making a deal with the devil.”“Your family member will indeed miraculously recover, but once the contract is completed, your soul will be taken away, and his ‘gift’ will no longer be effective.” Ye Jia softly signed, “All he needs to do is to fulfil the promise written on the contract for half a month ---- Don’t trust in ghosts. Making deals with them will not do you any good.”Wang Chengze was completely shocked.He reached out to support himself using the railing next to him, “Then….then what should I do now? Can this contract….be cancelled?”Ye Jia shook his head, “Unfortunately, no.”Although the wishes realised by Dream Maker were false, the contracts that were signed were real.“After I die, my daughter will also die with me?” Wang Chengze’s expression was filled with despair.Ye Jia narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, “Not necessarily….”Wang Chengze was stunned. There seemed to be a glimmer of hope in his eyes, “What…..what do you mean?”Ye Jia said, “I looked into the cause of your daughter’s illness. I think there may be a chance.”He thought about it for a while and then took out a piece of paper from his pocket, “Let me check, it should be about time now.”The thin piece of paper held between his fingers suddenly burst into flames. Soon afterwards, a vibrant, female voice sounded in the air, shocking Wang Chengze, “We found it! It’s just as you said, it’s indeed a Sucker. Amazing. I never thought that there would still be some of these disgusting things left. I thought Ji Xuan had already exterminated them.”Ye Jia shrugged, “There will always be a few fish that slip through the net.”----- He had encountered one before too, so he thought of this possibility when he saw the girl’s situation.Amidst the Sucker’s hissing in the background, Blast’s irritated voice travelled over, “Stay still……”The next moment, there was the sound of kicking and fluid splattering. The burning paper prop enhanced the noise, making it sound quite awful.“So what should we do now?” Chen Qingye’s calm voice sounded.Ye Jia directed, “Burn it…..”Blast’s excited voice immediately sounded, “Roger!”There was the sound of fire burning as well as the sound of the Sucker’s screams. The noises alone were enough to make people feel uncomfortable.Ye Jia smiled apologetically to the frightened Wang Chengze and slightly clenched his fist.The burning paper turned into ashes which were then scattered by the wind.Ye Jia dusted off the scraps from his hand and said in a friendly manner to Wang Chengze, “I’m afraid it would take a while to burn to death. Why don’t we go down first?”Wang Chengze nodded whilst still in daze. His world views had been completely washed anew.The two of them stood outside the door to the intensive care unit, waiting for the time to pass.
Ye Jia slowly counted down inside.After ten minutes, he looked down at the phone to check the time and said, “It should be fine now.”There was an unusual change to the charts on the machines in the intensive care unit. Doctors and nurses rushed over. Wang Chengze immediately shot up; his eyes fixed on the situation inside the room. His chest rose and fell heavily. He looked like he would faint any second.Ye Jia didn’t stand and just sat on a chair with his long legs slightly bent, waiting quietly.After a long time.A doctor slowly came out and said to Wang Chengze, “Your daughter’s condition has begun to stabilise….”As soon as he heard this, the middle-aged man’s figure swayed. As if all the strength in his body was gone, he softly felt onto the ground. A choked sob broke out from within the depths of his throat.Ye Jia who stood behind him raised his eyes slightly.The man’s blue-green veined hands were firmly grasping onto the doctor’s gown. On the wrist, the bloody-red wounds that intersected vertically and horizontally were still there, but it was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually blending into the depths of his skin.A long time later, when Wang Chengze was able to recover emotionally, he raised his head to look at his benefactor, only to see that there was no one behind him ----- The other party had at some unknown point in time left.Outside the hospital.Ji Xuan leaned against the wall with his long legs slightly bent. His eyelids were slightly lowered, covering his eyes that were as dark as night.From time to time, girls would pass by and their eyes would uncontrollably drift in his direction before shyly looking away.The man lowered his eyes indifferently. The ‘do not approach’ air around him was very strong.Even if someone wanted to strike up a conversation, they wouldn’t dare to.Suddenly, the stern-faced man seemed to have suddenly noticed something and raised his eyes to look in a certain direction. Those eyes that were dark like an abyss seemed to light up and all his attention was on the other party, like they were his world. A faint smile formed on his lips.A slender, handsome young man appeared next to the stairs and was walking quickly towards the man.----Looks like it’s a case of hotties hooking up with each other.The girls who had been secretly watching immediately lost their interest.Forget it. Let’s go.Ji Xuan straightened up and looked towards Ye Jia, “All sorted?”Ye Jia casually let out an ‘en’, “It seems that although Dream Maker is the absolute beneficiary of the contract, he is also bound by the contract itself.”Time is the key.As long as Dream Maker fails to fulfil the contract within this half month, the conditions on the contract will no longer be effective. Dream Maker’s ability however was strong enough to create whatever the contractor wishes for --- Of course, whether he would take it back was another matter.Therefore, if they wanted the contract to no longer be effective, they had to either make Dream Maker unable to fulfil wishes ---- But the other party would definitely not be willing to sign such a condition.Or, just like what they did just now, they could step in and kick out the Dream Maker existence from the contract by fulfilling the conditions themselves.But that was obviously an unrealistic plan. After all, this was a special case. If Wang Chengze’s daughter had leukemia or some kind of incurable disease, even Ye Jia would be unable to do anything and can only watch Dream Maker take away Wang Chengze’s soul.If that’s the case…..How should he exploit this loophole?“Looks like you found the loophole?” Ji Xuan’s asked with a smile in his eyes.Without changing his expression, he said, “I have always believed in your abilities.”----It was as if the person who had wanted to exchange a good night kiss for a clue earlier wasn’t him.Ye Jia: “……”He expressionlessly glanced at the other party, too tired to argue with him.Ye Jia lowered his eyes in thought. After thinking it over for a while, he said, “I have an idea and may need your help.”Ji Xuan agreed immediately, “Of course……”He raised his finger and lightly tapped his lower lip. There was a faint smile concealed in his dark eyes, “So, it’s a deal?”