Afterlife Department

Everyone felt all the hairs on their body stood on their ends, especially Lu Xiu.

"Hey! Are you kidding?!" Lu Xiu exclaimed and rubbed his arms when he felt goosebumps appeared on his skin.

Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai huddled together.

"What does this artifact do?" Huo Ling asked. "What does it look like?" he added.

"The young master said that his memories were hazy, but he can remember that he was holding a sword." Jiang Ci answered. "A very old sword. His own sword was replaced by that sword." He said.

"So, the five disciples of Huai Sen were killed by this sword?" Huo Ling muttered. "What happened next?" he asked.

"The young master got a bad fever and fell into a coma." Jiang Ci continued. "When he woke up, he said that some people ambushed him and wanted to catch him. He doesn't know them and they looked strong so he escaped. But, he fell from a cliff. Fortunately, the snow was thick so he wasn't hurt when he fell." He said. "He was trapped in that place though and no one passed by. He thought he was gonna die. So, in his delirious state, he saw many people and they led him back." He finished.

A long silence fell.

"Could these people be… the souls of those who also have died under that sword?" Shi Yi asked.

Rong Huai nodded. "That was what the former sect leader also said." He said.

"This sword must have acknowledge boss Luo as the successor of his father and it protected him?" Qian San guessed.

"This sword must be very powerful then," Qi Bai said.

"If it is, then, many people must have wanted it." Wu Ling off-handedly said.

Everything seemed to become frozen. They all looked at each other. Their gazes speaking.

Jiang Ci's eyes widened from shock. "It can't be, right…?" he muttered as he looked at Rong Huai and Lu Xiu who were similarly stunned.

Huo Ling looked at them with a serious expression. "Your sect… it must have been due to possessing that artifact that it was… attacked…" he told them.

"In short, somebody must have wanted to steal it." Yi Bing added.

It was like a clap of thunder to Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu. Their mouths fell open in shock. "No way…!" they exclaimed.

A long silence fell.

"The question is where is that sword now." Huo Ling spoke, breaking the silence.

They all nodded in agreement. Whoever have that sword must be the one who attacked the Ruojian Valley Sect, or may know the culprit. They were just about to go to sleep when suddenly, they heard the bushes shook.

Their eyes narrowed and Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu immediately acted while Yi Bing and Huo Ling protected Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai. Not all grim reapers can fight, like Jiu Ye. Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai are really unlucky to have an assignment in this wuxia world.

Time seemed to slow down when they saw some leaves and snow fell from the trees.

"Above!" Rong Huai shouted and jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a person that landed on the spot where he was standing just now!

Jiang Ci and Lu Xiu also moved and intercepted those who finally appeared from the darkness. "Damn it! We are outnumbered!" Jiang Ci cursed after he was almost cut by an assassin's dagger!

"Look out!" Rong Huai shouted and jumped down the ground before he pulled Jiang Ci down to the ground and they rolled away. A second later and they saw three daggers pierced he ground where Jiang Ci was standing earlier!

Jiang Ci coldly sweated and his face paled in horror. "T – thanks." He told Rong Huai before he pushed the other.

Rong Huai nodded before he waved his broadsword to block another wave of enemy's attack.

"What should we do? We are in the light while the enemy is in the dark!" Lu Xiu said as he stabbed an assassin that lunged itself at him. "Literally and figuratively!" he added.

"Look out!" Wu Ling cried when he saw another assassin behind Lu Xiu. Then, he threw a stone at the assassin.

Lu Xiu kicked the assassin before him before he turned and stabbed the other one on the throat! "Thank you!" he shouted to Wu Ling. "You can call me 'Si Lang'!" he told him again.

"Is this the time to flirt?!" Jiang Ci snapped in anger.

"We are in the light… then let's make them be in the light, too!" Huo Ling said.

"Huh? How?" Jiang Ci asked.

But, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu suddenly got a bad feeling. "Jiang Ci!" Rong Huai called and pushed Jiang Ci towards Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai before he and Lu Xiu hid behind a boulder, just in time for five streaks of light flew in all directions!

They were torches! Rong Huai and Lu Xiu heard cries of pain from the assassins after they were hit while some screamed when they were burned by the fire! But, that's not all, for the trees were also caught on fire! The entire forest is slowly being burned!

Lu Xiu's eyes widened in shock and he looked at Huo Ling in horror. "Are you crazy?!" he asked.

"Maybe?" Huo Ling carelessly shrugged as he started to build a snow hut.

Lu Xiu gnashed his teeth in anger and he and Rong Huai also started to build a snow hut to hide from the heat. Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai helped Huo Ling while Jiang Ci were still in shock. Yi Bing just stood there and fend off the daggers flying towards them thrown by the other assassins that wanted to fight back.

"Retreat!" the assassins that were left yelled when they saw the sea of fire.

"Yes!" the others answered. But, before they could move, they suddenly cried in pain!

"What happened?!" their leader asked.

"Enemies!" the assassins answered.

"It's the Swallow Tailed Assassins! Everyone, be careful!" Mu Fan, in the lead, shouted, as he shoot another assassin that tried to escape.

"Damn it! Why are the Liulin Sect here?!" the leader of the assassins asked in anger.

"'Liulin Sect'?!" Rong Huai and Lu Xiu exclaimed while Jiang Ci started.

"Why are they here?!" Jiang Ci asked, pissed. They are also surprised like the Swallow Tailed Assassins.

"Put out the fire!" Mu Fan ordered. "Capture the assassins!" he added.

"Yes!" the Liulin Sect disciples answered and moved.

"Liulin Sect!" the leader of the assassins gnashed his teeth in anger after he saw his fellows were killed.

"Mu Fan! Why the hell are you here?!" Lu Xiu shouted through the flames.

"Fetching some people!" Mu Fan answered and then saw Huo Ling. "Brother Huo!" he called.

"Yo!" Huo Ling waved and smiled. "Thank you for coming to rescue us!" he said.

Mu Fan's horse leapt over the fire and Lei Wei followed. "Our sect leader wanted to invite you to our sect two weeks ago to thank you for saving my shidi." He said. "We waited for you to come back but our people told us that they saw that some suspicious people entered the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain and figured that you might be in trouble. Thus, we came here." He explained. "It turned out that it was really the Swallow Tailed Assassins." He frowned and glared at the leader of the assassins that is glaring at them, too.

The assassins were now all surrounded by the Liulin Sect disciples.

"You all… you all - !" the leader of the assassin is seething in anger as he looked at the corpses of his fellow assassins.

Mu Fan's pupils shrank when he suddenly sensed something. "Don't let him kill himself!" he shouted.

But, it was too late. The leader of the assassins coughed out blood before his body fell on the snow. He is dead, and by poison stored inside his mouth.

"Wah!" Shi Yi and Qi Bai exclaimed in horror and covered their eyes while Qian San's and Wu Ling's faces paled.

Mu Fan's expression is very ugly as he jumped down his horse and walked towards the corpse of the leader of the assassins. The fire also have been put out by the Liulin Sect disciples. "Sha Yilang." He said when he recognized the face after he took off the assassin's mask. "He is just one of the leaders of different groups of the Swallow Tailed Assassin, an organization of killers." He explained.

"You mean, there will be more?" Huo Ling asked.

Mu Fan turned to them and nodded. "Our sect leader was grateful to you for saving my shidi and he is afraid that you will be caught up in the storm in jianghu when he heard that you are going here, so he sent us." he explained, then heaved a sigh.

They fell silent.. Jin Chong's fear finally happened.