Yama Rising

"Are you alright, Dogballs?"

Qin Zhongguo laid a hand gently onto Qin Ye's forehead with a concerned expression.

Qin Ye shook his head in response, then cast a complex gaze toward his grandfather as he said, "You have some first, Grandpa."

How many more secrets are you hiding from me, Grandpa?

To Qin Zhongguo, the tale of the flower that grew from stone was only a myth, and he wasn't sure if it was safe to eat, so he was happy to take the first bite in order to verify whether it was edible or not. Thus, he patted Qin Ye on the head again as he said with a warm smile, "Alright, I'll eat it first."

Qin Ye felt as if countless arrows had just pierced through his heart, and he lowered his head with a sorrowful expression. He was so saddened by this scene that even the shock of hearing that his grandfather was a follower of the Yiguandao wasn't so potent anymore.

Crunch...

The sound of Qin Zhongguo eating half of the Taisui fungus rang out, and at the same time, Qin Ye took a deep breath before releasing his Yin energy to encompass the entire mountain.

Show me what happens after this! Let me see what I was unable to see all those years ago!

He was certain that his Yin energy wouldn't be detected by the surrounding low-grade Yin spirits, but strangely enough, in the instant that Qin Zhongguo consumed the Taisui fungus, all of the Yin surrounding Yin spirits were instantly rooted to the spot.

Tens of thousands of Yin spirits turned in unison to stare intently at Qin Ye's duo, following which they began to tremble, as if they were in fear of something.

A gust of Yin wind blew through the area, causing the canopies of the surrounding trees to rustle incessantly, and amid the deathly silence, a sense of horror was slowly arising.

Even the evil ghosts were shuddering in fear!

Behind them, Ye Xianzu crouched down like a panther that could pounce at any moment, and he was holding a bell in his hand as he inspected the scene with a cautious expression.

A muffled groan jerked Qin Ye out of his train of thought, and he reflexively cast his gaze toward Qin Zhongguo. At this point, Qin Zhongguo was already beginning to tremble slightly, and he was holding his head with his own hands as he moaned in agony.

"Grandpa..." Tears began to well up in Qin Ye's eyes, and he was biting down onto his own lower lip with such force that he was on the verge of drawing blood. He latched onto the corner of Qin Zhongguo's clothes and tugged on it helplessly.

He knew what was going to happen next.

For those who consumed the Taisui fungus, they were dancing on a precarious knife's edge between heaven and hell.

No response.

The only sound that could be heard was Qin Zhongguo's heavy panting, which was absolutely deafening, resembling the sound of several vintage cars starting up at once.

Qin Ye paid no heed to this as he continued to gently tug on Qin Zhongguo's clothes as he asked, "Are you alright?"

In the next instant, a hand suddenly grabbed onto his hand.

The hand belonged to Qin Zhongguo, and it didn't even look like a human hand anymore.

The entire hand was inky-black in color, and wisps of Yin energy were seeping out of every single one of its pores. Its fingernails had turned green and had grown to over an inch in length, and the entire hand was covered in black fur.

Qin Zhongguo had his back facing Qin Ye, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Dogballs... Are you alright?"

The Yin energy was entering his body...

Qin Ye closed his eyes as tears began to silently flow down his face. He had thought that he was already mentally prepared to relive this scene, but only as it was unfolding before his eyes did he come to realize just how unprepared he was.

"I'm... fine," he replied through tightly gritted teeth.

Neither of them chose to face one another. They were standing so close to each other, yet it was as if they were separated by the entire world.

Qin Ye was holding onto the corner of Qin Zhongguo's clothes in a white-knuckled grip. He turned toward Qin Zhongguo as tears continued to flow down his face, and he asked in a strained voice, "Should we go home?"

Qin Zhongguo seemed to be smiling, but his voice had become extremely sharp, and his entire body was trembling uncontrollably, as if he were trying to repress something with all his might.

Finally, he shook his head in response.

"Dogballs... Do you remember... what I said to you earlier?"

Through his tear-filled eyes, Qin Ye could see that several gashes had appeared on the clothes on his grandfather's back, revealing patches of inky-black skin that were covered in black fur.

His body was swelling in size, and it was splitting his clothes apart.

"I do," Qin Ye replied as he grabbed onto Qin Zhongguo's inky-black hand.

"Good..." Qin Zhongguo's voice was becoming even more strained, and his trembling intensified as he said, "Go home right now! Once you get home... you'll be safe. I'll... go and find you soon..."

He couldn't refuse. If he were to refuse, then the preset sequence of events would be altered.

He didn't know when his grandfather had completely transformed into a Yin spirit. If he hadn't left by the time that happened, then everything that took place after this most likely wouldn't eventuate. As a result, he would be adjudged to have failed the trial again.

Qin Ye's fingernails were already drawing blood from the center of his palm as he gritted his teeth tightly, then turned and departed the same way that he had come from.

He rushed along the mountain path as quickly as he could, and he could see that Ye Xianzu and his group had drifted onto the branches of the trees on either side of the path as if they were completely weightless.

It was no wonder that he didn't notice these people back then.

A ruthless smile appeared on his face. He was going to kill them all!

After rushing away for several hundred meters, he finally drew to a halt.

His face was already smeared with tear streaks, and he wiped a trembling hand across his own face, then returned to the Taoist temple as a gust of Yin wind, situating himself right behind Ye Xianzu and his group.

He paid no heed to them at all. Instead, he cast his gaze toward the Taoist temple, where a figure who was both familiar and alien to him was standing amid a vast expanse of Yin energy.

Immediately thereafter, Qin Zhongguo's agonized roar rang out across this entire mountain.

He no longer resembled a human at all. His arms had become so long that they were resting on the ground, and his entire body had completely hunched over. His human skin had split open, revealing the stark, white bone of his skull, and a pair of bone spikes that resembled bull horns were growing out of his skull amid a gruesome cracking sound.

His skin had already turned inky-black in color, and a tail extended out of the back of his pants before slamming heavily down onto the ground.

A resounding boom rang out as a trench was smashed into the ground, and at this point, he had already swelled to over two meters tall. At the same time, two specks of white netherfire had been ignited in his eyes.

He had transformed into a mandrill...

Qin Ye heaved a despairing sigh. He was extremely familiar with these low-grade ghostly beings.

Right at this moment, several dozen figures in front of him shot forth like lightning.

It was Ye Xianzu and his group of living dead.

They reached out in unison, each releasing a hooked latch that flew through the air before accurately striking the tree above Qin Zhongguo. Immediately thereafter, all of them drifted toward the tree as if they were completely weightless.

Ye Xianzu performed a somersault through the air before landing on two of the hook latches between the trees.

A hand fan had appeared in his grasp, and he smiled as he asked, "How are you, Enforcer Qin?"

Qin Ye's hands balled up into tight fists as he cast a gaze that was filled with cold, vengeful fury toward Ye Xianzu.

"It looks like Enforcer Qin is no longer capable of giving a reply. How unfortunate." Ye Xianzu heaved a faint sigh as he brandished his hand fan. "The esteemed Master Ye Xianzu of the Yiguandao is here in person! Surrender yourself to capture, foul beast!"

Qin Ye remained still on the spot as he watched this scene unfold, and he was already beginning to rapidly analyze the situation.

He had used Fate to record his memories, and the Heavenly Dao hadn't prevented that, but he wasn't sure that this would be guaranteed to succeed. He could only say that it was theoretically sound, and he couldn't pin all of his hopes onto that.

He still had to perform further experiments to find the key to breaking this trial of inner demons wide open.

"The trial of inner demons still hasn't concluded yet, so there must be something else that I have to do to bring it to an end," he analyzed through gritted teeth. "Ye Xianzu and the others clearly bear ill will toward Grandpa, so either I kill them all to save Grandpa, or... I put an end to all of this myself."

Mandrills were low-grade ghostly beings that could only reach the Anitya Hellguard level at the very most, so it would be a simple task for him to kill it, but emotionally, it would be one of the most difficult things he had ever done.

Right at this moment, he suddenly heard a voice. "You're sorely mistaken if you think I'll simply surrender myself to the likes of you!"

It was his grandfather's voice! The voice had become rather distorted, but there was no mistaking it!

He immediately cast his gaze toward the Taoist temple, where the mandrill was already standing completely upright.

In the next instant, the mandrill exploded into a vast expanse of Yin energy, and Qin Zhongguo's indistinct figure could be seen, standing within the Yin energy. At the same time, all of the Yin energy around him was rapidly flowing into his body in a frenzy!

It wasn't just the Yin energy in the direct vicinity around him. Instead, all of the Yin energy across the entire province was surging toward him at once!

"How is this possible?!" Qin Ye looked around with an astonished expression.

This Yin energy was ridiculously powerful, even more powerful than Zhao Yun's Yin energy!

It was the most powerful Yin energy that he had ever experienced to date! It absolutely dwarfed the Yin energy of the three pillars' ruler death gods, and it was well and truly above the Yama-King level!

All of the surrounding trees were quickly uprooted, and the terrifying Yin energy formed an enormous vortex around Qin Zhongguo. The only thing that was visible within the vast vortex of Yin energy was a pair of bright, crimson eyes. Qin Ye pressed himself flat against the ground, and he could see that his grandfather's soul still hadn't scattered!

Instead, it had been trapped in his body by the creature that had taken on his form.

What the hell is this thing?!

"Who are you?" Ye Xianzu exclaimed as he stared at Qin Zhongguo with a stunned expression. "You're not Enforcer Qin! Who are you?!"

A derisive sneer appeared on Qin Zhongguo's wizened face. "You don't deserve to know who I am."

He then curled a finger, and Ye Xianzu immediately let loose an anguished howl as his body abruptly exploded. The bamboo battens inside his body were sent flying in all directions, and at the same time, all of the living dead that he had brought with him also exploded into shreds of paper that fluttered through the air.

After that, Qin Zhongguo cast his gaze toward Qin Ye.

Qin Ye gritted his teeth tightly as a burst of enormous pressure crashed down onto his body. It was impossible to describe this pressure. The closest description would be like having the weight of all of the world's mountains combined pressing down upon him. He could sense that an almighty being's gaze had pierced through the illusion and caught sight of his real self within this illusory scene!