Yama Rising

Chapter 1155: Ancient Corpse (1)

The light cast a bleak, white glow over the entire construction site, while pieces of machinery were rumbling incessantly. Around the construction site stood hundreds of humanoid figures.

This wasn't an urban area. In fact, it couldn't even be referred to as the outskirts of a city. There was tall thatch stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions, yet all of the thatch within 100 meters of the construction site was inky-black, as if ink had been spilled onto the area. Even further away, several dead trees could be seen, and countless red-eyed crows could be seen perched all over all of the trees.

A pristine white bone spike that was covered in blood punched through the chest of a young Taoist priest, whose lips were trembling as he gripped tightly onto the bone spike, as if he were trying to arrest the flow of his own fading life force.

The owner of the bone spike was a thin and pale man with a head of long hair. He was completely expressionless, and it looked as if killing a human were no different to killing an ant to him. The young Taoist priest threw up a mouthful of blood, yet there was no fear on his face whatsoever as he scoffed in a trembling voice, "What a pathetic existence you are..."

The long-haired man instantly squatted down before swiping an arm through the air, and his bone spike created a dazzling arc, decapitating the young Taoist priest and sending his head rolling away to the side.

"These are supposed to be the direct lineal descendants of Mount Longhu's Taoist Zhang?" The bone spike withdrew up the sleeve of the long-haired man, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he chuckled, "As expected, all of his descendants are trash."

An eerie man in a Mao suit was standing beside him, but the man's hands were concealed up his sleeves, and he cast a displeased glance toward the long-haired man as he said, "Mount Longhu has extremely far-reaching influence. Mount Longhu won't just let you get away with killing him. This era is different from the one you lived in, it's not so easy to find such endowed disciples nowadays."

"So what?" the long-haired man scoffed as his tongue extended out to a foot in length before licking his lips. His pupils abruptly turned vertical as he said in a cold voice, "Taoism is the largest religion in this nation, but Taoist Master Zhang of this generation can't even begin to compare with Zhang Daoling! If Zhang Daoling were still around, even the Many-faced God wouldn't want to come here. The three treasures of Taoism, the book, the sword, and the seal, can be combined to form the creation-grade divine artifact, the High Zenith World Vanquishing Bell, but I've seen the historical records. The Heavenly Teacher Sword was taken to Formosa and left at the bottom of the Sun Moon Lake, and the Taoist Master Zhang of pure bloodline also fled to Formosa. The one in charge here on Mount Longhu is nothing more than a powerless substitute. Without the bloodline of Taoist Master Zhang and the three treasures of Taoism, he would be asking for an early death if he dares to confront me."

The eerie man remained unconvinced, and he reminded, "Don't forget that you've already killed seven darkfeathers."

Taoist Master Zhang wasn't worthy of fear, but if he were to report the situation to Hell, then that could spell major trouble.

Just the mere thought of being hunted down by underworld emissaries was enough to send chills running down his spine.

The implication of Hell seemed to have triggered some type of strong emotion in the long-haired man, and his hair abruptly rose up, while his clothes flapped on their own despite the absence of wind. His chest was also heaving violently, and only after a long while did he calm down again.

"Since when did those traitors become the official administration?" he spat through gritted teeth. "700 of our brothers have already awakened. Aside from all of those who had their physical bodies destroyed, there are at least 2,000 whose remains can be found! Once our bodies and souls are restored and combined as one, Hell would pose no threat to us at all!"

Right at this moment, a burst of violent tremors ran through this entire area, and a vast expanse of Yin energy that was invisible to mortals erupted into the heavens.

This wasn't Yin energy that belonged to Hell. Instead, it was murkier and more ancient, and it was imbued with an extremely ruthless and bloodthirsty aura.

The long-haired man and eerie man's hair and clothes were blown upward to the point that they were virtually completely vertical, yet they weren't alarmed by this in the slightest. In fact, the long-haired man was elated as he turned around, and he was literally smiling from ear to ear before quickly rushing backward.

This was an extremely rural place without any human population, and what was most strange about it was the dryness of the soil.

Regardless of whether it rained in this place or not, the soil here seemed to be incapable of absorbing any moisture. Over this parched landscape was a small stone mountain.

It really wasn't appropriate to even call it a mountain. Instead, it was only a stone mound that was around one to two meters tall, and roughly 20 meters in radius. At the center of the mound was a spring, but the spring was filled with sediment and very murky as a result.

Anyone with any knowledge in fengshui would definitely avoid this place at all costs.

The parched earth, the murky pond, and the stone mound were all signs that this was an extremely unlucky and perilous place!

It indicated that there was something buried here that wasn't attracting any energy to it at all. Either the being buried here had been far too sinful during their lifetime and had been buried here in order to seal the corpse away, or their descendants had buried them here in the hope that their corpse would undergo some type of mutation. Otherwise, there was no way that a normal person would be buried in a place like this!

The long-haired man was extremely fast, and he reached the stone mound in the blink of an eye. A pit around 50 meters in size had already been dug out there, and there were rope ladders leading downward all around the pit. A dim light was glowing down below, situated at a depth in excess of 100 meters.

There were already over 100 people gathered around the place, and at the center was a square-faced man in a pair of glasses and a suit. His brows furrowed slightly as he turned to the left. "I require an explanation, Mr. Zhao."

"An explanation for what?" The man who was being referred to as Mr. Zhao was unnaturally thin and pale, looking as if he could be blown over by a strong breeze. However, he seemed to be the leader of the group, and everyone was gathered around him.

"Why has something like this been dug out of this place?" the square-faced man asked with a furious expression. "Don't you know that this plot of land could be easily sold for millions? How do I explain this to the Ministry of Land and Resources?"

Mr. Zhao was a very old man, looking to be in his eighties, and he was wearing a Mao suit as he gently stroked his beard with a smile. "Are you still worried about things like that, County Magistrate Hu?"

County Magistrate Hu replied, "As the county magistrate, I naturally have to look out for this county. Land is the economic basis of Ruicheng County, yet you didn't tell me what was under here at all! Why would I not be worried? Are you doubting my devotion to the nation?"

Mr. Zhao was very amused to hear this, and he turned to the side, upon which a man in a suit beside him immediately handed him a piece of paper with both hands.

"Here's two million, pretend you never saw this. We've been working together for several years already, haven't we?" Mr. Zhao said with a smile.

County Magistrate Hu didn't even look at the money. Instead, he was watching Mr. Zhao with a hint of a smile on his face. "Indeed, it's been a few years. During these past few years, you've dug thousands of holes across my county. Have you ever stopped to consider how much inconvenience your actions have brought to our work?"

Mr. Zhao's smile remained unchanged, and he looked at County Magistrate Hu for a few seconds before snapping his fingers, upon which another man stepped forward before handing another piece of paper to him.

"Five million." Mr. Zhao laid a hand onto County Magistrate Hu's shoulder as he said, "You're working very hard to be coming out so late at night. This is a little show of appreciation from our company. Just like the cheque from last time, you can cash the cheque at any international bank, and there's no way it'll be traced back to you."

County Magistrate Hu's expression finally eased slightly, and he patted Mr. Zhao's hand as he sighed, "I really do work too hard for this county."

"I understand, and I want to make your work as easy as possible." Mr. Zhao withdrew his hand with a smile, and right at this moment, a horrified scream rang out from the bottom of the pit.

Mr. Zhao cast a glance toward the pit, following which a mysterious smile appeared on his face. "Don't you want to know what's down there, County Magistrate Hu?"

County Magistrate Hu's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Mr. Zhao, I'm responsible for attracting business and investments to our county, and your company is one that was recruited to our county. However, I would be overstepping the boundaries of my job if I were to interfere with the operations of your business. That is something that was made clear by the central government. Are you trying to lure me into making a mistake?"

Mr. Zhao's smile grew even more enigmatic as he replied, "That's true."

Thus, County Magistrate Hu turned to depart. "Seeing as the foundational work has already been completed, I'm guessing that your company is about to make a start on your project. In that case, it looks like I have nothing more to worry about. Make sure to issue me a report tomorrow. I'm very busy, so as a practical consideration, I won't be attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony."

After that, he quickly left the scene. For some reason, the longer he stayed, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Outside this plot of land was a black Santana, and County Magistrate Hu stepped into the car before immediately instructing, "Let's go back."

The driver immediately turned on the ignition, and only after driving close to 100 meters away from the scene did he dare to speak. "Who are those people, County Magistrate Hu? They... They don't look like good people to me..."

All drivers were extremely trusted subordinates to leaders, and County Magistrate Hu was resting with his eyes closed in the back of the car, but his eyes immediately sprang open upon hearing this. "You think I need you to tell me who to interact with?! Attracting business and investments is the most important thing! Who cares about who those people are? They've paid millions for each hole that they've dug, and over the past few years, they've invested over a hundred million into our county! With their investment, we don't need any support from government policies, so what does it matter if they're good people or not?"

……………………………………

Right after County Magistrate Hu departed, the long-haired man made his way over to Mr. Zhao, then said, "Esteemed Many-faced God, don't you think he's being a little too greedy? He's going to be detained and interrogated by the government eventually, and when that time comes, he could spill the beans about us, so should we..."

"There's no need for that," Mr. Zhao replied as he licked his lips, as if he were looking forward to a delicious meal. "His soul is extremely tasty. Save him for me, it's been a very long time since I've smelled anything so delicious..."

A woman holding a child emerged. She was wearing a professional suit as well, and she asked, "What about the darkfeathers? We've already caught seven darkfeathers this month, isn't it about time that you left this place?"

Mr. Zhao's smile finally faded as his brows furrowed tightly.

There was nothing that he feared in the mortal realm, and the only thing that he was wary of was the power of Hell.

Never did he think that they would also have a being above the Yama-King level. In addition to that, the Harken had also made a full recovery, so if a battle were to ensue, the outcome would be truly difficult to predict.

The seven darkfeathers were already a warning sign. At the very least, it indicated that Hell was doing everything in its power to track him down. Was it trying to secure revenge for Safesoul City?

He looked down at the giant pit, then raised his head to look up at the sky, and only after a long while did he finally decide, "No, we'll stay. Keep digging! The fengshui of this place clearly indicates that we're not far away from that being's tomb!"