Afterlife Department

Chapter 528 – Alone

"Those people… could it be…" Huo Ling looked at Yi Bing. 

Yi Bing nodded in agreement. "They might be." he told him and motioned for him to continue listening.

"That's right." They heard Zhang Bao spoke as he nodded in agreement. "Wasn't it Song Mingfan who interrogated them yesterday?" he asked.

"I was there, too, to supervise xiao Song." Xue Liping spoke. "It was just yesterday that their 'friend' died yet their friend haunted them the next day. Hmph! Serves them right!" he frowned. "If they die, I won't be surprised!" he said. Obviously, he was angry.

"Shush, old Xue!" Zhang Bao told him. "Don't speak this way. You have a crow's mouth!" he reminded him.

"Old Zhang, you weren't there yesterday so you don't know anything." Xue Liping spoke as he turned to face Zhang Bao. "I almost beat them up yesterday had I not reminded myself that I am there for supervision. I am still wearing my uniform and badge!" he huffed in anger.

"What did happen yesterday?" Zhang Bao curiously asked. "Yesterday, I remember that your face was so red and you were fuming mad. But, xiao Song looked indifferent as usual so I thought that nothing happened and the suspects were all clean." He explained.

"Of course they were clean!" Xue Liping gnashed his teeth. "They all may have the motive to kill the victim, but they all have alibis!" he said. "They were the last ones that the victim was with and they went to a KTV without the victim. They even saw her off before they separated from her, and they were partying when the car accident happened." He explained. "From the time the victim arrived in the company to work, all of them were already in the company. Even during their breaks, the cameras have recorded them and none of them have went to the parking lot, so none of them could have rigged the victim's car, causing the accident." He finished.

"Their alibis are really perfect and even have the CCTVs as their proofs." Zhang Bao muttered. "If one of them really was the criminal, then they are really scary for them to commit such a perfect crime." He sighed.

Xue Liping nodded in agreement.

"So, You Ri's car was rigged and so she had an accident." Huo Ling muttered. "She was declared dead on the spot." He said as he read the document of You Ri's biography printed from Yi Bing's Death Note since his Death Note still can't receive Abnormal Souls such as You Ri because his position still isn't enough for his Death Note to upgrade, even if he is Yi Bing's disciple.

"If the suspect is none of You Ri's colleagues, could it be her clients?" Yi Bing asked.

Zhang Bao seemed to have the same thought since he asked Xue Liping of the question.

"Her clients? None of them appeared yesterday in the company so they couldn't have rigged the victim's car." Xue Liping answered. "Of course, we also have considered the fact that it was the victim who made an appointment with them to discuss her designs, but the victim hasn't left the office yesterday. She even ate in the company." He explained.

"Then, who could it be?" Zhang Bao was also puzzled.

"Xiao Song is also baffled with this. He also has investigated the victim's clients and none of them have the motive to kill the victim, so they are cleared from suspicion." Xue Liping spoke.

A moment of silence fell between them.

"Say…" Huo Ling muttered as he contemplated.

"What?" Yi Bing asked.

"If the criminal wants a perfect plan… then why was the method of murder discovered by the police?" Huo Ling asked.

Yi Bing fell silent. "… he made a mistake?" he asked, then shook his head. "No. He had a perfect alibi and also have proofs that he is not the murderer, so he couldn't have murdered You Ri sloppily and had the police discover that You Ri's car was rigged." He explained.

Huo Ling nodded. "So… that means – " he muttered.

" – it can't be You Ri's colleagues or clients, since they have perfect alibis." Zhang Bao spoke. "Then… what about his family?" he asked.

Xue Liping's eyes widened as if he was enlightened. "That's right… there's also the victim's family!" he said as he took out his phone to call Song Mingfan. "If the car wasn't rigged in the company, then it could only be in the victim's house! They must have done something to delay the murder…" he muttered as he waited for the line to connect.

Huo Ling appreciates these police officers. "The timeframe of the investigation is right, as well as the direction." He spoke.

"Only that the murderer deliberately made them think towards this direction." Yi Bing said.

Huo Ling nodded. "Although they will have new suspects, but the former suspects still can't be washed clean yet and needs to be reinvestigated." He said. "We also has to make our own investigation and know the motives of You Ri's colleagues. We also can't let go of her clients. We have to make our net bigger as to not let any fish slip out of our net." He explained.

"Let's go." Yi Bing spoke and they head to Gu Xingfeng's office to look for the reports.

But, just as they are about to leave again, the call was finally connected. And they froze when they heard what Song Mingfan said from the other line after.

"Xiao Song!" Xue Liping called. "I and old Zhang were talking about You Ri's case and discovered something – " he said.

Song Mingfan cut him off. "I and Xiao Xue have just left the You residence." He spoke. "We have also finished interrogating them, as well as asked them about the victim's acquaintances that might be a suspect…" he said.

"… then, what do you conclude?" Xue Liping asked.

"Yesterday, the You family wasn't home." Song Mingfan answered as he entered the car. "They are on a vacation out of the country. And – " he looked at the dark You residence across the street that he and Xiao Xue have sneaked into earlier after interrogating the neighborhood.

Yes. The 'them' that he was referring to are the neighbors of the You family.

" – the victim was not living with her family. There are no traces of her living in their house." He continued.

Xue Liping, as well as Zhang Bao who was listening in, was shocked of what they heard. Yi Bing and Huo Ling were also frozen on their spots.

"WHAT?!" Xue Liping was shocked. "The You family wasn't in the country when the accident happened?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes. The hospital called earlier and told me that her family wasn't in the country." Song Mingfan's voice from the other line was heard.

"What the hell…" Xue Liping cursed under his breath. "No friends, no family… so, she died…" he muttered with widened eyes.

"… alone." Zhang Bao's expression fell and felt pity to You Ri.

Yi Bing and Huo Ling were also stunned.

"You Ri… she…" Huo Ling muttered and felt a pang of pain in his chest when he thought of a woman lying on the hospital bed with no one around her.

"Snap out of it." Yi Bing whispered and held Huo Ling's hand.

Huo Ling sharply inhaled when he felt the coldness that wrapped his hand, but it made him sober up. "Yi Bing…" he called.

"This is why we serve the souls." Yi Bing spoke. "They may or may not have been alone in their life… but – " he looked at him. " – they are definitely alone in their death." He said.

Huo Ling fell silent and he clenched his fists just when he thought about it.

"So, the Afterlife Department exists." Yi Bing continued. "It exists not only to serve the souls by resolving their attachments and ferry them after, but also – " he stared at Huo Ling's crystalline eyes that are misty because of his unshed tears. " – we, the grim reapers, are here to accompany them in the afterlife." He said. "We, grim reapers, are undeniably also alone, so, why not two lonely beings accompany each other?" he asked when he remembered how he sent Huo Ling to his reincarnation world after world. "The Afterlife Department, I say, after living for a long, long time, exists not only for the souls, but also for the grim reapers. It is friendly to the souls, but undeniably friendly to the grim reapers, too." He told him.

Huo Ling's eyes widened and his pupils trembled. Then, a smile appeared on his lips as his tensed muscles relaxed after hearing Yi Bing's words. "Yes…" he spoke and nodded in agreement to what Yi Bing said. "The Afterlife Department… is really friendly." He said and looked at Yi Bing's ice-cold blue pupils. For I, who is a lonely person in life and a lonely soul in death, have met you in the afterlife. He thought when he remembered his life when he was still alive in the Stable World. He was alone. In fact, after some thought while he was working as a grim reaper, he thought that his death became his release from that lonely life.

Starting then, in this afterlife, I have never been alone again.