Afterlife Department

Chapter 65 – Devourer Zombie

"I apologize, Xiao Ling." Qi Shan said after he checked the whole city using his power. "I can't find this Jin Yu." He told him. Since Huo Ling didn't have a picture of Jin Yu, Qi Shan searched his memories of him. Fortunately, he saw Jin Yu before he died in the hospital. "He might be… gone." He told him.

"He's dead?" Huo Ling asked.

Qi Shan unexpectedly shook his head. "If he died, then I still can find his soul." He said. "However…" he looked at Yi Bing..

Huo Ling is confused. "If he isn't dead, then what is it?" he asked. "He can't just suddenly disappear?" he added.

"Huo Ling." Yi Bing called. "You stay here with Lei Shan first. Don't wander off." He told him and left.

"What… Yi Bing!" Huo Ling called and about to follow him when Qi Shan patted his shoulder.

"Lei Shan." Qi Shan called. "Look after Huo Ling. And, tighten our defenses." He told him and also left.

"What's going on…?" Huo Ling asked as he watched the two grim reapers disappear.

"A devourer zombie." Lei Shan appeared beside him.

"A devourer zombie…" Huo Ling was shocked. "But, Yi Bing told me that – "

"Qi Shan and I just found out." Lei Shan said. "We were patrolling when I felt its presence. The next thing I knew, my comrades disappeared. Qi Shan and I looked for them, but we can't find a trace of them." he explained.

"You mean…"

"Yes. Even their soul, Qi Shan can't trace." Lei Shan said.

Huo Ling was stunned. "Their soul…" he said, then held his head when he felt it hurt.

From the rooftop, Yi Bing looked at Huo Ling fell on his knees and Lei Shan caught him before he fell. "Curious, isn't it?" Qi Shan, who was also watching Huo Ling, said. Yi Bing looked at him. "Don't look at me like that. I can guess you already tried to invite him to be a grim reaper, but he refused you." He said and opened his Death Note. He searched for Huo Ling's name, and there are two entries that appeared beneath Huo Ling's name. Two entries, two lifetime.

"Do you have an idea how can he remember his past life?" Yi Bing asked.

Qi Shan shook his head and closed his Death Note. "I just know, he has the qualification to be a grim reaper." He said.

Yi Bing turned and saw Huo Ling and Lei Shan are gone. "This devourer zombie… could it be – " he said and his eyes narrowed.

"A Soul Eater." Qi Shan said. His carefree expression was gone.

"We encountered it earlier." Yi Bing said. Qi Shan looked at him. "Huo Ling's in the way." He sighed.

"Pft – " Qi Shan's shoulder shook. "You really care for him, huh?" he said and smiled. "We'll watch over Huo Ling. Be careful." He told him.

"You don't need to tell me that." Yi Bing told him and he disappeared, leaving a snowflake in his place.

"Geez… what a stubborn person." Qi Shan said and caught the snowflake that fell. The snowflake touched his palm. He raised his hand, then blew the snowflake towards the direction of Huo Ling's room. "How can a Soul Eater appear here?" he muttered, his brows knit. Soul Eaters can only appear in their world. If a Soul Eater appears in another world… that world will be destroyed. It is a plague.

District C.

"It's too quiet." Yi Bing said as he looked at the empty street before him. He's already passed three districts and they are all the same. Not a single person was around. Their home is empty. "Could it be…" his blue eyes glowered. It's the All-Seeing Eyes. He doesn't have Qi Shan's power to connect to the ground and search, thus he used the All-Seeing Eyes exclusive to them grim reapers.

Suddenly, he felt the win became sharp behind him and he immediately flew away, then took out his ice scythe mid-air. Just as he turned, he saw something fast jumped towards him. He raised his scythe to block its attack and immediately deactivated the All-Seeing Eyes that affects his vision.

It's the devourer zombie. He finally found it! His fingers slid down his scythe and his scythe transformed to a sword. The blade glistened dangerously. "Kah!" the devourer zombie growled and jumped away from him.

Yi Bing saw it ran towards one of the houses nearby. "Not good!" he exclaimed. Earlier, he saw there was a child hiding inside after his family were killed by the devourer zombie. "Stop right there!" he said and swung his sword when the zombie was about to jump inside the broken window. The ice covered the house, blocking the zombie. However, the zombie used the ice as a leverage to jump up the roof. Then, it disappeared. "Tch." He swung his sword and the ice covering the house disappeared. He saw the child went out of his hiding and peeked at him, but he ignored him.

He tapped his wristwatch and made a call to Qi Shan. "0007."

"0001." Qi Shan called.

"I found it. It's really a Soul Eater." Yi Bing's voice is grim.

"A Soul Eater?!" it was Huo Ling. "Isn't that the meat monster – "

Yi Bing froze. Then, he immediately ended the call. "Why, he…" he was shocked. His hand above his wristwatch trembled. "He can remember?!" he exclaimed. He tapped his wristwatch again to call Qi Shan. However, the call didn't go through. "Ah." he muttered. "It ran out of battery." He said when he saw the screen of his wristwatch flashed red. "I'd go to the R&D first. While I'm there, why don't I drop by San Di?" He said and disappeared.

In the Afterlife Department, Di San sneezed in front of his computer. "… why do I suddenly feel cold?" he asked and rubbed his arms.

Back to Lei Shan's base, Huo Ling stared at Qi Shan's wristwatch, waiting for Yi Bing to call again. "… don't stare too much or it'll melt." Qi Shan told Huo Ling.

"Oh. Sorry – " Huo Ling said and sat on his seat. "Why did the call end?" he asked.

"… his watch might have run out of battery." Qi Shan answered. He knew Yi Bing intentionally ended the call when he heard Huo Ling's voice. What a shy guy. He thought.

Huo Ling looked like he's been scammed. "… it's battery-powered?" he asked and looked at Qi Shan's wristwatch.

"Yes." Qi Shan honestly answered. He saw Huo Ling's suspicious expression, thus he took off his wristwatch and opened its back to show him the battery. "It's an AD battery." He told him and pointed the label.

"… no need to ask what it meant, right?" Huo Ling said. AD is 'Afterlife Department'.

"It meant, 'After Death'." Qi Shan said. He can't hold back anymore when he saw Huo Ling's face darkened. He rolled on the floor and laughed. I can see why 0001 is fond of him. He thought as he looked at Huo Ling's wronged expression. He's really amusing.

"So, that zombie… it's a Soul Eater?" Huo Ling resumed the topic.

Qi Shan finally stopped laughing. "Before I answer your question, answer my question first – " he said and sat properly. " – how do you know about the Soul Eater?" he asked as his eyes narrowed when he looked at Huo Ling.