Yama Rising

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow quizzically at the brand new nomenclature.

Perhaps… the soul collector would come from one of them?

Soul collector… If anything, I’m certain that I’ll be able to learn more about the war in Azurewaters City from his lips!

But as for how to rid himself of this cancerous tumour… Qin Ye already had some thoughts of his own…

Qin Ye’s eyes promptly narrowed. The Alliance of Darkness was formed by a coalition of twelve Infernal Judges, excluding Kong Mo. Hell’s forces had disposed of three back in Qufu, leaving a balance of nine. That said, none of the remaining nine could possibly be the so-called soul collectors. Besides, Kong Mo couldn’t have sent soul collectors after fleeing Yin spirits, especially having just learnt the news of Ashmound’s collapse, and in light of the daolord’s boundless armies that were arrayed against them.

The Alliance of Darkness had twelve Infernal Judges holding control over the Eastmount Province and the Breakwaters Province. If the daolord had indeed come from the three eastern provinces, then it’s not likely that the number of Infernal Judges under his command would be less than that of the Alliance of Darkness! With the Abyssal Prefect helming operations at the frontlines of the war, he could certainly afford to send out Infernal Judges to pursue the fleeing Yin spirits.

“As for how to locate him…” The old man gnashed his teeth morosely as he tugged at the lapels of his suit, revealing a chain running right through his chest.

Interesting… Pleasantly surprised, Qin Ye flipped up the suit and looked beneath, only to notice that there was a gaping dark hole on the vest beneath, almost as though someone had hollowed out a portion of it. Wisps of Yin energy appeared to creep out of the gaping dark hole, while the black hole appeared to be slowly rotating. Yet, even then, the black hole appeared no different from a portal that led to a vast expanse of the void.

“I’ve got no idea what this damned thing is…” The old man neatened his clothes and gnashed his teeth once more, “I can sense that this chain is connected directly to my soul, while the other end of the chain is in the hands of the soul collector. He can vaguely pinpoint our location this way…”

This is a technique that employs spatial knowledge in practice… This was a thought that had occurred to me some time ago when I first laid hands on the Qiankun Pouches. The netherworld and the mortal realm may appear similar, but the truth of the matter is that they’re worlds apart. If I could only master this aspect of knowledge, I’d likewise be able to forge a Yin artifact as amazing as the Mythic Palace of Reflections… Qin Ye rubbed his chin as he mused to himself - Yin Talismanology is truly a discipline that Hell is practically built upon. Just like atoms and cells, the mastery of such a discipline would undoubtedly be the key to unlocking the full arsenal of Hell…

This would be his swan song, even in death.

Countless wisps of Yin energy spewed out from his body, as though the vent of a pressure cooker had just been released. The old man wasn’t even given an opportunity to scream in the slightest as his soul returned to Hell.

Ding-a-ling… Ding-a-ling… The barely audible bell rang in the middle of an otherwise silent street, almost as though it were a prelude to midnight.

“No.” His partner was a black-haired lady with soft looks. Yet the camouflage uniform seemed to imbue her with a sense of sharpness like the edge of a knife blade.

The buildings were spread out between the trees, almost as though they were silent tombstones that stood in the dark, cold and lonely.

It can’t be. I could’ve sworn that I heard the jingle of a bell cutting through the whimpering winds.

It was a full moon tonight. A soft sheen was painted across the lands below, but the presence of light also begets darkness and shadows, from which countless hidden entities scrambled and stirred… No!

Ding-a-ling… Ding-a-ling… But before he could even cry out in surprise, the goosebumps-inducing bells jingled again. In that moment, his heart was filled with terror. He could sense that something else was hiding amidst the world of lost shadows, and staring directly at him!

With a soft thud, a chain plunged right through his partner’s chest. Time seemed to slow down at that very moment, and he saw everything happen in slow motion - right down to the very details of the silver chain. The tip of the chain was shaped like a ghastly claw, and it had clearly been fired from hundreds of meters away like a bolt of lightning. His partner’s true energy wavered as she stared at her own chest in great astonishment.

“Save me!!” A harsh scream rang out from the rooftop. The man rushed forward desperately, only to narrowly miss grasping onto his partner’s flailing hands.

Stunned.

“Damn it!! How could something as powerful as that be here in the downtown district?!” Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his cell phone and began to punch in a series of numbers as he retreated towards the gate behind him. But as soon as he opened it, he immediately jerked back with a cold gasp.

There was a young man staring right at him with great indifference.

“You… you are…” He had a vague impression of who the young man was. But just as he was about to call out the identity of the young man, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his neck, and then his vision went dark, and he passed out completely.

“And this is especially the case for Yin spirits like you. Do you know how ugly you look as a skeleton, huh?”

To be precise, it wasn’t a flower.

He was thin. Abnormally thin, almost as though he were purely skin and bones. The netherflames in his eyes were also so dim that they could barely be seen. Dressed in a long black robe, he toted a lantern burning with netherflames in his arms. The handle of the lantern was connected to a series of chains that ran straight into the sleeves of his arms.

The old man didn’t have any shadows.

It was a dry smile. Ordinary people smiled with all of their facial muscles, but the old man did not. Instead, his lips simply cracked slightly as he extended his crooked finger and pulled on the chains.

“You actually dare to hold onto a soul collector’s chain? There truly are many people out there who aren’t afraid of death itself…” The old man revealed a disgusting smile on his face, while his body began to clatter like the stiff joints of a zombie, “I am Shadowless, a Shepherd of Soul of the Assassins of the Underworld. My courtesy name was personally conferred by the daolord of the asura, and I’m here in his name to send you off to the afterlife.”

Qin Ye didn’t respond. Instead, he simply blinked vacantly at the old man. The circumstances prompted him to do a little bit of role-playing.

“I mean… do you know that you cosplay just like the professionals? Are you wielding a scythe over there?”

It was a piss-poor opening line. Was this truly the conversation between two Infernal Judges?

Qin Ye smiled, “I think so too. However, there’s just one thing that I’ll have to remind you of.”

Qin Ye shut the door, and then glanced behind him, “Do you know why I knocked him out earlier?”

Just then, he abruptly snapped his eyes wide open with disbelief and stared intently at Qin Ye with a fiery gaze.

“You’re… not a human?!”

But Qin Ye simply ignored his barrage of questions. A dense vortex of Yin energy engulfed him completely as he continued where he left off, “I’ll let you in on a little secret. I happen to be a rather unorthodox living person.”

“How dare you rob an equal-ranking Emissary of Hell of the opportunity to act all high and mighty? Are you tired of living already?!”

1. Lucian refers to a champion in LoL. He was commonly referred to by the community as Obama.