Afterlife Department

"What did you say?!" Gu Xingfeng sharply turned to Xiao Hualing when he heard what she said.

Xiao Hualing was startled by Gu Xingfeng's voice and she blinked. "What? What did I just say?" she asked as she looked at him with an innocent gaze.

A vein snapped in Gu Xingfeng's forehead. "You - !" he said and pointed at her. But, suddenly, he felt a tug on his clothes. He turned and saw Hao Baiyun clutching his abdomen.

"What are you yelling at her for?!" Hao Baiyun snapped at Gu Xingfeng. His face is flushed and beads of sweat formed on his face.

"Yes, yes… I was wrong, xiao Yun. Baby – " Gu Xingfeng said as he hugged Hao Baiyun tight, trying to relieve Hao Baiyun's pain. "Where does it hurt? Tell me!" he said as he rubbed Hao Baiyun's back.

"Shut up!" Hao Baiyun snapped, feeling irritated. His head hurts so much, as well as his abdomen where his yao core is. "Xiao Ling… his power must have gone berserk." He said in between his breaths. He looked at Xiao Hualing who stood there, frozen. "Find them… tell Yi Bing that he has to make xiao Ling calm down. Or else – " he said as his eyes narrowed.

Xiao Hualing immediately nodded. "Yes, yes. I will now request immediate teleportation… huh?" she muttered when she suddenly saw that the holographic screen of her communicator that was flashing red brightly just now and is very noisy has gone quiet and returned to normal.

"What's wrong?" Hao Baiyun immediately asked.

"Well…" Xiao Hualing muttered as her brain worked very fast. "… do you still feel pain or discomfort now?" she asked.

"Huh?" Hao Baiyun muttered and blinked. Then, he felt that the pain is really now gone. "… what happened?" he asked as he looked at Xiao Hualing.

"Well…" Xiao Hualing looked at the message that Yi Bing just sent. "It seems that senior Huo really has now calmed down." She answered.

Hao Baiyun was surprised. "Really?!" he exclaimed. "But, calming down a nine-tailed fox, especially the pure ones, which make them have the strongest power… you feel that now." He sighed. "It should be very difficult to calm xiao Ling… how did Yi Bing do it?" he curiously asked.

"Uh…" Xiao Hualing moved her gaze away as her hand on her holographic screen trembled. "… he froze him." she answered.

"… huh?" Hao Baiyun blinked and he looked at her with a blank gaze. "What?!" he exclaimed when he finally understood what she just said.𝘧𝒓e𝑒𝑤e𝙗𝚗o𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝐜𝐨ｍ

Hao Baiyun's loud voice woke all of his subordinates. "Boss… be quiet, please… my head hurts…" they said and grunted.

Hao Baiyun really lowered his voice. But, that is because his teeth is gnashed and he hissed at her. "You… how dare Yi Bing!" he cursed. He is so mad that even his words are incoherent.

Xiao Hualing grimaced as she lowered her gaze. Senior Yi, this isn't my fault! You were really cursed! She thought and sighed.

"Xiao Ling is our family's precious pure nine-tailed fox! How dare he freeze xiao Ling!" Hao Baiyun said as he finally managed to organize his words.

Xiao Hualing didn't answer since she knows that these words aren't directed at her, and… this isn't her problem that her cold senior is being cursed at.

"Where are they?!" Hao Baiyun asked Xiao Hualing.

"Well…" Xiao Hualing tapped Yi Bing's profile to check his current location. "They are at the country's boarder… the plane crashed there." She answered.

Hao Baiyun sneered. "Good. Let us return the favor to them by burying their corpses all over their country! They love doing this, right?" he asked as his eyes coldly narrowed. "It is such a pity that we didn't kill them with our own hands!" he added.

Everyone felt a chill and they subconsciously shivered in fright. "Yes, yes. the boss is right!" they agreed.

"Send a group of our people to chop those bastards' bodies and bury them all over the country!" Hao Baiyun said as he seethed in rage.

Everyone. "…" boss is really furious! Well, we also feel furious! They provoked Huo Ling! let's do this! They thought and looked at each other. Their gazes are talking.

Xiao Hualing. "…" you are right, but there is actually another reason why your boss is furious. Because my cold senior froze your boss' dear cousin. She thought. Now, it is these monsters' misfortune that Hao Baiyun will vent his anger on them. she thought and sighed, lamenting the law of karma.

The monsters skinned the Golden-Haired Monkeys and even sold their hairs and skin on the black market, not to mention sucking their powers. Now, it is their turn to be chopped into pieces with their corpses never to be complete!

"Their exact location?" Hao Baiyun asked Xiao Hualing. He is referring to Huo Ling and Yi Bing's location. "I am going to fly there now and take xiao Ling back – " he said.

"No need." A voice cut him off.

They all turned, shocked, when they saw the owner of the voice.

"Yi Bing!" Hao Baiyun yelled in rage as he glared at Yi Bing.

"Do you want to wake Huo Ling with your loud voice?" Yi Bing coldly asked as he looked at Hao Baiyun.

Huo Ling is lying on Yi Bing's arms sleeping peacefully.

Hao Baiyun immediately shut up. "Why did you freeze xiao Ling?" he asked him, feeling anger bubbling inside his chest again. "What if he died - ?" he asked.

Yi Bing cut him off. "We, grim reapers, are already dead." He said.

Hao Baiyun froze. The others also froze and sat on the floor as they looked at Yi Bing, stunned.

"I already told you in the beginning that he already died in this world." Yi Bing spoke. "I informed you of his life in this world not to make your hopes up, but to clarify the point to you – " he looked at Hao Baiyun in the eyes. " – that Huo Ling now belongs to the Stable World. No matter is his soul is the pure nine-tailed fox, he will never return in this world except when he has tasks here, like right now, which made you able to meet him again." He explained.

A deafening silence fell in the living room.

"I let him interact with you, his family, and gave him time to spend with you not for you, but for him." Yi Bing said. "If that gave you hope and longed for him to return, then I apologize. But, as I have said, I did it for Huo Ling, not for you. So, I hope for you to stop fantasizing of making Huo Ling stay in this world." He told him.

Each of his words stab Hao Baiyun in the heart, but Hao Baiyun knows that Yi Bing only speak the truth. Even Gu Xingfeng can't refute it. Yi Bing's words may be harsh, but they are all adults here. What Yi Bing said is for everybody's own good, especially Hao Baiyun. If Hao Baiyun still would be entangled with his relationship towards Huo Ling, it would only be hard for both sides to part later after Huo Ling finishes his task in this world, which they already know in the beginning, as Yi Bing said.𝘧𝗿ee𝚠𝙚𝙗𝑛o𝚟𝐞l.𝐜૦𝗺

Yi Bing is right. He really never gave Hao Baiyun hope. It was Hao Baiyun himself. They all sighed in pity when they thought of this.

"… I understand." Hao Baiyun finally said as he lowered his head. His voice is choked up.

Yi Bing didn't speak and just went to the nearest room to settle Huo Ling.

"Xiao Yun…" Gu Xingfeng called and hugged Hao Baiyun tight. "Come on. Let it all out." He said as he patted Hao Baiyun's back.

Everyone fell silent and only Hao Baiyun's sobs can be heard.

Xiao Hualing sighed when he saw this. She also feels sad, and she is a woman so she is more sensitive when it comes to emotions. "Uhm…" she spoke.

They looked at her.

"Please don't hate senior Yi." She said. "It is not that I am defending him. Well, even if you would hate him, he wouldn't care." She told them.

Everyone. "…" what the hell is this! Punching cotton?! They thought as their faces darkened.

Xiao Hualing's lip twitched and she grimaced. "Ehem." She coughed, feeling awkward. "Well, I just want to say that senior Yi froze senior Huo because he has his reason." She told them.

"What reason?" Gu Xingfeng asked.

She turned to him. "Did you remember that I was looking at something and tapping my fingers mid-air earlier?" she asked him.

"Yes." Gu Xingfeng nodded.

"Senior Huo went berserk due to his powers as a nine-tailed fox. This is what you think. But, this actually is not all." She said as she took a deep breath.

"What do you mean?" Hao Baiyun's eyes widened.

She looked at him. "Senior Huo is a fire fox." She said. "But, aside from being provoked by the monsters, senior Huo's power went berserk is because he transformed for the first time to his true form – a grim reaper.." She told them.