Yama Rising

But he knew better.

What? You don’t want to go?

As soon as Qin Ye considered responding with ‘I’d like to scrape by and survive’... the sheer thought of the potential admonishment that would follow immediately sent shivers down his spine.

Qin Ye held back the desire to spit out a mouthful of blood. Hellguards… Who’s to say for sure whether these Hellguard-class evil ghosts are merely executing orders from a Judge-class evil ghost?! And who’s to say for sure whether these evil ghosts are part of an army of Assassins of the Underworld under the direct charge of a daolord altogether?! What if I purge one or two of them, only to attract the ire of the head honcho behind them? Don’t you think an entity like that would be able to wipe out an entire clan of Qin Ye’s, and perhaps more?!

Unfortunately, they obviously didn’t hear Qin Ye’s plea for help. Xu Anguo pointed to one of the documents, “Take a look at this - Pearl River Delta. This is one of the locations where Cathay is experiencing the worst supernatural outbreak. It’s on par with the three eastern provinces and the three provinces of Westriver Province, Cloudriver Province and Rich Province. This is one of the places where you’ll definitely find yourself hanging on by the thread of your life. If you go there, I’m almost certain that you’ll be an Anitya Hellguard the next time we meet.”

Qin Ye felt his throat getting more parched by the minute. Pearl River Delta… If memory serves me well, this would be the territory occupied by the daolord of the hungry ghosts. If I head there, wouldn’t I be… consenting to my transformation into a little lump of dim sum for him?

“Let’s have a look at the others…” His facial muscles stiffened up as he placated Xu Anguo awkwardly and unobtrusively.

That’s even worse… Arthis had mentioned some time ago that there’s probably a Prefect-class evil ghost disguised as a human being hiding there!

His lips trembled slightly, but he remained completely silent. Xu Anguo nodded understandingly, “It’s always good to look through the options before weighing them properly. How about this place? Southriver Province? It’s one of the most populous provinces with a fairly high rate of supernatural outbreaks. Furthermore, we’re already starting to see signs of Incarnate Revenants appearing there…”

Just like that, they went through a handful of other options, all of which were summarily dismissed by Qin Ye. Xu Anguo chuckled, “Or perhaps you could let us know your requirements instead? That way, we can narrow the search a little bit better to suit your tastes. Don’t worry about the pay, because every single one of these assignments are extremely high risk, and they naturally pay incredibly well.”

His quick-wittedness immediately kicked in, and he promptly changed tacts, “... to be ruled out. If I want to undo the curse on my body, I’d have to be closer to the higher level hunting zones...”

There’s at least one predatory zone in each city or urbanized area. If luck isn’t on your side, you might even see the emergence of a forbidden zone. On average, we’re seeing approximately four or five forbidden zones in each province in Cathay. Cathay has a total of 152 Judge-class cultivators, most of whom are currently located in urbanized areas where the presence of forbidden zones have been confirmed. The state of supernatural outbreaks in any area can be quite easily determined by the ranks of the watchmen deployed there.”

His departure was now certain, but the outcome wasn’t too bad. His actions would no longer be subject to the scrutiny of the old foxes in the school, and he could even continue to accrue teaching credits and merit points in the meantime. Since that was the case, all that remained was to carefully consider the best option for his next assignment.

As long as it doesn’t startle me any more than the plentiful surprises today… Qin Ye grumbled to himself, before bidding the leaders farewell and returning to his own dorm room.

And what’s most frightening was the fact that they bore the appearances of Su Feng and Local Bully!

“Haven’t you gained enlightenment yet?” Qin Ye glanced suspiciously at them, “What prompted you to finally emerge from your little turtle shell? Turtle’s revenge?”

“Not bad.” Qin Ye was satisfied with their response, and he sat down on his sofa. That said, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d forgotten something important. Unfortunately, he couldn’t put a finger on it. Thus, he simply pointed to them and commanded like a tyrant, “Hey, wipe the table properly. Don’t miss out on a single speck of dust there. I’ve brought a pair of white gloves to check on your work.”

A split second later, Lin Han shot to his feet as though he had seen a living ghost. Both Qin Ye and Su Feng were puzzled at his response. Su Feng even slapped Local Bully’s butt with the feather duster with an annoyed disposition, “The hell… What was all that about? Hurry up and clean!”

Hell? What hell?

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

Arthis’ carapace… No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Arthis’ corpse was already collecting dust, and it was now peeking out from right under the bed.

It had to be said that the destructive power of the husky that was Lin Han was truly startling. For some strange reason, his sensitive nose almost always allowed him to sniff out a startling surprise…

The air was suddenly filled with silence and tension.

Su Feng and Lin Han glanced at him with disbelief. Seconds later, Local Bully placed his hand reassuringly on Qin Ye’s shoulder, “It’s fine, we’re all men over here. I totally understand… How long has it been since she was last pumped?”

“Listen, this is all a misunderstanding.” Cold sweat was now beading up on Qin Ye’s forehead, “It’s really a misunderstanding. I’ve got no idea what this is! Why don’t you… give it a touch and see if there’s any strange liquid inside?!”

“Get out!!!”

Prince of Lordaeron… I, Illidan, can never coexist with you!!!

Boom!!!

His murderous aura was palpable, and the Death Inquisitors that surrounded were all startled and stunned. The Chief Death Inquisitor only returned to his senses after three full seconds, and the whole lot of them immediately knelt down to greet their master.

Excellent… you’re here…

Arthis stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds, “Are you sure that’s all? Didn’t I sense a palpable wave of murderous intent emanating from you earlier? Who was that directed towards? Did Something happen back at the mortal realm?”

Count yourself lucky… I’ll deal with you when I finally become an Infernal Judge… After all, revenge is a dish best served cold. A hundred-year wait would only make revenge all that more bittersweet when it’s finally dished out…

Everyone who was summoned soon arrived at the annex hall. There were dozens of people in all. Qin Ye made a casual hand seal, completely sequestering the annex hall from the rest of Hell outside.

“Everyone, I’ve convened this meeting because I’ve got something of great importance that will be tabled for discussions.” He raised his chin, and Su Dongxue immediately passed along copies of the information that Qin Ye had brought back from the First Academy of Cultivators, “First things first, I’ll be leaving the City of Salvation soon.”

“The second order of business…” He drew a deep breath, before declaring in a deep voice, “I’ve decided to pave the way to the new city in four months’ time!”

Most of the meeting’s attendees had personally experienced modern day society, and they naturally knew how profitable sea trade could be! In fact, even those who had lived during the Southern Song Dynasty would be aware that the establishment of sea trade could feed an entire empire!

It was more symbolic than anything, because it represented to the East Continent that the Cathayan underworld was finally beginning to regain control over the chaos in the region!

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3. It deals with alchemical practices