Afterlife Department

Chapter 169 - Rapport

"This street here, at the first intersection, is my grandfather's company." Huo Ling said as he led Yi Bing down the street. They passed by the office workers working in the various companies within the street, as well as some civilians.

Seeing the enthusiastic expression on Huo Ling's face, Yi Bing opened his mouth to speak. "You… are closer to your maternal family." He said.

"I grew up in China so it's reasonable for me to be closer to them." Huo Ling said. It was reasonable, indeed. However, Yi Bing saw him slightly moved his gaze away.

"… you're not close to the royal family." Yi Bing deduced from Huo Ling's words..

Earlier, when Huo Ling was talking about his father as well as the royal family, he looked like he's very formal towards his father while it was only Kale he's close to in the royal family. However, now that they were talking about his maternal grandfather, he looked like an excited child.

Huo Ling stopped on his feet. Then, he turned to Yi Bing. "Yes." he calmly answered. "Except Kale, I don't like them." he said before he resumed walking… erm, floating. He's a soul now, not a human.

Yi Bing who was left pondering Huo Ling's words had his brows raised, as well as the corner of his lips. It seems like, despite his naivety he shows, he also has his secrets to keep. Looking at Huo Ling's eyes avoiding his gaze, Huo Ling looked like he is guilty.

Does he… know something about his death? Whether he's innocent or a villain, it's too early yet to tell.

…

"Surprisingly, this Su Heng has a clean background." Xiao Xie said, chewing a beef jerky while he reads Su Heng's background profile Ke Congyi gave them earlier before they left the station. "Grew up in an ordinary neighborhood and later moved to an apartment when he worked in Tianxing Entertainment. Sending money to his parents every month. Studied in the primary school and high school near their house. Went to an ordinary university for his college." He said.

"Very ordinary." Song Mingfan nodded as he looked at the apartment building where the Tianxing Entertainment's staff stays for free.

"Yeah. The only not normal here is him working in Tianxing Entertainment." Xiao Xie said as he glanced at the floor where they saw Su Heng went earlier. They also already confirmed Su Heng's unit number from the other staff staying in the apartment building.

Basing from Su Heng's academic background, he can land a job in any company – except the Tianxing Entertainment, an entertainment company, and the most popular one at that. The entertainment world is a survival world. One misstep and you'll be swallowed by the predators around. It's not a place an ordinary person like Su Heng would go to.

"En. He's the scholarly type. He isn't fit to be an agent." Song Mingfan agreed. He saw that Su Heng has worked only for two months with Huo Ling. This coincided with the time Huo Ling was in contact with the entertainment world as an artist. "Who hired Su Heng?" he asked.

"The Tianxing Entertainment." Xiao Xie answered.

"Then, who's the CEO?" Song Mingfan asked. He was tailing Su Heng earlier while Xiao Xie went to investigate the Tianxing Entertainment.

"Oh! Now we've got a good question." Xiao Xie suddenly grinned as he threw the folder containing the information about Su Heng.

Song Mingfan's brows raised when he saw Xiao Xie smiled. Tailing a person is a boring job, and it doesn't fit the lively Xiao Xie. "What did you find?" he asked.

"The change of the management of Tianxing Ent." Xiao Xie answered. "Two months ago, the Tianxing Entertainment had undergone an internal war. This war was between the father and son Liang Jun and Liang Lin." He said.

"What's surprising about it?" Song Mingfan asked. Scheming within the wealthy families is a common thing.

"It is surprising since this Liang Lin is a transparent person. He isn't fit to be a CEO." Xiao Xie said.

"However, isn't he the only son of Liang Jun?" Song Mingfan asked.

"Yeah. However, with a mind like the businessman Liang Jun, it would be better for him to sell his company to his trusted partners than to watch his company die in his son's hands." Xiao Xie said.

"That's harsh." Song Mingfan commented. However, that is the reality.

Xiao Xie nodded in agreement. "Then, surprisingly, two months ago, Liang Jun gave up his position to his son." He said as the smile on his face disappeared and his brows knotted when he frowned.

"You think, someone interfered with the war between the father and son?" Song Mingfan asked.

Xiao Xie nodded. "Wasn't that the chief is thinking? There's a mastermind in the shadows of Tianxing Entertainment?" he said.

Song Mingfan hummed in response. "If there really is, and Su Heng knows about it, then this Su Heng is not as ordinary as he portrayed himself to be." He said as they looked at the apartment building where Su Heng is staying.

Tianxing Entertainment.

Liang Lin blew out a sigh as he pinched the space between his brows after he signed the last document on his table. He rested his elbow on the table and his gaze landed on the picture frame on the side. It was him and his father. Both stood with their back as straight as a pole, and there was a distance between them. There's not a hint of a smile in their face.

Ever since his mother died, this was the only picture he and his father had. There wasn't a graduation picture of him even that was taken his father. Not even when his birthday. After all, he is an introvert, so he doesn't have many friends. Meanwhile, his father is a silent person. Thus, there wasn't a communication between them two.

He sighed as he rested his back on his chair. Two months ago, when his father found out about his sexual orientation, he thought it was his end. However, surprisingly, his father didn't disclose it and didn't use it against him. The day after that, his father abdicated his position to him.

There was a knock on the door, pulling him from his thoughts. "Come in." he said as he sat upright.

The door opened and his bodyguard came in. "I figured you'd be tired, so I brought you tea." Ah Xu said as he placed the cup on the table.

Liang Lin stared at the tea before he hummed. "Thank you." He said.

Ah Xu nodded before he left. The moment the door closed, Liang Lin slowly touched the cup. Then, he lifted it and brought it to his lips, as if he's kissing it.

S City Business Park.

Unlike Gerard Jackson's company which Yi Bing saw earlier with his Omniscient Eye which the senior grim reapers got from Shen Sheng, the company of Huo Ling's grandfather is different. It has a warm ambience compared to the cold atmosphere of Gerard Jackson's company. Maybe it was because the company was made by domestic people unlike Gerard Jackson's company that has foreigners mostly as its workers.

He watched as Huo Ling waited for the elevator to go down. Both of them invisible to the people, they boarded the elevator when it arrived and opened together with the staff of the company. "What's wrong?" he asked when he saw Huo Ling would smile at some people and frown at the others.

Huo Ling paused before he turned to him. "I am only close to my grandfather." He said.

Yi Bing tilted his head, urging for Huo Ling to continue speaking.

"My grandmother is the late King's sister." Huo Ling said. "She only had a daughter – that is, my mother, with my grandfather and she passed away. When she died, grandfather remarried. And so, I'm not close with my aunts and uncles, as well as their children – who were my cousins." He explained.

"Was it because you are a prince, or they alienated you?" Yi Bing asked.

"You guess." Huo Ling just said. Unlike him, who has a princess mother but commoner father, the other prince – the crown prince, Kale, has the late King as his father while his mother is a noble. He's a royal blood through and through.

Yi Bing didn't speak. Most royal bloods are innately arrogant. However, Huo Ling's relationship with his maternal cousins can also be attributed to his cousins. They either are afraid of him, or that they are envious of him thus they alienated him. Huo Ling doesn't seem to care, though. Since although he's na?ve, but he's indifferent to his surroundings.

S City Police Station.

When Gu Xingfeng arrived, Jiang Xinduo immediately followed him to his office. "Chief." He called as the door closed.

"Report." Gu Xingfeng said as he sat on his swivel chair.

"I had xiao Xue follow Lei Shan while xiao Zhang investigated Gerard Jackson and Huo Dakuan's companies." Jiang Xinduo said. He's referring to Xue Liping and Zhang Bao, respectively.

"Did they find something?" Gu Xingfeng asked.

"Yes."