Afterlife Department

Chapter 68 - Motive

Chapter 68 - Motive

"Hey. This is the best time for your flames to burn. Wake up!" Yi Bing told the unconscious Huo Ling in his arms while he kicked the zombies that approached them. His hands, arms and chest were aching because he was burned earlier, now ached more since he's carrying the not-so-light Huo Ling. However, he endured since he can't leave Huo Ling. Also – his eyes narrowed when he noticed the zombies around them became more.

"Ha! Fortunately, you're a zombie now and not looked as disgusting as before!" Qi Shan said as he dodged the Soul Eater's punch. The last Soul Eater he saw looked really, really disgusting. The throbbing meat, its surface filled with many – he covered his mouth to prevent himself from retching and stopped his mind from recalling. "I won't hold back!" he grinned, his eyes are filled with bloodlust as he counterattacked to the zombie Soul Eater.

"Qi Shan!" Lei Shan called and tried to join Qi Shan, but the zombies blocked his way. He immediately killed them, but more arrived. He had a bad feeling.. He worriedly looked at Qi Shan who was immersed in his fight against the Soul Eater zombie.

"Tsk - !" Yi Bing clicked his tongue and took out his ice scythe. He mentally maneuvered it to slice the zombies around them in pieces. Suddenly, he heard Qi Shan's maniacal laugh. He turned and saw his body flew and hit the next building.

"Qi Shan!" Lei Shan called and flew towards the direction where Qi Shan is, only to be blocked by the Soul Eater zombie and kicked him back to the ground.

"What the – " Yi Bing muttered when he saw the Soul Eater zombie went inside the building. He caught his ice scythe. "Lei Shan!" he called. "Look after Huo Ling!" he said and dropped Huo Ling in Lei Shan's arms. Then, he followed the Soul Eater zombie inside the building.

Lei Shan gnashed his teeth in anger, electricity and wind coming out of his body and spread around him. He felt powerless again. He can't help Qi Shan. "You bastards…" he muttered and turned to the zombies, his eyes flashing with electricity and his hair and clothes are afloat. He swung his arm and the zombies behind him were cut in pieces by the wind blades. "If anything happens to him…" he said, referring to Qi Shan. He marched towards the horde of zombies, forgetting he left Huo Ling after his mind snapped.

He also missed the light emanating from Huo Ling's body, turning to flames.

"Damn it. I underestimated you – " Qi Shan cursed after he rolled away from the Soul Eater's attack. "You're currently a zombie, thus I lowered my guard – " he frowned and jumped away when the Soul Eater attacked again. He raised his hand. "Ah – " he muttered when he realized he's not on the ground. "Shit – " he cursed as he immediately ran to the window to jump, but the Soul Eater reacted fast and pulled him back, then threw him to the ceiling. "ACK!" he cried and coughed blood when his body broke through the ceiling. "UGH!" he cried when his body fell on the floor of the rooftop. "Damn… it… it's too strong – " he gritted his teeth when he felt his body ached all over. "You play dirty…" he laughed. The Soul Eater seemed to know his weakness – being off-the-ground. The farther he is to the ground, the weaker he will be. "Shit – " he coughed and tried to crawl away. This is his first time meeting an intelligent Soul Eater. How did it know his weakness? He thought as he crawled. "AAH!" he screamed when the Soul Eater stepped on his leg. Then, it grabbed his head. "AAAHH!!" he screamed in pain as the Soul Eater pulled his head. "AAAAHHH!!!" he felt the skin on his neck is tearing apart.

"Qi Shan!" Yi Bing called and threw his scythe.

Qi Shan raised his hand to catch it, but the Soul Eater grabbed his arm and torn it. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!" he screamed and his blood flowed onto the floor.

"QI SHAN!" Yi Bing yelled and controlled his scythe to cut off the Soul Eater's arm. The Soul Eater saw the scythe coming towards him, but too late since the scythe already cut its arm holding Qi Shan's head.

"Ugh!" Qi Shan groaned when his body fell to the floor and his forehead hit the floor. "0001! Are you trying to cut my head off?!" he yelled. He immediately took off the hand of the Soul Eater zombie on his head and stepped on it to vent his anger.

"I am skilled. If I intend to kill you, I won't miss." Yi Bing said and caught his scythe when it came back to him. "You're still energetic. Seems like I shouldn't have saved you?" he asked and faced the Soul Eater zombie who had his left arm cut. "Have you been beaten enough?" he asked Qi Shan.

"Yeah." Qi Shan said and wiped the blood off his nose. "Let's begin." He said and grinned at the Soul Eater zombie. He raised his hand to his side, and his blood that splattered all over the building was seeped in by the building. "I don't know how you knew my weakness, but you should know my greatest strength – " he told the Soul Eater and saw the floor, the walls and the ceiling moved and instantaneously changed shape, trapping them inside. "Afterlife Department's Grim Reaper, code 0007 – Qi Shan." He said and clenched his fists. "Skill: Maze." He said.

Yi Bing sighed and walked beside Qi Shan. "Afterlife Department's Grim Reaper, code 0001 – Yi Bing." He said and swung his ice scythe, its tip touching the floor. "Skill: Snowfield." He said as the ice from the tip of the scythe spread around them. It bypassed them and crawled towards the Soul Eater zombie.

The Soul eater zombie leaped to avoid the ice on the floor, only for the ice from the ceiling to appear and stab it. The Soul Eater zombie raised its arm to block, then kicked the ceiling to escape. However, before it could, a hole in the ceiling appeared and it flew inside.

"Now." Qi Shan told Yi Bing after he controlled the surrounding to trap the Soul Eater zombie.

"Yeah." Yi Bing nodded and raised his hand. He filled the space where the Soul Eater zombie is with ice. "You're finished – " he muttered and clenched his fist. They heard a loud crack from above, and the ceiling caved in. A huge block of cubed ice that were broken to pieces fell before them, and they saw the Soul Eater zombie's corpse were broken to pieces like the ice.

"Ugh – " Qi Shan looked away and vomited. "No matter what form, Soul Eaters are disgusting." He said. Yi Bing just unfeelingly looked at the Soul Eater zombie's corpse. "Huh? 0001. Where's your assignment?" he asked.

"I left him with – "

"AAAAAHHH!!!" they heard Lei Shan screamed. Then, they saw a flash of light before they felt a violent gust of wind blew past them. They looked down the ground and saw Lei Shan blasted each zombie in his way.

" – him…" Yi Bing continued.

"Looks like he snapped… I don't see anyone beside him…" Qi Shan said when he saw Lei Shan is alone.

"Yeah. I'm not blind. I can see him." Yi Bing said as he blankly looked at Lei Shan screaming. They heard the thunder roared and rain fell upon them.

"If it's only him that we see… where's Xiao Ling, then?" Qi Shan said and glanced at Yi Bing on his side. A second later and he saw Yi Bing disappeared. Qi Shan sighed and scratched his head. He sent a message to Di San.

0007: the Soul Eater on our side was killed by 0001 and I. P.S.: who's this Huo Ling? The block of ice 0001 really cares for him.

Not a second later and he received a reply from Di San.

3257: Good work eliminating the Soul Eater. P.S.: can you believe it? He's his boyfriend!

The said 'boyfriend' is lying on the ground, being rained on but his clothes and body is dry because of the flames surrounding him. The zombies around him were turned to ashes the moment they neared him.

Suddenly, his eyes opened and a pair of warm red pupils stared at the gray sky.