Yama Rising

They looked just like rhinoceros beetles.

Each one of them was about a meter in size, and their bodies were enclosed in a carapace which gleamed with a faint sheen. Their eyes blazed with intense, scarlet netherflames. On the surface, there didn’t seem to be anything particular extraordinary about their appearance. But when they started shrieking and struggling on the ground, one would then discover… that there was actually the appearance of a face hidden right underneath their wings!

These faces came in all shapes and sizes - some appeared old, while others were young; some appeared to be men, while others looked more akin to women. The spirit streamer had struck them squarely on their backs, but it hardly did any damage at all. There wasn’t a visible crack or even an indentation on their carapace.

Buzz… The twenty or so blight vermin were repelled by Qin Ye’s attack at once, and their wings vibrated with a loud buzz as they hovered about in place, as though confused. On the other hand, Qin Ye didn’t even bother to take a second look at them. Instead, he promptly turned his gaze to the end of the street.

There was an exquisitely designed building made of wood and stone that was located right at the end of the street. It occupied an area of at least meters square, and it was more than thirty stories high.

Countless crimson lanterns and white, draping curtains hung all around the building, enshrouding it with an air of gravity and magnificence. The carved beams around the building were incredibly luxurious. Yet what was perhaps most eye-catching of all were the words ‘Pavilion of Transcendence’ that were etched in sprawling, scarlet lettering right above the main entrance to the building. One could only imagine how majestic the sight would be when Yin spirits came and went from the building on a regular working day in the old Hell. Unfortunately, it was quiet as a tomb right now, shrouded only by a sense of eerie serenity.

It’s a good thing that the blight vermin haven’t spread to this location just yet… Qin Ye heaved a sigh of relief as he slowly walked towards the blight vermin that were vibrating their wings and buzzing about in mild confusion. He shook his spirit streamer slightly, and then plunged it straight into the human face on one of the vermin’s backs.

“You’re scaring this little kid… How are you going to take responsibility for it if you scare the kid to death?!” He tilted the spirit streamer and adjusted the angle of his thrust. It had to be mentioned that the exposed backs of the blight vermin were much softer and more vulnerable to attacks as compared to it’s hard carapace.

The joy of destruction, the excitement of abuse, and the sheer delight in their inability to resist his advances made Qin Ye feel like an innocent child that was digging into a jelly. It was absolutely satisfying!

Ahh… Push! Keep Going!

Poke it! Stab it! Keep going… He continued to thrust his spirit streamer in various angles until it finally went straight through the other side of the blight vermin and made contact with the ground. It was only then that Qin-sadist-Ye finally stopped pushing.

“Argh… I might have gone a little bit too far…” He muttered with a playful tone of voice before retracting his spirit streamer and making a beeline straight for the tall building made of wood and stone. But just then, the blight vermin that Qin Ye had stabbed earlier suddenly expanded in a grotesque manner, and a fountain of Yin energy suddenly began spewing and spurting out of its body, reaching heights of several meters on end. And then, a split second later, it unleashed a heart-rending cry that was completely disproportionate to its size!

SSSKKKRREEEEEEEEEE!!!

The cry was so loud and sonorous that the surface of the ground even trembled slightly. The miserable screech of the blight vermin seemed to reverberate endlessly. Kkkkkrrrrr… The ground and building around creaked and trembled softly. Qin Ye was completely flabbergasted by the turn of events. With a shocked gasp, he turned tail and began to dash away.

Just as he began to transform into a Yin nethergale to make his great escape from the scene of crime, the surrounding buildings… suddenly began to roar like the engines of a fleet of fighter jets. One after another… tens after tens… Until finally, hundreds of blight vermin began to roar into the air, as if responding to the swan song of their brethren in arms. Three seconds later, they began to rush towards Qin Ye from all directions like a massive tide of blight vermin!

“Bloody hell… it can even do such a thing?!” Qin Ye’s expressions turned ashen - It’s all your stupid misbehaving hand’s fault! It’s fine to indulge in such pleasures of life once in a while, but… there’s just too much going on right now! Wouldn’t I die of exhaustion at this rate?!

The endless black tide of blight vermin surged straight towards him, instantly engulfing the street behind as they tumbled and jostled forward like a devastating plague. Their target was patently clear - Qin Ye!

Herd mentality.

Borne out of their instincts for self-preservation.

He had come to realize that the blight vermin weren’t completely devoid of sentience at all. Rather, they were simply simple-minded creatures that were only able to act upon the most primal of their instincts.

“Arthis is sooner or later going to be the death of me!” He cursed Arthis as he dashed away at top speed with hundreds of blight vermin hot on his tail. The main gate of the Pavilion of Transcendence was still twenty meters away from him, and he could already vaguely see what would happen if he dashed right through the ten-meter wide entrance of the building. Unfortunately, he was clearly caught in a conundrum. It was clear that the blight vermin hadn’t invaded the Pavilion of Transcendence as yet. If he dashed right into the pavilion right now, wouldn’t that be tantamount to inviting a wolf into his own home?

What do I do… what should I do?!

His eyes darted about his surroundings, desperately looking for a way out of this situation. Unfortunately… there was simply no time!

The tide of Yin energy rushed straight into the main entrance of the Pavilion of Transcendence. Several seconds later, with a loud roar of vibrating wings, hundreds of blight vermin rushed straight into the building and permeated every part of it they could find. The doors and windows within the building were instantly shattered and crumbled to pieces.

“Bloody hell… this is practically an hornet’s nest right now!” Qin Ye cursed under his breath. It was impossible to fend them off. Their carapace was incredibly hard, and if they caught up to him, there was simply no telling just how much time it would take him to extricate himself from the situation. Furthermore, he didn’t even know what the situation upstairs in the Pavilion of Transcendence was like…

Therefore, he knew that his best bet right now lay in a bottleneck strategy.

He needed a narrow passageway that would naturally inhibit the number of blight vermin he faced at a time.

Otherwise, it would be nigh impossible to escape from their onslaught as soon as the blight vermin began to pile up on his body. How could he risk losing the great legacy of Hell to these creatures?

His eyes quickly scanned about his surroundings - screens, front desk, seats, vases… Nothing was of any use to him! The lobby of such governmental offices were naturally grand and wide, open and spacious. Just as he began to frazzled by the lack of options, his eyes passed over a particular area, and he immediately did a double take at it.

It was the entrance to the stairs leading straight up to the second floor.

It wasn’t particularly wide. The width of the passageway was only approximately three meters. At the very least, it was far narrower than the main entrance he had passed through earlier. Furthermore, he could see a huge sculpture placed right at the entrance to the second floor.

There was no room for second thoughts. He took a deep breath and dashed straight towards the second floor. The buzzing of what sounded like a fleet of bomber-jets followed closely behind his back.

Poke me once, and I’ll follow you for life!

The entrance wasn’t too far away. As he dashed forward in the form of a nethergale, Qin Ye’s spirit streamer had already begun to materialize in front of him. Then, as soon as he arrived on the second floor, copious Yin energy instantly converged around him, and he reappeared in his Hell’s Emissary state once more, where he promptly… turned around.

The entrance to the second floor was completely pitch-black. Yet, the deafening, buzzing sound didn’t stop following him. Instead, one after another, blazing scarlet pupils began to light up the darkness as they stared transfixed at Qin Ye with a menacing gaze. Simultaneously, Qin Ye operated his Yin energy, causing the talismans on the spirit streamer to flutter wildly and open up, blocking out the entire entrance to the second floor altogether.

He was going to confront the rushing tide for the very first time.

Whoosh… The spirit streamer’s talismans slowly rotated in place as he held his ground. Qin Ye could see the great black tide of blight vermin outside through the gaps between the talismans. Twenty meters… ten meters... Then, just as they closed in on Qin Ye, he bit his finger and brushed his finger across the surface of the spirit streamer.

An oppressive dark light instantly erupted from the spirit streamer, and the innumerable talismans on it lit up in quick succession. When the black tide finally arrived before Qin Ye, there was already a small, one-inch tall man just in front of the spirit streamer. The man was congealed from dense Yin energy, and he stood in place, yawning lazily as though unfazed by the blight vermin.

Blade release of an Emissary of Hell!

The entire scene went completely silent in that instant.

The black tide of blight vermin was no more than three meters away from Qin Ye, and yet they ceased their approach as soon as the little man appeared. In fact, Qin Ye could see that there were approximately eight pairs of scarlet eyes right in front of him, and yet they were all completely petrified.

It was as though everything froze in that single instant. And then, a split second later, the dozens of blight vermin that were leading the charge shrieked in terror, turned around, and frantically began to scramble to a retreat.

Their instincts were blaring, warning them that a single step forward would result in certain death.

Whoosh… The massive tide of blight vermin appeared like a sloshing river that surrounded the Pavilion of Transcendence on the outside. However, it was too late.

The blade release of an Emissary of Hell must draw blood!

Just then, the one-inch tall man slowly opened his eyes, and a majestic wave of Yin energy instantly rippled out and filled every corner of the Pavilion of Transcendence, distorting the air wherever it passed. It was as though an invisible netherflame were burning bright in the heart of the building. A moment later, the one-inch tall man opened its mouth and unleashed a violent roar.

ROAAARRRRRRR!!!!

Boom! Clink clink clink!

The surroundings trembled violently. The ferocious roar contained innumerable blades within that swept forward a hundred meters like a devastating sonic blast, ravaging everything in its path. The blight vermin that lagged behind didn’t even have the time to shriek in fear or pain before it was promptly sliced up and reduced to dust.

Clatter clatter… The ground of the Pavilion of Transcendence cracked. However, Qin Ye didn’t even bother to watch how the one-inch man dealt with the rest of the blight vermin. Instead, he immediately turned around and ran straight into the second floor and tossed the spirit streamer behind him, firmly bolting the doorway behind him to the exclusion of all other blight vermin around.

“Bloody hell...” He sat weakly on the statue on the second floor, and then began to fiercely slap his right hand, “Damn thing! Damn you and your lack of self-restraint!”

Moments later, he wiped the sweat off his forehead, before finally taking the time to look around the Pavilion of Transcendence.

It was designed with an ancient Cathayan flair.

It was grand and elegant, and it looked no different from what one would expect of such buildings in the mortal realm. The building was primarily constructed out of maroon-coloured wood. That said, the carvings here were different. Similar buildings in the mortal realm would have been decorated with carvings of nature, including birds, flora and fauna, while the Pavilion of Transcendence was instead decorated with carvings depicting the Eighteen Abysses of Punishment.

The second floor contained nothing more than office spaces. Given his understanding of traditional Cathayans, Qiankun Pouches would never be stored on the second floor of the building. Even if they were, their contents would rarely be important.

Just then, Qin Ye suddenly heard several sharp hisses coming from around the building. He cursed under his breath and scrambled to his feet - I knew things wouldn’t be resolved as easily as that!

His present blade release was evidently far more powerful than before. After all, it was already able to strike at foes that were a hundred meters away. That said… the tide of blight vermin clearly extended beyond a hundred meters.

There would at least be a few stragglers... These things are like drugs - once you start on them, you’ll never be able to shake it off. In fact, you’ll only need more and more until… it finally overwhelms you.

Such a massive building as the Pavilion of Transcendence would definitely have a directory. Otherwise, how would the newly appointed workers be able to find their way about during the first few days of work?

Buzz, buzz, buzz! Just as he began to search around for a directory, the light which illuminated the room suddenly became dappled and spotted. Furthermore, he could once again hear a loud buzzing sound approaching him, as though a bomber had just taken off.

In fact, it was even louder than before. He lifted his head, and the sight that greeted him instantly caused his eyelids to twitch uncontrollably.

He was gazing right out of the window, staring transfixed at a massive black cloud in the distance that was far greater than the one he had earlier encountered. And the massive cloud was charging straight towards the Pavilion of Transcendence right now!

“Bloody hell…” Even Qin Ye couldn’t help but feel his scalp turn numb from the sheer number of blight vermin that was approaching him at this instant - That’s way too many… There were only a few hundred the last time, but there’s definitely more than a thousand in this massive cloud of blight vermin!

He immediately crouched down and got low. The massive cloud of blight vermin arrived at the Pavilion of Transcendence within moments, surrounding it like massive black tethers that blotted out all sources of light from the building. It didn’t take long for the entire Pavilion of Transcendence to be completely wrapped up by terrifying blight vermins.

Some shrieked and vibrated their wings on the walls of the building, while others hovered and encircled the building menacingly. The overwhelming sight of these beasts would most definitely cause any ordinary person’s hair to stand on end.

Then, a second later.

Qin Ye looked on with a grave expression as more blight vermin continued to gather around the Pavilion of Transcendence. Then, in that instant when a critical mass had gathered, they unleashed a blood-curdling shriek in unison and madly rushed straight into the Pavilion of Transcendence!

Craaaaaackk! Structural beams cracked, pillars snapped and windows shattered. The Pavilion of Transcendence was no longer shielded by the protective formation arrays of the old Hell, and it had actually begun to crumble under the sheer force of the mighty blows of thousands of blight vermin!