Yama Rising

The sound of leather shoes on floor tiles rang out through the entire corridor as a thin Yin spirit in a suit hurriedly walked along with an urgent expression. Following behind him were several Yin spirits in high-end underworld suits, and their expressions were just as urgent and panicked as his.

However, no matter how panicked they were feeling, they didn't dare to cause a commotion, and they had to nod in acknowledgment whenever they passed by any underworld emissaries.

This was the Formosa Provincial Courthouse, and all personnel from underworlds outside of the four pillars were considered to be inferior here.

The group of Yin spirits quickly passed through several doors, and a spacious hall appeared up ahead. Yin spirits of all types of different ethnicities were conversing with one another at the tables in the hall, and there was a large table that was around 15 meters in length at the center of the hall.

They quickly strode over to the table, and the thin Yin spirit at the forefront of the ground laid her hands flat against the table as he said with gritted teeth, "I need to see Envoy Kawashima Takuma of the Nipponese Underworld! Now!"

The Cathayan Yin spirit at the front desk was wearing a hanfu dress, and she checked the table in front of her before replying with a smile, "My apologies, Madam Saotome, but Envoy Kawashima is currently in a meeting with the administrative commissioner."

"Are you sure it's just a meeting?!" Madam Saotome's voice abruptly sprang up a few octaves, attracting much attention from everyone else in the hall, and he immediately lowered his voice as he said, "This is unlawful detention! It goes against international laws!"

"I'm sorry," the woman replied as she extended a slight bow. "We'll notify you right away when the commission concludes his meeting with Envoy Kawashima."

"Listen here!" Saotome was on the verge of erupting. "This is most definitely a misunderstanding, the biggest misunderstanding in the history of our two underworlds! In order to resolve this misunderstanding, we came here all the way from the Nipponese Underworld! You can't just keep us out like this!"

"I'm sorry," the woman apologized again with another bow.

Damn it!

Saotome took a moment to suppress the fury that was building up in his heart, then turned to the Yin spirits behind him and said, "Go and find a place to wait! The Cathayan Underworld can't just keep us from seeing our nation's envoy forever!"

Right at this moment, the phone began to ring, and the female Yin spirit at the front desk picked up the receiver before listening for a few seconds, then placed her hand over the mouthpiece as she said, "Envoy Saotome, Commissioner Zhou has just concluded his meeting with Envoy Kawashima, and Envoy Kawashima would like to see you now."

"Take me to him!"

This was a rather small room.

It had all of the standard furniture, including a phone, and aside from the several Yin soldiers standing on lookout duty outside, it would be just like any other guest room.

Kawashima Takuma was seated on the sofa with his head in his hands. After just a single day, his soul had already become extremely frail. His cheeks were sunken, and the netherfire in his eyes had been reduced to the size of peas, looking as if they could be snuffed out at any moment.

The door swung open violently, and Saotome rushed in. Kawashima Takuma's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing him, but before he had even stood up from the sofa, he was dragged to his feet by the collar by Saotome.

"Do you know what you've done?!" Saotome's eyes were virtually spitting fire. "Do you know how massive a crisis this is?!"

Kawashima Takuma's lips were trembling, but he couldn't utter even a single word.

"That's enough!" a female Yin spirit said in a grim voice. "This is not the time to be discussing who's at fault. We are here to solve the problem, not vent our anger!"

Saotome set Kawashima Takuma back down onto the sofa, then immediately said through gritted teeth, "I'll ask the question, you do the talking. Firstly, is the ship ours?"

"It is," Kawashima Takuma lowered his head in a dejected manner. "It's a ship from the Furroku Shipbuilding Factory. Only the largest shipbuilding factories have the technology required to construct ironclad warships. According to the serial number on the rear of the ship, it was constructed over 40 years ago, and we've managed to find out both the location of production and the staff involved."

"Idiot! Did you not try to deny it?!"

"Of course I did!" Kawashima Takuma abruptly rose to his feet. Rage and indignation had been building up inside him like a pressure cooker the entire day, and it finally all erupted as he roared, "What did you want me to say?! I said that there were no Nipponese underworld emissaries, and that it was just a pile of clothes on the ship, but the commissioner didn't believe me! He says he has witnesses who saw the soldiers fighting back! After that, all of the soldiers were eradicated! Do you know what that means?! They robbed us of the chance to defend ourselves even before we arrived on the scene!"

Saotome's eyelids twitched slightly, and he massaged his temples vigorously as he said, "Take a seat. My apologies, I got too worked up there."

All of the underworld emissaries took a seat, and a lady said, "What about the Cathayan Underworld? What are they saying?"

"That's the most terrifying part." Kawashima Takuma tried to pick up his teacup, but his hands were trembling so violently that it was as if he were spasming, and he slammed the teacup down as he said in a trembling voice, "The Cathayan Underworld isn't saying anything! All they're doing is levying accusations one after another! Before you got here, all they did was blame the Nipponese Underworld over and over again for this situation!"

Deathly silence.

Not a single under world emissary said anything.

If the Cathayan Underworld could let things slide, then this would be nothing more than a minor incident, but if they chose to pursue this matter to the end, then this really could be an indisputable excuse to start a war!

The gravity of the situation was finally beginning to dawn on everyone, and one of them asked in a trembling voice, "They're not planning to start a war, are they?"

"That's impossible!"

"There's no reason for them to do that!"

"Our Nipponese Underworld may be a third-rate underworld, but our defenses are top-notch! On top of that, we have a creation-grade divine artifact!"

"Is that supposed to be a joke? You think the three pillars and the other underworlds will just watch as the Cathayan Underworld starts a war? Times have changed! We're living in a peaceful era now!"

"Then what exactly do they want?" Saotome was absolutely frantic at this point. "Are they trying to sanction us? But why? What have we done to offend them? What reason could they have for trying to start a war against us?"

One of the other underworld emissaries' brows were tightly furrowed as he said, "Not only that, but they chose the daimyos as their collaborative partner for the construction of energy resource base stations, and in order to mend our relationship with the Cathayan Underworld, Mistress Izanami has let that slide. We are doing everything in our power to mend the relationship between our two nations, why would they suddenly do this?"

It was clear that this was the precursor for levying economic sanctions or taking military action against the Nipponese Underworld!

Were they trying to make an example out of the Nipponese Underworld to send a warning to the three pillars?

But the three pillars hadn't taken any measures that were detrimental to the Cathayan Underworld! There were many minor conflicts that took place between nations on the international stage, but there was no need to take such aggressive measures! Even an idiot would be able to tell that the Nipponese Underworld was being framed, and that was completely unbefitting of an underworld of the Cathayan Underworld's status. It was as if they just wanted to find an excuse to attack the Nipponese Underworld, but what would the other underworlds think?

Wouldn't this ruin their reputation and make them seem like a warmongering nation?

What in the Nipponese Underworld could be worth that price?

All of the underworld emissaries fell into deep thought, and Kawashima Takuma opened his mouth to say something on several occasions, only to close it again.

He really wanted to say that this incident was virtually identical to the 9.18 Incident that took place in the mortal realm several dozen years ago, and that the Cathayan Underworld was potentially considering initiating war against the Nipponese Underworld.

However, this was such an idiotic conclusion that even he didn't dare to believe it himself, so he refrained from expressing it.

Finally, Saotome made a decision, and a pained look appeared on his face as he said, "Get the presents, we need to pay the governor and the administrative commissioner a visit. We need to try and find out what they want and express to them that the Nipponese Underworld is willing to accept whatever is coming as long as they don't cross any boundaries."

"Yes."

"Understood."

A series of newspapers were fluttering through all of the streets and alleys of the Cathayan Underworld.

The Nipponese Underworld was completely oblivious to just how much the Cathayan Underworld was hyping up the incident that they thought could easily be resolved peacefully.

"Extra! Extra!" Yellow-robed paperboys were yelling with all their might as they paced through the streets. "Yin soldiers of the Nipponese Underworld have trespassed upon the territory of our Cathayan Underworld once again! The governor and administrative commissioner of Formosa slew over 1,000 Nipponese Yin soldiers and banished the Nipponese ironclad warship from our waters!"

"The Nipponese Underworld has completely disregarded international borders, sending an ironclad warship straight into Cathayan waters!"

"The Coalition of Underworlds is turning a blind eye, and the Nipponese Underworld is becoming bolder by the day!"

These extremely provocative headlines resulted in massive newspaper sales.

"Give me a copy." In front of a newspaper stand, a man was holding a newspaper in one hand and his breakfast in the other. After taking only a quick glance, he immediately gave a cold harrumph. "I can't believe Nippon is still this cocky even in the underworld! Do they still think this is back in 1938?"

"I know, right?" the owner of the newspaper stand immediately chimed in. "If you ask me, we should just attack them and show them just how powerful our Cathayan Underworld is now!"

"That's right! That's exactly what we should do!"

"We need to avenge ourselves for what happened in the mortal realm! I can't believe the Nippon is still messing with us even in the underworld!"

"Aren't we and the Hindustani Underworld supposed to be the top dogs in Asia? Since when did the Nipponese Underworld dare to invade our waters?"

All of the surrounding Yin spirits had been roused into a frenzy.

Similar scenes were taking place in every city, county, and village in the Cathayan Underworld. The Cathayan Underworld had finally risen up once again and re-established some confidence, and it certainly wasn't going to take such provocation without retaliation!

It was time to deploy troops across the Strait of Tsushima to avenge Cathay for what happened in the mortal realm!

Similar anti-Nippon sentiments swept through the entire Cathayan Underworld like wildfire within the span of just a few days. Of course, it wasn't just the newspapers doing the work, the government was also pushing the propaganda, with frequent mentions of the incident made on television, news, and all other media outlets.

What did this entail?

A mature government would've been able to sense that this was the precursor for a war. Regardless of whether a war was actually initiated, preparations for the worst had to be made as anything less than that could spell catastrophe.

However, due to the Array of the Nine Gods, no one could sense the unrest that was brewing inside the Cathayan Underworld.

Four days later, the Cathayan Underworld's government, which had remained silent this entire time, suddenly held a press conference, and that was when the first inklings of what was to come were revealed.

They heavily criticized the Nipponese Underworld for sending its Yin soldiers into the Cathayan Underworld's territory without permission.

They heavily criticized the Nipponese Underworld for sending its warship into the Cathayan Underworld's waters without permission.

They also heavily criticized the Nipponese Underworld's uncooperative attitude, and stated that the Cathayan Underworld retained the right to consider military retaliation. All of a sudden, the rest of the world was beginning to realize just how serious things were.

The press conference had all of the underworlds utterly astonished.

Why was the Cathayan Underworld being so shameless and reckless? What exactly had the Nipponese Underworld done to deserve this?!