Afterlife Department

Chapter 571 – Acting

Huo Ling, Yi Bing, Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked for the boatman to inquire which intelligence center should they go to avoid suspicion from all sides of jianghu.

"Aiyo! Exactly what are you young sirs planning to do?!" the boatman asked in a low voice. "I tell you this now. Don't play with the fire! If you are just inquiring about the matters of jianghu just to satisfy your curiosity, then this curiosity will take you your life!" he warned them.

"Boatman, we aren't." Qian San, with a good temper, spoke in a mild tone.

"Then, what are you inquiring these things for?!" the boatman asked.

"Why are you asking us? We are the ones asking here!" Wu Ling doesn't have a good temper. "As long as we pay you money, it is enough, right?" he asked.

"He doesn't take money." Yi Bing spoke when he recalled that yesterday, Huo Ling gave the boatman money yet the boatman didn't take it. Instead, he told them the story of the Zhuo family.

"Huh?" Wu Ling was taken aback. His hand was left hanging awkwardly in the air. "Then…" what should he do? He thought and looked at the others who also looked helpless.

"Young sirs, do you really insist to investigate the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain?" the boatman looked at Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai.

Qi Bai nodded with a solemn expression. "Yes." he answered.

The boatman heaved a sigh of defeat. "I won't ask you of your reason in investigating the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain, as this is the rule of jianghu." He spoke. "'don't ask back after someone asked.'" He told them.

"This should be the rule to the informants?" Huo Ling spoke.

The boatman looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "Young sir, you seem to know a lot about jianghu." He said.

Huo Ling humbly smiled. "Just a little. I am fascinated of jianghu sicne I was young." He answered.

The boatman stared at Huo Ling for a while and Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai looked at them both. Yi Bing finally blocked the boatman's gaze on Huo Ling.

The boatman retracted his gaze and then turned to Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai who wanted to know about the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain. "The Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain was just any mountain, except that it contains rare herbs that could be used as ingredients of elixir of immortals. But, of course, this is just a myth, as no one has ever succeeded in brewing the elixir, much less know the recipe for the elixir of immortals." He told them.

The six of them silently listened until the boatman spoke again.

"That was, until Huai Sen appeared." the boatman said as he rowed the boat.

"'Huai Sen'?" they reacted.

"No one knows who Huai Sen really is, nor he belongs to any sect. There are mountains beyond mountains, so no one dared to ask him of his background." The boatman spoke. "Huai Sen… he is insanely strong. He resided in the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain. One time when a group of people went to throw him out of the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain carrying an excuse that the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain belonged to everyone, they were the ones who were thrown out of the mountain instead." He explained. "Huai Sen also said after that he doesn't have any intention of hoarding everything of the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain. He only wanted to seek refuge because of the cool temperature in the mountain." He told them.

"I see…" Huo Ling nodded thoughtfully. "A homeless but strong man living in a cold mountain… this is very jianghu-like!" he said and smiled.

Everyone looked at him as if he is an idiot.

Yi Bing coughed and looked at the boatman. "The Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain is currently sealed… why did he seal it?" he asked.

The boatman shook his head. "No one knows. No one can understand Huai Sen's thoughts, aside from his disciples." He answered.

Qian San's, Wu Ling's, Shi Yi's and Qi Bai's ears perked up. "His disciples?" they asked, acting like they didn't know about it.

Yi Bing and Huo Ling looked at them four. What a poor acting! They thought. How can the boatman, who is very perceptive, not notice it?

But, the boatman didn't expose their obviously poor act. Who knows what the boatman is thinking? "Huai Sen has four disciples, namely Wu Tong, An FeiFei, Ping Kun and Liu Yi. Like Huai Sen, no one knows about them four, aside from their names. No one has also seen their appearances, not even Huai Sen's visitors." He explained.

"Huh? Why?" they asked.

"Who knows?" the boatman shrugged as if this matter got nothing to do to him.

The grim reapers looked at each other and fell silent.

Meanwhile, the boatman lowered his head and pulled his hat down. Who are these people? He thought as he secretly observed them. They obviously have a business in jianghu yet they don't seem to be people of jianghu? He thought as his gaze fell on Huo Ling. Although this young man knows more about jianghu than his peers, he looked like just any young master of a noble family. If he really is someone from jianghu, then his acting is top-notch. He frowned and resumed rowing the boat.

The fallen Zhuo noble family… the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain… these young men are investigating both. Why? If they are not from jianghu, then, could they be friends of the Zhuo family or someone from the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain? He thought as he lowered his gaze, hiding the emotions that flashed in his eyes.

…

Stable World, Lower Heaven, Collection Department.

"Shi Jiu. They are going to a martial world. Aren't you worried?" Shou Ji asked as he sat on the couch and yawned.

Shi Jiu placed a glass of milk on the coffee table and Shou Ji drank it. "That's why I asked Yi Bing to accompany Qian San and the others there." Shi Jiu spoke.

"Should we have sent Jin Wu along?" Shou Ji still felt worried. After all, no matter how strong Yi Bing is, he will be protecting four 'people', not to mention that he now has his apprentice Huo Ling.

"Ai. You worry too much." Shi Jiu dotingly smiled at Shou Ji.

"That's because you give me things to be worried about!" Shou Ji pouted. His eyelids are still heavy, making him look still sleepy.

"Chief… you should go back and rest. Your soul should now became stable, but its fragments are connecting themselves together." Shi Jiu spoke in a serious voice. "I am also worried for you." He said and held Shou Ji's hand tight. "I will do my job better, so you should also rest more and make your health better." He told him.

Shou Ji stared at Shi Jiu and smiled. "En." He answered and intertwined their fingers.

…

While their chief and vice-chief are having a two-person world, Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai still haven't realized that they have exposed themselves again. Yi Bing and Huo Ling have more awareness than these four who only have ferried the souls of lovers, and has zero basic knowledge of the martial world. Thus, Yi Bing and Huo Ling know that the boatman already noticed something about them.

Yi Bing and Huo Ling has already noticed since yesterday that the boatman isn't just an ordinary boatman. Thus, they hired him to tour them around the Cuiyi Town again and chatted with him. Even if the boatman already noticed that they aren't ordinary people, he would only think of them as ordinary young masters from noble families, since they didn't act like how the people of jianghu act. That's because they don't know how the people of jianghu act, either.

Even though Huo Ling knows some things about jianghu, if he acts, that is just an imitation from the television drama about jianghu, which, of course, isn't reliable to learn from since the television drama also aren't accurate. Thus, if any person from jianghu would see Huo Ling acting, they would just think he is funny since he didn't capture even one percent of the essence of the jianghu.

Thus, no one would suspect them six as someone from jianghu, including that carriage driver who chatted with Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai yesterday. So, Huo Ling acted freely, imitating how the actors of wuxia drama does.

The boatman sighed helplessly. Just what did these young masters came here for? To join with the 'fun'? But – he thought as his eyes narrowed. – there is definitely nothing 'fun' in the jianghu lately. Instead, it was boring, since everything seemed to look calm on the surface.. Once what was hidden underneath broke out of the surface, another turmoil begins.