Afterlife Department

A deafening silence fell.

Luo Ming looked at Huo Ling from the ground. "That person… he is a good person, although I don't know what he wanted the content of the book about." He spoke. "But, knowing he wasn't the one who started this… he is good." He said and looked at Huo Ling. Then, he looked at Yi Bing. Because he was blinded by anger earlier, he didn't notice the strangeness of the two. Now, he saw it. "… so you were his…" he muttered.

"Disciples." Yi Bing spoke and pointed his sword on Luo Ming's neck.

Luo Ming didn't feel fear nor anger and he just laughed. He knows that Yi Bing doesn't want him to say anything, and since he is grateful to that visitor, he didn't say anything. "We don't have a protection talisman." He spoke.

"Huh?" they spoke.

"Xiao Ye and I protected each other… because we have faith in each other." Luo Ming spoke and looked at Luo Ye. He smiled at him and Luo Ye, despite his swollen eyes and tears, he returned a smile. "Xiao Ye believed in me… until the end." He said.

"How did you break out of your imprisonment?" Hu Feng asked.

"Because I felt that the barrier surrounding the sect disappeared." Luo Ming answered. "Then, when I looked for xiao Ye, I didn't see him. I only saw the zombies, so…" he didn't continue.

"The barrier… you mean the mist?" Qi Ming asked.

Luo Ming turned to him. "What 'mist'?" he asked.

It was their turn to be shocked. "It wasn't you who removed the mist?" Yi Bing asked. "… so you only felt the barrier disappearing, so you escaped from imprisonment?" he said.

Luo Ming nodded.

"This is odd…" Huo Ling muttered.

Yi Bing turned to him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"You know that the cultivators' power comes from the earth, right?" Huo Ling looked at him.

Yi Bing nodded.

"And so is their sect's barrier. But, it disappeared…" Huo Ling's brows knitted. Suddenly, his eyes widened. He turned to Luo Ming. "Luo Ming! Use your sword glare!" he told him.

Luo Ming has already felt that something was odd when he noticed that the barrier imprisoning him disappeared. He didn't ask anything and did as Huo Ling told. He raised his sword and swung it, but… "… no qi." He muttered as his eyes widened in shock.

Huo Ling's expression changed.

"Huo Ling?" Yi Bing called when he saw he is silent.

"We're running out of time…" Huo Ling spoke as he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"What do you mean?" they asked.

"We have to find their sect leader!" Huo Ling told them. "The qi has disappeared and is replaced by this foul energy… if we don't stop him, there will be more zombies and the humans will be replaced by the zombies." He said. "Then… then this world will collapse." He muttered.

Everyone felt their heart sank and their body became cold.

"Luo Ming… do you know where is your sect leader might be?" Huo Ling asked.

"No." Luo Ming shook his head.

It is understandable. After all, he has been imprisoned for five years.

"Then… what should we do now? Continue looking for the sects?" Qi Ming asked.

"Not good. There are too many sects and we can't look for all of them. We don't have much time." Hu Feng spoke. "By the time we finished looking for them all, the world has already collapsed or that we die first before we find them all." He said.

Silence fell.

"Huo Ling." Yi Bing called.

"Wait! I am thinking!" Huo Ling irritably said as he pulled his hair.

Everyone shut up.

"… that's it!" Huo Ling gasped as his eyes widened. He looked at them with bright eyes.

"What?" they asked.

"The signal towers…" Huo Ling muttered.

"The signal towers?" they asked.

Huo Ling nodded. "The zombies destroyed the signal towers. I think that it might be preventing them or suppressing them for some reason…" he said as he pondered.

"The electromagnetic field." Hu Feng spoke.

"Right!" Qi Ming explained. "In the end, science defeats the supernatural… ehem. Please ignore me." He said and looked away in embarrassment.

"It might be preventing them from spreading the foul energy." Yi Bing spoke.

"So, we have to find the signal towers. Maybe we can find the sect leader… the zombie king!" Huo Ling said.

"Yes!" they answered.

…

"Xi Kai. You mark on the map the places that I will tell you. The signal towers are located in there. Then, you find the sect leader… the zombie king." Hu Feng said through the walkie-talkie.

"Alright!" Xi Kai answered as he looked at Qi Ying holding the map.

On the other line, Hu Feng looked at the list that Wen Yan has sent him. "Qi Ming. Ready." He said.

Qi Ming solemnly nodded. "Yes." He said.

Hu Feng spoke the first location, then the second location, the third…

Yi Bing glanced at the Rolling Thunder Team inside the bus before he turned to Huo Ling. "You did great." He told him.

"Oh. I thought you will punish me because of insubordination again." Huo Ling frowned.

"I am not that unreasonable." Yi Bing defended himself. "Desperate times call for desperate measure. We are already in this situation so how can we conduct a meeting first then tell them later all that we know? Wouldn't the world already collapse and we'll die with it?" he asked.

Huo Ling didn't answer.

"… fine. I'll lift your punishment." Yi Bing spoke when he saw his sulking face. "Only this once." He said with a stern expression.

"… that's not it…" Huo Ling muttered.

"Then, what is it?" Yi Bing asked.

Huo Ling raised his head and looked at him, meeting his gaze. "I am thinking about the humans' selfishness and greed." He spoke.

Yi Bing didn't answer.

"They know that it was very dangerous, so why did they still do it?" Huo Ling asked, referring to turning into a zombie just to become 'immortal'. "The moment that they turned into a monster, they are no longer alive… they can no longer be an immortal." He spoke.

Yi Bing took a deep breath. "It is their heart demon that cloud their judgement." He spoke.

"But their heart demon stemmed from their selfishness and greed. If they aren't selfish and greedy, would they have a heart demon?" Huo Ling asked.

Yi Bing didn't answer.

"… sorry." Huo Ling apologized and lowered his head.

Yi Bing stared at the top of Huo Ling's head. "It is because of temptation that desire was born. It is because of desire that greed was born. It is because of greed that selfishness was born." He spoke. "Huo Ling… the only thing that differentiates the humans from the animals is because they are rational. The animals only have their instinct. But, do you know what makes the humans irrational?" he placed his hand on Huo Ling's head. "It is temptation." He told him.

Huo Ling raised his head and saw Yi Bing's icy-blue eyes staring at him. For some reason, Huo Ling felt his chest thumped.

"Even the animals follow their instinct because of temptation, like a predator towards its prey…" Yi Bing spoke in a hoarse voice as he stared at Huo Ling's clear amber eyes that seemed to be filled with innocence yet also cleverness.

"Yi Bing, Huo Ling… oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know that you were kissing!" Luo Ye exclaimed and immediately covered his eyes when he saw that Yi Bing has his head bent down while Huo Ling is looking up at him. From Luo Ye's perspective, they really looked like they were kissing.

Yi Bing. "…" damn. Do you still have a conscience? How can you break this atmosphere?! He thought as his face darkened.

Huo Ling. "…" 'k-i-s-s-i-n-g'? I seem to remember that Xi Kai and his team also thought before that Yi Bing and I left to kiss? He thought as his face darkened.

"Hii!" Luo Ye gasped as he retreated when he saw their dark faces, thinking that he ruined their private moment. "I'm sorry - !" he apologized when he suddenly felt that he bumped into a solid chest behind him. He turned. "Shixiong?" he called when he saw Luo Ming.

Luo Ming immediately caught Luo Ye before Luo Ye could fall. "Xiao Ye." He called and smiled. Then, he turned to Yi Bing and Huo Ling. "Did xiao Ye bother you?" he asked. "Please forgive him." He told them.

"Oh…" the two grim reapers muttered.

"Right, Luo Ye. There is one more thing that I haven't told you." Huo Ling spoke as he smiled. If I suffer, then others should also suffer! He thought.

Yi Bing saw Huo Ling's expression and immediately lit a candle to Luo Ming who defended Luo Ye. Luo Ming suddenly felt a chill and has a bad feeling about this.

"Hm? What is it?" Luo Ye asked.

"It's about – " Huo Ling said and looked at Luo Ming.

Luo Ming's face darkened. Why should I suffer like this?! He thought and sensibly took Luo Ye away to not anger the two more. Meanwhile, Yi Bing snickered while Huo Ling sneered. Who told you to like Luo Ye?