It had been one hell of a morning. He even had to maintain a perfect, pristine smile on his face when it was finally announced that he was ranked fifth in the Faculty of Combat. It couldn’t have been more heartbreaking!
“Didn’t… didn’t you say that Emissaries of Hell possess the ability to naturally suppress opponents at the same level as they are? I didn’t even face a single bit of pressure when expunging those Hunter-class ghosts, so why do these acclaimed geniuses of the mortal realm fight as though they’ve been possessed by the god of spring? And each one of them looked stronger than the other to boot!”
“Then how am I supposed to continue pretending to be happy in front of them in future?”
Qin Ye’s nerves immediately tensed up.
Bloody hell. She’s improving at light speed… how can she understand such internet slang and learn to respond to it so quickly…
“The core purpose of the First Academy of Cultivators has always been to slay evil ghosts. Didn’t you say that you’re in the Faculty of Combat right now? Then you’ll have plenty of relevant assignments in future to do just that. As soon as the academy sees your track record in that regard, nobody would be able to even point fingers at you any longer.”
Arthis slammed on the keyboard in exasperation, “Your main goal now is to survive, understand?! You’re a husky hiding among a pack of wolves, so can you please be more conscious of your status? What are you doing drawing attention to yourself? Aren’t you afraid of standing out a little bit too much? If you ask me, I think you’ve done a swell job today.”
Arthis finally lifted her eyes from the screen and thought for a moment, “Well, it’s not as though there’s no way out of this conundrum…”
“Over time, they will naturally get to know you better… including your track record against the ilk of ghosts. But before that happens, the academy will probably also implement other methods for their own grading and assessment purposes. For instance… by mockup classes.”
Arthis tapped lightly on her keyboard, “None of you are teachers or instructors by profession. Even if you’ve undergone some measure of training before, how could the academy possibly feel at ease entrusting their students to you? They’re bound to engage in some classroom observations like ordinary training institutions for you. It’s not that I don’t trust the instructors. It’s just that given the mortal realm’s abilities right now, there’s probably still a whole host of evil ghosts they haven’t even heard about yet.”
“For instance, a parasitic spirit.” Arthis explained, “It is born with a Yin vein and lives in the land of nine Yins. As soon as ghosts possess these parasitic spirits, they will even believe that the parasitic spirits are kindred spirits and continue to live together in the body of their host. Everything would be well and good while they remain hidden. But as soon as something triggers an outbreak, these parasitic spirits would at least be at the level of a malevolent ghast! When I was in office, I saw three such instances of outbreaks, each of which were ghosts at the incarnate revenant level. As soon as they appear, the village that they were in was completely obliterated, turning the surrounding area of a hundred mile radius into a nest of evil ghosts instantly.”
“And then there is the mother-and-child spirit, the nightmare spirit, etc. As long as you toss out some of these topics at random for discussion, you’re bound to take the top spot regardless of how much flair the other instructors perform their classes with.”
Hang on… Isn’t your level of comprehension simply astonishing as well… Qin Ye gazed deeply at Arthis, somewhat regretting having ever opened the floodgates of the internet to her.
Of course I do!
Midnight.
Qin Ye glared at her, “Let go.”
In his disdain, Qin Ye compromised by allowing Arthis to hold onto a corner of his clothes. He pulled out the other shard of King Yanluo’s Seal, took a deep breath, and everything went black. By the time he came to his senses once more, he had already appeared in the center of a vast expanse of land.
The land was approximately three square kilometers in size. The tan-coloured ground was covered in cracks, and jade-green netherfire continuously spewed out of the cracks from time to time. It even emitted the faint traces of the mournful cries of Yin spirits. Black trees with scarlet leaves swayed gently on both sides, forming a scarlet forest.
It was a palace.
It was an ancient palace with ancient doors and windows. Looking through the windows, one could see that the inside of the palace was illuminated by candles from lamps shaped like the Aurogon. More intricate sculptures of yakshas, rakshasas, Anitya Hellguards of the Black and White, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, were placed everywhere in an orderly manner. A table that was more than a hundred meters long sat squarely at the entrance of the palace, and there were over one hundred black coloured chairs placed behind the same. The table was covered with a long white cloth, and the front of the table was separated into over a hundred columns by black coloured wooden railings.
A pair of couplets was affixed vertically just underneath the sign.
And the second couplet read - Hath Hell spared any since ages past.
“Heh…” Arthis gazed at the couplets emotionally, “It’s been a long time… since I’ve seen these couplets.”
Qin Ye’s expression turned somber as he sincerely gave a palm-and-fist salute to the pair of couplets.
It didn’t matter what kind of heinous crime one has committed, whether causing hurt or swindling and cheating others. It didn’t matter that one was a sixty years-old man that was exempt from the reaches of the laws. It didn’t even matter that the police wanted to keep things under wraps and settle the matter privately.
Either live a life that is beyond reproach, or suffer the consequences in the Eighteen Abysses of Punishment.
Arthis responded, “This is the first thing you’ll see when you enter Hell. It’s commonly known as the Yin Pass. All Yin spirits, regardless of who or what they are, would invariably have to pass through this gate. Do you see the doors on the sides of the palace hall? That’s an exit that is only for Emissaries of Hell. Apart from this place, there is no other way of entering or leaving hell. This is an immutable rule of the Heavenly Dao.”
It was as if he were blocked by an invisible wall, and he was simply unable to pass through it.
“Ox-Head and Horse-Face summons spirits, and the Emissaries of Hell guide them. As soon as the Yin spirits arrive in this place, their names will again be cross checked against the records of the Book of LIfe and Death to verify whether any Emissary of Hell has committed malfeasance by reaping the spirit of one who wasn’t slated to die.”
“Naturally.” Arthis replied affirmatively, “Emissaries of Hell… are no different from evil ghosts who have unlocked their capacity for conscious thought. You’re the single exception. Apart from you, every single other Emissary of Hell is a ghost! In turn, ghosts who have unlocked their capacity for conscious thought are no different from human beings. Naturally, some of them will develop their own ways of thinking.”
“When the souls of the dead arrive at this place, they would immediately regain their sanity and start lining up to enter. After that, they would traverse the Yin-Yang road, cross the skeletal bridge, until they arrive at the location where the ferryman awaits.”
It shouldn’t be like this.
Arthis sneered, “Even though this little plot of land has every right to be considered the new order of Hell in its entirety, its dominion only extends to an area the size of a village within the City of Salvation. How often do people die in a single village? It’s absolutely normal if you don’t see a single soul for several days on end.”
Yet I… could I really start by plundering the corner of the Special Investigations Department’s treasury… and eventually rebuild such a magnificent realm that Hell used to be?
As though he suddenly remembered an important detail, he turned to look at Arthis, only to realize that Arthis was already smirking at him. With lips trembling, Qin Ye muttered, “Speaking of which… where are the other civil servants of Hell?”
“Bloody hell!!” Qin Ye nearly jumped at the statement, “You’re not going to ask me, a revered King Yanluo, to do the menial tasks of a civil servant, are you?!”
“First of all. Even though Hell’s domain of influence extends to the size of only a single village, the reestablishment of Hell is nevertheless something that all Yin spirits can sense. It is part of their instinct; it is a part of the Heavenly Dao. Therefore…”
Arthis nodded affirmatively, “All-out attack! Pulverize them!”
1. A folk goddess worshipped in China.
2. This was written in chinese internet slang that doesn’t have quite the equivalent in english. The closest is perhaps l33tsp34k.
3. The xiezhi unicorn is a chinese mythical beast that is known as a symbol of justice and law. Legend has it that it is often used in criminal proceedings when in doubt, and the animal would immediately know the innocent from the guilty, butting the latter with the horn on its head.
4. These refer to a broad class of nature spirits that are known to be benevolent, who are also caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth.
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