Yama Rising

Emotions couldn’t be faked. As a native of Valley County, Lu Ping couldn’t help but gasp slightly when he first brought up the murder mansion. Even his hands that were holding onto the steering wheel trembled slightly.

Chen Nian could sense the great emotions that were stirring in Lu Ping’s heart, and he thus volunteered, “Let me do it instead.” His expressions turned grave as he flipped open the folder in his hands, “Eastrise Neighbourhood was known to be a mass grave from the 50’s to the 80’s. Then, the neighbourhood was used by the state-run Valley Agricultural Cooperative, which was shortly thereafter repurposed into the Valley Leather Chemical Plant. From the mid-80’s, riding the success of the leather chemical plant, the state began to construct dormitories and residences in the vicinity. This was the rise of the Eastrise Neighbourhood.”

It wasn’t uncommon to hear of three generations in a family working for the very same factory or plant. In fact, many citizens prided themselves in the ability to work for such state-run enterprises.

“Then, the 90’s saw the decline of the leather chemical plant, until it completely went insolvent, leaving behind a legacy of neighbourhood and community that was formed around the plant. After some discussion, the plant manager and its staff decided to sell the land on which the plant was built on. But… the excavation works resulted in an incident.”

As they continued on this side road, Chen Nian continued, “When demolition works began, the construction companies had invited Taoist Wu Weiguan of the nearby Mount of Three Immortals to preside over the works. We aren’t fully aware of the details of what exactly happened. But... that very night, the entire county heard the cries of a thousand women, almost as though they were right outside their doors and windows! Yet, none of them were able to see a single person in sight! The next day, Taoist Wu Weiguan was discovered dead at the site of the demolition works, with blood seeping out of his seven apertures. Even then, the developers didn’t want to lose their investment, so they pressed on with the works.”

Qin Ye shut his eyes and hazarded a guess, “Another supernatural incident occurred?”

Chen Nian was done speaking, but everyone remained silent.

“What a pity.” Qin Ye was the first one to break the silence, “Wu Weiguan must have been at least a Hunter-class expert, or perhaps even a Hellguard-class expert.”

Qin Ye shook his head, “I’ve seen it before. Some practitioners in this world employ unique techniques in order to conceal their true abilities. I postulate that… he must have discovered something amiss about the Splendid Gardens Neighbourhood when it was first demolished. So, he tried to suppress what lay within with a formation array of his own. Unfortunately, the evil ghost was equally powerful, and both ended up being gravely wounded. In the end, the old Taoist succumbed to his wounds and departed from the world without leaving a message.”

“I’m just hazarding a guess.” Qin Ye didn’t mind whether the rest believed him or not. After all, everything stemmed from a single lead he had - that is, that the predatory zone lay right beneath the Splendid Gardens Neighbourhood. Unlike other predatory zones, there was no need for him to look around for clues pertaining to the exact location of the source of evil ghosts. This was good news to him, especially since he didn’t wish to stay for too long within Valley County.

Crack, crack… Qin Ye gently cracked his knuckles. Are you really so ferocious that you simply can’t resist the taste of flesh and blood? I’m sorry, let me show you just how much more ferocious I can be to all entities below the rank of an Infernal Judge.

Things at Valley County might be even weirder than we had earlier anticipated.

“Well, I guess we’ll know once we see it. Cultivators have their own nebulous sense of intuition. If the old Taoist had known that he wasn’t able to hold on any longer, he would definitely have left a hint for those picking up after him.”

The area just ahead of them was cordoned off, not with ordinary tape, but thin chains with talismans and bells attached to them. The surrounding areas had already been completely evacuated, and what remained was only the police and the military that were patrolling the vicinity.

They exited the vehicle, and the surrounding officers promptly saluted them all. Lu Ping nodded and promptly led the way.

It was a construction site. The perimeter of the site was still hoarded up, but there wasn’t a single sound of construction works at all. Instead, what remained was an eerie, deafening silence.

Qin Ye glanced around. The greenery in the county was rather commendable. The trees in the vicinity were all banyan trees with massive canopies that stirred and rustled with a gentle breeze.

“Old Chen.” As soon as they arrived, three men dressed in white lab coats immediately walked out. But as soon as they saw Qin Ye, they immediately gasped and flushed with delight. They scrambled to set down the documents in their hands and then hurriedly pressed their fists to their chest as they greeted, “SRC t-trainee researcher, Shen Mo, greets esteemed investigator, sir!”

It looked no different from a massive arena with only one entrance and exit. The rest of the hoarding was bound up tightly with layers upon layers of chains. As soon as they entered, Qin Ye’s pupils immediately shrunk!

The temperature dropped abruptly by several degrees. It was approximately 20 degrees outside, yet the area within the hoarding was only approximately fifteen degrees at best! All kinds of machinery and construction equipment were parked across the entire construction site like massive, towering coffins. For some strange reason, their equally massive shadows on the ground… appeared almost as though they were shifting slightly on their own…

It was almost as though the pit itself were the eighteen abysses of punishment, filled with endless hellfire and accompanied by heart-wrenching screams and tortured groans. There were even dozens, perhaps even hundreds of charred hands sticking out of the pit, desperately picking and twisting and scratching the walls of the pit as they continued to howl at the top of their voices, before slowly being dragged back into the seemingly bottomless pit.

“Death by conflagration?” Qin Ye remained silent. He hadn’t expected to gain the ability to perceive a Yin spirit’s life and death at a single glance together with his promotion to an Infernal Judge. Arthis had never told him about such powers either.

“It’s strange that we aren’t able to get a proper reading on the Yin energy in this area.” A voice suddenly spoke up beside Qin Ye, causing him to snap back from his reverie. Qin Ye turned to look at Shen Mo, who now had an eight-trigrams compass in his hands as he peered over the edge of the pit.

It was as though countless people were chattering around them, and thousands of ghosts were wailing in chorus. In that instant, Qin Ye saw a scene that made his heart skip a beat.

The base of the pit was approximately five or six meters from ground level, but… there weren’t stones in the pit. Rather… the pit was filled with bones and skeletons!

Yet, what was even more peculiar… was the fact that they were all wearing clothes! And brand new clothes at that!

How could this be?!

“This is the latest report.” Shen Mo’s voice trembled softly, “In fact… before its usage as a leather chemical plant, and even before its usage as a site for mass graves, this place… had another horrific past…”

“There were twelve hundred employees working here, all of whom were women. Then, one week before the end of the war, all of them suddenly went missing altogether.”

1. Also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War, which took place in 1937-1945.