Afterlife Department

"As expected of the biggest and most famous entertainment company!" Huo Ling sighed with emotion as he looked at the tall and shining building across the street where he and Mo Shi are standing.

Yuhua Entertainment, the entertainment company which produces big-name artists that are also famous abroad. This is also where Hyacinth Li, or Li Fengxin, was signed. And, this is the company owned by the Mo family, Mo Shi's family.

"I only heard the name of this entertainment company before, and delivered some foods. But, I don't know much about the entertainment circle." Huo Ling shrugged as they watched the office workers come and go of the Yuhua Entertainment building. "I was busy earning money so that I could live for another day." He said.

"I see." Mo Shi nodded in understanding. "At least you can go wherever you wanted to go, and do whatever you wanted to do. Unlike me." He wryly smiled.

Huo Ling patted his back to comfort him. "How about it? Where do you think Li Fengxin is now?" he asked.

"The trainees live in a dormitory and attend classes for music, dance and acting. If they want, they also can learn how to play instruments like drums, guitar and piano." Mo Shi said.

"Where is this dormitory then?" Huo Ling asked.

Mo Shi looked at him. "… do you want to go to the girls' dormitory?" he asked.

Huo Ling fell silent. That's right. Even though they are already dead, but they still are men. They still have to maintain a proper distance with the opposite sex. And with them going to the girls' dormitory, it is just like them peeping at them.

Huo Ling helplessly sighed. "Well, I just want to know where is Li Fengxin's soul currently is now." He said.

"Why don't you use the direct teleportation spell?" Mo Shi asked.

Huo Ling pursed his lips. "I have used it many times on my former assignments and the spell didn't always work." He frowned. "I even think that it was my own Death Note that has a problem." He said.

"Pft." Mo Shi unkindly laughed.

Huo Ling didn't get angry and just helplessly shrugged. "Anyway, it isn't urgent to look for Li Fengxin's soul right now. We can still find more clues on our own, especially you." He said and smiled.

Mo Shi nodded in understanding. "But, what do you think that caused her direct reincarnation to be interrupted?" he asked him.

Huo Ling pinched his chin as he pondered over it. "This case has happened once with my first soul assignment, You Ri. In the end, she became an Abnormal Soul." He said. "Her case is that an exorcist tried to help her saving her life, but failed." He explained.

"I see…" Mo Shi now understood. "In our world, the Stable World, we also have exorcists. Do you think it is their work?" he asked.

Huo Ling shook his head, completely lost. "We can't eliminate the other factors, too." He said.

"'other factors'? For instance?" Mo Shi asked.

"Other souls that turned as vicious ghosts. There are also Soul Eaters." Huo Ling answered.

Mo Shi now understood. "Indeed. Li Fengxin's soul might have been scared by another ghost and so her direct reincarnation was interrupted." He said. "Or, as you said, it might be a Soul Eater. And if it is, it would be dangerous." He told him.

Huo Ling nodded. His expression looked solemn. "So far, her soul's condition right now is good." He told Mo Shi after he checked his Death Note.

"Really? Then, it doesn't seem like she is in the hands of a Soul Eater?" Mo Shi said.

"En." Huo Ling nodded. "Let's first go to where this started: the place where she died. This is the basic step of investigating." He said.

"Okay." Mo Shi answered. "Where did she die?" he asked.

Huo Ling read the cause of Li Fengxin's death and he fell silent. "… the trainees' dormitory." He answered.

Mo Shi. "… so we are still going there, huh?" he said and sighed.

Huo Ling grimaced. "I leave the direction to you." He said.

…

There was a knock on the door of the CEO's office.

"Who is it?" Mo Yang asked without lifting his head in the document.

"Sir, it is director Hao." His secretary answered from the outside.

Mo Yang froze before he placed his pen on the table. "Let him in." he answered.

"Yes." the secretary answered and then opened the door. "Director Hao, vice director Jing, please." She said as she turned to Hao Baiyun and Jing Yu who are following behind her.

Mo Yang rose from his seat. "Director Hao. Vice director Jing." He greeted with a bow. "A friend recommended me to your department." He explained.

Hao Baiyun nodded at him. "He told me the gist of the problem, but about the specifics…" he didn't continue.

Mo Yang glanced at his secretary and the secretary immediately went outside and closed the door. "Please have a seat first." He said.

"No thanks." Hao Baiyun said and remained standing with Jing Yu.

Mo Yang felt displeased in his heart but then his friend warned him that Hao Baiyun has a strange temper as an exorcist. So, he suppressed his dissatisfaction in his heart and kept his smile. "Then, I will tell you the specifics." He said.

"Please." Hao Baiyun indifferently said.

Jing Yu just remained silent behind Hao Baiyun.

"One week ago, one of the contracted trainees of the company fell on the stairs of their dormitory and died." Mo Yang started. "We already called the police and the police said that there was no foreplay and it was truly just an accident." He said.

"S City Police?" Hao Baiyun asked.

Mo Yang nodded. "Is director Hao familiar with them?" he asked.

"No." Hao Baiyun answered. "Continue." He told him.

Mo Yang nodded. "Three days after that trainee died, strange things happened in the dormitory." He said and heaved a deep sigh. "The trainees said that they heard some footsteps in the stairs where that trainee died. But, when they checked, there was no one there." He said. "You should know that trainees are very hardworking so they would often stay up late to train to better their skills. So, most of them would experience these strange happenings like the light going off and the faucets in the bathroom turning open." He told Hao Baiyun.

Hao Baiyun didn't say anything and Jing Yu also didn't react.

Mo Yang pinched the space between his brows. "The trainees were scared, and they are all girls so they are more timid than usual. They have never experienced something like this before." He continued. "The dormitory also was built in an area with a good feng shui, so ghosts shouldn't appear there. Thus, I thought that it was just someone's prank. But, when I had some people investigate it, they didn't find anything strange." He said. "I thought that this matter would end, but during the seventh day after that trainee died…" his face turned pale and he nervously gulped. "Someone… someone had an accident. Fortunately, it wasn't very serious and we managed to save her life. But…" he shook his head and didn't continue.

"What did that person who had an accident said?" Hao Baiyun finally spoke. 𝗳𝘳𝒆𝘦𝑤𝐞𝚋𝗻𝚘𝘷𝘦𝙡.𝑐𝐨𝘮

Mo Yang nervously gulped as a cold sweat broke in his face. "She said… she said that she saw Hyacinth's face in the window and then her ghost passed through the wall and followed her." He answered.

Hao Baiyun's brows raised.

Mo Yang saw his reaction. "We already saw the CCTV footage but there was nothing caught by the camera aside from that trainee who had an accident." He said. "This… I mean, can ghosts be caught by the camera?" he asked.

"Do you really believe that this is a matter of ghosts?" Jing Yu asked.

Mo Yang looked at him. Upon seeing Jing Yu's abnormally pale skin, he felt his heart turned cold and he subconsciously averted his gaze. "Or else?" he asked.

"Didn't you say that this girl's… Hyacinth, she has already been buried?" Hao Baiyun asked.

"Yes." Mo Yang nodded. "We already gave her family a compensation." He said.

"Then, her soul should have been in peace now. So, why do you think that she would return as a ghost and haunt you?" Hao Baiyun asked.

"I – I don't know…" Mo Yang answered as he shook his head. "Maybe… maybe she was dissatisfied because she didn't manage to debut and become an idol or an actress…" he said.

Hao Baiyun declined to comment.

"Director Hao… please, help us. Many trainees want to quit. If not for them fearing to pay the fee of breaching the contact, the trainees would have long left and returned to their hometown to plant potatoes!" Mo Yang said. "Look. They are all promising… they would have a bright future in the entertainment circle.. Can you afford to see them waste their talents by going home and planting potatoes?" he asked them.