Afterlife Department

Chapter 540 - Not Necessarily

"Huo Ling." Yi Bing called.

Huo Ling's back stiffened.

"Don't think that you have seen through me you can also use my trick." Yi Bing grinned as he looked at Huo Ling whose face darkened and glared at him.

Because he was too engrossed in listening to Huo Ling's act, he didn't pay attention in other things that Bai Liu spoke, especially Li Yan's, Li Li's and Shi Nana's words, these strangers. How can they compare to Huo Ling?

But, who would have thought that clues actually lie in their words?

"What does this mean? There are actually two ghosts?!" Bai Wu exclaimed. His brain faintly discerned something.

"I think so." Huo Ling answered. "Or else, why would Shi Nana say those words?" he asked. "Also, Li Yan's and Li Li's panic also wasn't faked. They are really scared. So, not only in the company, but they are also being haunted in their homes." He explained.

"I see. So that's how it is…" Jiu Ye muttered. "There are actually two ghosts." He said.

"But, if the one in the company that is haunting them is You Ri's resentment… then, what is the one that is haunting them in their homes?" Bai Liu asked before he suddenly froze. "It can't be…" his mouth fell opened in shock.

"Yes. it must be You Ri's soul herself." Huo Ling answered.

They were all stunned.

"Not only did her soul and attachment separate, but also haunted the same people in different places?" Wu Yi spoke. "And they can't discern that it is actually two ghosts and not only one because both have the same faces." He said.

Jiu Ye nodded. "And they also have exorcised the ghost in the company to make it look like that the company is the one being haunted because Hao Ming failed to protect his employees." He said. "They are ashamed to admit that they have sinned to the ghost thus it is haunting them." He told them.

"That's right." Bai Wu nodded in agreement. "They are really despicable!" he said.

"Yes." They all agreed.

"So, what do we do now?" Bai Liu asked. "There are two ghosts… one is a soul and the other is her resentment separated… so, we – " he spoke. " – split up?" he said.

Huo Ling nodded. "Let's do it." He answered.

"There are the company, Li Yan's, Li Li's and Shi Nana's houses." Wu Yi spoke. "Four places. Which one should we choose?" he asked.

"Not necessarily four." Yi Bing spoke. "Hao Baiyun said that Li Yan and Li Li are stepsiblings and her mother is the mistress, using Li Yan's father's surname." He said.

"So, they must be living in the same house, too…" Bai Liu said. "Same house, same surname, same company and same department…" he muttered.

"If this is a BG novel then the story should be about their them two as the male and female leads." Bai Wu spoke.

"That shouldn't be it… we still don't know if they are blood-related." Jiu Ye told him.

Bai Wu just shrugged. "They also got in the same car earlier." He added.

Huo Ling nodded. "Disregarding whether they are blood-related or not, if they live in the same house, then we'll have one less place to observe and see where will You Ri will appear." He said.

"That leaves the company, Li residence and Shi Nana's house." Wu Yi spoke. "I'll take Bai Wu with me and go to the Li residence." He said.

"Then, Jiu Ye and I will go to Shi Nana's house." Bai Liu decided.

"We'll go to the Haoming Company then to observe You Ri's resentment." Huo Ling agreed.

"What about Lin Weng, though? Doesn't he have You Ri's soul?" Jiu Ye asked.

"From what we found out today, You Ri's soul and her resentment shouldn't be with Lin Weng." Huo Ling calmly analyzed. "But, we also can't get rid of the possibility that Lin Weng is controlling You Ri, turning her into a resentful ghost because of something he did." He looked at them. "Why do you think her attachment – resentment, separated from her, which is the first in the history of the afterlife?" he asked them.

"… Lin Weng." The Inspection Department answered.

"Yes. If Lin Weng really has a hold of You Ri's soul, then it must be him who separated You Ri's resentment from her soul." Huo Ling spoke. "But, this is on the premise of Lin Weng's 'crime' that is interrupting her direct reincarnation." He said.

"What do you mean?" they asked.

"Let's say that Lin Weng really interrupted You Ri's soul from directly reincarnating… but what if it was unintentional?" Huo Ling asked. "That it was just an accident?" he added.

They all fell silent. This possibility has never crossed their minds before because of the shock they received when they found out that Lin Wen's and You Ri's cases are related. After all, any harm done to the soul is a grave sin. The Inspection Department can't afford if more bad things will happen to You Ri!

"If what Lin Weng did is an accident, then – " Bai Wu slowly spoke. " – he might not be controlling You Ri's soul now?" he said.

"Yes. So, Lin Weng must be hiding somewhere and not around You Ri." Huo Ling said.

"But, we can't ignore You Ri's resentment." Yi Bing spoke. "The fact is that You Ri's resentment exists, when it should not since she should have directly reincarnated, in which she has died in peace. So – " he looked at them. " – where did her resentment come from?" he asked them.

They all fell silent.

"Yi Bing… it can't be – " Huo Ling looked at him. " – when her direct reincarnation was interrupted, she found out about the lies surrounding her life but then her resentment separated from her as a result of the backlash of directly reincarnating?" he asked.

Their eyes widened in shock as they looked at him. They know that Huo Ling has a big brain hole but they couldn't not admit that this brain hole of his is definitely good since most of it are spot on.

"If… if this is true, then… then is this good or not?" Jiu Ye asked.

No one spoke.

After a while, Yi Bing spoke. "In fact, since You Ri's attachment has separated from her now, we might be able to send her to her reincarnation." He said.

They all looked at him.

"But, of course, since we do not have any record about attachment separation, then we wouldn't know the effect of sending her soul to reincarnation with her attachment still existing." Yi Bing continued. "So – "

"So, we can't do anything to You Ri's soul. Anything, any harm that might come to her." Huo Ling took a deep breath. "What we can do is only to her resentment. We have to resolve it. Then, with it gone, her attachment will be gone. We might be able to send her to her reincarnation after." He explained.

Yi Bing nodded, agreeing to what he said. "Right now, we only have clues about You Ri and not Lin Weng." He spoke. "So, will you continue helping us after knowing that Lin Weng might got nothing do to with You Ri after his interruption with her soul before? Or you will stop and resume looking for Lin Weng yourselves, like when we arrived here?" he asked them.

"What are you saying? We aren't irresponsible!" Bai Liu frowned. "We will definitely continue with helping you resolving You Ri's case, since this all happened because of Lin Weng's mistake, disregarding if he had nothing to do with You Ri after that mistake." He explained.

"Good." Yi Bing nodded, feeling satisfied with his answer.

Huo Ling secretly sighed in relief. In fact, he is worried that Bai Liu and the others might back out. Not because he won't have a helper, but because he doesn't overestimate his abilities. He is just one person… ehem, grim reaper, after all.

"Then, we'll go with our plan: I and Yi Bing will go to Haoming Company to observe You Ri's resentment." He spoke. "Chief Bai and Jiu Ye will go to Shi Nana's house and vice-chief Wu and Bai Wu will go to the Li residence for the lookout of You Ri's soul." He said.

"Yes." they all nodded, confirming that they understood and accepted the arrangement.

"If you have found You Ri's soul, either Yi Bing or I will go over to you and stare at You Ri's soul to observe her and her soul's condition." Huo Ling continued. "Since it is her soul, her condition must appear in the Death Note…" his voice trailed off and he frowned when he remembered something. "No… it isn't necessarily true." He looked at Yi Bing. "Even if You Ri's resentment can't be seen in the Death Note because it is just her resentment and isn't her soul, naturally it shouldn't appear in the Death Note." He spoke. "But, You Ri's soul should appear – its condition and her location… but until now it still hasn't appeared in the Death Note. So, even if You Ri's soul would appear before us, her location and condition shouldn't necessarily appear in the Death Note.." He explained.