Yama Rising

Tang An was a Yin spirit living in the Northwest District. He was a Yin spirit who had died only in the last ten years due to leukemia. When he heard the announcement of the Official Decree of Hell No. 002, he immediately raised his head just like any other Yin spirit around and stared expectantly at the illusory figure projected into the skies.

Hell was a place that was lacking in entertainment. Thus, any incident that was out of the ordinary was bound to draw the attention of all Yin spirits around.

This was the by-product of extreme boredom. Things had returned to how they were back in the Qin and Han Dynasties, when every sunrise and sunset was a thing to behold. If the present ruler of Hell was going to keep things status quo, just like how Kong Mo did, then it wouldn’t be long before a major riot occurs here in Ashmound.

After all, every Yin spirit here felt as though they had taken several steps back, reverting from life in the information age to the prehistoric era upon death. It was easy to change one’s habit from that of a frugal lifestyle to one of great extravagance, but far harder to do the converse.

Within five minutes, everyone in the city poured out of their homes and offices and stared intently at the skies. It was only then that Qin Ye continued to speak in a deep voice, “Official Decree of Hell No. 002. With immediate effect, 15 March is to be designated as the National Day. Together with the National Day, the Hungry Ghost Festival, the Winter Clothes Day, and the Qingming Festival are all to be designated as public holidays. The details are as follows.

The Hungry Ghost Festival, the Winter Clothes Day, and the Qingming Festival shall each be celebrated with a two-day public holiday. All Yin spirits may receive burnt offerings, sacrificial goods and Hell’s notes during this period of time. The National Day is to be celebrated with a three-day public holiday. Effective immediately.”

The eyes of the citizens didn’t flicker one bit.

After all, this much wasn’t enough to stir the hearts of the citizens at all.

Rest… We’re already resting everyday!! Sometimes, I even wish we could work overtime all the time!

Qin Ye ignored the thoughts of the Yin spirits. This was only the first of the one-two combination punch he had prepared to deliver today.

“I hereby announce the Official Decree of Hell No. 003.”

“With effect from the date of the Hungry Ghost Festival this year, all use of prevailing currencies shall be abolished, and only Hell’s notes shall be accepted moving forward. Starting tomorrow, you may exchange all prevailing currencies for the unified currency of Hell at all designated places of exchange located in the Central District. Please note that the designated places of exchange shall close in one month’s time.”

Tang An sighed and turned around, and an older Yin spirit beside him remarked in surprise, “What’s the matter? Not going to listen any longer?”

“There’s no point.” Tang An yawned lazily as he tried to squeeze out of the crowd, but to no avail. There were several others who clearly thought the same way as he did, but the crowd was simply too packed for them to even move an inch.

“How naive…” Another old man shook his head, “These are all matters that will be closely related to our future. You’ll only regret missing out on the rest of these announcements.”

Tang An rolled his eyes and pouted his lips.

Things were exactly the same as they had been back while he was living. He would habitually hear about the implementation of new social security rules, as well as lower interest rates in banks. But did they really have an effect on how he lived?

Social security was something that sounded great, but he’d never needed to use. And as for bank interest rates… his money was stored in his Alipay and WeChat accounts, where they accrued interest on independent rates. Thus, to his mind, rather than focus on these ancillary matters, he would much prefer it if the government focused on actually improving their quality of life!

We’ve got no internet, no computers, and no cell phones. Do you know what we’ve been doing all these nights?

We’ve been spending all our free time on the streets, interacting with those Yin spirits that have died well over sixty years ago! I swear I can even tell you their life story, word for word by now!

That said, everyone remained completely silent.

Qin Ye glanced around the city. The second decree had stirred some ripples across the citizens, but it clearly wasn’t anything more than a faint ripple across stagnant waters.

Clearly, the previous two decrees weren’t enough to cause a splash in the waters.

“With that, I go on to the next piece of announcement.” Qin Ye drew a deep breath and drew his eyes to the last two items on the agenda. These were the heavy blows that were intended to cause a splash to begin with!

“With effect from the date of the Hungry Ghost Festival, the first giant entertainment facility shall be opened on Spider Lily Island. This entertainment facility will cover an area of 14,562 square meters, and shall be opened 24/7… Silence!”

His announcement instantly stirred a buzz among the crowd below!

Tang An was just about to leave when his feet suddenly paused. Then, he turned to look at the lofty, illusory figure above in the skies. And he wasn’t the only one. In fact, countless Yin spirits, regardless of when they perished, all stared intently at the skies above with a fiery gaze in their eyes!

Clamor.

There was an uproarious clamor!

What started out as soft whispers of discussion soon burgeoned into a wave of excited discussions and excited cheers!

“Spider Lily Island? Giant entertainment facility? What’s that?” “We’ve got an entertainment facility? Is Hell finally getting down to improving our quality of life?” “I’d always known that Hell is the real deal! You could tell from the moment they’d promised to give us an avenue to return to the mortal realm! When did Kong Mo ever consider such things for us?”

The clamor only grew. Tang An froze for a moment, and then turned to the Yin spirit located right beside him, “Exactly how large is 14,562 square meters?”

“How large?” The Yin spirit who responded was also a relatively young Yin spirit, and he was practically smiling from ear to ear, “Do you know Wanda Plaza? [1] Wanda Plaza itself covers a land area of about this size!”

In other words, it was an entertainment facility that was practically the size of Wanda Plaza!

Tang An’s mind instantly went numb. At once, the images of countless entertainment facilities surfaced on his mind.

What would there be?

A large shopping plaza?

Food street?

Or perhaps a commercial street just like the ones we had back in the mortal realm?

Regardless, this means that we’ll have a place to go at night now! We’ll no longer have to settle for meeting up with our neighbours at night and chatting about everything under the sun! Oh gosh! The heavens have heard our cries! There’s simply nothing we have in common with those who have lived in the ‘30s and ‘40s! 

His breaths grew ragged, and the soulfire in his heart began to flicker because of the intense fluctuations in his emotions. However, this wasn’t the end. If this were everything, why would Hell have been so busy over the last few weeks?

Everyone stared intently at Qin Ye with an intense gleam in their eyes. They’d all waited far too long for something like this. Their idleness was finally about to come to an end, and the promise of night life was peeking right over the horizon!

Qin Ye didn’t beat about the bush either. He waved his hand, and a massive screen of Yin energy instantly appeared right over the city of Ashmound.

“My god…” Tang An froze at a single glance.

And he wasn’t the only one. Everyone else stared at the screen, completely dumbfounded.

The screen depicted the image of a massive lake, on which sat a not-so-small island. And right there, on the island… was the promised land built with countless entertainment facilities!

There were roller coasters, space shuttle rides, operatic stages, music halls… At a glance, everything one could possibly think of was already there in some form or shape. It was an all-encompassing entertainment facility that was designed with the coolest features!

There was a massive sculpture of Diablo that appeared to be situated at the core of the space shuttle rides. That said, each of the space shuttles appeared no different from neatly rolled up scrolls that appeared pristine and intact. There was also a huge space mothership suspended in the sky above. Elsewhere, there was an ancient battlefield, where terrifying mechanical beasts appeared to be duking it out against countless terracotta warriors armed with the sharpest spears. Furthermore… there appeared to be the image of Goddess Mother nature transforming into the six paths of reincarnation, and other entertainment facilities related to the legend of the white snake, and so on and so forth!

Tang An greedily scrutinized every part of the island. Yet, the more he looked, the more excited he became, because he immediately understood that the so-called entertainment facility wasn’t designed to be a series of malls and food streets. Rather, it was designed to be a colossal amusement park larger than the largest Disneyland amusement parks!

In fact… it was probably ten times more awesome than the best facilities and rides Disneyland could provide!

Look at that… Diablo is even spewing out a huge column of lightning that seems to tear away at the skies. And the legends and myths district of the facilities appears to have a flooded temple guarded by the white and green snakes, replete with wave-generating facilities. Are these things that Disneyland can do? I mean… you don’t even see Hollywood effects as awesome as this!

Everyone was eagerly taking in the amazing sight of the amusement park. The younger Yin spirits would be more taken by the references to pop culture, while the older Yin spirits would be enraptured by the legends and myths sections, together with the opera houses and theaters of all sorts. Each and every single one of these rides, facilities and amenities were equipped with the most outrageous and explosive special effects, designed to capture the hearts of Yin spirits in an instant. At once, Qin Ye could sense that the hearts of the Yin spirits were beating through the roof!

How many of these Yin spirits had been to Disneyland to begin with?

And how much more awesome was the Spider Lily Island going to be?

Is this the upside to life after death?

Ashmound City was instantly filled with crashing waves of clamor, followed by a moment of silence in response to Qin Ye’s domineering roar. And now, there were signs of boiling excitement among the citizens again.

Qin Ye remained silent as he took in the reactions of all Yin spirits around. His heart and mind were filled with a burning passion. This was the result of careful consideration from the presiding top brass in Hell.

Entertainment facilities were things that had existed since time immemorial. Television and computers were built upon the infrastructure of electricity and networks, and could only keep a handful of Yin spirits occupied at once. On the other hand, operas and theatrics could easily entertain a large venue full of Yin spirits all at the same time.

That said, while these venues can accommodate many Yin spirits, the turnaround time was far too long. Concert halls wouldn’t do either, since they faced the same limitations. However, amusement parks were completely different, because the Yin spirits would happily wait in line…

And the process of queues would even stoke the food and beverage industry!

Additionally, amusement parks were things that could easily cater to Yin spirits of all times. The older folks would be captivated by a festival of lanterns, riddles, and acrobatic performances and stunts such as fire-breathing and martial arts performances. 

On the other hand, the younger folks would enjoy their fair share of rides, including space shuttle rides, pirate ships, roller coasters, water parks, and the list just keeps going on! The vast menu of entertainment facilities meant that these Yin spirits would never be able to test everything out in just a single day. Furthermore, the fact that such amusement parks have existed throughout the various eras in history also meant that it was something that stood the test of time.

He was rolling out something ground-breaking when the underworld was languishing in entertainment facilities. It was like discovering an oasis in the middle of the desert! By his estimates, Spider Lily Island would continue to be a blazing hot destination in Hell for at least over a year!

And this would more than sufficiently smoothen the path to rolling out the new currency of Hell.

To this end, the entire government of Hell had come together to brainstorm various ideas to appeal to Yin spirits of all ages, ranging from the 1920’s to the 2020’s. Their answer was to provide a multitude of facilities of all kinds, including eastern and western elements, operas, myths and legends and wars, amongst others. Qin Ye was willing to guarantee that every single Yin spirit who comes to this place would find something of interest here.

But… was that everything?

Of course not!

The finishing blow hadn’t made its appearance just yet. After all, the inauguration of the amusement park might be astonishing, but it certainly wouldn’t highlight the importance of the three major ghost festivals. 

The amusement park was intended to be one of the entertainment landmarks in Hell to be open around the clock. However, something more had to be done to tie it in with the three major ghost festivals to be celebrated around the year. For instance…

“Silence.” Qin Ye instantly quelled the enthusiasm of all his citizens as he spoke in a deep voice, “The Spider Lily Island may be open around the clock, but there is a special section known as the Light of Yin and Yang located on the western part of the island that will only be opened three times a year, during the days of the three major ghost ghost festivals.”

“It’s only during the three major ghost festivals that you’d be able to spend the new currency of Hell in exchange for… the opportunity to return to the mortal realm.”

“In particular, the opportunity to witness your loved ones pay tribute to you.”

“What?!” “You can do that?!” “Everyone… everyone!!! The Hungry Ghost Festival is just around the corner! Doesn’t this mean we can see our loved ones soon?!” “Dear heavens… t-this is something that only the orthodox Hell can do! Kong Mo would never be able to achieve something like this!” “Three times a year… I’ll be able to see my beloved daughter again!”

At once, the entire city erupted with clamor. But this time, Qin Ye no longer called for silence.

After all, he knew full well just how obsessed Yin spirits were with the mortal realm!

1. This is just a building in China that houses the HQ of the Wanda Group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Group