Yama Rising

That’s right… There’s still Lee Jung-sook…

Qin Ye took a deep breath and reached his hand out to the screen. And then, he suddenly paused.

He hated being beholden to others. Lee Jung-sook had saved his life once, and it naturally follows that he should return the favour.

But he knew he was no match for Black Yaksha.

At once, he returned from the world of his consciousness and whispered to the Harken, “Lend me your strength once more.”

“I can’t.” The Harken responded softly, “I’ve only been able to come to the mortal realm by borrowing the strength of the Second King Yanluo of Hell. Please be mindful that I’m still recovering from some grievous injuries, and there’s simply no way I can move about freely. I can’t even return to Hell to recover from my wounds.”

Qin Ye frowned. Lee Jung-sook was in a critical situation, but heading there recklessly will only lead to death on his part.

“That said… there’s someone who can help you.”

“Who?”

The Harken glanced at the daolord of the asura.

“There’s just one little drawback.” The Harken continued, “His Yin energy is far too demonic, and it lacks the air of righteousness of Hell.”

………………………………………….

“AHHHHH!!!!” A figure screamed miserably as he dashed through the sky, rushing east as quickly as his feet would take him.

How strong… How terrifying!

The Emissaries of Hell are just as strong as they’ve ever been! The stronger their cultivation, the further the gap between their level of abilities and ours! He was the only one who witnessed with his own two eyes the Harken’s mighty attack just as they were about to make their great escape.

He’d thought that he was certainly dead. However… his own brother had in the moment of crisis acted with great resolution, forcibly disengaging their Susa Boy transformation so that he could escape unscathed.

“AHHHHHH!!!!” He screamed frantically as he rushed towards the coastal areas as quickly as he could. Yet, even then, he didn’t even dare to hate Cathay because of how incredibly powerful Cathay was.

Instead, the one that he hated most right now was none other than Lee Jung-sook!

Had it not been for her interference, their operation tonight would have been a resounding success! Black Yaksha shuddered to think of the end which might befall his brother, Crow Tengu.

He rushed away at top speed with gritted teeth. Although his brother had disengaged their Susa Boy form in the nick of time, he was still somewhat injured by the force of the Harken’s mighty attack. The fact that he was still able to escape at top speed for five full seconds was already a feat in and of itself.

He drew close to the edge of Martial City, where a large mountain was located. With gritted teeth, he glanced around, only to notice the existence of a dilapidated temple on the mountain.

BOOM! He rushed straight into the temple at once. It was decrepit. Even the statue in the heart of the temple was barely intact, with nothing more than half of its body standing. There were cobwebs everywhere. With no place left to go, Black Yaksha escaped into the temple to catch a quick breather. His chest rose and fell greatly as he panted violently.

He paused for three seconds, and then abruptly lifted his head. And then, shivers ran down his spine.

He’s dead… Crow Tengu is dead!

At once, his heart was filled with a confluence of both trepidation and loss. There was a special bond between him and his twin ghost, Crow Tengu.

“AHHHH!!!!” He clutched desperately at his chest. His wails of grief reverberated endlessly throughout the broken temple like the cries of mournful ghosts at night.

Crow Tengu and Black Yaksha were the twin children of one of the most powerful Yin spirits of the Nipponese underworld. Black Yaksha had never thought that he would lose his blood brother here in Cathay. Everything had suddenly spiralled out of control, resulting in the demise of one with whom he had spent the last thousands of years. It was a heart-rending loss, and anguish filled his heart.

Ghosts had no tears, so it was Yin energy that poured from his eyes instead. After several moments of grieving, Black Yaksha gritted his teeth and clambered to his feet once more.

No… I can’t stop now!

Crow Tengu has given his life for me. I can’t let him down!

But… where can I go?

His mind was in a mess, yet he continued to trudge back towards the entrance of the temple with ragged breaths. Then, just as he arrived at the door once more, he suddenly paused, and his nose twitched slightly.

The scent of a human…

And… a very familiar one at that…

This is…

Lee. Jung. Sook!

BOOM! Yin energy erupted from his body as he jerked back his head, staring deep into the darkness of the temple with great flames of fury rising from the depths of his eyes. His claws reflexively extended right out of his fingers as his hands trembled from the intense rage.

Shk! Shk! Shk! Several cold glimmers of light swept throughout the temple, and the rickety temple collapsed to the ground at once.

As the cloud of dust and debris slowly cleared up, it revealed the figure of a lady standing right behind the crumbling statue of Buddha.

She bit her lips gently and tightened the grip around her gun.

“Lee Jung-sook…” Resentment filled Black Yaksha’s heart as he barked at Lee Jung-sook, “Do you know how much anguish you’ve caused me?!!”

Lee Jung-sook’s entire body trembled profusely. She hadn’t expected to run into Black Yaksha so quickly, especially after she had successfully made her great escape earlier.

“Why bother coming back to me if I bring you so much anguish?” She was trying to buy time. She was clinging onto the last strand of hope that the army of Hell would arrive in the nick of time.

I wonder if I’ll be able to hold on till help arrives…

Black Yaksha was clearly bursting at the seams with boundless rage and resentment, so much so that he’d even momentarily forgotten about the dangerous predicament he was in. Step by step, he marched forward towards Lee Jung-sook, leaving terrifying cracks along the ground in the wake of his movements. The Yin energy pouring out from his body appeared denser and more material than ever before.

“It’s because of you…”

“It’s all because of you!!”

Boom! His robes fluttered wildly as the shadows beneath his feet shuddered and trembled. Moments later, a series of scarlet eyes emerged from the shadows and pounced straight towards Lee Jung-sook like a tide of angry shadows.

“Crow Tengu wouldn’t have died had you not interfered with our plans!!”

“Why can’t you just sit still and behave yourself?!!”

“Why did you have to resist the irresistible?!”

“You deserve death… You deserve to perish right here, right now!!”

The shadows danced wildly like venomous snakes emerging from a den of serpents. Lee Jung-sook gasped and turned to run. She felt incredibly helpless. How could she have so coincidentally run into Black Yaksha at this dilapidated temple?

“Escape?!” Black Yaksha tossed his head into the air and laughed like a maniac, “You dare flee in front of a mighty Infernal Judge?!”

Whoosh! With a furious roar, the shadows blitzed towards Lee Jung-sook, binding up her feet and dragging her back against her will to escape.

“If not for the fact that I’ve still got a use for you… you’d long have been sentenced to a fate worse than death by now!!” Black Yaksha roared as he stared intently at Lee Jung-sook’s back, “Ahh… That’s right, you don’t fear death. But… what about this--...”

He moved his finger slowly, and one of the black shadows binding Lee Jung-sook’s limbs shifted slightly. Crack… Lee Jung-sook let out a muffled grunt. Her right arm had been forcefully dislocated.

At once, she made the snap decision to hand the gun over to her left hand, where she raised it to her chest without hesitation.

If I had to die, I’ll at least die with my dignity intact!

“Dream on.” Black Yaksha barked as another shadow bound up her left hand tightly, completely immobilizing her. Lee Jung-sook sighed deeply and shut her eyes in despair.

Is this the end of the road?

Is this… the limits of a mere human being?

Boom!! Just then, two sources of boundless energy erupted out of nowhere. Black Yaksha cried out in alarm, while she was astonished to discover that…

I’m still alive?

I can move my hands once more!

Two figures had suddenly appeared in the sky, followed closely by a dozen or so figures standing on the ground behind them. The Yin energy in the sky was beaten back by the true energy emanating from the human being that had just surrounded the temple ruins.

Zhou Xianlong glared intently at Black Yaksha as he asked his men, “Where’s he?”

This Yin spirit… is incredibly powerful!

I’m afraid this is one of the strongest Yin Spirits that I’ve encountered in all my years of service!

“He’s right here.” An albatross fiddled with his phone, “We’ve got a lock on his position. He’s been rushing straight to this place since dozens of seconds ago, and… the strength of his energy signature is still growing!”

Lin Han furrowed his brows, “Who?”

The albatross glanced back, “The target.”

“Don’t ask.” Su Feng shook his head, “You should know better than to ask for anything from the lips of an albatross. Anyhow… don’t you think that what’s in front of us right now is more worthy of our attention?”

Two human Judges and just over a dozen Hunters had surrounded the temple ruins on all sides. But Black Yaksha simply glanced around and chuckled contemptuously.

“Hehehe… Hahahaha!” Black Yaksha’s laughter was laced with some measure of insanity. He scanned his surroundings with bloodshot eyes, “One, two, three, four… That’s a total of over ten people who can see me. Excellent… excellent! To think that the ones to witness my swan song would actually be living human beings! What an irony!”

Mo Changhao snorted, “There’s no place for you here in the mortal realm.”

“I’m curious.” Black Yaksha remained completely still as he allowed the encirclement of humans to slowly close in on him, “How are you able to see me? Logically speaking, mortals shouldn’t be able to see emissaries at all.”

Zhou Xianlong pulled out a leaf from his pocket and waved it in front of his face, “2,000 years ago, our ancestors planted a peach tree on Greencity Mountain. After a thousand years, the peach tree withered up, but remained alive. Thereafter, two green leaves would grow on the withered peach tree with every decade that passed. All who wipe their eyes with these leaves would be bestowed with the ability to see all that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.”

“This is a treasured artifact that none may use without the approval of our director. There are no more than 300 pieces of such leaves across Cathay right now. I’ve specially obtained approval for the use of 20 such leaves for these operations today. Unfortunately, it’s also because of these leaves that I was able to see something… that I truly didn’t want to see.”

“I see…” Black Yaksha’s lips curled up with a smile. And then, his eyes suddenly opened abruptly.

There were no longer netherflames burning in his eyes. Instead, two black hands emerged from within, while his voice grew high-pitched and effeminate, “I’m glad that you’ll be accompanying me... in death…”

BOOM!!! At once, copious amounts of Yin energy spurted out of his seven apertures. However, it was different from before - it was so powerful that it even caused the heavens and the earth to tremble wildly!

It wasn’t Black Yaksha’s Yin energy!

“To think that you were actually able to force my dear child to reach out to Yomi-no-Kuni to channel my might. It looks like… he was clearly being forced to a corner…” Black Yaksha interlocked his fingers and covered his lips daintily as he cackled, “The use of this ability sends its user into a deep slumber for a hundred years. It’s the final trump card hidden up their sleeves. A hundred years in exchange for fifteen minutes of power. But…”

“That’s more than enough to dispose of rabble like you.”

Boom, boom, boom! Layers upon layers of overwhelming Yin energy erupted from Black Yaksha’s body, obscuring the clouds and blotting out the moon in the sky. The faces of countless humans appeared to be trapped in the clouds of Yin energy, struggling and moaning as though they were suffering in an endless living underworld!

“What’s the--...” Zhou Xianlong froze as the tide of Yin energy poured straight towards them. A split second later, he snapped back to his senses and turned back to his men, “Run!!”

“Abyssal Prefect?!” Mo Changhao also froze for a moment, before bellowing at the top of his voice, “Retreat!!”

“Trying to run?” A female voice cackled amidst the imposing clouds of Yin energy, “How dare mere mortals act with such audacity in front of me?”

Whoosh… At once, countless hands emerged from the depths of the Yin energy clouds, whistling shrilly as they grabbed at the investigators around them. The force of their approach was so intense that cracks even began to surface in the air!

Just then, a blaze of scarlet netherflame suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Following that, hundreds of immolating swords descended from the sky, whizzing through the air as they cleaved right through the arms coalesced out of Yin energy!

“Prefect?! A Cathayan Prefect?!” The woman screamed at the top of her voice as she promptly retracted the expanding cloud of Yin energy. The investigators also froze as they turned to look at the source of the scarlet netherflames.

They saw an Emissary of Hell suspended in mid-air, wearing a Zhong Kui hat and black imperial robes. His entire body was blazing with endless netherflames. An endless nethergale swept around him, bearing the cries of a chorus of ghosts. He looked incredibly imposing and authoritative, almost as though he represented Hell itself.

Qin Ye didn’t say a word as he glanced around with some measure of consternation - Why is the Special Investigations Department here?

What’s Lin Han and Su Feng doing here? And how are they able to see Emissaries of Hell? That’s impossible!

And how is the Black Yaksha able to exhibit might in the class of an Abyssal Prefect?

A series of twists and turns that were scripted by Fate were all coming together in perfect dissonance.