Afterlife Department

Chapter 164 - Opponents

"Shan-er!" Lei Shan's mother cried when she entered. She was followed by a beautiful woman with dark, long hair and green eyes. She is Marie Jackson, or Huo Meiying – Huo Ling's mother. Her eyes are red. Obviously, it was from crying.

"Mom." Lei Shan called before he turned to Huo Meiying. "Aunt Marie." He called.

Huo Meiying nodded at him before she walked towards a seat in a dazed state. She almost had her knee hit the table's leg, had it not for Lei Shan's mother pulling her back. "Meiying." She called her before she helped her sit on a chair.. "Shan-er." She called again before she turned to Jiang Xinduo. "Sir. My son will never hurt xiao Ling! He's his younger brother. They grew up together! How can he harm him?!" she asked before her tears streamed down her flushed cheeks from crying. "Calling him a suspect when the victim is his younger brother… that's cruel. Too cruel…" she sobbed as she hugged Lei Shan.

Jiang Xinduo sported an awkward expression. Lei Shan apologetically smiled at him before he appeased his mother by softly patting her back. "Mom. Hush. It isn't decided yet. We have to find the one who harmed xiao Ling. Don't cry, don't cry." He told her.

"Xiao Ling is like my son… such an adorable child… why did he die?" Lei Shan's mother cried. Meanwhile, Huo Meiying's tears silently fell from her eyes with her face filled with shock.

"Mom." Huo Ling called as he tried to touch his mother's hand, but failed when his hand passed through her hand. He sighed in defeat. He can never touch his mother again nor she can hear him anymore.

"She'll be fine." Yi Bing told him.

"No." Huo Ling said. "My mother isn't good with emotions – be it hers or other people's." he said as he watched his mother who was sitting like a mute. "She doesn't know how to express her emotions, thus her mind just becomes blank. When she faces others who were emotional, her face would go blank. She's never been good at this aspect." He sighed, but there's a smile on his face as he tried to poke his mother's hand again. "But, she's kind." He said.

"Mn." Yi Bing nodded as he looked at Huo Meiying. For her to give birth to an obedient child, she must be kind. An apple doesn't fall from an orange tree, as they say. "What about your father?" he asked.

"He's… the usual father." Huo Ling said. "Strict, responsible…" he muttered.

How ordinary. Yi Bing thought. The only thing that's not ordinary are their identities. The father is an arms dealer. The mother is a royal princess. The son is a prince. Yet, they lived like an ordinary family.

With Huo Meiying and Lei Shan's mother's arrival, Gu Xingfeng didn't speak again and just left the work to Jiang Xinduo. Yi Bing noticed what Gu Xingfeng is about to say can't be spoken with the two ladies' presence.

"Don't you have parents?" Huo Ling asked as he looked at Yi Bing's face. "Before you died… before you became a grim reaper." He added in a quiet voice when he saw Yi Bing's body stiffened.

Yi Bing slowly turned to Huo Ling before he spoke in a low voice. "When one becomes a grim reaper, his memories of his past life/lives has to be erased." He said.

"Why?"

"Because a grim reaper shouldn't have any attachments." Yi Bing answered.

"'attachments'?" Huo Ling muttered as his gaze climbed up to meet Yi Bing's gaze that was also fixed on his face.

"Attachment to people, attachment to objects and life attachments." Yi Bing said. "Relationships, wealth, and life and… love." he spoke the last word in an almost inaudible voice.

However, Huo Ling was sitting close to him, thus Huo Ling heard what Yi Bing said. For some reason, when Huo Ling heard what Yi Bing said, he felt his soul had throbbed. 'love'… he thought. It's as if he had seen the light from the darkness obscuring his mind.

But - "Oh." He muttered, making his voice sound indifferent. He felt like he was poured on by an ice-cold water. Why did he feel a sense of de ja vu listening to Yi Bing speaking those words? He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear his mind.

Yi Bing, silently sitting beside Huo Ling, watched the change in Huo Ling's expression. He decided to change the topic.?"Why do you want to be an artist?" he asked.

Huo Ling opened his eyes when he heard Yi Bing speak again. "It's not that I 'want' to be one." He said.

"Hm?" what does he mean? Yi Bing waited for Huo Ling to answer.

"I…" Huo Ling said and looked at Lei Shan sitting on his chair silently while Jiang Xinduo interrogated Lei Shan's mother. "It's the only way I'll be free." He answered.

"'free'?"

Huo Ling nodded. "I can't venture into business, since my father and mom's father are there." He said. "I can't stay in the royal family, either. They – " he said and paused. He sighed as he decided not to speak ill of them. After all, they're still his family. "Being an artist can grant me freedom. I won't have restrictions there." He explained.

Yi Bing nodded. He finally understood Huo Ling. Huo Ling is a prince, and has his families as his backer. They may be supporting him, but he will not have a competitor from his family in this world he chose. Instead, they'd support him by protecting him from any harm he'd encounter in the showbiz. Being an artist is a good choice, indeed. However…

"I died." Huo Ling said. This is an irrefutable fact. "Everything has two sides. Since being an artist can grant me freedom, but it also gives me more exposure." He said. "Father is involved in the underworld, thus him having enemies is a given. Mom's father, his business, he has many competitors. And the royal family…" he said as he lowered his head. "The nobles wanted to overthrow them then replace them." he finally said. "Their opponents are just waiting for them to make a mistake and take advantage of it to pull them down their pedestal." He explained. "And I… " he took a deep breath. He was that 'mistake'.

Everywhere, there's danger. And it is known his identity, his place in these three worlds (underworld, business, royalty) that would never meet, but it did because of him. His life is an open book. Thus, he was killed.

The question is, where did his enemy come from? Was it one of his father's enemies? Was it one of his grandfather's competitors? Or, was it one of the nobles who plans to revolt? Huo Ling's world is too diverse, but each division is massive.

With Huo Ling's identity, he also has a knowledge about each side. He knows many things about his father, his grandfather, and the royal family. Thus, his families safeguard him, while their enemies should want to capture Huo Ling.

But, he was killed. If they wanted to know their opponents' secret, they could have just captured Huo Ling. Yet, he was killed. Was it a grudge, then? There are many things that can be a motive to kill Huo Ling. So, what is it? What is their motive for killing Huo Ling? If not to know the weakness of their enemy, competitor or obstacle, then was it grudge?

Or… is it to silence Huo Ling? If it is, then, could Huo Ling's murderer be… a family member? Just the thought of it made one feel a chill run down his spine and their blood go cold. Even a tiger would not devour its cub. So, why did they kill Huo Ling? Is it just to keep Huo Ling from spilling their secret? If so, killing him is not the answer. They can just talk about it with Huo Ling.

Yi Bing looked at Huo Ling's behaved appearance. Not only he is obedient, but he's also na?ve. How can Huo Ling betray his family? Now knowing Huo Ling's reason of becoming an artist, Yi Bing could tell Huo Ling is a loyal person.

He had always been loyal. He thought as he smiled and raised his hand to pat Huo Ling's head.

"Hm?" what's wrong with him? Why did he suddenly touch me? Huo Ling thought as he stared at Yi Bing with a puzzled gaze.

Yi Bing just chuckled when he saw the 'cute' look of Huo Ling. Huo Ling didn't want to dirty his hands with his father's underworld operations. He doesn't want himself to be added as one of his grandfather's competitors in business. And, he is already content with being a prince. He doesn't want the title of a king. All that he wanted is just freedom. Yet, he achieved it in his death. Was it a blessing in disguise? If it is, life is very cruel to him.