Afterlife Department

Chapter 254 - Meaning

"Yi Bing!" Huo Ling called when he saw Yi Bing was standing under the flower archway leading to the garden. However, it's as if Yi Bing didn't hear him because Yi Bing didn't turn and had his back on him with his head lowered.

Huo Ling smiled as he slowly walked towards the man and raised his hand to pat him on the shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak, only for his voice to be caught on his throat when Yi Bing turned and he saw a beautiful crystal pendant glowing warmly on Yi Bing's palm.

"Happy birthday, Huo Ling." Yi Bing spoke in a hoarse voice. He felt his chest is filled with too many emotions as he stared at Huo Ling's stunned face while he stared at the orange crystal pendant on his hand. "Huo Ling?" he called when he saw Huo Ling didn't move..

Huo Ling remained silent for a while before he smiled and spoke. "Do you know, I don't have any parents?" he said. "It was Jonathan who found me. I thought he found me when I was ten. However, after I died, all my memories when I was younger came back. He actually picked me up when I was still a baby." He said with a smile on his voice.

Yi Bing didn't speak and just remained silent while listening to Huo Ling sharing his past, even if Yi Bing already knows. There's a difference between knowing one's past and them sharing it with you.

"He named me 'Huo Ling'." Huo Ling continued. "'Huo', to be a fire that burns fiercely, but 'Ling', to be as pure as the white feather." He explained. "All this while, I thought these are the meaning of my name. How wrong I was." He laughed. "He named me as a fire, not to burn everything around me, but to be bright and warm to everybody. He named be as a feather, not to be as pure as it, since nothing is pure in this world we live. He wanted me to be soft like a feather." He said.

"Don't talk anymore." Yi Bing said, feeling pained when he saw the tears falling from Huo Ling's eyes. He raised his hand and touched Huo Ling's face, then wiped Huo Ling's tears with his palm. The moment his thumb touched the other's tears, he felt his soul trembled. Huo Ling… he thought as he watched the other gently took the crystalline pendant tied with a red string from his hand.

"I know. I have verified it. I am not Jonathan's son." Huo Ling said. "However, his sincere love towards me like his own family, I can feel it. Yi Bing – " he called and raised his head to look at Yi Bing. " – you. What is your intention giving me this precious gift?" he asked as he stared at Yi Bing's eyes.

Yi Bing stared back at Huo Ling's eyes before he took the necklace and wore it around Huo Ling's neck. "There's no other special reason." He said, but his voice was with a sigh as he lowered his gaze to avoid Huo Ling's gaze.

"Really?" Huo Ling said.

"… mn." Yi Bing answered before he pressed Huo Ling's neck.

Huo Ling's body relaxed and his eyes closed. Before he could fall to the ground, Yi Bing caught him and placed his soul back to the pendant. The pendant shook when Huo Ling's soul entered before it fell on Yi Bing's palm.

Di San arrived just in time to see the necklace falling on Yi Bing's palm. "You returned him?" he asked as he stopped in front of Yi Bing.

"En." Yi Bing answered as he stared at the glowing pendant of the necklace. "His emotions were shaken when he returned to the Baurne residence, and weakened his soul. I can't place him beside my soul inside my body since his shaken emotions will affect my soul." He explained. "I… don't know what will happen if that happened." He said.

Di San knew Yi Bing was toughening himself even if his soul was only less than half remained right now and he can't help but feel guilty. "I'm sorry." He said. They weren't careful, and strong, enough against the hostile Soul Fragment.

"It isn't your fault." Yi Bing said as he wore the necklace before he hid the pendant inside his clothes. Only the blood-red string of the necklace can be seen against his fair and slender neck. "Our knowledge about the Soul Fragments is limited. Nobody has expected to meet with a hostile Soul Fragment, much more for it to fuse with another Soul Fragment, which increased its power." He said. "We can add this to the records of Heaven about the Soul Fragments." He told him.

"Yes." Di San nodded and sighed in relief that Yi Bing didn't blame him. However, he also felt distressed.

It would've been better if Yi Bing has just punched him or beaten him up to express his anger. However, grim reapers have no emotions. So, how can Yi Bing feel anger?

Di San doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. He just left the matter be. "Earlier, Huo Ling told me how to verify my identity to Lao Xie." He said. "He told me a secret that only he and Lao Xie shared. Guess what that is?" he asked.

"Speak." Yi Bing said.

"It is related to the Xi family. More specifically, to the matriarch – Lin Yuxiu." Di San said. "Huo Ling said that Lao Xie is always watching Lin Yuxiu. From Huo Ling's perspective, it was an unrequited love on Lao Xie's part. However, I remember what Si Shui said before about Xi Zhengdong dying thirty years ago, and I connected it with Lao Xie's fall thirty years ago." He explained. "If Huo Ling didn't tell me and I didn't find out about Lao Xie's 'crush' towards Lin Yuxiu, these two cases, I haven't connected at all!" he said.

"So, you're saying…" Yi Bing's eyes narrowed.

"En." Di San nodded. "We can think Lao Xie watching over Lin Yuxiu can be out of guilt, or – " he said as his voice lowered. " – from what I have realized after, it can also be of anger. He wanted to destroy the Xi family." He said before he paused and looked at Yi Bing in dissatisfaction. "If you didn't return Huo Ling to the pendant, I could've gotten more clues from him!" he said and frowned.

"If I didn't return him to the pendant, his soul would be weakened further." Yi Bing said.

Di San couldn't refute that at all and he can only give up. "I'll just wait until Huo Ling's funeral finish before approaching Lao Xie." He said as he changed the topic. "I'm going back to the hotel first and ask more information of the Xi family and Lao Xie's former company from Si Shui. How about you?" he asked.

"I'll stay here." Yi Bing answered. "The Baurne family is closer to Huo Ling than Lao Xie. I'll think up some excuse on how to approach Jonathan Baurne and Jason Baurne." He said.

Di San nodded before he climbed up the high walls and left to return to the hotel. Yi Bing was left and he looked around the flower garden, before he took out the Death Note and looked up Huo Ling's memories related to the Baurne family.

After scrolling up the page containing the videos of Huo Ling's memories when he was alive, Yi Bing found a video of Huo Ling standing on the stone bridge decorated with wild flowers. Yi Bing immediately closed the Death Note when he saw someone approached Huo Ling.

Yi Bing suppressed the jealousy in his heart and looked around before going out of the flower archway and met with a wide garden. He looked around for a while before he found the stone bridge where Huo Ling always stayed when he is deep in thoughts. The koi fishes swimming in the small river under the stone bridge made him feel calm.

Yi Bing slowly walked down the bridge and saw the figure of Huo Ling before him standing in the middle of the bridge. He was leaning on the bridge and has his head lowered as he watched the fishes below swimming in the water with a thoughtful expression on his face. His usually light brown-colored eyes are darker in shade as he deeply ponders over his current problem. The sunlight behind him was peeking on him in between the leaves of the sycamore tree. It was as if the whole world stopped as his eyes only contained this handsome and elegant young man.

Yi Bing slowly raised his hand and touched Huo Ling. He took a deep breath as if he could feel the warmth of the handsome and elegant young man named Huo Ling. He's warm and bright, like a fire. Yet it doesn't burn him. He's soft and pure, like a feather. Yet he remained strong and indomitable.

However, after Yi Bing blinked, Huo Ling's figure was gone before him, and everything returned to the darkness of the night.

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