Afterlife Department

"Shut down those f*ckers!" Jonathan Baurne's loud voice cursing can be heard coming from Gu Xingfeng's phone. The ones he is cursing is the TV station that broadcasted Huo Ling's face. 

Naturally, there is a competition in the media world. But, they all didn't expect for these people to use Huo Ling to their leverage! 

Gu Xingfeng and Hao Baiyun finally calmed themselves. They also know Lu Si and Jonathan would protect Huo Ling at all costs. Thus, they would definitely not permit any leak of Huo Ling's photos, even just snap shots, so that Huo Ling's assassins won't see Huo Ling's face and find out he is a prince! 

It's not that Lu Si and Jonathan aren't confident enough that they could protect Huo Ling. But, like today, even with their very careful plan, Huo Ling's photo was still leaked.. Huo Ling's identity as a prince is even more dangerous. Anyone could just use an excuse to kill Huo Ling, thus hiding their real intention for killing Huo Ling. 

Lu Si and Jonathan know, Huo Ling's assassins will definitely do this! "Damn it!" Jonathan cursed. "Just who are those bastards?!?!" he asked, gnashing his teeth in anger. 

Lu Si sighed both in helplessness and irritation. Until now, they can't find any trace of that group of assassins. Those who were captured back in the cemetery after they ambushed Huo Ling have committed suicide. When they finally managed to find the origin of those assassins in the cemetery, they were bound to fail since those assassins were from a prison in Russia. The ones involved in the escape of the prisoners were all dead. 

In short, they have hit a dead end. Their opponent is too clean in everything they are doing. If not, they would've already caught their tail, or better, their head. But, there's nothing! They can't find a damn thing about them! 

Lu Si pulled his hair in frustration. Meanwhile, Jonathan was uttering a string of curses as he called Hao Baiyun. Gu Xingfeng has long ended the call after they found where the problem came from and assured him that his family will arrest everyone involved in this dirty scheme. After that, Lu Si thanked him. 

In the middle of Jonathan's cursing, suddenly, Lu Si received a call. Lu Si picked up his phone and saw that it was Yi Bing calling. "Hello." He greeted. "How's xiao Ling?" he asked as he clenched his fist. "Tell him we're minimizing the damage caused by that bastard TV station." He told him. 

"En." Yi Bing answered. "I've got a lead about the syndicate." He said. 

Lu Si started. "What?" he muttered under his breath. 

"After I saved Huo Ling in Bolivia, while he stayed in the hotel, I went to retrieve his jeep." Yi Bing started. "I've found in his luggage a box containing his students' test papers. I think he brought it as a memento." He said. 

Lu Si hummed in agreement. 

"When I took the box, the papers fell because it was scratched by the assassin when it tried to find Huo Ling inside the vehicle." Yi Bing continued. "Then, I saw a document that shouldn't belong to Huo Ling." He said. 

Lu Si exclaimed in wonder. "This document…" he muttered, then frowned. "Why didn't you send it to me?" he asked. 

"I did." Yi Bing answered. "I thought you already have seen it, and then I waited for your instructions. But, I only received your order to watch over Huo Ling." He explained. "I thought you…" his voice trailed off. 

Lu Si froze before he logged in to his email account. "… f*ck." He cursed in a low voice. "It was deemed as a spam! Sh*t!" he cursed. 

Jonathan turned to him. "What's wrong?" he asked. 

Lu Si took a deep breath to calm himself. "Fortunately, I don't delete the emails…" he muttered and gnashed his teeth as he turned the computer screen to Jonathan. 

Jonathan read the document Lu Si opened. "Sh*t!" he cursed and almost punched the computer screen. Fortunately, Lu Si was quick to hold him back. "Bastard…!" he gritted his teeth. 

"What? What's wrong? What happened?!" Hao Baiyun's voice from Jonathan's phone asked. 

Jonathan took a deep breath. "I'll explain it to you later." He told Hao Baiyun. Without waiting for the other to response, he ended the call. Then, he turned to Lu Si. "This…" he said. 

"A business deal of ammunition…" Lu Si's lip twitched and his face darkened. "Hong Kong Minister Kong Chuan… what is he planning to do?!" he asked and clenched his fists. 

Jonathan patted his shoulder. "We've got more troublesome thing to face." He told him. 

Lu Si looked at him. 

"Kong Chuan is one of the guests invited as the representative from Hong Kong." Jonathan said, his expression grim. "He must have used his connections to get closer to the royal family to gain a stronger backer for his seat." He explained. "But, now that he found out about Huo Ling's identity…" his voice trailed off as he gritted his teeth. 

Lu Si's face became darker. "Change of plans." He said. "Stare at this bastard. He would definitely call all of his people to sneak inside the palace! We should find these rats and eliminate them, removing all the dangers surrounding xiao Ling!" he punched the table. 

Jonathan nodded. "I'll relay the message." He said and immediately left. 

Lu Si heaved a sigh and turned to his phone. He saw that the call is still ongoing. "… I've shamed myself." He said. He meant, he was very careless to not notice Yi Bing's email. 

"It's fine. You are very busy." Yi Bing said. 

Lu Si placed a hand on his forehead. "How is xiao Ling currently?" he asked. 

"Calm." Yi Bing answered. 

Lu Si fell silent. 

"I'll definitely protect him!" Yi Bing said. 

A smile formed on Lu Si's lips and the depressing feeling he have slightly dissipated. "En. I'll leave him to you." He told him before he ended the call. He then turned to the door where Jonathan appeared. 

"I'm finished summoning everybody." Jonathan spoke as he walked towards him. His face serious. "All the MI6 agents, all over the world, will be arriving within three hours." He said. 

"Three hours…" Lu Si muttered and looked at the giant wall clock. Three hours… it's exactly the time the birthday feast starts. 

Jonathan saw the burden on Lu Si's face. He held Lu Si's hand and squeezed it, comforting him. "It's enough." He said. He doesn't know whether he is saying this to Lu Si or to himself. Or both. "Kong Chuan must not be expecting this either, so he would also take some time to call for his people, who are still in China, here." He explained. 

"In short – " Lu Si said. " – this is a race against time." 

In the hotel's parking lot, a muffled laughter can be heard from inside the car. 

"So that's it! So that's it!!!" the middle-aged man said as he stared, wide-eyed, at Huo Ling's face on the screen. "So that's how a mere preschool teacher can avoid me… so that's why he is well-protected by the MI6… HE IS A PRINCE!" He exclaimed. "HAHAHAHA! A PRINCE… A PRINCE!!!" he said as he stared at the screen, his eyes are bloodshot and his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets. 

When they found out that it was the wrong documents that have been sent to them, and the documents that have to be sent to them were sent to a wrong place, they almost have killed the mailing company. But, they can't since they have to be low-key. And so, they asked the mailing company the list of the addresses that they will be sending to that day. It took them a whole day to find Huo Ling's home. 

They investigated Huo Ling's background, and observed him every day. Fortunately for Huo Ling and his students, they can't senselessly kill anyone. Thus, Huo Ling can live in peace. But, not for long because the big boss got impatient. Those documents contained the big project they will be contracting. 

Thus, he sent people to turn Huo Ling's home upside-down. When they didn't find the documents, they thought Huo Ling was intentionally hiding them to blackmail them. Thus, the boss decided to capture Huo Ling alive. 

But, they didn't expect for the MI6 to intervene. They also were taken aback when Huo Ling suddenly disappeared, only for them to luckily find him in Bolivia. However, they still didn't manage to kill Huo Ling because Huo Ling was very lucky to always manage to escape from their clutches. 

"Hawk." He called his driver.

"Yes, boss?" the driver answered. 

"Capture this bastard, alive!" the boss said. "Squeeze out the location of the documents from him… even if he'll become half-dead! I want those documents!" he told him. 

"Understood, boss!" the driver answered and went out of the car to instruct the subordinate waiting outside the car. 

The boss looked at the invitation in his hands. His smile became meaningful, full of malice. "Finally, my dear prince… I found you!" he said, his lips forming a wide, evil grin.