Yama Rising

Chapter 487: T Minus 15 Days (2)

He was an old man who appeared to be in his seventies. His face was covered with age spots, yet his hands were firm and steady as he took a sip from his teacup and sighed wistfully.

The young man had striking brows, deep eyes and a sharp nose. He appeared young, yet the abstruse gaze in his eyes caused the old man to tremble all over. At once, the old man set down his teacup and motioned to cup his hands respectfully at the young man. But before he could even do so, the young man grabbed his hands with a faint smile and pulled him into a warm embrace.

Click… The door gently closed behind them. None of the other customers in the teahouse even raised their eyes to glance at the unremarkable interaction that had just taken place between a young man and an old man.

The booth was completely silent. Moments later, the young man shook his head, “Ghosts these days… tsk. Take a seat.”

The old man was just about to take his seat when he immediately shot right back to his feet as though his bum had been pricked with a pin. His entire body began quivering in fear once more, “My Lord… it’s not like that…”

“But--… Lord Qin, apologies for the oversight!”

“Yes…” The old man sat down apprehensively with his hands on his knees and his head hung low, “He’s… agreed.”

As expected…

“I want you to head back to Azurewaters City and tell Qin Hui that I’ll be there in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, before the clock strikes five. I’ll head over in a little while.”

Qin Ye chuckled and grew taciturn.

He’d be sorely disappointed if he thinks that I’m still the same man that I used to be. If he’s going to treat me as such, then I’ll make sure to make a long, lasting impression that will completely renew his mind.

…………………………………………………..

It was the picture of Qin Ye embracing the old man in the teahouse.

“According to reports, the Yin energy… emanated from him…” The man in black reported back with a hushed voice. He had been in service for decades now, yet this was still the first time he had personally witnessed something as bizarre as this. This was a long-drawn war between realms. Countless brethren had perished in the line of duty, and not a single one of his humankind brethren have been ever known to have betrayed Cathay at all!

“Why?” Zhou Xianlong shut his eyes so tightly that even his eyelids were trembling. His voice was incredibly hoarse and filled with great disbelief.

Nobody said a word.

This was the clearest sign of betrayal.

In that instant, they were almost certain that Li Jixi must have died by Qin Ye’s hands!

They had their own means to deal with traitors like that!

“Should we… take action?”

A few seconds later, the leader of the operations gave his firm response, “No.”

“I’m for it as well.” Mo Changhao seconded Zhou Xianlong’s opinion as he sighed wistfully, “Each and every Judge is precious to Cathay - especially one with talents as high as his. We cannot afford to act hastily or with presumption. Sir… the A754 monuments are going to be unearthed soon. By their last estimates, it’s not going to take longer than a dozen or so days. Preliminary scans reveal that… Qin Ye’s name has also been etched on the surface of the stone monument.”

“Approximately 15 August.”

“Such news is to be embargoed from the target. We’ll notify the target on the 15th itself. This will be his final opportunity to prove himself.”

……………………………………………………………..

T minus 15 days.

Dong… Dong… It was midnight. The investigator on duty was seated right in front of his computer, and he yawned lazily as he turned to his colleague, “Shall we go out for a smoke?”

“Let’s go.” The colleague stretched lazily and followed the other man to the smoking room. There, he pulled out a box of cigarettes and tossed it to the other man, “Hey, any ideas what the hell happened yesterday?”

“First, we detected the Yin energy from two sources, one Infernal Judge and one Anitya Hellguard. And then, at 1.08 a.m., there was an eruption of Yin energy with energy readings well above the ranks of Judge-class Yin spirits. To be completely honest with you, my first inclination is to think that our instruments have malfunctioned.”

Just then, the lights went out.

A second later, both investigators stood up in unison and flicked on their lighters in the dark for some light. Both men could see the astonished expression in each other’s eyes.

Impossible. The Special Investigations Department has backup generators that guarantee round-the-clock power. Even if the entire city suffers from a power outage, we’d still be able to keep things operational. So what the hell is going on here?

“H-hey… It’s me… Can you get us back onto the power grid? What’s going on? You don’t know? What? The power is also out in your neighbourhood?”

“Haa… That scared the hell out of me…” One of the investigators slumped down into his seat with a bitter smile on his face, “I’d actually thought that we’ve personally encountered a supernatural incide--...”

Both men had slumped down into their seats, only to jerk their heads up at the monitor with great surprise, so much so that even the expressions on their face were completely frozen.

Within a minute, the entire city was thrown into an oppressive darkness. A spine-tingling chill instantly filled their hearts and minds!

This naturally left them with only one other possible explanation…

And an incredibly powerful one at that!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the response they were expecting.

Dong, dong… Clang!

“A building in front of the hearth, built on the cornerstone of silver and gold. Four doors to the four corners of the world, and single path to heaven. Brilliance shines from heaven, illuminating the Golden Palace of Jade. The scent of incense fills the air; the dragon and phoenix tent covers the earth. The sun and moon hang high in the sky, next to the clouds of rainbow…”

Thud! One of the cell phones fell onto the ground. Even the dumbest of fools would be able to tell that this was the onset of a large-scale supernatural incident in Azurewaters City!

It didn’t come from the lights above. Rather, it came from all of the surveillance monitors around!

The surveillance monitors displayed various images of streets and homes in the city. Unbeknownst to them, scarlet lanterns had at some point appeared at every corner of the streets and in front of each and every home within the city, and they all lit up in unison at 12.01 a.m.! It was like a constellation glowing with a foreboding omen in the dark night sky!

Similarly, the paper money fluttered eerily above the national highway, dancing wildly with the wind and softly reflecting the scarlet hues of the lanterns everywhere around. Meanwhile, a procession of people appeared out of nowhere and half-knelt to the ground in the direction of the national highway.

They comprised both men and women paper effigies. Some blew on the sornas, while others clanged on the gongs or played the chimes, almost as though they were declaring the arrival of an important guest.

“Dear heavens...”