Yama Rising

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Yin energy surged out of his fingertip, and he quickly drew up a map of the Huang Clan's earthen building. The mercenaries and preachers were all astonished to see this, and they turned toward Lee Jung-sook for an explanation.

"He's an Emissary of Hell," Lee Jung-sook explained as she casually lit a cigarette. "Don't be so surprised, you may think you've seen everything, but that's far from the truth. In the Vatican, Infernal Judges are considered to be prominent and powerful characters, but here in Cathay, you're nowhere near as you would be elsewhere."

Othilie gulped nervously before turning his gaze back to Qin Ye, who was still casually drawing in mid-air with Yin energy. After a long while, he finally heaved an emotional sigh. "In Cathay, there is an idiom describing a frog at the bottom of a well, and I must say, that idiom is extremely fitting to describe us. I've been serving for over a decade at Daehan's Asian episcopate, but I've never heard of any human capable of using Yin energy..."

Right at this moment, Qin Ye's fingertip drew to a halt, and he snapped his fingers, upon which the Yin energy map he had just drawn upon instantly laid itself flat. He then gestured for everyone to come closer before pointing at a certain spot on the map. "This is where I sensed that Abyssal Prefect. At the time, it chose not to attack me, and if it had, the outcome of a battle between us would've been roughly 50:50."

He then pointed at the waterhole behind the earthen building and continued, "This is Chu Renmei's lair. One of the gates of the Huang Clan's earthen building, namely its western gate, just so happens to be directly facing the waterhole, and those two points form a straight line with the gap between the third and fourth floors."

He pulled out his phone and took a quick glance. "Currently, it's 4 PM, so there's still an hour left until the Ghost Encounter Hour. As such, we'll begin at 5 PM sharp!"

Everyone had gathered around him to listen to his plan. "I've already annotated the area on the map that depicts the third floor. What we have to do now is lure out that hidden evil ghost, and during that process, I don't want to be disrupted by anything. I need an hour to get to the bottom of things, and in addition to that hidden evil ghost, you'll have to deal with Chu Renmei as well. With these two Three Seal Corpses here, there's no way that she won't come."

Chu Renmei had perished in the Huang Clan's earthen building, and she was from this village. Furthermore, the residents here had all consumed this Taisui fungus. Perhaps Chu Renmei wouldn't have been able to sense anything back when she was a human, but in her current state, she was more aware of the Taisui fungus than anyone else.

No one knew exactly what would happen if the Taisui fungus were to be destroyed, but it was clear to everyone that no harm could be allowed to befall the Taisui fungus.

As such, she had no choice but to come, even if she knew that she was being intentionally lured here.

"This is the spot." A thread formed by white netherfire emerged from Qin Ye's fingertip, and he pointed at the center of the map. "Do your best to keep them here under the locust tree, and don't allow them to return to the third floor. Phagpa, you take care of that hidden ghost once it comes out. As for Chu Renmei, I'll leave her to Ryu Changmin, Kwon Kyung-ho, and the two of you..."

He raised his head to look at the two preachers, who were currently looking as pale as ghosts themselves, and he smiled as he asked, "Are you confident in your ability to fulfill your role?"

"No!!" Othilie immediately screamed, "We're talking about an Abyssal Prefect! A Marquess-level vengeful spirit! There's no way we can contend with such a fearsome entity! You..."

Before he had a chance to finish, a badge that was overflowing with Yin energy had already been presented to him. On the inky-black underside of the identity token was inscribed a "Qin" character in an antiquated font, and it was as if there were a boundless sea of Yin energy imbued within the badge.

"With this identity token and two special Yin spirits ranking in the single digits to help you, it'll amount to four Infernal Judges and an Abyssal Prefect's origin Yin artifact up against a single Prefect-level evil ghost. If you still can't last an hour under these circumstances, then you can't blame anything else other than your terrible luck."

But I don't want to do this at all! 

Othilie was just about to raise an objection when the preacher beside him gently tugged on his sleeve before lowering his head as he replied, "We'll be sure to do our best."

"Good." Qin Ye gently clasped his hands together, and the Yin energy map immediately disintegrated. "Let me issue this reminder one last time: you're going to be facing two Prefect-level evil ghosts. If you don't want to die, then you'd better fight for your lives. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that you'll be able to leave this earthen building."

"As for you..." He turned to Lee Jung-sook, who immediately smiled in response. "I'm naturally going to get as far away as possible from here. Don't worry, I'm curious, but not suicidal."

"Good." Thus, Qin Ye's body dissipated into a gust of Yin wind, leaving behind only one parting message: "Good luck, everyone."

As soon as he vanished, Lee Jung-sook immediately made her way toward the exit of the earthen building. Only after she had completely disappeared from view did Othilie turn toward his companion with gritted teeth. "What the hell is your problem, Emoven?! Did you not hear what he said just now?! Do you not know how terrifying Marquess-level vengeful spirits are?! Those beings are capable of slaughtering entire cities! There's no way we can oppose such an entity!"

"I know," Emoven replied in a slightly strained voice. "You're the clueless one here, idiot. Do you know what rank that young man is?"

"He's a Count!" Othilie immediately replied in a certain voice, "I don't want to believe it, but when I stand before him, the sense of extreme peril that I feel tells me that he's at least a Count!"

Emoven heaved a forlorn sigh. "That man left his identity token with us, and that token is a Marquess-level deathly hallow. Do you still not understand?"

Dead silence.

Othilie's mouth gaped wide open as he stared at Emoven, and the words of Qin Ye echoed within his mind as clearly as a loud gong. Several seconds later, he silently made his way over to the foot of the locust tree.

He finally understood why this mission was so perilous now. They were figuratively dancing on a knife's edge, but despite this, none of the Soul Hunter level mercenaries had fled the scene.

It wasn't that they didn't want to flee, they simply didn't dare!

This was a group of battle-hardened soldiers who were constantly putting their lives on the line, and they were far more sensitive to danger than these two exorcists who had been mollycoddled by the Vatican.

………………………………………………….

The Huang Clan's earthen building had fallen completely silent.

The first floor was littered without countless corpses that were riddled with bullet holes. They were leads that were worth exploring, but unfortunately, Qin Ye didn't have the time to examine them one by one.

The second and third floors were concealed under the shade of the locust tree, and the faint glimmers of light that occasionally filtered through the canopy cast fleeting shadows that resembled roaming ghosts.

It was now 4:50 PM.

There were still eight hours and ten minutes until the Cold Suit Festival.

The dark clouds in the sky were becoming denser and denser, as if they were anticipating the arrival of the Cold Suit Festival, and rain had already begun to fall while arcs of lightning flashed incessantly within the clouds.

Everyone was already gathered around the base of the locust tree, and there was an incredibly tense atmosphere in the air. One circle of holy candles after another had been placed all over the ground as if they didn't cost any money, and there was also a silver chain, upon which countless sheets of paper had been attached using pure silver nails. That was a holy bible that had been blessed by an archbishop. In addition to that, there were vials of holy water, holy silver crossbows, and various other types of weapons placed around the area. Up ahead stood the dozen or so mercenaries, and behind them stood the two preachers with Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho standing on either side of them.

The rain was falling onto them, but no one paid any heed to that. The current atmosphere was so oppressive and tense that their mouths had run dry.

This was a Marquess-level vengeful spirit! According to historical records, even the almighty army of holy crusaders had to make enormous sacrifices just to be able to hold their own against such fearsome entities. In contrast with the mighty army of crusaders, they were only an army of less than 20...

Emoven and Othilie both wore extremely grim expressions, and it looked as if they were mentally bracing themselves for their own executions. Right at this moment, a dull thunderclap rang out up above, and Othilie reflexively took out his pocket watch to check the time.

It was 5 PM sharp, the beginning of the Ghost Encounter Hour!

"Open the coffin!!" Emoven commanded through gritted teeth.

One of the mercenaries made his way over to the front of the coffin. There was an evil-subduing pestle plunged into the side of the coffin near the top end. At the same time, another mercenary strode over to the bottom end of the coffin, where there was the design of a lotus flower engraved onto its surface.

This was a seal that Phagpa had placed on the coffin all those years ago. With this seal present, the Yin energy of the Taisui fungus would be contained within the coffin. Under the instruction of Emoven, the two mercenaries tore away the evil-subduing pestle and the lotus flower seal in unison!

Whoosh!! 

Boundless Yin energy immediately erupted forth like a tsunami. This was Yin energy that had been repressed for over 1,000 years and was imbued with boundless suffering. It was like a piece of pure black fabric, but the fabric was riddled with countless indistinct and twisted faces. The Yin energy surged up toward the heavens amid countless ghastly wails.

"ARGH..."

"Kill me... Please kill me!!"

The terrifying Yin energy formed an enormous wave that sent fierce Yin winds sweeping through the air in all directions, blowing everyone's clothes directly upward. In that instant, it was as if a thin veil by the name of terror had been draped over the entire earthen building. Boundless inky-black Yin energy erupted from every single corner of the building, and a bolt of stark white lightning crashed down from the heavens amid a rumbling thunderclap!

The bolt of lightning was heading directly toward the coffin!

The revelation of an object of such pure and unadulterated evil was inevitably going to invoke the wrath of the heavens. Countless shrill shrieks rang out incessantly from the canopy of the locust tree, which had been entirely illuminated by the bolt of lightning. It was as if every single leaf on the tree was a living person, and in the next instant, this locust tree that had stood for countless years erupted into flames under the relentless lightning strikes!

Everyone looked up into the sky with stunned expressions to find that the entire earthen building had been draped under a veil of crimson light from the scorching flames. All of a sudden, Emoven's pupils contracted drastically as he cast his gaze toward the third floor.

There, a sea of shadows was crashing down from above like a waterfall!

However, those weren't actually shadows. Instead, they were countless Yin souls that were twisted and bound together. The inky-black souls were still locked in the same state as their hosts had been in during their time of death, and these Yin souls were flowing down from all directions. It was as if everyone were standing in a basin, watching a mudslide take place, and it was truly an indescribably astonishing sight.

It's coming... The Abyssal Prefect from the third floor is coming! 

An enormous wave formed by one twisted Yin spirit after another came cascading down from a height of close to 20 meters, devouring the staircase and engulfing the railings.

Othilie gritted his teeth with a grim expression. "Shit..."

"Die!!"

With a thunderous roar from Emoven, the silver chain rattled and clanked wildly before abruptly exploding, transforming into countless small silver knives. The tips of the knives were pierced through the pages of the holy bible, and they erupted in all directions.

The flying knives plunged into the massive wave of Yin spirits, but they didn't even kick up the slightest ripple. Only the faint light of the holy bible could be seen flashing beneath the inky-black Yin energy, but the wave was virtually completely unharmed. In fact, the cascading waterfall of Yin spirits was only accelerating further and further in its descent. In the blink of an eye, a massive Yin energy vortex had taken shape around the ancient locust tree.

Sharp howls of agony rang out from the sets of remains formed by Yin energy, meanwhile, Qin Ye was concealing himself in a stealthy fashion in Tongtong's room, intently appraising the scene unfolding outside.

This wasn't the time to strike yet.

It was still too early, and the evil ghost was only unleashing a probing attack. This was only the entrée before the main course, and on top of that, Chu Renmei has still yet to show up.

He picked up his handheld transceiver and issued an order. "Burn it down!"

Standing at the foot of the locust tree, Othilie gulped nervously as he appraised the countless Yin spirits in the surrounding area with an extremely uneasy expression. "Now?"

"Now!"

Fuck... He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and as his eyes sprang open again, a vial of holy water was tipped straight into the coffin. As a result, golden flames immediately erupted out of the coffin, lighting up the darkness like a beacon in the night.

What followed was an instance of complete silence.

The sea of Yin spirits around them seemed to have been stunned into inactivity, but immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering roar abruptly rang out from the third floor.

At the same time, a bright red arrow shot forth like lightning toward the coffin, and it was flying too fast for it to be clearly distinguishable to the naked eye. Othilie and Emoven yelled in unison as they brought their palms together, and a silver nail had already pierced through each of their hands. A string of English letters surged out of the laceration wounds in a frenzy to form a golden wave, and their eyes had also taken on a silver hue.

"... For I have hoped in thine ordinances. So shall I observe thy law continually for ever and ever...."

Whoosh... A golden ripple erupted out of their bodies, proliferating rapidly in all directions to instantly form a golden shockwave that was completely composed of ancient characters.

It was as if a divine miracle had appeared in this dark abyss. Both Othilie and Emoven knew that having already taken on this mission, retreat was no longer an option for them.

The first thing that they had to do was to attract the full attention of the Prefect-level evil ghost on the first floor to themselves!