Afterlife Department

Chapter 274 - Rule

Yi Bing's face is expressionless as he watched on Di San heal Jason Baurne whose eye turned blue after he punched him. "I'll say it again, we, grim reapers, can't harm humans - !" he heard Di San said in an exasperated voice.

"Sorry." Yi Bing said insincerely. "It was an instinctive response." He said. "Whenever I see what I deem an eyesore." He added.

Di San rolled his eyes. " – no matter if they look an eyesore to us!" he added to his previous speech.

Yi Bing just scoffed while Liu Lin, Feng Er and Si Shui watched on anxiously from the side. With the help of their Death Note which has a navigation function, as one of its functions for the grim reapers who have no current (soul) assignment, they located Jason Baurne. They immediately flew to the location because they were worried for Yi Bing's soul inside Jason Baurne.

After they knocked out Xi Zhengteng's guards, Yi Bing hurriedly opened the door which actually also someone opened from the inside, revealing Jason Baurne who got a few wounds.

Jason Baurne was stunned, but immediately recovered from his surprise when he saw Yi Bing. "Aren't you Yi L - ?" he was about to ask when suddenly, Yi Bing raised his fist and punched him,, knocking the lights out of him.

Di San heard the noise when Jason Baurne fell on the floor unconscious and he immediately berated Yi Bing while Liu Lin, Feng Er and Si Shui helped carrying Jason Baurne out of the warehouse where Xi Zhengteng brought Jason Baurne.

As for Xi Zhengteng? Who cares about him? They immediately fled the scene and they left Xi Zhengteng for Lao Xie and his men to pick up.

"Can you stand it?" Yi Bing suddenly spoke as he looked at his hand. He finally extracted his soul from Jason Baurne's body and, thankfully, there were no repercussion to both of them.

"What?" Di San turned to him.

"Can you stand someone having feelings towards the person you like, when you're the one who caused it?" Yi Bing asked.

Di San fell silent while Liu Lin, Feng Er and Si Shui huddled on the side, hugging their knees like a group of children sitting well-behaved. They (actually only Di San) decided to send Jason Baurne back ASAP for fear Yi Bing might smack Jason Baurne again. 'out of sight, out of mind', as they say.

Meanwhile, Yi Bing's question was left unanswered.

…

Gu Shi watched as his comrades carried the drugged Xi Zhengteng inside a van while Xi Zhengteng was tightly tied on a stretcher to prevent him from moving. Meanwhile, Xi Zhengteng's men were all killed by them.

He opened his phone and watched the netizens continue to talk about the Xi family, and the Lin family's name is starting to be dragged into the mess. "They sure act fast." He muttered. He isn't talking about Yi Bing and Di San, but the Lee family. Smearing the name of the Xi family and Li family is the Lee family's work.

He sighed and looked at the hill afar. Yi Bing, Di San and their group was gone along with Jason Baurne. He knew Yi Bing and Di San won't 'kidnap' Jason Baurne and make a bargain with them, because he had an inkling that, after they saved Jason Baurne, they have got from him what they were looking for. He figures they will send Jason Baurne by their doorstep in a short while.

His phone suddenly rang, and his lips curled up. He slowly swiped the answer button before he placed his phone by his ear. "Hello?" he spoke.

"I've already sent Jason Baurne in your doorstep." Di San answered as if he figured what is Gu Shi thinking.

Gu Shi fell silent for a while. Then, he spoke. "It seems you are that determined not to see me?" he said, which is completely unrelated to Jason Baurne.

As Gu Shi expected, Di San denied his claim. "What 'determined'? This is fate." Di San said as he walked away from his friends.

Yi Bing was emitting a cold air like a walking refrigerator while Liu Lin, Feng Er and Si Shui figured that it was Gu Shi who called him, so they had an expression of listening to a gossip in their face.

"May I ask, what did I do to offend you?" Gu Shi finally got to the main point as he watched his comrades left ahead of him when they saw him still talking on his phone.

"Nothing." Di San immediately said.

What a little liar. Gu Shi thought. He doesn't know why, but when he saw Di San that day, he felt a strange emotion, as if what he has been waiting for all his life has finally come. He was too stunned he became silent, since he doesn't know what to say, and they are in the presence of Lao Xie, which made it inconvenient to talk about 'their' matters.

And so, he invited Di San out with the excuse of treating a new comrade for a meal. However, when they finally had a chance to talk, no words came out from his lips. To make it worse, Di San began asking questions about the underworld. He knew Di San is harmless even though his objective is unknown. Or else, Lao Xie won't hire him. Thus, he answered each question of Di San.

In the end, he didn't manage to summon his courage, and Jason Baurne's kidnapping occurred. There has no more chances for them to privately talk, and during that phone call, Gu Shi knew. He can never meet Di San again.

"Can you come and see me?" Gu Shi asked, plea in his voice.

Di San didn't answer.

"I'll wait for you here in the warehouse." Gu Shi spoke, his voice hoarse. Afraid that Di San would reject him, he immediately ended the call. Then, he sent a text message to Lao Xie he can't return since he has some matters to deal with. Lao Xie wouldn't take it against him, and since he did a good job tonight, Lao Xie let him go.

Then, he sat on the roof of his car and waited for Di San to arrive, even though he knew it would be fruitless.

…

Yi Bing returned to the living room to release cold air to Liu Lin, Feng Er and Si Shui. However, he saw the three immediately fled when they saw him. Also, he saw Di San was motionlessly standing in the terrace as if he's a statue. "Gu Shi?" he asked.

Di San sharply turned to him.

I'm right. Yi Bing thought. He knew, the only one who can make Di San lose his cool is Gu Shi. "What's there to think about?" he asked as he sat on the sofa. "He is Gu Shi's 'reincarnation' before Gu Shi became a grim reaper." He told him.

"Before or after, a grim reaper would never have any reincarnation/s." Di San said. He also had figured out before that the Gu Shi of this world is Gu Shi's 'reincarnation' before Gu Shi became a grim reaper. However, as what he said, the reincarnation/s of the new grim reaper before he became a grim reaper will be erased along with his reincarnation/s after he became a grim reaper.

Actually, there shouldn't be reincarnations after one became a grim reaper. However, the reincarnation cycle has no beginning, nor an end, thus they deem the reincarnations they will find after of the new grim reaper as his 'succeeding reincarnations'. They sometimes call them as the 'cleanup reincarnations', since they are the reincarnations remaining that they have to 'cleanup', then later return to the new grim reaper to 'complete' his soul. On the other hand, the reincarnation/s before the new grim reaper became a grim reaper is the reincarnations that was mapped by the fate. They are also called the 'preceding reincarnations'.

"You should also know – " Yi Bing said, breaking Di San's thoughts. " – the 'cleanup' of the Afterlife Department is never a hundred percent." He told him. "There's also this one percent of failure, and whether we will let this one percent affect us, it is up to us, isn't it?" he asked.

Di San didn't answer.

"3257." Yi Bing spoke in a cold voice full of authority. He has never called Di San by his code aside from the times they were joking to each other. This other time is when he is serious, like now. "Deal with this one percent of Gu Shi's soul." He told him. "Unknot his attachments if there is, which is most probably." He added.

Di San was stunned before he immediately recovered his calm. "Yes." He answered before he left.

Liu Lin, Feng Er and Si Shui looked at each other. Rare would they see Yi Bing order anyone, since Yi Bing doesn't usually give an order, even if he is the most powerful one in the Afterlife Department, just after Shen Sheng.

"Come out." Yi Bing called them.