Yama Rising

"Madam Teana?" the skeletal nun called out in a puzzled voice.

Qin Ye turned to her with an intense gaze and asked, "The Mirage... It's a ship, right?"

"Yes..."

"How far away from Cathay's Wuyang Port is Mirage City?"

"Roughly 150 nautical miles, Madam Teana."

Crack... The hand fan in Qin Ye's grasp was abruptly reduced to dust as he rose to his feet. "Lead the way there!"

The Mirage... Could it really be him? 

The carriage sped along the street, while Qin Ye inspected his surroundings with a meaningful gaze.

By the time he emerged from the church, a carriage drawn by a pair of skeletal horses was already waiting for him at the entrance. This was a classic carriage constructed in an antiquated Europa style, and he had no idea where they had obtained it from. Its surface was gold-plated and etched with complex patterns, and there were four skulls hanging around it, within which green netherflames were burning.

After Qin Ye stepped into the carriage, it quickly set off. He swept the curtain aside, and the city that had been hidden from Hell for thousands of years finally appeared before his eyes.

Netherflames and Yin energy were extremely abundant here, interspersed between the buildings constructed in the style of the Qin and Han Dynasties. They were all high-platform buildings, and there were two intersecting pebble streets that split up the city into sections. There were also countless smaller streets that divided the city up in an even more detailed manner.

All types of buildings lined the streets, most of which weren't very tall. Strangely enough, despite the fact that these buildings were all situated on the seabed, thereby making them perfect habitats for coral, seaweed, and other marine creatures, there was not a single marine life form to be seen.

Thus far, Qin Ye had seen at least 1,000 soldiers on the streets. They were clad in crude suits of armor, and these people weren't living beings, nor were they even Yin spirits. Instead, they were zombies!

Their bodies had already become extremely bloated from being soaked in the seawater, but they were still slowly patrolling the city with weapons in their hands. It was clear that there was only one person who could've been capable of creating this army of zombies, it had to have been the owner of the Peach Blossom Spring, the true mastermind behind the tragedy of the Huang Clan's earthen building. He was currently the world leader when it came to research in the Taisui fungus, and he was even able to transform the Taisui fungus into bioweapons.

This was someone who had to die!

Qin Ye repressed the killing intent in his heart as he quickly cast his gaze toward the center of the city. According to the construction style of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the most important building had to be at the center of the city, and it was most likely to be the private chamber of the owner of the Peach Blossom Spring.

As he cast his gaze toward the distance, where the seabed was dimly lit by netherfire, a ship appeared in his field of view.

The ship was several dozen meters tall and several hundred meters in length. Black flags hanging from the ship were swaying in the current of the sea, and the ship was split up into four levels. From bow to stern, the entire ship was designed to be a massive storied house. Many windows and doors could be seen, and in front of each door hung a bright red lantern. There were thousands of carcasses floating around the ship, lingering around it like lost spirits.

This was a louchuan. [1]

These things existed as far back as 500 BC, but in the subsequent dynasties, they mysteriously vanished, and only in image albums could these extraordinary masterpieces of carpentry be seen.

The bow of the ship was square and angular, and on the metal casing covering the bow was inscribed the word "Mirage"!

Qin Ye stared intently at the word, and the theory in his mind became more and more substantiated. Many of the leads were finally connected, guiding his thought process to the truth.

The Mirage was a ship that actually existed in history, and it was an extremely renowned ship.

The owner of the ship was Xu Fu! [2]

This was the ship that Xu Fu had sailed in on his last voyage!

Many of the puzzle pieces began to click into place in Qin Ye's mind...

He recalled that snippet in Bu Wantian's memory, where the man had said, "I wanted to prepare the most ceremonious welcome for you, but the true body of this boat sank around 1,000 years ago in the sea roughly 150 nautical miles east of here. At this point, it's most likely already become a paradise for fish, so I must beg your forgiveness for this subpar welcome."

150 nautical miles... The distance from Eastmount Province to Nagasaki was 800 kilometers, which was roughly 400 nautical miles. 150 nautical miles was close to 300 kilometers, so it was still some way away from Nagasaki. However, not far away from here was an island by the name of Jeju-do.

In Cathayan history, many places recorded Jeju-do as Mount Penglai, which was considered to be one of the four immortal mountains, and was the final destination for Xu Fu's last voyage in search of the elixir of immortality. 

In response to his question, the skeletal nun's reply was that this place was roughly 150 nautical miles away from Cathay, which was exactly where the man's ship had sunk according to what he had told Bu Wantian!

Qin Ye's hands balled up into tight fists as he stared intently at The Mirage. What if The Mirage had sunk here all those years ago? What if that man was none other than Xu Fu himself?

He had told Bu Wantian the approximate location where his ship had sunk, yet at this site was the shipwreck of a vastly renowned ship in Cathayan history, The Mirage!

"So The Mirage sank after all," Qin Ye mused as he looked on with a complex expression. As soon as this name appeared, everything became clear to him.

Xu Fu had an extremely exhaustive understanding of the Taisui fungus, which was a medicine of immortality, the very thing he had been pursuing at the emperor's behest.

In Bu Wantian's memories, all of Xu Fu's servants had been children. During his last voyage, Xu Fu had taken with him 3,000 children. Just like the residents of the Huang Clan's earthen building, all of those children had been turned into zombies to serve him for the rest of eternity!

The other factor that really sealed the deal for Qin Ye was his cultivation rank. If there were anyone in the mortal realm who could reach the Yama-King level, then it had to be him!

Having lived for over 2,000 years and outlived close to 20 dynasties, even a pig would be able to reach this level.

Finally, there was the style and aesthetic preference.

The style of the Qin and Han Dynasties permeated through everything! Thus, the owner of the Peach Blossom Spring and the city on the giant beast's back, two seemingly completely unrelated things were connected together in this instant, forming a perfect loop.

Qin Ye pursed his lips as countless thoughts raced through his mind, examining his own thought process for any potential errors. Was there still a chance that this could all still just be a coincidence? As he thought deeper and deeper, he suddenly realized something else.

To the east of Jeju-do were the Nagasaki Islands of Nippon. In the ancient past, these islands were known as the Nine State Islands.

In the Nine State Islands was a place that the Nipponese considered to be a forbidden area, which was Kumano County.

Kumano County was renowned as the burial site of the three warring generals that the Nipponese people were most proud of, namely Dairokuten Maou Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Uesugi Kenshin. At the same time, these three were virtually single-handedly keeping half of the ACG industry alive in Nippon by providing an endless well of source material.

However, there was also another mysterious place in Kumano County known as the Xu Fu Landing Point!

There were many legends surrounding Xu Fu circulating in the area. He was renowned as the god of medicine and agriculture in Nippon, and there were even many shrines dedicated to worshipping him in the islands of Nagasaki. This was also one of the pieces of evidence that Xu Fu had landed in Nippon during his final voyage.

In Nippon, there was an ancient book called by the name of Miyashita Monjo, within which was recorded a story of Xu Fu's voyage to the east. According to this book, Xu Fu had seven sons who were all given the surname of Fu [3]. Xu Fu sent his seven sons to all parts of Nippon, and they produced their own descendants, all with the same surname, such as Ai Fukuhara. [4]

Qin Ye gently tapped the window with his fingers, and his expression had completely darkened. The Mirage was a ship that had been granted to Xu Fu by the first emperor of Cathay, and so long as the ship continued to exist, Xu Fu would have to present its flag wherever he went.

However, that wouldn't be the case if the ship ceased to exist.

So where was the ship? It was right beneath their feet! It was the current Mirage City!

The legends from thousands of years ago were matching up perfectly with the events unfolding in the present day! From the very beginning, Xu Fu had revealed his own name and the truth behind The Mirage through Bu Wantian's memories!

"It looks like there are still many things hidden under the mysterious veil of history..." Qin Ye leaned back against his seat in the carriage as he began to quickly analyze everything. "Xu Fu really did find the medicine of immortality, and perhaps it wasn't far away from Jeju-do! That was the Taisui fungus! He survived and reached Nippon once again, but The Mirage had already been destroyed, so there were no records in Nippon of a second visit from The Mirage, but there was a second visit from Xu Fu without The Mirage! No matter how I think about it, he's the only possible culprit!"

It can only be him... Only he could've developed such a thorough understanding of the Taisui fungus as he had over 2,000 years to study it! Only he could've reached the Yama-King level under seemingly impossible circumstances through sheer accumulation over time! 

It could only be him as he had been to Nippon in the past. There was a good chance that even Izanami was familiar with him, and it was exactly due to his familiarity with the powers in the eastern territorial sea of Cathay that he was able to found Mirage City, this prison for evil ghosts.

With that in mind, a cold smile appeared on Qin Ye's face. Due to the obstruction posed by the Array of the Nine Gods, the Cathayan Underworld hadn't managed to discover this place. However, this location was not far away from Jeju-do, so it was far away from Cathay's territorial sea, so was he expected to believe that the Nipponese Underworld had also failed to discover it? What excuse did they have? They didn't have an array to obstruct them!

In that case, why hadn't the Nipponese Underworld eradicated this place? Not only that, but it had even sent one of its three ghostly deities, Otakemaru, to this seabed city.

Qin Ye really wanted to deny all of this somehow. This was an immortal who had lived in the cracks of history for over 2,000 years. How much knowledge and power had he accumulated during this time? Qin Ye didn't want to think about that. However, the more he wanted to deny all of this, the more it screamed out at him and made itself undeniable.

Right at this moment, another memory occurred to him.

Oda Nobutada had once said that Tamamo-no-Mae, Shuten-dōji, and Otakemaru were evil ghosts that ranked below only Black Yaksha and Crow Tengu in power. How was it possible for evil ghosts that were so immensely powerful to be treated like any other evil ghosts and branded as fugitives?

The presence of Otakemaru in this place was a clear sign that there was some communication taking place between Mirage City and the Nipponese Underworld!

In the absence of Emissaries of Hell, who could've possibly established this link between the two powers?

No matter how inept Izanami was, she was still a death goddess who had lived for over 1,000 years, and the only thing preventing her from reaching the Yama-King level was the limited land area and population of her nation. Even an Abyssal Prefect from the mortal realm most likely wouldn't even be a match for her, let alone communicate with her as equals.

The only person who could've facilitated this link between Mirage City and the Nipponese Underworld had to have been Xu Fu himself.

"We've arrived, Madam Teana." Right at this moment, a voice rang out from outside the carriage, and Qin Ye set aside this train of thought for now as he cast a complex gaze outside.

Xu Fu was far from a heinous character in Cathayan history, but he was an extremely complex one. Never did Qin Ye think that he would have to go up against the first renowned cultivator and first voyager in Cathayan history.

"You may have gotten away with your crimes for over 2,000 years, but it's time for you to pay the price now..." Qin Ye murmured to himself as he slowly emerged from the carriage. "No one can escape King Yanluo's decree of death!"

"Madam Teana." As soon as Qin Ye emerged, an eerie voice rang out beside him. "Please follow me, we've been waiting for you for quite some time now."

Qin Ye turned toward the evil ghost who had spoken in an elegant manner, and just a single glance was enough to make the netherfire in his eyes flicker slightly.

This was someone he was familiar with, not in person, but it was someone he had seen in far too many films. His name was renowned across the entire world and was the fuel of nightmares for countless people.

It was a man in a small leather cap, wearing a leather jacket. His head was slightly raised to reveal his face, which was riddled with scars from untreated burns. What was most eye-catching about him was his hands. On each of his fingertips was fitted a sharp metal claw.

He was the serial killer who was renowned across Europa and Usonia, ranking alongside the likes of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees as one of the four most feared evil ghosts in the western world. He was an even more horrifying character than the Grady Twins in "The Shining".

The man was Freddy Krueger!

[1] [A louchuan is a type of traditional Chinese ship that resembles a floating fortress. If you would like to see what one looks like, search louchuan in Google images.]

[2] [Xu Fu was an ancient Chinese alchemist and explorer, serving as court sorcerer during the Qin Dynasty. He was sent off on multiple voyages at the behest of the emperor at the time to find the elixir of life, and on the final one of those voyages, he never returned.]

[3] [Keeping in mind that the format of Chinese names is surname followed by first name, rather than first name followed by surname as is the case in English. Hence, Xu Fu's surname is actually Xu, but he made his first name the surname of all of his sons, and that's obviously not common practice.]

[4] [This is a joke by the author. Ai Fukuhara is a Japanese table tennis player who is very popular in China as she often trains with the Chinese national team, has a likeable personality, and speaks fluent Chinese. Her first name in Kanji (quick reminder that Kanji is essentially derived from Chinese) is 福原爱, and the 福 in her name is pronounced fuku in Japanese, but is the same fu character in the name of Xu Fu. The reason that this is obviously a joke is that her surname is Fukuhara (福原), not Fuku or Fu (福).]