Yama Rising

She was panting from fear as she continued, "The underworld and the mortal realm cannot intersect, this is an international law of the Coalition of Underworlds that absolutely cannot be broken, and Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa have upheld it. They still have ambitions of living, and they hope to be able to continue to thrive on the world stage if they do manage to survive, so they naturally won't go that far. However, just because they won't doesn't mean others won't!"

The hand locked around the back of her neck relaxed before pulling away, and she took a deep breath, but still didn't dare to turn around. Instead, she took a moment to organize her own thoughts before continuing, "The disappearance of all of those villages have made all of the netherworldly citizens of the new continent too scared to go out, so the economy is in complete shambles, but that's not all. Two years ago, something that shocked the entirety of Northern Usonia happened!"

Her lips were trembling as if the mere mention of that even struck fear into her heart, and she said in a hoarse voice, "The city of the Goddess of Liberty vanished..."

"Are you referring to New York?" her assailant asked.

"Yes, it's the city that corresponds with New York of the mortal realm. The city had a population of close to a hundred million Yin spirits, yet the entire population disappeared, leaving only the buildings behind! During the past two years after that incident, the number of refugees that have gone through my hands has increased by well over tenfold! No one dares to stay in the new continent anymore! However, some people have access to this avenue, while others don't. Most Yin spirits don't dare to take the risk, nor are they able to afford the expensive smuggling fees, so they can only stay in that hellish place! According to my sources, the Yin spirits of Northern Usonia have already... already..."

She was very hesitant to continue, seemingly wary of something, yet right at this moment, a burst of bone-chilling Yin energy speared straight into her spine, and she immediately screamed in a panicked voice, "I'll talk!! I'll talk!!"

She began to pant heavily, and her nails were digging into the ornately crafted wooden door as she continued in a trembling voice, "Last year, I had a client by the name of Benson. He was a big client, and he was looking for artifacts, not weapons, but artifacts. He wanted artifacts tinged with the auras of high-grade emissaries of the Cathayan Underworld, namely all types of ceremonial equipment, and I had the presence of mind to record a list of all of these pieces of ceremonial equipment. After the event, I realized that he was purchasing the ceremonial equipment in order to break through an array! There were also ceremonial materials for summoning high-grade foreign underworld emissaries! Even though he bought many other types of materials, I trust my sources, and we're both convinced that this is his true objective! They... They..."

Rebis took a deep breath to calm herself down as much as possible before continuing, "They most likely intend to break through the barrier between the mortal realm and the underworld in order to flee to the mortal realm, and they could do this at any time! In fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if they did this tomorrow..."

Chu Renmei was standing right behind Rebis, and Qin Ye was seated on Rebis's bed behind Chu Renmei.

He had already decided to make the trip to Northern Usonia as the fate of the Cathayan Underworld rested on this, and he wasn't going to let anyone guess his identity.

What Rebis had just revealed was a complete bombshell to Qin Ye.

A revolt had finally started in Northern Usonia!

This was a forced revolt. Everyone knew that in a world where cultivation existed, staging a revolt without the support of high-grade underworld emissaries would be no different from courting death. Unless there was absolutely no way they could continue to survive, there was no chance that the netherworldly citizens of Northern Usonia would turn to such desperate measures.

"Continue," Chu Renmei instructed in a cold voice.

Rebis took a moment to collect her thoughts before doing as she was told. "Starting from this year, the situation in Northern Usonia began to rapidly deteriorate. All of the legendary evil ghosts began to emerge one after another. A chaotic nation is a paradise for evil ghosts, and the state of the new continent will only continue to worsen from here."

Qin Ye nodded upon hearing this, and Chu Renmei asked, "What are the major powers currently in Northern Usonia? What positions do the death gods currently occupy?"

"I don't know about that, I'm not qualified to come into contact with such important figures. According to my knowledge, the esteemed death gods are responsible for overseeing the entire continent, and they haven't assigned themselves any territories. However, there are some prominent powers among the public, the first of which is a death god religion. They worship an evil death god, and the religion only arose during the past century. They have followers across many parts of the new continent, and the government has already adjudged them to be a cult... Wait!! What are you doing?! Spare me! Please!"

Chu Renmei's hand was exerting more and more pressure around the back of Rebis's neck, and her spine was already beginning to creak and groan. She immediately began to scream, and her shrill shrieks echoed throughout the entire room.

Qin Ye paid no heed to this, stroking his own chin in contemplation as he sat on the soft bed.

His sharp instincts had captured something based on what Rebis had just said, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him, and Chu Renmei asked in his stead, "Is this a cult from the mortal realm?"

"Yes, it is!" Rebis was screaming in a panicked voice. "However, I have sufficient evidence to prove that this is a religion that transcends beyond life and death! There are far too many underworld emissaries among them! I'm very familiar with the scent of underworld emissaries, and I just so happen to come into contact with them several years ago, so I'm certain that there are underworld emissaries among them!"

There are underworld emissaries up to no good in the mortal realm?

Qin Ye's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

The state of the new continent was even more troublesome and complex than he had anticipated.

What made him even more concerned was that the final holder of Xu Fu's notes was Richardman, and he was a member of the Freemasonry.

There were always some people in the world who knew the truth that most people didn't, and interacting with them would attract a lot of unnecessary attention.

However, this wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Chu Renmei commanded in a cold voice, "Continue."

"Ye... Yes!" Rebis was talking as if her life depended on it as she frantically continued, "The second one of those powers is the Black Army! They used to be the army that guarded the gates between life and death, but ever since Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa relinquished control over the continent, they became less and less willing to take orders, and at this point, they're not taking orders at all. I heard that the commander of the Black Army is a high-grade underworld emissary! The third major power is the church. As the number one parish of Catholicism, there are many churches in Northern Usonia, and they have countless witch hunters under their command. Last year, no, starting from January of this year, I heard that all of the witch hunters have been deployed to sweep through Northern Usonia to clash with the evil ghosts that have occasionally passed through the Yin Yang Mezzanines. On top of that, thousands of paladins have already been sent to reinforce the center of Northern Usonia. If Benson and his masters can successfully blow apart the barrier between the underworld and the mortal realm, then a full-blown war between the two realms will become inevitable!"

Qin Ye committed all of this information to memory, and Chu Renmei said in a cold voice, "I'll give you a chance here, is there anything you have to add?"

"No, that's all!!" Rebis screamed desperately, "I swear! I swear on the god of death that I've told you everything I know! I haven't left out any information!!"

The bone-chilling female voice rang out right beside her ear. "I gave you a chance, but you haven't cherished it..."

A burst of killing intent instantly surged into the top of Rebis's head, and in the face of this killing intent, she felt impossibly tiny and insignificant, as if she were nothing more than an insect facing the entire heavens.

The extreme fear she was experiencing made her mind unprecedentedly clear and sharp, and right as the hand came into contact with the back of her neck again, she screamed with all her might, "I remembered something!! I remembered something!!!"

The hand released her once again, and having just dodged a bullet by the finest of margins, Rebis was trembling so violently that it almost looked as if she was spasming. She sobbed in a broken voice, "There's still something else, I didn't hide it on purpose! There are currently underworld emissaries patrolling all of the airports, as well as all vehicles and trains traveling to Northern Usonia! Some of the new continent's underworld emissaries may have detected what Benson and his masters are trying to do, and they're trying to prevent it! The only hole in their inspection is sea travel, and I know of a boat that can travel from the underworld straight to the new continent without being discovered!!"

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow in a surprised manner upon hearing this, and Chu Renmei asked, "How did you know?"

How did you know I want to travel to the new continent?

"Please don't hurt me..." Rebis panted in a terrified voice. "If you didn't want to go to the new continent, you wouldn't have come to me. I am in charge of the smuggling trade here, if you want to find out other information, you have better choices than to ask me. Hence, I made a bold assumption that you want to travel to the new continent, right? Please trust me! I haven't told you a single lie! Now is definitely not a good time to be going to the new continent! If the barrier between life and death is broken, the situation will completely spiral out of control! You..."

"Tell me the ship's name, time, and location," the cold female voice interjected before she had a chance to finish.

Rebis immediately replied, "The ship is called The Liberty, and it'll arrive at the 18th dock in three days! The captain is called Rick, he's a native Usonian who once served in the Usonian navy, and after his retirement, he got into the smuggling business! I'm very familiar with him, and with my recommendation, he won't pose any issues to you! No, he wouldn't dare to pose any issues to you!"

"I also need a suitable identity, one in the underworld and one in the mortal realm."

"Please go and see Rick! Just tell him that you're my friend and he'll prepare everything for you!"

After that final scream, she closed her eyes to await her final judgment.

Death itself wasn't anywhere near as terrifying as waiting for certain death, yet even after waiting for three full minutes, she still wasn't dead.

However, she didn't dare to turn around, and only after waiting like a zombie for 15 more minutes did she slowly turn around to take a peek behind her.

There was no longer even half a person behind her.

"Thank the gods of death..." she said in a trembling voice before falling onto the ground as if all of the energy had been sapped from her body.

Three days passed by in the blink of an eye.

Qin Ye was wearing a silver mask, and his entire body was enveloped in Yin energy, making it impossible for others to glean his cultivation rank. He was wearing a tuxedo and an antiquated top hat, and he was already standing in front of the 18th dock.

This was an independent market with no one around, and it was as if no one even knew what this dock was supposed to be used for.

12 AM tonight, eh?

Qin Ye took a glance at his watch before raising his head to look out at the vast sea. Did all dead people regard this as a lucky time?

A smile appeared on his face as he continued to wait patiently.