Afterlife Department

Chapter 7 – Souls And Memories

Huo Ling fought with Yi Bing… and lose… again. He is just a pitiful soul. He wants to know about his death, thus he can only do Yi Bing's bidding.

And so, he faced the wall. Yi Bing was waiting for him to pass through. "… can I not?" Huo Ling asked as he turned to Yi Bing.

"There're no wards in this unit." Yi Bing said. That means, Huo Ling has to pass through the wall.

"What if I found a dead body?" Huo Ling asked.

Yi Bing frowned, started to get pissed.. "You think too much. Just go in!" he snapped at him.

Huo Ling jumped out of fright and his soul moved without his will. Thus, he passed through the wall and it seems that he… didn't think too much. There's really a dead body! And it's not just one, but three! "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" he screamed and covered his eyes as he passed through the wall again and went back to hide behind Yi Bing. "More dead bodies!" he reported to Yi Bing.

Yi Bing's brows knit. "What?" he said, an ugly expression on his face. I have to make a call again? But calls are expensive. Tch. He thought, yet made a call to the police again.

If Huo Ling just knew what Yi Bing was thinking, he'd really smack him in the head. Phone bills are more important than the dead people?! But, unfortunately, he couldn't read Yi Bing's thoughts. "What did they say?" he asked as he floated in front of Yi Bing.

Yi Bing kept his phone and answered. "The police said they'll go back and again and will check each unit near the scene of the crime." He said. "They will also invite the administrator of the building this time for interrogation." He added. Huo Ling nodded. He has a pensive look on his face. "What stupidity are you thinking again?" he asked.

Huo Ling frowned. "What do you mean 'stupidity'?" he said. "I just… think that this apartment building is odd." He looked around the U-shaped building. The building has 13 floors including the rooftop.

"Why?" Yi Bing asked.

Hearing Yi Bing's voice, Huo Ling turned. Then, he remembered something. "Hey, Yi Bing." He called. "I didn't see a soul in the unit earlier, only rotting corpses." He said as he remembered what he has seen. "They must have been dead for a long time now." He muttered. He remembered the corpses were crawled over by rats and cockroaches. He can't help but shiver when he imagined his corpse almost became like those corpses if the police had not arrived.

Yi Bing pondered over Huo Ling's words. "I have to confirm their identities to check if their soul already reincarnated." He said and looked at Huo Ling. "If not…"

Huo Ling's pupils shrank and he gasped. "Abnormal Soul?" he asked.

Yi Bing nodded. "It's possible. We've been given example of one." He said and glanced at the woman's door that was covered in police lines.

"I remembered only I am the soul you have to fetch." Huo Ling said. "If we didn't check on the woman…" he said and meaningfully looked at Yi Bing.

"'-we wouldn't find another Abnormal Soul' was what you're about to say, right?" Yi Bing said. Huo Ling gave him a thumbs up and a look of 'you're smart'. "I don't owe you anything. In fact, you're the one who owed me." He poured cold water on Huo Ling's head.

"What?!" Huo Ling said. "Why did I owe you?" he asked.

"Originally, I only needed to fetch you and hand you over to the Afterlife Department even though you're an Abnormal Soul." Yi Bing said. "The proper authorities will deal. With. You." He told him, word for word.

Huo Ling's eyes widened and a look of horror appeared on his face. "W-what… what do you mean, 'deal with me'?" he asked.

Yi Bing generously explained for him. "The authorities would first determine what kind of soul are you – a normal soul, or an Abnormal Soul." He said. "If they determined you are an Abnormal Soul, they would investigate the cause why you became an Abnormal Soul. Then, they would extract your memories to check your lifetime." He explained, then kindly smiled at Huo Ling. "The process of extracting memories is very, very, very painful since our memories – as I have explained to you, is deeply embedded in our soul unless we died and our memories will separate from us. However, since you're an Abnormal Soul, your memories are still within your soul." He told him.

Huo Ling's soul violently shivered. "W-what?! But, didn't you show me of that white strip left in my body?!" he asked.

"Oh. I forgot to tell you – " Yi Bing said. Huo Ling suspiciously looked at him. " – our soul would still have our memories." He said.

"… you're lying – " Huo Ling said. "You just want to scare me – " he said.

"Why don't you check your soul and see if you can still remember your lifetime?" Yi Bing asked.

Huo Ling froze. Then, he closed his eyes. His soul glowed fiery orange as his memories flashed in his mind. "… you're not lying. I can really remember." He said, his eyes blank.

"The part of your soul left in your body is just a copy of your memories." Yi Bing said.

"Why should we leave memories in our body when it can be brought with our soul?" Huo Ling asked.

"Did you forget the process of reincarnation?" Yi Bing asked.

Huo Ling shut up. "… we will forget everything before we started our next life." He answered.

Yi Bing nodded. "Yes." he said. Before Huo Ling could ask another question, he spoke. "You forgot that reincarnation is a cycle. We can go back to this life of ours." He told him. "Then, the memories left in our body will make us experience de ja vu. It is a proof we have lived in this lifetime. But, they're just mere de ja vu. Nothing more than that." He explained.

"Then, the memories our soul brought?" Huo Ling asked. "They will be erased before our reincarnation, right?" he added.

Yi Bing nodded. "Yes." he answered. "The memories in your body is your own copy. The memories in your soul – they are our, the Afterlife Department's, copy." He told him.

"'copy'? For what?"

"Records." Yi Bing answered and showed him the Death Note again. This time, Yi Bing turned it in another page. It is a blank page.

"I can't see it." Huo Ling said.

"You don't need to." Yi Bing told him. "Your reincarnation records will be kept here." He said and pointed the blank page of the Death Note. "There's nothing here, since you have no record yet." He said and looked at Huo Ling. "This is your first life." He told him.