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Inside the shopping mall….
Sunlight shone through the tall glass ceilings, illuminating the clean and shiny interior. Separated by large glass windows, the lights were bright, and men and women dressed in fashionable clothes moved about in twos and threes. The air was filled with the scent of brand-new products.In the flow of people, a tall and slender young man stood out. He looked out of place with the surroundings.His features were handsome with almost morbidly pale skin and light-coloured eyes and hair. The air he gave off made him feel rather distant and unapproachable.At this moment, his brows were furrowed and he looked a little frustrated.Even despite this, his excellent appearance attracted a lot of eyes both openly and secretly. From time to time, girls would secretly look over, seemingly ready to approach him.But at this moment, a tall woman emerged from one of the shops.Although her features were extremely gorgeous, they were sharp and defined, carrying a bit of aggressiveness. At this moment, she looked at the young man with a smile and said in a voice that was lower than an ordinary woman’s, “Why aren’t’ you coming in?”Ye Jia: “……..”Because I don’t want to.But the other party didn’t seem to see his resistance and just went over and hugged Ye Jia’s arm.Ye Jia expressionlessly sighed and could only resignedly allow himself to be dragged in.Ji Xuan looked back and swept his eyes across the hall with narrowed eyes as his grip around Ye Jia’s arm tightened possessively to declare ownership.Disappointed sighs sounded all around.---- Sure enough, that handsome guy is already taken.As soon as he entered the store, Ye Jia was stunned.It wasn’t a women’s clothing store.Wait a minute. Ji Xuan wasn’t a woman in the first place so he should be needing to go into a women’s clothing store! Don’t be influenced by him!Ye Jia shook his head and threw away the absurd thoughts from his mind.But as soon as he was dragged into the store, Ji Xuan had let go of him and disappeared, leaving only Ye Jia standing there alone. This men’s clothing store seemed to be very high end with options to order ready-made clothing or custom-made clothing. The clothing hanging from the wooden walls all gave off the smell of money.Ye Jia casually picked up a piece of clothing and glanced at the price.He almost forgot to breathe from the shock.I-isn’t this a scam?Ye Jia carefully counted the number of zeros and then compared it to his salary at the Bureau ---- If he worked five years without eating or drinking, he would be able to afford this.Dammit! He’s clearly a civil servant too!Just as Ye Jia grieved over his salary, Ji Xuan led the tailor over.He was slightly taken aback.Wait a minute. With Ji Xuan looking like this, how could he try on men’s clothes?Before Ye Jia could figure it out, he saw Ji Xuan point at him and say with a smile to the tailor beside him, “I’ll leave it to you…….”Ye Jia: “……..”When he returned to his senses, the tailor was already holding a measuring tape and taking measurements of his body.Ye Jia’s body was completely stiff. He gave Ji Xuan a few looks with his eyes.-----What’s going on?Ji Xuan blew him a kiss.-----Muah.Ye Jia: “……….”Watching the young man before him look away, the smile on Ji Xuan’s lips deepened further. He looked very pleased.The tailor was very skilled and efficient. Very soon, he had all the measurements he needed. He then turned and went back into the store.Ye Jia used this chance to grab Ji Xuan and questioned with a suppressed voice, “What are you up to?”Ji Xuan smiled relaxedly, “Buying you clothes.”Ye Jia’s voice couldn’t help but get a little louder, “I can’t afford it!”Ji Xuan, “I can……”Ye Jia: “……..”His temples throbbed. He took in a deep breath and turned to leave.Ji Xuan quickly grabbed him, “Where are you going?”
Ye Jia gritted his teeth, “L.e.a.v.i.n.g.”Ji Xuan, “Didn’t you promise to be with me all day today? That I could go wherever I want and do whatever I want?”Ye Jia: “….”I don’t seem to remember saying such a thing?!Seemingly sensing the other party’s dumbfounded state, Ji Xuan’s thin lips curled up slightly, “Today, I just want to buy clothes for you from this place.”He leaned closer; his cold breath landing on the young man’s warm ears. Without the femininity in his voice, it was low and slightly husky, carrying a slight lazy and ambiguous air, “And you belong to me today.”Ye Jia’s ears went numb.He instinctively retreated and looked at Ji Xuan with a look of shock.The other party stepped back as if nothing had happened and then proceeded to turn and whisper something to the tailor.At an angle outside of the other person’s line of sight, Ye Jia pinched his earlobe, as if he wanted to expel that strange sensation from earlier.Seeing Ji Xuan look over, Ye Jia immediately moved his hand back down and turned to look at the row of shirts before him.Ji Xuan came over, his dark eyes sweeping over the other party’s slightly red ears, and then followed the other party’s line of sight and stopped on the shirt before him. The corners of his lips hooked up, “You like it?”Ye Jia suddenly grew vigilant, “No……”But before he could voice his refusal, he saw Ji Xuan call a shop assistant over, “Everything here, pack it for me.”Ye Jia: “?”He pulled at Ji Xuan’s arm and whispered, “I don’t need it!”Ji Xuan suddenly realised something, “You’re right….”Ye Jia: “?”What?For a moment, he wasn’t able to process the situation.He then heard Ji Xuan continue, “How could you only have shirts? You wouldn’t be able to wear it without matching pants and shoes.”Ye Jia: “!”Wait a minute!I didn’t mean that!Ji Xuan raised his hand that held a black and gold card, “Send all these as well as your complete sets to the address I left just now.”Immediately afterwards, he dragged the shocked Ye Jia out the store.Ye Jia turned his head and watched the store get smaller and smaller behind him. He then slowly asked, “H-how much did you spend in total?”Ji Xuan wrapped his icy arms around Ye Jia’s arm and said with a smile, “Are you going to pay it back?”Ye Jia: “……..”I want to but I don’t have the money.He said, “I’ll return it later.”JI Xuan narrowed his eyes and chuckled, “They don’t allow refunds……”Ye Jia, “Then I just won’t accept it.”“Fine…..” Ji Xuan nodded without a change to his expression, “But those were bought according to your measurements. If you don’t wear them, you can only throw them away.”Ye Jia, “……….”A long string of zeros floated past his mind.Fuck……Ji Xuan turned and looked at Ye Jia, “Let’s go. I still haven’t shopped enough.”With force, he dragged the young man to the second store..In the store behind them.The two shop assistants standing behind the counter watched the pair go further and further way.One of them exclaimed, “Heavens. A rich woman.”The other nodded and echoed enviously, “And she’s such a beautiful rich woman. So tall and slim.”
“Just a little too tall.”“But I can accept it….”“Actually, me too.”The tailor stuck his head out from behind and mercilessly put a stop to their daydreams, “Accept my ass. You can think about that when you are as handsome as her boyfriend.”The two shop assistants fell silent, “……..”So true. Impossible to refute..No matter how Ye Jia struggled, Ji Xuan was able to drag him around the entire high-end men’s clothing area in the shopping mall. By the end, Ye Jia no longer had any more energy to resist.Regardless of how directly or ruthlessly he refused, the other party could always find weird and strange reasons to turn the situation around.With large and small bags hanging from him, Ye Jia weakly followed behind Ji Xuan.Ji Xuan walked ahead with his bright eyes scanning across the shop windows. He seemed to be in a very good mood.A couple walked over from ahead.The woman’s eyes landed on Ye Jia. She then proceeded to nudge her boyfriend with her elbow and half-jokingly complained, “Look at them. Look at how cooperative they are when they’re accompanying their girlfriend out shopping and then look at yourself complaining after just walking a few steps.”Ye Jia: “No, I…….”He suddenly realised that he didn’t need to explain himself to a stranger, so he swallowed back the words he was about to blurt out.At this moment, Ji Xuan who was walking in front saw a shop ahead and his eyes lit up. He quickly turned and waved at Ye Jia, “Quick! This one will suit you!”The couple turned their heads and their eyes stopped at the high-end designer sign.The man muttered quietly, “Look at other people’s girlfriends. You only gave me a pair of Taobao gloves that cost 9.9 yuan including shipping last year.”The woman, “…….”Ye Jia couldn’t help but looked over, “It’s not-------”But the couple had already walked off.Ye Jia sighed resignedly and followed Ji Xuan into the shop.Ji Xuan narrowed his eyes as his gaze swept across the shelves and he then pulled out clothes one after another and threw them into Ye Jia’s arms, “This one, this one, this one….and this one.”Ye Jia stuck his head out from behind the clothes with great difficulty, “Are you attempting murder?”Ji Xuan only now stopped.Without accepting any protests, he pushed Ye Jia into the fitting rooms, “Try them…..”Ye Jia looked at the narrow fitting room in front of him and then at the closed door behind him and sighed.-----Since it has already reached this point.Then he should just give up and go with the flow.Five minutes later, the door to the fitting room opened from the inside.The young man came out.The shop assistant expressed, “Your girlfriend’s taste is great!”She had been a shop assistant for many years and had already honed her ability to blindly praise customers but her current praises were sincere.The other party’s figure was slender and straight, a natural figure for clothes. At this moment, donning high-end clothes, he appeared even more elegant and sophisticated. His eyes shone a clear, amber colour under the bright lights, giving him a mysterious and unreachable air.----The only pity was that the young man’s expression was a little too stiff.Ye Jia opened his mouth, “Actually…….”“Thank you for the compliment….” Ji Xuan lowly chuckled, “I will take this set…….”He had responded very skilfully without a change to his expression.Ye Jia: “……….”Ji Xuan stepped forward and his dark eyes half hidden under his eyelashes scanned Ye Jia up and down.Ye Jia felt uncomfortable being looked at like that. It was as if…..he was being stripped naked by the eyes of the other party.He frowned and said somewhat vigilantly, “What is it?”Ji Xuan’s thin lips were raised, and a trace of scarlet light flickered across his dark eyes, like ripples in a lake.He stretched out his hands to fix Ye Jia’s collar and said huskily, “My taste is indeed very good.”
Time passed unexpectedly fast.After they left the store, although the shopping mall was still brightly lit, the darkening sky could already be seen through the glass windows overhead. There were however still a lot of people still in the shopping mall, all with bright smiles on their faces.Ye Jia’s eyes stopped at a milk tea store at the entrance of the mall and the eyes that had been dead and lifeless the entire day immediately lit up.He pushed the numerous bags in his hands onto Ji Xuan, “Wait a moment….”Ji Xuan was surprised. He didn’t seem to have expected the other party to suddenly do this, “Huh?…….”But before the next words could be said, the other party had already disappeared.Ten minutes later.The young man returned with two cups of milk tea.He very naturally gave one of them to Ji Xuan and then inserted a straw into the other one in his hand.Warm, sweet and mellow liquid carrying a hint of tea fragrance flowed down his throat. It had the magical ability to immediately improve one’s mood.Ye Jia sat down on the bench, his legs bent comfortably, “This store has never opened a branch in M City, but I have heard people say that they’re delicious.”He shook the bottle and mused, “It’s actually true.”Ye Jia took another sip and asked casually, “What do you think?”Ji Xuan could feel the warmth passing through the cup onto his hand, penetrating his cold body.He turned his head, his dark eyes staring fixedly at the young man’s profile. His low voice slowly spoke up, “Indeed….”Ye Jia looked over and raised a brow, “But you haven’t tasted it yet?”Ji Xuan suddenly leaned forward without warning and his cold and thin lips lightly brushed against the skin next to the young man’s lips. Like a dragonfly stepping on water, the touch was as soft as a feather, almost like a fleeting dream.Ye Jia was startled. His eyes immediately widened.But before he could react, the other party had withdrawn.Ji Xuan chuckled lightly, “No need to taste……”----It’s already sweet enough.Ye Jia deliberately maintained a distance of a few steps away from Ji Xuan.He lowered his eyes, his line of sight falling onto the ground just a few steps before him, and there was no expression on his face. His lips were pursed tightly into a cold and straight line.The corner of his lips was still hot and sore from his forceful wiping.He wasn’t afraid of pain and had even grown accustomed to pain, but the strange feeling of that faint lingering touch on his lips somehow couldn’t be ignored despite almost wiping off an entire layer of skin.Suddenly, Ji Xuan who was walking at the front stopped and turned to look back at Ye Jia.Ye Jia was startled. He reflexively took a few steps back and asked warily, “What is it?”But this time, the relaxed look on Ji Xuan’s face was gone. His gaze deepened slightly, and he reported lowly, “There’s news from Puppet Master. He said he got the answer.”Ye Jia’s expression froze.He said, “Let’s go…..”The two strode quickly into a dark and empty alley and the next moment, their figures disappeared. The street outside was still brightly lit and bustling with people but no one noticed the two who had suddenly disappeared.Inside the warehouse……Puppet Master sat on a tall stack of books, swinging his legs triumphantly. Under his feet laid the fierce ghost who had been tortured to the point that it could no longer be recognised. The floor was covered in slimy and unpleasant smelling blood and there were even small pieces of flesh and bone fragments floating within. The sight alone was rather shocking, “How was it? Aren’t I very efficient?” Puppet Master began to boast, “I made some improvements to your original method and….”Ye Jia wasn’t interested in hearing about his torture methods. He only cared about the result, ‘Where is it?”Puppet Master pouted, “You’re so boring….”He jumped down, landing heavily on the tattered fierce ghost. The other party could only tremble and let out a painful cry from the depths of its throat. Puppet Master then jumped off the other party’s body without a change to his expression and gave Ye Jia a note.“As a reward….” He pointed at the fierce ghost behind him, “Can it be given to me?”Ye Jia was well aware of this guy’s hobbies.He probably wanted to make it into a puppet.He nodded, “Do as you wish…”After saying that, Ye Jia hurriedly left the warehouse.Puppet Master watched his leaving figure and pouted, “So boring…..”He turned to look back at the fierce ghost and a happy smile appeared on his child-like face, “Of course, you’re different, my precious one…..”At the shore…..
A large cargo ship was docked by the shore and workers were in the middle of loading large containers onto it. The sound of shouts echoed through the dark night, their voices sounding particularly distant and a little strange.At the bottom of the cargo ship.Two players sat in a cabin, lazily playing cards.Behind them was a pile of goods. The light above them swayed with the movements outside and the light flickered on and off intermittently.“Say, how long are we going to be staying here?”The other player threw out a pair of six’s and then lazily propped up his chin, “Of course it’ll be until it’s delivered. Did you think that they’re not going to send someone to guard over it?”---- Pair of K’s.“There are so many ghosts and monsters on this ship. Why are they using us?” The player complained.“Don’t complain….” The other player said, “We’ll be able to go up onto the deck once the ship sets off anyway.”He threw out a pair of Aces.The other side was silent.The player smiled whilst looking down at the remaining cards in his hand, “No more? If you can’t, I…”As he said that, he looked back up.----There was no one before him.It was not known when it had happened, but the other person who was sitting in front of him earlier was gone.The player was stunned for a moment. He reflexively wanted to pull out a weapon.The next second, the light above him shook violently and a strong force knocked him onto the ground. The weapon in his hand also fell onto the ground with a clatter, soon disappearing into the darkness.Cold fingers wrapped around his throat like metal clamps and knees pressed down against his chest. There was the sound of ribs breaking.The player’s eyes rolled up as he felt the air in his lungs quickly being drained. Bloody foam flowed from the corners of his lips.In his hazy vision, he saw the light above him swinging at a fast speed, leaving a burning afterimage on his retina. He could hardly see the person who had him firmly pinned down onto the ground, like an insect pinned onto a specimen board.“Where is it?”The other party’s voice was very cold, like ice that had not melted in a thousand years. It didn’t carry a trace of human emotion.The player struggled, trying to fight back.Slowly, the other person’s knee applied more force.The tips of his broken ribs pressed against his lungs, putting him in agonising pain.The voice above him continued slowly, “Are you waiting for the fierce ghosts outside to find out about what’s happening in here?”The player was unable to speak because his neck was held in a tight grip, but he was internally surprised by this question.Yes, he indeed was thinking that.The young man chuckled softly, his laughter echoing in the cabin, sounding quite hair-raising, “Don’t worry, they won’t be able to hear anything.”W-what?!The player was horrified.What did he mean? What did he mean by them not hearing anything?!A thought that made him panic surfaced to his mind, causing his blood to run cold. The broken ribs in his chest pressed down heavily onto his soft organs and the loss of blood caused his body to tremble. Panic and fear radiated from the depths of his bones.“Where is it?” The young man leaned closer and asked, his voice soft.The player’s vision turned dark. Under the influence of the pain, he raised his trembling hand, pointed ahead and said with difficulty, “T-the third row….Number….7, 6, 48….”Ye Jia slowly stood up and went towards the place the other party pointed at.Item number 7648.A small, seemingly unremarkable grey box sat on the dusty shelf, but when Ye Jia touched it, he could tell that it was densely covered in layers upon layers of protection to prevent it from being detected by props. If one tried to scour through the entire cabin filled with cargo, it would be tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack.Ye Jia had no plans on opening it here.Firstly, there could be some countermeasures put in place on it and secondly, it would waste too much time. It would be troublesome escaping when more fierce ghosts arrive as support.He walked up to the player lying on the ground and lightly chuckled, “Many thanks…”The next second, a cold lightly suddenly filled the room, like a light suddenly illuminating the darkness.The softly twitching limbs stopped moving.Dark red blood spread out slowly like a calm lake and the pool of blood reflected the flickering light overhead. It dyed the cold ground red and gradually approached the scattered cards on the ground like tentacles, dying the white corner of the card on the top a dazzling bright red.Jet black characters were particularly vivid amidst the red and white.It was an Ace.