Yama Rising

The countless living dead bowed down to the ground with deep respect to the transcendent being standing before them. By spoils of war, Qin Ye had actually been referring to the living dead standing around him!

Qin Ye nodded and turned to the Yin spirits with a bright gleam in his eyes, “Well, let me ask you - what is the one thing that Hell lacks most right now?”

Qin Ye immediately rolled his eyes, “You brainless oaf! Mr Pea Shooter, please step aside and work on the development of your primitive mind.”

It was highly unlikely that there would still be large groups of armed forces like the ones previously garrisoned at Qufu back then. After all, most of these would have been either subjugated or vanquished by Kong Mo a long time ago. In fact, he would likely even have driven out most if not all of the monarch beasts in the region. Under the circumstances, the Frontier Brigades were unlikely to face much resistance, and the engineering corps would likely be able to carry out their jobs smoothly.

“Naturally.” Qin Ye sighed, “Eastmount Province may have a population size of over 20 million Yin spirits, but establishing new cities is a highly labour intensive process. Sure, we might have a stronghold set up for ourselves right now, but it’s not unreasonable to expect a number of messenger birds coming our way in the near future, seeking manpower, money and resources! Where are we supposed to get all this manpower from? If we mobilize everyone from Ashmound City, then how is it supposed to function properly as a city and keep its current industries going? Remember, Ashmound City is still the foundation of all of our operations in Eastmount Province. But, on the other hand, if manpower remains an issue, then we might be spread so thin that we barely see any progress at all!”

Wang Chenghao staggered back a few steps.

“And while we’re at it, I’ll still have to return to Ashmount City to study the script of death in detail to see if there are other means available to us to increase Hell’s abilities. Forget it, it’s draining to talk about such things.” He waved his hands in anguish. The thought of returning to Ashmound City to a mountain full of responsibilities and work to be done caused the veins at his temple to throb uncontrollably.

“I want the Ouroboros technique!” Qin Ye flicked his sleeves, “Or at the very least, the means of controlling and manipulating the living dead. Don’t you think that they’re the perfect workforce for our purposes? They never die, never get tired, and don’t even get bored like those demanding Yin spirits back in Hell! They won’t even ask for money or think of rebelling against poor leadership! Don’t you think that this is the greatest spoil of war from our trip here to Daehan?”

And since that deals with the issue of manpower, all that remains is the issue of money…

“Go get some rest.” He concluded their discussion, “And let’s look forward to their VIP treatment from now onwards. I imagine Liu Yu must be fuming mad right now.”

Mortal realm, entrance to the Gonjiam Asylum.

No. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the entire Gonjiam Asylum had been tightly bound up by silver chains, while multiple wind chimes hung from the corner of the eaves of Gonjiam Asylum. A team of elite forces were fully deployed and waiting just 30 meters from the main entrance.

Most of them wore the emblem of the LSD on their chests as they stared intently at the main entrance. Meanwhile, there were 5 other men and women wearing ancient Daeian garments and holding various strange instruments in their hands.

Dead silence. Nobody said a single word. Everyone knew full well why they were called to be here today. More importantly, they knew exactly what they were potentially facing - the most terrifying evil ghost that Daehan had ever faced to date!

It was noon.

And yet… the trees around Gonjiam Asylum were swaying wildly in unison!

T-t-t-t-t… Whoosh… Rustle… The skies suddenly darkened. Meanwhile, the ground trembled softly, and the wind chimes dangling around the eaves of Gonjiam Asylum soon began to tinkle.

“It’s coming… It’s coming!!” A white-haired old man gazed intently at the ground and declared at the top of his voice. It was none other than Mr Jeon.

“You five are the most famous psychics across the entire nation. Please proceed as I had briefed you, and make no mistake. Otherwise… I’m not sure if the citizens of Daehan would ever be able to forgive you!!”

That said… this was still the first time in decades of work they were looking to communicate with such a powerful Yin spirit!

Unfortunately, they knew they had no choice but to comply with the instructions they were given. Otherwise, the guns trained at the entrance might well shift slightly and find their crosshairs on their backs.

Even though the fear in his heart hadn’t completely subsided, he knew that he could dally no longer. With a quick wave of his sleeves, a monkey jumped out from within. It was only the size of an adult’s fist, and yet the monkey dragged along with it a foot-long sledgehammer.

The old man patted the monkey’s butt with his right hand and pulled out a gong with his left hand. At once, the monkey swung the hammer into the gong.

The monkey immediately covered his eyes and chattered excitedly. Moments later, when he opened them again, his eyes were completely pitch-black in colour, almost as though he were gazing deep into a completely different world altogether!

“Go!!!” The old man holding the gong shouted loudly, pulled out a nail and then hammered it straight through the monkey’s skull.

They were still tinkling, but they no longer moved with such agitation and terror. Instead, they were now moving far more calmly, almost as though someone were tinkling the chimes intentionally. The sound generated was also far more soothing than before.

Mr Jeon immediately walked over and looked them in the eyes, “How was it?!”

Mr Jeon gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and then turned back.

She was going to say that if the evil ghost didn't answer, it would mean that it wasn’t interested in negotiations, and that would spell instant death for everyone present!

And then… he would move to Gyeonggi Province, and then Hanyang, and then the rest of Daehan altogether!

Unfortunately, was it really going to be that easy communicating with an evil ghost of such terrifying power?

Unwittingly, every single LSD agent located right at the front of the main entrance to Gonjiam Asylum was praying silently in their hearts.

………………………………………………

Wang One Tail asked curiously, “What’s the matter?”

A pitch-black passageway suddenly appeared, and a hazy, distorted light appeared at the end of the passageway. Just then, a dark figure appeared from within the passageway.

No… rather, it was the monkey’s skin!

“What’s this?” Qin Ye was curious what technique this was.

“The stronger evil ghosts are, the more intelligent they tend to be. Throughout history, there have been occasions where powerful evil ghosts appear in smaller nations, and the larger nations aren’t willing to lend any assistance. Therefore, they are left with no choice but to employ such means to enter into “peace talk” with the evil ghosts. At least, this is what I understand from the story of Shinto. These are techniques that must have existed since at least 300 years ago. They must already be fading into obscurity in Nippon by now. Who would’ve thought that we’d see it here in Daehan?”

Oda Nobutada: ……

Qin Ye beckoned, and the monkey skin immediately flew over and landed in his hands. He promptly unfolded it and found a series of writing in scarlet ink.

“Presented by the LSD of the Republic of Daehan in hope of an audience with the esteemed Abyssal prefect.” Qin Ye immediately raised his eyebrows with great curiosity and read on with keen interest.