Yama Rising

“How long will you be able to hold out with just your Yin energy alone?” The man in the first mobile residence rumbled like thunder as he laughed menacingly, “One day? Two days? The Yin energy at the disposal of these military formations are unceasing. Resign yourself to your fate… Hell is now a thing of the past, and any lingering legacy should die off along with it--... Eh? This is--... How is this possible?!!”

The veil of the mobile residence was instantly flung aside, and a figure dressed in majestic long black robes immediately darted out and stared at Qin Ye with great astonishment in his eyes.

Qin Ye was also reeling in shock, because a golden sphere of light had just appeared around him. All of the incoming arrows that were still pouring into Qin Ye immediately froze as soon as they touched the golden sphere of light. And then, they would turn illusory, tremble slightly like water, before finally… completely disintegrating in mid-air.

King Yanluo’s Seal?

Qin Ye paused for a moment, before glancing at his chest ecstatically.

You’ve finally responded… Although things are still slow, but… at least I can finally return to Hell within the next ten seconds…

No wonder… it’s no wonder Arthis said that the situation would be dangerous, but not completely inescapable.

“A divine artifact of Hell… You’ve actually got a divine artifact of Hell with you?!” The man dressed in black robe suddenly looked up with a pair of gleaming, scarlet eyes, “You’re by no means an ordinary Judge… Who the hell are you?!”

However, Qin Ye couldn’t even be bothered to respond to him. He wiped off the cold sweat percolating his forehead. He was finally safe. He could finally sense the call of the new Hell once more.

I’m going back to rally the troops, and then we’ll have another go at this. Let’s get this clear, this isn’t cowardice… it’s simply self-preservation.

Buzz… The vibrations emanating from the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal were growing larger and faster, and his entire body was slowly growing more and more illusory. The black-robed man gasped deeply and looked around him with a grim expression, “Everyone… what are we still waiting for?!!”

In an instant, the entire army arrayed against Qin Ye unleashed yet another volley of flaming arrows! The sky was once again filled with devastating attacks, almost as though it were a meteor shower!

On the ground, countless Yin soldiers were gathered right beneath Qin Ye’s feet like a swarm of ants emerging from the mouth of an anthill. Every single Yin soldier was staring intently at him, waiting to strike as soon as he got in range!

Shk! Shk! Shk! But as soon as the arrows reached a hundred-meter radius from where Qin Ye was located, they suddenly slowed down abruptly, so much so that their movement could even be seen with the naked eye. And this strange phenomenon continued even as more and more arrows continued to rain down on Qin Ye location. The domain of the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal had practically caused time to stand still for these plummeting arrows. Each of them could do no more than ‘hurtle’ towards Qin Ye inch by inch. In fact, even the Yin soldiers who were standing within the hundred-meter radius of the domain of the King Yanluo’s Seal found themselves unable to move quicker than a dismal snail’s pace.

Qin Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. Ten seconds… looks like I’m going to be safe and secure over the next ten seconds.

He glanced around at the skies that were now filled with innumerable flaming arrows with a great sigh of relief. He truly dared not contemplate the consequences had the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal not responded when it did. How terrifying would it have been had the blanket of arrows collapsed on him all at the same time?

Just then, his eyes suddenly twitched, and he promptly turned to look at the black-robed man.

A trump card… They’ve got a trump card hidden up their sleeves that can still threaten my life!

“Those fluctuations tell me that it’s nothing more than a mere fragment… Like I said, how could Limbo possibly suppress the effects of a true divine artifact? Has Hell already fallen to such an extent? To think that even the divine artifacts in its possession have been broken up into no more than weak little fragments like these… That said…” The man gazed intently at Qin Ye. His sleeves fluttered wildly as he lifted his hands, only to reveal a pale arm that was covered in livor mortis spots.

“I must say that… I’m pretty fortunate.”

Whoosh! He released his clenched fist, revealing a small palace lantern laying in the heart of his palm. But as soon as it did, the palace lamp immediately grew to the size of a human head in an instant.

The lantern had six sides to it, each of which was painted with the image of a noble Yin spirit that looked like a general. Within moments, it began to spin on its axis, quicker and quicker. Then, a tiny golden flame lit up abruptly in the heart of the lantern, casting the faint silhouette of a person onto the sides of the lantern.

Whoosh… Simultaneously, the Yin soldiers that were previously surrounding Qin Ye suddenly receded like an ebbing tide. Yet, Qin Ye remained completely rooted to the ground as he stared grimly at the rotating palace lantern.

This was undoubtedly a Yin artifact. Although he hadn’t seen too many of these before, he could tell that they belonged to the same category of goods as the artifacts earlier used by Cao Youdao.

That said… this particular Yin artifact was far more powerful than those used by Cao Youdao! In fact… he could even detect traces of an Abyssal Prefect from the Yin artifact right now!

In other words, this was a Prefect-class Yin artifact!

That’s right. Hell’s collapse had caused the Book of Life and Death to be swept away into the depths of the Strait of Tsushima, the King Yanluo’s Seal to be shattered into pieces and scattered everywhere, and even the whereabouts of the Judgment Pen was still unknown. Wasn’t it normal for Prefect-class Yin artifacts to have been similarly swept away from Hell into various parts of the world?

Despite that, Qin Ye couldn’t help but feel as though he had just been completely doused in iced water.

As the lantern rotated, so did it cause the nethergale in the surroundings to pick up and sweep straight into the heart of the lantern. Within moments, a massive vortex of wind picked up, swirling powerfully like a hundred-meter large hurricane that howled around the lantern. Then, the space around it abruptly trembled, and the sound of a bowstring’s release was heard.

Shk!

It was incredibly quick. The surrounding Yin spirits were still scrambling back when a dazzling light flickered right in front of Qin Ye’s very eyes. He reflexively leaned to the side, but he soon felt an excruciating pain spreading from his shoulder.

“AAARRRGGHH--!!!” The sharp pain was so intense that he couldn’t help but scream at the top of his voice. He reflexively clutched at his shoulder, only to realize… that it was a complete mess of blood and gore.

Had he not reflexively leaned to the side earlier, the point of impact… might very well have been his throat instead.

T-t-t-t… His teeth chattered, and sweat beaded up on his forehead from the excruciating pain he was fighting back. He gritted his teeth and looked down to his shoulder, only to realize that there was now a gaping wound staring straight back at him.

The attack had gone straight through his shoulder.

“Hah! You’re pretty lucky yourself, aren’t you?” The man standing some distance away appeared much weaker than before. However, he continued to stand strong as he lifted the palace lantern with much trembling in his arm, “I’d never expected you to have a fragment of a divine artifact in your possession in the first place. Had I not personally intervened, I’m afraid you might actually have been able to give us the slip. But now…”

Shk! Shk! Shk! Qin Ye heard three more sounds of bowstrings being released, followed closely by the roaring sounds of projectiles tearing through space.

“You don’t stand a chance.”

Qin Ye’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat, while his eyes had completely turned bloodshot. He desperately sought to muster every last bit of his Yin energy to protect himself, but to no avail.

It was fast.

Too fast! The sound of the bowstrings’ release and the roar of the projectiles were heard practically at the same time. An intense wave of chilling fear filled his heart, mind and soul as he watched intently as the projectiles closed in on him, unable to react to the situation at all.

Is this… really the end of the road for me?

How regrettable… For some strange reason, the very first notion that appeared in his mind at this very moment wasn’t fear, but instead, regret.

To think that I’d just learnt of the existence of the perfect match for me. Xia Jinse. I haven’t even seen your face at all… In fact, I was supposed to have thousands of years to enjoy everything life had to offer… and yet of all things, I had to pick the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal to start everything off…

Qin Ye finally shut his eyes.

Forget it. It looks like I’ll just have to tread more carefully with my next life so that I never get myself into such a bind again…

But, right at that moment, a dazzling flash of golden light erupted from Qin Ye’s bosom and faded away as abruptly as it appeared. Qin Ye had instantly vanished from right where he was.

Dead silence.

Three seconds later, the man silently put away the palace lantern. And then, gnashing his teeth in rage, the man bellowed, “Find him… Immediately launch a county-wide search and see if his physical body can be located at any part of Valley County at all! A genuine Emissary of Hell… must never be allowed to live in this world!! Not even if he’s gravely wounded! He absolutely must die!!”

“Yes!!!” Tens of thousands of Yin soldiers responded in unison, before scattering about their duties and vanishing from Limbo within the next few moments.

The surroundings were soon silent once more. The black-robed man had already returned to his mobile residence, where he sat on his seat and picked up his glass. Clink… With a muffled crack, the wine glass promptly shattered into pieces.

“How laughable.” Just then, another voice sounded in the empty mobile residence, “Aren’t you supposed to be the chosen one who had managed to escape from Hell’s great collapse? To think that a combined military formation comprising the armies of several clans can’t even stop a single Infernal Judge.”

However, the black-garbed man simply snorted, “Fool… You don’t know what a genuine Emissary of Hell means, do you? Yin spirits born in recent times… truly are ignorant.”

“So what? I’m still in the same rank as you are in any event. I’d much rather be born with a silver spoon in my mouth than work so hard at my cultivation anyway.” The voice responded placidly, “Anyway, I’m not going to beat about the bush. We’d only intervened because you were telling us how dangerous a genuine Emissary of Hell could be. But how did it turn out?”

“We all know the kind of situation that is plaguing Cathay right now. To think that we’d mobilized so many people, only to have achieved absolutely nothing. Tsk, tsk, tsk… you truly deserve to be called a relic of the bygone eras indeed…”

Crash!! A wine glass flew through the air and smashed against the wall. Then, the black-robed man slowly turned around, “Kiddo, you’d better learn a thing or two about respect for your elders. The glories of the bygone eras… isn’t something that you young sproutling ghosts can even begin to understand at all.”

The voice drew softer and softer, until it finally faded away completely, “Haha… Are you enraged? I’m only here to relay a message to you - we’ll pick up your slack after you...”

The black-robed man muttered softly, “You can say what you want, but let me leave you with another word of caution… This Emissary of Hell… There’s something about him that gives even me goosebumps…”

Dead silence again.

The wind outside gently tousled the veil hanging outside the mobile residence.

After a long, long time, the black-robed man chuckled coldly, “Ignorant and fearless… That’s fine. When you finally realize how terrifying a genuine Emissary of Hell truly is, you might just come back to me, crying and begging for help.”

“I suppose this is the only way to help the other factions around realize that so long as Emissaries of Hell are still in this word, we’d never be given full reign to do as we so desire.”

“My lord.” Just then, another voice called out from outside the mobile residence, “It’s almost time.”

The man drew a deep breath, before responding placidly, “Let’s return.”

“Prepare to depart~~~” At once, suonas, gongs and drums began to play outside the mobile imperial residence as it slowly took off and soared through Limbo and into the distance.

If one looked closely in the direction the residence had departed in, they might just notice the faint silhouette of an ancient city right over the horizon.

………………………………………………………

It hurts…

It really hurts… This was the only thought that was bouncing about every corner of Qin Ye’s mind.

In fact, the pain was so intense that it soon jolted him awake from his deep slumber. He opened his eyes slowly and took a deep breath, before soon realizing that he was drenched in sweat and lying in a bed right now.

“Shit…” He moved a little, only to recoil at once with the excruciating pain from his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that he was currently lying bare-chested on a bed and had a quilt pulled up to where his shoulders were. He could vaguely tell that the design of the roof appeared to be no different from the designs of the annex hall of Hell’s Gate.

And then, he immediately lifted the quilt and looked down under.

Bloody hell… who took off all my clothes?! Aren’t you embarrassed looking at my stark naked body like that?!

“It’s quite rare to find someone awakening from their comatose state, and the first thing they check on is the state of their chastity. Not bad, not bad… It certainly looks like you’re well-spirited.” Arthis remarked placidly as she continued to peel an apple with a paring knife.

At least you’ve got some conscience about you. Qin Ye rolled his eyes at her, before leaning back into the bed and wiping off the cold sweat on his forehead, “Who was the one who changed my clothes for me?”

“Su Dongxue was the one who had bravely volunteered for it.”

Crap… I knew it was her! She must have been waiting for an opportunity like this to fall on her lap, hasn’t she? Have my untouchables finally been tainted by her untowardly ways…?

Arthis slowly pared down the apple into the shape of a skeleton, completely ignoring the fact that there was a sickly patient lying right by her side. Qin Ye glared at her in annoyance - Forget it… I’m thirsty anyway. Some juicy apple might just hit the spot. I’ll forgive her just this once.

Besides… it’s not like I can do anything to her even if I didn’t forgive her, right?

Then as he slowly reached out for what remained of the apple in Arthis’ hand, she promptly tossed it straight into the bin.

Qin Ye: ……

“Does that make you happy? Is this really a meaningful way to be spending your free time?” Qin Ye gritted his teeth and barked back, “I’m dying of thirst over here! Are you really going to let me turn into a parched, dry corpse?!”

“Oh. You wanted some?” Arthis recoiled in shock. And then, she picked up the apple from the bin, wiped it on the bed and then brought it close to Qin Ye’s mouth, “Say ‘ahhh’~~”

Ah your ass!!!

Qin Ye could barely resist the urge to give her two tight slaps across her cheeks right now. He bellowed back hatefully, “What were you doing peeling an apple if it weren’t for me in the first place?!”

Arthis responded, as though with righteous indignation, “Can’t I even peel an apple for myself? Or for fun for that matter?! Besides, don’t you seem to be recovering well on your own? Come on, stop digressing! Hurry up and tell me what kind of awesome stuff you encountered this time! What was it that caused you to come back so gravely wounded?”