Yama Rising

Calm down… calm down… Qin Ye took several deep breaths. Tens of thousands of living dead were gathered in one place at the bottom of the vessel, concealing them right in the midst of it all. Wang Chenghao muttered softly under his breath, “Brother Qin… is it finally safe now?”

“No.” Qin Ye opened his eyes and scanned the vicinity, “In fact, I suspect that… they might already have noticed us.”

“Why did he take out the death god’s quill?”

“Furthermore…” Qin Ye lifted his chin and directed Wang Chenghao’s gaze to the area just outside the ferry, “Haven’t you noticed that we didn’t encounter any obstacles along the way at all?”

Wang Chenghao gulped nervously as he whimpered, “It’s changed… Your persona’s completely changed… C’mon, stop being so brave and valiant! Hurry up and make your great escape out of this place…”

Ignoring Wang Chenghao’s complaints, Oda Nobutada asked, “So, why aren’t they making a move?”

Qin Ye shook his head and smiled, “Because I’m Zhong Kui. Rumyantsev isn’t here. Even if Liu Yu were to make a move, he’d naturally still have to think twice about it. We’re talking about an international superstar after all. Besides, I’m afraid his suspicions have only been triggered as a result of the MV Sewol’s sudden riotous actions.”

He glanced up at the dark night sky in the distance, “Well, one thing is certain - they wouldn’t make a move right away…”

“If I were them, I wouldn’t make a move right away either. I’d much rather ascertain whether the intruders have successfully infiltrated our midst. And then, I’d wait.”

“Just like a hunter, I’d wait and bide my time for the right opportunity to move. And believe me, the last thing that a person like him lacks is patience. His strongest trait is the fact that he’s cunning, just like a snake in the desert. So, from now on, you guys better stay on top of your toes. You’re here to help me out, and not to act as a hindrance.”

Silence was the norm here in the land of the dead. When Qin Ye first arrived, he’d already been prepared to wait for two or three days before the vessel finally moved out. However, at just 5.00 a.m., the living dead stopped pouring in.

It was the witching hour. Just then, a long horn sounded from the heart of the Jukseong Dream Cathedral.

Ooooooooo… The bleak trumpet resounded throughout the coastal areas, and a soft wind of decay instantly picked up in the land of the dead. And then, the MV Sewol suddenly began to move.

“Haah!” The living dead suddenly roared at the top of their voices. And then, they unanimously moved a step forward.

Unexpectedly, it wasn’t a step towards the ocean!

“Is this ship… actually going by land?!” Qin Ye glanced around in astonishment. He had a bad feeling about this, and his heart promptly skipped a beat.

The plan that he’d come up with on the fly wasn’t necessarily a bad one. However, the fact that there was room for variables meant that he would have to be prepared to improvise and adapt to the situation accordingly.

Thump! Like the neatest of boatmen, all of the living dead neatly lifted their left legs and marched forward in unison, almost as though they were military soldiers who had performed the same drill countless times.

“Haah!” There was another roar. Two seconds later, they stepped forward with their right feet. Unexpectedly, the entire vessel was being lifted up by countless living dead as they marched out of the beach and onto dry land.

Thump, thump, thump! It was neat and rhythmic. After floundering about for a bit, Qin Ye and the rest managed to find their rhythm and move in tandem with the rest of the living dead. As they marched, the ghost ship that had been buried on the seabed for years began to shift out of the coast and into Gijang County.

The hull far exceeded the width of the roads there, yet the decrepit rusty ship continued to trudge forward past the rows of modern-looking homes. It was a procession of the living dead carrying an entire vessel. The entire sight was both metaphysical and spectacular.

Whoosh… From time to time, the hull of the ship would collide with the building on both sides, causing the walls of the building to crumble and collapse everywhere. After marching for about a kilometer, Qin Ye suddenly jerked his eyes up and glanced right up towards the national highway.

It was a flat expanse.

“Speed.” He suddenly murmured. Wang Chenghao blinked softly in response. He immediately understood what Qin Ye was thinking, “Are you saying that we won’t be able to reach Gyeonggi Province if we keep going at this speed?”

Qin Ye nodded. He finally understood where his bad premonition earlier had come from.

At the rate they were going, they wouldn’t reach Gyeonggi Province even at the end of the month.

So, how would they possibly arrive at their destination in just a few days’ time?

The answer was simple.

They must have a way of manipulating the living dead such that they could move at breakneck speed!

Would we, as a regular human being and two Emissaries of Hell, potentially be exposed as soon as they notice that the spell isn’t effective at all?

Besides, who’s going to be casting this spell?

Is it Richard, the King of Spies?

Or is it… the quill of the god of death?

Thump… They all took another step forward. Just then, the entire throng of the living dead that were hefting the ship up suddenly stopped, just like a calm before the raging storm.

The bow of the vessel was aimed deep into the horizon, where the national highway extended. It felt almost as though a raging wave had risen high up above them, ready to crash down on them at the moment’s notice.

Qin Ye took a deep breath and whispered to the other two, “Brace yourself, and heed my command!”

The Tsar’s personal Yin artifact was located right above their heads. Regardless of how powerful the Second King Yanluo was, it didn’t change the fact his concealment ability had been casted on Qin Ye’s party from beyond the realm. Who knows whether it would be able to hold up underneath the might of the Tsar’s abilities?

Just then, there was a soft cackle, and countless heads suddenly descended from above.

These were heads of women. No, to be more precise, they were the heads of Hanako Ishii!

They remained suspended in the air, cackling wildly like a chorus of maniacs as they began to weave through the gaps between the hands of the living dead, almost as though they were carefully examining the tens of thousands of living dead below.

It’s coming… Qin Ye pursed his lips tightly. At moments like this, his intuition was the only thing he could actually trust.

And right now, his intuition was screaming at him, telling him that the first wave of terror was on the verge of crashing down onto them.

Just then, a thin white line of white plumes show down from the bow of the ship and into the spines of all the living dead.

Naturally, it also struck Qin Ye, Oda Nobutada and Wang Chenghao. Fortunately, it wasn’t a thread of Yin energy that entered their bodies. Rather, it was more akin to a thread that tethered itself to their bodies, almost as though they were a channel for transmission of information.

Meanwhile, the living dead around them had already begun to breathe once more. As they breathed, Yin energy filled their bodies, and their muscles immediately began to bulge wildly at once.

Are they--… Qin Ye gasped in horror, “Prepare yourself…”

A split second later, the living dead suddenly began to run forward as it carried the massive vessel!

“RUN!” Qin Ye belted out these words through gnashed teeth at once.

Thump, thump, thump! Tens of thousands of living dead were carrying a ferry and running across the national highway with incredible speed! Borrowing the relative speed of modern day transportation, they slowly accelerated to the speed of RC cars, and then buses, and then cars… until a minute later, when they actually reached speeds no different from that of an express train!

He could feel the ground tremble with every step he took. Yet, even then, the vessel was incredibly stable, and it didn’t tilt in the slightest bit. Qin Ye gritted his teeth and rushed forward, desperately keeping the same pace with the other living dead around him as the wind hurtled past his ears!

What kind of ridiculous spell is this?!

It’s absolutely absurd!

Yet what was even stranger was the fact that as their speed increased, their physical bodies slowly began to fade and grow hazy, almost as though they were rushing straight into the lands of the undead.

“Realm of the void! Is the technique sending us straight into the ‘mezzanine’ between the Yin and the Yang? A dimensional tear? Is this the special ability of the Odious Spirit of Filth?”

Unfortunately, Qin Ye didn’t have the luxury of time to consider these things in detail, because… he could hear soft gasps coming from right behind him.

Wang Chenghao and Oda Nobutada.

The tide of corpses was blazing through the national highway of Gijang County. Yet what was perhaps most terrifying was the fact that their speed had reached that of peak Hellguard-class Yin spirits! This was simply beyond the speed that the other two could sustain!

Sure, they could hold on for a short while, but they would most certainly start falling behind after some time, and thus let the cat out of the bag!

In that instant, Qin Ye suddenly understood how the King of Spies was planning to sieve out the living from the living dead.

By now, several female heads had already begun to surround Wang Chenghao, cackling at him with a devilish smile on their faces.

Meanwhile, Wang Chenghao desperately maintained the dull look of a living dead without even glancing up at them. That said, it was clear that his face was getting flushed.

Zombies, otherwise known as the living dead, because their physical bodies were still living despite being devoid of a soul. When they first arrived in Daehan, they did so by possessing the physical bodies of ordinary human beings. And as with all regular human beings, they would experience the very same physiological phenomena so long as they moved.

This would include sweating, and increase in body temperature, and a rise in blood pressure.

“Haa… haa…” The intense movements that couldn’t be sustained by their limited Yin energy caused Wang Chenghao’s heart to grow frigid and gold.

We’ve been discovered.

This time, there was no doubt about it.

The white mist that was emerging from their lips with each breath that they took stood out among the throng of living dead around them. Who would’ve thought that they would be caught in no less than ten minutes of their successful infiltration of the living dead?

And with an unbelievable method no less.

Regardless, I’ll hold on for as long as I can… Wang Chenghao gritted his teeth and continued running forward. Unfortunately, as his breaths grew more ragged, so did the number of female heads that slowly gathered around him. Moments later, they suddenly opened their mouths and unleashed a terrifying shriek!

SSSSSS!!!

Their eyes bulged wildly, while their lips split open from ear to ear, revealing row after row of razor-sharp teeth within. A second ago, they all bore the same appearance of a beautiful lady, and yet a moment later, they all appeared no different from a terrifying asura. At once, they lunged straight for Wang Chenghao’s jugulars!

“Damn it!” Qin Ye cursed in his heart and transformed into a mighty nethergale. He was prepared for this moment from the moment they began running. To think that Richard would actually be able to sort the wheat from the chaff through their physiological differences.

Right now, only one option remained - mutiny!

………………………………………

Back on the bow of the vessel. As soon as the human heads began to surround Wang Chenghao, Richard’s eyes snapped open, and he sneered, “Found you. Are you ready?”

“Of course.” The hoarse voice of MV Sewol rustled in his ears, “We’ll soon be arriving in Gonjiam Asylum. Are you ready as well?”

“Don’t worry.” Richard transformed into a nethergale and flew straight into one of the cabins of the ship, “I’ve already sent a messenger bird out to notify Liu Yu. The one who wants that Judge-class Emissary of Hell dead isn’t us, but him.”

At once, the throng of living dead suddenly charged forward with yet another burst of speed! Meanwhile, the face of Choi Tae-min on the MV Sewol finally unleashed a crazy laugh as plumes of Yin energy continued to pour out from above like a steam train rolling down long straight tracks. Meanwhile, all of the living dead beneath the MV Sewol slowly turned illusory.

“Straddling the line between Yin and Yang?!” Qin Ye glanced around with disbelief as everything slowly turned illusory. Is this really what the Odious Spirit of Filth is capable of? Is this the might of the 7th-ranked special Yin spirit?!

Where are you taking us?

No… Regardless of where it might be, I simply cannot allow them to seize the initiative!

I can’t hold back any longer! Qin Ye’s Yin energy erupted. A source of Yin energy far more powerful than Richard’s filled the entire domain. Then, without any hesitation, Qin Ye reached into the void and pulled out an object.

“Ahh… it hurts…” “I don’t want to die…” “Save me…” “Ssss!!!”

Qin Ye was now suspended in front of the bow of the vessel. At once, copious amounts of Yin energy began to form a massive black vortex around Qin Ye in front of Choi Tae-min’s hideous face.

“You’re finally here…” Choi Tae-min licked his lips excitedly, “Yes, that’s right… You’re the one… I remember you! You want to go to Gonjiam Asylum? I’ll give you a ride for free! Hahahaha!”

Of course I do.

But not on your terms. I’d never think of charging right into the waiting arms of Liu Yu’s army and the forces of the Russian Underworld.

Just then, the MV Sewol’s maniacal laughter suddenly stopped.

It was because a lantern was slowly emerging from the heart of the vortex.

It was a six-sided, ancient Cathayan palace lantern that had little silhouettes displayed on each facet of its six sides. However, it was now spinning wildly. And as it did, Yin energy comparable to Rumyantsev’s slowly began to coalesce around it.

“What’s this…” Richard was just holding a glass of wine in his cabin as he jerked his head up with great disbelief, “Marquis?”

“Marquis-class Yin energy?!”