Yama Rising

His tongue hung out of his mouth in a grand manner. His pupils were white, his irises were black, and his flowing white hair was combed back neatly… No matter how he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he couldn’t help but feel an innate sense of pride at being one of the most beautiful Hellguards that existed right now…

Arthis didn’t understand why, nor did he bother explaining it to her. Thus, he was probably the only one who understood the true significance of this event - that is, to establish the worldview of the Yin spirits in Hell.

There was still going to be the same economic, society, culture and humanities that were seen in the mortal realm. However, it also had a completely different side to things, with the mix of Yin energy, magic arts, and Yin soldiers. The accentuation of the differences is the only way to help all Yin spirits around thoroughly recognize that they are dead, and that they are currently living in a different world with different rules. This was the only way to pave the road ahead for education, research and a completely different and more suitable, open perspective. For instance, their minds would no longer be bound by the constraints of electricity, wind energy and fuel, and they would instead expand their thoughts to incorporate considerations of Yin energy, and even… life and death.

“Let’s go.” With that, he headed out without any hesitation, to the great clamor accompanying the gathering of Yin spirits.

Yin Xiangnan was a high school student.

He died trying to save an old lady who was crossing the road. Whenever he looked back at it, he couldn’t help but feel like giving himself two tight slap across the cheeks - The old lady should’ve known her limits! What was she doing crossing the road when the lights were red against her? Why did you even bother attempting to save her? You deserve to be hit by the oncoming vehicle!

It should have been a glorious underworld, but the present location he was in was pathetically small. The only building that stood across the lands was Hell’s Gate. However, he wasn’t a troublemaker. Even though his days in the afterlife were fraught with boredom, it was still peaceful nonetheless. At least… until a demonic young man showed up one day.

Incidentally, Yin Xiangnan could be considered one of the first Yin spirits of the new Hell.

They didn’t need food or drinks, nor did they have to rest at night. Their bodies were filled with energy. In fact, there was a period of time that he felt like he was going crazy with boredom, almost as though he were going to turn into a zombie from lethargy. His days were devoid of any activities of “life” altogether!

Ripples of excitement were seen in Hell for the first time.

That was when they first learnt that the young man was the man in charge of raising the new Hell.

The dark clouds over their bleak future appeared to shift away at that moment, allowing a ray of hope to peek through. At that point, it didn’t matter what it was - all they wanted was something to do! Yin Xiangnan immediately signed up to be a part of Yin Construction. Unfortunately, his application was dismissed.

There were only a few construction machines and equipment scattered across sprawling lands, and not more than a hundred Yin spirits were involved with the construction. To make matters worse, they worked on a rotation basis. The despairing sight caused everyone’s newfound enthusiasm to fizzle out quickly. Yin spirits began to gather under trees and idle about once more, chatting with others and talking about everything from their birth to their death just so that they could kill time. Yin Xiangnan felt numb and dazed, and completely jaded at the turn of events.

One would know despair if they didn’t know hope in the first place. Unfortunately, the new Hell had given its citizens hope, only to dash it to the rocks in the very next instant.

Unfortunately, reverence didn’t do anything to kill his boredom.

I would have fought to live.

I didn’t want to die!

Why isn’t the brave rewarded for their courageous and valiant acts?

A smile curled up the corner of his lips. He could still vividly recall the atmosphere around him that fateful day, when the containers opened up, revealing its contents that were filled with books, footballs, basketballs, chess sets, table-tennis equipment, and a whole host of other sports equipment and recreational amenities. Yin Xiangnan couldn’t help but shed a tear of joy.

Countless Yin spirits watched as container after container fell to the ground and opened up, revealing its contents. Their surroundings were filled with silence, save for the soft symphony of ragged breaths, sighs of relief, and whimpers of joy, which soon burgeoned into an earth-shattering cacophony of screams, cheers and shouts of elation! It was spontaneous and natural.

But to the citizens of Hell who walk the path of the dead, the appearance of these amenities were like a lifeline to them - a breath of fresh air when they needed it most!

That fateful day one month ago was like a point of inflexion from which a series of earth-shattering changes occurred!

I… feel alive again.

He didn't abandon us!

The citizens could all see for themselves the great transformation Hell was going through over the past one month. A good number of Yin spirits signed up to contribute to Hell’s development in some way or other. Having interacted with the Yin spirits around him for the past year or so, Yin Xiangnan naturally had his ear close to the ground in these matters. One of his acquaintances, Mr Zhao used to be a senior locksmith back when he was alive. He applied to join a factory for building materials, and was hired on the spot as a unit director.

He also knew of another sorrowful looking middle-aged man who had signed up with the union of factor owners. I guess he must have been rather affluent while he was still alive… how nice…

Additionally, most of the conversation now went along the lines of - “Which department did you join?” “You’ve been selected to join the government? You’ll be a civil servant! Not bad!” “Hey, you there, wanna join us for soccer? It doesn’t matter if you don’t know us. We can still play on the same team! Do you have anyone else you can ask?” “Old Zhao, how about a game of chess? And then, we’ll pop over to the factory this afternoon to see if they’ve got more application forms available.”

Thus, he was more excited about the induction ceremony today than ever, so much so that he couldn’t even sleep properly at night!

He was brimming with excitement to see what else he could look forward to.

“Little Yin?” As soon as he turned the corner, he bumped into two old men in the middle of a game of chess, “Are you going to the ceremony?”

“Nearly.” Uncle Wang smiled back, “What time is it now anyway? Isn’t it a little bit too early for the ceremony?”

However, the closer he drew, the more he realized something was wrong, and he suddenly began to sprint to Hell’s Gate as quickly as he could.

Hell’s Gate was now closed, and there was a huge mirror set right in front of the gate acting like a clock. The divine artifact induction ceremony was scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. It was currently only 8 a.m., and yet he could see that the open space in front of Hell’s Gate was already packed full of Yin spirits!

How early are these people?!

He was caught in the midst of a sea of ghosts.

They were packed so tightly like sardines that it was impossible to move about. If not for the fact that everyone present were Yin spirits, there would most certainly have been a stampede, and quite possibly injuries or even death. Yin Xiangnan couldn’t help but grumble, “What the heck… is this really necessary?”

The smile on his face was one filled with satisfaction and abundance.

The young spirit sighed with great emotion, “If this had happened more than a month ago, perhaps only a third of the Yin spirits in Hell would be in attendance… But if an approval rating poll were carried out right now, I dare say that Lord Qin would have at least 95% approval, if not 100% altogether! There’s no doubt that he would have something great hidden in store for us! Do you think anyone would want to miss out on that?”

But there’s just too many Yin spirits… It was only 9.30 a.m., and there was already a gathering of a hundred thousand Yin spirits right outside Hell’s Gate like a great black tide. Oda Nobunaga and his Umamawari horse guards were dressed in their full battle armor, maintaining security in the area. 9.40 a.m… 9.50 a.m… Then, as the clock struck ten, the entire Hell went silent.

Then, a cool horn sounded amidst the silence, followed quickly by the sound of drums and sornas as a line of ghostly women dressed in ancient Tang costumes drifted right out of Hell’s Gate.

No introduction was needed at all. Everyone instantly knew that the divine artifact induction ceremony had just begun!