Yama Rising

He heard a soft rustle, just like the falling leaves in autumn.

Then, a split second later, they all spontaneously combusted and vanished without the trace of even a flame!

But before he could go on, the car that was hurtling right towards them suddenly screeched to a halt. Then, the rear door opened with a bang.

All eyes were staring transfixed on the door. However, not a single person appeared. Everyone, be it an ordinary soldier or an expert of the Special Investigations Department, felt their hair stand on end and their hearts thumping right out of their chests at that moment.

To be more precise, he was staring at an identity token that had suddenly appeared in his hand.

“By Hell’s Dictum, all rabble shall disperse.” The man was jolted right back to his senses by an unknown voice, and he looked up immediately, only to realize that a young man was already seated on the hood of the car. The young man asked, “Where is the branch chief of the Special Investigations Department of Northriver Province? I’d like to meet with him.”

A living Emissary of Hell?

Besides…

Gritting his teeth to suppress the fear in his heart, the major marched over and gave Qin Ye a deep salute, “How do you prove your identity?”

“Indeed, it is so.” At once, the crowd parted ways, allowing passage to a man dressed in a trench coat.

“Sir…” The major sighed in relief, “You’re finally here…”

Naturally, nobody could tell that this man was already clenching his fists tightly inside his trenchcoat. After all, he knew at a glance that the young man standing before him was… an Abyssal Prefect.

It was still Yin energy that flowed from his body, but it was completely different from that which they saw around evil ghosts. Rather, this young man’s Yin energy exuded a deep air of righteousness and virtue.

Qin Ye nodded, “Since you’re already aware of who I am, then I’ll get straight to the point. Listen up, the mortal realm must be prepared to evacuate the entire county… and quite possibly even the entire city at the moment’s notice.”

Yama-King?!

He didn’t suspect a single word that Qin Ye was saying right now. After all, as a senior member of the Special Investigations Department, he was kept well in the loop of some of the most well-kept secrets in the entire organization. Naturally, he would have seen the satellite imaging of Qin Ye, as well as read everything there was to know about Qin Ye in the docket. For this reason, he knew full well that Qin Ye had never done anything to harm the mortal realm, and he had no reason to doubt what Qin Ye was saying right now.

“This is a matter of great importance, and I’ll immediately report it back to the upper echelons of the organization. But… what about you?”

The Harken?

At once, he saw the illusory image of a divine beast leaping out towards him! This was an illusion that only appeared for a split second, yet the image of the divine beast immediately became firmly engraved into his mind.

I can’t even detect its Yin energy… This must mean that its strength lies even beyond that of Mr Qin over here…

Still reeling from shock, Li Changkong subconsciously gave way to him. Then, under the watchful gazes of everyone around, Qin Ye drifted forward like a divine being, vanishing straight though the solid iron gate that they were so fervently trying to protect.

“All experts stronger than a Netherworld Operative are to follow me right away.”

Li Changkong paused, and then drew a deep breath, “Yan Capital. Headquarters.”

Whoosh… Qin Ye’s feet landed on the ground as soon as he was on the other side of the door. Things were completely different on the other side of the iron gate, almost as though it marked the boundary line between Heaven and Hell. The Yin Mountains he saw were completely different from what he saw in the photographs.

The ground was strewn all over with fallen leaves, and the trees around him were all withered and dead. Even the once-beautiful flowers and ever-resilient weed were all dried up and lifeless. An avenue of the dead opened up right ahead of him.

It was on a completely different scale from what he was used to!

He could’ve sworn that he’d just noticed a stallion lying on the ground. No. Rather, it was a man sleeping on his side with his head propped up on his hands.

“What’s wrong with you?” A paw struck Qin Ye squarely across the cheeks, jolting him right back to his senses. Qin Ye babbled back, “I’m not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me…”

“Even though Ghost King Zhao has already tried desperately to keep things under control, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the strongest Yama-Kings around, even among the Sixfold Ghost Kings! This means that this entire zone will turn into a nest of captive ghosts more and more quickly. And whilst this transformation is taking place, the land is otherwise known as a pit of ghosts, because all ghosts will find themselves drawn to this place and unable to extricate themselves of the allure of their master - just like a prison.”

With that, the duo sprinted away from the entrance and towards the Yin Mountains. Neither of them took to the skies because it would be far too risky to do so.

This was supposed to be one of the top-rated tourist attractions of Kalgan City, with roads stretching out in all directions. But as soon as they crossed the next hillock and entered the path leading to the Yin Mountains, Qin Ye immediately stopped dead in his tracks.

Countless Yin spirits!

Qin Ye looked up towards the peak of the Yin Mountains, where the Yin spirits appeared to be bowing down towards. The other paths that appeared to be converging on this location were likewise filled with Yin spirits that were laying prostrate on the ground as well! By his estimation, there were easily over 10,000 Yin spirits worshipping Ghost King Zhao right now!

The Harken gnashed its teeth, “The nest of captive ghosts will form in just three months' time. These are naturally the Yin spirits that have gathered to pay their respects to Ghost King Zhao as the one true god. I’m afraid that every Yin spirit of Kalgan City must be in this place right now. That’s right! Didn’t you find it peculiar that we hardly noticed any Yin spirits around Kalgan City while we were there earlier? Back then, we’d simply dismissed it, thinking that it was a result of the lack of supernatural incidents in the region. Who would’ve thought that the true reason is because they’ve all gathered in this place?”

“Kill!” The Harken licked its lips, and a bright gleam flashed across the depths of its eyes, “They’re currently suppressed by the overbearing aura of Ghost King Zhao, and they won’t be able to move. The direction of their worship is exactly where we’ll find Ghost King Zhao!”

“I won’t be making a move.” It took a step back and gazed intently at Qin Ye, “I’ll only be able to unleash my true strength for 10 minutes at best, and every bit of energy I save will mean a little bit more energy that can be expended with Ghost King Zhao. I’m seriously wounded, while he has lost his mind. I suppose we’ll be able to fight it to a draw. But this means that I’ll have to leave everyone else along the way to you.”

He knew how to unleash its true powers.

Furthermore, the physical form of his weapon no longer mattered. The true form of the weapon will always be dependent on its user’s characteristics. And therein also lies the greatest difference between Abyssal Prefects and Yama-Kings, and other Yin spirits on the other hand. Simply put, the lesser Yin spirits would still have to rely on the physical form of the weapon, such as the location and direction of the cutting edge, whereas Abyssal Prefects and Yama-Kings are already so powerful that they could even hurt others with leaves.

Thus, staring at the endless sea of Yin spirits before him, Qin Ye began to make a rapid series of hand seals. As time went on, the hand seals grew more and more complex, and the Yin energy slowly began to surge and slosh about like a rushing river on the verge of breaking its banks. The clothes on his body fluttered about wildly. The Abyssal Prefect token in his hand slowly began to emit a low drone. And then, seconds later… a scarlet eye opened right in the heart of the token, almost as though Hell was now staring straight at the River Styx.

“Release!!” At once, he clasped his palms together, and the Abyssal Prefect token exploded with a brilliant eruption of dark light that quickly devoured the surroundings like an expanding curtain of darkness. A split second later, countless scarlet cracks appeared in darkness around.