Yama Rising

"It's very difficult to verbally describe the exact situation," Qian Duolai said in a wary voice. "Never in my years leading the darkfeathers have I ever seen something like this. I enquired Mr. Qin about this as well, and he has also never seen anything like this."

"Neither have I," Zhao Yun chimed in. "If Yin spirits die, they should be completely wiped out of existence. Also..."

He cast a grim gaze toward Qin Ye before continuing, "The situation there is even more complex than what we've described, so I think there's a need for you to visit the sites of the incidents in person."

Of course he had to visit the sites in person.

These consecutive riots were a display of power from the inner demon, as well as a time-stalling tactic. It had to be said that the inner demon had achieved its objectives, but at the same time, it had also left some things behind.

There were no things in this world that were purely beneficial, and what the inner demon had left behind was its habits!

Even Zhao Yun and the Harken were very unfamiliar with the concept of the inner demon, and only small snippets of records could be found throughout the several-thousand-year long history of the Special Investigations Department. It was the epitome of mystery and enigma, but as it was instigating these riots now, it was tearing away its own facade little by little.

Perhaps the degree to which the facade was being removed was extremely minute, but this was extremely important information for Hell.

Qin Ye's fingers gently drummed the surface of the table, and after a long silence, he turned to Arthis.

"Should we make a trip?"

"Of course," Arthis replied with a faint smile.

"Your Excellency..." Zhao Yun was rather concerned. They were dealing with a being above the Yama-King level, and if it were to appear, Qin Ye and Arthis would be crushed without being able to put up any resistance.

However, before he had a chance to finish, Qin Ye shook his head to silence his concerns.

"This is the Cathayan Underworld," he said. "The three divine artifacts reject its very existence, and if it were to stay here for too long, you would be able to sense it as well. Yin spirits will instinctively travel toward areas of high Yin energy density. The first thing that we have to do is find out why its visits to the underworld are so inconsistent."

Zhao Yun didn't say anything further. Qin Ye had already been in power for over 10 years, and during this time, Zhao Yun had learned that once he made a decision, he wasn't going to change it.

Thus, Qin Ye rose to his feet before sweeping his gaze across all of the underworld emissaries present. "Relay my orders."

All of the underworld emissaries rose to his feet, and after several seconds of silence, Qin Ye continued, "From this day forth, darkfeathers are to be stationed in all provinces, cities, and counties. If any abnormal situations arise, they must be reported to the commander immediately. Also, all Yin soldiers across the nation are to be on high alert at all times, ready to stamp out riots at a moment's notice."

"Understood!"

After that, the three Yama-Kings vanished from the hall in unison as gusts of Yin wind.

None of the underworld emissaries left in the hall stood up to leave. After a long while, a leader turned to Qian Duolai before asking, "Commander, if I'm interpreting this correctly, is Yanluo Qin saying that there will be more riots in the future?"

Qian Duolai's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

This meeting had been arranged on very short notice, and the circumstances were very strange.

The Yama-Kings seemed to be aware of the cause behind the riots, yet they hadn't disclosed this information. Of course, the darkfeathers weren't going to refuse to follow orders because of this, but it was certainly not a good feeling to be kept in the dark, particularly when information was extremely important for darkfeathers to carry out their duties.

"Mr. Qin" Qian Duolai rose to his feet before cupping his fist toward Qin Changxin in a salute. "Can I speak to you in private?"

Qin Changxin shrugged in response. "Don't look at me, I don't know anything."

Qian Duolai heaved a disappointed sigh, yet before he had a chance to say anything else, Qin Changxin said, "However..."

Everyone immediately paused to listen to what he had to say.

Qin Changxin picked up his teacup and took a sip, then continued, "Have you considered why Yanluo Qin hasn't told us anything? Perhaps only Yama-Kings have the right to know the truth behind this. Perhaps all those below the Yama-King level will simply be cannon fodder if they get involved. Think about that."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he cupped his fist in a parting salute, then left the hall.

The conference hall fell completely silent again, and Qian Duolai could feel a chill running down his spine.

Was that really true? If that really were the case, then this situation was far more terrifying than they imagined.!

"Commander?"

The concerned voice of one of the leaders jerked him out of his train of thought, and he heaved a long sigh before turning to everyone with a serious expression. "Brace yourselves, everyone. I have a feeling that we are going to be facing the most powerful adversary that has arisen since the founding of Hell."

……………………………………

Large Green Mountain was the name of a village.

It was a village located in the western part of the Cathayan Underworld, and it used to have a population of close to 1,000, yet at this moment, there was only an inky-black light barrier there.

The barrier was like a dome that had been placed over the entire village, and it had an illusory appearance, but it was very much real. A series of profound Yin runes were flowing incessantly over its surface, and there were many underworld emissaries gathered within a radius of five kilometers. At the very least, there were 3,000 Yin soldiers stationed here, and no Yin spirits would be granted entry without an entry badge.

This was the site where the first riot had taken place.

No one noticed that two gusts of Yin wind had passed directly through the barrier, landing at the southernmost point of the village.

"Holy shit, that was tiring!" As soon as they appeared, Arthis stretched lazily with a dismayed expression. "Dogballs, I finally know why you've been keeping up that facade every day since you became King Yanluo. You have to! With all those people looking up at you, you can't help but act more serious and dignified."

Qin Ye replied in an expressionless manner, "Let me remind you that I'm King Yanluo and you're a Yama-King, so you have to maintain your image."

A shocked look appeared on Arthis's face upon hearing this. "So we can't go back anymore?"

Go back my arse! You make it sound like something happened between us!

Qin Ye turned away with a disdainful expression. He could understand Arthis's mindset. During these past years, the two of them had become rather distant from one another due to their different statuses, and the different circles that they interacted with. Arthis was aware of this, and she had intentionally distanced herself from Qin Ye.

However, now that she had become a Yama-King, she felt herself to be an equal with Qin Ye, and all of the shit-talk that she had been repressing for over a decade was bubbling to the surface again!

Qin Ye couldn't give her this opportunity. All high-ranking Emissaries of Hell had to maintain their image. With that in mind, he squatted down and laid his hand onto the ground.

They were surrounded by a barren area where all of the trees had already been burned down, and the ground was riddled with twisted gashes. The entire village had been ravaged to the point that it was completely unrecognizable.

No one would think that there were close to 1,000 people living here as recently as several years ago. Scraps of all of the facilities and houses in the village could still be seen littered throughout the area, and the fallen utility poles were standing like tombstones on the ground.

"I've read the records of this riot."

Arthis's hair and clothes were flapping incessantly in the wind as she said, "The riot began in this village, and it traveled for 20 kilometers before it was finally quelled."

Qin Ye nodded in response, then swept a cautious gaze through the surrounding area. "Do you sense anything?"

"Nothing. This is a completely lifeless village," Arthis replied.

Qin Ye didn't say anything. Instead, he jumped onto a huge charred rock, then cast his gaze toward the distance before looking down at the ground in an absentminded manner.

Arthis patiently waited for him to speak, and only after a full five minutes had passed did he break the silence. "Something's wrong here."

Before Arthis had a chance to say anything, he continued, "The inner demon is trying to intimidate me, but it's certainly not going to do that by eradicating a village once every few months. The Large Green Mountain belongs to Copper Flower City, and the riot was traveling toward Copper Flower City before it was stopped."

He could still just barely make out a giant footprint on the ground. "Generating a threat against a city would be far more intimidating to me than threatening a county."

Arthis's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "What are you trying to say?"

With a flick of his wrist, Qin Ye's beaded bracelet fell into his grasp, and he massaged it as he said, "With so many netherworldly citizens rioting at once, the inner demon has to be involved. It should be aware that it can't stay in the underworld for very long, so the riot traveled toward Copper Flower City extremely quickly. However..."

Arthis drew a sharp breath as an enlightened look appeared in her eyes. "However, it took the time to completely destroy this village for seemingly no reason!"

That didn't make any logical sense!

Given that the inner demon was clearly aware that it couldn't remain in the underworld for long, the first thing that it should've done after instigating a Yin spirit riot would be to travel to a city to truly leave Hell with something to remember it by. With such a tight timeframe, why had it gone out of its way to completely destroy a village?

"Could it be that it left something here?" Arthis speculated with tightly furrowed brows. "It has to be something that it's unable to take away. If it could take that thing away with it, there would be no need to destroy this place. Is it hiding something?"

What could it be?

The two of them swept their Yin energy through the village several times, but didn't discover anything for their efforts. Arthis was growing rather impatient, and she grumbled, "We should buy a gem of true sight for this."

As soon as her voice trailed off, Fate had already transformed into a silver spear that was resting against her neck, and Qin Ye turned to her with a threatening expression. "Huh? What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly."

As a Yama-King, her first reaction was to think of a gem of true sight rather than using her infernal eyes? This was unacceptable!

"Hehe... It was just a joke! Don't be so uptight, Dogballs... It's so hard trying to adapt to this new status. Honestly..."

Right at this moment, Qin Ye abruptly turned toward another direction, then raised a finger to his lips, gesturing for Arthis to be quiet.

Arthis immediately fell silent, and several seconds later, her eyes widened with incredulity as she swept her gaze through the surrounding area.

"Waaah..."

Faint sobs could be heard throughout this entire area!

Initially, the sobbing was very quiet, but within the span of just several seconds, it had already become extremely loud and heart-wrenching!

It was as if someone were bawling into their ears from right beside them!

Never had Arthis seen something so strange, and she was stunned by this peculiar sight.

"They haven't ceased to exist?" she exclaimed with an incredulous expression. "It's been three years, yet their souls are still here and haven't been devoured?"