Yama Rising

The heads were all in extremely gruesome condition. Some had all of their orifices sewn up, some had their eyeballs gouged out, some had red tongues of around a foot in length protruding out of their mouths... All of these heads were embedded into the lanterns, and they turned to face Qin Ye in unison as netherfire erupted from the tops of the heads.

In the night, the corridor of the earthen building was as silent and lonesome as a graveyard.

There was one man, and he was surrounded by human-head lanterns that were staring directly at him.

A normal person would've most likely already been driven to the point of insanity by such a terrifying sight. The eerie singing in the night was like a soul-harvesting melody, and each and every note was resonating deep within Qin Ye's heart. However, he paid no heed to all of this and continued to sprint full-steam ahead. Right as he reached the exit, he stopped once again.

Clang!

A bloodstained meat cleaver had flown out of nowhere, just like that scene in "A Wicked Ghost", and it landed less than a foot away from him.

This was a warning, a warning that said: "All those who attempt to leave this building will die!"

"You've got courage, I'll give you that," Qin Ye said with a cold smile as he examined his surroundings through narrowed eyes. Right at this moment, the singing faded, and all that was left was the biting chill.

It was as if Qin Ye were being accompanied by a throng of evil ghosts.

Drip... Right at this moment, a drop of inky-black liquid fell onto Qin Ye's hand. Immediately thereafter, more of the same type of liquid began to drip down from above, quickly forming a continuous and unbroken line. In the next instant, a pair of deathly pale hands gently rested themselves against Qin Ye's cheeks.

"So you're still not willing to let a handsome young lad like me leave after all," Qin Ye sighed in a forlorn manner, "I guess that makes sense for a thirsty old woman like you. However, let me make this clear: if you want extra services, then you'll have to pay extra..."

He abruptly rushed forward as he spoke while turning around at the same time, then hurled a hand fan in his grasp through the air. The fan's edges were burning with netherflames, and it spun end over end upon leaving Qin Ye's grasp.

As Qin Ye was turning around, he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the hellish scene behind him.

Chu Renmei was situated right above his head like a giant spider, and the face that had given countless people nightmares was staring directly at Qin Ye from an upside-down position. Her inky-black lips and deathly pale face were clear for all to see, and the hand fan failed to strike her.

Black blood was flowing down her deathly pale face and her hanging strands of long hair before dripping down onto the ground. She opened her cavernous mouth as far as it would go, then let loose one heart-wrenching roar after another.

The flames in the surrounding lanterns flickered violently, and a shockwave that was visible even to the naked eye had been swept up over the ground. At the same time, Yin wind began to surge around Qin Ye's entire body amid countless ghostly cries, and he adorned his Abyssal Prefect's robe. His facial hair had become as hard as iron and steel, and the netherflames in his eyes surged forth in a frenzy as he rose to over eight feet tall. Additionally, an inky-black hand fan had appeared in his grasp, while the Abyssal Prefect's token had split up into six hand fans that were revolving around his body.

"By Hell’s Dictum, all rabble shall disperse!" His aura erupted forth like a boundless ocean, and he swept his sleeves through the air to force back the oncoming shockwaves, drawing a sharp scream from Chu Renmei in the process.

The entire scene suddenly fell deathly silent.

Qin Ye's boundless aura as an Emissary of Hell was clashing with the ferocious aura of this advanced Prefect-level evil ghost in this forsaken land, and neither side was willing to back down. Both of them were searching for holes to exploit in one another's defenses.

Time seemed to have fallen completely still for a moment before the flow of time was instantly restored again.

Boom!! A series of cracks appeared on the wooden floor before quickly expanding to form massive trenches!

………………………………………………

At the entrance, the statuesque elderly woman finally stood up.

She was like a perfectly accurate clock, and she had stood up right on the stroke of 12:25 AM. She then pulled out a rusty bronze lock that was as large as a plate, seemingly out of thin air, before coughing as she trudged toward the entrance.

Right at this moment, the gate exploded violently, and a figure flew out on a giant umbrella. He was being pursued by countless strands of inky-black hair that resembled ghostly claws, accompanied by the sound of an earth-shattering screech. However, in the instant that the strands of hair were about to extend out of the earthen building, the screech turned into an indignant cry, and the strands of hair were forced to withdraw back into the building.

"The entrance will be shut at 12:30 AM sharp, make sure to come back earlier next time."

The elderly woman said in a habitual manner, and a faint smile appeared on Qin Ye's face as he flew away as a gust of Yin wind.

She can see me...

This was the first time that someone aside from Chu Renmei in the Huang Clan's earthen building had noticed him without any active effort from him to directly communicate with them.

However, this wasn't the time to be pondering this matter. Thus, he committed this detail firmly to memory for future reference, then rushed directly toward Anjing Village.

During the short span of just two days, many people had already arrived in Anjing Village. To put it more accurately, these were all staff working under Lee Jung-sook. She was certainly not going to pass up an opportunity for an extraordinary figure like Qin Ye to owe her a favor.

As soon as Qin Ye returned to Anjing Village, Lee Jung-sook was immediately informed by one of her staff, and thus, Qin Ye was quickly taken to the building where she was staying.

"Your life force is astonishingly abundant!" Lee Jung-sook was seated on a couch at the center of the room. This was a luxurious European-style couch that had been specially transported here for her, and it was a complete mismatch with the aesthetic of Anjing Village. Her long and straight legs were crossed at the ankles and placed on the footrest in front of her, and she was holding a cup of coffee as she said, "I have someone I think you would be interested in meeting."

Only then did Qin Ye notice that there was a fatso sitting on the other side of the room, appraising Lee Jung-sook with a fawning smile on his face.

This man appeared to be in his forties, and he had a round face and dense hair. Judging from his appearance, it was clear that he would've been quite handsome in his youth, but the passage of time had not been lenient to him.

The man was around 175 centimeters tall, and upon hearing what Lee Jung-sook had just said, he had already risen to his feet before extending a hand toward Qin Ye. "Greetings, Mr. Qin. I am the director of the Daoyuan County's ministry of land and resources. My name is Huang Baokun, and it's an honor for me to meet you."

Huang Baokun?

Qin Ye shook his hand with a smile. "Likewise, Mr. Huang. May I ask in what way you're related to the Huang Clan's earthen building?"

"There's no relation there." Huang Baokun released Qin Ye's hand with a wry smile and said, "Everyone knows that there's something strange going on in the Huang Clan's earthen building. I've already been subjected to several investigations, but I really don't have any direct ties with that place. On top of that, my surname wasn't even Huang originally."

"No direct ties?" Qin Ye sat down on another single-person couch in the room, then accepted a cup of coffee being handed to him by a bodyguard with a hint of a smile on his face as he asked, "Are you implying that there are some indirect ties then?"

Huang Baokun's smile became a little strained, and he pulled out a square handkerchief to dab at the sweat on his forehead. "Strictly speaking, I am related to that place in a way."

He heaved a faint sigh before also taking a seat. He was drinking some tea instead of coffee, and he brought his teacup to his lips before gently blowing into it, seemingly taking some time to organize his words. Only after a long while did he continue, "During my younger days, I was relatively handsome, but my family was quite impoverished. At the time, the Huang Clan's earthen building still wasn't as strange a place as it is now. One of the families living in the earthen building took a liking to me and wanted me to marry their daughter. However, the women of the Huang Clan's earthen building had to stay with their families even after marriage, so I had to go and live with them as well and also take on the Huang surname. I agreed, but around a month before our marriage, some... very unsettling things happened, and I was scared, so I revoked the marriage. That's the only tie that I have to the Huang Clan's earthen building."

Qin Ye nodded in response. Anjing City was very close to the Huang Clan's earthen building, so it was quite normal for marriages to take place between their residents.

"Is that all?" He turned to Lee Jung-sook as he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not." Lee Jung-sook was styling her nails in a nonchalant manner, and she gently blew on them as she said, "I'm guessing that you must be very interested in the history of the Huang Clan's earthen building. After all, you're a meticulous man, and you wouldn't ignore any leads that could help you solve the mystery here. Hence, I asked Director Huang to bring me the county's local records, dating back all the way to the earliest days of the Huang Clan's earthen building. You won't be able to read through all of the records. After all, this is an earthen building that has stood since the Song Dynasty. With that in mind, I only printed out the local records commencing from the founding of the Republic of Cathay to the time when the Huang Clan's earthen building became inaccessible to the general public."

She gently set down her scissors with a smile as she continued, "I've taken a quick glance at the local records and discovered some very interesting details. How about you take a look at the current records while I tell you about my observations? Mike!"

A Caucasian bodyguard strode over to Qin Ye before handing him a stack of documents before making an inviting hand gesture.

"The Huang Clan's earthen building was constructed by Huang Taiyuan, known as Gentleman Huang in the Song Dynasty. He served as a provincial magistrate of the Fujian province, and he commissioned the construction of this earthen building following his retirement. During the first roughly 1,000 years of its existence, not a single supernatural event took place in the building. On top of that, it was extremely renowned locally as the province's long-life village, where the average life expectancy was very high."

Qin Ye raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this.

This place may have been known as the long-life village, but surely the residents weren't supposed to live for over 200 years.

Lee Jung-sook continued, "The average life expectancy in the village was 90, and it had over 10 people over the age of 100 at one point. The most interesting thing is that all of the emperors of the Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasties had sent envoys to the village. Have you heard of the praetorian guard divisions?"

Qin Ye replied in a contemplative manner, "Are you referring to the collection of special divisions in Cathayan history, namely the Qing Dynasty's Sticky Rod Division, the Ming Dynasty's Silk Robe Division, the Song Dynasty's Imperial City Division, the Tang Dynasty's Plum Blossom Internal Division, and the Han Dynasty's Embroidered Robe Direct Division?"

Lee Jung-sook gently blew on her coffee before replying, "That's exactly right. They are responsible for performing secret duties for the emperor, and they serve a purpose much like that of the current CIA and FBI. The Huang Clan's village is also known as Fortune Temple, and that name was awarded to it by none other than the Imperial City Division. What's even more interesting is that the Imperial City Division, the Sticky Rod Division, and the Silk Robe Division have all set up special subdivisions here that were directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor. What do you think they were doing here?"

"Perhaps they were looking for something? The secret to a long life, for example?" Qin Ye mused.

"Maybe." Lee Jung-sook shrugged in response. "This place has attracted special interest from the emperors of three dynasties; even I'm becoming very interested in it. What did you encounter during your two days in there?"

Qin Ye offered no response as he began to examine the document page after page. All of a sudden, he stopped at a certain page before placing the document beside Huang Baokun, who didn't even dare to utter a single word. "Director Huang, do you still remember this contract?"

This was a demolition and relocation contract.

The government had approved the demolition and relocation of the Huang Clan's earthen building. During the 90s, the reform had only just begun, and the real estate industry was also beginning to heat up. At the time, available demolition and relocation projects were pounced on as long as there was profit to be made; things like respect for cultural heritage sites had been completely thrown out the window. The popularity of the earthen buildings had only experienced a sharp rise in the past decade, but no one would have cared about that back in the 90s.

On the demolition and relocation contract, the administrator signature belonged to none other than Huang Baokun. However, he wasn't the one who had signed off on the project. Presumably, he had still been relatively far away from reaching the position of director at the time.

The 90s... That was the exact era that the Huang Clan's earthen building was currently stuck in!

"And that's not all, take a look at this as well." Qin Ye moved the top sheet of paper aside before pointing down at the document below it. "This is a pledge, and you're acting as the promisee and middle man, assuring the 121 households of the Huang Clan's village of their position in the construction team, as well as guaranteeing timely relocation. I recall you just said that your only tie with the Huang Clan's family was a marriage that didn't even go ahead. You're not supposed to be from the Huang Clan's village, but looking at these documents..."

Qin Ye leaned back on his couch as a faint smile appeared on his face. "It seems your ties with the Huang Clan's village are closer than you let on."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Mr. Qin." Huang Baokun looked as if he had just swallowed something bitter. "It's exactly because of my failed marriage that I was the only one who could do this. The Huang Clan's village has been inaccessible to the general public for over 100 years, so in order to arrange the demolition of the earthen building, the government could only send someone most familiar with the Huang Clan's village to facilitate communication. At the time, I was the only one in the municipal government with some ties with the Huang Clan's village, so I was the only viable candidate. During the negotiations, the village's residents refused to come out, so we had to go in to see them every time. Who would sign the contract if I didn't? Who else could act as the promisee? The Huang Clan's village is also looking forward to a relocation, and they entrusted me as their representative. It's exactly because of my involvement in this project that I was able to climb to my current rank."

This was a watertight alibi.

With that, Qin Ye could conclude with almost absolute confidence that the problem didn't lie with Huang Baokun.

"One final question." Qin Ye looked deep into Huang Baokun's eyes as he asked, "Who was the one who signed the contract with you? In other words, who was the one calling the shots and overseeing everything in the Huang Clan's earthen building?"