Yama Rising

Chapter 237: Negotiations with the Demon King (2)

Everything was silent.

But before Qin Ye could even respond to that, Nobunaga continued with a faint smile, “Between being a puppet of Cathay and being a subordinate to Izanami, I’d lean towards the latter. After all, I’d at least be able see some of my old acquaintances.”

“Oh?”

Oda Nobunaga’s eyes blazed with passion, and then it faded away in an instant.

Izanami didn’t trust him.

And this also happened to be the strongest card in Qin Ye’s hands right now.

Nippon was currently a place rich in culture and arts. How could they possibly tolerate Nobunaga and his immense grievances that have been festering for centuries on end?

If he were to resist, he would undoubtedly be obliterated by Izanami’s forces. Nobunaga’s faction and Izanami’s armies were on completely different levels.

“Is that true?” Nobunaga gnashed his teeth behind the cover of the bamboo blinds.

There was a profound silence for the third time straight.

Qin Ye smiled and nodded his head.

The netherflames on the candles around suddenly flickered wildly, and a chilling, ghastly shriek echoed in the shadows of the room.

Qin Ye lowered his gaze, “Are you sure about this? Lord Ming is still waiting right outside.”

But before Nobunaga could even finish speaking, a massive wave of Yin energy erupted from Qin Ye’s body and engulfed him within a massive vortex of Yin energy. In an instant, Qin Ye was dressed in his tall fretwork skullcap and wielding his mourning staff. His hair turned white and scattered about wildly as he walked back out in his Hellguard state. Countless bony hands even reached out where he had just been sitting moments ago, almost as though it were part of the path leading straight to Naraka.

“I make my own path.” Oda Nobunaga laughed from his side of the bamboo blinds, “As long as none of you leave this place alive, would anyone even know you’ve been here before?”

The sliding doors in Honnoji slammed open in an instant, and Qin Ye quickly noticed that the the two sets of skeletons that he had earlier seen suddenly lifted their heads, and green netherflames blazed in their sunken eye sockets. With a shrill shriek, they rode a swift nethergale and charged straight towards Qin Ye.

Sssss! A Nipponese female ghost with scattered hair shot out of the ukiyo-e, followed closely by hundreds of other ghosts. Armed with a multitude of weapons ranging from kitchen knives to rusty firearms, the spirits under Nobunaga’s control suddenly charged right into the inner chambers.

“Well, Lord Oda, I’m sorry.” Qin Ye lifted his mourning staff into the air, before slamming it straight into the bamboo blinds, shattering it in an instant as he lunged straight for the man hidden behind it.

This was a showdown between Hellguards, and both unleashed a series of attacks with immense speed. Qin Ye had abruptly struck at Oda Nobunaga at a speed far beyond the comprehension of a mere Soul Hunter. His silhouette appeared no more than to flicker slightly, leaving an afterimage in its wake.

As the bamboo blinds shattered with a miserable clatter, Qin Ye finally saw the Demon King’s appearances for the very first time.

There was no longer any skin left on his body. No blood flowed from his wounds either. Rather, the charred skin and his dried blood appeared to have melded together to form a grotesque crust around his body. He dressed himself with an exquisite feather weave and a daimyo’s hat. However, he didn’t have a head.

ROAR!

“Do you think I’ll believe everything you say just because you’re glib?” Oda Nobunaga’s booming voice caused all of Honnoji to quake vigorously, “I’m the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. You’ve underestimated me.”

But just then--...

An equally thunderous bang shook Honnoji for the second time. A massive crack appeared in the ground, snaking around as it continued to extend endlessly. The foot soldiers stared at the ground in horror. Netherflames surged from the crack in an instant, while the surrounding trees began to shake wildly as though a great, invisible hand were pressing down in them.

Rather, it was the entire realm that was trembling.

“Are you laying hands on an ambassador of Hell?”

Like quicksilver, the brilliance of its light penetrated every corner of Honnoji, and every single demon and ghost screamed in terror as they collapsed to the ground, shuddering and shivering with great fear. Then, as the light slowly faded away, everything returned to their respective places within the ukiyo-e paintings.

Qin Ye didn’t move. His fingers were already reaching for his own arm, while a sea of venomous Yin energy snakes continued to lunge viciously at him, tearing and biting at him desperately, but unable to breach the thin layer of Yin energy wrapped around his body.

A bead of cold sweat rolled off his jawlines. Both had struck out mercilessly, leaving little room for the other to respond to their attacks. He was already on the verge of unleashing his blade release had the snakes advanced just that little bit more.

Then, after one minute of impasse, the tide of venomous snakes slowly began to retreat, and Nobunaga acted as though nothing had ever happened at all. A fresh bamboo blind hung down in front of him once more, and Nobunaga tapped the tatami mat softly with his folding fan, “Take a seat. I got carried away there.”

Incredibly strong.

His tide of Yin energy was on the verge of materializing. This told Qin Ye that he was at least an advanced Hellguard-class Yin spirit. In fact, he was probably on the verge of attaining a breakthrough to becoming an Infernal Judge.

There were two reasons. The first reason was the fact that Qin Ye had been on the offensive in the negotiations all this while, and his aggression could have drawn out an instinctive backlash from Nobunaga.

And the more Qin Ye thought about it, the more he grew certain that Nobunaga probably wouldn’t have laid hands on him, even if Ming Shiyin didn’t make a move. After all, the instability of the realm in this place wouldn’t be able to withstand the unrestrained showdown between two Hellguards.

“Mr Oda doesn’t seem to trust me very much.” Neither of them brought up the earlier altercation as Qin Ye fired the first salvo in the resumption of their negotiations, “Don’t you think that such methods of verification is a little too unbridled?”

“I believe we can continue with our discussions from where we left off.” His voice deepened somewhat, and he finally pulled up the blinds, “Like I said before, I like to cut to the chase. Tell me what you can offer, and what your conditions are.”

Now we’re getting to the point.

One of the things which Qin Ye hated the most was to receive perfunctory responses like “oh”, “I see”, and “I’ll consider that”. The earlier altercation had seemed dangerous and unruly, but it was the only reliable method of verification that Oda Nobunaga could have resorted to at that point in time.

“First, we’ll rescue you from East Cathay Sea.” Qin Ye deliberated for a few moments before explaining sincerely, “The Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl that you’re residing in is on its way to the Strait of Tsushima to be sold at an auction right now. But, due to some constraints, I’m afraid we won’t be able to gain access to the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl before the auctions. Izanami has already established a garrison of her army at the Strait of Tsushima. There’s no way you would be able to battle your way out of the encirclement without our help.”

“Secondly, you’ll return to Cathay with us. As the First Secretary of King Yanluo himself, I give you my word that you would be given absolute autonomy to act. Furthermore, we will render you our full assistance in your invasion of Nippon in future. However, you must pledge allegiance to Hell by becoming a citizen of Hell.”

“I’m sorry, Celestial Ambassador of Hell, this isn’t the outcome that I, Oda Nobunaga, desire.”