Afterlife Department

A mail that changed one's life, since it will take his life. Yi Bing thought after he killed another assassin that managed to slip through the MI6's net once again. Suddenly, he heard his communicator rang. He opened it and saw Qi Shan's message. 

0007: Why are you taking so long? Don't you want your beloved to suffer lesser pain when he dies? The clock's ticking! Go find him fast! You don't have that much time left! 

0001: I don't need you to remind me that. Aren't you on the same boat as me? 

Sending the message, he didn't receive Qi Shan's reply. Lei Shan will also die tonight after he will be kidnapped and tortured. Qi Shan, having decided on what he will do, doesn't want the plot to happen. But, they can't still stop Huo Ling's and Lei Shan's death from happening. Or else, the world will greatly deviate from its original path. 

So, like Yi Bing, Qi Shan will also make Lei Shan suffer less than he originally would.. That's why Yi Bing said they are on the same boat. Thinking this, Yi Bing pressed a button on his communicator's holographic screen. When the page changed, he saw the red dot blinking but staying in the same place. 

This red dot is Huo Ling. The red dot blinking meant that Huo Ling is still alive. And the red dot not moving means either he was trapped, captured by the enemy in someplace, or that he is hiding somewhere. 

Yi Bing hoped most for the third one, and hoped the least for the second one happening. But, before he went to where Huo Ling is, he read Lu Si's message sent as a reply to the message he sent earlier, in which he was asking if the MI6 have captured or killed all of Kong Chuan's people, since the surroundings have been very silent. 

Lu Si's reply confirmed that everything outside the royal palace have settled down. 

Lu Si: affirmative. The ones left are the ones that slipped through our net. Jonathan and I are going back to capture them. Kill them if you seen them. We can't let the news of the prince being attacked tonight be leaked out. Hide xiao Ling as far as you could. 

He replied 'yes'. Then, he went to look for Huo Ling, only to see a corpse on his way. The corpse is neither of an assassin's or of an MI6 agent's. It was the corpse of a male guest's. His brows knotted and turned the corpse over. 

"Fredrich Wallace." He muttered when he recognized the man as one of the guests. 

He frowned. The corpses of the assassins will be cleaned up by the MI6 agents that will be coming over to also clean the crime scene. But, a corpse of a guest is different. 

"This is troublesome." He gritted his teeth. There's a third party in this battle between the MI6 and Kong Chuan. And this third party is the one who killed Fredrich. 

Kong Chuan knows not to be too obvious in his actions, so he must have instructed the assassins to lower their presence and harm only Huo Ling. Thus, the one who killed Fredrich must not be the assassins. It definitely can't be the MI6, either. Even more so, Fredrich couldn't have been caught in the crossfire, since the battle between them haven't reached this deeper part of the palace yet. 

Thus, it's definitely another party that killed Fredrich. And, if someone finds out that Fredrich – a guest, died in tonight's birthday party, Huo Ling and the royal family will be implicated. Yi Bing could hide the corpse and dissolve it. But, Fredrich would be labeled missing, and Huo Ling and the royal family will still be implicated. 

This move is very sinister. Who could have done this? More so… "Huo Ling!" Yi Bing muttered and hastened his speed. 

Huo Ling have gone in this direction. Fredrich was here, too. With Fredrich's nasty reputation, he must have gone after Huo Ling. But, he didn't expect to die. If he didn't go after Huo Ling, he wouldn't have died. He must have died filled with regrets. 

As for this person who killed Fredrich… "He can only be a guest!" he muttered and sent a message to Lu Si and Jonathan. He only sent the document to Lu Si and Jonathan and didn't read it, since he has no interest with it. But, Jonathan and Lu Si must have read it, so he can only ask them who are the other enemies aside from Kong Chuan. 

Lu Si didn't disappoint him and he immediately replied. 

"Raul Malhi… also one of the guests!" Yi Bing sharply inhaled and stopped when he reached a dead end. He opened his communicator to check and he confirmed that indeed, Huo Ling is here. "Huo Ling?" he called as he walked towards the wall. 

Huo Ling, who was crouching on the other side of the wall while hugging his legs, was startled. His ears perked up, hoping to catch that familiar voice again. "Yi Bing?" he called. 

Yi Bing heard Huo Ling's muffled voice. "Huo Ling. It's me. Were you trapped?" he asked. 

Huo Ling sighed in relief when he heard Yi Bing spoke. He felt his body limped on the floor weakly. He has never felt this much tired before! "No. I trapped myself." He answered. 

Yi Bing was taken aback by his answer. "You trapped yourself?" he asked, surprised. 

Huo Ling nodded. Then, he remembered Yi Bing can't see him so he stopped. "Yes." He answered. "This wall can only be opened from your side. From this side, it can't." he explained. 

"How do I open the wall?" Yi Bing asked. 

"Push the seventh brick that has a different shade from the rest." Huo Ling answered. 

Yi Bing hummed a response before he took a step back to look at the wall. After a while, he noticed that there are seven bricks that have a different shade. As he looks more, he noticed that the seven different-colored bricks were arranged in a Big Dipper constellation.

"The seventh brick… do you mean the 'tail'?" he asked. 

Huo Ling, on the other side of the wall, was surprised. "En." He smiled. "Alkaid." He spoke. 

Yi Bing took a deep breath before he walked back towards the wall. Then, he raised his hand and pressed the Alkaid brick. Suddenly, the wall shook and, slowly, started to move. 

Huo Ling didn't wait for the wall to be fully opened and he slipped through the opening, then jumped towards Yi Bing who is waiting for him. "Yi Bing!" he cried and hugged Yi Bing tight. 

Yi Bing didn't expect for Huo Ling to react strongly. He was taken aback and, didn't have time to balance himself because of the sudden added weight, he fell. But, before he could, he immediately wrapped an arm around Huo Ling's waist, while his other hand on the back of Huo Ling's head, to prevent himself from being hurt because of their fall. 

Yi Bing grunted when his back hit the floor, receiving the impact. "Are you alright?" he asked Huo Ling who is now lying on top of him. 

Huo Ling nodded. "I'm fine. But, you…" he spoke and bit his lip as he looked at Yi Bing beneath him. He didn't intend for Yi Bing to fall. He lowered his head in self-reproach. "I'm sorry." He apologized. 

Yi Bing's eyes widened before he smiled. But, since Huo Ling wasn't looking at him, he missed it. "I'm alright." He spoke as he raised his body. "I am strong." He told him before he helped him up. 

"Mn." Huo Ling nodded and secretly wiped the tears that formed in the corners of his eyes. 

Yi Bing saw that Huo Ling's feet are touching the ground. "It seems like Cinderella lost both his glass slippers tonight." He said and took out the stiletto heels and showed them to Huo Ling who blushed. 

Huo Ling coughed and looked away. Yi Bing chuckled and knelt down before Huo Ling. Then, he carefully held Huo Ling's fair foot before he gently wore the shoe on Huo Ling's foot. He almost leaned down and devoutly kissed Huo Ling's foot, had he not held himself back to not disrupt what will happen later. 

Yi Bing took a deep breath to calm himself before he wore the other shoe on Huo Ling's other foot. "Shall we go back?" he asked, hiding the heavy tone of his voice. 

"Did Jonathan and Lu Si…?" Huo Ling asked. 

Yi Bing nodded. "Yes." He answered as he held Huo Ling's hand and guided him back to the ballroom. 

Jonathan and Lu Si, after dealing with the assassins, had the head butler and the servants let the guests return in the ballroom after the comet has passed and the electricity returned, making the palace warm and look lively once again. The orchestra also started to play the music. 

"Then, let's go back." Huo Ling said.