Afterlife Department

Chapter 11 - Contaminated

"So, I only have to check if there will be corpses inside and if there is a soul inside it?" Huo Ling asked as he faced the door of 101.

"Yes." Yi Bing nodded. "I'll freeze while you check if there'll be a soul." He said as he took out his scythe made of ice.

Huo Ling stared at the ice scythe in a daze before he snapped out of it. "Wait! Wait! What if you'll hit my soul? Wouldn't I die again?!" he said and immediately floated away from Yi Bing.

"Oh." Yi Bing said and hid his scythe. For a moment, Huo Ling felt disappointed when the scythe disappeared from his sight. "You like it?" he asked when he saw Huo Ling's expression.

"I will if it won't be pointed at me." Huo Ling answered. "I'll check first if there'll be a corpse, then I'll tell you. You can then decide how will you Call." He said. Earlier, Yi Bing explained to him that the process of revealing one's soul from their body is Call.

"Okay." Yi Bing said.

Huo Ling then closed his eyes as he passed through the wall, then opened his eyes again. He saw the mess on the floor made by smelly socks and dirty clothes, and dirty dishes and the packets of junk foods. A man was lazily lying on the couch, scratching his bloated stomach. He was watching a sports news on the television.

Huo Ling went back outside. "No corpses. Only an alive person." He told him. Yi Bing nodded and they went to the next door. Huo Ling looked at the silent man walking beside him. "Don't you have any devices on you to detect if there's a corpse near you?" he can't help but ask.

Yi Bing stopped on his feet and turned to Huo Ling. He gave him a 'you're sensible' look. The corner of Huo Ling's lip twitched. He gave Yi Bing a 'you're pulling my leg' look back. "I'll immediately made a request to the R&D." He said and tapped on his wristwatch. A holographic screen appeared again. Then, Yi Bing's jade-like fingers tapped on the holographic screen like they were playing the piano.

Huo Ling sighed as they stopped in front of the 102. He entered the apartment unit and saw it was empty. He went back to report to Yi Bing. In 101, a rat crawled out under the bed, pushing the edge of the bedsheet with its body.

The tip of a manicured finger was exposed.

Above the clouds, in the R&D Department.

Hai Ba turned when he heard the computer beeped. He saw a mail and he opened it. "Sha Jiu, it's from Yi Bing." He called.

Sha Jiu raised his head from the electrical components on the table. "What does he want?" he asked.

"He's asking if we have a device that could detect dead beings." Hai Ba answered.

Sha Jiu frowned. "He's being lazy again, isn't he?" he said and resumed tinkling the components on the table. "Tell him we have that. But, he has to ask for a letter of approval from Gu Shi." He told Hai Ba.

"Yes." Hai Ba said and typed in a reply.

Back to the earth, Huo?Ling was finally done checking the first and second floors and he was now on the third floor. "I don't see any corpses." He said after he checked the 309. "Could it be it was a coincidence I found some corpses on the 201 and 203?" he muttered. 201 is Fu Ling's unit while 203 is Wei Jing and his friends' unit.

"Continue checking." Yi Bing just said. His wristwatch beeped and an email appeared on the holographic screen that popped out.

"Yes." Huo Ling answered. This time, he passed through the walls between each unit and finished all of them before he went back to Yi Bing. "None." He told him, his voice strained.

Yi Bing looked at Huo Ling. "You're bothered." He said.

Huo Ling didn't hide it from him anymore. "Yes." he said. "After all, I consecutively found corpses."

"It must be a coincidence." Yi Bing said.

"No."

"You're just prejudiced because of that neighbor that stabbed you." Yi Bing told him.

Huo Ling turned to him. "Didn't you say you saw Foul in this apartment building?" he said. "Why are you contradicting me now?" he asked.

Yi Bing calmly looked at Huo Ling and saw his fiery orange soul has stained with gray. "You're contaminated with Foul." He said and took out his ice scythe.

Huo Ling's eyes widened and he immediately floated away from Yi Bing. "No! Don't - !" he said as he tried to escape.

However, the ice scythe smoking with cold air became bigger and reached his soul's tail. Huo Ling could feel the ice cold seeping through from the tail of his soul coursing through his knees, then his waist…

"AAAAAH!!!" an ear-piercing scream was swallowed by the thunder that roared within the gray clouds.

Afterlife Department.

"Brrr – " San Di shivered and hugged himself while rubbing his arms when he felt the cold wind blew. "It's raining?" he asked and looked outside the glass wall.

"A storm." Gu Shi answered and stood beside him. They watched as lightning struck and flashed its light inside the Afterlife Department.

"Waaaaah!!! I'm afraid of lightning! I'm afraid of lightning!" Si Shui, code 4444, cried. He was hiding under his desk and was covering his ears.

"Your power is water yet you're afraid?" Feng Er – code 2333, the only female in their department, spoke. The remaining agents were Liu Lin – code 6666, Jin Wu – code 5555 and Qi Shan – code 0007, are out fetching souls like Yi Bing.

Gu Shi turned when he heard his wristwatch beeped. He received a mail and it was from Yi Bing. His eyes widened when he saw the content of the mail. Then, he pressed the button 'Approve'.

Something is bound to happen.

…

Huo Ling slowly opened his eyes and he felt like his body is heavy. "Ugh." He groaned as he turned to his right side.

"Awake?" a male voice spoke.

Huo Ling turned to the direction of the voice and saw a man garbed in black. His long black hair was tied with a red string. "… Yi Bing." He muttered.

"So you still remember." Yi Bing said, holding his ice scythe. His ice scythe suddenly turned into a cold smoke after he pressed his fingers around it.

"What happened?" Huo Ling asked, his voice hoarse. His voice was floating above the floor.

"The Foul stuck on you while you were checking inside the apartment units." Yi Bing said. "It confused your mind. I was careless." He said.

Huo Ling bitterly smiled. "You won't apologize?" he asked as he tried moving his soul. He felt his strength coming back.

"… I'm sorry." Yi Bing said.

Huo Ling rolled his eyes at his insincere response. "So, what do we do now?" he asked and looked around the fourth floor. Then, he looked at the rain heavily pouring outside.

"The package has arrived." Yi Bing said and took out a box from his suitcase.

Huo Ling suspiciously looked at the box. "… didn't it come from the Heaven?" he said. "How did it arrive here?" he asked.

Yi Bing looked at Huo Ling, his eyes saying 'you guess'. Huo Ling shut up. He watched Huo Bing opened the box and was surprised to find a doll flew out of the box. The doll is beautiful and is wearing a Lolita angel dress with wings fluttering behind her. Her curly blonde hair fluttering in the air. There's a halo above her head.

However, there's a complicated look on Yi Bing's eyes. Sha Jiu, you pedophile. He thought as he read the small letter on the box.

"Take care of my daughter Anji Li, or else I'll kill you."