Yama Rising

"It's right here." Wu Daozi swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a soul orb, which was emitting streaks of Yin energy.

Lee Jung-sook was a smart woman, she didn't ask any questions or say anything. All she did was stand off to the side like a non-existent bystander, sipping on her coffee in silence.

There were only 24 hours left, and there was no time to waste. Qin Ye gave Lee Jung-sook a quick recount of everything that had happened during the past few days, then swept a hand over the soul orb, upon which wisps of Yin energy flew into his palm. The soul orb opened up like a blooming flower, and countless specks of inky-black netherflames were released, quickly transforming into a turbulent vortex. Immediately thereafter, a burst of violent panting rang out, followed by a dull thump, and a bald elderly man wearing a set of earthy yellow and reddish-brown monk robes appeared within the vortex.

This was Phagpa, the imperial teacher of the Mongolian Empire who was a vastly renowned figure in history. Currently, his thin and frail spiritual body seemed to be on the verge of blinking out of his existence, and his entire body was trembling slightly. After a long while, he finally raised his murky eyes, and his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm sure you know who I am, right?" Qin Ye asked, "I'll ask questions, you give me answers; any problems?"

Phagpa pursed his lips tightly and shook his head in a defeated manner.

"Do you recall the Huang Clan's earthen building?" Phagpa immediately shuddered upon hearing this, as if he had just heard some type of nightmarish phrase, and he gulped violently before falling still again.

"During the second year of the Reign of Zhongtong, you and seven other Tantric Buddhist monks traveled to the Huang Clan's earthen building. What did you see there? What happened there? Tell me!"

Silence.

Three seconds later, Phagpa brought his palms together and heaved a long sigh. "You are the King Yanluo, and I am naturally obligated to answer your questions... During the second year of the Reign of Zhongtong, I received a secret edict from Kublai Khan, the fifth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire, ordering me to travel to the Fulin Pass to search for the legendary medicine of immortality."

Lee Jung-sook's expression immediately stiffened upon hearing this.

Having consumed the Taisui fungus, she was extremely sensitive to the words "medicine of immortality".

No one interrupted him. Qin Ye was gently massaging the string of beads in his hand, and everyone in the room had their attention focused on Phagpa. Even though the room was completely silent, the oppressive atmosphere in the air heralded the coming of a storm. Fortunately, Phagpa wasn't idiotic enough to try and build suspense, and after taking a deep breath, he declared, "It was the Taisui fungus."

The string of beads in Qin Ye's hand instantly fell still, and the excitement that he had been repressing all this time welled up in his heart once again.

It really was the Taisui fungus!

"According to the county records in the Huang Clan's earthen building, some of the residents lived from the 15th year of the Reign of Shunzhi all the way to 1995. Only the Taisui fungus can extend one's lifespan so significantly," Qin Ye mused. "However, I managed to summon Huang Jiansen's soul, and he's already been dead for over two decades. Also, did you discover the Taisui fungus? If so, why didn't you take it away?"

"Lord Qin." All of a sudden, Phagpa extended a deep bow to 90 degrees and said, "I have an insignificant request that I hope you may consider. Please give me a chance to redeem myself and make up for the crimes I've committed in the past!"

His body had begun trembling again, and his chest was rising and falling like bellows. It seemed to be taking all of his courage for him to be saying this, and he continued in a loud voice, "I am an expert in crafting all of the talismans of Mahayana, Theravada, Lamaist, and Tantric Buddhism. In addition to that, I am also skilled in politics and troop training. I would be honored to serve you, My Lord!"

So he's volunteering for subordination. I must admit that he's chosen a very good time...

A hint of a smile appeared on Qin Ye's face as he said, "You attacked one of the Sixfold Ghost Kings, I can't let you off the hook just like that."

Qin Ye's response wasn't an outright refusal, and the netherfire in Phagpa's eyes flickered violently upon hearing this. He forcibly repressed the excitement that was welling up in his heart as he took a few steps forward and said, "The Taisui fungus is a miraculous existence. Its emergence doesn't trigger any natural phenomena, and its only effect is the legendary ability to grant immortality. On top of that, this Taisui fungus is situated in a secluded region, so it wouldn't be a surprise even if the Song Dynasty didn't discover it after several centuries. However, that wasn't the case, and it was discovered in the end. Aren't you surprised by that? I was once part of the Divine Protectors of the country, and all of the confidential secrets about the Taisui fungus are only passed on verbally between members of the division. There are no written records, and no one else outside the division has access to these secrets, which means that I'm most likely currently the only one in the world with this knowledge!"

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"I wouldn't dare, My Lord!" Phagpa immediately fell to his knees and pressed his forehead against the ground as he said in a trembling voice, "I am well aware of the serious nature of my crimes, and all I wish for is to be able to help you reach greater heights by offering you my knowledge! Please give me a chance, Yanluo Qin!"

Silence.

Only after a full 10 seconds had passed did Qin Ye begin to massage his string of beads again, and he replied in an indifferent voice, "I can give you this opportunity, but I hope your answer will be satisfactory to me."

"You won't regret this decision, My Lord!" Phagpa's Cathayan was very fluent, and he kowtowed heavily against the ground before standing up again and joining his palms together. "The history of the initial period following the construction of the Huang Clan's earthen building is untraceable. At the time, the Taisui fungus hadn't yet been discovered there, and there was no reason for the Imperial City Division to pay any attention to such a rural and insignificant area. However, during the years 1189, 1190, and 1191, which were years 16 and 17 of the Reign of Chunxi, and year 2 of the Reign of Shaoxi, the Fulin Pass suffered the three most severe floods in its history during the Song Dynasty. There are many historical records containing information on these floods."

"Dealing with natural disasters isn't one of the duties that the Divine Protectors of the country have to undertake," Qin Ye mused.

"That's true... Following the floods was a massive plague. Countless people had died from starvation, and barely any usable farmland remained. It was also at this time that the commander of the Imperial City Division stationed in the Fulin Pass, Guo Jue, sent a secret message to the capital..."

Phagpa pursed his lips before continuing, "It turned out that zombies had appeared in the Fulin Pass, and vice-commander Yao Tiangang had perished on the line of duty. According to the Divine Protectors of the country, the commanders had visited the Huang Clan's earthen building in person along with several governor envoys, and they discovered that the earthen building was full of zombies that were cannibalizing each other!"

A flash of enlightenment appeared in Qin Ye's eyes upon hearing this. "Is that why he left those talismans on the second floor?"

Before Phagpa had a chance to reply, Qin Ye immediately followed up with more questions. "Why did he use equilibrium talismans? The local records on the third floor were from the Yuan Dynasty, so the talismans there had to have been left by you. What exactly were you trying to restore equilibrium to?"

A theory had already taken shape in his mind, and if the theory proved to be correct, then the shroud of mystery hanging over the Huang Clan's earthen building would be removed at once!

Phagpa replied in a grim voice, "We left those talismans as those zombies were unkillable! According to the Imperial City Division of the Song Dynasty, those zombies will simply be resurrected regardless of how they're killed. However, they are unable to leave the earthen building, so in order to prevent further deterioration of this supernatural situation, we had no choice but to adopt a compromised strategy. The equilibrium talismans ensured that they were able to maintain a shred of mental clarity, just enough for them to realize that they were still humans. As a result, they would no longer be mindless zombies, but at the same time, they can only remain in the earthen building for the rest of eternity."

So I was right!

His theory had been confirmed, and he couldn't help but heave a long sigh. He had finally found the string that he had been searching for, allowing him to connect everything to form the bigger picture.

How had the Huang Clan's earthen building been reduced to its current state? What had happened to the residents of the Huang Clan's village? Why was it that talismans were present on both the second and third floors, but they were equilibrium talismans rather than ones meant for sealing?

One question after another was answered, and a clear path to the truth had taken shape in his mind!

No, it's still not enough... He took a deep breath to compose himself. Most of the mysteries had been cracked, but there were still two extremely important questions left to be answered, and he would have to pay another visit to the Huang Clan's earthen building to get those answers.

"Where is the Taisui fungus?"

Phagpa immediately replied, "It's buried 20 meters below the locust tree!"

Qin Ye closed his eyes and replied, "Alright, you can go for now."

Phagpa did as he was told and returned to the soul orb. Thus, silence descended upon the room, and only after a long while did Qin Ye ask, "Madam Lee, what do you think?"

Lee Jung-sook wore a cold expression as she concluded, "There's something wrong with that Taisui fungus."

Qin Ye didn't say anything in response. He had told Lee Jung-sook everything with the intention of making use of her wisdom and experience, which had been accrued over the past several centuries in which she had been alive. Lee Jung-sook was well aware of this, and she quickly continued, "Firstly, the zombies that emerged during the Song Dynasty could very well be residents of the Huang Clan's earthen building. Following the floods and plagues, countless people were starving to death, and they would've had no choice but to eat the Taisui fungus. However, both you and I are aware that the Taisui fungus has a 50% chance of turning one into an immortal being, but also a 50% chance of reducing one to a deranged monster. You can perhaps lament the ill fortune of the residents of the Huang Clan's earthen building, seeing as all of them became monsters, but if you ask me..."

A cold smile appeared on her face as she continued, "I suspect that someone tampered with the Taisui fungus and used it to transform the entire village's residents into monsters!"

Qin Ye nodded in response. This was also the first conclusion he had arrived at after hearing what Phagpa had to say.

There was a 50% chance of immortality, yet not a single one of the residents of the Huang Clan's village had hit the jackpot! How could it be that all of them had become monsters? It simply didn't make sense from a statistical perspective!

As he thought deeper into the matter, he developed another theory. In the wake of the floods and famines, there would've been a severe food shortage. People naturally have to eat, but there was only a small amount of Taisui fungus, so what were they going to eat once the fungus ran out?

There was only one answer: they would have to eat the other zombified residents!

If someone had eaten the Taisui fungus first and attained immortality, but they didn't want to have to endure the agony of starvation, then the best solution would be to eat the zombies, and this would perhaps be where the sinister side of human nature reared its ugly head. Perhaps they were afraid that if they were to eat other zombies, then the other residents of the village would view him as a demonic scourge. In fact, perhaps their actions would even lead to them being eaten by the other villagers.

In that case, why not turn the entire village into a village of zombies? Once that happened, there would be no one around to judge or plot against them.

What else could they do? They were doing this for survival.

Even though Qin Ye had seen all facets of human nature during his time as the King Yanluo, he still couldn't help but be disgusted by his own theory.

He wasn't disgusted by this event itself. Instead, he was repulsed by human nature.

This was a very likely scenario to have happened. Otherwise, the Imperial City Division at the time wouldn't have encountered an entire village of zombies, and Phagpa would've made it clear to him that not all of the residents had been zombified, but that wasn't the case.

Lee Jung-sook took a sip of her coffee before continuing, "At this point, I'm certain that the Taisui fungus has been tampered with. I'm not sure how that would've been done, but at the very least, I can say for sure that someone consumed that Taisui fungus without turning into a monster, and that person is still currently alive! Only they would have tampered with the Taisui fungus to result in this situation."

That was the irredeemably heinous soul that Qin Ye was searching for!

Qin Ye's eyelids twitched slightly as the mystery slowly unraveled before him. He had started by collecting leads, building a bigger picture out of multiple puzzle pieces, and now, he was reversing the process, taking the bigger picture and delving into the finer details. Finally, he was close to finding the person behind this mystery that had endured for over 1,000 years.

Indeed, that person was still alive!

They've lived for over 1,000 years, and in order to ensure their own survival, they zombified an entire village. However, that still wasn't enough.

"It's still not enough to warrant the title of 'irredeemably heinous'..." Qin Ye murmured to himself, "Then again, I wouldn't be surprised by anything that someone like this would've done after that. From the moment they decided to tamper with the Taisui fungus, they would've no longer been fit to be called a human..."

What he had to do now was to arrange his thoughts and search for the final point of breakthrough!