Afterlife Department

Huo Ling felt a chill ran down his spine and he slowly turned to the priestess' corpse. The fair skin is morbidly pale. The red lips looked like it was painted with blood. The eyelashes are also long. Huo Ling felt that with even just a weak blow of the wind, the eyelashes will quiver and it would look like that the priestess is about to wake up. 

Huo Ling felt, at any time, the princess will wake up and then, those closed eyes will slowly open, revealing a pair of red pupils. And then, the corpse of the priestess will sit up and then raise her hands, and then grab his neck and choke him. 

Huo Ling's face paled and a few drops of cold sweat formed on his forehead. His eyes are as wide as saucers, and he's gaping at the corpse of the priestess in disbelief. The silence inside the room is ringing in his ears, making his mind muddled and cloud his judgement. 

Yi Bing saw his horrified expression and he grinned. "Done scaring yourself?" he asked, breaking the dead silence in the room.. 

Huo Ling was called back from his stupor. He saw Yi Bing was about to speak again. "Wait, no. That's not right, either." he suddenly said as he raised his hand to stop Yi Bing before Yi Bing could speak. 

"What's wrong?" Yi Bing asked. There was a faint smile on his face. 

Huo Ling studied the corpse of the priestess. After a long while, he spoke. "This can't be… it's been eight hundred years, but her corpse is still intact." He said. "This is impossible." He looked at the fine details of the clothes of the priestess. "The hair ornaments, as well as the clothes, would be fine, but the corpse…" he shook his head. 

"She is a goddess." Yi Bing told him. 

Huo Ling turned to him. "You're kidding me, right?" he said. "Alright. Here is fine. You can drop the act." He told him. "You were paid by my father and grandfather to act as a ghost to scare me, right? This is their birthday present for me." He grinned. 

Yi Bing stared at Huo Ling. He's… this naïve? He thought. 

"And – " Huo Ling continued. He turned to look at the corpse of the priestess. " – she is an actress paid by my father and grandfather. Alright, young miss. You can stop acting." He said and lightly patted the corpse of the priestess. 

His warm hand slightly touched the cold skin of the priestess' shoulder. 

Huo Ling froze. "… young miss, you're so dedicated to your job!" he said and smiled as he curled his fingers that could still the coldness that lingered on his skin. Then, he withdrew his hand. "Did you go inside a chiller to make your skin colder, for the act to become more believable?" he asked. 

There was no answer that was heard. 

"… young miss?" Huo Ling called. When he didn't see the corpse of the priestess move, nor hear an answer, his smile started to falter. "H-hey…" he called Yi Bing before he turned to look at Yi Bing. "Did my father and grandfather buy a fresh corpse?" he asked. "This is going too far! They know that I like studying history and artifacts, but showing me a corpse on my birthday, this is going too far! Don't they know this is very ominous?!" he asked and hit Yi Bing to vent out his anger on his father and grandfather. "Say something!" he said and hit Yi Bing again when Yi Bing didn't speak nor react. 

Huo Ling started to become real scared. His arms and knees are shaking and his lips quivered. 

"You're not a ghost… are you?" he asked when there is still no response from Yi Bing. "Who… are you, really?" he looked at Yi Bing in the eyes. 

"I'm neither a ghost, nor a person…" Yi Bing said and made a pause. Seeing Huo Ling's pale face and almost close to fainting, he coughed. "Nor a person paid by anyone." He continued. 

"Then… why are you here?" Huo Ling asked. "… you're really not here for me… are you?" he asked. 

"What if I am?" Yi Bing asked back instead of answering. 

Huo Ling fell speechless. "… then, I appreciate your thoughtful behavior towards me." The corner of his lip twitched. 

Yi Bing laughed. "I'm not a bad person." He told him. 

"Someone regarding himself as not a bad person, may have not done bad actions, but he can also have a bad behavior and is harboring bad thoughts, thus have bad intentions." Huo Ling said. 

In short, that person is real bad. 

"Where did you learn this?" Yi Bing felt amused. His blue pupils are shining. 

Huo Ling didn't answer. "So, who are you?" he asked. 

Yi Bing smiled. He was about to speak when he suddenly felt something. He turned his head upwards. Then, his eyes narrowed. 

At the same time, Rourou, Zhou Cheng and Phil's group arrived in the room with relief paintings where Zhou Cheng's group came earlier. 

"This is it." Zhou Cheng said as he led them inside.

Everyone immediately became tense as they gripped their flashlight tight. Meanwhile, Phil's expression was calm. He took a step forward, towards the center of the room when, suddenly, he felt something. His feet stopped walking, then, he looked down to the floor. 

His pair of eyes stared at the floor as if he's seeing through it, his gaze penetrating to the place underneath. "What's wrong?" Phil heard Zhou Cheng asked when they saw him suddenly stopped. 

"… it's nothing." Phil answered. "Just seen a mouse." He told them before he resumed walking around the room. 

"A mouse?" they said. "How can there be a mouse in such a place like this?" they asked. 

"I must've seen wrong." Phil just said and then ignored them. 

Everyone. "..." your answer just worries us more… if it's not a mouse, then it can be a snake or a scorpion. Worse, it could be a bug that could eat their flesh. 

It better be a mouse that Phil saw, and not something else. However, Phil doesn't seem like he's planning to explain to them, which just made them grew more anxious. 

"L-Let's… let's continue looking." Rourou spoke to break the tension that rose in the air. "Huo Ling must be somewhere around here…" she added and forced a smile to relieve them. 

The others really felt comforted seeing her smile, thus lifting their spirit. Suddenly, Phil spoke again, which made the tension return. "Where have you last seen him?" he asked. "Where have you last seen Huo Ling?" he turned to them. 

Zhou Cheng, the only one present from the second group that went with Huo Ling, spoke. "I don't remember." He honestly answered.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked as he turned to him. 

"I left earlier than the others in the second group." Zhou Cheng answered. 

Phil fell silent. Then, he turned to one of the people that went with them. "You. Go ask someone from the second group earlier." He told him. 

Fortunately, the person is reliable. "Yes!" he answered before he dashed outside. 

They all waited until, after a while, someone went back with another person. "I – I've seen Huo Ling before I ran out with the others…" someone from the second group said. 

"Where was he, and what was he doing at that time?" Phil asked him. 

Everyone looked at Phil. Surprise can be seen in their eyes. Not only did they hear Phil talk so much today, but they also saw him in action. For some reason, as they watched him, they felt he is very reliable. 

"I – I saw Huo Ling returned." The person said. 

"'returned'?" Rourou and the others looked at the person. "What do you mean? Weren't you all running out to leave? Why would Huo Ling return?" they asked. 

"It – it seems like he saw something." The person said. 

"What did he see?" Phil asked. 

The person shook his head. "I don't know." He answered. 

They sighed. 

"But!" the person said. "I – I heard him spoke. It seems… it seems he is calling… no." he shook his head. "He is talking to someone." He told them. 

"Who?" they asked. 

The person shook his head. "I don't know." He said. 

They all looked at each other as silence fell. "Don't you think… it is strange?" Zhou Cheng suddenly spoke. 

"What is?" Rourou asked. 

Zhou Cheng turned to her. "Think about it. Huo Ling is about to leave with everybody. However, he suddenly stayed. And, he even returned." He said. "Huo Ling must have seen someone, and that person, he knows it. So, it's that person…" he looked at them all. "It seems… he has really taken Huo Ling." 

Their heart sank. "This person… even if he takes Huo Ling away, where can he take him to? It's the desert!" he said. 

"But, didn't he suddenly appear out of nowhere? Maybe he knows a transportation technique!" 

"Come on! This isn't a xianxia or wuxia novel!" 

"Then, where can he take Huo Ling?" they asked. 

Phil remained silent, but his gaze is on the floor.