Afterlife Department

"Wha – " they opened their mouths to speak, but it's as if their voice doesn't want to come out. "WHAT?!?!" they exclaimed. Their eyes widened in shock as they started at each other, then Shi Jiu, stunned. 

"What – what do you mean, a child?! Xiao Hualing has a child?!" Jiu Ye asked. 

Shi Jiu calmly nodded. He was also shocked earlier when he heard this. "Yes. She had." He said. 

Huo Ling and Yi Bing heard what he said and they started. "'had'… by 'had', you mean…?" Huo Ling slowly spoke. 

"Yes." Shi Jiu turned to him. "It was never born." He told him. 

Huo Ling opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He doesn't know what to say. 

Yi Bing, on the other hand, has lived for many thousand years and has seen many things. He was shocked at first but he immediately became calm. "Is this the reason why she is haunting the Pei family?" he asked. 

Huo Ling and Jiu Ye turned to Yi Bing before they turned again to look at Shi Jiu, waiting for his answer. 

"Yes." Shi Jiu answered, though he knows that everyone could already guess. 

Who was the one affected the most, targeted the most, by Xiao Hualing? The Pei family. 

"Who is the father of the child?" Huo Ling asked. 

But, Shi Jiu shook his head. "I don't know." He honestly answered. 

Silence fell.

"We thought, at first, that it might be Pei Tinghe." Yi Bing spoke. "But, that is just our initial guess. We don't have that much information in our hands. We only made a tentative answer so that our investigation would have a direction." He explained. "But, right now… I'm having doubts." He said. 

Jiu Ye thought about it. "Xiao Hualing rejected Pei Tinghe and Pei Tingsong because she has a child. Could it be that the father of the child is Ke Hanying?" he asked. 

It's only Ke Hanying they could think that has the most intimate relationship to Xiao Hualing, 

"Impossible." Huo Ling spoke as he frowned. "Based from Ke Hanying's actions, it must be a long time that he and Xiao Hualing didn't meet. If there was something that happened between him and Xiao Hualing, he would never leave Xiao Hualing." He explained. "Even if they were separated by unforeseen circumstances, he would definitely find Xiao Hualing. Also, even if Xiao Hualing doesn't want to see Ke Hanying due to some reasons and left him, but after she gave birth to a child, she shouldn't deprive the child of his father. So, she would definitely return to Ke Hanying's side. In fact – " he looked at them. " – she wouldn't go that far just to avoid Ke Hanying." He said. 

"You have a point." Shi Jiu said. 

"Of course, we can't ignore the time." Yi Bing spoke. "Basing from Ke Hanying's current appearance, he must be in his late twenties. If he was a former victim of Xu Hongkai, then he must be around six to sixteen years old. Let's not forget the time Ke Hanying escaped from Xu Hongkai and moved to Anhu then establish his name and influence." He said. 

"You are right." Shi Jiu said. "Ke Hanying and Xiao Hualing must be around the same age. When Xiao Hualing appeared in Anchuan, she was already an adult." He said. "If Ke Hanying and Xiao Hualing were former victims of Xu Hongkai, then they must be already teenagers to be able to escape from his clutches. And then, they were unfortunately separated." He looked at them. "It might be possible for Xiao Hualing to bear a child at this age, but it isn't possible given their situation. They are in Xu Hongkai's hands, and that they aren't stupid to fool around and risk their chances to escape, right? Given their situation, they should be thinking more of escaping than doing that." He explained. 

"So, Ke Hanying can't be the father of Xiao Hualing's child, huh?" Jiu Ye felt dispirited because his guess was off. "Then, it's either Pei Tinghe or Pei Tingsong?" he asked. 

They looked at each other. 

"Pei Tinghe might be. It was him who Xiao Hualing attacked first." Huo Ling spoke. 

Yi Bing didn't speak as he was pondering. 

"Then… it's Pei Tinghe?" Jiu Ye asked. 

But, Huo Ling didn't speak. He just looked at Yi Bing. 

Finally, Yi Bing spoke, but it was a different topic. "What do you think of tonight's event?" he asked, referring to the two organs that were found inside Xu Hongkai's belly. 

"Gruesome." Jiu Ye's face scrunched up. 

Shi Jiu ignored Jiu Ye's answer. "This proves that she will definitely make those who wronged her in the past to pay." He answered. 

Yi Bing nodded in agreement. Xiao Hualing was still young when she became a victim of Xu Hongkai, but she still clearly remembered it after she died. Her grudges are really strong. 

"There is an infant's corpse." He reminded them. 

"Ah." They all fell silent. 

Jiu Ye was the one who first spoke. "Could it be Xiao Hualing's child?" he asked. 

"If she cared for her unborn child, she wouldn't place its corpse inside the corpse of a person she hates very much." Huo Ling spoke. 

"Then…" Jiu Ye looked at him. 

"A symbolism." Yi Bing spoke. 

Huo Ling nodded. "It symbolized how evil Xu Hongkai is." He said. "It doesn't necessarily mean an infant… but that Xu Hongkai has a fetish and for children." He explained. 

Jiu Ye's face turned green in disgust. "He really deserves to die." He said. 

"Yeah." Huo Ling agreed. 

Yi Bing looked at them and saw that the topic is about to end here. So, he spoke. "Don't you think it is a message sent to Pei Tingsong?" he asked. Before they could react, he continued. "Pei Tingsong's heart and brain was placed beside the infant's corpse inside Xu Hongkai's belly." He told them. 

"Oh." They muttered and another silence fell. 

"So… it must be Pei Tingsong who is the father of Xiao Hualing's unborn child?" Jiu Ye slowly asked as he looked at the faces of the three adults. 

"Most likely." Shi Jiu spoke. The answer is already so obvious. 

"But… how?" Jiu Ye asked again as he scratched his head, feeling puzzled. 

"What do you mean 'how'?" Shi Jiu asked him. 

"Because – " Jiu Ye turned to look at him. " – didn't Pei Ru tell Ling-ge before that Pei Tinghe told his family that he wants Xiao Hualing to be his concubine?" he asked. Seeing their lukewarm expressions, he sighed in helplessness. "It was Pei Tinghe who asked. Not Pei Tingsong!" he told them. 

"… ah." They muttered. 

"How…?" Shi Jiu was equally puzzled as Jiu Ye. 

"He might have backstabbed Pei Tinghe." Huo Ling guessed. 

They turned to him. 

"If Xiao Hualing could see through them, then she must already know what kind of people are they." He said. "Scums." He spat out. 

The three nodded in agreement. 

"So, she rejected them." Huo Ling said. "But, for scums like Pei Tinghe and Pei Tingsong, their pride matters over their feelings. They couldn't accept that they were rejected and their ego was more hurt than their heart. So, they started to harass her in the form of courtship." He explained. 

"But, the child…" Jiu Ye spoke. 

"What do you think is the best way for a man to get revenge on a girl?" Huo Ling asked. His face has no expression. 

Shi Jiu and Yi Bing didn't answer but they frowned in disgust. Meanwhile, it took some time for Jiu Ye to finally understand. 

His eyes widened in shock and he acted puking because of disgust. "They are the worst!" he said. 

Huo Ling nodded. "This way, not only could he avenge his wounded ego, he can also 'taste' her, and he is even her first time." He frowned in disgust. 

Jiu Ye was enraged. But, how can he relieve his anger? The object of his anger was already dead. 

"And, it's just a simple matter for Pei Tingsong to backstab Pei Tinghe. In fact – " Huo Ling continued. " – it is Pei Tingsong's daily task: to backstab Pei Tinghe." He analyzed. 

They thought about it and feel that it seems possible. After all, Pei Tinghe's name is notorious. Pei Tingsong, on the other hand, has a good image to the public and therefore have the goodwill of the people. He also made his sphere of influence using his clean image. Then, using his influence, he spread bad things about Pei Tinghe, and Pei Tinghe ended as someone notorious today. 

"Seriously, is it only Pei Tingyi who is the good one in this rotten family?" Jiu Ye asked. 

Pei Tingting must also be someone not good. Or else, why would Xiao Hualing kill her? 

"Let's move to the next topic." Yi Bing said, wanting to change the depressing atmosphere. 

"Right." Huo Ling muttered when he remembered something. "How did she die? Did she really commit suicide?" he asked.

That's the rumor Han ma heard the other day, and he overheard Han ma and Pei Ru talking about.