Yama Rising

“Yes!”

“Where are you going to be?”

At least, that would be the case in a more private setting. It was still an inappropriate term of address in public, especially when military orders were being dished out. But, given the current circumstances, nobody made a meal about it.

Mu Guiying bit her lower lips and continued with a tremor in her voice, “Then… what about fifth brother?”

Without missing a beat, Mu Guiying promptly went on, “And if my postulations are right, Lord Qin would also be participating in the battle, wouldn’t he? Without him and Lady Arakshasa, we would have no way of dealing with their Infernal Judges in the first place. So who’s supposed to protect Lord Qin in this upcoming battle?”

Truth be told, the most dangerous task in the upcoming battle wasn’t that of storming the city walls at all. Rather, it was indubitably the task of protecting Qin Ye, because the Yin spirit tasked to do something like that would have to throw himself in harm’s way in order to preserve Qin Ye’s life.

Yang Yanzhao grew taciturn for a few moments, before speaking with an equally indifferent voice, “This is a military order. Nobody is allowed to question my decision.” Nobody noticed the soft netherflames in his eyes flicker dangerously, almost as though they would go out in an instant.

He stood at 1.84m tall, and sported squarish, chiseled appearances that exuded reliability and trustworthiness. But anyone who had seen him on the battlefield would know that rather than being as firm and indifferent as a mountain, his personality was better described as intense and aggressive, just like a roaring inferno.

Yang Yanzhao nodded in silence as he gazed intently into his brother’s eyes. After some time, Yang Yanzhao finally bowed deeply to him, “Fifth Brother, you are to follow Lord Qin into battle in the inner city. Please take care…”

With that, he smiled softly, “What’s up with that expression of yours? Is there any general that shuns the battlefield? Mu Guiying and the rest may be brave and courageous, but their aggression is still a far cry away from mine. Ever since you told me not to attend the campaign meetings, but tasked an attendant to relay the minutes to me instead, it was already apparent who you were going to task to watch over Lord Qin.”

They had experienced the vicissitudes of life twice over now. Anything they said now would be nothing more than pretentious platitudes.

“Mm.”

Boom, boom, boom… Qin Ye’s robes fluttered wildly in the wind, and he slowly swept an electrifying gaze across the entire assembled army that was raring to go, until it finally landed atop the surface of the mirror.

An hourglass congealed out of Yin energy hovered slightly over the mirror, with ostensibly only a few grains of sand remaining.

“Victory to Hell!!!”

“Sister’s still just as anxious as ever…” Mu Guiying laughed boisterously as she, too, tugged the reins in her hands! The 20,000 troops assembled behind her rallied together and followed closely after Hua Jieyu’s forces!

“For the glory of Hell!!!”

“May Hell triumph!” “May Hell return victorious!!!”

Annals of the New Hell: Year 001 of the New Hell, 12.00 noon in the mortal realm. Under the command of Pioneer General Yang Yanzhao, Generals Hua Jieyu, Mu Guiying, Yelu Jiner and Huyan Chijin led 80,000 troops in a surprise attack on Qufu’s Shanhai Pass.

Qufu, Shanhai Pass. A city within a city.

Although the city government was also located here, much of the other space within the inner city was occupied by the military, and the minority would naturally conform to the architecture and style of the majority. It was for this reason that everything was constructed in a simple and pragmatic fashion. Even the tallest building here was no higher than six-storeys in all.

The first and the second floors were regular office spaces. The third and fourth floors were occupied by the top brass of the military forces. The fifth floor was where monitoring and surveillance took place, while the sixth floor… was a location that nobody had ever entered.

It looked completely different from the usual surveillance rooms back in the mortal realm. The fifth layer occupied a space as large as a regular football field, and everything was decorated with traditional Cathayan flair. Star charts lay sprawling on the ceiling overhead, while all sorts of large machines and instruments lay all over the place. There were even smaller exquisite instruments located at the fringe of the room that appeared to power a small screen of Yin energy filled with scrolling details and numbers. Each screen of light was located right above a long table with four or five chairs, all of which were completely occupied by Yin spirits.

“Haaa--...” One of the Yin spirits rubbed his throbbing temples. The last week of work had been so hectic that he could feel the netherflames in his eyes slowly going out. He slumped deep into his chair as he muttered softly, “What in the world is Lord Lai thinking? Just a week ago, he suddenly summoned all 9.72 million Yin spirits in the vicinity right back into the city. Sure, it’s easy to just fire a command off his hip like that, but does he realize how insane things have been for the Administrative Department and our Surveillance Team ever since then?!”

The first Yin spirit chuckled bitterly. Then, he glanced around, before lowering his volume slightly, “We’re talking about nearly 10 million Yin spirits… Are they even able to fit into Shanhai Pass? The city itself already houses something like 10 million Yin spirits, so how are housing arrangements going to work in the near future? Things are still looking alright for our team for now. Things will naturally lighten up after these initial few days. But, what about the various ministries in the city government? They’re going to have to bust their asses dealing with the sudden doubling of numbers.”

“Pfft… That’s an overreaction. So what if the Lord of Darkriver is dead? Who would dare to make a move against Qufu’s Shanhai Pass?” The first Yin spirit snickered as he turned back to the screen of Yin energy in front of him with glazed-over eyes, “This is hell. There’s no doubt about it. In fact, I’d never thought that the netherworld would be anything like this. To think that we’d have such a sprawling city with hundreds of thousands of troops guarding its borders. And Lord Kong’s no more than three days away from these parts as well. So… who would possibly dare stir up a fight with us?”

An illusion?

Purple?

Two seconds later. He suddenly shot to his feet. And he wasn’t the only one. Practically everyone on the entire fifth floor shot to their feet in unison as they gasped in horror at the rare sight on the screen of Yin energy!

He remembered it now. Purple represented an instance of spatial teleportation!

But before they could even find the words to speak, the entire room suddenly blared with ear-piercing shrieks of alarms.

Someone… Someone actually dares to make a move against Qufu’s Shanhai Pass! Someone actually dares to make a move against the largest hell among all neighbouring provinces!!

They all stared transfixed at the screen, only to discover that the large purple dot soon began to spawn tiny red dots all around. A single one appeared, followed by another… and then there were ten… a hundred… a thousand… and ten thousand!

BEEEEEEEEP!!! A shrill alarm instantly blared across all governmental buildings. A split second later, a mechanical voice spoke through the city’s broadcast system, “Warning. Foreign Yin energy signatures detected. Yin energy readings have exceeded the count of eight million Yin. Warning…”

The entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Enemy attack… it’s really an enemy attack! This isn’t a drill at all!

The entire place still appeared calm and tranquil. The Yin spirits outside were still working in an orderly fashion. Yet, the Yin spirits following Lai Junchen were all stunned to find that his entire body was trembling, while the netherflames in his eyes were quivering uncontrollably.

“My Lord… you…”

“Immediately… immediately mobilize all forces!! Notify Lord Kong of the enemy attack… An unknown force is invading Qufu! And they’ve even managed to breach the outer city walls!!”

His attendants immediately went about their duties, while Lai Junchen slumped back down onto his seat with great unease.

It took him some time before he finally regained his composure. Then, gritting his teeth, he stood up and addressed his attendants once more.

It was only when he finished speaking that he noticed his hands trembling profusely.

His gaze remained transfixed on the city walls. But… since you’re here, why don’t you stay for a while and trade some pointers with us.

Let’s test and see whose blade is sharper than the other!