Afterlife Department

Chapter 628 – Strongest

If Huo Ling hasn't recalled at the last second that he is now also a grim reaper, he would've screamed in fright when he saw Yi Bing's transformation! WHAT THE FCK! He inwardly cursed and roared inside his mind, imagining a thousand comments in the barrage in his brain.

That was fcking cool – ah, no, scary! What the hell! The black suit of the grim reapers is actually the cloak?! That familiar cloak of the grim reapers in the storybooks?! It was actually the black suit, which he is wearing now?! He thought as his face turned as black as his suit because of his shock.

But, Huo Ling has yet to see something that was about to shock him. He saw that the blue necktie disintegrated and became two snowflakes, floating towards the hollow eye sockets under that hood. Huo Ling felt goosebumps appeared on his skin and all the hairs of his body rose at their end. It is as if he could feel the chill coming from those two snowflakes rotating in the eye sockets, acting as if Yi Bing's 'eyes'.

"What are you dazed for?" Huo Ling heard Yi Bing's voice spoke.

Huo Ling looked around.

"Stupid. I am right in front of you!" Yi Bing said.

Huo Ling froze. Then, he rubbed his eyes. He actually wasn't dreaming! This skeleton in black, hooded cloak is actually Yi Bing! He really isn't dreaming! "You…" he said, feeling choked up.

"What?" Yi Bing asked. Now, his voice can clearly be heard coming from the being in black on the aisle with two bright blue 'eyes'.

Huo Ling stared at Yi Bing, dumbfounded. "… so our black suit is actually our black cloak, and our necktie can transform as our eyes?" he asked in a flat voice.

Yi Bing. "…" crap. I seem to have forgotten to teach him this! He thought and helplessly sighed. "Do you want to transform?" he asked.

"… yes." Huo Ling answered, feeling intimidated after the skull turned to him. But, when he looked at the two rotating bright blue snowflakes in those eye sockets inside the skull, Huo Ling felt there is a mysterious charm in it. "Yes. I want to." He answered as he stared face-to-face with the skull.

Huo Ling subconsciously raised his hand and his cold palm touched the rough surface of the skull, panting a beautiful and bewitching scene.

When Huo Ling was still alive, he never have believed in the supernatural. Well, maybe slightly, because the Hao family and the Gu family are real masters in this area. He only fully believed in the supernatural after he died and he turned into a soul. He has fully accepted this when he came face to face with his cold corpse… as a soul.

Before, he has never believed in grim reapers, too. But now, he is touching one, and met its gaze.

"Huo Ling?" Yi Bing called when he saw Huo Ling's behavior.

"… mn." Huo Ling hummed a response and he lowered his hand. "How do I transform?" he asked.

"Let me help you." Yi Bing answered. Since it was a dereliction of duty on his part to not teach Huo Ling of this matter, then he naturally has to help Huo Ling with his first transformation.

But, Yi Bing didn't expect to be stunned when he saw Huo Ling's real form as a grim reaper. It was similar in his appearance, as Huo Ling's soul is as strong as his, or even stronger. What differed is that in the eye sockets of Huo Ling were two balls of fire making one feel warm, but also could burn.

However, Yi Bing doesn't fear it. Just like a moth to a flame, he raised his bony hand and his index immediately was burned by the bright, orange flames. However, his index finger didn't turn to ash nor turned black. It still remained as it is. Upon a closer look, his entire skeleton body was actually coated by a thin yet very hard film of ice!

The monster which was ignored by Yi Bing attacked Yi Bing. But, as soon as it touched Yi Bing's black cloak, ice spread from its weapon, to its arms until the ice covered its entire body! Even Yi Bing's cloak was actually covered by a thin film of ice!

At Huo Ling's back, another monster pounced without them noticing. But, Huo Ling's cloak fluttered after his transformation and his cloak touched the arm of that monster. Without any warning, that monster was burned! It wasn't even enough! The cloak, as if it has a consciousness of its own, stretched and reached for the other monsters that are hiding and instantly burned them!

"AAAAAH!!!" a series of screams and shrieks were heard inside their cabin. One side was on fire, while the other side was in a blizzard.

Yet, the two culprits didn't care, even if they notice. In fact, Yi Bing looked pleased. He feels a sense of satisfaction and also accomplishment as he looked at the two sides – fire and ice. Many said that fire and ice are incompatible because they are opposites. But, Yi Bing doesn't give a care.

For example, Yi Bing already knows from Shen Sheng that he and Huo Ling were entangled in their former lives, way before Huo Ling's first cycle of reincarnation. So, Yi Bing's emotions towards Huo Ling should be due to that.

But, Yi Bing knows himself very well. As a grim reaper who had lived for, maybe, more than a thousand years, he who has seen many kinds of emotions before him as he ferried souls to their reincarnation, he didn't feel anything. Not only because it was a rule of the Afterlife Department mandated by the Heaven… he doesn't give a d*mn about the Heaven actually. Their superior, Shen Sheng, doesn't even give a d*mn about Heaven, too.

The reason why Yi Bing has started to feel emotion now is because of Huo Ling. Huo Ling, in his eyes, is entirely different from the ones he has seen before. Huo Ling, like any other soul, can also feel emotions. But, unlike any other soul, he can easily detach himself from it.

Yes. 'easily', and 'detach'. Yi Bing has already noticed when Huo Ling was still a soul and is undergoing his first cycle of reincarnation. But, when Huo Ling has become a grim reaper, this fact became visible. It wasn't due to Huo Ling following the Afterlife Department's rule of no feelings attached to their assignments or anyone or anything. Yi Bing knows how much of a defiant Huo Ling is.

The reason why Yi Bing is convinced that it wasn't the Afterlife Department's rule that Huo Ling is acting as very emotionally detached is because he has seen that as long as Huo Ling finds out the cause or the reason behind one thing, Huo Ling would finally lose interest of it. It wasn't that he immediately forgets it. Huo Ling's memory is very good.

But, the reason for this is that Huo Ling hasn't yet found something that can make him be hooked, permanently. And Yi Bing wants to be the one to hook Huo Ling permanently. So, for Yi Bing, as long as he has Huo Ling with him, he can do anything, everything, even destroying this world.

…

Stable World, Middle Heaven.

"Hm? 'emotionally unstable'?" Shen Sheng muttered after he heard Sha Jiu's report. Sha Jiu came with Gu Shi.

Gu Shi coldly sweated as he rigidly stood beside Sha Jiu. He was really very frightened when he heard Sha Jiu told him this. Coupled with Sha Jiu's panicking expression and voice, Gu Shi was almost scared out of his wits and lose his composure there earlier then go to Special World 600 where Huo Ling and Yi Bing, the culprits who are emotionally unstable, to confront them of what sh*t are they doing again.

Fortunately, Di San was there to pull back Gu Shi from acting on impulse. Then, Gu Shi brought Sha Jiu to the Middle Heaven, again. This is the nth time, and it was due to Yi Bing that Sha Jiu went here in the Middle Heaven again. No wonder why Sha Jiu hates Yi Bing, aside from that misunderstanding between them two related to Hai Ba in the past.

Yi Bing really makes one itch to beat him up. This is a fact. Unfortunately, no one was able to beat him up. This is, also, a fact. So, this made Yi Bing be looked up to by the grim reapers as the strongest and unbeatable grim reaper. Unfortunately, no one knows that Yi Bing has been beaten up before by Jiang Ce, and Di San, Feng Er, Liu Lin and Si Shui, either intentional or not, seems to have forgotten it. Also, Jiang Ce isn't from the Stable World, nor is he a grim reaper.

So, Yi Bing as the strongest and unbeatable grim reaper is still known by all and has never changed.