Yama Rising

Qin Ye closed his eyes as he stood atop the ruined city walls.

Anger couldn't solve any problems. The only way to truly lay these souls to rest would be to hunt down the inner demon!

The demise of Safesoul City was an act of revenge from the inner demon, and it was also designed to further intimidate and demoralize Hell. It had almost been hunted down, so in exchange, it razed an entire city to the ground in order to vent its vengeful fury!

"I am not the only one who detests your existence!" He closed his eyes as he released his consciousness, and a black and white image of the entire city instantly appeared in his mind.

Did you think really that the Heavenly Dao would just let things slide after you barged into Their divine art? Nothingness is cold and emotionless, but They're still the Heavenly Dao of this world, and They stand on our side!

A series of images appeared one after another, depicting a lively and bustling city in the mortal realm. Immediately thereafter, his perspective rose up higher and higher, and the city down below shrank further and further, until it was only a tiny spot on the map.

Now then, prepare to receive the massive present that Nothingness prepared for you!

The entire map of Cathay was entirely visible to Qin Ye. All of the surrounding dark clouds faded like snow under the scorching, summer sun, and with his omniscient perspective, he was able to immediately spot the only place on the map that was glowing with red light.

"Found you!" A cold smile appeared on his face.

He was just about to deploy his darkfeathers, but he decided against issuing that order at the last moment.

The inner demon had just attacked the Cathayan Underworld. If the darkfeathers were to immediately travel to the province of Shanxi now, the inner demon would be alerted and flee the scene.

Against an opponent like the inner demon, he had to eradicate it in a single blow. He definitely didn't want to see another city suffer the same fate as Safesoul City!

He wanted to lure the inner demon into a trap, but the trap still hadn't been constructed yet, so this still wasn't the right time to strike.

"You're in luck." He took one last look at the red spot on the map in his consciousness, then forcibly scattered it before opening his eyes, upon which he discovered that the Harken, Zhao Yun, and Arthis were already standing around him.

Before they had a chance to ask, Qin Ye nodded as he said, "It's in Shanxi. However, this isn't the time to strike. I'll get the darkfeathers to continue following it and to ascertain its location... What are you all doing?"

He didn't notice this earlier, but looking at them now, the three Yama-Kings had surrounded him in a rather unnatural formation.

"What are we doing?" Arthis scoffed. "We're worried that you'll have a rush of blood to the head and go to challenge the inner demon in person! After that, we can prepare for your funeral!"

How could you think of me like that? Am I really that unwise in your eyes? Without at least an 80% chance of success, there's no way I would strike!

"I'm not so foolish as to allow my anger to get the better of me," Qin Ye said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Where are my darkfeathers?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, around a dozen figures appeared in a wraith-like manner around him, then bowed in unison. "Please give us your instructions, Your Excellency."

"The inner demon is in Shanxi," Qin Ye said with a cold expression. "Keep an eye on it at all costs!"

"Yes!" all of the darkfeathers immediately replied without any hesitation.

With the inner demon's location ascertained, all that was left was to pick the right opportunity to strike, and when they did strike, they had to make absolute sure to make it count.

In the blink of an eye, the darkfeathers vanished as a flurry of black butterflies, following which Zhao Yun reported, "Your Excellency, we received news from the mortal realm just now."

"Has there been an outcome?" Qin Ye asked.

"No," Zhao Yun replied after a brief hesitation.

"Then I don't have time to deal with them," Qin Ye said in a cold voice. "Due to their incompetence, Safesoul City was destroyed! They should be thankful that they're still alive!"

Even though they had discovered that the inner demon was in Shanxi, if it were to perform a long-distance transfer to another host, the trail would go cold again.

The only way to be able to reliably track the inner demon would be to use a fragment of its soul, and they had come so close to capturing one, only for the opportunity to be ruined by the rat in the Special Investigations Department. In the wake of the incident, it had taken Qin Ye a lot of self-restraint not to send Zheng Shuguo to Hell for reincarnation.

"Your Excellency!" Right as Qin Ye was about to depart, Zhao Yun's voice rang out again. "The one requesting an audience with you on this occasion isn't Director Zheng."

"Oh? Who is it then?" Qin Ye asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"It's Director Rao."

Director Rao?

Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly before a hint of enlightenment appeared in his eyes.

There was only one Director Rao in the Cathayan government, and that was Director Rao Guanghui of the Organization Department.

He was a truly powerful figure in the government system, and he was one of the leading candidates to become the next prime minister.

The fact that he was extending an invitation toward Qin Ye in person was a sign that they were taking this matter very seriously.

"Interesting." The Yin wind around Qin Ye subsided as he said, "In that case, let me see what this Director Rao has to say."

……………………………………………………

With the arrival of Rao Guanghui, all of the surveillance instruments and light fixtures within a radius of over 100 meters around the municipal government building had been switched on. At the same time, there were countless military police officers and bodyguards concealed within the shadows. The front of the municipal government building had also been completely shut off, and it was no exaggeration to say that there were guards stationed at every few steps.

"Long time no see, Yanluo Qin." In the conference hall, Rao Guanghui extended a hand toward Qin Ye with a smile, looking as if he were completely oblivious to what had happened earlier.

Through his attitude, he was expressing the hope that Hell would let bygones be bygones and forget the past.

"Indeed." After a brief handshake, Qin Ye took a seat, then said, "Unfortunately, we never seem to meet under positive circumstances. Otherwise, I would be more than happy to chat, Director Rao."

Qin Ye wasn't going to let things slide so easily. While it was true that Hell and the mortal realm were interdependent on one another, that was no reason for the Cathayan government to grow lax and complacent.

Rao Guanghui seemed to have failed to understand the intention behind Qin Ye's words as he also took a seat. Cups of tea had already been brought onto the table for them.

As soon as Rao Guanghui sat down, he said in an earnest voice, "Firstly, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for our oversight, and the massive losses that has caused to Hell."

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and his impression of Rao Guanghui immediately improved significantly. At the very least, he wasn't spouting excuses or pinning the blame on others.

"The losses were massive, indeed," Qin Ye said with a cold smile. "Not long after the inner demon's soul fragment escaped, the inner demon exacted its revenge, razing a city with a population of tens of thousands to the ground..."

He leaned forward slightly with a cold expression as he said, "I don't think this is something that can be settled with just a verbal apology."

Rao Guanghui didn't back down in the slightest as he looked directly into Qin Ye's eyes. "This is why I came to give you an answer."

He pulled out a brown paper bag, then gently slid it over the table toward Qin Ye.

The paper bag was caught by Qin Ye, who opened it before inspecting its contents.

Only a few seconds later, his eyes abruptly lit up, and he cast a meaningful gaze toward Rao Guanghui, who smiled as he made an inviting hand gesture.

Qin Ye continued reading, and the more he saw, the more inspired he became. The contents of the document were allowing him to map out a path in his mind, the path to killing the inner demon!

Only after a full five minutes had passed did he set down the paper bag, but he didn't push it back to Rao Guanghui. Instead, he rested his hand on it as he cast his gaze toward Rao Guanghui and said, "This is a very interesting resume."

"Indeed," Rao Guanghui replied as he picked up his teacup before taking a sip. "Li Xingjian, 51 years of age, governor of East Lake Province, mainly responsible for overseeing economic development and land reform projects."

Rao Guanghui seemed to already have had the information committed to memory, and he continued without pause, "He graduated from university at 22 years of age, then took on a job as a clerk at the Land Development Agency of Cangshui County in the city of Longzhou, Fulin Province. Due to the outstanding efficiency and competence he displayed in the role, he caught the eye of the county magistrate of Cangshui County, Zhou Bin, who took him on as his secretary, thereby beginning his rapid rise up the ranks. Zhou Bin was an earnest and capable official who served for over 30 years, during which time he climbed up the ranks from county magistrate of Cangshui County to a member of the standing provincial committee. As a result, Li Xingjian also enjoyed a meteoric rise. At 37 years of age, he was sent to a certain county in the three eastern provinces to serve as deputy county magistrate, and after several promotions, he became the governor of East Lake Province..."

A wry smile appeared on his face as he concluded, "Unfortunately, he went on to embezzle at least hundreds of millions..."

Qin Ye's expression remained unchanged as he asked, "What am I supposed to do with this information?"

Despite what he was asking, he already had a clear idea of what had to be done.

Rao Guanghui took a deep breath before replying, "I've already seen the information on the inner demon that you sent through to us via the city gods and lords of the land. As a result, I'm very much aware of just how troublesome the inner demon is to deal with. The only way to capture it would be to lure it into a trap. Do you think an official of Li Xingjian's caliber would be enough to act as this trap?"

So I was right!

Qin Ye's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. He didn't think that the opportunity would come this quickly, and he failed to anticipate the determination and resolve displayed by the government.

There were many mysteries surrounding the inner demon, and they were being slowly stripped away by Hell, but there was still one thing that couldn't be explained: why did it think that it could take down Hell on its own?

Yes, it did have the assistance of the 73 immortals, but did it really think that this was enough?

Any Yama-King could destroy the 73 immortals. The vast disparity in power simply couldn't be bridged by numbers. In that case, where did it derive its confidence from?

Extraterrestrial gods?

That was a possibility, but all extraterrestrial gods had to be extremely careful in this plane. If they were to recklessly forge an alliance with the inner demon, they would immediately be hunted down by the Heavenly Dao.

In that case, there was only one answer.

Its greatest asset was people, living people!

Those who had been possessed by it during their lifetimes had their souls corrupted, and once they entered the underworld, they would automatically create an anchor point for it. That would also explain why so many people had been possessed by it in the capital city's Special Investigations Department branch.

The inner demon had no specific objective. All it was doing at the moment was spreading its seed to create an anchor point for itself in the Cathayan Underworld in the future.

The best way to evoke negative emotions within a large number of people would be to take over a high-ranking official. If it could take over a provincial official for example, then it would be able to implement policies that affected that entire province!

Thus, there was no way that it would pass up this opportunity!

This was a natural trap, and all they would have to do was wait for the inner demon to fall into it!