Yama Rising

The door was silently opened, and a face that Ye Xingchen hadn't seen in six years was revealed. The owner of the face smiled and waved at everyone in the room.

The leader of the investigators stared blankly at the person standing outside the room, and several seconds later, he suddenly threw himself forward before giving them a massive hug. His voice was beginning to choke up as he said, "Instructor Qin, it really is you... I'm so glad to see you again!"

"Calm down, it's alright." Qin Ye smiled as he patted the investigator's back in a soothing gesture. 

He was only a kid six years ago, but he's already grown so tall. It really is great to be seeing these people again... 

After finally extricating himself from Ye Xingchen's embrace, he swept a hand through the air, and a beam of golden light shone onto the surface of the desk. "Hell is taking over this case, so you don't need to involve yourselves any further."

Right as Ye Xingchen pounced toward the man, the other investigators almost let slip the arrows nocked in their crossbows. At this moment, everyone exchanged a few glances, and one of the female investigators flicked a finger through the air to release a red thread from her fingertip. The thread wrapped itself around the badge before pulling it toward her, and after just a single glance, a string of audible gasps rang out within the room.

Abyssal Prefect Qin!

This... This was a Prefect-level Emissary of Hell! Everyone's mouths were gaped wide open as they stared at the badge with stunned expressions. They then turned to Qin Ye, and all of them bowed and cupped their fists in unison as they greeted with excited voices, "We pay our respects to the esteemed Abyssal Prefect!"

Abyssal... Prefect? Ye Xinglan had his arm slung across Qin Ye's shoulders, and he immediately shuddered upon hearing this. As he turned back to Qin Ye, his mouth was gaped open so wide that an egg could easily fit through. "Ab-Ab-Ab-Abyssal Prefect? Y-Y-You're from Hell?!"

You only just realized?! 

The other investigators didn't know what to say, so they could only remain silent with their heads lowered.

A faint smile appeared on Qin Ye's face. These people were different from Local Bully, so he had to show them a benevolent side to himself.

"Take a seat," he said with a reassuring hand gesture. "We'll catch up later. For now, we have to transfer this case from you to me."

In the face of an Abyssal Prefect, even Ye Xingchen didn't dare to play around, and he gulped nervously before sitting down with all of the other investigators. Qin Ye's smile faded as he said in a serious voice, "I'm sure you're all aware of what it entails for an Abyssal Prefect to be taking over this case. Contact the director of the Special Investigations Department's Eastmount Province branch and the Wuyang Municipal Government right away, tell them to send their representatives here within an hour."

"Yes!" No one had any objections, and they immediately whipped out their phones to send the required messages.

Several minutes later, Ye Xingchen asked in a low voice, "Instructor Qin, is this... a major event?"

What he wanted to ask was whether the supernatural disasters had returned.

The supernatural disaster had ravaged the mortal realm for a decade, and things were only just getting better, no one wanted to return to those horrific times.

A cold smile appeared on Qin Ye's face. "The underworld may have been reunited, but many sinister forces have arisen during the past century. This is a case that's well above your pay-grade."

Ye Xingchen was reluctant to give up. "I can..."

"No!" Qin Ye interjected sternly. "You're only an Anitya Hellguard, and this case may have something to do with a living Yama-King. If you get involved, all you'll be doing is throwing your life away."

…………………………………………………..

Eastmount Province, Jizhou City, Special Investigations Department, Eastmount Province Branch.

Mo Changhao was seated in his chair, casually reading a newspaper. The supernatural disasters were over, and after the radical reduction in the staff of the Special Investigations Department, all that was left were the elites, but there was nothing for those elites to do.

I kind of miss those days when I was constantly on edge... He took a sip of tea before heaving a faint sigh. Nowadays, all he did was sit at his desk, and no emergency messages would pop on his computer or his phone. The group chats that had once been buzzing with activity were now all stagnant. In light of the enormous contributions the Special Investigations Department had made to the nation in the past decade, the benefits that they received hadn't been cut back in the slightest. In fact, there were even some increases. However, he still couldn't help but reminisce about the busy life he had once led.

Right at this moment, a notification suddenly popped on the Momo app on his desktop.

"Leader of the Eastmount Province's Seventh Team Ye: Mr. Mo, Abyssal Prefect Qin has appeared at Wuyang Port, stating that we are facing an emergency situation, and he's inviting you and representatives from the Wuyang Municipal government to travel to Wuyang Port right away."

Mo Changhao immediately rose to his feet as he stared intently at the screen.

Abyssal Prefect Qin... Is that supposed to be Instructor Qin? 

A series of mixed emotions welled up in his heart, but they quickly faded, and he gave the screen one last meaningful look before springing into action. "Prepare a helicopter, we're setting off for Wuyang Port right away."

"Yes!"

The helicopter took off very quickly, and the scenery outside flashed past rapidly. Mo Changhao was seated in the helicopter in silence. He wasn't worried about meeting Qin Ye. He wasn't harboring any guilt over his past actions, it had merely been a case of conflicting standpoints. Instead, what he was wondering was... why had Qin Ye appeared in Wuyang?

Qin Ye's data was no longer a secret among the higher-ups of the Special Investigations Department. As the coordinator between the two realms, information on all of his feats had already been confidentially filed away in all of the major branches, and there was one particular piece of information that had caught Mo Changhao's attention.

It was the notion that Qin Ye would never appear unless a major event had taken place!

The first time he had appeared was at the Hungry Ghost Festival, the second time was during the negotiation between the two realms, and the third time was after the unification of the underworld.

Thus, he had appeared on three occasions, and each successive occasion marked a more important event than the previous one. On this occasion, could it be that some type of major supernatural event had taken place in Wuyang?

"I hope I'm just overthinking things..." He massaged his own temples, and before he knew it, 20 minutes had already passed by. At this point, he could already see the city of Wuyang.

The helicopter began to slowly descend. It was currently 5 PM, which was the demonic hour, and he reflexively began to inspect his surroundings. Only after a few seconds did he realize that he was being excessively cautious.

"Right... The supernatural disasters have ceased for almost a year..." He smiled as he withdrew his gaze, yet just as he was about to lean back in his seat, his eyes abruptly widened.

"We're preparing for landing, please fasten your seatbelt," the pilot said.

"Hold on!" Mo Changhao cast his gaze toward the horizon. The light of the setting sun cast a golden veil over the surface of the sea, and light and shadow were dancing together, creating a beautiful sight to behold. He appraised the horizon, where the sea met the sky, with an unblinking gaze, and said in a grim voice, "Keep going forward, and reach as high an altitude as possible."

As a cultivator, his eyesight was far superior to that of the average person, and he could see over a span of kilometers without any issues.

The pilot was a little perplexed, but he did as he was told and continued onward. The average helicopter could reach speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, but this was a military helicopter with a top speed of 350 kilometers per hour. After flying for 15 minutes, the helicopter covered a distance of roughly 100 kilometers or 55 nautical miles.

"Is, is that a person?!" The pilot was a normal person, and at this point, even he could clearly see what had initially caught Mo Changhao's attention. It was exactly because of this that there were now chills running down his spine!

There was a person...

There was a person standing on the surface of the sea!

He was like the ruler of the sea as he stood atop the waves. Mo Changhao appraised the scene through narrowed eyes, and he could see extremely powerful Yin energy emanating from the man's body!

Is that an Anitya Hellguard? No, it's an Infernal Judge, and he should be only one step away from becoming an Abyssal Prefect! 

It definitely wasn't a human being.

Right at this moment, the figure seemed to have sensed him as well, and his head swiveled around 180 degrees, allowing him to face the helicopter head-on.

Mo Changhao's pupils abruptly contracted at the sight of the man's face.

It was indeed not a human... The man's face was deathly pale with inky-black patterns inscribed upon it, and the patterns were very simplistic, but they struck one with an indescribable sense of fear.

He was wearing a white Nipponese kariginu, and his arms and legs were clad in inky-black armor. There were red patterns embroidered on his kariginu, but it was impossible to clearly identify them. He had a head of black hair, and there was a longsword strapped to his back.

Is this an evil ghost from Nippon? Why has it appeared here? 

All of the true energy within Mo Changhao's entire body had been drawn upon, and at the same time, countless deathly white hands extended out of the figure's back before gradually changing color, transforming into a pair of inky-black wings!

The black wings began to flap gently as the figure suddenly smiled at him.

In the next instant, he abruptly drew his longsword from his scabbard before slashing it through the air!

Splash!! The surface of the sea was sliced in half, creating waves up to 10 meters tall. At the same time, countless ghastly screeches rang out, and the sword's aura swept directly toward the helicopter like a substantial force!

"How dare you! This is Cathay's territorial sea!!" Mo Changhao roared with fury, and in the blink of an eye, he had already appeared in the air in front of the helicopter. At the same time, a dagger had appeared in his grasp, and scarlet runes emerged all over the blade's surface. In the face of this devastating sword strike, Mo Changhao didn't display any intent to evade or retreat as he lashed out in retaliation.

A clear dragon's roar rang out as if a dragon were rising up out of the sea, and true energy encircled his entire body like a halo. In the next instant, a resounding boom rang out in the sky, and the true energy and Yin energy both dissipated at once. Mo Changhao gave a muffled groan before taking several backward steps.

This was a truly formidable foe.

At the very least, it was an evil ghost that stood at the pinnacle of the Infernal Judge level. Right as the dust settled, Mo Changhao cast his gaze forward, and he was greeted by a sight that he would never forget.

"Wahahahaha!" The evil ghost was cackling with reckless abandon, but its laughter sounded more like ghostly howls, and it was audible even from kilometers away. He spread his wings before gently descending, and in the instant he stepped onto the surface of the sea, the entire sea began to move.

Splash, splash! Waves rose up like mountains, growing taller and taller, and each successive wave was more violent than the previous one. It was as if some type of gigantic creature was about to emerge!

In the next instant, a cluster of majestic buildings erupted out of the ocean!

The evil ghost was standing on the tallest of those buildings. These buildings were constructed in Cathayan style, and boundless sea water was gushing down from them, creating a marvelous sight under the light of the dying sun. As the evil ghost continued to cackle, the enormous palace rose up from underwater, then slowly began to descend again several minutes later.

"M, Mr. Mo..." the pilot said in a trembling voice. "L, look down, b, beneath the surface of the sea..."

Mo Changhao cast his gaze downward, and at such close range, he could see that there were countless palaces beneath the surface! Furthermore, all of these palaces were situated on the back of a gargantuan creature that stretched as far as the eyes could see!

Mo Changhao had no idea what it was.

There was no way that it was a whale, it was impossible for a whale to grow to such an astounding size. Once the massive beast sank into the water, all of the palaces disappeared. The black shadow grew more and more indistinct, and finally, it was completely gone.

The sea was still the same sea.

The sky was still the same sky.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Cold sweat was pouring down Mo Changhao's face, and his dagger-wielding hand was trembling.

He could sense that the gigantic creature was something that was far too powerful for him to oppose, and it had taken a look at him before descending into the depths.

For some reason, the giant beast hadn't attacked him and merely departed instead, leaving him feeling like he had just dodged a bullet...

"Abyssal Prefect... That thing had to have at least been a Prefect-level beast, and an advanced one at that! It was only one step away from the Yama-King level. In fact, perhaps it's already there! I haven't felt such terrifying Yin energy even from the top three cultivators of Cathay!" After a long while, he pulled out his handkerchief to wipe away his cold sweat before turning back in the direction of Wuyang.

Is this why Abyssal Prefect Qin decided to address this case in person? Those palaces in the sea... Do those have anything to do with this case? 

With that in mind, he immediately returned to the helicopter. "Travel to Wuyang right away! At the same time, notify the higher-ups, I want the satellite surveillance footage of what just happened here!"