Afterlife Department

"AH – " Jiu Ye's mouth opened and was about to scream on the top of his lungs when Shi Jiu, standing beside him, immediately reacted and covered his mouth. "MMRHM!!" his scream was muffled inside his mouth. 

Yi Bing and Huo Ling sighed in relief. Jiu Ye almost woken up Pei Li and the nanny who were sound asleep. They ignored the brothers and turned to look at Pei Tinghe who was staring at the mini Anji Li who was now lying on her side. Then, they raised their gaze and saw a chunk of wood was missing just above where mini Anji Li was placed in. It was obviously gnawed off by a set of teeth. 

Why did Pei Tinghe go here? Was this his room before? Yi Bing thought. This seems not possible. Pei Tinghe must have his own room, and this room is definitely of the little girl because she's already old enough. "Shi Jiu." He called. "You and Jiu Ye investigate the Pei mansion.. Find Pei Tinghe's room." He said. 

"Yes!" Shi Jiu answered before he dragged Jiu Ye with him before the other could react. 

Yi Bing and Huo Ling then stared at Pei Tinghe who was standing motionless before mini Anji Li. 

"What do you think happened to him?" Huo Ling asked Yi Bing. 

Yi Bing was about to answer, "I don't know." When Huo Ling spoke again. 

"Could he also be a lolicon like Sha Jiu?" Huo Ling asked and tilted his head. 

Yi Bing. "…" 

"This seems possible. Or else, why would he choose this room to enter?" Huo Ling continued. "Or…" he turned. 

Yi Bing got a bad feeling. 

"… he has a kink?" Huo Ling asked as he looked at the sleeping nanny on the floor. "This kind… is wonderful." He spoke, obviously sarcastic. 

Yi Bing. "…" I think your brain is more wonderful. He thought. His face is covered with dark lines. "I think he has a little consciousness in him." he spoke, changing the topic. 

But, who would expect for the topic to return? "Oh. So it seems that he's really a lolicon?" Huo Ling said and glanced at the sleeping Pei Li on the bed. "No, no. This is a crime! Sha Jiu's fine, since he isn't a human anyway, and he's inclined to the dolls and robots. But Pei Tinghe… oh. Right. He is no longer a human, but this is immoral – mmrhm!!!" his mouth was covered by Yi Bing. 

"… can you shut up for second?" Yi Bing asked, pissed. 

Huo Ling nodded his head. 

Yi Bing sighed in exasperation as he freed Huo Ling's mouth. Then, he turned to Pei Tinghe. He tapped the surface of his ring and Pei Tinghe's soul was suddenly covered by a transparent light, making his soul look slightly solid. 

"This is?" Huo Ling asked. 

"Soul Shield." Yi Bing answered. "It protects the souls from any attacks. Even if they will be swallowed or in a monster's stomach." he explained. 

Huo Ling. "…" can you not be gross? He thought. He was about to tell Yi Bing not to set up a flag when suddenly, they saw Pei Tinghe's soul suddenly flashed and then passed through the roof, flying outside. 

Their expressions changed and they immediately teleported to the roof, only to see Pei Tinghe's soul is flying fast towards a certain direction. 

"Follow!" Yi Bing spoke and flew. 

Huo Ling immediately followed, lagging behind him to send Shi Jiu and Jiu Ye a message about the situation and telling them to continue investigating, as much as they could, the Pei family. 

…

"This mansion is too big. As expected of the richest family." Shi Jiu spoke as he and Jiu Ye soundlessly walked around the Pei mansion. 

Their communicators scanned the Pei mansion and a three-dimensional holographic map appeared before them. With the map, they only need to go through each room and investigate to know the actual situation of the Pei family. There's no better investigation than personally doing one. 

"The patriarch must have a lot of concubines…" Jiu Ye spoke softly as he warily looked around the garden. 

Although the night is still young, but the surrounding is already dark and quiet. Added to the fact that there is a case ongoing, and that something supernatural is appearing… everything tonight is really creepy. 

Even though he is a grim reaper and his being is more frightening compared to ghosts and corpses, but Jiu Ye has always been a coward, resulting to his timid and sometimes introverted attitude during some circumstances. He can only feel at ease when his family or friends are around, or someone he knows is present, like Yi Bing and Huo Ling. 

Right now, he's with his elder brother Shi Jiu, or Qian Shi. As implied in their names, Qian Shi is the tenth child while he is the ninth child in the family. For their family to become this large, they lived in an ancient era like the world they currently in. So, he and Shi Jiu are more familiar in an ancient era unlike Yi Bing and Huo Ling. This is also why Shi Jiu dared bring him in a mission, since they'll be going to an ancient era. 

But since them brothers came from an ancient era, it took them a long time to adapt to the modern devices used by the Afterlife Department. Fortunately, time is never a problem in the Stable World. 

"Found it." Shi Jiu spoke, waking Jiu Ye from his thoughts. 

Jiu Ye turned and saw Shi Jiu stopped. He looked what's in front of Shi Jiu and saw that they have reached the ancestral hall. Shi Jiu entered, and he followed. But, just as his second foot landed, he felt a chill ran down his spine. He raised his head and was frozen in place when he saw the numerous plaques neatly arranged. He felt his scalp became numb when he thinks that the ancestors of the Pei family are eyeing them. 

He immediately shook his head to shake off the thoughts in his mind and stick closer to Shi Jiu's back. He didn't let his eyes wander around again. "Ge…" he called in a low voice. 

"Feeling uncomfortable?" Shi Jiu turned. 

Jiu Ye nodded. 

"Then, you wait outside." Shi Jiu said. 

Jiu Ye's eyes widened and he hurriedly shook his head. Outside is a sea of darkness. Who knows what's hiding in the darkness and who knows when that something will pounce on him while he's unguarded? "No, no… I'll endure the discomfort…" he spoke in a low voice. 

Shi Jiu faintly smiled. Because the Qian family is big, like the Pei family, there are many children that were left unattended by their concubine mothers just to please their father who is the patriarch in order to be more favored, and increase their vanity. 

Shi Jiu and Jiu Ye are the sons of the fourth concubine. Their mother is the daughter of a small merchant. It's right to say that she was sold to the Qian family after she found out that her father was in debt in a gambling house. Although she gave birth to two sons, but there are three other concubines who also gave birth to sons, not to mention the main wife. 

At first, Shi Jiu's and Jiu Ye's mother was a proper mother to them. But, as time goes on, she was unable to endure the abuse of the other concubines that were led by the main wife. She hanged herself, leaving them two to feed themselves. And since their father doesn't care about them even the least, and they lost the last person who can protect them – their mother, they ran away from the Qian family. 

Because of their experience, he and Jiu Ye shouldn't feel comfortable visiting the Pei mansion. But, the reason why Jiu Ye was uncomfortable is the ancestral hall. Not only did their mother hang herself in the Qian family's ancestral hall, but after they ran away from the Qian family, they were removed from the Qian family tree. 

"Done." Shi Jiu spoke after he heard a beep from his communicator. It was done scanning the Pei family's ancestral hall and copying the Pei family tree. 

Jiu Ye sighed in relief and hurriedly went out, knowing that Shi Jiu is following behind him closely. "Oh." He muttered when his communicator beeped and a holographic screen appeared before him. 

"What's wrong?" Shi Jiu asked. 

"Senior Huo sent a message." Jiu Ye answered as he read the message. 

Shi Jiu didn't answer. The message notification must have overlapped with the download notification. "What did he say?" he asked. 

"Pei Tinghe's soul, as expected, was 'summoned'. So, they followed it." Jiu Ye answered. "But, when they reached the wide river, they lost him." he said. 

"River, huh…" Shi Jiu spoke as he looked around. 

With the help of the moonlight that seems to be very bright tonight, they saw that there is no pond in the garden, which is very strange.