Yama Rising

Beep beep beep… Lin Han stared at his cell phone in shock. After three long seconds of astonishment, his hand abruptly shot into the sky, “Director Zhou, it’s ringing!”

Just then, an intense chill swept across their heads, and he instantly retracted his hands. Even then, he continued to hold his cell phone up midway, shaking it slightly.

Meanwhile, a female ghost carrying a lantern drifted up from the ground right in front of their very eyes. She elegantly straightened out the hem of her kimono, feebly concealing the countless snake-like tails that were squirming about beneath.

“[In Nipponese] Delicious food--…” She ran her fingers gently across her lips. But before she could go on, her body suddenly contorted and vanished with a flourish of netherflames.

Zhou Xianlong slowly withdrew his hand. But rather than to respond to Lin Han’s earlier victorious cry, he simply turned to stare at the rest of the city.

He could sense the movements of over a hundred Hellguard-class Yin spirits. It was a chilling sight. There were clearly over a hundred Hellguard-class Yin spirits swooping about menacingly right here in Martial City, and he could even tell that not a single one of them originated in Cathay!

What the hell is going on right now?!

Not far away, a ghastly flaming wheel rolled along the street, consuming every single lantern-toting Yin spirit in close proximity wherever it passed. Then, almost as though it had sensed Zhou Xianlong’s aura, it swiftly did an about-turn and screamed as it rolled swiftly in the opposite direction.

“Damn…” Zhou Xianlong clenched his fist and turned to Mo Changhao, “Have you managed to locate the coordinates of the head honcho?”

Mo Changhao nodded, “I’ve just detected intense energy fluctuations from the Lush Garden Acres site!”

“Good. We’ll head over immediately!” Zhou Xianlong gritted his teeth and motioned to depart. It was only then that he casually turned back to Lin Han, “Did anyone answer Mr Qin’s phone?”

No!”

At once, Mo Changhao instructed, “Immediately track the whereabouts of his cell phone!”

“We’ve already done that.” An albatross walked over proudly, “Coincidentally, he’s also at the Lush Garden Acres site.”

Zhou Xianlong was just about to take off into the distance when he paused for a moment, and then turned back with great disbelief, “Are you certain?”

“We’ve detected Prefect-class Yin energy fluctuations emanating from there just moments ago. Would he still be alive by the time we get there?”

“I’m almost certain of that.” The albatross leaned over and whispered, “Deputy Director Zhou, you should be fully aware that all investigators’ cell phones are essentially directly linked up to the Vault of the Sky system. The monitoring chip that is connected to each investigator is not only useful for locating their physical coordinates, but also detecting the true energy fluctuations emanating from their body. Naturally, these are records that we can tap into at any point in time.”

“I can tell you with certainty that we’ve detected several energy fluctuations from him in quick succession earlier.”

Zhou Xianlong’s eyes twitched slightly, “Energy fluctuations?”

“That’s right.” The albatross nodded, “And not true energy at that.”

Silence. Seconds later, Zhou Xianlong sighed deeply, “Let’s move out!”

………………………………………………..

“Damn it… damn it!!” Susa Boy gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath as he gazed into the distance.

Speak of the devil. How could I have forgotten about this damn bystander over there…

The human bystander simply stood there, watching the altercation with seeming indifference. The human being was clearly far stronger than Susa Boy, but he seemed to be content with just being a bystander.

In fact, Susa Boy could sense the presence of a terrifying aura of a god-tier artifact.

Therefore, Susa Boy had tried to steer as clear of this terrifying expert as possible. Unfortunately, the expert had taken it upon himself to make a move against Susa Boy.

“You seek death?!” Susa Boy bellowed with great fury. It had been 15 minutes since Hell’s gate had first opened and the Yin soldiers had appeared. According to the records, the Abyssal Prefects of Hell would soon arrive in the mortal realm. The old man’s intervention had come at the most ill-opportune time! It was an intervention that had completely snuffed out his chances of catching up to Qin Ye altogether!

The old man didn’t respond. Instead, he simply raised the broken Sword of the Yellow Emperor in his hand as he glanced at Susa Boy.

“Try me.”

Susa Boy stared intently at the old man. An intense urge to tear the old man to shreds swelled up from within his heart.

But, he dared not.

The sword might be broken, but it still exuded an overbearing aura that sent chills running down his back. At once, they found themselves at a complete deadlock, staring intently at each others’ eyes without either making the first move. Ten seconds later, Susa Boy sighed and gnashed his teeth as he glanced at Qin Ye.

“Count yourself lucky…” With that, Susa Boy’s body began to transform into a nethergale as he motioned to retreat.

He needed to cut his losses. The operation might have failed, but if he didn’t prioritize his search for Lee Jung-sook right now, then he would most certainly perish in the heart of Cathay!

That said, he didn’t expect to elicit a response from Qin Ye, “Count myself lucky?”

Are you really seeking death?! Susa Boy paused mid-transformation, and his scarlet eyes peeked through the cloud of Yin energy, staring straight at Qin Ye. Meanwhile, the old man in the sky also glanced over. Both were ostensibly taken aback by Qin Ye’s response.

Qin Ye’s body fluctuated like a reflection in rippling waters. Copious amounts of Yin energy dispersed around him as he looked up with a grimace, “You’re the one who should be counting your lucky stars…”

“How dare you leave Cathay after taking the lives of so many Yin soldiers?”

A full five minutes had finally lapsed!

…………………………………………..

Buzz… Fate erupted with brilliant golden light once more. But this time, Fate didn’t tremble with the eruption of light, because it was instead the words that had already been written that glowed with a radiant lustre.

“What’s this?!” The Harken shot to its feet, while the Second King Yanluo of Hell explained placidly, “He’s managed to stir Fate once more. That said, all that has to be written has already been written. The conclusion is already set in stone.”

“It’s not going to be long now…” He glanced at the vast canopy of the skies ahead, “The grand finale to this masterpiece… is almost upon us…”

The Harken paused, and then whispered back, “Are you going?”

“I’ll meet with him eventually. But now isn’t the time.” The Second King Yanluo stood up, “There are some things that I’ll have to personally teach him. But… I’d like to put off getting pummeled by that man for as long as I can.”

After all, Qin Ye wouldn’t let the Second King Yanluo get away scot-free once he learnt of the truth about tonight…

“Let’s wait until the grand finale is over.” He patted the Harken’s paw gently, “I’ll help you out. You’ve not gone back to the mortal realm for some time, have you? Go give him your support. It pains me to see Hell’s decrepit state right now.”

“But you can decide for yourself when you want to show up.”

With that, he tapped the Harken gently, and the Harken vanished instantly.

…………………………………………….

Whoosh… The daolord of the asura immediately greeted Qin Ye as soon as he appeared in Hell once more, “Dear me, dear me… Yanluo Qin, what happened--…”

The daolord was just helping Qin Ye to his feet when he suddenly paused.

He could clearly see Qin Ye’s pale expression, the trickle of blood running down the corner of his lips, and… even the stench of an Abyssal Prefect on his body.

Something calamitous has happened back in the mortal realm!

This was the first thought that occurred to him.

And then, a wave of multitudinous thoughts soon followed.

Hell’s gate had opened once more on the day of the Hungry Ghost Festival. The King Yanluo of Hell had personally taken to overseeing things back in the mortal realm, only to return wounded and weary. Hell clearly wasn’t doing as well as it made itself out to be.

Scheming minds like the daolord of the asura were adept at sniffing out the waves of tumult from a mile away. Loyalty was fiction to them. He could act with the greatest subservience and duty, and hardly bat an eyelid when the time came to cutting one up to pieces with a butter knife.

“Yanluo Qin.” He helped Qin Ye up, “How did you get yourself injured like that?”

“Who dares make a move against the King Yanluo of Hell? Where’s your imperial guard? What of Lord Harken and Lord Zhao Yun? Unless… they’re nothing but legends and myths?”

At once, Qin Ye grabbed him by the throat and lifted his frail and feeble body up.

Everything was turning out to be a mess tonight because of the dereliction of his own duty. The Hungry Ghost Festival was a flop, and he’d even lost thousands of precious elite Yin soldiers. How dare Qin Hui poke the angry ogre right now?

“Daolord of the asura…” Qin Ye grimaced as he wiped the trickle of blood off the corner of his lips, “If you still wish to earn yourself that place in Hell, you’d do well to behave yourself and watch your words.”

The daolord’s pupils shrank as soon as he felt himself being lifted off the ground. At once, the Yin energy of his body flourished madly, the veins on his hands popped, and even his chest suddenly bulged rapidly, almost as though something were about to emerge from within.

But he sensibly suppressed his innermost desires as soon as he heard Qin Ye’s words of caution to him.

Thud… Qin Ye released his grip on the daolord’s throat, and he landed gently on his feet. Two seconds later, the daolord revealed a fawning smile at Qin Ye, “Don’t say that, Your Excellency. Your humble servant was just displaying his concern for you.”

“Concern?” Qin Ye suddenly laughed. Then, with a firm nod, he leaned in and whispered to the daolord, “Would you like to see the true might of Hell?”

The daolord’s eyes flickered wildly, “Ha… Your Excellency has a good sense of humour. Your humble servant here is wholly devoted to Hell. Why would I be testing--...”

“Is that a yes, or is that a no?”

“... If Your Excellency is willing, I’d naturally love to witness the true might of Hell.”

“Very well.” Qin Ye smiled and took a step back. A split second later, a piece of scale flew into the air, and a wave of boundless Yin energy filled the air. At once, the daolord’s mind went numb, and he knelt to the ground with a resounding thud.

This is… Lord Harken…

This is Lord Harken’s Yin energy!

He’s still around! He’s really still alive!

How fortunately that he had only been probing at the depths of Hell’s might earlier. Otherwise, who knows what fate would befall him?

With the Harken around, even the slightest bit of disrespect to the King Yanluo of Hell would be tried with the severest punishments!

“T-t-this lowly one humbly greets Lord Harken!!!” The daolord hissed at once. That said, the Harken didn’t even bother to acknowledge his existence. Instead, the Harken simply turned to Qin Ye, “What is it?”

Qin Ye took a deep breath. Susa Boy… He had the perfect plan in mind.

The six paths of reincarnation!

They would be sentenced to form part of the foundation of the six paths of reincarnation!

This was the first time his heart had been filled with such intense murderous intent… as well as a trace of worry.

Perhaps not even Lee Jung-sook would have expected Hell to be unable to stop Susa Boy in its tracks. After all, she was probably hoping to kill Susa Boy with a borrowed knife.

Qin Ye wanted to save Lee Jung-sook.

Not just because she was the only other person who could understand him, but because… she had once saved his life as well.

“All troops, heed my command!” His voice suddenly thundered in the ears of all Yin soldiers, “Assemble at once. We move out in three minutes to quell a rebellion!”

“Yes!!!” A tremendous roar echoed from atop the four city walls of Ashmound.

It was only then that Qin Ye turned back and glanced at the scale that was suspended in the air, “Lord Harken, do I have the honour of your company as well?”

“It is my duty and honour to do so.”