Yama Rising

One hour later.

Thus, not even Grandmaster Chu was aware that Qin Ye’s room was completely dark. The windows were closed, the curtains were tightly shut, and even the lights were switched off. Furthermore, there were talismans pasted all over the room.

A black box sat silently on the bed, surrounded only by rows and rows of purple talismans tied to red strings. Qin Ye was busy as a bee, setting up precaution after precaution within the confines of his room. Ming Shiyin hovered in the air for some time, observing all these things, before he finally blurted, “Is this really necessary?”

Ming Shiyin tilted slightly in curiosity, “But… I don’t have arms to help out. I’m already giving you a lot of face by cheering you on by your side… Hang on! Why do I get the feeling that you’ve been showing me less and less respect these days? Do you want me to start lambasting you all over again?!”

He glared at Ming Shiyin, and then went about setting up the formation array on his own. Even then, Ming Shiyin began to hover about him like a fluttering butterfly, “Besides, I’m not asking whether the formation array is a necessity. What I’m asking is why you have to flaunt your abilities if you’d wanted them to entrust you with the safekeeping of the bowl? You’ve behaved like a male peacock flaunting its assets during mating season ever since we were at the train station. Don’t you think your behaviour is a huge disgrace to the reputation of King Yanluos?!”

He lowered his head, bit his thumb and smeared his blood across one of the talismans. In an instant, the talisman emitted a faint purple glow which quickly faded into nothingness.

He looked at the Bagua compass in his hand and adjusted the position of the talismans again, “Grandmaster Chu doesn’t even know who I am, so on what basis would he be willing to entrust it to me? With him around, Bai Yishan can only defer to him in the decision making process. It wouldn’t be proper for me to seize it for safekeeping by force either, unless I’m willing to risk my position in the First Academy of Cultivators. So…” Qin Ye finally took a step back and admired his handiwork, “The smarter thing to do is to make them ask me for help of their own volition.”

Ming Shiyin grew taciturn.

Qin Ye cracked his neck and admired his work of art with great satisfaction. Then, the ephemeral smile on his face faded away, and he looked intently at Ming Shiyin once more, “Lord Ming, shall I… begin?”

“Your counterparty is Oda Nobunaga after all. I can summon his soul, but considering his personality, I’m afraid you only have one shot at it.”

With a unique rhythm to his hand seals, he moved faster and faster as he poured more and more Yin spirit into his techniques, until his hands began to leave after images where they were just moments ago. Then, with the abrupt clap of his palms, the talismans in the room suddenly fluttered in unison. Finally, with a soft hum, all of the talismans in the room began to radiate a dim purple glow.

Without further ado, a bright black beam of light erupted from Ming Shiyin’s surface and shot straight into the X-magic box.

Nobody spoke a single word.

There aren’t many talents in the East to choose from after all…

Whoooooosh! Eerie spots of netherflames suddenly appeared within the room, making it look no different from an underworld! At the same time, a powerful tide of Yin energy began to pour out from the box, while the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl trembled within the box, making clinking sounds that could be heard from outside.

“Here it comes… here it comes!” Ming Shiyin barked, “Steady your mind. There’s more than one Yin spirit in here! Everyone who has died in the Honnoji incident are all trapped in this place! No… wait… kid! Get out of this place immediately…”

A nethergale poured out from the black box and sent Qin Ye’s clothes fluttering about. Then, a moment later, a dazzling red light erupted from the box with so much energy as though a new world had been born, and Qin Ye couldn’t help but shut his eyes to its bright gleam.

He was no longer in his room.

Whoosh… The gentle night breeze sent the fragrance of incense diffusing into the surroundings. The temple was constructed in the typical Zen Buddhist style, with dark tiled roofs and white walls. The temple grounds covered approximately a hundred square meters, and it couldn’t be considered small by any means. Two unique, ancient lamps burned with jade-green netherflames at the entrance of the temple. A plaque hung across the top of the entrance with a single word written on it - Honnoji!

Furthermore, right beside where the Nipponese warriors stood, were rows after rows of foot soldiers and bowmen who were likewise guarding the temple. The total number of soldiers numbered well above two thousand!

“There’s a burning stench.” Qin Ye remarked after taking a deep breath. The temple stood intact before him, and yet it seemed to emanate wafts of burning stench laced with what was unmistakably the stench of corpses.

Rather, it was an underworld for the dead.

“That said, this realm is rather unstable, and that’s probably why it is impossible to maintain an access channel between this place and the mortal realm. Look up there. The rift in the sky is the only way out of this place. But the size of the rift is at best large enough for one Yin spirit to enter and exit.”

Two rows of women drifted out slowly. Upon closer inspection, not a single one of them had feet that touched the ground. Wisps of Yin energy peeked out from the lower half of their long skirts. They were dressed in pure, traditional costumes with faces powdered with snow white make-up and striking spots of eyebrows. However, their teeth were ink-black in colour. They appeared no different from the sprites of ancient lore.

She walked with great poise as though she had been trained from young. Her body remained upright even as she walked, hardly swaying to the side even a little bit. She kept her head bowed, and the posture was warm, meek and innocent. She brought her hands out from her sleeves and placed them together gracefully as she arrived before Qin Ye.

Nohime huh…

“Lord Nobunaga is waiting for you inside Honnoji.” Nohime responded, “He says… you have to go in alone. After all…”

Qin Ye didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he stared intently at Nohime as he queried, “Are you not lifting your head because you’re afraid of looking at me?”

“It’s fine.” Qin Ye smiled faintly, “You may raise your head.”

Qin Ye immediately gasped.

She had striking eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes that appeared to contain the enchantment of fall in them. Her skin appeared soft and supple, while her face was pale as a sheet of paper. That said, her eyes were bloodshot, and there was a deep scar of a blade running across her entire neck.

The deep scar from her knife wound hadn’t faded one bit. Instead, it appeared to be deeply branded to Nohime’s neck. Furthermore, it appeared to run so deep that her neck looked almost as though it had been cut off completely. One could even see the grisly bits of flesh that were turned slightly outwards at the edge where her flesh met. Coupled with her pale appearances and her bloodshot eyes, her appearances were truly terrifying.

1. For those who have forgotten, Nohime is Oda’s wife.

2. Interestingly, the ritual suicide of seppuku is only done by samurais. The wives of samurais often commit suicide by cutting the arteries in their neck with a knife. This is probably what happened here.