Yama Rising

Dong, dong, dong!

The drumsticks were raised high above their head, before they came crashing down into the surface of the drum in unison, thumping with a deafening sound that could be heard from well over a mile away. It was a signal to the entire city that a ceremony was about to begin. Within moments, a crowd gathered around Hell’s Gate, abuzz with activity and speculations. Meanwhile, in stark contrast, it was completely silent within Hell Gate.

A teenager standing in the midst of the crowd jumped up and down in his spot, attempting to catch a glimpse as to what was ahead, but to no avail. After some time, he finally gave up, “How can there be so many people?! I was here at eight, and I’m not even within 500 meters of Hell’s Gate?”

“Holy crap. Why is it so packed?” “Please, can everyone kindly make way for me?” “Haha… Do you think that’s even humanly possible given how tightly packed we are?” “Hey! Who’s touching me?! Bloody hell, stop taking advantage of me!”

“Old Zuo? Aren’t you going to head over to Hell’s Gate today?”

“Preach it, brother. I’d informed some of my new neighbours about how such matters would generally be conducted, but not only did they refuse to believe me, they insisted that they were going to jostle with everyone else just to get a closer look. Look at them now! Squeezing like sardines with the rest of the folks out there. Tsk. They’d better not come crying back to us later.”

Dong, dong, dong… There were 11 mellifluous chimes of the bell. Following that, the entire Hell suddenly erupted with brilliant golden light.

It lit up the sky just like a sudden burst of fireworks. That said, it didn’t bear the slightest bit of ghastly eeriness about it. Rather, the golden light appeared brilliant and righteous, almost as though it were declaring the arrival of a majestic hero of ubiquitous folklore. At once, the golden light cast a brilliant sheen on the ground, causing new sprouts of flora and fauna to emerge from the ground, covering the lands with a thick bed of spider lily flowers in an instant. Even the trees and plants that weren’t in season began to bloom radiantly in unison with the rest of Hell.

This magnificent illusion manifested itself for three full minutes. Then, thousands of bright spots of light appeared in the canopies of the skies, following which… they all began to plummet down into Hell’s Gate like a meteor shower!

“Are these… immortals?” A young Yin spirit stared at the incredible sight, completely flabbergasted - What the hell is going on here? Aren’t we ghosts? Why do there seem to be… immortals arriving to extend us their greetings and well wishes?

“Look there!” “Holy shit! Is that… a projection?!” “We can actually watch the proceedings like that?” “Bloody hell… what the hell am I doing squeezing with everyone here, then?!”

At once, the Yin spirits located on every road leading towards Hell’s Gate grew silent. Their faces were filled with expressions of embarrassment and astonishment.

How unscientific and illogical is that?!

Unfortunately, they soon learnt that they weren’t able to move an inch!

“Bloody hell…” “I truly regret my actions. Why didn’t I believe what those old ghosts had told me earlier…” “Who could’ve thought that Hell was able to do something so amazing?! Aren’t things here of a completely different realm?” “Holy crap! I swear on my name that I’ll never fight my way to the front of the line ever again! Next time, I’ll lie down on my chair and enjoy myself like those stupid old fogeys!” “Brother… You’re the stupid one here…”

Nobody wanted to miss the upcoming extravaganza in the slightest. They didn’t want to miss even a single moment of it.

An old Taoist standing on the right-most formation waved his whisk as he drifted down amidst falling flower petals, “The 64 Lords of the Land of the Eastmount Province send Hell their heartiest congratulations!”

Su Dongxue smiled back. However, her heart was filled with anxiety and tension. This was the first proper ceremony she was presiding over, and she naturally wanted to do her best in the public eye. With impeccable etiquette, she received the brocade box with gratitude and handed it to the Death Inquisitor behind her.

That said, this was only the beginning.

One by one, a series of voices declared their well wishes for Hell neatly and orderly fashion, all of which was heard across every corner of Hell. All in all, there were a total of 2,700 Lords of the Land representing 34 provinces who answered Hell’s summons bearing gifts.

“Are these… Lords of the Land? The very same ones from the myths and legends back in the mortal realm?” A young Yin spirit’s lips trembled as he marveled at the unreal phenomenon he was witnessing with his own eyes.

Who would’ve thought that Hell was actually so awesome?!

These were the only words that could express their astonishment and hysteria in their hearts right now.

None of the Yin spirits interrupted the proceedings in the slightest. In fact, not a single one of them even felt annoyed by their circumstances. For a full 20 minutes, the 2,700 or so Lords of the Land from 34 provinces presented Hell with their gifts. Then, as soon as the last set of gifts were presented to Hell, the figure of a man suddenly appeared before their very eyes.

Yin energy billowed with heavenly awe, while flares of netherflames filled the skies. His vermillion robes fluttered wildly like sloshing waves. The awe-inspiring image of the Harken and the xiezhi unicorn embroidered on his robes looked as vivid and lifelike as ever. At once, his illusory projection towered at a height 200 meters or so above the entire city - clearly visible from any part of the City of Salvation. Beside him stood Oda Nobunaga and Gu Qing, both of which appeared approximately 100 meters tall. The rest of the 200 Death Inquisitors could be seen standing in the background behind Qin Ye.

Everyone was flabbergasted. They were so shocked by what they saw that the entire city was filled with a pin-drop silence. They wanted to say something to exclaim the stirring emotions in their hearts, and yet not a single one of them could even find the words or the voice to express themselves.

“May Hell last for thousands of generations, and may its brilliance shine for all eternity like the sun!!” At once, neat cries echoed throughout the entire City of Salvation. The ground rumbled slightly.

Yin spirits needed to undergo a rite of passage in order to truly understand that they were dead. They needed to be shown an otherworldly sight to clear up any doubt in their mind that they now belonged to a completely different realm. Having done something similar on several other occasions, Qin Ye was now far more comfortable with something like this.

“Damn…” After ten seconds of silence, one of the Yin spirits in the crowd finally managed to muster a soft whisper, “Did you see that? How awesome and terrifying! My god… This is even more terrifying than what we hear of Hell back in the mortal realm!”

At once, discussions and remarks began to spread like wildfire. What began as a smattering of whispers soon grew into a raging tide of commotion. At once, Hell ignited passionately with a clamor that drowned out even the heavens! With their knees to the ground, the citizens even began to cheer and scream excitedly. That said, the mess of sound soon converged into a unified cheer.

The cheers and screams resounded throughout every part of the City of Salvation like sloshing waves. Qin Ye smiled widely as he glanced around.

Not so much akin to the joy that came with a windfall.

Rather, it was a more profound, spiritual satisfaction.

“Silence.” His voice boomed like thunder, quelling all the clamour on the ground within moments.

“The new Hell is often referred to as the City of Salvation because that’s where it was first founded. However, it’s high time it was given a name of its own.”

“We burn with the fire of the old Hell. Their light might have gone out, but their fire shall be passed on for all eternity and burn ever brighter than before.”

Dead silence.

Doesn’t that mean that… we’re going to be citizens of the capital of Hell?