Afterlife Department

Chapter 151 – Altered

Hao Baiyun and Fei Xuli fell silent. They looked at each other. Their gaze talking. What Jing Yu meant, the doctor they met in the foreign land, clearly confirms their suspicion that the timid doctor they met years ago is different from the doctor that called them to claim Huo Ling's corpse.

"Why only remember now…" Hao Baiyun asked as he looked at Jing Yu. It's strange for Jing Yu to tell them this late.

Jing Yu shook his head and his forehead furrowed. "I don't know." He answered. "I only remembered just now…" he explained.

Fei Xuli smiled as he coaxed Jing Yu who started to become irritated. They had been together for a long time and Jing Yu is honest.. That's why he was tricked and was sold to the Walter family. There is no reason for Jing Yu to lie to Hao Baiyun, more especially to Fei Xuli who had been with him longer and helped him save his life before by feeding him while they were on the Walter family's hands.

Of course, Hao Baiyun knows Jing Yu is ineloquent and is sincere. He believes in him. "Could it be – " he said. " – that doctor can alter our memories?" he asked.

Fei Xuli's eyes widened. "That's right…" he said. "Didn't young master say before, you only realized that doctor's change not long ago?" he asked.

Hao Baiyun frowned. "It seems like even I was affected…" his brow twitched.

"Young master…" Fei Xuli called.

"I know." Hao Baiyun sighed. "To even mess with my memories… it seems he's more powerful than I – the strongest of the fox clan… no. There's still xiao Ling." He said as he looked at Huo Ling. "If xiao Ling is alive, he will be the most powerful. Yet, he can't. He can't live again…" he sighed in regret.

"Young master." Fei Xuli called and patted his back. "He is a double-edged sword. He can protect us, but also can harm us. And depending on who has him and use him… either it can be salvation, or destruction." He said.

"I know… I know." Hao Baiyun said, his expression helpless. He held Huo Ling's cold hand. Without the soul, the corpse will forever remain cold. "I want to speak with that ice-user yao again." He said. His voice determined.

"What do you want to talk to?" a voice asked.

Their eyes widened and they sharply turned. They saw Yi Bing standing on the other side of the bed of Huo Ling. When did he get here?! How did he get in?! They thought as they raised their guard and vigilantly stared at Yi Bing. "You – " they said.

Yi Bing ignored them and instead, he stared at Huo Ling's corpse. His eyes became clouded as eh remembered each and every world they meet.

In the first world they met, Huo Ling is still alive. In the second world they met, Huo Ling already became a cold corpse. In the third world they met, Huo Ling had just died. Now, in this fourth world, Huo Ling was alive, but not long after and he died.

He helplessly smiled. He wanted to touch him, yet he didn't want to transgress. He's still under the three people's gaze, and one of them is Huo Ling's blood relative. He held back the impulse to touch and he kept his claws from eating Huo Ling's tofu. "What do you want to ask?" he asked them and moved his gaze to them.

Hao Baiyun, seeing that Yi Bing won't attack, finally relaxed his nerves. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. The doctor is now their common enemy, so there's no need to burn bridges with Yi Bing after seeing Huo Ling's soul is with Yi Bing. Although the man feels dangerous, but it seems the man's hostility is directed elsewhere – the doctor. "Who are you? Why do you know so much?" he asked.

"How do you know the doctor? Why did you say he is dangerous?" Fei Xuli added.

"The scent… it's your scent that cool scent." Jing Yu said and looked at Huo Ling. "The cool scent has been with him for so long…" he said.

"What?" Hao Baiyun said. "You mean to say – " he looked at Yi Bing.

"I don't like disclosing my affair with Huo Ling." Yi Bing said.

Hao Baiyun. "…" do you think I won't beat you if I had misunderstood your words with something else? "Please answer our questions." He said as he met Yi Bing's gaze.

"You only need to know I am an ally, and the doctor is your enemy." Yi Bing said. "Even I can't feel his presence… I only met him when Huo Ling's power in his soul awakened." He explained. "What is the fox clan's inheritance? That has something to do with you foxes' resurrection, right?" he said. "That doctor told me to bring Huo Ling to China, return him to your family for him to receive the fox clan's inheritance." He told them.

Hao Baiyun's pupils shrank while Fei Xuli's jaw dropped. Jing Yu's expression changed, but only slightly. "He… said that?" Hao Baiyun said, his face paling in shock and horror.

"Or else? I already told you before, have you told him about your fox clan's secret?" Yi Bing asked.

"No!" Hao Baiyun said. "How can I disclose that thing?" he said before his gaze fell on Huo Ling. "So that's why… that's why…" he said.

"What? What do you mean?" Yi Bing asked.

Fei Xuli's expression also turned ugly. "The Hao family had never known of his existence, and they can't even find eldest miss Ning." He said. "We only had learned of his existence, only to learn he is dead. The first meeting, death separated them." He looked at Huo Ling before he turned to Hao Baiyun whose expression is filled with regret. "The fox clan's inheritance is the knowledge of their resurrection." He looked at Yi Bing whose expression looked he had expected this. "The phoenix clan's method of resurrection is widely known. However, only a few knew that the fox clan can also resurrect." He said and sighed.

"Let me guess." Yi Bing cut him off. "Both the soul and the body should be present, then the tails will be used to resurrect." He said.

Hao Baiyun was shocked. "How do you know?!" he asked.

"I deduced the moment I heard your answers earlier." Yi Bing said. "Your memories were altered by the doctor, and you were fooled to bring Huo Ling's corpse back here." He said. "Then, I was told to also bring Huo Ling's soul here." He sneered.

"So, the doctor's objective… it's to resurrect him?" Fei Xuli asked as he looked at Huo Ling's corpse.

"What else could it be if not this?" Yi Bing frowned.

"However, he already has the corpse. He can also look for the soul." Fei Xuli said. "Why don't he resurrect him by himself?" he asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Yi Bing said.

"He doesn't have the method of resurrection." Hao Baiyun said as he recovered his shock. "Thus, he can only have us send xiao Ling back here, and xiao Ling's soul." He said. "Also – " he looked at Huo Ling. " – even if xiao Ling has grown in a foreign land, but xiao Ling's root – his fox blood is here." He explained. "Why am I stupid? I'm so stupid… I only brought harm to xiao Ling – " he said.

Yi Bing frowned. He didn't expect for Hao Baiyun to have a weaker mentality. "Huo Ling can't resurrect, that's the fact. We have to burn his soul." He told them and glanced at Huo Ling's corpse. Then, he froze when he realized something. "Why didn't you burn his corpse?" he asked as he turned to them.

"That…" they said before they paused. Then, they raised their head and looked at Yi Bing in astonishment. "We don't know…" they answered, as if in a daze.

Yi Bing's lips thinned. His patience is running out. "Find a fire – " he said when he suddenly felt a chill ran down his spine. He immediately looked out of the small window in the underground basement of Hao Baiyun's villa.

"What is it?" Hao Baiyun asked before they followed Yi Bing's gaze.

… fuck. Yi Bing cursed in his mind. That 'thing', which is the doctor, is coming this way. "We have to hurry." He said.

"How do we burn the corpse?" Fei Xuli asked.

Yi Bing paused. Then, as if he thought of something, the corner of his lips pulled down. Suddenly, they saw him disappeared. Then, the next second, he reappeared. However, Huo Ling is with him. "Burn it." He told Huo Ling while ignoring the dumbfounded look on Hao Baiyun, Fei Xuli and Jing Yu's face.

Before Huo Ling could react, his subconscious mind which was used to Yi Bing's commands made his limbs move. He raised his hand and made a ball of fire, then placed it above his corpse. "… eh? This is… my corpse?" he said as he looked at his corpse in shock.

However, before any of them could answer, the small window was crashed. Then, another figure appeared in the underground basement.