Yama Rising

Wang Chenghao twisted his body and glanced over towards the prompt.

They were wearing black robes, almost as though they were the monks of a sect. They wore black crosses, and carried pitch-black chains in their left hand and a green lantern in their right.

The Russian Underworld… The trio exchanged knowing glances, and then promptly retracted their gazes.

Nobody said another word, and they all melded inconspicuously into the throng of the living dead. Even then, they couldn’t help but feel like they were standing out among the rest, like the radiant sun amidst the dark night skies. Not only that, they could sense gazes of scrutiny pass by from time to time, together with a hair-raising oppressive aura of murderous intent.

The consequences of even the slightest mistake on their part would be unthinkable. Furthermore, the elite Yin soldiers of the Hanyang Underworld looked no different from daunting ancient Roman statues that told them everything they needed to know about Liu Yu’s attitude towards them. It revealed the stark contrast in security before and after Qin Ye’s meeting with Marquis Rumyantsev!

Damn…

Gwangju City needs to be evacuated. I’m afraid not even the LSD is aware of just how dangerously close they are to the edge of the precipice right now. They’re practically on the verge of the most intense supernatural outbreak that the entire East Continent has seen in the last 50 years!

Unfortunately, he was no longer at liberty to simply reach out to her right now. He glanced at the Russian Underworld Emissaries that were weaving through the crowd of the living dead. Although the three of them were separated from each other by a few living dead, they still did their best to keep a reasonable distance from each other whilst trudging slowly towards the MV Sewol.

It was as though they were shepherds of darkness moving about by night.

Qin Ye nodded slightly. Wang Chenghao trembled, “Then… doesn’t that mean that we’ll… have to get ourselves selected? Doesn’t that mean that we’ll have to get up close and personal with the Russian Underworld Emissaries?”

It was for this precise reason that when he put on makeup for all three of them earlier, he deliberately refrained from making them look too “broken”. This would increase their odds of being selected to carry the massive ghost ship. After all, disabled living dead could never support the weight of such a massive vessel.

There was no warning.

Wang Chenghao froze in horror, while Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada immediately lowered their heads.

Wang Chenghao didn’t move. His mind went numb for an instant, and then a flurry of thoughts suddenly poured forth like a flood.

Should I do something? Or should I wait?

Damn it… Then, just as the bony hand landed on the crown of his head, he mustered the last of his willpower and fought hard to put on a blank look on his face.

Then, the Russian Emissary promptly raised his other hand to Wang Chenghao’s cheeks and forcefully lifted his head.

The Russian Emissary was staring dead into his eyes, almost as though he could stare straight into his soul.

Wang Chenghao discreetly tightened his fists. Then, with everything he had, he tensed up all of his facial muscles, and his expression began to grow listless and blank once more.

It was a moment of extreme crisis, but he had actually managed to rise up to the occasion and put on a perfect performance!

“Haa--... Ssss…”

Wang Chenghao’s limbs nearly weakened and went limp at that statement. Fortunately, his mind was still alert, and he immediately tensed up his muscles and maintained the rigidity of his body so that the Russian Emissary wouldn’t detect anything amiss.

Fortunately, the Russian Emissary didn’t notice the real reason he was unable to get to his feet - his legs were trembling profusely underneath his tattered pants.

Meanwhile, a turquoise light erupted from underneath the lantern in the hands of the Russian Emissary, enveloping all of the living dead around him. Incidentally, both Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada were swept up at once as well.

Thud… Wang Chenghao slumped back down onto the ground, completely covered in cold sweat. The living dead around them appeared to have received some order of sorts, and they began to follow the path traced out for them by the blue light on the ground.

Two seconds later, Qin Ye suddenly asked without looking back, “If it were you, what would you have done?”

Then, he added with great emotion, “To be completely honest, I’d expected Mr Wang to have lost his cool. Unexpectedly… he rose to the occasion and actually pulled through.”

Unexpectedly, Wang Chenghao actually managed to pull through!

Again, Oda Nobutada responded without hesitation, “Because he knew that he would implicate us if his identity were exposed. Lord Qin, even though Mr Wang may be lacking in some ways, there’s no doubt that he’s loyal to you.”

He could see what Qin Ye was about to do.

Qin Ye grew taciturn as he continued to plod on with the rest of the living dead. After a long time, he smiled listlessly, “But doing so would mean the loss of a dear child…”

War would change everything.

The group of select living dead followed the guidance of the lantern’s blue light straight towards MV Sewol. It took an inordinate amount of time, but they finally saw the cruise ship appear on the horizon.

Qin Ye heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. His guess had been right. The ship’s horn was something that Rumyantsev and his men were already used to, and it was for that reason that they had completely obviated its existence from their mind. Little did it occur to them that the sound of the ship’s horn that they had so taken for granted was the very same sound that had triggered inspiration in Qin Ye’s mind.

“This isn’t Choi Tae-min’s body. It’s just a ghost ship. It’s only because it’s closely linked to Choi Tae-min that it bears the same semblance to Choi Tae-min’s face.” Oda Nobutada spoke gruffly, “My Lord, please be careful. There’s something unusual about this ghost ship…”

Most of all, it was a palpably evil existence.

Holy shit! Qin Ye cursed in his heart. Nobody could anticipate what was going to happen, but even this was a little too much by his standards!

Crunch, crunch… Blood and bone splattered everywhere in an instant. However, Qin Ye remained as vigilant as ever, because… he could sense the face still staring at him with slight astonishment.

How could it possess such keen senses? How did it sense me among the tens of thousands of living dead? Logically speaking, the concealment bestowed by the Second King Yanluo should never be detected by anyone!