Yama Rising

The captain’s cabin was silent.

The infant didn’t say a word, and simply gazed deeply into Qin Ye’s eyes. Truth be told, there was still one thing he hadn’t told Qin Ye just yet.

And that was what he had seen on the Train to Pusan. There were those who abandoned their own parents, or even used their classmates as meat shields in an attempt to live on. Of all the people on board that train at that time, at least one-fifth had died not by the hands of the living dead, but by the works of their own kind.

Having witnessed hell on earth and lived with boundless resentment thereafter, he was incredibly sensitive to negative emotions. In fact, he was so sensitive that he possessed the ability to discern the truth from all other falsehoods.

And to that end, he saw no darkness of any negative emotions and feelings in Qin Ye’s heart right now, including that of deception or malice. Everything was a deep, verdant green in colour.

He can actually do it… He’s actually inviting me to join his army of the dead…

After some time, he finally took a deep breath, “Would my freedom be taken away from me if I join you?”

“Would you consider life bound by the confines of the third tunnel as freedom?” Qin Ye responded sincerely, “Don’t forget that you’re an earthbound spirit. It’s impossible to walk out of the third tunnel of Pusan. Otherwise… I believe more than half of Daehan’s army would already have perished by your hands, wouldn’t they?”

After all, they were the ones who had fired the fateful shot that had extinguished all of his hopes at life.

The Spirit of Avernus sneered and grew taciturn.

Qin Ye silently walked to the other side of the room and slowly extended his hand, “However, being bound to my technique would also come with a complete change to your nature. You’ll change from an evil ghost into merely part of my technique. I’ve thought long and hard about this, but this is the only way I can get you out of the third tunnel. If you can’t agree with this…”

He glanced around, “You may be able to travel to different locations through the portals that may appear, but I’m guessing you can’t stay too long each time, can you?”

“Come and join Hell’s legion. Although I wouldn’t be able to guarantee you complete and unfettered freedom, what I can promise is that I’ll do my best to seek vengeance for you. Moreover, you’ll most certainly have more freedom than being trapped in the third tunnel of Pusan.”

He paused for a moment, and then smiled faintly, “Don’t you… want to see what the rest of the mortal realm looks like?”

Those who live in the darkness would only naturally thirst for the light, because it was something that used to be within their reach.

Silence.

Qin Ye didn’t rush him. The Avernus Spirit was undoubtedly the most terrifying Yin spirit he had encountered thus far. In fact, the quality of its spirit alone already sets it apart from the rest of Hell’s Emissaries - even Arakshasa herself! Having such an existence form part of his Dusk Legionnaire would simply make him a far more formidable existence altogether!

What was this?

This was like a Warlock having a Doomguard, or a Hunter taming a Broken Tooth! It was when one’s pets were stronger than its master! [1]

Two minutes passed before the Spirit of Avernus finally nodded to Qin Ye’s expectant gaze, “Remember your promise.”

“Naturally!” Qin Ye forcefully suppressed the wave of excitement that was surging in his heart. At once, he waved his hand, and a golden bamboo scroll unraveled itself in the air.

This was the true form of his Dusk Legionnaire ability!

The bamboo scroll had only two names etched on it thus far, namely the Spatial Spirit, Chen Zhiyuan, and the Porter Spirit, Lin Wenqing. Their names were etched on one bamboo slip each. Qin Ye swiftly proceeded to write the words ‘Spirit of Avernus’, and the words promptly etched themselves onto the third bamboo slip.

As soon as they appeared on the bamboo slips, they immediately glowed with a crimson light, and then proceeded to shift past the names etched on the preceding two bamboo slips, sending the names etched on those slips scrambling back in fear.

“Name?” Qin Ye asked placidly.

The Spirit of Avernus pursed his lips, “Ryu Changmin.”

His names were written with a great flourish. At once, a dark silken thread drew out from the Avernus Spirit’s crown and tethered itself to Qin Ye’s finger.

At once, Qin Ye was filled with great emotions. I now have under my charge Kwon Kyung-ho of the MV Sewol Tragedy, as well as Ryu Changmin of the Train to Pusan incident… Is this not somewhat similar to assembling the Avengers?

After a brief moment of silence, Ryu Changmin finally spoke, “Mukov’s memory reveals that this vessel is headed straight for Gonjiam Asylum. What are your plans?”

He’d waited for this day of vengeance for far too long, and he didn’t want to wait any longer!

Qin Ye placed his hands behind his back and scanned round the vicinity, “Search.”

“We’ll first have to search for Richard. Mukov’s far too junior in the organisation. Only by finding Richard will I be able to properly determine the next step of the plan.”

Ryu Changmin immediately stared at Qin Ye with consternation, “You… don’t even have a detailed working plan right now?”

Qin Ye coughed dryly, “Well, I’ve met with a few hiccups here and there. Truth be told, the mutiny of the ship was thought up on the spot. If not for your sudden intervention, I’m afraid the MV Sewol would already have arrived at Gonjiam Asylum by now.”

Ryu Changmin shook his head with great disbelief. His lips parted slightly, and it took him several moments before he finally managed to compose his thoughts again, “We’re dealing with a legendary Abyssal Prefect here… Don’t you have the slightest bit more details to work with?”

He couldn’t help but feel as though all hope was lost…

“Of course there is.” The smile on Qin Ye’s face faded away, and his gaze grew deep and abstruse, “But… everything is still built on the intelligence available to us. All of this would be no different from empty talk unless we manage to capture Richard. To be perfectly honest with you, I was on the verge of giving up on my plans before you appeared.”

“Why?”

“Time.” Qin Ye explained, “Your interception of the rift between the mortal realm and the netherworld caused the MV Sewol to vanish for over 20 minutes. As you already know, they have an Abyssal Prefect helming operations on their end. Do you think they’re idiots? They’re most certainly aware that something is amiss right now!”

“There’s only a few of us standing tall against the coalition of forces comprising the Yin soldiers of the Hanyang Underworld and the Russian Underworld’s forces. 10 minutes of delay was already sufficient to sentence my plan to failure earlier. There’s no way we’d be able to survive an all-out confrontation against their troops without the element of surprise on our side. However…”

Qin Ye’s eyes gleamed brightly, “After learning of your special abilities, I had a rather unorthodox idea…”

Unorthodox? You must mean unreliable, don’t you… Ryu Changmin knew exactly where this was going. After all, he knew what kind of existence an Abyssal Prefect was. Sure, he might possess unique abilities, but this didn’t mean he possessed the power to kill someone qualitatively stronger than him.

This isn’t one of those old-school cultivation novels. The difference between cultivation levels was like a heavenly chasm that was practically insurmountable.

Qin Ye smiled faintly at Ryu Changmin, “Let me put this out there, the longer we dally, the more terrifying the troops arrayed in Gonjiam Asylum are going to be. Do you know something? In life, Liu Yu was known as the invincible Emperor Wu of Song, and in death, he was ranked first among all of the Infernal Judges in the last era of Hell. You definitely don’t want to go against the combined forces of Liu Yu, the Lord of the Danube, as well as Choi Tae-min himself. Ah, I’ve forgotten to mention something - Choi Tae-min is the root cause of everything here in Daehan, including the living dead that are spawning everywhere…”

“Damn it!” Ryu Changmin cursed loudly and spoke in a manner in complete contrast to his innocent, infantile looks, “How certain are you?”

Qin Ye shrugged, “Not very.”

“But you never know until you try. Besides… I have the utmost confidence that I can leave at any time I so desire.”

Typical unbridled scum that does whatever he likes after marriage!

Ryu Changmin took several deep breaths. He was no longer interested in such banal discourse. At once, the Yin energy around them began to swirl and funnel towards him, causing the darkness around to recede, revealing the mortal realm outside.

Although he didn’t know exactly what Qin Ye was planning, he could tell that time was still of the essence. He knew exactly what a gathering of Yin soldiers meant. After all, so long as you have enough ants, they can even bite an elephant to death.

They didn’t know where exactly they were, but it was clear that they hadn’t left Pusan just yet. As far as they could see, there were dilapidated farmhouses and fields everywhere, including random living dead wandering aimlessly across the streets. The MV Sewol was hiding behind a curtain of Yin energy that was quickly receding.

And as soon as it did, countless black butterflies on the ground immediately rose into the air and began to scatter in all directions.

Richard, King of Spies!

The black butterflies fly so quickly through the sky it was impossible to tell which was real and which was not. Nobody expected him to have hidden in the dense fog of Yin energy rather than within the MV Sewol itself.

Yin energy stirred within Qin Ye’s sleeves. He was ready to unleash his Heavenly Dragnet at the moment’s notice. However, almost as though he could sense Qin Ye’s thoughts, Ryu Changmin immediately licked his lips, “Don’t worry…”

“This is my domain. So long as I refuse, nobody can leave this place.”

“I can tell he was no ordinary person in life. I can sense that his entire being is filled with bloodlust, caution and deceit. However, what’s more important to a Yin spirit is resentment and grievances. He doesn’t hold a candle to me in this regard.”

Qin Ye nodded, “Do you need any help?”

“Not one bit!”

As he spoke, Ryu Changmin’s illusory body split open right down the middle, and innumerable blood vessels slowly began to extend out of his grisly being. These blood vessels grew longer and longer, and faster and faster. Within moments, they interlaced together to form innumerable hands, each of which concealed a mouth in the heart of the palm. At the same time, they joined together to form a massive net that enveloped an area a thousand meters in circumference!

Boom! Yin energy filled with extreme hatred and resentment erupted from the MV Sewol, sending shockwaves rippling ten miles from it. The living dead wandering the fields immediately collapsed onto their knees, shivering and bowing down as though they had seen the most terrifying display of hell in that instant. Even then, the massive net simply ignored these lowly living dead as they slowly began to pluck out of the air the black butterflies that were scattering in all directions.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!” Richard roared with shock and fury as a quarter of all the black butterflies were gobbled up by the voracious mouths. At once, the remaining black butterflies converged together and coalesced into Richard’s body once more.

How is this possible…

What with the intense hatred of this Yin spirit? Is he trying to kill me? Wasn’t his target Mukov all this while? And… why is he completely ignoring the Emissary of Hell?

Countless questions surfaced on his mind in that instant. Unfortunately, time waited for no man. As soon as he appeared, scarlet eyes began to appear in the plume of Yin energy billowing behind the majestic net.

It felt as though he were falling right into the hands of an abyss full of displaced facial features, all of which were brimming with murderous intent and ferocity. Then, before he could even react to the situation, thousands of hands swooped right down and completely bound up his body.

It was a storm of ghastly hands!

It was fast.

Incredibly fast. It was almost as though innumerable wisps of Yin energy were hurtling down from the sky and crashing directly onto Richard’s body.

He’d met his match today. The concealment techniques that he’d always prided himself with were completely helpless to the restraining abilities of the Terror Toddler. In the blink of an eye, thousands of voracious hands pelted down onto his body, restraining his body completely as they began to emit a series of sickening, crunching sounds.

Crunch, crunch… Richard’s soul flew up into the sky, and Yin energy began to pour out of his body like a broken dike. A split second later, the Yin energy wrapped around him like a black cocoon.

“Have you caught him?” Qin Ye raised his eyebrows quizzically.

“No…” Ryu Changmin licked his cracking lips with great excitement, just like how a young child took pleasure in a brand new toy, “It’s fun… It’s not the first time I’ve preyed on Judges, but it’s no doubt the first time an emissary was able to last this long in my personal domain. If not for this unique ability of mine, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even have noticed if he crept up behind my back.”

“Unfortunately, he’s clearly met his match today… Hehehe…”

1. WoW references.