Afterlife Department

"Master Yan!" Li Yan cried. "Tell us… tell me what should I do?!" he asked as he looked pleadingly at Huo Ling. "Tell me how to make the ghost go away and not haunt me again!" he said.

"Me, too!" Shi Nana spoke. "I have… I have a family! And children! I can't make them suffer with me because I am being haunted by a ghost!" she said.

"M – me, too…" Li Li said as her tears fell. "I am still young… I don't want to die!" she cried.

Huo Ling looked at them with his eyes filled with compassion. "Don't fear, don't fear…" he told them, trying to pacify them.

Meanwhile, Bai Liu, Wu Yi, Jiu Ye and Bai Wu. "…" it is unfortunate that the Afterlife Department has no entertainment company. Huo Ling's acting skills are wasted! They thought as they watch Huo Ling's act.

"I have said before that not only ghosts are scary, but also humans." Huo Ling spoke. "Sometimes, humans are actually scarier than ghosts, since they are humans but also have ghosts… in their hearts." He told them.

Bai Liu, Wu Yi, Jiu Ye and Bai Wu. "…" we think you are scarier, though, since you are neither a human nor a ghost, but you can deceive both! They thought as they blankly looked at Huo Ling.

"Ghosts… in our hearts…" the three people muttered.

Huo Ling nodded. "This is how our sect master found you." He spoke. "But, although our master knows, yet he doesn't know the exact details. He is just a human like us, and not a god who is omnipotent. Thus, he doesn't know everything." He explained.

Bai Liu, Wu Yi, Jiu Ye and Bai Wu. "…" what 'humans like us'? We are grim reapers! They thought, inwardly roasting Huo Ling but they didn't say anything to pierce into the other's act.

"'details'?" the three people muttered as they snapped out of their daze.

Huo Ling nodded as an answer. "We can't solve the problem if we don't have the details to find the solution, can we?" he said.

"'details'… exactly what details?" Li Li asked in puzzlement. But, Li Yan and Shi Nana already realized it. Thus, they fell silent.

"Details about this ghost and why is it haunting the three of you." Huo Ling answered. His voice sounds patient since he already can see the three's reaction, and also to continue his act. "There is an invisible thread that connects people, but not only people." He shook his head. "After all, even if someone has died and turned to a ghost, they still are once humans. Thus, this thread still connects them to their families, friends and lovers and even colleagues and acquaintances in their afterlife." He explained.

Hearing these words, the three people's faces paled. "'thread'… 'connect'…" they muttered with their eyes widened in shock.

"How do I cut this thread… this connection?!" Li Yan asked as his eyes became bloodshot in both anger and fear and panic.

"Our connection with fellow humans are simpler, so it is easier to cut. It is because they are alive and so are easy to talk to." Huo Ling spoke and paused. "Of course, it is also possible to reconnect with them. But, with ghosts, it is far more complicated, and harder to cut. Because, although they live in a same world as us, but their perspective has changed, different from us. So, it is hard to talk to them, and harder to sever our connection from them." He explained.

"Then how?! What method can we use to sever our connection with them?" They asked.

"We can abide to their wishes." Huo Ling answered.

"What?! 'abide to their wishes'?" Shi Nana asked. "You don't mean…" she said as her mouth fell open in shock.

"Yes. Ghosts will return to a soul they once were if their attachment that turned to them to a ghost disappears. Then, they can move on." Huo Ling explained.

"But… but… we don't know what this ghost wants…" Li Li stammered.

Do you really not? Huo Ling thought and inwardly rolled his eyes but he didn't voice out this thoughts, exposing these three's hypocrisy. He knows that these three definitely wouldn't tell anyone, especially outsiders like them, their dark secrets.

But, that doesn't mean that Huo Ling will give up. What a grim reaper has is time that is infinite for them in the afterlife. So, Huo Ling has all the patience. These three actually is easy for him to deal with. He is already finished with the first step of his plan.

"If you do not know, then we can start by knowing your connection to them, the cause of your troubles." Huo Ling told them.

"We…" Li Li spoke and turned back to Li Yan and Shi Nana who fell silent.

Seeing their silence, she knew that although they were moved, but they are reluctant, or even don't want, to tell the reason to Huo Ling even if they know that he is a real master.

"Master Yan… I apologize. But… we…" Li Li muttered and lowered her head. Her face reddened in shame.

Huo Ling's expression didn't even change, still remaining as compassionate. "It's fine. We understand." He spoke the words he told them earlier. "But, I had to give you a warning." He told them.

Hearing the word 'warning', their expressions changed once again.

"The longer you delay things, the worse things will happen." Huo Ling told them with a grave expression on his face.

As expected, their faces paled.

"After all, although time is intangible, but it is connected with everything." Huo Ling told them before he slightly bowed and then turned to Bai Liu and others, and then left, leaving the green and pale-faced Li Yan, Li Li and Shi Nana who stared at their backs in shock.

After some time, they finally recovered their expressions. Their hands trembled as they opened their cars and started to drive to the company with heavy hearts.

…

"Let me offer my worship!" Wu Yi spoke and bowed to Huo Ling as he knelt when they returned to the haunted house. 

"Let me offer my worship!" Bai Wu, seeing his 'father' kneeling and bowing, also bowed.

"Let me offer my worship!" Jiu Ye also said and followed.

"Let me offer my worship!" even Bai Liu joined.

Huo Ling helplessly sighed and waved his hand at them. "Geez! Don't make me shiver in disgust!" he told them as he rubbed his arms after he took off his outer robe.

"But, you are really skillful." Bai Liu spoke as he finally returned to 'normal'. "You have convinced them and earned their trust after you also rattled them!" he said.

Wu Yi nodded in agreement. "Yi Bing definitely haven't taught you this, since he never done this thing." He said, referring to deceiving others with his acting.

"This is what I learned before when I was alive, in order to survive the days…" Huo Ling sighed emotionally.

"You also have your share of hardships." Bai Liu smiled.

"Everyone does." Huo Ling shook his head.

"True." Bai Liu nodded in agreement. "Right. Where did Yi Bing go? Wasn't he here earlier?" he asked.

"Here." Yi Bing spoke, appearing before them.

Jiu Ye and Bai Wu were startled.

"You… if you were here all along, why didn't you speak?" Wu Yi asked and helplessly smiled.

"I didn't speak because I wasn't here all along." Yi Bing answered as he stole the cup of tea Huo Ling is currently drinking.

Huo Ling's face turned black. "…" there's an empty cup before you. I can pour your cup if you asked. Why steal mine?! He thought, but for the sake of everything, he suppressed his irritation.

"Huh? But you were in the park earlier…" Bai Liu muttered in surprise. "Did you leave again?" he asked.

Yi Bing nodded as an answer. "I sensed something so I had to leave." He answered.

"What something?" Huo Ling asked.

Yi Bing turned to him. "You Ri." He answered.

Huo Ling's expression changed. "Was it really her who is haunting the Haoming Company?" he asked him.

"It is her." Yi Bing answered.

"Then why didn't we sense her when we went there with Hao Baiyun?" Huo Ling asked.

"Because it also wasn't her." Yi Bing spoke.

Huo Ling's face was covered in black lines while the others are filled with question marks. "… does it hurt for you to speak more?" he asked.

Yi Bing thought about it. "No." he answered.

Huo Ling fought back the urge to curse. Does he have to ask questions one by one?! He thought.

It's as if Yi Bing felt his frustration since he finally explained. "That was You Ri who is haunting the company… more specifically Li Yan, Li Li and Shi Nana." He spoke. "But, it was also not her. That's why I had to go back earlier to confirm it." He looked at Huo Ling. "When I first saw 'her', I should have seen it in the Death Note but there is none. Her location didn't appear in the Death Note even if she was in front of me." He told him. "Thus, I confirmed that it is also not 'her'.." He said.