Yama Rising

Qin Ye’s gaze flickered wildly, and he suddenly spoke directly to the Mirror of Eminence, “Lord Ming, please take a look and see where these Yin spirits have gone.”

Just then, a wisp of cloud drifted past the surface of the mirror.

The Mirror of Eminence continued to pan out for a long time, and clouds would pass by the surface of the mirror from time to time. Then, after ten minutes, another cloud passed by. When the image finally cleared up, everyone practically gasped at the exact same time.

It was akin to the sun god’s residence, or the palace of the heavens.

There was no need to even take a closer look at it. Everyone could tell in an instant the identity of that location.

They were on guard.

We’ve been detected… They’re actually on full alert right now! What the hell is going on?

“They’re coming from the direction of where the Beacons of Light are located. This means that… they’ve all taken the exact same route as us. They’re returning from the Darkriver City!”

Yang Yanzhao nodded, “That’s the only possible explanation. The disappearance of a hundred thousand Yin soldiers must have triggered the alarm, and they’re now preparing themselves for any possible enemy invasion. That’s why they’re now consolidating their forces and evacuating all citizens to safety.”

This was what led to Qufu’s consolidation of power.

Silence.

Ten minutes later, Qin Ye raised his head and looked at everyone with unprecedented determination in his eyes, “We march full speed ahead. We won’t rest until we arrive at Qufu!”

Are we still going to besiege Qufu?

“Our greatest advantage earlier lay in the fact that we could take them completely unaware. But this city… isn’t something that we can take down without such an advantage...”

They had suppressed their ferocity for the last three months, and it was finally time to bare their fangs!

What the hell is going on?!

“General Zhao.” The Yang Clan generals stood up in unison. Yang Yanzhao’s eyes were blazing with flames half a meter high, evidently a reflection of the stirring emotions in his heart right now. He responded hoarsely, “With all due respect, I sincerely believe that… now is the best time to attack the city!”

He explained with great excitement as he pointed towards the terrifying defenses surrounding the sprawling city, “First and foremost, this means that Kong Mo isn’t located within Qufu right now!”

“But that’s not the case. It’s clear that their army has gone to Valley County. The time taken for that…” He turned around and looked at the map on the ground, before tracing a line from Eastmount to Valley County, “It would have been just enough time for them to have taken the coastal route straight towards Darkriver City, carried out the necessary investigations, and then returned to Qufu before finally reacting in this manner. This is the only way we could have caught sight of them in the midst of their evacuation.”

Arthis’ gaze flickered wildly, and her emotions surged like the rising tide. Even her hair was now scattering about like a nest of poisonous viper, “If Kong Mo isn’t here, then the Mythic Palace of Reflections is as good as an unmanned Yin artifact right now! Believe me - an A-grade Yin artifact in the hands of an equally skilled operator and an A-grade Yin artifact in the hands of an unskilled Yin spirit are practically worlds apart. Given how powerful a Yin artifact the Mythic Palace of Reflections is, there’s simply no way Kong Mo would have taught anyone how to draw out its full potential. At best, these Yin spirits are only granted the permission to utilize a part of its abilities.”

When was the last time something like that happened?

The situation back then was just as bleak, but someone had at the most critical of moments found a ray of light and clung desperately to it.

Qin Ye nodded as he glanced at the mirror once more, “There’s more.”

He placed his hands behind his back and hung his head low as he sorted through his thoughts, “If I had discovered the death of the Lord of Darkriver and the disappearance of a 100,000-strong army, I’d be equally ready to subject Qufu to martial law for a period of time. However… that would have been weeks ago. I might sense danger on the horizon, but it certainly wouldn’t be with the kind of urgency that they’re demonstrating right now. And this is particularly when there’s simply no signs of the enemy’s movement in the vicinity of Qufu at all. They would never know that we’re travelling through the core of the earth, rather than through the mantle, which is Limbo.”

“All four gates are open, and they’re displaying a flashy defence. This is a telltale sign of a great opportunity.”

“Your Excellency is wise.” Yang Yanzhao nodded in concurrence. Truth be told, he hadn’t even considered the thoughts in the minds of the enemy forces when he reached his own conclusion of the matter. His decision was based entirely off his keen intuition arising out of his soaring tactical literacy. His heart had screamed at him, telling him that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had just presented itself!

So long as they arrayed their forces properly, and struck up a situation of chaos, then… the Yin spirits within the city were bound to panic, and Qufu would internally be in a great mess!

And the more chaos broke out, the more attention would be drawn to the outer city of Qufu where the citizens were located. Troops would be diverted away from the inner city, and then… that would be the moment to deliver the final blow against the enemy forces!

“The day of reckoning is at hand!”

………………………………………………………………..

Flags were lined up neatly right above the eastern gate, and at least ten thousand Yin soldiers were patrolling the vicinity. Countless Yin soldiers were manning the Winstrike Ballistae, loading it with ammunition and drawing its string to the nock. That way, a single command would instantly release hundreds of bolts that would tear through the wind and rain destruction on their targets up to three thousand meters away.

The city gates were located right beneath their feet, and an endless number of Yin spirits were slowly streaming through with some measure of unease. Even then, there was still an entire sea of Yin spirits out there that were eagerly awaiting entry through the city gates. After watching for several minutes, the Tang Dynasty Yin spirit located right in the middle of the residence raised his head and spoke hoarsely, “How much longer is this going to take?”

Lai Junchen’s eyes narrowed. Like Kong Mo, his eyes were devoid of any flickering netherflames. Instead, there were only two tiny red spots where the flames should have been.

And any person to be subjected to such torment would undoubtedly have been a notorious man of his time.

“No, no, no. You’re Lord Kong’s trusted aide after all.” The Yin spirit responded casually, “That said, we were the ones who had over decades painstakingly nurtured everything you see in the near vicinity. It’s fine if you round them up, but you also have to be responsible for sending them back later on. I don’t want to see these areas that we’ve invested so much in come to waste later on.”

The Yin spirit snorted, before walking back into the residence, “Then, thanks for your trouble.”

The door slammed shut, and copious amounts of Yin energy immediately poured out from his seven apertures. His face contorted in a grotesque fashion, and his lips peeled open all the way from ear to ear, “Screw this shit!”

One of the Yin spirit attendants beside him immediately asked, “Lord, should we comply with Lord Lai’s instructions and speed up the process of corralling all Yin spirits back into the city gates?”

“My ass we will!” The Yin spirit sneered, “If he really wants to do it, then let him do it himself! Lord Kong has entrusted the defense of Qufu to the three evil ghosts of Breakwater Province. All three of us are special Yin spirits in our own right. Are any of us weaker than him in any way? Pfft. He only became an Anitya Hellguard when he was a thousand years-old. What basis does he have to order us around like that?!”