Yama Rising

Viang, capital of Lan Xang.

The streets were lined with stores with Cathayan signs all over. The Cathayan language was used in various places in the country. Unfortunately, the country was poor, and the facilities available to the National University of Lan Xang was somewhat limited.

Everyone attending the National University of Lan Xang knew that Zhou Gu was one of the most famous students of his year. He was handsome, charming, elegant, and most importantly, he was proficient in all kinds of musical instruments, including the piano, electric piano, guitar, bass guitar, and even more traditional instruments such as the zither or the guqin. Every university performance would invariably feature his appearance.

He seldom spoke to anyone, except for the purposes of discourse in music. Furthermore, he was known to pay large amounts of money in order to secure a single room for himself, as opposed to sharing a room with anyone else.

Lan Xang was close to the tropics and the temperature tended to be on the higher side all year around. It was August, and yet most citizens in Lan Xang were still dressed in T-shirts, shorts and slippers. Nevertheless, Zhou Gu had a baseball cap on, wore a pair of headphones, and sneakers. As he trudged along the corridor in school, several female students couldn’t help but steal glances at him.

The girl next to her laughed, “Dream on. He’s out of our league - a wallflower that knows nothing but music. Not even the other students from Cathay are able to elicit more than a cursory exchange from him.”

Naturally, Zhou Gu didn’t hear any of the exchange between the two ladies. And even if he did, it wouldn’t have bothered him one bit.

His room was completely different from what everyone had expected.

The coffins were small. In fact, it would be a misnomer to call them coffins. They were more akin to some kind of human-shaped container, wrapped tightly by countless talismans that had cinnabar scribblings and drawings all over them. Furthermore, there wasn’t even a bed in the room. The only other object sitting in his room was a statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva!

The look in Zhou Gu’s eyes at this moment was nothing like that one would expect of an average college student. There was an incomparably complex look in his eyes, almost as though he were a man who was hundreds of years old.

He waved his hand slightly, and a spot of netherflame adhered itself to a piece of white paper in the Yin soldier’s hands and brought it over to him. He picked it up and stared at it for a long time, before finally chuckling contemptuously, “Does Liu Jinu really think of himself as an emperor? His time has long passed, and we’re all no more than Emissaries of Hell right now… No, in fact, we’re not even Emissaries of Hell. Without any proper conferment of title, we’re no different from Yin spirits and evil ghosts.”

“He’s inviting both myself and Yang Jiye to make a trip back to the old Hell? And he’s even done this in the form of an imperial edict? On what basis? Isn’t he aware that I was born several hundred years before he was?” Zhou Gu casually flicked the invitation, and the sheet of paper spontaneously combusted with a jade-green netherflame, before promptly turning to dust.

“No.” Unexpectedly, Zhou Gu raised his hand, “There’s no hurry.”

As he spoke, the pupils in his eyes suddenly lit up with two spots of golden netherflames that flickered about wildly.

Zhou Gongjin glanced at the Yin soldier, and then suddenly changed the topic, “Do you know why… Liu Jinu didn’t immediately turn against Hell?”

The Yin soldier was stunned. Yin energy continued to flow from his seven apertures as he wracked his mind over the question that had been posed to him. Finally, after a long time, he responded, “Didn’t Lord Liu… say something about independence?”

The Yin soldier lowered his head in confusion, before finally shaking his head in dismay.

He continued, “One cannot simply look at the new Hell as it currently stands. Of the twelve envoys, some would immediately pledge their allegiance to the new Hell, some won’t, while there are others who are simply undecided like myself. That said, even if we take the situation at its worst and say that none of the twelve envoys would pledge their allegiance to Hell, we still have to bear in mind the fact that the western underworlds are all eyeing Cathay like venomous vipers.”

“The privilege of our status as feudal officials allows us to learn of the collapse of the old Hell before any of the other underworlds out there. None of them know about this right now. But whoever sits on the throne of the new Hell would immediately also assume the position as the new thorn in the side of the other underworlds! Think about it - how glorious did the old Hell use to be? Do you think the foreign underworlds would be able to resist trampling all over Hell now that they are given the perfect opportunity to do so? And we haven’t even talked about the low-hanging fruit of the old Hell’s legacy and how it is something that the other underworlds would attempt to secure at all costs!”

The room went silent.

“There’s no harm in taking a look.” Zhou Yu finally made up his mind, “The imperial court meeting at the end of the year will see the reunion of the twelve envoys once more, together with that nutcase Liu Jinu… Haha. None will pass up on this opportunity…”

The Yin soldier pulled out another piece of white paper from his bosom and lit a spot of green netherflame nearby, revealing a name on it.

…………………………………………..

“You’ve finally come…” Arthis heaved a sigh of relief as she gazed into the distant sky, “There’s no need to rush. It’s useless to rush. The one who sits on the throne will have to bear the weight of its crown. Did you really think that there wouldn’t be any implications to receiving the Book of Life and Death back in Hell?”

There was no way he wanted to reveal his true identity back in the mortal realm - at least, not until he had managed to squirrel away as much of the treasures stored in the Great Dipper Vault as he possibly could. After all, there was simply no telling how much supplies he would need for the future development of Hell. Besides, there was no downside in amassing these treasures either.

The eruption of Yin energy at the Strait of Tsushima had attracted the attention of the entire East Continent. The butterfly effect was slowly stirring into full force… and it was finally transforming into a terrifying tornado.

Having understood the tension between underworlds globally, Qin Ye hardly dared to think about how great the repercussions would be if news of this incident spread to the Middle East, or even to Europa or Usonia.

Arthis lowered her head, and her gaze grew deep and abstruse, “Have you ever wondered… why the three eastern provinces were suddenly thrown into such chaos?”

She turned around and locked eyes with Qin Ye, “Thus, you can’t even begin to fathom how terrified these Yin spirits are of the new Hell right now.”

Qin Ye grew taciturn, and his eyes flickered wildly.

It suddenly dawned on Qin Ye that he might have been oversimplifying matters all this while. The big picture was no different from a chessboard, with a multitude of moves available to him, yet a single misstep might well mean checkmate.

“Whatever the case might be, the best way moving forward is simply to remain inside for now.” Arthis cautioned gravely, “Don’t leave the City of Salvation under all circumstances, at least before the imperial court meeting at the end of the year! With Zhou Xianlong and the First Academy of Cultivators around, you’ll be absolutely safe under the shelter of the City of Salvation!”

1. Reference to Vientiane.

2. Zhou Gongjin’s other name.