Yama Rising

Many events in history were simply glossed over, but once given the chance to re-explore those passages with the advantage of foresight, one would often discover many things that were once hidden to them.

"Dogballs... Dogballs?" Qin Zhongguo's perplexed voice rang out beside Qin Ye's ears, jerking him out of his train of thought. At this point, Qin Zhongguo had returned to his normal, benevolent self, and the fierce display he had just put on had already completely faded.

He raised the bunch of wild vegetables in his hand as he said, "We have food now. I'll cook up something right away, and after we eat, I'll lead those people up the mountain. After I come back, we won't have to worry about food for quite some time."

Qin Ye wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to say anything in the end.

A series of complex emotions were surging through his heart like violent waves. Knowing what he did now, this memory was completely different to him.

Back then, he had been naive enough to believe that his grandfather had returned to the mountain so that both of them could have food, but in reality, it was only for his sake.

Furthermore, Qin Zhongguo didn't even have to go. He was an old and experienced hunter and gatherer living near a mountain, and without having to worry about Qin Ye, his skills would more than suffice for him to feed himself.

Furthermore, in that day and age, having any food to eat at all was already a blessing. They had lived like this day after day, and aside from that day, Qin Zhongguo had never gone up the mountain twice in a day.

In the end, it was all for those food stamps, for the sake of this broken, yet warm family.

"Grandpa." Qin Ye repressed his own emotions and blinked a few times to hold back his tears as he said, "Those people are really strange."

That was the only warning that he could issue, and it was late by over a century.

It was a completely useless warning, but it was something that he wanted to say.

If he had woken up earlier back then and noticed that group before his grandfather had returned, perhaps none of this would've ever happened.

Qin Zhongguo also cast his gaze out the door, and a hint of concern appeared in his eyes. "Maybe they're a group of mourners. They are indeed a little strange, so I think you should..."

"Grandpa!" Qin Ye was finally unable to hold back his emotions any longer, and his lips were trembling as he grabbed onto his grandfather's hand. "Mother and Father have already left... Please don't leave me as well..."

Back then, he had said the same thing to convince Qin Zhongguo to agree to bring him along, but it was a herculean struggle for him to utter these words now, so much so that he was digging his fingernails into his own palm to the point of drawing blood.

Qin Zhongguo faltered slightly upon hearing this, then cupped Qin Ye's cheeks between his large and warm hands.

A benevolent smile appeared on his wizened face as he said in a gentle voice, "Alright, we'll go together."

During the early parts of the republic era, gas stoves still weren't available in rural villages like this one, so firewood had to be lit for cooking. Qin Ye made his way over to the water jug outside of the room, then splashed his own face with water to calm himself down.

He couldn't allow himself to become engrossed in this scene, even though it was one of his most precious memories.

"The Cathayan Underworld is still waiting for me." He stared at his own rippling reflection on the surface of the water as he gritted his teeth tightly. "I don't just represent myself... I am the ruler of one of the four pillars! I have a heavy responsibility on my shoulders! I have to go back..."

In order to do that, he had to shatter this precious memory, even if the shards of the shattered memory were going to slice into his heart.

Right at this moment, he suddenly raised an eyebrow as a voice rang out from behind him. "Delicious."

It was Ye Xianzu's voice.

Qin Ye pretended not to have heard him clearly as he feigned a surprised expression. "What was that?"

Qin Ye felt as if a starving wolf were standing behind him with its claws resting on his shoulders. Its gnarly tongue was also lapping at his neck.

At the same time, the ]sound of Ye Xianzu's moving adam's apple could be clearly heard. This was an extremely eerie sensation, and back then, Qin Ye would've definitely broken into a cold sweat.

Ye Xianzu was pressed up tightly against him as he repeated, "Delicious."

Qin Ye looked into the water jug.

There was no reflection of anyone else aside from himself, yet Ye Xianzu was standing behind him at this very moment, and he knew that Ye Xianzu was using the word "delicious" to describe him.

He was referring to Qin Ye's flesh as a virgin boy.

He feigned a fearful expression as he shuddered, then abruptly turned around and pressed his own back against the wall as he asked, "Do you want us to lead you up the mountain, Mr. Ye?"

"That's right," Ye Xianzu replied with a smile. "Rest assured, we won't do anything. All we want is to visit the Taoist temple, and all you need to do is lead the way so that we can follow you to the temple."

His bright red tongue extended out of his mouth as he licked his own lips, and Qin Ye could clearly see that a bamboo batten inside his body was controlling his tongue.

"How do we lead the way? Aren't you worried that your group will become separated?"

Theoretically speaking, that group of "people" should've been gathered around their tour guide in fear of being separated from the group. After all, that ruined temple was located deep in the mountain.

Qin Ye recalled that it was close to 1 PM when he ate the Taisui fungus.

It would take close to an hour of walking to get to the Taoist temple, and this was a completely undeveloped mountain. Thus, without someone leading the way, it would be very easy to get lost in there and starve to death.

Of course, Qin Ye was aware that these people didn't need eyes. Instead, they could rely on their natural sensitivity toward blood and flesh.

However, that brought about another question, which was why they were standing so far away.

Furthermore, after consuming the Taisui fungus, his grandfather had immediately forced him to return home, unwilling to listen to any of his objections. As soon as he returned home, he was overcome by a rush of dizziness, and by the time he woke up, it was already the next day.

That meant that this group of evil ghosts hadn't devoured them.

In that case, what was their target? The Taoist temple or the Taisui fungus?

Regardless of what their target was, there should've been no way for him and his grandfather to have survived this ordeal.

What exactly had happened following his departure from the mountain?

With that in mind, an extremely absurd thought arose in his mind, one that made his skin crawl.

Was his grandfather actually dead?!

At the time, he had discovered his grandfather's body, and he had buried the body himself. However, was that really his grandfather's body? Was he really dead?

As a Yama-King, there were countless ways that he could replicate a corpse that would fool the average person, so was it actually his grandfather's corpse that he had seen at the time?

Perhaps that question could be answered during this trial of inner demons.

"You don't need to worry about that," Ye Xianzu said with a smile before gently patting Qin Ye on the head, then turned to depart.

Qin Ye stood beside the water jug, watching the group of mourners in silence.

"A corpseherding technique is being used here." His eyes narrowed slightly as he mused, "Ye Xianzu is the only true evil ghost among them. Where have I heard this name before? A name that I can recall must be connected to a major event, but I can't recall what it is..."

Soon, the bowl of soup was ready, and on this occasion, Qin Ye didn't refuse it. After finishing the soup, he immediately made his way over to his grandfather's side before holding firmly onto his hand.

Qin Zhongguo smiled as he gave Qin Ye's hand a gentle pat, then took a deep breath before walking over to Ye Xianz. "Mr. Ye."

This was already a scene that Qin Ye had never witnessed before. If this were a game, then this would be the equivalent of discovering one of the hidden branches in the storyline.

It was closely connected to the main storyline, but it was extremely difficult to uncover. Back then, Qin Zhongguo most likely didn't want Qin Ye to worry, which was why he had communicated with these people on his own.

Even though this was something that he had never seen before, the trial of inner demons was still ongoing. Did this mean that he could continue to uncover these mysteries as long as he didn't stray away from the "main storyline"?

In that case, what was difficult about this trial?

He certainly wasn't a masochist, so he really wanted to get out of this heart-wrenching trial, but the Heavenly Dao had told him that this trial was invincible, yet it didn't seem difficult at all!

Of course, it was extremely painful to experience these memories again, given what he knew now, but it was certainly far from unbearable.

With these questions in his mind, he was already prepared to unleash his Yin energy at any moment as he followed the group up the mountain path.

Right at the foot of the mountain, Ye Xianzu stopped before turning to Qin Ye and his grandfather. "You two go on ahead, we'll follow you."

Qin Ye didn't say anything. Following the reset of the trial of inner demons, he had already performed some experiments, even taking a risk to converse with Ye Xianzu with a short while. However, that didn't mean that he wanted to perform these experiments. Instead, he had only done what he had to.

If he were to perform aimless experiments without establishing boundaries for himself, there was a very good chance that he could fail the trial again at any moment. The main thing that he was unsure of at this moment was whether there was a limit on the number of times he could take this trail.

Qin Zhongguo paused momentarily before speaking. "We'll only wait for half an hour on the mountain, and you need to give me the food stamps right now."

He extended a hand as he spoke.

"No problem at all," Ye Xianzu said as he handed over the food stamps with that perpetual smile on his face.

Qin Zhongguo accepted the food stamps, then gritted his teeth before putting on a serious expression that Qin Ye had never seen before. "Make sure you follow along closely and don't go wandering off on your own. Legend has it that there are some... unspeakable things on this mountain, and all of us experienced explorers of this mountain know about them."

Ye Xianzu smile widened even further, as if it were about to stretch from ear to ear, and he nodded in response. "Alright."

Unspeakable things? There were unspeakable things standing right in front of them!

After receiving a response, Qin Zhongguo didn't waste any further time. He bowed his body like a spring, and despite his advanced age, his body was full of incredible vitality. Qin Ye was quite surprised to see this. In his memories, he had never seen Qin Zhongguo display this side to himself.

"Take a good look, Dogballs." His murky eyes had suddenly become bright and piercing, and even though he was carrying Qin Ye on his back, his body shot forth like a speeding arrow.

Qin Ye's mouth gaped open slightly in surprise. At this moment, Qin Zhongguo was holding a ball of red yarn, and he was running in a very unique way.

As soon as his front foot came into contact with the ground, he immediately sprang back up into the air like a spring. Furthermore, there were no holes in his defense at all even as he was moving. Regardless of which direction a potential attack came from, he would be perfectly positioned to evade it.

This was definitely not something that a normal old man would be capable of!

Qin Ye turned to Qin Zhongguo with a stunned expression, and Qin Zhongguo seemed to have felt his gaze. "Do you know why I never took you up to the mountain?"

Qin Ye shook his head in a mechanical manner.

Never did he think that his closest family member in this world, the one who had raised him, would have been hiding this facet to himself all along!

If it weren't for this trial of inner demons, he would still be completely oblivious to this!

"I am a mountain runner," Qin Zhongguo said with a resigned smile. "If it isn't for these special circumstances, I would've never returned to this line of work for the rest of my life. This mountain is hiding far too many secrets. It's not as simple a place as it looks, and people like us specialize in unraveling its secrets. However, the more we find out, the more we realize just how cruel this world is."

Then why are you revealing all this to me this time?

Qin Zhongguo seemed to have gleaned his thoughts, and he smiled as he said, "Dogballs, remember this: no matter what happens later, go back home and don't turn around. Once you're home, you'll be safe."

He was like a sly old fox. His body was no longer as strong and fast as it was during his youth, but he made up for that with his vast experience. He turned around and took a wary look at the people following along behind them as he continued, "Those things... are not human!"

Qin Ye was stunned to hear that his grandfather was aware of this all along.

"There is no Taoist temple on this mountain! What you think is the Taoist temple is actually an ancient tomb! Haven't you noticed that only children dare to go there? No one who's older or has lost their virginity dares to go there!"