Yama Rising

A narrow corridor.

A pregnant lady and a child walked right past Qin Ye’s left and right, brushing past his shoulder. Their posture was distorted and twisted, and they left bloody marks on the ground wherever they passed. The long and narrow corridor looked no different from a long, dank and dark third tunnel of Pusan.

Bang, bang, bang! As they walked, the doors on both sides of the corridor slammed shut in unison. And then, right as they passed Qin Ye, they suddenly paused.

The two blood-stained faces turned to stare at Qin Ye at exactly the same time. Their heads were lined up in a row. Qin Ye could see out of the corners of his eyes that each of their seven apertures were flowing with copious amounts of dark Yin energy. Meanwhile, blood was also flowing from underneath their scarlet eyes.

Bzzt… bzzt… Just then, the lights in the hallway suddenly turned crimson red. The heads of the lady and the child suddenly twisted and turned at an angle that was humanly impossible, and soft murmurs began to echo throughout the entire corridor. A split second later, the pregnant lady suddenly cracked open her black lips.

Her voice was hoarse and harsh beyond belief, while her pupils appeared to be staring at various places like a chameleon, “My… husband… died…”

“To… let… me… live…”

Just then, Qin Ye felt someone tugging at his hand, and he promptly turned around, only to notice the little girl on his other side clinging onto his hand. Blood continued to pour out of the gaping bullet hole on her forehead as she stared at Qin Ye as though from beyond the realms, “My… father… also… died…”

“To… let… me… live…”

And then, both voices spoke in unison, “Now, we’re both dead…”

“We hated… we waited…”

After saying these words, the two evil ghosts walked right past Qin Ye, hand-in-hand, as they traipsed along the corridor towards the captain’s room at the end.

Are they telling me not to interrupt them?

Qin Ye didn’t say a word. He simply stared at the dark shadows on their backs as they plodded away from him. Meanwhile, the scarlet eyes peeking out of the shadows continued to stare back intently at him. He knew full well that this was the embodiment of hatred that had been festering for five long years. Anyone who stood in their way would be cut down as foe.

They were the only survivors in the Train to Pusan incident.

Their loved ones had died right before their very eyes in order to allow them to live on. Unfortunately, their path came to an abrupt end as soon as they saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

But what’s the mother and daughter in the third tunnel doing here in this place? Gritting his teeth, Qin Ye fervently suppressed the vexation in his heart as he pulled out his cell phone once more.

It had been 15 minutes since his mutiny. That said, with MV Sewol anchored to a place, every minute that passed would undoubtedly give rise to unpredictable changes. He was already on the verge of capturing Mukov. Who would’ve thought that he would suddenly encounter such an unexpected variable?

With his Yin energy, he could tell that the mother-and-daughter duo had already sequestered the entire space around the MV Sewol, transforming the entire locality into their own domain. That said, none of this was important right now. The most pressing question was naturally what he should do given the current circumstances.

The two figures didn’t move too quickly, and they had only covered a distance of approximately 10 meters thus far. Qin Ye took a deep breath and called out to them, “Hey.”

No response.

That said, the scarlet eyes peeking out of the darkness did open their eyes abruptly and glare back at him.

“Is there any room for negotiations?” He picked up his brush and casually spun it in his hand. At once, an exquisite spear appeared in his hand, and he set it gently onto the ground, “Let me ask him a few questions first, and then you can have your way with him?”

Still no response.

“I know that you’re here because you can sense the stench of the living dead. I get what you’re going through. But… why don’t we try and understand things from each other’s perspective? What do you say?”

This time, both mother and daughter turned their heads 180 degrees around and stared right back at Qin Ye. A split second later, their mouths split right open, revealing row after row of razor-sharp teeth stained with grisly black blood and residue as they shrieked at the top of their voices, “SSSS!!!”

The lights in the entire hallway flickered wildly at once. Yin energy exploded and sloshed about everywhere, causing Qin Ye to feel no different from standing in the heart of a typhoon. He sighed softly and picked up his spear.

“You three-in-one Yin spirits are incredibly terrifying, do you know that? The pregnant lady and the little girl are nothing but puppets, and yet the ghastly baby in her womb is actually a terrifying Yin spirit in the ranks of an Infernal Judge? What kind of Yin spirit is this? What secrets do you conceal that triggers my wariness and vigilance?”

There was still no response. However, the eruption of Yin energy from the three-in-one Yin spirit clearly told Qin Ye that it was now ready for battle.

Qin Ye slowly picked up his spear, “As expected, you want me to do all the talking, don’t you? Well, why don’t I propose approaching the discussions in a different manner…”

At once, he suddenly flung his spear forward like a mighty bolt of lightning.

For instance, we can discuss using our fists!

BOOM! The trajectory of the spear cut through the dense Yin energy in the corridor like Moses parting the waters. The Yin energy parted to the sides, while the spear hurtled through the air like a terrifying dragon. A split second later, Qin Ye froze in horror.

What’s going on?

Qin Ye was still locked in the same posture of throwing his spear forward, but the spear was actually still somehow in his hand!

It was almost as though there were an invisible wall ahead in the corridor that was completely obstructing him.

Qin Ye took a deep breath and began to thrust multiple times at them. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, and nothing could penetrate the invisible wall ahead of him.

It was simply impossible to advance!

It was just like how Man could see the moon, but never actually touch it!

“How is this possible?” Qin Ye gasped with astonishment. A split second later, he unleashed his Porter Spirit and commanded it to unleash its silent scream at the two figures standing some distance away.

RUMBLE!!!

The physical corridor around them trembled violently, and debris tumbled everywhere. However, there was a point along the corridor right before where the pregnant lady and the girl were where the sound waves would simply bounce back, almost as though it marked a completely separate domain!

“Is this… the power of a law?” Qin Ye’s eyes widened in horror. Over the last one and a half months, the Second King Yanluo had taught him much, including a brief mention of the top ten among the list of special Yin spirits. That said, he didn’t delve any deeper into the exact abilities each type of special Yin spirit possessed. All he said was that the top ten on the list possessed the ability to become Yama-class Yin spirits, while the top five…

In his words, “Their innate abilities confer on each of them the potential to become Yama-Kings of the Ten Palaces.”

Yin spirits were different from humans in the mortal realm. A Yin spirit’s birthright would determine the upper limits of their potential. A special Yin spirit naturally bore potential that most other ordinary Yin spirits could only dream about. If genius were 99% hard work and 1% talent, then most Yin spirits were naturally born without the 1% talent that sets geniuses apart.

Unfortunately, Qin Ye had never expected there to exist such a wide chasm between those with the 1% talent and those without.

……………………………………………………………….

Ashmound City.

The Second King Yanluo was carefully studying the map of the netherworld, wondering if there was any way he could silently approach the divine molt left behind by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. He didn’t have much time left here in the Three Realms, so if he could take some of it away with him…

Just then, he suddenly looked up and gently patted the head of the Harken.

“My Lord, what’s wrong?” The Harken was groggy from his slumber, and he didn’t sense anything amiss.

That said, Xu Yangyi’s gaze appeared to be far and distant, almost as though he were peering through realms. After some time, he muttered a few words under his breath, “The Death of March.”

At once, the Harken rubbed its eyes and gasped in horror, “The Avernus Spirit? The Yin spirit ranked fifth on the list of special Yin spirits?! Has it actually appeared? How is that possible? The current climate in the mortal realm doesn’t provide the right environment for its birth! We’re no longer living in the warring states era, and there’s no longer any way of giving birth to such fabled Yin spirits naturally…”

Just then, the Harken suddenly stopped, and then turned and glanced in the direction of Daehan, “Do you mean… there in Daehan?”

Xu Yangyi slowly retracted his gaze, “Fortunately, it’s not a true Avernus Spirit. It’s an earthbound Avernus Spirit. The place of death was so unique and inextricably tied to its death that it became an earthbound spirit. Otherwise, if it were allowed to roam free, we’d easily be talking about millions of deaths in Daehan by now.”

“Arturo’s playing with high stakes here…”

The Harken mulled over it for a moment, and then responded with a slightly pensive voice, “Not quite. I recall that these special Yin spirits are practically the embodiment of laws. Just like how humans are always subject to the laws of the vicissitudes of life, these Yin spirits also affect the world around them with laws that are practically also inviolable - even if a Yin spirit far stronger approaches them. I recall back then… in the dozen or so times these single-digit special Yin spirits appeared in the more recent history of Hell, it would always require the combined efforts of two of the Sixfold Ghost Kings in order to subjugate them. I’m afraid these are existences that not even the old Fengdu was able to create.”

Xu Yangyi nodded, “In other words, it was created incidentally. Arturo was planning to create a serpent, yet he’d inadvertently also created a basilisk as a result of his efforts.”

“But this may not be a bad thing.”

He silently scratched the white fur on top of the Harken’s head, “This is an extremely rare opportunity. This would give the Third King Yanluo a better insight on what to look out for when casting myths in future.”

“That said, this is admittedly a little bit beyond his depths right now.”

As he spoke, he shut his eyes, and something appeared to rise high into the sky. The Harken sighed, “Transcending the Void? Tsk tsk… isn’t he also overstepping the bounds of the Three Realms? Speaking of which, why does it feel like his cultivation has improved by leaps and bounds every time I see him?”

…………………………………………………

MV Sewol, Daehan.

Qin Ye stared in astonishment as the mother and daughter duo were merely three meters away from the captain’s cabin. Unfortunately, he still wasn’t able to reach them no matter how hard he tried.

10 meters.

10 meters was clearly the scope of their absolute domain. He didn’t know what this was supposed to be, but he could tell that any location within a radius of 10 meter from them was clearly subject to a unique set of bizarre rules.

Just then, they finally arrived at the door of the captain’s cabin. With a mournful cry, the Yin energy in the vicinity rushed straight towards the door of the cabin and slammed hard against it.

Do I have no choice but to watch silently as they take Mukov’s life?

Qin Ye sighed as he retracted his spear. It had already been twenty minutes since his mutiny. There was no way the enemy troops arrayed at Gonjiam Asylum would still be ignorant of the fact that something had happened along the way. The first reason why he sought to capture Mukov was to ask him about the part of the script of death he was responsible for. After all, learning was one of the main reasons why Qin Ye had come to Daehan in the first place.

The second reason was to see if Mukov knew anything about the truth of what lay hidden beneath Gonjiam Asylum. Although Qin Ye wasn’t too hopeful in this regard, any information Mukov could provide would still help to improve his odds of success in this shoddy plan of his.

Last, but not least, he wanted to seek out Richard’s hiding place. As the administrator of the MV Sewol incident, Mukov would naturally know best the structure of the vessel. Sure, Mukov might not know anything about Gonjiam Asylum, but Richard was quite different! Given his status in the Russian Underworld, he would most certainly possess some knowledge of Gonjiam Asylum!

Unfortunately, the mother-and-daughter duo were clearly cutting him out from their plans. The corridor was only a few dozen meters long, yet Qin Ye couldn’t help but feel worlds apart from Mukov in this moment.

Leave!

Qin Ye turned to leave without any hesitation. Rather than waste any more time here, he might as well channel his energy and time into seeking out Richard from his hiding place.

But just as he turned around, a golden light suddenly glowed from within his clothes.

It was faint.

At least, compared with the rest of the dark, billowing Yin energy in the corridor, it appeared incredibly faint.

That said, it was impossible to gloss over it!

Just like the glow of the morning dew, the appearance of the golden glow instantly dispersed all of the black fog lingering about the corridor, and the mournful, ghastly cries in the vicinity faded away. Meanwhile, the two figures standing right at the captain’s cabin suddenly turned back for the very first time.

As the golden outline of a slender hand emerged from Qin Ye’s sleeves, Fate immediately cheered like a fish reunited with water as it shot straight into the golden hand.

Then, the golden outline of the hand began to move. Moments later, a Cathayan word representing the word ‘dispel’ appeared from the void.

BOOM!!!

A golden shockwave swept across the entire MV Sewol, dispersing all of the black fog at once. Qin Ye couldn’t tell how the rest of the ship looked from the outside, but he could see the golden light permeating every corner of the corridor. Meanwhile, the hair and clothes of the mother-daughter duo scattered everywhere, and then… under the warm glow of the golden light, finally revealed their human forms.

Crash… The sound of broken glass resounded through the air. Qin Ye knew at once it was the sound of the 10-meter restriction being broken.

“One minute.”

“You only have one minute.”

“The Death of March, otherwise known as the Spirit of Avernus, is one of the top special Yin spirits in the netherworld. You will never be able to transcend this law of hers unless you possess abilities far superior to hers. Unfortunately, even I can only buy you a minute of time given the physical distance I am from you right now.”