Afterlife Department

"We are here." Lu Xiu spoke as the carriage stopped.

Huo Ling, Yi Bing, Qian San, Wu Ling and Shi Yi looked outside the window and saw a giant stone on the side of the road with words carved on it in ancient characters, spelled as 'Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain'.

"Whoa! There are so many people!" Wu Ling exclaimed in surprise when they saw a large crowd ahead of them. "Wasn't this mountain already been sealed?" he asked as he turned to Lu Xiu.

"It is. But, that doesn't stop the people from enjoying the scenery." Lu Xiu answered as he jumped down before he walked towards the window and faced Wu Ling. "Wasn't this the reason that you came here?" he asked before he smiled. "Or, was I mistaken?" he added.

Wu Ling frowned and pushed the door open. Lu Xiu immediately dodged, barely dodging the door. He just chuckled, obviously enjoying Wu Ling's temper. Qian San, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked at each other and awkwardly smiled. Meanwhile, Huo Ling and Yi Bing ignored them as they opened the other door and got out.

"Hey. What is your name? My name is 'Lu Xiu'. You can call me 'Si Lang'." Lu Xiu said when Wu Ling came out.

But, like before, Wu Ling ignored Lu Xiu and looked around. Qian San, Shi Yi and Qi Bai stood beside him, awkwardly smiling at Lu Xiu. Lu Xiu shrugged and went to the back to take out their luggage.

"Feel anything?" Yi Bing asked.

"No." the smile on Qian San's face disappeared.

"We still haven't reached the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain yet. No need to rush." Yi Bing comforted them.

"En." They nodded and sighed in relief.

"Hey. Where does Huai Sen live? How to reach there?" Huo Ling asked someone from the crowd.

"Ai, young man. You are still young, so don't waste your life!" that person said. "You will just die after a blow from Huai Sen, so give up on seeing him and cherish your life instead!" he told him before he left.

"You really want to look for that medicine?" Lu Xiu asked as he approached them.

"Or else?" Wu Ling asked back before he took his luggage from Lu Xiu. "Let's part ways here, young man, if you don't know the way." He told him before he walked away.

"Hey! Who says I don't?" Lu Xiu spoke and took back Wu Ling's luggage.

"Err… let us carry our luggage." Qian San told Lu Xiu.

"How can I let you? You paid me handsomely, and your luggage is very light!" Lu Xiu told them.

"You really know the way to Huai Sen?" Shi Yi asked while Qi Bai munched on his food.

"Of course!" Lu Xiu answered as he started to walk.

"They said that this mountain was sealed… how was it sealed?" Huo Ling asked. "Will we reach Huai Sen if this mountain was sealed?" he added.

"There is a formation used here to deter the tourists by making them go lost." Lu Xiu answered as they entered the forest.

"But, you are taking us to see Huai Sen… that means you know how to break this formation?" Yi Bing asked.

"Yes. This is just a puny formation." Lu Xiu snickered and kicked the trunk of the tree near him.

Huo Ling, Yi Bing, Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai thought that he was just angry so he kicked the tree. But, they didn't expect to suddenly feel a change in their surroundings. It was very sudden, and there seemed nothing that changed.

But, they felt it. They looked at Lu Xiu's back as they followed behind him.

"I can't determine what has changed." Huo Ling whispered to Yi Bing before he turned back to Lu Xiu. "'puny' formation? Wasn't it said that Huai Sen is very strong?" he said. "How can the formation in the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain be puny?" he asked.

Upon hearing this question, Lu Xiu stopped. Then, he slowly turned to face them. Huo Ling and Yi Bing acted nonchalant while Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai used all of their skills in acting to keep their current expressions, as if their question was just a harmless question instead of it speaking volumes.

Lu Xiu stared at them for a long time before he smiled. "How can I know? I am just speaking nonsense." He said before he resumed walking. "I often climb mountains, including this one, so I have become familiar of this place. Thus, I can break this formation." He explained.

Obviously, he is lying. But, the grim reapers didn't poke through his lie.

"It wasn't Huai Sen who laid this formation." Huo Ling whispered.

Their faces turned serious. It wasn't Huai Sen? But, wasn't this mountain his? If not him, then who? They thought and looked at each other. Their gazes speaking. Then, they mouthed some words.

Martial alliance.

As soon as their lips stopped moving, they felt something whistling towards them. They immediately split up and moved behind the trees.

"Who are you, exactly?" Lu Xiu asked as he caught his dagger that flew back to him. He looked at the trees where Huo Ling and the others hid. "Judging by your ignorance with the matters of jianghu, you really aren't from the jianghu. But, if you were just ordinary people, you won't be able to dodge my attack, much less sense it." He said. "So, who are you?" he asked them again.

None of them spoke. How can they explain it themselves?

"Qian San! Dodge!" Yi Bing called out when he saw something flashed behind Qian San.

Qian San immediately leapt above the tree. An arrow brushed past the edge of his clothes.

"Qi Bai!" Huo Ling called.

Qi Bai, although a glutton, his brain isn't filled of fat. He rolled down the ground and hid behind a boulder. Huo Ling and Yi Bing also dodged since they know that they have already exposed where they are hiding after they called out earlier.

"There are two more!" Huo Ling told Yi Bing as he ran up the trunk of the tree and somersaulted before he jumped towards another tree. Mid-air, he saw a sword passed below his head.

"They also know how to fight?!" Jiang Ci, with his bow equipped with arrow, exclaimed. "Lu Xiu! Explain this!" he said as he shot Shi Yi.

Shi Yi immediately crawled away where he was hiding.

Jiang Ci who thought that they are dealing with fellow martial artists. "…" fck! Not all of them?! he thought and turned to see Qian San hugging the branch of the tree like a monkey. "…" are they messing with us?

"There is only two of them who knows how to fight." Rong Huai said as he stood beside Jiang Ci.

"See? I am innocent!" Lu Xiu yelled at Jiang Ci as he ran after Huo Ling and Yi Bing. Rong Huai joined the fight.

Jiang Ci shut his mouth. Indeed, Lu Xiu only said that Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai are ordinary people. And they won't hide themselves in the face of death just now. "Could it be… these two threatened them to cooperate with them?" he asked as he looked at Huo Ling and Yi Bing who are obviously experts.

Lu Xiu's eyes widened. "You have a point!" he exclaimed. "These two seemed to be their leader! But, in fact, they are actually using them!" he said as he lunged at Huo Ling. "No wonder I sensed that their group is strange… it turned out that these two who are clear-headed are actually using these four naïve people!" he told Jiang Ci.

Jiang Ci started and he immediately approached Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai and immediately helped them up. "I apologize… you were actually victims." He said and sighed.

Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai. "…" how did it come to this? They thought.

Jiang Ci saw that they aren't speaking and thought that they must have been frightened. He bit his lower lip. "I am really sorry. I misunderstand you." He said. "Uh… so, how did they threaten you? Do you know their motive?" he asked them.

Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai. "…" fck. What to do now? Act as a white lotus and cry? They thought, referring to acting as the victims. But, Huo Ling and Yi Bing…

Suddenly, they felt their jade pendants turned warm. They received a message in their communicators.

0001: let us act separately again. Do your best to convince them to take you to Huai Sen. Send us the coordinates. 

"Fck!" Lu Xiu cursed. "They are so slippery! Just who are they?!" he asked when he and Rong Huai returned after they lost Huo Ling and Yi Bing.

Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked at each other. … does this mean that we have to blacken them?!