Yama Rising

Mo Changhao and Zhou Xianlong were rushing to the Lush Garden Acres site when an albatross suddenly pipped, “Director, the expert wielding the Sword of the Yellow Emperor is moving!”

“Where to?” Mo Changhao responded.

“It’s not clear. He seems to be moving north in Martial City. Apart from that…” Another albatross glanced at his phone and gasped deeply, “There seems to be another Prefect-class Yin spirit that has showed up ahead of where the boss is located!”

Abyssal Prefect… Zhou Xianlong gnashed his teeth as he waved his hand, casually reducing a Nipponese Yin spirit to ashes. He wore an incomparably grave expression on his face.

To think that two Abyssal Prefects and three Infernal Judges have appeared in this otherwise small and insignificant Martial City!

“Any updates on Mr Qin?” Zhou Xianlong led the charge, reducing all Yin spirits to clouds of Yin energy in the wake of his path of destruction. He didn’t pause in the slightest. Their destination had earlier been the Lush Garden Acres, but there were unfortunately too many obstacles impeding their path of approach. Not only was there a tide of maddened wandering spirits to contend with, there were even the ghosts who had developed spiritual intelligence, as well as the Hellguard-class Nipponese Yin spirits that had been unleashed by Susa Boy. Everything acted as an impediment to their approach.

“He’s vanished.”

“Vanished?” Mo Changhao turned his head in shock, “How could he just have vanished like that? Or are you telling me that he’s no longer in Cathay?!”

One of the albatross chuckled bitterly, “But that’s exactly the case… We’ve lost signal of his exact location. Perhaps… his cell phone was damaged in battle?”

“It’s incredibly difficult to damage that chip.” Zhou Xianlong’s expressions grew more sullen than before, “The smaller something is, the lower the odds of damaging it in a large-scale battle.”

“Perhaps… it really is the case that he’s vanished off the face of the earth.”

For some strange reason, his heart eased up at the notion of that thought.

Perhaps it would be best if you vanished forever. That would leave us with the beautiful memories of the simple times when we were but teacher and student…

“Hang on…” Just then, the albatross cried out once more, “Mr Qin… has appeared again!”

“And as before, we sense fluctuations of energy from him, but it’s not true energy by any means. And--... And what the hell is going on?!”

At once, Mo Changhao and Zhou Xianlong snatched the phone from his hand and stared at the screen.

It was a small tablet. Just a little while ago, the area in front of Hell’s Gate had turned green after Susa Boy and the Sword of the Yellow Emperor’s master had both left the vicinity. But now… it was suddenly red once more!

And it was impossible to determine just how many Yin spirits there were!

Mortals were unable to see Emissaries of Hell.

Nobody said a single word.

That said, Zhou Xianlong could sense his throat grow parched. How could a third Abyssal Prefect have showed up in Martial City in such a short span of time! Wait… there’s more!

“Let’s forgo all plans pertaining to Mr Qin for now.” Zhou Xianlong gritted his teeth and made the call, “Rendezvous with the big boss at once. We’ll restore order to Martial City first before we deal with anything else!”

………………………………………………..

Back in front of Hell’s gate. The devastating battle that took place earlier here had reduced everything to scorched earth. The ground was strewn all over with trees, bricks and tiles.

Countless Yin spirits toting scarlet lanterns stood around in a ten kilometer radius, staring at the tall and imposing gate that stood in the middle of the darkness. The daolord of the asura had left for some time now, and the scent of his Yin energy signature had slowly but surely faded away. With that, the Yin spirits were finally calming down once more.

The lanterns were also fading from red to white, almost as though they were becoming a milkyway of stars once more. Their breaths were no longer ragged, and the lands were still once more.

After a whole night of chaos, the Hungry Ghost Festival was finally getting back onto the right track. The Yin spirits held their lanterns gingerly as they slowly and quietly marched towards the towering Hell’s gate. Streamers with scriptures scrawled all over them fluttered wildly with the nethergale, while the scarlet lanterns hanging down the side of the gates swayed gently from side to side. Once again, everything appeared exactly the way it had been at the start of the night.

But just as order was finally restored to the lands, the lanterns they were carrying suddenly turned a striking red colour once more!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! This time, it happened quicker than before. At once, the Yin spirits’ breaths grew ragged, and they even began to gulp avariciously. The netherflames in their eyes erupted into blazing conflagrations that crackled menacingly in the sky as they stared at Hell’s gate with a primal hunger.

They were manifesting an even stronger temptation than before!

However, not a single Yin spirit acted on this temptation.

Clatter… The hands reaching out from Hell’s gate paused for a moment, and then slowly retracted into the depths of the portal, leaving a swirling darkness in the wake of their disappearance. Something was clearly brewing from within.

Three seconds… two seconds… one second!

Just then, a pair of hands blazing with scarlet netherflames reached out of Hell’s gate and emerged from the portal. The daolord of the asura peered out at once, glancing about warily as though he were clearing the way for the arrival of his king.

At once, the Yin spirits breaths grew even more ragged than before. But, even then, not a single one of them dared make a move.

They moved according to their intuition.

And their intuition told them that so long as they made even the slightest of movements right now, they would surely die.

The daolord of the asura yanked on the door frame, and the portal that he came out from grew even darker than before. Moments later, it revealed the image of a magnificent, ancient city.

Once that was all done, the daolord of the asura stepped out of the portal, and then half-knelt on the ground as he declared at the top of his voice, “The Great Sinner Qin Hui humbly welcomes the arrival of the King Yanluo of Hell!”

At once, countless spots of glowing black light emerged from the heart of the hazy portal like a reverse meteor shower that plunged straight into the earth!

Boundless Yin energy swept out of the portal like a raging shockwave rippling out into the distance. The surrounding Yin spirits trembled wildly, and then fell to their knees at once.

It wasn’t so much a conscious response as it was an instinctual one.

To them, it felt as though there was a mountain weighing heavily on their shoulders. Every cell in their body was screaming at the top of its voice for them to submit wholeheartedly to the arrival of this lord and master.

Rumble… The black spots of light were all figures that were wrapped tightly with Yin energy. They flew straight to the ground, lining up in a neat, square formation of thousands of men. The banner of Qin fluttered wildly in the ferocious nethergale. As soon as the army assembled, they ,too, got down on one knee just like the daolord of the asura and bellowed in unison, “The forces of Hell welcome the arrival of the esteemed King Yanluo!”

At once, a mighty claw reached out of Hell’s gate!

It was immolating with purple netherflames and covered with scales, just like that of a mythical dragon!

Following that, a creature with a tiger’s head, a single horn, dog’s ears, and a dragon’s body covered in scales, replete with snow-white hair on its back marched out of Hell’s gate majestically.

The heavens thrummed as soon as it appeared.

Every single Yin spirit in sight was laying prostrate on the ground with their heads bowed as low as possible.

But that wasn’t all.

Qin Ye rode on the back of the Harken just like how Ksitigarbha used to, and he held an ancient book in his hand - one that emanated Yin energy even more powerful than that coming from the Harken’s body!

In fact, what was most terrifying about it wasn’t the Yin energy pouring out of the book, but the unspeakably holy aura that appeared to be radiating from it, almost as though all the heavens and the earth are contained within its chronicles!

It was the genuine Book of Life and Death!

At once, the rest of the Yin spirits of Martial City cocked their heads in the direction of the Lush Garden Acres. And then, one by one, they all knelt to the ground in reverence and awe. Even the Yin spirits who had developed spiritual intelligence screamed in terror as they fell to the ground with great trembling.

The appearance of the Book of Life and Death also marked the moment at which the Nipponese evil ghosts darting through the air suddenly shrieked at the top of their voices, before rushing straight back to the ground, where they immediately went on their knees and kowtowed endlessly as they begged for mercy.

Meanwhile, gasps rang throughout the Special Investigations Department offices located in Eastmount Province, Breakwaters Province, and other parts of the coastal region.

“One billion… Yin energy readings of one billion Yin?!” The investigator on duty in Ironwood City stared at the scarlet screens in his surveillance room with great disbelief. Two seconds later, he jolted back to his senses and triggered the alarm at once.

Meanwhile, in the basement of Stalwart City’s city hall. The alarms blared loudly, “Warning, warning. Yin energy readings of one billion Yin detected. This is the highest Yin energy reading detected in the history of Cathay. It’s source is located in Martial City. Threat level - armageddon. Evacuation from Eastmount, Fulling, and Breakwaters Provinces advised… The threat has been escalated directly through the Vault of the Sky system. Repeat. …”

Stillmound City, Special Investigations Department branch office. All investigators were turned out in the wee hours of the morning at 4.00 a.m., only to stare aghast at their phones as they listened to the alerts that were being broadcasted. Moments later, they all rolled out of bed, put on their clothes hastily and rushed straight to their office.

Countless cities in various regions and districts of Cathay sprung into action at once. Even the top brass located in Yan Capital were awakened at 4.00 a.m. by the sounds of urgent phone calls. Moments later, they got into the respective vehicles that had been prepared for them and were transported directly to the war room.

Hell wasn’t aware of these things that were taking place.

The Yin soldiers stood tall in formation, basking in the glory of Hell.

They exuded an unassailable and insurmountable aura. They could tell that their King Yanluo was clearly boiling with anger.

Hell’s earlier siege of Qufu wasn’t borne out of anger. It was a war for expansion, and all is fair in love and war.

But this time, Qin Ye’s actions were clearly borne out of a thunderous rage!

Prior to this, not a single Yin soldier had known the full extent of Hell’s reserve forces. But now, the realization of the extent of Hell’s might filled them with pride and excitement that went through the roof!

Just then, the daolord of the asura threw himself to the ground and trembled as he kowtowed with absolute submission.

“All hail King Yanluo of Hell! All glory to Hell!” There was a tremendous roar from the heart of the work site. Qin Ye nodded softly, and then turned to the daolord of the asura. At once, he trembled profusely, “Your Excellency… This great sinner humbly awaits your command!”

Qin Ye licked his lips, “There are currently three Abyssal Prefects here, including yourself.”

“Tell me, are you able to purge that evil ghost?”

The daolord knew full well that the Harken would never condone any blabber on his part. Thus, he paused for a moment, and then hissed in response, “Not a problem. The human and the ghost are both at best nascent Prefect-class entities. That said, the Prefect-class human possesses the might of a Peak Abyssal Prefect. He has in his possession a weapon no weaker than the Book of Life and Death. Your Excellency, should we dispose of them in one fell swoop?”

“No need.” Qin Ye licked his lips, “Go after Susa Boy. I intend to teach him the consequences of acting willfully here on Cathayan soil!”

“As you will.”

…………………………………………..

Susa Boy went wild.

Lee Jung-sook was nowhere to be seen. Martial City wasn’t a small city by any means. Having missed his chances to capture Qin Ye, Susa Boy knew that Lee Jung-sook was his last bastion of hope. Unfortunately… she was nowhere to be found!

BOOM!!! He charged about wildly, crashing straight through the tides of Yin spirits and reducing them to dust and ashes with resounding bangs. Despondence filled his heart as he stood right in the heart of a clearance, glancing desperately about the mountains of kneeling Yin spirits. Moments later, he threw his head into the sky and screamed at the top of his voice, “Lee Jung-sook!!!”

“Get the hell out of here!!”

He knew full well that such actions were only going to alert Lee Jung-sook to his presence. But anxiety, anger and desperation were all festering in his heart, and he couldn’t help but cry out in exasperation.

As soon as I find her, I’m going to beat her down and tear her to shreds!

The Prefect-class human is still hot on my tail, but it’s clearly not the time to be tussling with him. Susa Boy glanced about warily as he contemplated his options. But, just then, his legs suddenly went weak.

“What’s this…” He paused for a moment and glanced back in the direction of Lush Garden Acres.

This is… a primordial treasure of Hell!

Meanwhile, the Sword of the Yellow Emperor’s master also paused in mid-air, equally dumbfounded. The broken sword in his hand thrummed loudly as it swung up and pointed straight in the direction of the Lush Garden Acres.

Boundless Yin energy had erupted from the Lush Garden Acres like a nuclear explosion, billowing wildly as it swept through the lands!

This is at least in the region of 500 million Yin…

At once, both man and ghost turned to stare at the Lush Garden Acres in horror with a single notion in their heart.

Hell’s forces are moving!

The incidents tonight have provoked the wrath of Hell, and the top brass of Hell have finally arrived to clean up the mess!

Susa Boy shuddered violently. At once, he dove straight into the tide of Yin spirits and stepped up his search efforts.

“LEE! JUNG! SOOK!!!!”