Afterlife Department

Chapter 586 – Trapped

"I can't believe the martial alliance would be friends with the Swallow Tail Assassins." Lu Xiu frowned as they all camped in a clearing that night.

"Are you sure that it is really the martial alliance?" Shi Yi asked.

"Someone from them, that is for sure." Rong Huai spoke in a definite tone.

Qi Bai's eyes widened in surprise. "A traitor?!" he exclaimed.

Huo Ling turned and winked at Yi Bing, as if telling him, 'see? Another jianghu matter'. Yi Bing rolled his eyes at him.

"So… who are you, really? Where did you come from?" Jiang Ci looked at Huo Ling and Yi Bing. He, Lu Xiu and Rong Huai already decided that Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai are 'safe', meaning that they are just ordinary 'people. But, Huo Ling and Yi Bing are different.

"Just thank us. No need to ask for our origin." Huo Ling smiled.

"Weren't you already convinced that we are not the villains here?" Yi Bing sharply asked.

Jiang Ci, Lu Xiu and Rong Huai fell silent. Yi Bing has a point.

"What happened to the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain?" Huo Ling asked in a light tone, trying to alleviate the tense atmosphere. "And the Zhuo family." He added.

Since Huo Ling and Yi Bing saved their lives, and they seem to be on the same side, Jiang Ci looked at Rong Huai and Lu Xiu first before he turned back to face Huo Ling and Yi Bing.

"Last week, we are on our way to visit the young master when we heard that the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountian was sealed." Jiang Ci started. "We immediately went there, shocked because we are friends with Huai Sen… but, when we arrived…" he looked at them.

It was already what they saw.

"Only Huai Sen can seal the mountain, as he is the patriarch of it." Jiang Ci continued. "But, we know that Huai Sen wouldn't seal the mountain, since he already declared so to continue share the mountain's resources to the people, and he really only wanted to reside there." He explained. "So, when we heard that that the mountain was sealed, we know that something happened to him. And after we confirmed it, also didn't see even just the corpses of his disciples, we knew that someone has killed them." he finished.

"And, you think that it is someone from the martial alliance?" Huo Ling asked.

"Only they have the 'right' to manage the mountain, aside from Huai Sen. This is an unspoken rule." Lu Xiu explained.

Although Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai are stupid with matters regarding the jianghu, they can still guess what this unspoken rule implies. The martial alliance is the pillar of the jianghu world, thus the common people rely on them. And since the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain is a public property, the right to manage it fell on the martial alliance's hands. But, Huai Sen appeared, and Huai Sen proven his strength to be the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain's patriarch. Fortunately, he declared that he will be a neutral party and would only care about the mountain's matters.

But, now, the mountain was sealed. Who could have done it if not the martial alliance? Huai Sen has never offended anyone aside from the martial alliance. It is right to say that they hidden their grudge against him over the years and now seized the chance to kill him.

"But… what about this Zhuo Xia?" Huo Ling asked. Zhuo Xia is still his soul assignment after all.

"He is the fourth child of the Zhuo family, and his family was massacred six months ago." Lu Xiu answered.

"Was it also done out of grudge?" Qian San asked.

"It should be. The Zhuo family was said to have risen due to their ill-gotten wealth." Jiang Ci answered.

"So, they are a bunch of thieves!" Shi Yi exclaimed.

"It isn't good to talk bad about the dead." Qi Bai told them.

They immediately fell silent.

"Grudge… and another grudge…" Huo Ling muttered as he pinched his chin. He has a pensive look on his face.

Yi Bing looked at him before he turned to look at Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu. "Do you know someone named 'Zhao Wei'?" he asked.

They shook their heads. "No." they answered. "Who is he?" they asked.

Huo Ling took out the burnt letter from his hand, along with the genealogical record of the Zhuo family.

"You – !" Lu Xiu exclaimed when they saw it.

"We found a letter pinched between the book's pages. But, it only shown the sender's name." Huo Ling said.

Rong Huai took it and examined the genealogical record before the burnt letter. "No one knows where did the Zhuo family came from. They just suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Cuiyi Town." He spoke. "Many people became jealous of them, thus the rumor about them became rich due to ill-gotten wealth. What the truth is… no one knows." He explained.

Huo Ling and Yi Bing nodded in understanding. "Then, do you know of a treasure that can trap one's soul in it?" Huo Ling asked.

Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu were surprised.

"You… where did you hear this?" Lu Xiu asked and laughed. "Surely not from that charlatan?" he asked and looked at Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai who lowered their heads, acting like they were ashamed.

"Does it exist or not?" Yi Bing asked.

"Of course not!" Lu Xiu answered. "Souls… what is this ghostly story?!" he said and laughed.

"Ah, no, Lu Xiu… I once heard the former sect leader talking about this before." Jiang Ci spoke. Rong Huai nodded.

Lu Xiu's laughter stopped and he looked at them. "… huh?" he muttered.

Huo Ling's and Yi Bing's eyes sharpened and they looked at Jiang Ci and Rong Huai. Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai are silently listening.

"The former sect leader believed in this supernatural stuff?!" Lu Xiu exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Jiang Ci and Rong Huai in disbelief.

"En. It was a bedtime story the former sect leader told the young master." Rong Huai answered.

"You weren't there because you always wandered around!" Jiang Ci told Lu Xiu and stuck his tongue out at him.

"A bedtime story?!" Lu Xiu exclaimed, ignoring Jiang Ci.

Rong Huai ignored the two and turned to look at Yi Bing and Huo Ling. "What do you want with this?" he asked.

"We believe that the souls of Huai Sen's disciples, including Zhuo Xia's, were trapped inside it." Huo Ling answered.

Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu were shocked. Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai were also shocked. They can actually tell the natives of this world their assignment?! They thought.

"You… are you exorcists?" Jiang Ci curiously asked.

"Somewhat." Huo Ling smiled. "Do you think that Zhuo Xia, Wu Tong, Yu Qiao, Zhang Yi and Ping Kun would know something about the enemy or enemies?" he asked them.

Jiang Ci, Rong Huai and Lu Xiu froze, stunned. They then looked at each other.

"If we can find their souls, we might be able to ask them about what exactly happened that day when the Snow Clouds Spring Blossoms Mountain was attacked." Huo Ling continued. "Of course, we might also be able to ask Zhuo Xia who attacked their family." He added.

Silence fell.

"Speak." Yi Bing looked at the three.

Jiang Ci took a deep breath. "As far as I can remember, the former sect leader told the young master that he once found an artifact during one of his travels when he was young." He started. "He once tried to pawn it off or sell it but the artifact always return to him." he looked at them.

Qian San, Wu Ling, Shi Yi and Qi Bai shivered in horror. "It is cursed?!" they exclaimed.

"I think so." Jiang Ci shrugged.

"Who would tell a horror story to their son as a bedtime story?!" Lu Xiu said.

Jiang Ci ignored him. "Then, the sect leader, after returning the money of those people, didn't try to pawn off or sell the artifact." He continued. "The former sect leader then married madame, and later they had the young master. The former sect leader then build his own sect and recruited people. That was the Luojian Valley Sect." he said.

Nobody spoke and remained silent. They know that they are about to reach the turning point of the story.

As expected, the content then changed. "Then, one day, when the young master got lost in the mountain, the former sect leader and madame were worried to death." Jiang Ci spoke. "The madame almost hanged herself since the young master became missing for a week. But – " he looked at them. " – by the eighth day, the young master returned. With him was the artifact that should have been stored in their manor.." He said.