Afterlife Department

City of the Dead. 

Gu Shi and Di San stared at Huo Ling's back as Huo Ling converses with Mo Shi on the bar counter. Liu Lin was sitting beside them but is drinking alone. They don't know what he is thinking. Feng Er went to dance with the other grim reapers in the dance floor. Jin Wu isn't interested in drinking nor chatting. Instead, he is more interested in fighting. So, he had Mo Shi substitute him while he left to roam around the City of the Dead, looking for some grim reapers who are trying to make some troubles. 

"Am I still dreaming?" Di San asked as he pinched Gu Shi who is sitting beside him. 

"Why are you pinching me instead of yourself?" Gu Shi asked as he pried away Di San's paw in his arm. "You're not dreaming, and is wide awake." He told Di San. 

"But, Huo Ling…" Di San spoke and turned to see Yi Bing staring at Huo Ling's back while ignoring them two who are still in a state of disbelief. "How did you manage to convince him to join us?" he asked. 

What they expected a victorious grin from Yi Bing, they didn't see. Instead, they saw him froze for a second because the slight smile on his face was replaced by a big frown, which shocked them. 

"What's wrong?" Gu Shi asked. 

Yi Bing slowly turned and looked at them. "I was tricked." He spoke. 

"… huh?" Gu Shi and Di San muttered. They looked at each other, looking puzzled. Wasn't it supposed to be 'I tricked him', not 'I was tricked'? They thought. Then, suddenly, they noticed something. "It wasn't Huo Ling who tricked you?" they asked. 

Yi Bing wouldn't lie, especially in this kind of matters. "It wasn't him." he answered. 

Gu Shi and Di San became more puzzled. "Then, who?" Di San asked. 

"Yi Bing… what exactly happened?" Gu Shi asked. His face is serious. 

Yi Bing looked at them two. Qi Shan is still stuck in a world with Lei Shan. So, he only has Gu Shi and Di San to talk to. "Shen Taizi." He answered. 

Gu Shi and Di San froze, stunned. They didn't expect this answer! "What?!" they muttered under their breath. 

Yi Bing sighed and remembered what happened that time, when he died. 

"Yi... Bing..." Yi Bing heard Huo Ling called in between his gasps as he felt his body gradually turning cold like his. Huo Ling looked at Yi Bing's face and closed eyes before he smiled. "I don't regret dying with you." he whispered before he closed his own eyes as they finally fell to the floor. 

As soon as Yi Bing's heart stopped beating, Yi Bing felt his soul left his clone in this world and watched Jonathan and Lu Si protected he and Huo Ling using a table. Then, he saw Gu Xingfeng shot the leg of the table covering Kong Chuan and Raul, catching them off-guard. Then, the MI6 arrested Kong Chuan and Raul, while Jonathan, Lu Si, Hao Baiyun and Gu Xingfeng found out that he died after they heard Huo Ling sobbed when he finally realized that he is already dead and accepted his death. Then, they finally noticed that Huo Ling has stopped crying. Because he also died, after he was shot by the second bullet. 

Yi Bing watched Huo Ling's soul left his body. "Huo Ling." He called as he walked towards him. 

Huo Ling, who has his back on him, turned. "Yi Bing?" he called when he saw him. 

Yi Bing nodded. "How do you feel?" he carefully asked. 

Huo Ling stared at Yi Bing. Then, his eyes fell on Yi Bing's clothes before he looked at his own clothes. "… did I die again?" he asked. 

"… huh?" Yi Bing was taken aback. 

"So, what am I this time?" Huo Ling asked as he calmly pinched his blood-stained skirt. "A crossdresser?" he frowned. 

Yi Bing, however, felt as if he was struck by lightning as he stared at Huo Ling and silently listened to Huo Ling's rumbling. 

"He doesn't remember?" Di San frowned. 

Yi Bing nodded. "En. His memories were stuck on the time we first met – in this world, after his death." He answered. 

Gu Shi's brows knotted. "How could this be…?" he muttered in bewilderment. "A newly-died soul should suppose to retain their memories after their death. But, there are cases that they would suffer an amnesia because of the shock from their death." He said. "However – " he looked at Yi Bing. " – Huo Ling has his memories, but of when he first died and not this ninth time he died?" he asked. 

"Yes." Yi Bing confirmed. 

"This is weird…" Di San muttered. Suddenly, he paused when he remembered something. "Could it be, a side effect because he was possessed by Soul Fragments?" he asked. 

Gu Shi's eyes widened. "That is possible!" he said. 

But, Yi Bing crushed them. "There is no Soul Fragment found in that world." He spoke. "And even if there really is a side effect from being possessed by Soul Fragments, but the side effect should have already been washed off after he crossed another world." He explained. 

Gu Shi and Di San fell silent. "Then, what could have happened to him?" they asked as they turned to Huo Ling who was laughing with Mo Shi. 

"Never mind him losing his memories of that world… but his memories after he died in this world remained." Yi Bing spoke. 

Gu Shi and Di San looked at each other, then helplessly smiled. They feel ashamed that they can't come up with an answer. 

"Oh, by the way. How did Huo Ling become a grim reaper?" Di San asked when he remembered something. "Shouldn't he become an angel?" he asked. 

A newly-died soul would become an angel first, not a grim reaper. The only way they become a grim reaper is if they would be punished, which is humiliating. But, Huo Ling straight-up became a grim reaper. 

"I tricked him." Yi Bing answered. 

Gu Shi and Di San. "…" so you really tricked him?! 

"I told him that being an angel is not actually a noble thing, but that you will just become a servant." Yi Bing spoke. "As expected, his face turned ugly because he died while he was working. So, he doesn't want to be an angel." He chuckled. 

Gu Shi and Di San. "…" is this okay coming from a former archangel? 

"Then, I told him that being a grim reaper is easier. Heaven is boring while the City of the Dead is very luxurious." Yi Bing continued. "I also told him that in one of his reincarnations, he promised me to become a grim reaper. So…" he grinned and winked at them. 

Gu Shi and Di San. "…" it's over… Yi Bing has completely turned shameless!!! 

"Ah – " Di San muttered when he suddenly remembered something. "Right. You said before that someone deceived you, and that someone is…" his voice trailed off when his eyes caught sight of a figure. His eyes widened in shock and he froze like a statue. 

"What is it?" Gu Shi asked when he heard Di San stopped speaking. He turned to look at him, only to see him petrified while looking somewhere. He turned to follow his gaze, only to freeze when he saw Shen Sheng coming towards their way. 

"Me, right?" Shen Sheng spoke as he stopped before their table. He winked at Di San before he smiled at Gu Shi. Then, he looked at Yi Bing. "How bold of you to say that I tricked you." He told Yi Bing as he pulled the chair beside Yi Bing and sat on another side of the table, between Yi Bing, and Gu Shi and Di San. 

"Wasn't it?" Yi Bing asked as he met Shen Sheng's gaze. 

Gu Shi and Di San coldly sweated and felt the atmosphere in their table turned tense while they silently stared at Yi Bing and Shen Sheng looking at each other. One is smiling while the other is frowning. They always knew that Yi Bing's position is special, and that he and Shen Sheng doesn't get along. Some even say that Yi Bing is a threat to Shen Sheng, since Yi Bing is the leader of the grim reapers while Shen Sheng belongs to the Heaven, so Shen Sheng shouldn't be the leader of the grim reapers. 

Such preposterous gossips of the ignorant. 

"It was." Shen Sheng spoke. 

Gu Shi and Di San felt the world shook after they heard Shen Sheng's admittance. What?! Shen Sheng really tricked Yi Bing?! Their eyes widened in shock. They wanted to ask what did Shen Sheng trick Yi Bing about, but it's obviously not needed to be asked, since Shen Sheng gave them the answer. 

"Huo Ling losing his memories every time… it is natural since he is reincarnated." Shen Sheng spoke. "But, that applies when he is alive." He smiled. "As for his memories when he dies… I really have a part for it." He told them.