Yama Rising

“Don’t look at them.” Qin Ye’s voice suddenly sounded in their ears, “Their elites won’t be any worse than the Yang Clan generals. They’ll be incredibly sensitive to the sight of people. Besides, it’s not them that you should be paying attention to. Look over there.”

Wang Chenghao twisted his body and glanced over towards the prompt.

He noticed for the very first time that there were some figures that stood out among the throng of the living dead.

They were wearing black robes, almost as though they were the monks of a sect. They wore black crosses, and carried pitch-black chains in their left hand and a green lantern in their right.

Their robes were torn and tattered, but their hoods still managed to conceal their appearances completely. That said, Wang Chenghao could see that their bodies were all drifting slightly above the ground.

The Russian Underworld… The trio exchanged knowing glances, and then promptly retracted their gazes.

“As expected, they’ve begun to move…” Qin Ye licked his lips as he remarked, “Everyone, please be careful. It’s every man on his own now. Anyone who gets caught shouldn’t implicate the rest.”

Nobody said another word, and they all melded inconspicuously into the throng of the living dead. Even then, they couldn’t help but feel like they were standing out among the rest, like the radiant sun amidst the dark night skies. Not only that, they could sense gazes of scrutiny pass by from time to time, together with a hair-raising oppressive aura of murderous intent.

They were but one human being and two Emissaries of Hell blending into endless living dead swarming the area.

The consequences of even the slightest mistake on their part would be unthinkable. Furthermore, the elite Yin soldiers of the Hanyang Underworld looked no different from daunting ancient Roman statues that told them everything they needed to know about Liu Yu’s attitude towards them. It revealed the stark contrast in security before and after Qin Ye’s meeting with Marquis Rumyantsev!

Qin Ye slowly retracted his gaze from the rooftops as naturally as possible. He could already tell that the entire Daehan was now on high alert. And if they could even sneak into Gonjiam Asylum without getting detected and make their move, then the security in Daehan would most certainly explode into a roaring tsunami!

Damn…

Just then, Qin Ye suddenly paused.

Gwangju City needs to be evacuated. I’m afraid not even the LSD is aware of just how dangerously close they are to the edge of the precipice right now. They’re practically on the verge of the most intense supernatural outbreak that the entire East Continent has seen in the last 50 years!

How could I have forgotten to notify Lee Jung-sook…

Unfortunately, he was no longer at liberty to simply reach out to her right now. He glanced at the Russian Underworld Emissaries that were weaving through the crowd of the living dead. Although the three of them were separated from each other by a few living dead, they still did their best to keep a reasonable distance from each other whilst trudging slowly towards the MV Sewol.

The living dead retreated wherever the Russian Emissaries passed. From time to time, almost as though they were window shopping, they would occasionally stop and raise their lanterns to the living dead, take a closer look at them, before moving on to another location.

It was as though they were shepherds of darkness moving about by night.

“Are they picking out hard labourers? Labourers to shift the MV Sewol?” Wang Chenghao asked with a low voice.

Qin Ye nodded slightly. Wang Chenghao trembled, “Then… doesn’t that mean that we’ll… have to get ourselves selected? Doesn’t that mean that we’ll have to get up close and personal with the Russian Underworld Emissaries?”

Qin Ye nodded gently again. Indeed, this was the case.

It was for this precise reason that when he put on makeup for all three of them earlier, he deliberately refrained from making them look too “broken”. This would increase their odds of being selected to carry the massive ghost ship. After all, disabled living dead could never support the weight of such a massive vessel.

“Brother Qin…” Wang Chenghao’s voice trembled softly, but he abruptly stopped. A Russian Emissary had walked up close and raised his lantern to take a closer look at Wang Chenghao’s face.

There was no warning.

Wang Chenghao’s lips were even slightly ajar.

Wang Chenghao froze in horror, while Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada immediately lowered their heads.

Whoosh… The rest of the living dead around them parted slightly. A nethergale picked up, and the Russian Emissary immediately extended his pale, bony hand right out of his sleeves and placed it right on top of Wang Chenghao’s head!

Wang Chenghao didn’t move. His mind went numb for an instant, and then a flurry of thoughts suddenly poured forth like a flood.

Discovered… Have I been discovered?!

Should I do something? Or should I wait?

At once, countless thoughts filled his mind like a raging storm. The living dead only have a blank look on their faces. However, he had reacted with surprise. When the light first shone on his face, he desperately fought to control and manage his expressions. Unfortunately, the more anxious and confused he was, the more twisted and contrived his expressions grew. It even began to look as though he had an expression of anxiety and shock on his face!

Damn it… Then, just as the bony hand landed on the crown of his head, he mustered the last of his willpower and fought hard to put on a blank look on his face.

Fortunately, the pain of a bone spur stabbing right through his skull never quite came. Instead, the Russian Emissary merely rested his palm on Wang Chenghao’s head and quipped with some curiosity, “Interesting…”

Then, the Russian Emissary promptly raised his other hand to Wang Chenghao’s cheeks and forcefully lifted his head.

Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada silently shifted closer to Wang Chenghao. Meanwhile, the back of Wang Chenghao’s clothes were already damp with cold sweat. As soon as his head was raised, he saw a pair of emotionless, ash-grey netherflames.

The Russian Emissary was staring dead into his eyes, almost as though he could stare straight into his soul.

What do I do… what do I do?!

Wang Chenghao discreetly tightened his fists. Then, with everything he had, he tensed up all of his facial muscles, and his expression began to grow listless and blank once more.

That’s right, tensing up the right muscles could cause all of his muscles to stiffen up, almost like the rigor mortis that affected the dead. This was exactly what Qin Ye had mentioned earlier as a suggestion to them earlier while they were still putting on their makeup.

It was a moment of extreme crisis, but he had actually managed to rise up to the occasion and put on a perfect performance!

He twisted his body and allowed a dribble of saliva to leak out of the corners of his lips. Finally, he tilted his head to the side, and then allowed wisps of air to leak out from his throat.

“Haa--... Ssss…”

Silence. This was the domain of the dead. Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada had already snuck up right behind the Russian Emissary by now. Five seconds later, the Russian Emissary chuckled softly to himself, “To think that a spirit of automatism would actually be born… How interesting…”

Wang Chenghao’s limbs nearly weakened and went limp at that statement. Fortunately, his mind was still alert, and he immediately tensed up his muscles and maintained the rigidity of his body so that the Russian Emissary wouldn’t detect anything amiss.

“It would be a waste keeping you in Gijang County.” He released his hand, and Wang Chenghao immediately landed on the ground and crumbled into a heap with a thud. Nevertheless, with the best acting skills he could muster, Wang Chenghao proceeded to let out raspy, guttural sounds as he “struggled” to get back up to his feet.

Fortunately, the Russian Emissary didn’t notice the real reason he was unable to get to his feet - his legs were trembling profusely underneath his tattered pants.

The mind-numbing buzz in his head slowly faded away.

Meanwhile, a turquoise light erupted from underneath the lantern in the hands of the Russian Emissary, enveloping all of the living dead around him. Incidentally, both Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada were swept up at once as well.

The light that erupted was like Moses’ staff that divided the waters. Wherever it passed, the living dead would retreat quickly, cleaving a path right through the sea of living dead. Thereafter, the Russian Emissary picked up his lantern and began to drift towards the next place.

Thud… Wang Chenghao slumped back down onto the ground, completely covered in cold sweat. The living dead around them appeared to have received some order of sorts, and they began to follow the path traced out for them by the blue light on the ground.

Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada immediately followed suit without taking a second glance at Wang Chenghao.

Two seconds later, Qin Ye suddenly asked without looking back, “If it were you, what would you have done?”

Oda Nobutada responded without hesitation, “The same thing.”

Then, he added with great emotion, “To be completely honest, I’d expected Mr Wang to have lost his cool. Unexpectedly… he rose to the occasion and actually pulled through.”

That’s right. Both Qin Ye and Oda Nobutada had expected Wang Chenghao to mess up and let the cat out of the bag. To that end Qin Ye had already made the best decision available to them at that point in time - that is, if Wang Chenghao’s identity were exposed, he would kill the Russian Emissary as quickly as possible, and then put on his clothes and continue sneaking through the crowd in his new identity.

Unexpectedly, Wang Chenghao actually managed to pull through!

“How did he manage that?” Qin Ye muttered softly to himself.

Again, Oda Nobutada responded without hesitation, “Because he knew that he would implicate us if his identity were exposed. Lord Qin, even though Mr Wang may be lacking in some ways, there’s no doubt that he’s loyal to you.”

But he then added through clenched teeth, “However, my Lord, your decision earlier wasn’t a good one.”

He could see what Qin Ye was about to do.

“Abandoning him would have been the best decision in the circumstances. Your success is of the utmost importance. There’s no reason to be risking it all, especially here in the enemy’s hinterland.”

Qin Ye grew taciturn as he continued to plod on with the rest of the living dead. After a long time, he smiled listlessly, “But doing so would mean the loss of a dear child…”

I don’t deny that… Oda Nobutada didn’t say any more. After all, he knew that he, too, was once just as naive, until he experienced his first conquest in the battlefield.

War would change everything.

Besides… given the tumultuous conditions in which the new Hell is being brought up, I’ve got no doubt that war is well on the horizon…

The group of select living dead followed the guidance of the lantern’s blue light straight towards MV Sewol. It took an inordinate amount of time, but they finally saw the cruise ship appear on the horizon.

Fortunately, there weren’t other forms of defenses surrounding the vessel.

Qin Ye heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. His guess had been right. The ship’s horn was something that Rumyantsev and his men were already used to, and it was for that reason that they had completely obviated its existence from their mind. Little did it occur to them that the sound of the ship’s horn that they had so taken for granted was the very same sound that had triggered inspiration in Qin Ye’s mind.

Unfortunately, the bad news was the fact that Choi Tae-min’s face… appeared to be awake.

“This isn’t Choi Tae-min’s body. It’s just a ghost ship. It’s only because it’s closely linked to Choi Tae-min that it bears the same semblance to Choi Tae-min’s face.” Oda Nobutada spoke gruffly, “My Lord, please be careful. There’s something unusual about this ghost ship…”

Qin Ye nodded slightly. He could also sense it. The fact that the Second King Yanluo could recall the name, Odious Spirit of Filth, meant that there was definitely something extraordinary about it. Furthermore, Qin Ye could sense that the Odious Spirit of Filth felt almost like an entity that straddled realms.

Most of all, it was a palpably evil existence.

Meanwhile, its eyes appeared no different from a radar, surveilling all of the living dead that were slowly approaching it. Then, as soon as it was about to retract its gaze, the human face suddenly released a shrill shriek that shook the night sky. A split second later, it opened its mouth, revealing its razor-sharp teeth within. And then, its tongue fiercely lashed out right towards Qin Ye!

Holy shit! Qin Ye cursed in his heart. Nobody could anticipate what was going to happen, but even this was a little too much by his standards!

Then, just as the tongue was no more than 10 meters away from him, he suddenly twisted his body and leaned to the side, just in time to avoid the path of collision of the ferocious tongue. A split second later, it struck the living dead standing right behind Qin Ye. At once, it made a pained sound, and found itself dragged straight towards Choi Tae-min’s face.

Crunch, crunch… Blood and bone splattered everywhere in an instant. However, Qin Ye remained as vigilant as ever, because… he could sense the face still staring at him with slight astonishment.

It’s target was me… Qin Ye gritted his teeth.

How could it possess such keen senses? How did it sense me among the tens of thousands of living dead? Logically speaking, the concealment bestowed by the Second King Yanluo should never be detected by anyone!