Yama Rising

Qin Ye huffed greatly in anger in the toilet cubicle.

He could tell that this was the Second King Yanluo’s test for him. He’d previously misinterpreted the golden words written by Fate as evidence of Fate’s orchestration of the current course of events. Unfortunately, that was clearly not the case.

Unlike the Hungry Ghost festival when everything was dictated by Fate, a different function was currently being used this time. It was more akin to an accelerator, rather than an orchestrator of events. Everything happening right now was inevitable. All Fate was doing was to make these encounters happen more quickly, just like a catalyst in a chemical reaction.

That said… Fate’s tone is…

Incredibly disrespectful!!!

Fate had clearly set out the entire sequence of causes and effects, and yet Qin Ye wasn’t in the slightest bit thankful for that - It really doesn’t take much for someone to come up with something like this…

Besides, doesn’t this mean that it will only record everything I’ve done, and not the things that I’ve yet to do?

After some time, he began to mull over what the Russian Underworld was about to do.

Truth be told, there were in fact certain things recorded by Fate which not even Qin Ye had considered.

For instance, the Russian Underworld’s perspective.

That’s right… Would it even occur to the Russian Underworld that Hell would covet the script of death?

Not a chance!

This is indeed a blind spot to them. And if that’s indeed the case… then it opens a whole host of opportunities to me!

This newfound clarity had brought several more considerations to the forefront of his mind. Even though he hadn’t decided on the next course of action, he still had some leads to work with. Thus, he straightened out his clothes and finally stepped out of the cubicle.

So I see that both Wang Chenghao and Oda Nobutada have finally begun to eat, huh… Pfft… All-talk good-for-nothings. To think that you’d just categorically stated a little while ago that you don’t want to eat anything. Why are your chopsticks moving so quickly?

Qin Ye finally sat down and took a bite of his food. It had to be said that the unadulterated flavour of the barbecued meat coupled with the fragrant sesame dipping sauce and a nice mouthful of soup truly hit the spot. It wasn’t fancy, but it was far tastier than he’d previously anticipated.

After their meal, he remained in his seat and glanced right out of the window at Yeouido Island.

The Yeouido Full Gospel Church was one of the largest Christian Churches in the world, and Qin Ye had a good view of the church building from here. Naturally, he could also tell that there were at least hundreds of Brain Mite carriers walking about the church grounds right now.

We should be talking about five or so Mite Overlords… Qin Ye did the math silently in his heart. Sure, they might be able to fool the eyes of any ordinary Infernal Judge, but certainly not a successor to the throne of Hell. The Brain Mite carriers went about on their usual routines on the island of Yeouido, and most of them were in close proximity to the Full Gospel Church. Even then, none of them appeared to be very vigilant.

They’re probably aware that I’ll only act after midnight.

………………………………………………….

Night. 10.00 p.m.

Yeouido was still brightly lit. Neon signs illuminated the streets around the vicinity, leaving all but a solitary building dimly lit in the background - the Full Gospel Church.

The entrance was already closed, leaving the soft glow of light sources within peering through the stained glass windows. The entire church looked more sacred and holy than ever. The grand corridors in the church were illuminated with only candles, casting a soft sheen of reverence about the place.

Andre was one of the pastors here. In fact, he had been here for over ten years now. He had made the Full Gospel Church his home ever since coming over from Brittania as a missionary. Apart from the areas in which access was forbidden to him, he knew exactly how many people there were on duty in the church at any point in time, and who each of these were.

Clutching his Bible, he strode through the grand corridors of the church, flanked only by the fine sculptures and large paintings. The ground was polished so smoothly that he could even see his hazy silhouette on its surface. That said, given the deterioration of his faculties that came with his age, he somehow got the feeling that the sculptures were always staring back at him whenever he walked down this corridor.

Tonight was no different from the previous nights. After cleaning up the chapel, he marched through the grand corridors and made his way straight to the pastors’ residence, otherwise known as the manse.

However, after walking for about 10 paces, he suddenly stopped.

The grand corridor was approximately 20 meters long. He turned around and glanced back at him.

Nothing.

“An illusion?” Andre shook off the strange thoughts on his mind. He could’ve sworn that he heard footsteps behind him.

Tap, tap… It was almost as though it was mimicking his footsteps.

When he walked, it walked, and when he stopped, it stopped as well.

He continued walking once more. This time, it only took three steps before he paused once more and jerked his head up. His entire body trembled softly, and his pupils contracted.

Someone’s here… Someone’s following me!

He had heard another footstep! The footstep had echoed through the grand corridor only after his feet had struck the ground!

It was the sound of shoes tapping against the polished surface of the ground.

Even a pastor couldn’t help but get goosebumps all over his skin. The church was closed. The only people around were the security guards, as well as the cultivators who occupied the rooms in the church manse. Who could possibly be looking for him here?

His hair stood on end. He looked down at the ground, only to notice another silhouette standing right behind him!

It wasn’t even a meter away from him!

“God help me…” He wrapped his hand tightly around the cross in his palm as he forged forward again. The grand corridor was only twenty meters. The confessional room was located right beyond that. He refused to believe that a demon would manifest itself under the watchful eyes of the Almighty God!

He took a deep breath, and the muscles of his face tensed up. A moment later, he ran forward as quickly as he could and yelled at the top of his voice, “Someone… Anyone!!”

“Please… Help me!!!”

Strangely, nobody seemed to respond to him.

There was only the sound of quickened footsteps that continued to follow right behind him. Tap, tap, tap… It continued at exactly the same pace as his own footsteps. It was almost as though… he was carrying something with him!

His cry of despondence lingered in the grand corridors . He could see the end of the corridor. It was the light at the end of the tunnel. But, just then… Clink… Another glint of light flew straight ahead.

It was a cross.

The cross that was all so familiar to him.

It was so familiar to him because it was the exact same cross that he had been handling everyday, except that it was slightly tarnished right now.

This is… the cross I wear around my neck… How did it fall in front of me? Andre froze where he was, and then stiffly raised his hand to his neck. He was filled with the fear that his neck wouldn’t even be there right now.

And as soon as his hand made contact with his neck, his eyes rolled back, and he nearly passed out.

Because he felt another hand around his neck.

A hand that wasn’t his.

There’s… really someone…

This was the last thought that occurred to him before he passed out.

After some time, he gasped loudly and jolted back to his senses in horror. But as soon as he did, he immediately screamed again.

This time, it was because of what he saw. There was a man standing in front of him. This man was shrouded in dark Yin energy and dressed in ancient Cathayan garments. Two clumps of netherflames blazed in the depths of his eyes. The man made a soft gurgling sound in his throat as though he were a madman on the loose. At once, Andre pulled out another cross from his sleeves and pointed it straight towards the man in the room, “H-heavens bless me…”

This is all a misunderstanding… Qin Ye was just about to speak up when he suddenly noticed a problem…

I’m not fluent in English!

Just like that, a man and a ghost stared at each other in a complete deadlock. Andre trembled like a leaf in a hurricane, while Qin Ye did his best to placate the pastor and calm him down, “Excuse me…”

“AHHHHHH!!!!” Pastor Andre screamed at the top of his voice.

…… Qin Ye cursed under his breath.

I’ve already said ‘excuse me’! What are you still screaming about?! Have you ever seen such a polite demon?!

Besides, why did language suddenly become an issue?

What should I do?

Take him away?

No, that wouldn’t do. It’s night-time. The Brain Mite carriers are probably all on high alert. Most of the humans out and about on the streets right now are probably carriers of the Brain Mite. It wasn’t easy slipping through the cracks earlier and slipping into the church. There’s no way I’ll be able to evade detection if I attempt to capture this man.

Qin Ye wasn’t prepared to meet up with Rumyantsev just yet. However, there was no doubt that he was still carrying information that Rumyantsev wanted to know about.

Thus, with a soft sigh, Qin Ye reached into his robes and… pulled out his cell phone.

Hmm… Samsung…

Qin Ye deftly booted up the translation app, tapped on a button, recorded his message, and then tapped on the translate button. And then he shook it in front of Andre’s face.

No response.

He shook it again.

Still no response.

Qin Ye could understand why. After all, an evil ghost had shown up right in front of a pastor, only to attempt to communicate with him through a translation device. Anyone would have reacted in the exact same manner.

“Hi?” Qin Ye felt stifled. It felt no different from travelling to a foreign country and walking into a foreign shop to ask about something he wanted to purchase.

“Hi… Oh, hi! Hi…” Andre finally calmed down slightly. Everything that happened tonight was completely outrageous to his mind. He had never expected to encounter a demon, much less communicate with him. They were even communicating with Samsung technology to boot!

This series of events completely blew his mind!

“Is the underworld also in tune with the times…” He couldn’t help but murmur aloud, before finally turning to the phone and reading the message on it, “Where is Mukov?”

To think he’d even use a question mark at the end of his sentence…

Mm… How polite…

Andre nearly dropped his Bible onto the ground. Since when are demons polite?! What in the world is going on right now?!!

He took a deep breath and calmed his mind down. He was no longer stricken with fear. After all, who could possibly be terrified of a ghost using a mobile phone? He thought for a moment, and then spoke, “[in English] He went to Pusan this morning.”

Qin Ye: ……

Qin Ye pointed to the phone.

Old man, are you teasing me?

Do you not see the phone in front of you? Do you really expect me to understand what you’re saying?

With that, Qin Ye suddenly found himself faced with a grade 6 oral examination.

The room was filled with an awkward silence.

Andre picked up the phone, stared at the screen for some time, and then coughed dryly as he painstakingly gesticulated at Qin Ye until Qin Ye finally understood what he meant.

… This old man wants me to pull out the keyboard…

It was incredibly awkward. A pastor and an evil ghost were putting their heads together, trying desperately to call up the keyboard function on a Samsung phone…

After much ado, Andre finally gave him the answer he was looking for. Qin Ye’s eyes flickered wildly as soon as he saw Andre’s response on the screen.

“Mukov went to the Jukseong Dream Cathedral earlier at noon.”

Having read through Fate’s detailed analysis of the script of death, Qin Ye knew full well that the three parts to the script were assigned to be administered by various people. Two administrators would come from the Russian Underworld, while one would come from the Hanyang Underworld. Incidentally, Mukov was one of the two from the Russian Underworld.

Qin Ye could sense a particular spirit pen in his robes stir with excitement as soon as he saw this statement.

It was almost as though these words had just triggered the bloodlust of an evil ghost.

Kwon Kyung-ho desired revenge. He longed to exact vengeance on behalf of all the children who perished on MV Sewol!

And his hatred wasn’t merely directed at No. 2. Far be it from that. His hatred was sufficient to consume No. 2, together with all of the people pulling the strings from behind the scene.

The world of adults was a dark and terrifying place. But, be that as it may, he would balance things out by exacting vengeance in the most unadulterated way. Kwon Kyung-ho was simply going to kill them.