Yama Rising

“Next question.” Qin Ye went on, “Lee Jung-sook personally arranged for Ahn Jun-ho’s burial. What is their relationship? And since she clearly knows you’re not Paster Ahn Jun-ho, why did you continue to keep in contact with you, yet refuse to disclose her exact location to you?”

Ahn Somi smiled bitterly, “Pastor Ahn was the pastor who administered Lee Jung-sook’s baptism. And he’s… also the nominal father of my physical body.”

“The person that Miss Lee is trying to contact is actually Marquis Rumyantsev, the person that I answer to. She might not know the intricacies of our organizational structure, but she knows full well that Ahn Jun-ho is nothing more than a channel of communication. Frankly speaking, she couldn’t care less about how the channel looks, even if a different channel bears the same appearance as the previous channel that was available to her. After all… she’s afraid of neither gods nor ghosts. To my mind, she’s a human being that’s completely devoid of any faith in these things.”

But of course… Qin Ye shook his head - How could someone who’s lived for such a long time still cling onto the hope given by a particular set of faith or belief?

Well, that would explain why Lee Jung-sook continued to contact the second Ahn Jun-ho despite having personally arranged his burial back then.

Qin Ye was deep in thought when Ahn Somi went on with a statement that jolted him right back to his senses, “But… five years ago, she saw to it that we could no longer locate her whereabouts.”

Something’s not right!

If Lee Jung-sook had resorted to such measures in order to preserve her own safety and security, she would have done so right from the start! This was why I’d thought this to be Lee Jung-sook’s preferred mode of communication all this while.

Who would’ve thought that this was only a communication measure put in place just five years ago!

Qin Ye gently rested his chin on his hands, and his eyes gleamed brightly - If Lee Jung-sook didn’t use the ironwood frame together with the copper mirror, then this must mean that Lee Jung-sook still trusted them, and in particular, trusted the Lord of the Danube. Although there’s a possibility that she might not have known who she was actually dealing with, these things hardly mattered to a person who was courting her own death.

She wanted the means of passing on, while the Lord of the Danube coveted her status and authority back in the mortal realm. These aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive positions. In fact, these are positions that can easily coexist with the other.

So if that’s the case, then why did she suddenly have to implement such security measures just five years ago?

“There’s only one explanation for this…” He murmured aloud, “Perhaps, five years ago… Lee Jung-sook learnt of the truth about the nameless god of death’s script, and therefore no longer trusted them?”

“That’s not entirely impossible, because Ahn Somi is speaking from her own perspective. She was allowed to communicate with Lee Jung-sook, but there’s likewise also a possibility that No. 1 and No. 2 were also given access to communications with Lee Jung-sook. None of them are aware of what the others have spoken to Lee Jung-sook about, or what requests they might have made of Lee Jung-sook. Therefore… it’s not surprising that Ahn Somi doesn’t find anything amiss with this.”

He gently waved his hand, and a broken ballpoint pen appeared in his hand, “Kyung-ho, were you there with Lee Jung-sook five years ago?”

“No, but… something did indeed happen.”

“There’s no need to ask. I… remember it very clearly.”

“Five years ago, on 23 April. That’s when… I gained spiritual awareness for the first time. And as soon as I woke up, I saw her, and noticed how she was different from the others. That’s why I followed her all the way to Hanyang. And then, when she tried to perform a seance, I attempted to possess her.”

The entire room was silent. The nameless god of death’s script was already shrouded in mystery, and yet the shadings of the spirit pen added yet another layer of haze over it all.

“My intuition told me that if I could seize control of her body, I’d be able to learn the truth about what happened back then. Unfortunately… I failed.”

The ballpoint pen trembled for several moments, and a blistered, pale soul dripping with blood and water appeared in the air.

“Haa…” As soon as he appeared, Ahn Somi trembled and stared at him with great disbelief. Her lips parted slightly, ostensibly with an intention to speak, and yet she remained absolutely silent as a result of the immense shock that filled her mind.

“What did you recall?” Qin Ye immediately pressed the issue.

Ahn Somi remained silent. Her lips trembled as she continued to stare at the spirit pen. It was only after an inordinate amount of time that she finally found her own voice, “MV Sewol…”

The room went dead silent. These words turned the atmosphere in the room heavy at once.

“You… were a student who was on MV Sewol? Five years ago… 23 April… you… had to be it if you were born an Anitya Hellguard…”

Kwong Kyung-ho explained everything with spitefulness in his voice, “16 April, five years ago. A ferry carrying more than 400 passengers set off from Incheon port, and later sank to the bottom of the ocean. 300 people died, and 150 were injured. 8 people were declared to be missing. I… happened to be one of the 8 students declared to be missing!” [1]

Qin Ye had always found Kwon Kyung-ho’s story rather strange. Had he only died by drowning, there would have been no way he would have been born directly as an Anitya Hellguard. Therefore, he knew that Kwon Kyung-ho’s death wasn’t as simple as it sounded. It must have been the result of shocking injustice. However, he couldn’t be bothered to think about the cause of the death. The spirit pen was a Daeian Yin spirit after all, and any injustices were naturally Liu Yu’s business. He couldn’t care less about picking up after Liu Yu’s slack. That said, he’d never thought that his back story would somehow be related to the nameless god of death’s activity in Daehan.

He calmed the stirring emotions in his heart and listened on intently.

“I can still remember it clearly.” Kwon Kyung-ho gnashed his teeth. It sounded as if he was both crying and laughing at the same time, “16 April was a foggy day. Every single ship docked in the Incheon port had cancelled their scheduled departures… except us!”

“And when the ship sprung a leak, and the ship began to tilt… do you know what the captain and the crew told us?”

They all had a grim smile on their faces. They said… ‘don’t move’.”

“Sit here quietly, and listen to our command.”

“We all listened, because we were too small and frail to defend ourselves…” Kwon Kyung-ho snapped his head up to the ceiling and continued with a hoarse, spiteful voice, “And then… they ran away! They abandoned the ferry!!!”

Boom! A ring of blood-coloured Yin energy suddenly erupted from Kwon Kyung-ho’s body and filled the entire room.

At once, the room was filled with the gurgling sound of water.

A special Yin spirit?

Qin Ye was somewhat startled. He hadn’t examined the spirit pen up close, and he naturally hadn’t expected it to be a special Hellguard-class Yin spirit.

“Back then, I was only 11 years-old.” Kwon Kyung-ho licked his lips and sneered, “My classmates and I… sank in the icy cold waters. We cried for help. We screamed at the top of our voices. But… nobody came…”

“Not the military; not the shipping company; and not even the crew members! I watched my classmates sink down below the surface of the waters, one by one, as they all drowned in the water…”

He sighed softly, “And then… I soon followed.”

“I can still vividly recall the taste of the seawater to this very day. That salty, bitter, and cold seawater.”

His entire body was trembling from both fear and anger.

There was pin drop silence in the room. Wang Chenghao’s lips parted slightly, and then closed again without saying a word. Oda Nobutada also stared intently at Kwon Kyung-ho.

All Yin spirits had their own grievances and obsessions in death.

Qin Ye also remained silent because he knew that this was an incident that shook the world. Furthermore, things were clearly more than meets the eye with this incident!

First of all, it implicated the authorities. The then president Ms Park had reported that they were already in the process of rescue operations.

However, that was highly inaccurate. In fact, not a single ship had in fact gone out to sea. In fact, all of the private rescue organizations were completely sidelined.

Meanwhile, the students remained stranded on the tilting ship for hours, staring hopelessly into the boundless oceans, wondering why there weren’t any ships coming to rescue them!

The despair and loneliness accompanying the abandonment… must have been absolutely unimaginable.

Secondly, when put under pressure to finally push on with rescue efforts, President Park went straight into talking about the aftermath, and refused to disclose any further information about the rescue, including the number of passengers on the ferry that had been rescued.

And last, but most certainly not least…

The crew members on board the ship were eventually discovered to be alternative Catholics!

In other words… they were from a cult!

It wasn’t an accident! It was a sacrifice!

It was a sacrifice that was performed with the acquiescence of the government!

Someone had orchestrated the entire incident!

Back then, many people thought that this was nothing more than a rumour.

Then, in the following year, the Chief Executive of Chonghaejin, owner of the MV Sewol, was arrested and charged with causing death by negligence. Captain Lee, First Mate Kang, Second Mate Kim, and Chief Engineer Park were indicted on charges of homicide through gross negligence and sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other crew members were sentenced to imprisonment terms ranging from 15 to 30 years. Only three crew members had remained on board to help passengers escape. This news shook the entire world!

Why the charge of homicide through gross negligence, otherwise described as murder?

Think about it.

The former chairman of Chonghaejin, Yoo Byung-eun, born in 1941, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for the mass suicide of 32 members of the sect in 1987. [2]

Would he have been oblivious to the orchestration of this incident? Would he be oblivious to the fact that most of the crew members aboard the ferry were in fact cultists that were part of the same sect as he was?

A chill went down Qin Ye’s spine. It suddenly dawned on him that there was a real possibility that the incident with MV Sewol could have been a part of the Tsar’s script!

But that wasn’t sufficient to send shivers down Qin Ye’s spine. What caused his heart to go cold was the prospects of the few who might possess sufficient power to make this all happen.

After all, the ones who could make all of this happen in Daehan were few and far between, and to that end, Lee Jung-sook happened to be one of them.

Logically speaking, the fact that Kwon Kyung-ho had seen Lee Jung-sook as soon as he was reborn as a Yin spirit meant that Lee Jung-sook was at the site of the incident in seven days’ time! That said, the Russian Underworld would already have been in contact with Lee Jung-sook since over ten years ago!

Didn’t they get in contact with Lee Jung-sook precisely because they wanted to circumvent some of the government machinations in Daehan in the first place?

What could they possibly be trying to suppress?

The fact that they were able to suppress news about the MV Sewol for a good period of time before it finally exploded was terrifying indeed! Furthermore, if this were truly a part of the Tsar’s script, and given Lee Jung-sook’s importance in the eyes of the Russian Underworld, there’s no doubt that she would have been involved in some way or other!

“Haa…” Qin Ye closed his eyes and rubbed his brows. If… Lee Jung-sook truly had a hand in orchestrating this incident, then… we’re most definitely not fated.

I wouldn’t even bother looking for her.

This… exceeded his bottom line.

The lives of hundreds of innocent students were involved! From the reports, the oldest was 15 years old, while the youngest was only 8 or 9 years old. How could anyone have condoned burying such innocent lives in the bottom of the ocean?! Qin Ye could never bring himself to do something as ruthless as that - not even in his capacity as the King Yanluo of Hell.

“And if this is true… Liu Yu… how many innocent lives are you actually going to build your throne in the Hanyang Underworld on? And to think that we’ve only covered one chapter of the three chapters to the Tsar’s script to date…”

He sighed softly, and then turned to Kwon Kyung-ho once more, “When did Lee Jung-sook arrive? What did she do?”

“She arrived on 23 April! I’m dead certain of that!”

“That’s the seventh day.” Oda Nobutada interjected, “The night where the soul returns.”

Kwon Kyung-ho pursed his lips, “But… I think… she’s probably not the culprit. Otherwise, I’ll see to it that I avenge this death of mine with my own two hands, even if it means ashes to ashes!”

Qin Ye lifted his brows, “Continue.”

Kwon Kyung-ho nodded, “Back then, she arrived by way of helicopter and boarded another boat. I recall that… Miss Lee had a heated argument with a man, and then she even took out a gun and pulled the trigger on him!”

“But… he didn’t die!”

………………………………………..

Author’s comments: Those who are interested should really go read up more about the truth about the MV Sewol incident… It’s truly horrific.

We’re talking about politicians, businessmen and religious sects. Who knows how many people are involved. How could they have done something as horrendous as that?

There’s also a video interview with the family members of those who perished in the MV Sewol incident, with parents bawling their eyes out as they cry out for justice. Death is truly too cheap for these criminals!

1. I’ll just put this out here right now. It was a horrific disaster that was shrouded with mysteries and conspiracies. There were even ties between this event to certain cults in Korea. wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol

2. wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoo_Byung-eun