Afterlife Department

Chapter 316 – Murder

Yang Jie's face paled. It's not as if he hasn't seen anything horrifying before. But, the ones he has seen before are all physical entities and can be explained by science. And the one right now before him is the total opposite – they aren't physical entities, and definitely supernatural! 

He looked at their bodies. Now that he got a clearer sight of them, he finally noticed that their figures looked transparent. Huo Ling, Zhou Cheng, Peng Qian and Han Meng. There are only four of them. Rourou and Lian Xiang aren't present. He remembered that only Huo Ling, Zhou Cheng, Peng Qian and Han Meng were the first to enter the mausoleum. And, what happened is that they accidentally killed Huo Ling. 

Wait! Yang Jie thought when he realized something, and it is very horrifying as he looked at Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian's transparent figures. Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian… they are ghosts?! They were together with ghosts before?! If Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian are ghosts, how did they die?! And, are Lian Xiang and Rourou also ghosts?! They were talking and walking with ghosts all this time?! 

"Follow them.." Huo Huainan suddenly spoke when Zhou Cheng, Peng Qian and Han Meng ran out of the room in panic after they saw Huo Ling's head bled. 

Yang Jie looked at him. Huo Zichu and Zhang Jun nodded. Huo Huainan left, followed by Huo Zichu. Zhang Jun saw Yang Jie's dumbfounded expression and he grabbed his arm and pulled him to follow Huo Huainan and Huo Zichu. 

When they went out and made a series of turns, Yang Jie's face paled even more when he saw that the hallway where the statues of the Naya tribe stood before is now empty. The statues of the Naya tribe disappeared! He watched as Zhou Cheng, Peng Qian and Han Meng ran unimpeded to the direction of the entrance of the mausoleum. 

Huo Huainan, Huo Zichu, Zhang Jun and Yang Jie who was being pulled by Zhang Jun ran after them. When they reached the entrance of the mausoleum, they saw that the possessed Han Meng is gone. They watched as the ghosts of Zhou Cheng, Peng Qian and Han Meng entered the cars. 

"They – " Yang Jie finally managed to speak. 

"This is an illusion." Huo Zichu spoke. 

"'illusion'?" Yang Jie asked. 

"When illusion was mentioned, the first thing the people would think is that it is fake. But, it is the opposite." Huo Zichu said. "It's an illusion, because it happened real." She said. 

"So, you mean – " Yang Jie was stunned. 

Huo Zichu nodded. "Yes. They are all dead." She answered. 

Yang Jie felt his head exploded. He turned and watched Han Meng isn't the van was cowering in a corner. Lian Xiang and Rourou are already asleep and didn't notice her strange behavior. Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian entered another car and there was a deafening silence between them. After a while, they wordlessly went to sleep. Philip and Andy didn't notice that an accidental murder occurred while they were asleep. 

"How?" Yang Jie asked. He didn't mention Huo Ling, since they have already seen how Huo Ling died. 

"Wait." Huo Huainan answered. 

Yang Jie nodded. He then heard Zhang Jun spoke. "How did you know they are dead?" he asked. 

"We've arrived earlier than you two." Huo Zichu answered. 

Zhang Jun didn't ask anymore. Yang Jie also remained silent. Then, they watched as the night immediately turned into day in just a few seconds. Han Meng woke with a start and was shivering in fright. Lian Xiang and Rourou finally woke up and noticed Han Meng's strangeness. 

"Meng-jie… Meng-jie, what happened?" Lian Xiang asked, filled with worry. She is the youngest in the group. 

Han Meng turned to her and her face paled even more. Lian Xiang was even more puzzled and then Rourou suddenly spoke. "Where's Huo Ling?" she asked when she didn't see Huo Ling outside, or inside the other cars. 

Something snapped. Han Meng's tears fell like a dam. Lian Xiang and Rourou were startled, but before they could speak, Han Meng spoke. "He's dead." She said. 

"What?!" the two women were shocked. 

"Meng-jie, don't kid us…" Lian Xiang said as her face paled. "Don't joke around like that…" she added. 

Han Meng shook her head. "No… he's dead… he really died!" she said as she grabbed Lian Xiang's hands tight. 

Lian Xiang cried and winced in pain. "M – Meng-jie… it hurts… let go of me – " she said and tried to pull her hands but Han Meng's grip is very tight. 

"How… how did Huo Ling die? Why didn't you tell us?" Rourou asked. "Where is he?!" 

"Inside… he's still inside…" Han Meng answered as if she's in a daze. "We… we killed him… but! It was an accident! It was an accident! We didn't mean to kill him!" she said. "He – he… he fell, and… his head… bled…" she explained. 

Lian Xiang's jaw dropped and Rourou was stunned. "Y – y… you…" they said. 

"It wasn't me!" Han Meng screamed. "It wasn't me!" she said. 

Lian Xiang's face is pale from fright and she suddenly pushed Han Meng. Han Meng, caught off-guard, fell back on her seat. Lian Xiang immediately ran to the door, but before she could open it, Han Meng grabbed her back and grabbed her neck with her both hands. 

"Where do you think you're going?!" Han Meng asked, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Lian Xiang. 

Rourou was stunned by the events and she held her breath, afraid of making noise. She watched, horrified, as Lian Xiang slowly died in Han Meng's hands. Han Meng, feeling the weakening pulse in Lian Xiang's neck, woke from her daze. But, it was too late. Lian Xiang's body has already turned cold. 

Han Meng looked at Rourou and Rourou immediately cowered on her seat. Han Meng bitterly smiled before she hit her head on the car. Her body powerlessly fell on the floor of the car. Rourou screamed. The others also finally noticed the commotion and they went to the van, only to find Lian Xiang and Han Meng's corpse, while Rourou was shaking in fright on her seat. 

While everyone was stunned, Philip noticed something. "Where's Huo Ling?" he asked when he noticed they are one person short. 

It was as if Rourou woke up from her shock and immediately told everyone what just happened, and what Han Meng told her and Lian Xiang. Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian's faces turned green. Meanwhile, Philip paled and he ran inside the mausoleum before any of them could react. 

Gloom surrounded them. Andy was frightened by seeing two corpses, and he is more frightened of Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian. Instinctively, he retreated to his car. He opened his car, but Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian heard him and they ran after him. Rourou couldn't take it anymore, and using the chaos, she sneaked inside the mausoleum to find Philip. Meanwhile, Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian killed Andy. By the time they noticed Rourou, she already disappeared. They didn't dare go inside the mausoleum again because Huo Ling is there. Instead, they agreed to not tell anyone of what happened and took their car to leave. But, who knows they were cursed, but they haven't even left the vicinity when a sandstorm appeared and swallowed their car, with them inside. When the sandstorm passed, their car was left. Zheng Qian and Peng Qian died inside because of head concussion, like what happened to Huo Ling. 

Yang Jie was stunned as he looked at Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian inside their car. If he remembered right, the ones who accidentally killed Huo Ling are Zhou Cheng, Peng Qian and Han Meng. Huo Ling died with head concussion. Han Meng killed herself by hitting her head. Zhou Cheng and Peng Qian also died after their head hit their car… they died the same way as Huo Ling did. 

Yang Jie felt the hairs on his skin stood on their end. "Let's go find Rourou and Philip." He heard Zhang Jun said and walked back inside the mausoleum. 

Huo Huainan and Huo Zichu nodded as they looked at the corpses inside the cars. This is what they have seen when they arrived – Lian Xiang's and Han Meng's corpses inside the van. Andy's corpse in his car, and Zhou Cheng's and Peng Qian's corpses in the car that was swallowed by the sandstorm. 

Yang Jie felt his heart became cold when he looked back and saw the satisfied expression on Huo Huainan's and Huo Zichu's faces as they unfeelingly looked at the corpses of Huo Ling's colleagues. Huo Ling's murderers died, but two people were implicated. The remaining two's status are still unknown. 

He immediately looked away and followed behind his senior. "Senior…" he called. 

"We only have to do our job." Zhang Jun said. "Take the corpses of these people back to their families. That's it." He said. 

"How about the cause of their death?" Yang Jie asked. 

"What about it? Didn't they kill each other? This is the truth."