Afterlife Department

"Ah… there goes my happy mood…" Yi Bing muttered as he released a sigh while he walked in the sand. His expression looked exhausted as he stared at the sun in the sky. The outer coat of his black suit was on his shoulder. 

He looked like he has nothing to live for, which is ironic, since he is already dead. 

"Hey! Yi Bing! Don't you dare ignore me!" he heard Huo Ling shouted from behind him as the other followed him. "'he' this, 'corpse' that. Don't you and Philip dare underestimate me and my intelligence just because you were speaking in codes. I tell you, that doesn't hinder me from deciphering anything!" he told Yi Bing. 

Yi Bing, with his back on Huo Ling, just rolled his eyes. One of the reasons of his exhaustion is the 'person' behind him. He didn't speak a word and just pulled his foot that was buried in the sand before he resumed walking.

"Philip said 'body', but you clarified it as a 'corpse' earlier. Then, before we left, you've said a 'vessel'." Huo Ling said. "Regarding to what Philip said, he thinks that the person he is looking for is alive. But, for you, that person is already dead." He said. "Then, about the vessel…" his voice faded as he made a pause to ponder. "What meant as a vessel is an object used to store something." He said and looked at Yi Bing. "If you refer to the human body a vessel, then the thing it contains must be a soul?" he said. 

Yi Bing paused on his feet before he slowly turned to Huo Ling. "That's right." He nodded. 

Huo Ling crossed his arms. "This train of thought is only for those emo people." He said and looked at Yi Bing from head to feet, then from feet to head. "You dress very gentlemanly, and your posture is of elegance. Even your face is more handsome than those celebrities…" he muttered as he observed Yi Bing. 

Yi Bing's brows raised and he opened his arms for Huo Ling to look at him more closely. 

Huo Ling frowned, knowing what Yi Bing is up to. "I'm not complimenting you." He told him. 

"I know." Yi Bing said. "You're assessing me. Have I passed your standards?" he asked and smirked. 

Huo Ling's eyes widened and he gaped at Yi Bing in disbelief. "You… you! Shameless!" he said as he pointed a finger to Yi Bing. "I've never seen a brazen person like you before!" he moved his gaze away from Yi Bing's face. 

"Either they're less of a brazen person than I, or more brazen than I." Yi Bing laughed. 

Huo Ling scoffed, his cheeks puffed up as he turned back to Yi Bing. "Speak. What are you and Philip are really talking about earlier back in the tomb?" he asked. 

"Don't you already have a guess?" Yi Bing asked. 

Huo Ling glared at him. "Don't you dare play around with me." He said. The corners of his lips are pulled down. 

Yi Bing froze when he saw the sudden change in Huo Ling. Huo Ling's shoulders are level, and his chin high. His eyes are sharp, and from his point of view, looked condescending. His eyes narrowed when he remembered what he and Gu Shi talked about before in the Afterlife Department before Jin Wu arrived. 

As Yi Bing mentioned before, the director of the Afterlife Department is granted to know the Heaven's secrets. Yi Bing refused to be the director of the Afterlife Department, since he doesn't have an interest in the Heaven's secrets. Thus, the director position fell on Gu Shi's hands, and Gu Shi gained access to the Heaven's secrets. 

Lord Zero. This is one of the things Gu Shi found when he went to the Heaven's Archive where the Heaven's Records are located. Lord Zero is the first archangel, and this title is given to him. Zero is where everything starts. One is the first step. 

Gu Shi told Yi Bing that Huo Ling was once an archangel. This already shocked Yi Bing. However, he was even more shocked to know that Huo Ling was the first archangel – Lord Zero. His code is 0000. Yi Bing was the second archangel, and his code is 0001. 

But, who knows how Huo Ling became the first grim reaper? And Yi Bing was the second grim reaper. Such a coincidence happened… or was it really a coincidence? Gu Shi doesn't know anything more about this matter, since even the Heaven's Records, at that, the information is limited! 

There must be more secrets the Heaven is hiding. Yi Bing thought as he lowered his gaze, his eyelids and eyelashes hooding his eyes. 

"Hey? Hey!" Huo Ling called when he saw Yi Bing was in a daze. 

Yi Bing started and he raised his gaze to look at Huo Ling, only to fall in his thoughts once again when he saw Huo Ling's face, and something came to his mind, which made his body freeze and become numb, and his mind become blank. 

If Huo Ling was once a grim reaper, how can Huo Ling enter a reincarnation circle? Shouldn't all his other reincarnations have returned to himself? So, why is it…? Ah. He thought when he remembered his suspicion before. 

Soul Fragments. Yi Bing's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists. That's right. There're also the Soul Fragments. Before, in the second world – the apocalypse world, Yi Bing thought it was the Soul Fragment that possessed Huo Ling, its memories that entered Huo Ling's mind thus Huo Ling acted as the Fengshen Sect master before. 

But, what happened in the interstellar world made Yi Bing become suspicious. The Fengshen Sect master identity reappeared. And, 'he' introduced himself as Huo Ling. Yi Bing thought that the Soul Fragment identifies itself as the one it possesses. However, Yi Bing doesn't believe in such coincidences. 

Thus, he guessed that Huo Ling is the owner of the Soul Fragments. However, there's another contradiction that surfaced, and it's the most glaring fact at present: Huo Ling's reincarnation cycle. Let's say Huo Ling really was once a grim reaper, and his reincarnated souls returned to him. However, for some reason, his soul became Soul Fragments and scattered in different worlds. 

Then, how can Huo Ling have a reincarnation cycle? Yi Bing would've ignored this fact, but he's the one handling this matter right now. So, what is the truth? 

"Yi Bing…?" Huo Ling called when he saw Yi Bing fell into a daze once again. His brows knitted. Is there a problem in his brain? Definitely! He thought when he remembered what happened back at the tomb. Who would identify their self as not human? 

Yi Bing blinked when he heard Huo Ling's voice and he looked at the other, only to see it was Huo Ling's turn to be in a daze. "… did his brain finally malfunction?" he muttered to himself as he looked at Huo Ling, his eyes full of doubt. He slowly walked towards Huo Ling and waved a hand in front of Huo Ling's face. "Hey. Huo Ling – " he called and was about to flick Huo Ling's forehead to wake him when Huo Ling started and he looked at Yi Bing. 

"What are you doing - ?" Huo Ling asked. However, the moment the tip of Yi Bing's finger touched his forehead, he was startled. 

Yi Bing's skin is as cold as ice, if even colder than it. Huo Ling could feel the cold crawled in his skin, and into all over his body. 

He subconsciously shivered, and stared at Yi Bing in shock. "Y-you…" he muttered, his lips quivering from the shock and fear, which he suddenly felt. He took a step back, away from Yi Bing. "W-why… why is your skin ice-cold?" he asked. 

Yi Bing looked at his finger, then lowered his hand. "Didn't I and Philip already tell you? I'm not human." He told him before he made a pause. He looked at him. "Neither are you – " he said and watched as Huo Ling's expression undergone a big change. " – a second earlier." He told him. 

"W-what… what do you mean…?" Huo Ling asked under his breath. His whole body is shaking from fright, from discovering Yi Bing's identity, and also from hearing Yi Bing's declaration of his death just now. 

"Huo Ling, you are smart. You already know it. Do you really want me to spell it out to you?" Yi Bing asked. 

However, it's as if Huo Ling didn't hear him. "Why do you know my name? How did you know my name?" he asked. "Who are you, really?" he said. "Why are you following me?" he added. 

"I didn't follow you." Yi Bing said, taking a deep breath as he exercised his patience towards Huo Ling who currently doesn't want to face the fact – that he's dead. "Right now, you're the one following me." He told him. 

Huo Ling opened his mouth to speak, but no words nor a sound come out of it. 

Yi Bing looked at Huo Ling shocked and dazed appearance, and he sighed, filled with pity. "Happy birthday." He told him.