Yama Rising
Chapter 49: Forbidden Zone

Qin Ye stared into his wine glass. The tension in his heart was now blazing at one hundred and twenty percent of its maximum capacity.

Arthis' words echoed in his ears right now - All Emissaries of Hell are Yin spirits of Hell who have been kept in check by the natural orders of Hell. And now that the natural order of Hell has completely fallen apart, these Emissaries of Hell… would become tens or even hundreds of times scarier than the average ghost!

“If I were to be straightforward and blunt about things, you’re only a Soul Hunter, and I’m only a Netherworld Operative. And I’ve… already seen cultivators in the human world who possess abilities beyond that of a mere Hunter-class Emissary.” Qin Ye picked his words wisely as he explained himself.

Laughing gleefully, he placed his pale and cold hand lightly on Qin Ye’s arm, “That’s why I say we’re the only two who can truly understand each other in this world.”

He patted Qin Ye’s arm lightly, “The only ones who can see an Emissary of Hell is another Emissary of Hell.”

“We will always be different from the riffraff that you see down there.”

Yet before Qin Ye could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Cao Youdao’s wagging finger, “No. Newbie, you seem to have forgotten one important detail.”

“So long as we nudge these spirits in the right direction, it’s only going to be a matter of time before they all turn into malignant spirits or even evil ghosts. How many people do you think the Special Investigations Department has at their disposal? Do you think they’ll be able to cope with such an outbreak?”

His entire body began to tremble with excitement, “All of the Yin spirits from the surrounding regions will swarm this place. Think about it - when ten billion Yin spirits flood this place, even if none of them are evil ghosts, this place would practically become a forbidden zone for the living!”

Qin Ye drew a deep breath.

Rather, the ones that were truly fearsome were the highly intelligent and rational ones.

Qin Ye understood every hidden implication in Cao Youdao’s spiel. Although he had been vague and ambiguous with his words, his ambition stood out prominently. Cao Youdao… was trying to reestablish Hell!

Qin Ye’s silence was perceived by Cao Youdao to be a moment of deliberation. Cao Youdao stood up, tapped gently on the glass walls and continued huskily, “Newbie, I’m not the only one. Currently, every single ghost that has survived the collapse of Hell is doing exactly the same thing.”

His finger depressed a button. Immediately, rippling light waves shone and projected the entire map of the Insignia Province overhead.

“Do you know what these things are?” He glanced placidly at Qin Ye as he slowly attempted to whittle down Qin Ye’s defenses, “These are called hunting zones.”

“Now that the oppression of Hell’s natural orders no longer exists, the day when the mortal realm clashes head on with the netherworldly forces in an all-out war is already faintly on the horizon. I’d give it a maximum of ten years’ time. When that time comes… where are you going to hide?’

“While there aren’t many Hunter-class ghosts that survived Hell’s collapse, they can’t be considered few in number either. In fact, I’d even vaguely detected the presence of a Hellguard-class ghost when I earlier travelled to the Pearl River Delta. Its presence emanated from right underneath the Pearl River itself. Hell has collapsed, and there’s no longer any means for you to be promoted and increase the abilities at your disposal. So, where are you going to stand when the war between the netherworldly forces and the mortal realm finally breaks out?”

“Or, will you stand on the side of the netherworldly forces? That still necessarily means you’ll violate the rules of Hell. After all, Hell existence necessarily complements the existence of the mortal realm, and assisting the netherworldly forces would naturally mean opposing Hell.

Qin Ye remained silent. Cao Youdao slowly walked towards Qin Ye and continued with a deep, booming voice, “Newbie, do you finally understand? I’m not doing this to satiate my own desires. Rather, the present times simply call for a leader to take the reins and reestablish Hell.”

He gently prodded Qin Ye’s chest with his finger, “And you.”

“Can you, as an Emissary of Hell, tolerate the prospects of those riffraff that we ordinarily trample underfoot rising up and becoming the lord of all evil ghosts?”

That said, the keyword here was ‘almost’.

Cao Youdao laughed again.

He was referring to the object hidden in the depths of the three-meter pit behind the stage.

“That is the exact reason why I say that Hell’s collapse left me with a prime opportunity…” Cao Youdao’s voice was now laced with a touch of escalating fanaticism that was quickly suppressed once again, “Of course I’ve got my means.”

Qin Ye gently swirled the contents of his wine glass, “And if… my answer is ‘no’?”

“It’s because… dead people don’t need names.”

Despite that, the air in the room was so tense it could be cut with a knife.

Seconds later, Qin Ye finally set down his wine glass with a smile on his face, “Then, what reason do I have to refuse?”

He pulled out from his pocket a badge that was exquisitely carved out from wood. The badge emanated faint traces of Cao Youdao’s Yin energy.

Qin Ye reached out, but discovered to his dismay that he was unable to take hold of the wooden badge.

“Prove to me that we both stand on the same side of rebuilding Hell? That we both share the same ideals, hmm?”

Cao Youdao continued to smile faintly as he walked to the window and snapped his finger. Suddenly, the tempered glass wall parted, allowing the pounding beats of the music below to rush into the room once more.

Incidentally, Qin Ye had also already discreetly activated his shard of King Yanluo’s Seal in the instant that the glass wall parted.

He would never stand on the side of such a lunatic.

He had his own philosophy of life after all. What held true for him in the past continues to hold true to him today. Granted, they had both seen their fair shares of all forms of society and the different faces that human beings were capable of. However, it still remains a fact that Qin Ye had been living among humans all this while - his experiences were completely different from all of the other Emissaries of Hell!

Qin Ye was far more human than Cao Youdao was. Qin Ye was lazy, and he was hardly motivated to fight for dominion. It was true that he loathed the hypocrisy and avarice of Man. But at the same time, he loved their friendliness and honesty as well.

Without the complexities of emotions, life would be absolutely meaningless.

“Gentlemen.” Cao Youdao called out modesty, yet the entire dance floor quietened in a span of ten seconds’ time. All of the ghosts looked up towards him with a passionate gaze in their eyes.

“There’s no weight in verbally pledging his allegiance to us. Thus, I’ve personally prepared a special induction ceremony for such an occasion.”

Qin Ye continued to observe the ambitious man with interest. However, his gaze soon froze, and he stood up quietly and stared at the entrance with abject disbelief.

The soul presented himself with disheveled hair. It was clear that he had put up a struggle just before this, and his soul force fluctuated powerfully. He was restrained with a pair of handcuffs. He sported a square, chiseled face and wore a Chinese tunic suit.

“Look. As soon as you cleave this man in half, you and I would undoubtedly be standing on the same side.” Cao Youdao smiled faintly at Qin Ye, “You should know him, right? After all, the first thing you did upon entering the City of Salvation was to go looking for him. But did you also know that he’s a hateful person as well?”

So that’s how it is…

Qin Ye smiled faintly in response, “What’s the meaning of this?”