Yama Rising

Chapter 703: Drum of a Mountain God (1)

“I’ve not used my weapon ever since becoming an Abyssal Prefect…” Qin Ye’s silhouette slowly appeared from the shadows, revealing the fact that he was holding… an umbrella.

Rustle… The umbrella opened silently, revealing the painting of a face that was half crying and half laughing. The spokes of the umbrella were all made with human bones, and from them also hung several fist-sized human bones that acted as wind chimes, followed by trailing black talismans that were drawn on with striking vermillion ink. It was a rather artistic sight. Qin Ye released his hand, and the umbrella drifted soundlessly to the road covered with Yin spirits.

Whoosh! Then, like a torrential downpour, countless sharp blades poured out from beneath the umbrella, pelting down mercilessly to the congregation of Yin spirits below. A cacophony of miserable screams ensued at once, followed by the eruption of dazzling lights formed by the netherflames hurtling into the skies. Qin Ye and the Harken rushed forward through the now-cleared roads, crossing over a thousand meters at once!

“Do you feel that?” 10 minutes later, after crossing yet another valley, Qin Ye’s eyes flashed wildly as he beckoned to the bone umbrella, causing it to fly right back to his hands. He licked his lips, “The Yin spirits are slowly getting stronger and stronger.”

“Operative-class Yin spirit…” The Harken’s pupils narrowed as it glanced towards the depths of the mountain range ahead, “Does this mean that the further we go, the stronger the Yin spirits making this pilgrimage? We’d seen nothing more than mere wandering ghosts earlier, and yet… we’re already seeing evil ghosts?”

He wore a foreign looking cap, replete with two rows of braided hair running down the back of his head and onto his chest. They wore simple clothes that were monotonous in colour, and a scimitar hung by his waist. A folkloric necklace made from horse’s bones and a turquoise pendant also hung right in front of his chest.

Had it not been for Temujin’s Tomb, the appearances of such an evil ghost would’ve hardly meant a thing to them. But now…

In fact, it would seem that every Yin spirit from this point forward were all evil ghosts of the Mongol Empire!

Without further ado, Qin Ye rushed forward, ploughing straight through the Yin spirits along the road. His Yin energy roared in fury as they slowly but surely made their way to the very peak of the mountain range. As they went on, they encountered fewer Yin spirits along the way. However, they could all sense that their cultivation levels were slowly getting higher and higher.

Qin Ye rushed forward and motioned to strike them with his bone umbrella once more. But, just then, he paused, only to realize that the Harken had simultaneously also grabbed hold of his hand. Both man and dog took a tacit look at each other, and then proceeded to glance around at the surroundings.

They were only halfway along towards the very peak. The Yin mountains looked just like a large horse from afar, with its peak located at the horse’s head. They would only be at the horse’s back, and they could see that the horse’s head was just ahead of them. However…

In other words, there didn’t seem to be any other ways to get up to the peak!

“Are they worshipping their own king?” The bone umbrella flew right back into his own hand. Qin Ye grabbed hold of it, and then slowly made his way towards the end of the road. The stone path had been around for countless times, and some of the pieces had already collapsed into the ground.

“But why aren’t they bowing down to the horse’s head?” Qin Ye’s pupils contracted as he walked up towards the three kneeling Judges, gently running the tip of his bone umbrella along each of their spines. The three Judges trembled, and they begged with quivering voices, “Cultivation isn’t easy… P-please… spare us…”

They were speaking in the language of the Mongols!

Incidentally, Qin Ye had also seen this sculpture before.

“What’s the meaning of this?” He sighed in disbelief and turned to the Harken, “They’re bowing down to Tengri? Does this mean that Brother Zhao isn’t here? Or is it that…”

Silence.

Qin Ye quickly marched up to the sculpture, confirming that it bore the exact same appearances as the Tengri he saw when the Mongol Empire’s faith had collapsed. That said, the only difference was that the sculpture appeared to be holding a lotus flower in his hand.

But although it was withered, its petals were still neatly arranged around the heart of the lotus flower. Qin Ye reached out and touched them gently. At once, the petals immediately disintegrated, before transforming into wisps of ethereal green Yin energy that promptly dissipated into the surroundings.

“Ascension.” The Harken paced around the statue, glancing around with great seriousness at the surroundings, “The lotus flower represents the cultivation of virtue, while a withered lotus flower represents divine impurity, or taintedness. This is a distress signal.”

Qin Ye gulped nervously, “You mean…”

It gnashed its teeth and gazed into the depths of the mountain range, “Then three months later, karmic fire will ravage the city and destroy both him and his opponent.”

Qin Ye’s jaws dropped slightly as he gazed blankly at the horse’s head peak.

Genghis Khan’s soul?

After all, Genghis Khan hasn’t even been to Hell, and he’s not been conferred any title as an Emissary of Hell either. Naturally, Ghost King Zhao will be able to instakill any Yin spirit of the same level as him.

Qin Ye skimmed through everything he knew of Cathayan history, but apart from those who had already gained ascension, nobody seemed plausible!

“Hang on.” The Harken leapt up onto a boulder nearby and gazed into the distance once more, “He’s torn apart the fabric of space that connects the horse head’s peak from the rest of the world. I’m afraid we won’t be able to locate him even if we head there right now. This is a formation array, one that only high-ranking Emissaries of Hell know how to enter. Let me take a closer look at how we can enter this domain he’s created.”

The Harken glanced coldly at Qin Ye, “Because something that can force a Ghost King into a corner like that can only mean that it’s not an easy situation to break out of. He doesn’t want any other hot-headed Emissary of Hell to rush headlong into the fray and end up adding to the chaos instead.”

As the number of runic symbols increased, they also began to dazzle with ever greater brilliance, becoming more and more life-like, until even golden butterflies were beginning to scatter from its paws. Then, finally, everything transformed into a pillar of light formed from dazzling Yin talismans that revolved around them.

At least, it looked like a map. The truth of the matter was that every bit of it had been completely formed from the runes of Yin Talismans. The Harken gently set its claws onto this map, causing it to ripple wildly like the twinkling stars in the dark night sky.

“Is it going to be troublesome?”

As it spoke, the map on the ground suddenly sparkled with a dozen or so spots of light that appeared to be entering from several different locations.

Qin Ye’s gaze flickered wildly, and then suddenly recalled something.

That’s right! Could he have inadvertently breached the defenses of the formation array and stumbled in by mistake?

These are all special features of the formation arrays!

The Harken abruptly looked up and gazed deep into Qin Ye’s eyes, “Are you certain?”

The Harken sighed softly, and then swiped its paw down ferociously towards the boulder beneath its feet. Then, with a sharp, incisive gaze, it glanced up at the horse’s head peak once more and murmured to itself, “Superior A-grade formation array, Ninefold Desolation Soul-Cleaving Array. Old Zhao, aren’t you being too hard on yourself?”