Yama Rising

Chapter 481: T Minus 17 Days

There was only one toll of the bell, mellifluous and ethereal.

For some reason, the familiar sound of the bell seemed to soothe the man behind the veil. He paused for a moment and collected himself, before tossing Shadowless right back to the ground and growing taciturn.

The man frowned softly. He was initially bent on searching Shadowless’ soul, but the toll of the bell had for some strange reason caused him to drop his intent to kill.

He stared intently at Shadowless, before turning to look at the scale that was suspended in the air. Yin energy flourished from his body, and then ebbed away, and then flourished again, and then ebbed away again. After vacillating for some time, he finally retracted all of his Yin energy and muttered hoarsely, “Send word back to him.”

……………………………………………

The first name - Qin Hui!

It recalled what the Second King Yanluo had said back then - Fate brings about a confluence of coincidences, but nobody can say for certain whether any dangers lay hidden amidst these opportunities.

This meant that he was going to be involved again sometime later.

Just as the Harken started to get lost in its own thoughts, Fate started to move once more.

Black Yaksha, Crow Tengu!

It crinkled its brows like a human being - I wonder where the source of danger is supposed to come from?

These two Nipponese Yin spirits?

They definitely possessed the ability to threaten the incumbent King Yanluo of Hell.

……………………………………………………

“I’m not talking about those.” The person to whom the guide was explaining all these things retracted her finger. It was a beautiful woman wearing sunglasses, almost as though it was designed to conceal her appearances.

And that was exactly who she was.

Nobody was in the exhibition hall apart from her and the seven bodyguards following her. There were also two children whose hands she was holding. These children were approximately seven and eight years old respectively.

Ms Lee was currently pointing directly to a stone tablet.

Ms Lee lowered her hand, and then her entire body trembled slightly. Then, she promptly looked up and smiled as she turned and walked away, “What an eye-opener… I didn’t know that the King Yanluo of Hell was called Qin Ye.”

“Qin Ye?” The guide was taken aback, “That’s not right. The King Yanluo of Hell had always been known to be a nameless god ever since time immemorial--...”

“That’s right.” The tour guide turned to look at the stone tablet, “Likewise, this stone tablet wouldn’t have the name of the King Yanluo of--... Eh?!”

The stone tablet was approximately two meters high, and the painted relief sculpture depicted a young man wearing a long robe with a vivid expression on his face. Yet what was perhaps most astonishing was the fact that four additional words had mysteriously appeared right by the sculpture of the man.

How is this possible?!

Impossible. This is definitely the authentic stone tablet, but none of us have ever noticed any names written on it before! When did these words appear?

“Lee Jung-sook… Have you already forgotten our word of caution?” The boy on the left remained completely motionless as he turned around bizarrely to face Lee Jung-sook. Copious amounts of Yin energy poured straight into his pores, and Black Yaksha promptly rose from the cloud of Yin energy. It sported the appearance of a white dog, and both its robes and its hair fluttered wildly as it bared its razor-sharp fangs at Lee Jung-sook.

It was precisely because of this nail that her entire body had trembled earlier.

Whoosh! Crow Tengu’s hideous head instantly appeared right in front of her with a twisted and manic expression, “Curious?”

“This is one of the distinguishing features of Cathay’s feudal era. It’s taboo to address the venerated by their names. Instead, they’d simply refer to them using a pronoun. Which of you have ever heard a king being addressed using his first name? Besides, did you see the guide’s expression? He’s clearly never seen those words on the stone tablet before.”

“It’s real.” Black Yaksha walked up to the display case and scrutinized the stone tablet, “I can sense the aura of antiquity from it, and there’s even… a trace of domineering Yin energy. It’s absolutely terrifying, almost as though we’d instantly be crushed as soon as we come into contact with something like that. Besides, given Ms Lee’s identity and the sheer amount of investments she’s poured into Azurewaters City, they’d never ever think of pulling a veil over her eyes with counterfeit goods.”

Silence.

“The new King Yanluo of Hell is about to appear--... Or perhaps I should say, has already appeared. And he’s making his presence known to the entire world!”

This was by no means a trivial matter. The change of a dynasty might mean nothing to Hell as it stands, but… the change of dynasty to a powerhouse underworld is undoubtedly breaking news to the smaller surrounding underworlds!

Is he hawkish or dovish?

Perhaps one way of looking at it would be to liken it to the change of presidency in one of the world’s leading powers, such as in Usonia.

Lee Jung-sook stood behind the two evil ghosts and shut her eyes, “So, aren’t you guys going to take a closer look at the source of such breaking news?”

“Not necessarily.” Lee Jung-sook ran her finger slowly across the display cabinet as she continued, “The Hungry Ghost Festival is almost upon us, and the gates of Hell would be opened once more. If there’s truly a change of dynasty, we’d surely be able to pick up some clues about it during this major ghost festival.”

Black Yaksha instantly placed his claws around Lee Jung-sook’s neck without showing any trace of mercy. Her beautiful face flushed red with suffocation at once.

“Because we’ve already been around in these parts before you were even born.”