Yama Rising

The Yin energy raged wildly outside, causing all of the living dead standing beneath the vessel to tremble violently. The human face on the bow of the ship shrieked in terror, and it instantly tensed up the chains tethered to the heads of the living dead, forcing them to turn their heads around.

Many of them shuddered violently as a majestic wave of Yin energy swept over their entire beings like a mountain looming over them. In an instant, many of them fell to their knees with a soft thud, and they instinctively lay prostrate on the ground with ragged breaths. The entire ghost ship sank slightly as it rested on the backs of the living dead after their change in posture.

Aren’t we supposed to have the backing of a Yama-class Yin artifact?!

Richard held the quill in his hand with the same measure of disbelief as he watched it spin rapidly around. He could sense the Tsar’s Yin energy slowly diffusing from the heart of the quill. What’s going on? This shouldn’t be happening. The god of death’s quill should’ve been able to suppress all Prefect-class Yin artifacts on a qualitative level! How could this be happening?!

Gritting his teeth, he pushed on the door, only to notice that the vortex of Yin energy was already close to a hundred meters wide! The Peach Blossom lantern swept up all of the surrounding Yin energy, pulling it all into the heart of the lantern where it slowly but surely condensed into a brilliant golden light. Meanwhile, the chilling creaks of a tightening bowstring could be heard from the heart of the vortex, amidst the cacophonous cries of an entire abyss of ghosts. The terrifying nethergale emitted by the vortex sent Richard’s clothes fluttering everywhere, almost as though he were standing by the shore facing an incoming tsunami.

“My Lord!!!” The ghost ship shrieked back. Choi Tae-min’s pupils had narrowed so much that they were no longer larger than the eye of a needle. Meanwhile, copious amounts of Yin energy were still rising from the hull of the ship and scattering into the air.

“It may be powered by an Infernal Judge, but the energy output of this Prefect-class Yin artifact is definitely strong enough to blast us out of the Yin Yang Mezzanine...”

As he spoke, a brilliant golden light suddenly erupted like the sun rising from the horizon, consuming all of the darkness shrouding the region at once.

Whoosh! A mighty golden black shockwave visible to the naked eye erupted from the heart of the vortex and swept through hundreds of miles in an instant. The power of the shockwave was so strong that it caused the ghost ship to scream and its hull to decay even further!

I can’t hang on any longer…

The reality instantly filled the ghost ship with despair.

Just then, a grey plume erupted from within and spread out above the frame of the ghost ship, covering it completely and keeping the brilliant radiance of the Peach Blossom Lantern outside.

Unfortunately, the grey barrier was like an indomitable wall. No matter how heavily the beams of light slammed against the barrier, it remained tall and immovable, just like a lofty mountain.

“Haa--...” MV Sewol finally heaved a long sigh of relief. Sure, it might have been dragged out of the Yin Yang Mezzanine, but at least it managed to survive.

Click… At once, the entire world turned completely dark.

Click, click, click, click… The image before its eyes flickered rhythmically, causing a feeling of uneasiness to mount in its heart. Even though it couldn’t sense anything unusual around it, the voice in its heart screamed frantically at it - Get out! Escape at once! There are terrifying creatures descending upon you from above!

Whoosh… The ghost ship could no longer tell where he was, because there was a thick, dense fog that completely enshrouded him at this moment.

“This is… the descent of a high-ranking predator! It’s a powerful Yin spirit!” The living dead below were already laying prostrate on the ground once more. Yet what was perhaps more surprising to him right now was the fact that he simply couldn’t sense the Yin energy of both Mukov and Richard. It was almost as though he had been sequestered in a completely different realm!

It clearly possesses the ability to straddle Yin and Yang in the Yin Yang Mezzanine… Could it… Could it perhaps be stronger than Choi Tae-min himself? How could something like this appear in Daehan? H-how is this possible?!

“Farewell to thee, farewell to thee… The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers…”

It was a child’s voice.

Two scarlet eyes opened in the vast expanse of darkness within his consciousness, staring intently at him as though they were peering straight into its soul with overflowing resentment.

No… NO!!!

Three words were written in Daeian - Tunnel No. 3.

“Mr… Mr Richard…” The ghost ship’s voice trembled, “Mukov! Mukov!!!”

…………………………………………..

“Vanished?”

His voice grew a little hoarse and shrill with disbelief. A hoarse voice responded from within the coffin, “It’s a Yin spirit… An evil ghost…”

“He’s even higher up on the pecking order than I am! It’s a good thing this is an earthbound spirit! As a Yin spirit, I can tell exactly what it is!”

“Of course it’s possible…” The voice from the coffin gasped softly, “It’s all thanks to you guys… Have you already forgotten about the third tunnel?”

It was a term of reference that triggered a flashback in Rumyantsev’s mind, and he immediately knew what the voice in the coffin was talking about.

That’s where a mother, a daughter, and an unborn infant were destined to wander about for the rest of eternity. Even I didn’t dare to venture into the heart of the third tunnel after the Train to Pusan incident.

Unexpectedly, the most terrifying thing created by the script of death turned out not to be Choi Tae-min, but rather, someone completely different altogether!

With another deep breath, Rumyantsev’s body vanished from where he was, and he promptly appeared elsewhere.

Every single Yin soldier of the Hanyang Underworld had assembled at this moment.

Liu Yu remained on the back of his horse as he glanced back at Rumyantsev, “We’re still three days out from the scheduled date.”

Silence.

Tonight would be the night that I, Liu Yu, would finally be restored to my rightful place at the throne as an emperor!

…………………………………………..

The MV Sewol had stopped moving. That was sufficient for him. He could tell that the MV Sewol’s earlier intention was to make a beeline for Gonjiam Asylum without giving him any time to make the necessary preparations. At this very moment, there wasn’t even the slightest doubt in Qin Ye’s heart that Liu Yu’s army and the forces of the Russian Underworld, including Marquis Rumyantsev himself, would all be garrisoned there, waiting for his arrival.

Qin Ye wiped off the cold sweat that was beading up on his forehead and tightened his grip around Fate - the final trump card hidden up his sleeves. He would never resort to it unless he absolutely had to. After all, so long as there remained hidden in the shadows another darkfeather of the same capabilities as Richard himself, then there was no doubt that news of this would immediately reach the ears of those awaiting his arrival back at Gonjiam Asylum.

“Kwon Kyung-ho!!” Qin Ye shouted, “Do it!”

Within moments, an endless sea of blood filled the area all around Kwon Kyung-ho and slowly enveloped the MV Sewol!

He may not be the mastermind, but… he definitely had a role to play in the MV Sewol tragedy!

Today, I’ll finally have vengeance for the transgressions against all of us five years ago!