Yama Rising

"Firstly, you have to be made aware of how the forsaken lands were born. They are separate from the three realms and the five elements, and they contain their own sets of laws. These laws are all interconnected with one another, and you must solve a series of problems one by one to get to the final answer. You can treat this as a learning experience. Secondly, I must discuss the existence of Chu Renmei. Of course, it could just be an evil ghost that looks like her, but isn't necessarily her. If that really were her, then after hearing her Cantonese opera, she'll be sure to come and find you tonight. That sounds like it would place you in a dangerous situation, but she is the only unpredictable element in the Huang Clan's earthen building. Perhaps you've already noticed that no one in the Huang Clan's earthen building has initiated communication or contact with you. If that really were the true Chu Renmei, then she would be the only one here who has initiated contact with you. Perhaps this method of communication is a little vicious, but..."

Fate was rapidly scribbling down words onto the robe, but right at this moment, Qin Ye noticed that it was unable to write any further.

There was some type of invisible power preventing it from being able to write beyond this point.

A grim look appeared in Qin Ye's eyes upon seeing this, and he swept a hand through the air, withdrawing Fate into the center of his palm as a streak of golden light. At the same time, he became even more wary of this forsaken land.

Fate was something that even the death gods of other nations had to treat with respect, and it was definitely worthy of representing the King Yanluo of Hell. Having been played around with by a man who had already transcended the Heavenly Dao for a few centuries, that man's aura had rubbed off onto it. Even so, it was still unable to overcome the laws of the forsaken land.

"A so-called law is like a big circle drawn onto the ground, and we can only move around in this circle like sheep in a pen. Without finding the key, there's no way for us to uncover the truth..." He rose to his feet, and his Yin energy subsided as he reverted back to his human form before making his way out of the room.

This was his first day here, so the most important thing for him was to familiarize himself with the situation.

After exiting the room, he began to casually stroll through the Huang Clan's earthen building. The building was massive, and the houses were spaced very far apart, so it would take over 10 minutes to walk from one household to the next.

There was a woman in a plain Cheongsam, and she was sporting a short haircut typical of the republic era. Cantonese opera music was playing in the room from a radio, and there was a plant on the windowsill, but it was already long dead and withered. The woman was carefully cutting something, and her fair legs were crossed together. Occasionally, a stray ray of sunlight would filter down from the gaps in the leaves and branches of the locust tree to illuminate her, and it was a very peaceful scene to behold.

Indeed, the scene was beautiful, but the person was dead.

Qin Ye made no attempt to keep quiet as he made his way toward her, but she displayed no reaction. A gust of Yin wind swept past, and a burst of fluttering rang out from the ceiling in response. A snowy white garment that was over 10 meters in length wafted in the wind above her head, making it appear as if several dozen people had hung themselves above her.

Instead of getting too close, Qin Ye stood around two meters away and smiled as he asked, "Is that a cold suit?"

No response.

He cast his gaze toward the ceiling, where he discovered that there were over 10 meters of human-sized paper suits hanging all over the entire ceiling. The suits were flapping and dancing wildly in the wind, presenting an incredibly harrowing sight to behold!

"Why have you cut out so many of these suits?"

The woman didn't even take a glance at him, but she finally spoke as she replied in a wooden voice, "Why are you worried about things like this when you're about to die soon?"

"How do you know I'm about to die soon?"

The woman fell silent again.

She's not a ghost... Qin Ye glanced at the blurry shadow at the foot of her chair, then continued onward with slightly furrowed brows. However, right as he was passing by a certain window, he drew to an abrupt halt again.

There was someone watching him through the window!

He didn't know who it was. The person's window was tightly shut, and the curtains inside were drawn, making it impossible for him to discern the appearance of his observer. The curtain had two layers: a thin veil layer and a fancy floral cover. He slowly turned toward the side, and he could see an indistinct figure beyond the thin veil, staring directly at him through the gap in the curtains!

The two of them were separated by a distance of no more than 30 centimeters, and right as their eyes met and he leaned in for a closer look, his eyelids suddenly began to twitch.

This was a glass window, and through it, he could clearly see into the room beyond.

Right as he was staring intently into the room, the head of the woman behind him twisted around a full 180 degrees, forming a gruesome angle as she stared directly at his back with blood flowing out of all of her orifices.

Even Qin Ye was struck by a sense of horror upon seeing this, and all of the fine hairs all over his body immediately stood on end as if he had been electrocuted. He hurriedly turned around to find that the woman was still the same woman from before, and she was still cutting her paper suits with her back facing her as if she had never turned around.

In reality, even Qin Ye wasn't sure what he had just seen.

This entire place completely went beyond his understanding of Yin spirits.

He didn't allow his curiosity to get the better of him, choosing to quickly depart instead. Curiosity killed the cat, and Qin Ye wasn't about to follow in the cat's footsteps.

In his hurry to depart, he failed to notice an outstretched hand reaching out after him from behind the curtain following his departure. The hand had a deathly pale complexion and was riddled with patches of discoloration from livor mortis as it gently pressed itself against the window. At the same time, the curtains began to rustle gently as if an evil ghost was lurking behind it and was about to jump out.

"So good... He smells so good..." A raspy voice rang out from the gap between the curtains.

The woman had maintained the same posture the entire time, but she raised her head here and heaved a faint sigh. "Be a good girl now. No matter how good he smells, he's going to be dead soon, while we're still alive..."

Qin Ye naturally had no idea about this exchange, and he continued onward. That woman just now clearly wasn't a ghost, but she had evoked within him a sense of extreme foreboding. After walking for around 100 meters, he finally stopped again.

An opening had appeared up ahead; this was a stairwell.

At this moment, a human head was protruding out of the stairwell, and it was staring at him with a pair of inky-black eyes.

Those eyes were like a pair of black holes threatening to suck out the soul of whatever living being they set their sights on! Those terrifying eyes belonged to a child who was 120 centimeters tall at most, and his hands, which were gripping onto the wall, were of a deathly pale color, while only a small section of his hair could be seen.

Aside from the child, the stairwell was completely empty, and it had been constructed in an ancient Cathayan style. The oppressive locust tree in the courtyard, the pitch-black environment that resembled the darkest of nights, the completely lifeless atmosphere... If a normal person were in Qin Ye's place, they would've most likely already burst out screaming at the sight of this ghostly child. However, Qin Ye remained calm and immediately rushed forward, reaching the stairwell in the blink of an eye.

There was no one there.

However, the imprints of 10 fingers could be seen where the child had been standing just a moment ago!

The child had been gripping onto the wood so hard that his fingers had left indentations on its surface. Directly ahead of Qin Ye was a staircase that was around two meters wide and led upward.

It was very silent, so much so that one felt as if they could even hear indistinct howling and sobbing ringing out from upstairs. Qin Ye could sense that he wasn't the only person standing in the stairwell; he felt like there was a malicious spirit standing right next to him!

Whoosh... The Yin winds blew into the stairwell, producing a sound much like an anguished wail. Qin Ye raised his foot to step forward, but in that instant, a sense of extreme peril suddenly welled up in his heart, causing him to falter in his footsteps.

"Is this the laws of this place at work?" he murmured to himself as he massaged his own glabella. Just now, he had been struck by an indescribable feeling, telling him that going up now would land him in huge trouble, the type that he still wasn't equipped to deal with at the moment.

Are the laws prohibiting me from going to the second floor or have I still not fulfilled the conditions to go up a floor? 

He didn't know what was preventing him from going to the second floor, all he knew was that he couldn't go up there yet. However, just as he was preparing to leave, something suddenly rolled down the staircase before drawing to a halt after bumping into his foot.

It was a round object that was covered in hair, and it had left a trail of blood in its wake.

Qin Ye took a deep breath upon seeing the object. The scenes unfolding here were extremely disturbing and terrifying, more so than anything he had ever encountered. He bent down and gently picked up the ball to find that it was a human head!

It was the head of a little girl.

Her eyes, nose, lips, and ears had all been sown up as if she were a doll, and in particular, her lips had been intentionally sown in a way that they formed a horrific smile.

Even Qin Ye could feel goosebumps rising up all over his entire body, and he immediately reared back.

However, right as he did so, his neck, his ears... all of his exposed skin seemed to have been caught up in some type of thread, and before he even had a chance to think, he found himself staring at a twisted human face!

It was an upside-down human face!

A woman was hanging upside-down from the second floor. She was wearing a cheongsam, and her entire body was covered in blood. The blood had stained large sections of her hair, which was spilling down like a waterfall, and her entire face was deathly pale. Just like the little girl's head, her orifices had also all been sown up, but there was still blood flowing incessantly through the gaps between the stitches.

"Fuck!!" A chill instantly ran down Qin Ye's spine, and he immediately thrust his Abyssal Prefect's token forward. The token transformed into an umbrella mid-flight, separating him from that terrifying woman's face.

The woman remained completely still, and Qin Ye held the umbrella in front of himself for a full 10 seconds before finally withdrawing it.

At this point, he was already panting slightly, and the woman was nowhere to be seen.

However, several large twisted words had been inscribed onto his umbrella in blood.

"You will die tonight!"

"Fuck..." Qin Ye ran his hand through his own hair before quickly making his way toward his dormitory room.

This is definitely not a good place... In fact, it's even more terrifying than I imagined! 

There were all types of supernatural activity taking place here, and on top of that, the human residents were still staying here despite the fact that they were clearly aware that they were living among evil ghosts. In contrast with those evil ghosts, he found those humans to be even more terrifying!

This was a place that would scare even an Emissary of Hell shitless!

"What's wrong, My Lord?"

"You don't look very good, My Lord."

Slam! Qin Ye slammed the door shut as soon as he returned to his dormitory room before sitting down onto his bed with a grim expression.

He had been informed both directly and indirectly that someone was going to be coming for him tonight, and there was a very good chance that this person was Chu Renmei!

"Brace yourselves, there's most likely going to be a storm coming tonight. I'm going to take a rest. Wake me up at 12 AM." After that, he laid down on his bed to rest.

He had to conserve as much energy as possible in anticipation for the first night of horror.

Time slowly ticked second by second, and Qin Ye woke up even before he had been roused by Kwon Kyung-ho and Ryu Changmin.

He cast his gaze out the window to find that even the final rays of moonlight in the sky had disappeared. It was now well and truly deep into the night. Not only had the locust tree kept out the sunlight, it was now doing the same to the moonlight, and this place was as dark as the deepest pits of Hell. However, all of the lanterns in the corridor had already been lit.

The scarlet lanterns illuminated the entire building a blood-red color, as if they were heralding the arrival of the abyss.

Kwon Kyung-ho and Ryu Changmin were standing on lookout on either side of the door, and right at this moment, the sound of a gong being struck rang out from the center of the first floor.

"The weather has been very dry lately, so look out for fires."

Clang clang clang... The gong was struck a total of 12 times in succession, and on the final strike, all of the lanterns on the entire first floor seemed to flicker ever so slightly.

In that instant, it was as if this place had truly been plunged into the abyss.

I was waiting for this... 

Qin Ye, Ryu Changmin, and Kwon Kyung-ho's expressions all stiffened slightly.

The evil ghost that was out for blood was coming. In fact, she had already arrived at this room!

"... Only the moon knows my sorrow, separations are always so long while reunions are so short..." All of a sudden, the melancholic tune of "Selling One's Body to Feed an Orphan'' rang out outside the window, and at the same time, someone began to gently knock on the windowpane.

It was as if Death itself had come to knock on Qin Ye's window.

"I didn't think they would really dare to come..." Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho cast their eyes toward the window in unison.

However, Qin Ye remained completely still.

This was because in the instant that the banging on the window began, a pair of deathly white hands tipped with inky-black nails appeared behind him, and they were already pressed against either side of his head!

An exhale that was filled with incredible malicious intent and hatred then sounded behind him!