Yama Rising

ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!

Qin Ye’s consciousness was going crazy at the back of his mind. He couldn’t resist the urge to tear at Arthis’ neck as he bellowed, “Watch your image!!”

Where did you get that round paper fan anyway?! Was this something you’d already obtained in preparation for the possession of my body tonight?! How did I not notice this?!

“Get! Out! Of! Here!” He screamed at the top of his voice, raging and ranting but to little effect, “Give it back! Give my body back to me!! Return to the stupid silicone body you’ve come from!!”

“What’s the hurry?” Arthis responded placidly, “It wasn’t easy finding a human body, so what’s wrong with making good use of it? Can’t you let me take centerstage for just a little while?”

“How dare you treat my body like a stage for performances?! Scram! Get out right now! Bloody hell, my reputation as a straight man is crumbling at this very moment!”

How embarrassing!

It was one of those moments that was so shameful that it would continue to linger endlessly in one’s memories, surfacing every now and then and giving one the urge to bury his face and yell at the top of his voice!

Arthis turned a deaf ear to his cries.

Then, just as his body passed the first emissary, his posture became even more effeminate - he actually began to strut through the temple as though it were a catwalk.

“Aaaaaghhhh! Eyes… my eyes!” Qin Ye slammed his head against the walls of his consciousness, and he immediately developed a suicidal urge.

This was a true moment of highlights.

He had totally underestimated Arthis’ limits! No… she practically had no boundaries!

His eyes were practically bleeding profusely at this point as he watched his own body strut towards the half-spider lady, cover his own mouth with the round paper fan, and then chuckle coquettishly, “How ugly.”

The half-spider lady’s hand trembled, subconsciously tightening her grip around her weapon as she developed the urge to plunge it deep into the heart of the man in front of her. But in the very next moment, she bit down hard on her lower lips and shrugged off her desire to do so without saying a word.

Just then, Qin Ye’s shadow suddenly expanded like a rising tsunami, completely enveloping the half-spider lady. The eerie lights flickered, and a projection of a woman with dishevelled hair suddenly appeared. The half-spider lady widened her eyes in horror as she stared at her own hands icily.

Mustn't move…

I’ll die if I move a muscle…

This is a demon… a true, cold-blooded demon. She doesn’t seem to be as strong as the previous Infernal Judge, but she’s several times more depraved and vicious than him!

Sss… The other extraterritorial emissaries gasped in shock. They had spent most of their lives as evil ghosts and underworld emissaries, and yet they still couldn’t help but feel terrified of her presence. As they trembled in fear, they saw a scarlet eye open up from the shadow that had engulfed the walls. The eye was crimson like blood.

Just like the Abyss of the Pool of Blood.[1]

This… was a genuinely high-ranking official of Hell!

Qin Ye walked in an elegant, ladylike manner. Her poise and stance revealed much of her distinguished status in the past. She sashayed past the half-spider lady without giving her another look, and slowly made her way towards the other emissary that bore appearances like a grim reaper. She lifted his face with her paper fan, “Do you think that I’m… beautiful?”[2]

These words appeared to be accompanied by a chilling nethergale that swept through the temple, causing all of the lights to flicker dangerously and accentuating the hideous look of the broken statue. And then, the scarlet eye on the wall suddenly turned and looked over.

The ominous atmosphere only made Qin Ye’s fanatical disposition look all the more dreadful.

The grim reaper emissary trembled vigorously. Perverse… That’s right. Qin Ye’s disposition was incredibly perverse. But coupled with the eerie surroundings and the tense atmosphere, the psychopathic display simply terrorized them!

Death wasn’t scary. The inability to die was far more dreadful.

“Well?” Qin Ye held his thumb and middle finger together daintily as she gently lifted the grim reaper emissary’s chin. Her androgynous voice caused the entire temple to quake, “I’m asking you something.”

“Ahhhh!!” The terror in the emissary’s heart finally exceeded its limits. The genial smile of a young adult appeared no different from a menacing hell rift right now. With a mindless scream, he subconsciously grabbed his scythe and charged at Arthis.

Kill him…

He’s inhuman… Is this what a high-ranking official of Hell is like? Terrifying…

Whoosh…

Qin Ye didn’t even shift his body, and yet the scythe simply halted when it was barely an inch from his body. It was unable to go any further. Qin Ye’s expression remained the same as she muttered, “Trash.”

As she spoke, the scythe-wielding emissary cried out with a blood-curdling scream, while the shadows on the walls danced about eerily. The other emissaries looked on in horror as the grim reaper emissary was crushed and crumpled into a ball - slowly but surely growing smaller and smaller. The grisly sound of crunching bones could be heard, accompanied only by the sound of blood dribbling from the air. Finally, with a soft, muffled bang, he transformed into a cloud of Yin energy that scattered into the surroundings.

Arrrrggghhhh… His voice appeared to linger endlessly in the void around them.

“Haa... haa... sss…” Cold sweat percolated the forehead of the Nipponese emissary and trickled down the cheeks of the half-spider lady. They were so terrified that they weren’t able to muster any Yin energy from their bodies, and just like the white-masked emissary, each of them backed away to their corner of the temple, trembling and shivering incessantly.

Jade-green netherflames cast a deep long shadow from their bodies. The moment of immense humiliation for Qin Ye had just become the stuff of nightmares and despair for them.

Acting on a whim and fancy. A cold-hearted killer. This person… must have killed countless emissaries in the past! His hands must already be tainted black with their blood. He… doesn’t even care if we live or die!

It was like a cat that was playing with a mouse.

Qin Ye turned around and slowly made her way over to the white-masked emissary, and then simply stared at him silently. The white-masked emissary trembled all over. They had only locked eyes for a moment, and yet he instantly felt his knees buckle and give way, and he knelt to the ground with a resounding thud.

Even emissaries knew fear.

He saw from Qin Ye’s eyes the rage and fury of an underworld that was reputed to be the strongest for millennia on end. He saw the regret of countless extraterritorial emissaries who were crying and howling from the abysses of punishment.

Crack!!

Qin Ye stomped on the white-masked emissary with her military boots. She stood on high and raised her brows, “Who gave you the guts to step foot in Cathay so brazenly?!”

Whoosh! Half of the lights in the temple went out in an instant.

“Wuuu… Aaaaghhhhh!!” The emissary that had been trampled underfoot cried out in anguish. Her stomp had been so powerful that his head had nearly become completely separated from his body.

“Where did you get the confidence to come seize Cathayan souls for yourself?”

Thud! Another powerful stomp caused cracks to appear all over the ground in a spiderweb pattern. The ground sank half a meter down, and wisps of Yin energy began to drift into the surroundings, carrying with it pained screams of agony.

Qin Ye furrowed her brows in disgust and covered her nose. Then, she elegantly shifted her hand to her trousers and flicked, “Disgusting.”

“Aaaarrrrgghhh!!” Qin Ye’s consciousness screamed as he grabbed his hair and collapsed to the ground. He, too, was filled with despondence.

I can’t hear anything! I can’t hear anything!

I can’t see anything! I can’t see anything!

Everything that has happened today must be completely erased from my consciousness. Not a single shred must remain! Not even a modicum!

“Will you please be quiet?” Arthis’ barked back at Qin Ye’s consciousness. She was displeased, to say the least, “What difference does it make whether I front it or you front it? Isn’t it more important to leave our foreign friends a good impression of Cathay in their final moments?”

“But the only thing you’re leaving them is a horrific image of Hell! Return it to me… seriously, sister, I beg you to return my body to me! Let me swing the blade, alright? You’ve sunk so deep into your role that there’s no turning back!”

Arthis responded, “How many merit points do you have right now?”

“One thousand four--... Bloody hell, I don’t even want my merit points anymore! Are you trying to be the embodiment of my worst nightmare today?!!”

Arthis smiled like an emotionless killer, “What’s there to be afraid of? The more perverse I am, the deeper I can etch into their bones just how mighty and great Cathay’s Hell… On a separate note, I’ve done worse things before. Unfortunately, I simply don’t have the right tools right now…”

Are you the devil?!

Qin Ye stared at Arthis with bloodshot eyes, “Five seconds.”

“If you don’t return my body to me within five seconds’ time, we’re through! I’ll head straight into the depths of the mountains and become a hermit! I won’t give a damn whether Hell flourishes or crumbles!!”

“Tsk… men…”

“Five!!” It could be said that the rage in his heart was already bordering on madness.

“... Wait a while… let me experience it again…”

“Four!!!”

“Alright, alright… Just give me a moment!” Arthis grew exasperated.

“Three!!”

Arthis waved her hand. In an instant, the remaining two emissaries screamed miserably, their limbs twisted about, and they tumbled all over the ground. Following that, the Yin energy in the surroundings rushed straight into Qin Ye’s seven apertures, before promptly erupting once more. Qin Ye was now in his Hell’s emissary state.

“Emissary… Emissary of Hell…” The Nipponese emissary gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in despondence.

“Cathay… still has emissaries…”

A second later, Qin Ye abruptly opened his eyes, grabbed the demonhead saber and slashed at the Nipponese emissary like a hungry tiger pouncing on food.

Anyone who has witnessed that horrific sight earlier must die!

Psshhk! The Nipponese emissary was cut cleanly in half. However, he didn’t die immediately. He glared resentfully at Qin Ye and mustered a vicious smile in his final breaths, “Just you wait… Izanami-sama shall avenge me…”

Yet the only response he got was another brilliant glimmer of blade light that swept through the area like a powerful gale.

Whoosh… When the gleam faded, a dark luster glowed from Qin Ye’s chest, and Hell’s Records flew out. Then, a line of text quickly added an entry to the records as though someone were writing on it.

Name: Qin Ye (Nickname - Dogballs)

Place of Origin: Liu Er Mound Village, Gazi Gully, Tang An County, Qingguang City

Family Members: Grandfather (deceased), Parents (deceased)

Date of Birth: 1 October 1938

Occupation: Soul Hunter - 1,800 merit points. Distance to Anitya Hellguard - 1,800/2,000 merit points.

Qin Ye ignored it.

He continued to hack at the body for the next dozen or so seconds before he finally held back, gasping and panting for breath. The emissary under his saber had already turned into wisps of Yin energy that diffused into the surroundings, while the aftermath of his attack left terrifying scars on the ground. He sighed and closed his eyes.

That felt great!

He knew what exactly he wanted. After venting his frustrations through the flurry of hacks and slashes, he had already cooled off somewhat. Then, when he finally opened his bloodshot eyes again, he turned to look at the half-spider lady.

Kkkrrrr… He dragged his demonhead saber on the ground as he walked towards the half-spider lady menacingly, “Tell me what’s going on in your underworld, and I might consider letting you die swiftly.”

The half-spider lady stared straight back into his eyes. Death was knocking on her door, and yet she started laughing instead, “So that’s what’s going on…”

“Possession… it seems like something did happen to Cathay’s underworld…”

“Faced with an invasion of extraterritorial emissaries, Hell only sent a measly Soul Hunter possessed by the soul of an Infernal Judge… Hahaha… Kid!”

Just then, Arthis’ voice whispered icily in his ears, “Break her limbs and imprison her in the new Hell.”

However, it was too late.

Before she could even finish speaking, the half-spider lady suddenly opened her mouth wide, and her tongue lashed out like a whip. With a shrill shriek, her tongue swept around and then plunged straight into her own chest.

“Aaarrrgghhh!!” The pain of clawing out her own heart was excruciating. In an instant, copious amounts of Yin energy flowed out of her seven apertures, and her body dried up, leaving only a pair of eyes that continued to stare at Qin Ye even in death. A twisted smile crept up the corner of her lips, “Just you wait… Just you wait!!”

“One day, we’ll trample over the Cathayan Hell! You’d best enjoy it while it lasts! Hahaha…”

Her head was forcibly separated from her body before she could finish.

The demonhead saber passed through the void like a bolt of lightning. The manic expression on the half-spider lady’s face froze in time. Then, a second later, her body exploded into a cloud of Yin energy.

“Come back to me once you’ve succeeded at that.” Qin Ye muttered placidly.

Whoosh… Hell’s Records flew out once more and began to update its records. The final number was erased and updated to 2,200/2,000.

Merit points required for promotion to an Anitya Hellguard - fulfilled!

1. This is one of the Eighteen Abysses of Punishment.

2. I’m going to be referring to Qin Ye as ‘she’ while Arthis remains in control of his body.