Yama Rising

The Magpie Bridge comes from the story of two star-crossed lovers whose love was forbidden by the gods, and they were thus banished to two sides of the silver river, also known as the milky way. But once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar, a flock of magpies would form a bridge for these lovers to reunite. Thus, it came to be known as the Magpie Bridge.

纖雲弄巧， Clouds float like works of art,

銀漢迢迢暗渡。 Across the Milky Way the Cowherd meets the Maid.

便勝却人間無數。 All the love scenes on earth, however many, fade.

佳期如夢， Their happy date seems but a dream.

兩情若是久長時， If love between both sides can last for aye,

)

………………………………………………………..

“Aaaaarrrgghh…. Unnnggghhh!!” He covered his chest and screamed miserably. He gritted his teeth and mustered every last bit of strength within his body to rip open his clothes, only to realize that there was a jade-green runic symbol imprinted on his chest.

Qin Ye’s appearance of intense pain instantly startled him. This also happened to be the last thing that Qin Ye saw. Before he fainted, his ears were filled with the alarming cries of the students, “Doctor! Hurry up and get the doctor!” “Instructor Qin, hang in there!”

After some time, he finally came to his senses. Everything appeared blurry, almost as though the entire world was constantly trembling. His eyes shifted about subconsciously, before someone beside him finally sighed. Several moments later, his appearances started to look clear once more.

His surroundings were white, and there were instruments everywhere. A middle-aged man stood in front of him, holding up a finger in front of his eyes. Qin Ye had finally regained his consciousness, and the man also wiped off the sweat from his forehead, “It’s a good thing that you’re fine.”

It was painful.

“Don’t speak.” The middle-aged man bore the badge of the Special Investigations Department Medical Division, and he continued gruffly, “Your condition is terrible. You’re currently on the plane back to the City of Salvation. Do you know how long you’ve been unconscious? If you do, wink your left eye. If you don’t, wink your right eye.”

“Three days.” The middle-aged man sighed, “New Hale City wasn’t able to treat you, so we’ve had no choice but to send you right back to the City of Salvation. The academy already knows about your situation. Faculty Head Zhou will personally come to pick you up at the airport.

“Don’t speak.” The middle-aged man reiterated, “Your condition is grim, but not irreversible. Your internal organs were struck by a powerful wave of Yin energy, which then materialized into a powerful netherflame. Fortunately, the flame didn’t last too long, because if it did… your life would have been in danger.”

With that, the middle-aged man left. Qin Ye lifted his head with much difficulty, only to discover that there was a pacemaker placed right on his chest, and there were tubes running all over the place. Upon closer inspection, he could see that there was a burn mark that ran from his abdomen right up to his throat!

He suddenly shuddered in fear. This is the daolord’s handiwork… What destructive netherflame. To think that not even an Emissary of Hell is able to withstand it. And… are outsiders actually unable to detect its presence?

He immediately reached into his pocket and activated the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal and his soul promptly entered Hell. The students might be greatly startled if he lost consciousness once more, but given the gravity of the situation, he couldn’t be bothered anymore.

When Qin Ye next opened his eyes, he was already in Hell. The Talisman of Life and Death was invisible in the mortal realm, but it glowed bright as a star in Hell. Fortunately, he wasn’t stricken with any measure of pain right now. That said, he could sense that he had lost weight from the initial round of ordeal he had been through.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Qin Ye grunted in dismay, “Hurry up and get this damn thing off me!”

She meant it as an affirmative statement.

“That’s not something I’ll be able to do.” Arthis gently pursed her lips, “This isn’t called the Talisman of Life and Death. It’s called Immortals at the Magpie Bridge. It’s a curse that can only be used by an Abyssal Prefect. The only way to remove it is to meet your destined partner and share a night of passion with her.”

It was a bolt out of the blue.

He released Arthis’ collars, “That damn bastard… He didn’t want to make it easy for me! He wanted to see if what I said was true. If the new Hell is strong, then it would naturally have a way of unravelling his curse. And even if it wasn’t, he could test out the strength of the new Hell with this move of his. In other words, he was prepared to let me perish from the onset!”

“Then, wouldn’t I have to… you know…” Qin Ye responded bashfully.

“A complete, divine artifact. Lower grade artifacts won’t do. After all, an Abyssal Prefect is already considered one of the strongest entities in the world. Most smaller underworlds are even ruled by Abyssal Prefects. In a sense, you can say that superpowers are exceptions rather than the norm, in that they are ruled by Yama-Kings as opposed to Abyssal Prefects. Naturally, Abyssal Prefects are already powerful enough to draw out the full strength of these divine artifacts. Only divine artifacts have the power to suppress and break this curse.”

Arthis shook her head and chuckled bitterly, “The Book of Life and Death is so powerful that even an Abyssal Prefect can only barely use it. Naturally, I’m unable to tap on its full strength, and I can only access some of its simpler functions. I can use it to suppress the curse temporarily, but I won’t be able to remove it altogether.”

Arthis glanced back at Qin Ye, “For instance, I can reduce the frequency of its effects from once per day to once per month. And even with its reduced strength, I can at best buy you five years of time. In other words, within five years’ time, you’ll have to… complete your harem, or I’ll have to attain my next breakthrough to the ranks of an Abyssal Prefect. But you can forget about the latter, because I can sense that I’ll still need at least thirty to forty years for that.”

“Do you think this is a matter of working harder or softer?! Do you think there’s anything I can do about it if Cathay doesn’t go to war?!”

“The third method…” Arthis slowly continued, “Is something that you’re most likely able to achieve.”

Qin Ye sighed and gritted his teeth as he leaned back heavily on the pillar behind him, “Are you messing with me?”

He suddenly shot to his feet, “The old Hell?!”

Arthis shook her head, sending his dreams crashing straight into the ground, “Impossible… The Yama-Kings of the Ten Palaces have already ascended into paradise, leaving behind divine molts in their place. Those locations must all be densely crawling with blight vermin now. There’s simply no way of clearing out those areas given your military might right now. Besides, divine molts are the best form of nutrients to monarch vermins. Not even I could do a single thing against that monarch vermin back then, much less you and the Yin soldiers of Hell right now.”

“Calm down!” Arthis rebuked him, “How could the future King Yanluo of Hell be so easily unsettled like that?!”

Calm down… calm down… Otherwise, I might very well push him over the verge and into the point of no return… Arthis placed her hand together and began to chant a calming sutra as she responded coldly, “Are you aware that the seals of all feudal officials are conferred by the highest authorities in Hell?”

Arthis interrupted him mercilessly, “Unfortunately, these seals are carried by the feudal officials’ sides. Losing the seals means losing their conferment of title as a feudal official of Hell. They would also have to face the wrath of the Heavenly Dao.”

Sorrow once again washed through his heart.

Qin Ye once again raised his head as Arthis continued, “They are no longer feudal officials to begin with. These seals have already lost their effects as soon as the old Hell has collapsed. They’re no different from evil ghosts right now, and evil ghosts have no use for such seals.”

The ocean of sorrow began to flow once more…

“That said…”

He was steaming mad.

“Art is an explosion, so what do you know?!” Qin Ye barked back, fervently suppressing the desire to tear Arthis to shreds.

Qin Ye listened intently, and then gulped as he probed further, “This man… could he be…”

“That’s right.” Arthis smiled faintly, “It so happens that this is none other than Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, otherwise known as Liu Jinu. The only man in Cathay ever known to be invincible.”