Afterlife Department

Chapter 119 - Provocation

Xue Liping didn't force them and ended his call with Ke Congyi. "Alright. Keep it for yourself. Anyway, why don't we watch the news?" he asked and turned on the TV again. The news about the hospital bombing appeared.

None of them answered. Only the sound coming from the TV can be heard, including Xue Liping humming.

Outside, Ke Congyi and Hao Baiyun looked at each other while the technical officers silently listened as they looked for any information regarding Shang Bucui. "Damn it. So, they do know Shang Mi?" Ke Congyi gnashed his teeth as he stared at the ended call on his phone's screen.

"Judging from their reaction to Xue Liping's provocation, they do." Hao Baiyun said..

Just then, Gu Xingfeng arrived. "Xiao Yun." He called and immediately hugged Hao Baiyun, in which he received a hug back. He then turned to Ke Congyi. "How're Su Lin, Xu Ke and Lu Ming?" he asked.

"Xue Liping is with them. Su Lin tried to go out, but fortunately, Xue Liping managed to stop him." Ke Congyi answered. "They know Shang Mi." he added.

Gu Xingfeng's face darkened. "Have you found Shang Bucui?" he asked.

Ke Congyi shook his head. "Not yet. He's elusive." He answered. "But, we know he was formerly a teacher." He told him.

"Continue looking for him. I'm going to see those three." Gu Xingfeng said.

"Yes!" Ke Congyi and the others answered.

"I'm going with you." Hao Baiyun said and followed behind Gu Xingfeng as they went to the interrogation room.

Ke Congyi sighed as he leaned on his seat. His phone rang and he picked it up to answer the call. At the same time, he saw someone approaching the entrance from outside. It was a familiar person.

"Senior!" Xiao Xie's voice called from the phone. "Senior! I know who Shang Bucui is!" he said. "Mingfan woke up and told me that he sent Zhu Min a basket of fruits earlier, which might be where the bomb came from. Also, the nurses and the doctors said senior Zhang kept saying a name." he explained. "That person is Shang Bucui! Shang Bucui is – "

He is… Ke Congyi watched as the person outside raised his hand. There's a weapon in his hand. "DUCK!" he yelled just as the gun was fired.

BANG! The glass doors of the entrance broke when a bullen pierced it. "AAAAH!" the technical officers immediately dropped on the floor and hid under the table.

"Senior?!" Xiao Xie called from the other line.

"He's here." Ke Congyi said as he wiped the blood of his forehead where the bullet grazed before it hit the clock on the wall. "Shang Bucui… no – " he said and peeked from behind the table, only to be greeted by another bullet. "- Zheng Dongming is here." He said.

"What?!" Xiao Xie exclaimed.

"Immediately contact chief – " Ke Congyi said but was cut off when another bullet was fired at their way. He saw a hole was made on the dividing wall where he's hiding. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue when he saw his arm bled before he ended the call. "Zheng Dongming!" he yelled. "No. You're Shang Bucui, aren't you?" he asked.

Shang Bucui, who's now Zheng Dongming, amiably laughed, like he always did. "Don't force me to kill you when I don't need to. I only came here for those three students of mine." He said and shot an officer's leg when the officer tried to shoot him from behind.

"AAAH!" the officer cried as he crawled back to hide.

"I am wearing ten bombs. I'm sure you'll like it if I'd fire each one to smoke them out?" Zheng Dongming asked as he took out one bomb.

There's no way Ke Congyi would let him. "Zheng Dongming!" he called. "Why do you want to kill your students?" he asked to buy them time.

Zheng Dongming knows they are buying time, but he is in a good mood today. "Huo Ling is the reason my daughter secretly traveled back to the country." He answered. Shang Mi is 16 years old at the time. She's three years older than Huo Ling. "When she arrived, she got lost and happened to met Xu Ke. Xu Ke told her a random train station, thus the tragedy happened. Lu Ming saw my beloved daughter was being dragged away, yet he acted blind and deaf. When my daughter was dropped to another station, she met Ye Ting and his friends and they had their way with her." He narrated as if he's telling an unrelated person's experience. He became numb from the pain and all was left now is vengeance. "Then, Rong Zhe passed by but, like Lu Ming, he acted deaf and blind. After Ye Ting and his friends left her, she was robbed by Su Lin." He said and sighed.

The police officers who were listening felt like going mad from Shang Mi's tragedy.

"No money, she hailed a taxi. But, the taxi driver also…" Zheng Dongming continued. He sadly smiled as he shook his head in regret. "When I finally found out she left the country, everything is too late. I looked hard for her everywhere, only to find out she's under the bridge." He said as he helplessly sighed. "I took her home. She was crazily drawing people's faces. When I didn't look, she already slit her skin before she slit her throat." He finished.

Some police officers were covering their ears to not listen. Suddenly, a door opened and Gu Xingfeng appeared in the hallway. "Zheng Dongming!" he called as he pointed his gun at him. "No. Shang Bucui!" he called.

Zheng Dongming just smiled before he started to open fire. "AAAH!" the non-combatant officers immediately tried to find another place to hide into while Gu Xingfeng immediately rushed to Sheng Dongming to stop him.

Gu Xingfeng immediately caught Zheng Dongming's wrist to unarm him. However, he didn't expect for Zheng Dongming to pull out another gun.

"Xing-ge!" Hao Baiyun called as his pupils shrank when he saw a gun was aimed at Gu Xingfeng's chest.

BANG! THUD! Gu Xingfeng's body dropped on the floor as his chest was soaked in blood. "CHIEF!" the police officers cried.

"XING-GE!" Hao Baiyun cried as he ran towards Gu Xingfeng, not minding Zheng Dongming when he passed by him.

Zheng Dongming doesn't care about Hao Baiyun either as he let him pass. "Follow me and I'll explode these bombs altogether." He told the police officers as he showed them the bombs on his body. All this time, they thought the amicable dean is fat. However, he's actually carrying bombs underneath his clothes! "Don't provoke me." he told them when he saw them slid their finger on the trigger.

The police officers could only hatefully glare at Zheng Dongming as they immediately called for an ambulance. Zheng Dongming let them be since only Su Lin, Xu Ke and Lu Ming are his targets.

The police officers looked at each other, their eyes speaking. Xue Liping is still inside that room! He can ambush Zheng Dongming! However, they thought beautifully. They saw Zheng Dongming took out a small machine gun from his back and fired at the door of the interrogation room! "WHAT - !" they exclaimed. They're about to move when Zheng Dongming raised the bomb with his other hand. They were forced to stop and could only hope for Xue Liping to survive.

"AAAAH!!!" Su Lin, Xu Ke and Lu Ming cried as they did their best to hid from the raining bullets.

Xu Ke gritted his teeth and pulled Su Lin to block the bullets for him. "WHAT THE HE – hik!" Su Lin cried when the bullets hit his body.

Lu Ming stared at Xu Ke in disbelief as he immediately moved towards Xue Liping and hid behind him. "Ah Ke, you - !" he said as he glared at Xu Ke in disbelief. He watched in horror as Su Lin's body fell on the floor. "Ah Lin…" he called as his tears fell. He closed his eyes and looked away.

Zheng Dongming had run out of bullets. He kicked the door open, and Xue Liping immediately jumped at him. However, Zheng Dongming had expected the move and threw the bomb in his hand to Xu Ke's direction.

Xu Ke subconsciously caught the bomb, only to blankly stare at it. "… fuck." He cursed before the bomb in his hands exploded.

"AAAAH!" Hao Baiyun screamed as he immediately hugged Gu Xingfeng's body to cover him from the falling debris when the bomb exploded and the walls collapsed. "Xing-ge…" he called as he cried.

When the dust settled, they heard someone walking. They wanted to turn to look, but they felt dizzy.

In the interrogation room, Zheng Dongming weakly opened his eyes as he reached for the gun. He saw the unconscious Lu Ming and aimed the gun at him. He was about to shoot him when he felt something pierced his chest from the back. He didn't need to know it was a bullet. He slowly turned and smiled when he saw Huo Zichu. "My debt towards you for killing your son… is now repaid." He said and closed his eyes as blood soaked his clothes.

Xue Liping disorientedly opened his eyes. He saw Zheng Dongming was dead. He turned outside, only to see no one was there.