Yama Rising

After chanting a passage from a scripture, the old monk clasped his palms tightly together and asked with downcast eyes, “What business does this benefactor have here in the humble Pearl River City?”

“Amitabha…” The old monk’s eyes remained placid, “This venerable monk cannot afford to pass on while evil remains in the mortal realm.”

“I can sense that you emanate the same kind of revulsive Yin energy as the other Prefect-class Yin spirit here in Pearl River. This tells me that… you stand in the way of humanity.”

Silence.

Chan Ming’s eyes flickered wildly as he stared intently at the national highway ahead. Three seconds later, he shook his head, “If you come under the auspices of the new Hell, you must be an Emissary of Hell. Emissaries of Hell are invisible, but I can see you.”

“Stupid! Pedantic!” Qin Hui sneered, “I didn’t bring any paperwork of authenticity with me because I’d left Hell in such a hurry. Let me ask you something - if I truly intended to meet with her, would I have had to take the high road of the national highway? Do you think I can’t sense the presence of an intermediate Prefect-class expert waiting for me? Why didn’t I make a detour? Does that make any sense to you?”

“Do you detect any stench of blood or flesh from me?”

I actually can’t…

How is that possible?

Recognizing the preliminary success with his reasoning, Qin Hui smiled, “Old monk, you’d best head back to your White Horse Temple and retire in peace. Let me tell you something, I’m here today on the orders of the King Yanluo of Hell! In fact, I’ve specifically been tasked to sway the Prefect-class Yin spirit that resides here in Pearl River. If I succeed, Pearl River will no longer face the threat of a Prefect-class Yin spirit anymore, and the entire Pearl River district will once again fall under the banner of Hell. How great would such merit be? So, would you allow me to go about my business, or would you still stand in my way?”

Time seemed to come to a standstill, and they stood at an impasse for approximately a minute. After that, Master Chan Ming smiled, “It would indeed be a great merit. Benefactor Qin, please.”

Back in the carriage, Qin Hui gently lowered the curtains at the windows. He rubbed the string of Buddhist beads that hung in his fingers, while the netherflames in his eyes pulsed softly. After a long while, he tutted softly to himself.

He was in a hurry, and he was incredibly anxious.

Furthermore, Qin Hui got the feeling that Yanluo Qin didn’t seem to have a very good impression of him to begin with. Thus, in order to reverse this, he sincerely believed that the best thing to do would be to convince the other two daolords to pledge their allegiance to him. If he could fulfill these objectives of his, he would most certainly be able to gain the favour of the King Yanluo of Hell.

He knew neither the habits nor the thought patterns of the other two daolords. After all, there was a stiff competition among Yin spirits - even Yin spirits of that level, especially since the quickest way to advancement was to devour each other!

Just then, an odd sound found its way into the carriage.

The lonesome carriage rolled along the streets of the abandoned city, surrounded with an ever-present beat of a temple block. The winds around the carriage stirred, whimpering softly as though he were approaching a different world altogether. Qin Hui lifted the curtains, and his eyes immediately shrunk.

For the most part, the city was dark and dreary. However, there were some splashes of white and red.

The splashes of white came from the pale human bones that hung from the street lamps. The bones of practically every part of a human body were hung with black ropes in a manner that caused them to act like wind chimes, jangling with a horrific tune as the night breeze swept by. This was where the temple block sounds had come from. To make matters worse, if one looked close enough, they could probably even see traces of the bones being gnawed clean before being repurposed as wind chimes.

There were even numerous skulls hanging from the lamps that hadn’t completely been cleaned out, with pieces of rotting flesh still glued to the skull with patches of dried blood.

Qin Hui’s lips parted slightly, and he immediately rolled up the curtains once more. A split second later, he vanished into a trace of nethergale and appeared outside the carriage.

He was dressed in red clothes, but his face was completely pale and devoid of colour. Following that, a second humanoid paper effigy emerged from nowhere… followed by a third… until there were approximately a dozen or so humanoid paper effigies!

“My Lord, would you like me to clean up the mess?” The corpse seated at the front of the carriage asked placidly.

As he spoke, two four-meter tall figures suddenly emerged from around the corner.

They were hungry ghosts.

At once, a procession of hundreds of Yin spirits marched out from between them!

Having witnessed the majesty of Ashmound City, he knew full well how lame the furnishing around these parts were.

He stood right at the crossroad, yet the procession simply ignored him completely. It went right past him, turned at the intersection, and then marched straight for the bridge ahead.

For one, it was completely red in colour.

The massive procession of Yin spirits separated Qin Hui from the massive bridge that connected both banks. Qin Hui stood motionless as a statue, while his coachman stood silently behind him. Both of them watched intently as the procession of Yin spirits finally marched up to the bridge.

Whoosh! The Yin spirits weren’t even able to struggle as they were swallowed right into the mouth of the hideous monster. As it turned out… the bridge was actually the tongue of a ferocious monster situated at the other bank of Pearl River!

It was a startling, demonic sight. And they were separated from it only by the river that ran straight through the city. The north bank of the river was shrouded in darkness, while the skies above were filled with countless spots of netherflames. Just then, a colossal being suddenly rose up from within the dense black fog, rising hundreds of meters high into the sky! Copious amounts of Yin energy poured out of her body, as she stretched her neck.

This was the clear sign of having had their souls burned away by the Karmic Fire in the six paths of reincarnation.

This was the true form of the Daolord of the Hungry Ghost, Su Daji!