Yama Rising

Everyone in the room fell completely silent. The more they learned about this place, the stranger it was revealed to be. They were already aware that there was something wrong with these people, but never did they think that the residents here would've been able to live this long.

Yes, there was a possibility that Huang Xiaoqing was lying to them, but Qin Ye was leaning more toward the opinion that she hadn't lied to them as there was simply no motive for her to do so. Furthermore, if he really had fulfilled the condition to unlock this so-called NPC conversation, yet Huang Xiaoqing had still lied to him, then the "Heavenly Dao" of this place never intended to let anyone leave alive in the first place.

"Let's get out of here and take a look elsewhere." After taking a moment to arrange his thoughts, he made his way toward the exit of the earthen building. He couldn't go up to the second floor yet, but if this really were the site at which the events in "A Wicked Ghost" had transpired, then there were most likely going to be more leads to be discovered in the nearby area.

No one attempted to stop them from leaving the earthen building. The elderly woman at the entrance was still sitting in her chair like a lifeless mannequin, and the entire building was enshrouded under an aura of death and despair. Even the sight of the greenery and flowers outside the earthen building didn't do anything to help one relax.

Right as he made his way around to the back of the earthen building, all of the fine hairs all over his body suddenly stood up on end. This was a premonition of the presence of a powerful evil ghost nearby. Kwon Kyung-ho and Ryu Changmin yelled in unison as wisps of Yin energy began to seep out of all of their pores, and they were trembling incessantly as they followed along behind Qin Ye.

Behind the earthen building was the foundation for a construction project.

A hole that was over a kilometer in size had been dug, and a foundation had been constructed from steel beams. Even though the sunlight was shining down directly upon this place, there was still an extremely dark and eerie atmosphere lingering in the air. The giant hole resembled an abyss that led straight into the depths of Hell, and just the mere sight of it was enough to send chills running down one's spine.

Qin Ye made his way over to the site and began to slowly walk along the steel beam foundation. It was like the bridge between Hell and the mortal realm, and the giant pit beneath the bridge was filled with ghastly white bones!

These skeletons were wearing clothing from all types of different time periods, including the republic era, the 50s and 60s, the 70s and 80s, and even modern attire from the present day. It was impossible to determine how long they had been dead for, but their flesh had already completely rotted away, leaving behind only sets of bare skeletons.

Ryu Changmin drew a sharp breath upon seeing this. In Daehan, he was already among the most powerful evil ghosts, yet only after coming to Cathay did he come to understand that the evil ghosts here were far more terrifying and brutal than the ones in Daehan!

Qin Ye's gaze remained calm as he said in an indifferent voice, "The story in 'A Wicked Ghost' took place over 100 years ago. These are all of the people who have perished in the Huang Clan's earthen building during the past century, and the foundational pit for this construction project has become a natural burial site for them. On top of that, according to Huang Xiaoqing, none of them had been able to live past the first night."

He raised his head and a gust of wind blew down toward him, carrying a dank and rotten odor. He looked up into the sky and murmured to himself, "Everything here matches with the plot development in the movie. Chu Renmei had originally already been sealed away, but due to the demolition and relocation of the Huang Clan's village, her remains were dug up by the construction team, then thrown into the nearby waterhole..."

He made his way across the construction site, and right behind the site was a waterhole that was around 100 meters in size, situated on a plot of land that had a relatively high altitude compared to the area around it.

There were no streams flowing into the waterhole, and it had already been stagnant for countless years. The water had turned a dark green color, and its surface was filled with all types of trash, as well as branches and leaves. The entire waterhole was giving off a nauseating odor.

Kwon Kyung-ho was hugging his own arms as his spiritual body began to tremble.

This place was giving him an extremely strong sense of foreboding!

The waterhole was giving off a twisted and deadly aura. Without a source of water flowing into it, the waterhole should've already dried out long ago during the past century, but it hadn't. Furthermore, a waterhole like this would be a paradise for the likes of mosquitoes, frogs, and toads under normal circumstances, but the entire area in a radius of over five kilometers around the waterhole was completely devoid of life and activity.

There were no living beings here, and Chu Renmei's remains were situated right in the waterhole. This was the lair of an advanced Prefect-class evil ghost, and looking into the waterhole was like staring directly into the deranged brutality and extreme hatred in Chu Renmei's heart.

Wilted leaves covered the entire surface of the waterhole like a corpse gown, and Qin Ye clasped his hands behind his back as he suddenly said, "I come in peace. I'm sure you've already sensed that I'm not an ordinary person. You should be glad that you're residing in a place like this. Otherwise, the crime you committed in attacking an Emissary of Hell last night would've been punishable by death hundreds of thousands of times over! I'm only here to investigate some matters, so why don't we leave each other alone? You don't have the power to kill me, and I don't have the time to waste dealing with you. After I'm done here, we'll go our separate ways. What do you think?"

There was no response.

Three seconds later, the surface of the waterhole began to ripple, and the wilted leaves and branches slowly parted as if a giant snake were about to emerge. Immediately thereafter, a huge splash rang out, and a giant deathly pale female face slowly rose up from the waterhole, emitting an overwhelmingly nauseating stench of rot and decay.

The first thing to appear was her nose, followed by her inky-black hair, which was soaked by the water in the waterhole. Her hair then slowly parted to reveal a pair of bloodshot eyes that were completely devoid of pupils. The final thing to emerge was her gaping mouth, which was full of sharp black teeth, and the green water of the waterhole was gushing out of it like blood.

Crack crack crack... She turned to look at Qin Ye with her head tilted to the side at an impossible angle before abruptly letting loose an earth-shattering roar.

Boom!! Qin Ye remained completely unmoved, but Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho were instantly blown back by close to 20 meters. Their spiritual bodies flickered erratically, and all of the leaves and plants nearby were instantly swept away by the gust of fierce wind. A gruesome smile appeared on Chu Renmei's face, and her chipped black teeth ground together to emit a grinding sound that made one's flesh crawl before she sank back into the waterhole.

"M... My Lord!" Only after several seconds had passed did Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho return to their senses before rushing back to Qin Ye's side, panting heavily as they did so.

Ryu Changmin stared at the waterhole with a stunned expression and mused, "Such powerful resentment... Her resentment is far more terrifying than even my own! What could she have experienced to have given rise to such intense resentment?"

"The resentment of evil ghosts stems from their experiences during their living days. However, a sufficiently developed mental framework is required to understand one's experiences. At the time of your death, you were still far too young, lacking in the emotional capacity and experience to fully understand the injustice of your situation, so you naturally can't compare with a mature evil ghost," Qin Ye said in a contemplative manner as he appraised the waterhole. 

"Looks like my attempt at negotiation failed."

"Why did you come here to see her, My Lord?"

Qin Ye turned and departed from the waterhole, making his way back toward the earthen building as he said in a cold voice, "I came here to find a heinous soul. Where do you think it's most likely to be?"

Neither of the evil ghosts said anything. They had only been in the earthen building for a day, and many leads had popped up, but they were all extremely chaotic, making it impossible for solid conclusions to be drawn.

Qin Hui continued as he waked, "Firstly, there's no way it's Chu Renmei. She is indeed vile, but certainly not irredeemably so. Su Daji and Qin Hui killed so many people in the three eastern provinces and the Pearl Delta, but even they couldn't be considered to be irredeemably heinous. It's a basic instinct for evil ghosts to pursue blood food, so their actions were excusable. Thus, that only leaves the people in the building, but you saw what they were like. They're practically zombies who only live for the sake of it, and I don't think the soul I'm looking for is among them. In fact, they may not even have souls. Also..."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the Huang Clan's earthen building. "Why does Chu Renmei want to possess me? Does she want to leave this place? Alternatively, perhaps she wants to exact revenge on someone?"

Qin Ye fell into deep thought as he analyzed his own thought process. "I'm leaning more toward the latter option."

Kwon Kyung-ho immediately chimed in in a timely fashion. "Why is that?"

"Because if she only wanted to leave this place, then she would've been willing to negotiate with me. I'm sure she can tell that I'm different, but she didn't even bother to speak to me. This seems more like a vendetta that she's determined to settle with her own hands, and she has to be the one in full control during this entire process in which she exacts her revenge. Her resentment has lingered for over a century without fading, and it's all for this moment. Hence, she doesn't want to negotiate with me. This is her bottom line, and she won't compromise on it no matter what. But who exactly is it that she wants to exact revenge against? The person that she hated the most should be Bu Wantian, but he already died over a century ago. There's no way it can be one of the residents of the Huang Clan's earthen building, either. Otherwise, she would've exacted her revenge on them long ago. If you ask me, that person is very likely to be the irredeemably heinous soul in this place, which means that there's someone else in that building that we still haven't seen!"

That person was most likely on the higher floors, which could only be accessed by Chu Renmei, so this was a dead end.

There were too few leads for him to continue his analysis, and he heaved a faint sigh. "Make some preparations, we're leaving at midnight tonight."

There was no phone signal here, and he needed Lee Jung-sook's help to crack this case.

………………………………………………

Midnight that night.

Qin Ye took several deep breaths before quietly opening the window and jumping out of his room.

At night, the Huang Clan's earthen building was even more eerie and terrifying than it was during the day. The massive locust tree that encompassed the entire earthen building was like a demonic giant swaying in the wind, and the rustling of its trees and branches was like a song of impending doom. There were also the human-sized cold suits hanging from the ceilings of all of the households, making it look as if countless people had committed suicide by hanging themselves.

The scarlet lanterns were the most vibrant source of color in this oppressive night, and what was even more peculiar was that there was a mirror that was around one and a half meters in length hanging in front of the door of every household. As soon as Qin Ye emerged from his room, an overwhelming sense of peril swept over him like a steel knife scraping across his back.

Chu Renmei is here... She's come here again... 

Qin Ye inspected his surroundings with a grim expression while crouching on the ground like a cheetah ready to pounce at any moment. Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho were standing on either side of him while biting down nervously on their lower lips.

The elderly woman at the entrance had told him that he could only leave the earthen building and return to Anjing Village during the half-hour window directly after midnight, and he had no time to waste dealing with Chu Renmei.

After passing through the passageway, he continued onward, and perhaps it was just his imagination, but it seemed to be growing darker and darker as he walked along. Even the light of the crimson lanterns seemed to be gradually growing farther and farther away. After walking for close to a minute, he suddenly drew to an abrupt halt.

Thud thud... The sound of footsteps suddenly rang out above his head, and it was particularly terrifying in this pitch-black night.

Ryu Changmin and Kwon Kyung-ho gulped nervously in unison. They knew that she had arrived.

The first thing that evil ghosts had to do when facing humans was to evoke panic within them. Panic led to mistakes, and only then would the evil ghosts have something to capitalize on.

"Don't look!" Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze around the earthen building, and after taking a deep breath, he suddenly broke out into an all-outsprint.

Thud thud thud! As he accelerated, the footsteps ringing out overhead also increased in frequency and became louder and louder. These footsteps were also accompanied by the sound of urgent panting, as if there were evil ghosts running along directly beside them.

Whoosh! Right as Qin Ye arrived at the first door, the door slowly swung open by itself, emitting a horrifying creak in the night as it did so. Immediately thereafter, a second door opened up, then a third... One door after another on the entire first floor swung open in succession, and a resentful Cantonese opera song began to ring out in the night.

"You're reveling in joy, while my gut is wrenching from pain... Separations are always so long while reunions are so short..."

As the singing sounded in the night, all of the lanterns that they had passed in the corridor turned toward them in unison.

Only then did they discover that these weren't lanterns at all. Instead... they were a series of human heads!