Yama Rising

There weren’t many words written on the monkey skin, so it didn’t take Qin Ye long to get through all of the words. Wang Chenghao blinked vacantly and asked impatiently, “What does it say? Hang on… why are the dollar-signs on your eyes?!”

“What do you know? These are symbols of delight! Double the symbols mean double the delight!” Qin Ye snorted as his eyes gleamed brightly.

I guess this is yet another learning point… Who would’ve thought that there would be more spoils of war to be had at the end of the road?

He had gained much from the acquisition of the script of death. Not only were there the two special Yin spirits, Kwon Kyung-ho and Ryu Changmin, there was still the harvest of faith, as well as other gains.

Tangible gains.

“What perfect timing. Come, let’s go see what these foreign special organizations have to say to us.”

……………………………………………………

Back in the mortal realm, right in front of the entrance to Gonjiam Asylum. The psychics were all staring at the main door with their hearts beating right out of their chests.

There was far too much at stake over here. Truth be told, there weren’t many recorded instances of successful peace talks in the history of the world. After all, as soon as Yin spirits discovered a lordless land, they would never be able to restrain themselves from viewing it as a hunting ground abounding with an abundance of food. Thus, they knew better than to keep their hopes high.

That said… they were still the last bastion of hope for the entire nation. The president and other high officials of the nation had already boarded the planes a little while ago. As soon as the upcoming negotiations go south, the planes would immediately take off, and bring them straight to Usonia where they would seek refuge there. Meanwhile, the Archbishop of the East Continent still hadn’t arrived yet.

Tension ran high, and the atmosphere was thick and stifling. Just then, the black fog enshrouding Gonjiam Asylum suddenly dissipated, and several figures slowly emerged from within.

We’ve succeeded?!

Mr Jeon felt a huge weight being lifted right off his chest - They’ve actually chosen to enter into peace talks with us, instead of simply tearing up our letter of intent?

A wave of ecstasy filled his mind in an instant, but it was soon swept away by the overwhelming sensation of fear. This was an Abyssal Prefect. They were all completely at his mercy.

“Daehan’s special organization, the LSD, humbly welcomes your arrival. My name is Jeon Yunji.” He bowed deeply to Qin Ye as he took the initiative to make the introductions. At once, everyone else followed suit and bowed deeply to Qin Ye as well. None dared spare any humility in the face of the immensely dense Yin energy pouring out of Qin Ye’s body.

Qin Ye nodded. Then, just as he was about to go on, a thought suddenly struck him.

Bloody hell… there’s a language barrier!

They’re operating under the impression that I’m a Daeian ghost! If I speak in Cathayan, wouldn’t the cat be out of the bag?!

At once, he winked at Wang One Tail, who immediately understood his intentions. Wang Chenghao stepped forward and spoke in fluent Daeian, “Get up.”

Everyone straightened their backs at once. As they did so, Jeon Yunji discreetly scanned the evil ghosts standing in front of him and couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat.

A Judge, three Hellguards, and an Abyssal Prefect…

What kind of an incredible line-up of evil ghosts is this?! His heart began to palpitate, and his hair stood on end.

Jeon Yunji took a deep breath, steeled his mind, took a step forward and bowed deeply, “I’m sure you don’t wish to hear us beating about the bush, so… please name your condition. What will it take for you to leave Daehan? So long as it is within our means and does not require a sacrifice of blood and flesh, Daehan would be willing to bend over backwards and serve you wholeheartedly!”

The other leaders standing around him couldn’t help but purse their lips and gnash their teeth as soon as they heard Jeon Yunji speaking with such humility.

It was as humiliating as giving themselves a tight slap across the cheeks. And even then, they couldn’t even make a peep of sound.

Qin Ye gave Wang Chenghao a knowing nod, and Wang Chenghao immediately smiled, “For instance?”

“Apart from a sacrifice of blood and flesh, you can ask for anything you want! We’ll give it to you if it’s within our means! These are the instructions of Cheongwadae!” Jeon Yunji continued to bow deeply as he spoke with lowliness. He couldn’t even raise his head at this point if he wanted to, for fear that he would reveal his flushed face and contrived expressions.

I’d initially thought that I would feel overwhelmed by fear negotiating with such a terrifying ghost. Who would’ve thought that… I would be filled with such burning humiliation instead?

Wang Chenghao had already eased into his role by now.

“Why should I leave Daehan?” He suddenly burst into rhetorics, “Is there anyone who can stop me here in Daehan?”

As expected…

Every single member of the LSD felt their lips quiver as soon as they heard these words. They were livid. Meanwhile, Jeon Yunji gulped in embarrassment and bit the bullet, “Sir… Cathay is located on our left, Rus is above us, and then there’s Hindustan located not too far away. All of them have Prefect-class experts… I’m not sure if you’ve heard of the three strongest warriors in Cathay or Hindustan, but even closer to home, we have Archbishop Adrian of the East Continent who is also rushing here overnight…”

Wang Chenghao snorted, “If they were truly intent on lending their assistance to Daehan, I wouldn’t be seeing you pieces of trash right now. Or are you telling me…”

BOOM!!

As Wang Chenghao spoke, Qin Ye’s terrifying Yin energy flooded the area with perfect timing, causing the trees around Gonjiam Asylum to sway wildly. The wails of distant ghosts filled the air in an instant.

“Do you think you can mess with us just because we’ve just been born?!”

“We wouldn’t dare!!” Jeon Yunji shuddered violently, almost as though the god of death had just run a frigid finger across the nape of his neck, “This is the truth! The Daehan Peninsula is strategically located, and they would never allow it to become a wasteland! Yes, you’re right in that these experts haven’t arrived just yet. Every nation has their own interests to serve after all! But I can assure you that as soon as you embark on a massacre here in Daehan, you would force Cheongwadae to shift to a foreign office. Daehan will become no more, and this would immediately trigger a backlash from the surrounding nations!”

He gnashed his teeth and went on, “Countries would begin to use you as leverage for their international negotiations. Are you… willing to be pushed about and used like a pawn? And as soon as they are done with you, do you think they would even bother to keep you around? No! You’ll suddenly see several Prefect-class experts knocking on your door and disposing of you summarily! This is the natural order of events if you go on a rampage right now!”

“So, rather than staking everything on the line, why don’t we both take a step back and explore the possibilities?”

He took a deep breath and went on, “Cheongwadae has already issued a preliminary concession as a sign of goodwill. So long as you give the nod, you’ll be given full authority to do as you will to all felons sentenced to an imprisonment term of over ten years’ jail… even if you wish to kill or torture them!”

Qin Ye raised a brow with astonishment.

How ruthless.

Although he couldn’t care less about the lives of these felons, it was still an expression of how far the nation was willing to go to elicit a compromise on his part.

In that instant, it suddenly dawned on him that even though it was often said to be an immutable rule that Yin and Yang do not mix, there were still various means and ways of getting about such a rule.

Silence.

Wang Chenghao took a step back and awaited Qin Ye’s instructions. Meanwhile, everyone from LSD waited with bated breath. Each minute felt like an eternity to them. After ten minutes, Wang Chenghao finally heard a voice speak directly into his ears.

He nodded slightly, and then promptly translated the message, “Actually… negotiations aren’t entirely out of the question.”

Whoosh! At once, everyone looked up with bloodshot eyes.

They felt humiliated. But more than that, they felt pleasantly surprised.

Just like when the Treaty of Nanking was signed for the withdrawal of troops. The humiliation was fleeting, and what ensued was days of revelry and celebration. [1]

They were trading national resources for their citizens’ happiness!

“Please state your conditions!”

“I want a contract.” Wang Chenghao carefully translated Qin Ye’s instructions, “Every quarter, I want a delivery of construction materials, including a large amount of wood. I’ll provide you with the full list of materials that I’m expecting, and all you’ll have to do is to transport them as you would construction materials used to construct a prefecture-level city in Cathay. Any issues?”

“No.” Jeon Yunji immediately gave his word. At the same time, he couldn’t help but give him a curious look - This request… is incredibly peculiar!

I mean, we’re only talking about the broad issues here, and the specifics will naturally have to be ironed out pursuant to further discussions, but… what’s an evil ghost doing dabbling in real estate?

Almost as though he could read Jeon Yunji’s mind, Wang Chenghao explained, “We’re preparing to head over to Cathay.”

“And to build our own city.”

Although there were still a multitude of questions on his heart, he knew it clearly wasn’t the right time and place to be asking these questions. Thus, with gritted teeth, he nodded back at Wang Chenghao, “No problem! I’ll give you my word right now!”

No problem?

Qin Ye chuckled coldly - I’m only afraid you might regret it when you finally realize the sheer size of a prefecture-level city in Cathay. Do you really think it’s of the same scale as the prefecture-level cities here in Daehan?

Steel, concrete, wood, equipment and tools… The resources required to construct Eastmount Province will certainly be sufficient to make Daehan hemorrhage. Their construction companies certainly won’t be claiming costs from me, so where are they going to seek compensation from?

It’s naturally got to be the government!

We’re talking about billions of dollars worth of construction materials and resources! But so long as they can drive an Abyssal Prefect out of their home, they would most certainly be willing to pay the price, no matter how high it might be!

“The first shipment should arrive after the upcoming new year festivities in Cathay. You are to transport them to Martial City in Eastmount Province.”

“Understood.”

“Apart from that, there’s also a need for essentials and necessities, including tables, chairs, silk, fabric, stationery, and so on and so forth. We will need supplies to sustain a population size of 30 million people. We’ll provide you with a full inventory list of the items required during our detailed discussions later on. Any questions?”

Jeon Yunji gasped in horror.

He finally understood just what kind of trouble he was getting himself into. 30 million people… was nearly Daehan’s entire population size! It was already coming close to the end of October, and they only had slightly more than a quarter until the new year celebrations in Cathay! It would completely paralyze their light industry workforce in Daehan if they were to rush the production of these goods to meet the request! And to make matters worse, everything was supposed to be done for free! Zilch! Nothing!

It was almost as though the evil ghost of Gwangju City were about to abscond with the beloved sister-in-law, leaving behind a debt of over 350 million won! They’ve got no other choice but to work for free in repayment of the debts owed!

And that wasn’t all. Given the construction materials earlier sought, the production of the same would take up at least 50% of the heavy industry’s bandwidth as well! Likewise, it was work without any form of recompense! The corollary was obvious.

Economic regression!

“Sir…” He wiped the cold sweat from his temples and pleaded cautiously, “Aren’t these figures… a little bit on the high side?”

“I’m not asking for them in a single delivery.” Wang Chenghao sighed in his heart - Brother Qin, I’ve got to say that you’re truly ruthless when it comes to negotiations…

“Five years.”

“I’m asking for you to fulfill these orders over deliveries over a span of five years. As for the specific number of deliveries required per quarters, we can discuss these in greater detail in the next consultation.”

Raise an impossible condition, and then dangle a far more yesable proposition. Jeon Yunji couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief and nod solemnly.

In other words, we won’t have to think about any expansion in our light industries and construction industries over the next five years… His heart was filled with a confluence of pain and exasperation, so much so that he couldn’t even enunciate his thoughts right now.

“Lastly…”

“There’s still more?!” One LSD agent finally couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. However, all it took was a single glance from Qin Ye, and the man immediately shuddered and bowed deeply back to Qin Ye, “Sir, the earlier two requests would already be sufficient to cripple Daehan’s economy! If you have other requests… we…”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing much.” Wang Chenghao cut him off, “All it takes a little bit of effort and time.”

“The last item is that the urns of the dead in Daehan must all be transported to Eastmount Province and be docked for seven days before they can return to Daehan. You’ll do this once with every 100,000 deceased persons… for a period of 50 years.”

One could say that they were finally making a request expected of evil ghosts.

Jeon Yunji finally heaved a sigh of relief.

The earlier two requests were so bizarre that he couldn’t help but wonder if Daehan was being forced to sign an unfair treaty after losing a war.

“I’ll immediately take your requests to the upper echelon of the government back in Cheongwadae.” Jeon Yunji gritted his teeth, “I’ll have an answer for you in approximately three days time!”

Wang Chenghao waved his hand dismissively, “There’s no rush. I’ll be staying for another week, at the very least.”

“Certainly…” Jeon Yunji massaged his brows. They were going to hemorrhage for sure, but at the very least, they were able to send away the plague-like existence that was an Abyssal Prefect, “As a sign of goodwill, please allow our negotiator to take you around for the rest of your stay here in Daehan.”

He bowed to the back, “Miss Lee, we’ll leave our esteemed guest in your hands.”

1. This was the treaty signed after the first opium war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Nanking