Afterlife Department

"Jin Wu?!" Huo Ling exclaimed when he saw that Jin Wu was lying on a chair and is clutching his abdomen. "What… what happened?!" he asked, startled. Then, suddenly, he remembered something. "Mo Shi!" he called and crawled to the other side of the bed to get to Mo Shi. "Mo Shi, wake up! Something has happened! And to your superior!" he shouted to Mo Shi who is still lying on the floor, sound asleep.

It was as if Mo Shi wasn't a son of a wealthy family since he can sleep on the cold and hard floor. But, this isn't what is important right now.

"Hmm? What?" Mo Shi asked as he opened his eyes and turned.

"Pig." Jin Wu spat as he glared at Mo Shi from the darkness.

All the sleepiness of Mo Shi suddenly disappeared when he saw a pair of golden eyes staring coldly at him from the darkness. Coupled with Jin Wu's voice, Mo Shi's fear was doubled. "Jin Wu?!" he exclaimed and sat up on the floor, shocked. "What are you doing here?!" he asked.

Huo Ling also shuddered in fear when he saw that pair of golden eyes. He immediately looked away and turned back to Yi Bing. "Yi Bing. Did something happen to the Afterlife Department?" he asked. "You got into a fight?" he added as he looked at the paler color of Yi Bing's face.

"He did get into a fight." Jin Wu answered. "But, who could hurt him in the Lower Heaven, especially in the Afterlife Department?" he asked.

Huo Ling's brows knitted, seeming to sense what Jin Wu is implying. Meanwhile, Mo Shi's face is blank since he can't understand a thing of what they are talking about.

If Yi Bing wasn't hurt in the Heaven, then… it could only be in the mortal world. Huo Ling thought. But… "Who could hurt him in the mortal world?" he asked as he glanced at Yi Bing before he turned to look at Jin Wu. He knows, judging from Yi Bing's expression, he doesn't want to answer his questions, nor he even has the mood to say anything.

Yi Bing has been quiet since he appeared, which made Huo Ling feel weird. This is an unusual Yi Bing. He thought, noting down on his notes to not talk to Yi Bing if Yi Bing becomes like this again.

As expected, Huo Ling is right to ask Jin Wu, since the other answered. "We were so unlucky." Jin Wu frowned as he took a deep breath, trying to ease the pain he feels. "We got the jackpot. We met the strongest Deserter." He said and wryly smiled.

Yi Bing didn't say anything.

"Deserter'?!" Mo Shi and Huo Ling exclaimed, shocked.

"You mean… that Deserter?!" Mo Shi looked at Jin Wu.

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Jin Wu stared at him. "… have I told you before who are they for you to have me guess right now which Deserter are you talking about, which you try to sound me out?" he asked with a deadpan expression on his face as he looked at Mo Shi.

Yi Bing. "…" ignore… ignore these two stupid fools while continue to act cool in front of Huo Ling. he thought. He can't appear weak in front of Huo Ling, but it wouldn't hurt to look a little weak to gain sympathy from Huo Ling.

Huo Ling. "…" Mo Shi ah… he thought and an invisible hand of his touched his forehead, feeling helpless.

"… no." Mo Shi answered as his lip twitched in annoyance. He forgot that Jin Wu is boring unlike Huo Ling who would sometimes cooperate with him in his craziness.

Huo Ling who can guess Mo Shi's thoughts. "…" don't lump me in with you. He thought and rolled his eyes.

Yi Bing who are secretly watching the two. "…" I worried for nothing. They are treating this as a vacation since they are currently in their origin world! He thought with a dark face.

Huo Ling. "…" of course not! How dare you accuse me! He thought and frowned as he ignored Yi Bing.

Jin Wu. "…" why the hell are you flirting in front of me?! He thought as his face darkened. He turned to look at Mo Shi.

Mo Shi. "…" what the hell! Why is it me again?! He thought, feeling wronged.

"Alright! Enough of this!" Huo Ling spoke as he raised his hand. "So, you two… why are you here?" he asked as he looked at Yi Bing and Jin Wu. He is referring to them descending in the mortal world.

Grim reapers, especially high-ranking ones like Yi Bing and Jin Wu, don't descend on the mortal world unless they have something important to do, especially that this is their world and is even a Stable World. If something goes wrong because of these high-ranking grim reapers caused by their frightening aura…

Anyway, this is one of the reasons why Huo Ling is going solo in his task and wasn't accompanied by Yi Bing. The other reason is to temper Huo Ling to accomplish his task alone.

Mo Shi nodded to Huo Ling. His expression is puzzled. He doesn't understand what are Deserters and why are Jin Wu and Yi Bing are here. Meanwhile, Huo Ling heaved a sigh since Yi Bing has already told him about the Deserters.

He turned to look at Mo Shi. "The Deserters are fugitive grim reapers." He told him before he paused. "So far, not all of them were caught yet, which gives the Disciplinary Committee a big headache." He added and looked at Mo Shi before he turned to Jin Wu.

Mo Shi's eyes widened in shock. He didn't expect to hear this. Although he has already heard about fugitives in the mortal world, grim reapers are beyond human logic after all. He was already stunned when he met them after he died. And now, he found out that there were also fugitive grim reapers?!

And… he looked at Jin Wu. Catching grim reapers is actually the Disciplinary Committee's job. But, Jin Wu didn't tell Mo Shi about this. He never even mentioned about the Deserters. Why?

"You… said that you met the jackpot… that you met the strongest Deserter? Huo Ling turned to Yi Bing when he recalled what Jin Wu said before.

Yi Bing nodded as an answer. "En. He is almost a thousand years old, and was the first Deserter." He explained. "We were caught off-guard. We didn't expect to meet him immediately." He said with a sigh.

Jin Wu snorted. He is still angry, both due to the Deserter's appearance and also of shame since he was defeated.

Huo Ling and Mo Shi fell silent. Not to mention how strong the ability of that Deserter have, he is actually very old! Just like in xianxia, the longer you cultivate, the stronger you will be. This is the same with the grim reapers. The older they 'live', the stronger they are due to the energy they have accumulated over the years that they have lived.

So, it wasn't surprising that Jin Wu's expression is very ugly while Yi Bing was injured. A fugitive should hide, especially if the crime they committed is big. So, who would expect for Yi Bing and Jin Wu to meet this Deserter?

"Did you see his face?" Huo Ling asked in concern.

If Jin Wu was defeated like this, and even Yi Bing was injured, then this Deserter is really terrifying. What Yi Bing said that his Deserter is strong is not a joke. Instead, it is to be reckoned with since Yi Bing can give him an evaluation like this.

Yi Bing shook his head. "We didn't. He disguised himself deeply. We don't know what identity he have right now." He answered.

Huo Ling's expression turned serious. This is troublesome, then. He and Mo Shi won't know whether they will meet this Deserter and they will be exposed. Or that, they might have already met him. Worse, the Deserter might attack them and they won't know it since they didn't raise their guard due to them not knowing who is he.

Yi Bing saw Huo Ling's grave expression and his expression relaxed. "Don't worry." He said.

Huo Ling looked at him.

"Even if he is a Deserter, he is still a grim reaper, so we would sense our fellow grim reapers." Yi Bing explained, then paused. "We really thought that he was just an ordinary grim reaper after he suppressed his aura so we won't know that it is him." he frowned.

Jin Wu grunted in frustration as he leaned his back on his chair.

"Then… Mo Shi and I will also be able to sense him?" Huo Ling asked as he looked at Mo Shi.

"Should be, since his aura is very strong." Yi Bing answered. "But, if he deliberately suppresses his aura like he did when he sensed Jin Wu and I after we descended, then, it would be impossible for you two to know who he is.." He told him.