Afterlife Department

Chapter 592 - Spell

Everyone felt their blood has gone cold when they heard what Hu Tisong said. "He… has a brother… and is actually his twin…?" they said.

"En." Hu Tisong nodded. "He is my real master, Zhao Liwei." He said. "I only remembered later that my master once told me that he had a brother… his brother actually killed their parents. That he once wanted to go and visit his parents and his brother, but his master told him that he can't involve his family and pull them to jianghu." He clenched his fists. "My master only realized after his master passed away, leaving him a letter. His master forbidden him to return because his master has already heard of his parents' death, and by the hands of his brother." He closed his eyes. "My master was enraged, but he can't lift a hand against his brother who is his only family left, thus he decided to forget that he exists." He explained.

They were all stunned. Such a family drama! They thought.

"But, who would expect for this brother he decided to forget to actually knock on his door and kill him?" Hu Tisong bitterly smiled. "To occupy the magpie's nest?" he added.

They all fell silent. They don't know what to say.

Hu Tisong heaved a heavy sigh. "He then acted as my master and one day, decided to invite the Zhuo patriarch." He continued. "The Zhuo family never had involved themselves in the matters of jianghu since the Zhuo patriarch, a former thief, is afraid of exposing himself. So, he doesn't know my master and was surprised to see Zhao Wei. Their former feelings rekindled and they, uhm…" his voice paused. A suspicious blush appeared on his cheeks.

They all didn't speak, since they can already guess.

Hu Tisong coughed. "While they are, uhm… ehem. The Zhuo patriarch didn't know that his own family was actually being killed by Zhao Wei's people." He continued. "Then, Zhao Wei personally killed the Zhuo patriarch. He, uh… his grave was beside my master's grave." He told them.

Everyone. "…" they don't need to know this! They thought.

Hu Tisong loudly coughed due to awkwardness. "A – anyway, Zhao Wei was shocked to not find the sword." He said. "He then heard the news of Zhuo Xia being alive and he sent his people to look for Zhuo Xia, thinking that Zhuo Xia might know where the sword is. He became obsessed with the sword, not only because he treated it as a token of both l – love… ehem, and betrayal of the Zhuo patriarch, but he also has heard that the sword is powerful." He explained.

Silence fell and they all looked at Luo Zhilai. Only Luo Zhilai knows how powerful this sword is.

"Then, six months later, his people found Zhuo Xia in the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain." Hu Tisong continued. "But, Zhuo Xia is as clueless as an infant of his family's dark past. Zhuo Xia, upon hearing what his father did, committed suicide." He sighed in pity. "But, I didn't know that due to my actions, the sword would return to his hands." He looked at Luo Zhilai and his eyes were filled with guilt.

Luo Zhilai remained silent. If Hu Tisong didn't fight against the Beggar Gang, maybe the sword would still be kept by the Beggar Gang.

"We are at fault for that, too." Huo Ling sighed.

Hu Tisong sighed in defeat seeing that Luo Zhilai's expression didn't change. "So, I decided to steal the sword from him before he woke up." he continued. "I know that he can't catch me because he is inept in martial arts. But, I didn't expect for a Green River Sect disciple to appear and poison me!" he said. "He actually has built his own army with the Green River Sect and the Swallow Tailed Assassins!" he felt furious.

They all sighed in dismay when they heard this. The poisons are already fearsome. Now, there are also the assassins!

"So, this Zhuo patriarch might have been hurt so much by Zhao Wei and he threw the sword in that unnamed pass." Huo Ling spoke. "Then, the sword was picked by a merchant and later was sold to different hands." He explained.

They all nodded in agreement, thinking the same thing.

"But, I am just puzzled of two things." Huo Ling looked at Hu Tisong. "The Beggar Gang clearly has the sword and definitely must have recognized it. So, why did they not seize this opportunity to seize the martial alliance?" he asked.

Hu Tisong shook his head. "I don't know." He answered. "Who knows what they are thinking?" he frowned.

Huo Ling nodded in understanding. "Why did the Green River Sect and Swallow Tailed Assassins ally themselves to a person inept in martial arts?" he asked.

They all started. They haven't thought of this!

"That's right… the Green River Sect, especially the Swallow Tailed Assassins, are very strong." Lu Xiu spoke. "I don't see any reason why would they let themselves be used by this person." He said.

"Let me investigate that." The boatman spoke.

"En." Lu Zhilai nodded. The boatman then left.

A long silence fell as they pondered over the matters, and also are thinking of what to do next.

"The Martial Conference next week…" Hu Tisong spoke as he looked at Luo Zhilai.

Luo Zhilai cut him off. "I know. I won't be acting rashly." He said. "I already have the sword in my hands now. I can clear the name of my father and our sect at any time." he told him.

Hu Tisong sighed in relief before he closed his eyes to rest. "Good, good…" he muttered and fell asleep.

Luo Zhilai's expression softened and he covered Hu Tisong's body with a quilt. He looked at Hu Tisong's face before he heaved a heavy sigh. He turned to Huo Ling and Yi Bing before handing them the sword.

Huo Ling and Yi Bing immediately understood. Huo Ling took the sword and saw that there were no talisman pasted on it as he had expected. Feeling disappointed, he turned and handed the sword to Yi Bing for him to inspect it. He only recently learned about spells thus he gave the sword to Yi Bing for him to check if there were any spell casted upon the sword, and for him to break it.

Yi Bing took the sword and raised his index finger and middle finger before he closed his eyes and recited an incantation as he slid his fingers over the sword. Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, they saw that the places that Yi Bing's fingers passed, it glowed! Until the entire sword glowed, they saw that something flashed and Yi Bing instantly withdrew his hand.

"What… what happened?!" Lu Xiu and Jiang Ci anxiously asked while Rong Huai's and Luo Zhilai's faces are serious.

Huo Ling is frowning while Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked stunned. Lu Xiu, Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Luo Zhilai took this as them being shocked of Yi Bing's supernatural power. But, they didn't know that the four of them actually are stunned because their bodies felt a familiar power coming from the sword!

Yi Bing, Huo Ling, Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked at each other with their gazes speaking. Isn't this Shen Sheng's power?! They thought as they looked at the glowing sword with a serious expression their faces. Then, they felt their Death Notes vibrating inside their clothes, as if resonating with the sword.

This confirms that the souls of Zhuo Xia, Wu Tong, Yu Qiao, Zhang Yi and Ping Kun are inside the sword and are trapped!

"This sword, since it protects, we suspected that the first soul trapped actually wasn't trapped in the sword but possessed the sword." Huo Ling spoke.

They all looked at him.

"The soul must have used a spell to possess the sword so could protect the sword's owner." Huo Ling continued. "But, something unexpected happened and more souls were trapped inside the sword that originally should have been used to protect." He said, before he paused. "Well, there are always two sides for everything. If the sword can be used to protect, it can also be used to kill others." he shrugged.

They all fell silent.

"So, this soul became this demonic." Huo Ling said. "But, it isn't entirely demonic since it still remember its original objective, which is to protect. Thus, this soul also can be a sort of amulet." He looked at Luo Zhilai.

Luo Zhilai nodded in agreement.

"Then, how to unlock this spell to release the souls?" Rong Huai asked.

Huo Ling looked at him. "Remember that the sword was passed on to different hands until it reached the hands of Zhao Wei?" he asked. "They continuously sold the sword because it became useless." He said.

"… 'useless'?" they asked.

"En. It can't be used to trap other souls anymore, not to protect the one who holds it." Huo Ling answered. "In short, it sealed itself.." He told them.