Yama Rising

Qin Ye nodded his head, “Go on.”

He lifted his mask. His lower lips were pale and devoid of any colour of blood. He coughed dryly and continued with a hoarse voice, “Jingle Bells vanished completely ever since that fateful incident.”

“Whenever night fell… I would always feel as though something or someone were watching me. It’s almost as though it were looming just over the head of my bed… I’m certain that it’s there after midnight…” He shuddered vigorously once more, “It just stands there, silently watching me… I struggled so much to open my eyes, yet I was simply powerless to do so…”

His tone of voice rose again, and he began to pant nervously. He took another ten seconds or so to calm down before speaking again, “Then, in about September, Jingle Bells showed up again.”

He grabbed Qin Ye’s hand in agitation. Qin Ye raised his eyebrows. Li Jiankang’s hands were icy cold and barely warm at all.

“I…”

“There’s another person living in my apartment!”

He appeared completely spiritless, as though his soul was swamped in the mires of desolation. He continued hoarsely, “Since then, I’ve never gone home. I live next to my home in a rented apartment right now. The only time that I dare return is in the day…”

“I got it.” Qin Ye nodded his head and stood up, “Incidentally, it’s the fifteenth of the month today. I’ll go to your house at midnight tonight.”

The paper crane was perched on his shoulder. Qin Ye turned the corner and immediately leaned close to the wall, “Is he still there?”

“Is he watching me?”

Qin Ye leaned close to the wall and furrowed his brows, “It’s not suspicion.”

“In fact, it is typical of one who has suffered a massive loss of blood.”

“Perhaps I might have been over sensitive as well.” Qin Ye muttered placidly, “But there’s one other thing - and that’s my appearances.”

“Please speak in plain human terms.” Arthis muttered icily.

Without waiting for Arthis’ response, he answered his own question, “If I were in his shoes, and regardless of how desperate he actually is, I would still have been suspicious given my age. He should have cautioned me not to go instead. His friend ought to be about his age, and yet even an adult like them perished to the mysterious cause. As a person who doesn’t know a single thing about the supernatural forces of the world, how could he not possess the slightest bit of suspicion given my age? How could he be so certain that a high school student would be able to help him?”

“It’s not a fluke… How many people have you deceived with those appearances of yours? And your sense of impending dangers and crises is so much stronger than an average Hunter-class cultivator at that.”

Time passed by quickly.

Instead, he was merely tied for first place!

Someone’s catching up…

“As expected, these experts of the mortal realm aren’t mere pushovers…” Qin Ye switched off his phone and leaned against the wall as he shut his eyes to rest.

There were currently two tied for first place. The first to complete their mission would truly take the lead! Given the way the school is run, there might even be bonus credits for taking the top spot!

It sounded hurried and hasty. As soon as the footsteps turned the corner, Qin Ye smiled wickedly and whistled, “Dear, you’ve been lynched.”

Qin Ye shrugged his shoulders. Indeed, the entire street was undergoing demolition works, and yet he hadn’t seen a single soul pass by the entire afternoon.

“Why haven’t you left yet?” The young man patted off the dirt on his buttocks as he regulated his breathing.

“Why are you waiting for me?”

“......” Does crippling someone count as committing an offence of causing grievous hurt? I’ll wait on the line. This is pretty urgent.

Qin Ye looked back at the young man, “What’s the matter? Is the haunted house very famous?”

“If not for the fact that I didn’t have money, I would have shifted away a long time ago! Please don’t go! Seven people have already gone missing there! It really is a haunted house!! Nobody dares to step within a ten meter radius of that place!”

“......” May I please know what circumstances qualify as the act of self-defence? And at what point does it become excessive? Is verbal assault counted? I’ll wait on the line. This is pretty urgent.

Without waiting for Qin Ye’s response, he added, “Matricide.”

It was indeed a rather high-profile incident.

Unfortunately, the protracted period of separation earlier had created a rift in the family, and their son no longer listened to his parents. Finally, when the son was caught smoking at home for the umpteenth time, the mother picked up a leather belt in a fit of anger and disappointment and gave him a good lashing. Unexpectedly, the son retaliated. In his rage and discombobulation, he ran into the kitchen, picked up a knife in a frenzy and stabbed his mother over twenty times. His mother died immediately.

The son changed into a set of new clothes and tossed the murder weapon into the middle of the pond. That night, the son answered a number of work calls on behalf of his mother and even tweeted on his mother’s behalf to apply for sick leave.

As there were no traces of blood on the first floor, the grandfather hardly thought much about the matter. Instead, they even went to the grandfather’s place for breakfast.

Unfortunately, since the son was not of age yet, he couldn’t be sentenced, and the law had no choice but to acquit him.

“This is…” Qin Ye took a deep breath and looked down the street.

“But Uncle Li can’t hear it even though everyone else can! There’s a ghost in there… there really is a ghost in there! You musn’t go!”

“I don’t know…” The young man glanced nervously at both sides of the road, “That’s the scariest part of it all… his son had simply… vanished.”

Qin Ye nodded his head, “One last question.”

“What little black cat?” The young man asked in bewilderment, “I’ve never heard of it.”

“That’s impossible.” The young man trembled as an inexplicable chill surged throughout his body, “He’s never owned a cat! Think about it, how could he look after the cat if he was always away at work? Would he deign to have a cat if he didn’t even have the time to look after his child?! There’s no cat… I’ve never seen any cats in their house at all!”

1. Another reference to the Werewolf game.