Yama Rising

The mythology of Hell isn’t something that only exists in name.

And what purpose do each of these divine artifacts serve?

There’s nothing much to it, right?

The loss of something like that would be no different from pulling a veil over the eyes of King Yanluo himself. Hell would no longer know when a person is passing, or predict the occurrence of an epidemic. Without the aid of the Book of Life and Death, how many more emissaries would an underworld need to mobilize in order to cover the loss of function in that regard? How much of their city would need to be rebuilt? What kind of expenses would they incur in order to beef up their surveillance efforts, both to draw in new Yin spirits and to keep any Yin spirits from escaping? What if a judge-class entity suddenly escapes from their underworld years later?

“Lord Qin!” Liu Yu immediately spoke up, “The Book of Life and Death and the Mirror of Eminence has always been supporting the vassal states! How can you withdraw their support just like that?!”

Liu Yu gulped and grew taciturn.

After all, if only one party gained from such negotiations, then it might as well be called an invasion, rather than negotiations.

That said, this masterstroke which Qin Ye had just pulled out of the bag was something that not even Liu Yu and his group of defiant officials had thought of!

This final strike was like a sharp blade that plunged straight into their carotid arteries, drawing copious amounts of blood at once.

Ma Fubo drew a deep breath, “Lord Qin, what if we agree to the resumption of tributes to Hell?”

Liu Yu responded, “Standing taxation system of the old Hell, where the state would take a 50% tax from the produce of its lands of which a fifth of such tax would be set aside for Hell as tribute. What do you think?”

“You were once fiefdoms, and it’s only natural that a portion of your taxes should be returned to Hell. Nothing in there contemplates the future rent and use for the Book of Life and Death and other artifacts of Hell! Besides, how do I know how much your fiefdoms have produced during this period of time?”

Hell’s military might wasn’t something to be concerned about just yet. In fact, there was the possibility that Hell was so weak they weren’t even able to withstand the slightest buffeting of winds. That said, Hell had still found a way to trip them up at every step of the way, so much so that Gao Changgong never wanted to deal with Qin Ye again if he could help it.

“Just your green papers? Heh, it looks like Lord Gao knows a thing or two about modern day matters.” Qin Ye leaned back into his chair, “White paper, blue papers, yellow papers, and green papers are all outward facing papers intended to persuade other stakeholders or promote a viewpoint. In other words, this is merely a different form of saying the exact same thing right now. You want me to tell you my bottom line? Sure, we can revert to the old system of taxation of the old Hell. But you’ll have to grant me access to all of your white papers, and allow our embassy personnel full access to peruse the archives of your underworld.”

Bloody hell, we’re still in the era of steam trains, and yet you’re already thinking of exploring the moon?

He stood up and leaned forward slightly with an increasingly aggressive stance, “I can guarantee that as soon as you leave, and diplomatic relations between both underworlds have been established, our embassy will arrive as scheduled.”

Zhou Yu’s gaze grew deep and abstruse, yet he simply continued to fan himself softly because he didn’t want to get dragged through the mud. More than anything, he was curious about Qin Ye. Incredibly curious.

He never once gave a proper response to any requests made by Liu Yu’s faction. Instead, his responses were all full of empty promises that weren’t possible to fulfill within the next fifty years.

No. Zhou Yu had also entered the mortal realm, and he had previously spoken to several diplomatic ambassadors before. What Qin Ye was doing was to force Liu Yu’s faction to take to his stride. Furthermore, what Qin Ye was truly seeking was hidden underneath the facade of these embellished words, yet they remained so deeply hidden that nobody knew exactly what it was just yet.

“So, what exactly does Hell want?” Liu Yu asked with great patience. This was the first time he had done so in death. After all, when did he ever have to enter negotiations with the old Hell while it was still in existence?

Qin Ye finally revealed a sincere smile on his face.

You’re the one making requests, so you should carry yourself that way.

“Supplies.” Qin Ye finally retracted the smile on his face as he continued, “And I want the special produce of each of your lands. I’ll be sending an envoy of darkfeathers after you as soon as you leave, and I expect a response within six months’ time. You need the Book of Life and Death? Sure. Trade your special produce for its services.”

This time, not a single person spoke.

Yin spirit stones were fine!

“Since everyone appears to need some time to consider these propositions, let’s take a break for now.” Qin Ye looked at the time - it had already been an hour since the conference first began, “Let’s reconvene twenty minutes later.”

As soon as Liu Yu and his four attendants left Hell’s Gate, they immediately heard Chaghan snorting, “What a tricky and slippery brat! We’d all started out with nothing. He’s already done so well at the start, and he still wants more supplies to expedite his growth?!”

“Not necessarily.” Ma Fubo mused, “Who says that he’ll be able to overtake our military developments? With just Yang Jiye alone? Besides, does that mean he’s going to forgo the Luzon fiefdom? Is he going to bring Yang Jiye back from Luzon and send someone else to take his place instead? Yang Jiye might be mild mannered, but not even he might be able to contain his anger if he were stripped of his position just like that.”

Ma Fubo grew silent.

So long as they could reclaim even a single province within Cathay, the sheer number of Yin soldiers they could muster would be sufficient to overwhelm them in a drawn-out battle of attrition.

Chaghan gritted his teeth, “Are you really going to raise it now?”

Chaghan sighed, “Fine. Anyway, our last resort is to retreat to the lands of Australis. That said, the only thing about that is that it’s some distance away.”

“I’m all ears.”

Qin Ye eyes abruptly lit up.

Just then, Arthis leaned over from behind him and whispered softly into his ear, “You can agree to these conditions.”

“No.” Arthis responded gruffly, “They can still gain access to Hell through a different route. The Hanyang underworld might have their access obstructed, but Chaghan and some others still have a direct access route to Cathay. And the fact that they share a border with us means that they can continue to plunder our Yin spirits. Since we can’t do anything about it now, there’s no harm in acceding to these requests of theirs so that the Yin spirits in these places can survive for now.”

“Now’s not the time to be discussing these things in detail. If you still wish to have your sea port and trade routes after this trade conference, I’ll apprise you of everything.”

“We’ve already drawn up a term sheet.” Liu Yu responded as though he weren’t surprised by this fact at all. He turned his head, “Dao Hai, have the draftsmen take Hell’s draftsmen through the term sheet and verify the terms, and then give me an update.”

“Hang on!” Just then, someone interjected. Han Qinhu slowly rose to his feet and spoke, “Since when did the Lord of Siam, the Lord of the Khmer Empire and myself say that we wanted to break away from Hell?”

Dead silence.

“Then, are you suggesting that you’re being held hostage by me?” He glared intently at Han Qinhu, “Lord Han, you’d better have evidence to back up your claims. Your words carry weight. If you hadn’t had the heart to run with our suggestion earlier, would we possibly have been able to persuade you to stand on our side?”

Haa… Liu Yu drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the burning killing intent in his heart as he shut his eyes.

“If you don’t go now, you’ll forever be known as a Cathayan Yin spirit for the rest of your lives!”

1. Green papers are tentative reports used for consultation purposes. It represents the best that a government can propose on an issue without being committed to anything. It sometimes culminates in a white paper that is a more authoritative stand on an issue.

2. See the link to white papers for more information, including on that of blue and yellow papers.

3.