Afterlife Department

"They will first poison the people… and then the assassins will spill their blood." Hu Linci heavily breathed.

Their eyes widened in shock. "FCK!" they cursed. "They are insane!" they said and wanted to vomit in disgust.

"But… this doesn't explain why would the Green River Sect and the Swallow Tailed Assassins would kill the innocents." Huo Ling said.

Yi Bing nodded in agreement. "Is their friendship that important? It must have been a long time that they have separated, right?" he asked.

Everyone returned to their senses. "That's right!" they exclaimed.

"Even just the Green River Sect… they are clearly with the Martial Alliance… how can they do this?!" Hu Tisong asked.

Hearing Huo Ling's question, an awkward expression appeared on Hu Linci's face.

"What is it?" Shi Yi curiously asked as he and Qi Bai stared at Hu Linci whose face now blushed.

"The… assassin said…" Hu Linci coughed as his ears turned red. "That the Green River Sect leader and their own leader are… ehem… in love with Zhao Yuwei." He said and looked away.

Everyone. "…" WHAT THE FCK?! They all inwardly cursed as their faces turned green.

"So, they are sharing Zhao Yuwei with each other?" Yi Bing asked.

"Shut up! Is that matter important?!" Huo Ling snapped at Yi Bing in anger. The others' faces turned red and their expressions turned awkward after hearing what Yi Bing said.

Yi Bing shrugged. "If I love someone, I would never let anyone touch him even just a single strand of his hair." He said. "I also would pluck that person's eyes out and cut off his hands if he would look at him or touch him." he added.

Hu Tisong stared at Yi Bing in shock. Suddenly, he felt like he understood something. He glanced at Huo Ling who finally exploded and kicked Yi Bing's leg because Yi Bing is focusing in the small, and also strange, matters.

Meanwhile, Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked at each other, feeling like they realized something. Could it be… Yi Bing…? They thought and also looked at Huo Ling. Luo Zhilai, Jiang Ci, Lu Xiu and Rong Huai, as well as Li Mu, sensed something and they also looked at Huo Ling. Hu Linci also looked at Huo Ling when he understood what is happening.

The atmosphere suddenly turned subtle.

"Ah!" Huo Ling, didn't notice their gazes as he was pondering deeply over the case, suddenly exclaimed when he thought of something. "You are right!" he said and turned to smile at Yi Bing.

"What?" Yi Bing asked as he looked at Huo Ling, ignoring the others' gazes that are now on him.

"If the Green River Sect leader and the leader of the Swallow Tailed Assassins really, ehem, love Zhao Yuwei, they wouldn't share him with the other." Huo Ling said. "So, I think, this Zhao Yuwei is really pity, since they are actually just using him!" he said.

The others finally returned to their senses and looked at Huo Ling in shock. You can interpret it this way?! They thought.

"En." Yi Bing nodded.

The others suspiciously looked at him. so, that earlier… wasn't a confession? They thought. That was actually for the case?!

Yi Bing, as usual, ignored their gazes. He turned to Hu Linci. "Either that assassin lied to you to confuse you, since he might think that there is a little chance of you surviving, or… he also don't know the true objective of their leader." He told him.

Hu Linci stared at Yi Bing in shock. "What?!" he exclaimed as his face turned green.

Yi Bing ignored him and turned back to Huo Ling. "If they are using Zhao Yuwei, it still doesn't erase the fact that they wanted to kill the residents of the Cuiyi Town." He said.

Huo Ling nodded in agreement. "So, their objective is aligned with Zhao Yuwei's objective." He said.

"So, what is their reason of destroying the jianghu?" Qian San asked.

"Zhao Yuwei's reason is due to his elder brother leaving him and their family for jianghu." Shi Yi said.

"What about the other two?" Qi Bai asked.

"In any case, they are madmen!" Wu Ling said.

"Madmen doesn't need any reason to start chaos." Lu Xiu said.

"No…" Huo Ling raised his hand. He then turned to Hu Linci. "You said that the assassin said that the twin Zhao brothers, the Green River Sect's leader and the Swallow Tailed Assassin's leader are childhood friends, right?" he asked.

"Yes." Hu Linci answered.

"But, they separated for various reasons…" Huo Ling muttered.

Everyone suddenly started.

"You don't mean…" Li Mu spoke. "Something happened to the other two that was why they were separated from the twin brothers?" he asked.

Huo Ling turned. "Why would someone wanted to use poison?" he asked. "Why would someone be this bloodthirsty, thus becoming an assassin?" he looked at them.

Silence fell. They now understood. It is because there is a knot in their hearts, thus they resolved to use poisons and hide in the shadows to kill.

"It can't be…" Lei Wei muttered.

"What is the Green River Sect's and Swallow Tailed Assassins' background?" Yi Bing asked.

Hu Tisong started. He now recalled that Yi Bing and Huo Ling, although can fight, actually aren't from jianghu. "The Green River Sect, like our sect, is an old sect. At first, they have been refining medicines. Only later did they started refining poisons." He answered and frowned. "This is really suspicious, now that I think about this." He said.

"The Swallow Tailed Assassins… they are a covert organization." Luo Zhilai spoke as his brows furrowed. "Wait… was it said when did this organization appear?" he asked and looked at Li Mu, Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu.

Hu Tisong, Hu Linci and Mu Fan also frowned. Lei Wei is still as confused as ever. "Now that you said it… no one can say when did the Swallow Tailed Assassins appear in jianghu. They just…" Mu Fan said as they looked at each other. "… suddenly became famous." He finished.

An eerie silence surrounded them.

"Zhao Yuwei's friends became involved with the Green River Sect and the Swallow Tailed Assassin…" Huo Ling quietly said. "It can't be that the former leaders of the sect and the assassin organization… done something to them?" he asked.

No one answered since dread filled their hearts… and also sympathy, since they can already guess the tragic fate of Zhao Yuwei's friends.

Huo Ling looked at Hu Tisong. "You said that the Green River Sect only started making poisons at some point of time… and Zhao Yuwei's friends disappeared." he said and then turned to Mu Fan. "No one knows when did the Swallow Tailed Assassins organization appeared… you don't think…?" he looked at them.

No one spoke, since they know that whatever happened to Zhao Yuwei's friends when they were young can't be good. And the Swallow Tailed Assassins… it can be that it was started by one of Zhao Yuwei's friends after the two of them have been released from the hands of the former sect leader of the Green River Sect. Then, the friend of Zhao Yuwei who replaced the sick pervert of the Green River Sect resumed brewing poisons that he used to kill the former sect leader.

What exactly happened, it definitely isn't good, and must be worse than they are currently thinking. Or else, why would someone use poison, and another one become an assassin? Clearly, they were wronged, extremely wronged to the point of killing, and destroying everything to relieve the hatred in their hearts.

"This… this…" Lei Wei muttered in shock. Even if he is ignorant and naïve, the recent events had greatly shaken him and made him feel enlightened, finally opening his eyes to see the dark side of jianghu. Thus, he can faintly guess what might have happened to Zhao Yuwei, and this made him not know what to think or feel.

Sympathy? Yes, he sympathizes with them, since it wasn't their fault to be targeted by someone from the jianghu and do atrocious acts to them. But, this doesn't justify their crime of killing the innocents, like Zhuo Xia, Wu Tong, Yu Qiao, Zhang Yi, Ping Kun, and even Luo Zhuo or Huai Sen. They didn't commit any sin, nor wronged them. The one who committed a crime is the former sect leader of the Green River Sect!

Yes, they feel resentment towards the former sect leader of the Green River Sect, or maybe the entire Green River Sect. But the Green River Sect doesn't represent the jianghu! The jianghu isn't the Green River Sect! What crime did the common people commit for Zhao Yuwei and his two other friends to kill them?

"What should we do now?" Rong Huai asked Luo Zhilai.

"Save the people, but not save the Martial Alliance." Luo Zhilai answered.

Lei Wei heard this and he was aghast. "Why?!" he asked.

"Our young master has no obligation to answer you, much less follow what you wish." Jiang Ci sneered at Lei Wei, which made Lei Wei's face flushed in humiliation.

"So, you will just stand there and watch the Martial Alliance fall?!" Lei Wei asked.