Chapter 840: Destroying the City (3)
Qin Ye didn't pay much heed to this information. He could review that at any time, and his current priority was to ensure that no one escaped.
All of these Yin spirits could be aware of the existence of the Cathayan Underworld's trade route. In the eyes of those ambitious and ruthless death gods, this would be a massive opportunity. Hence, he had to kill everyone! He would rather kill innocents than to risk allowing those who could pose a threat to the Cathayan Underworld to slip through the cracks!
The entire room was instantly cleared out. In the face of a Yama-King, these immensely notorious fugitives and ghostly deities in their own respective nations were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter. Countless screams of horror could be heard coming from outside as Qin Ye slowly rose up into mid-air.
To Qin Ye, he was rising up slowly, but in the eyes of all of the terrified evil ghosts in the city, there was a reverse waterfall of Yin energy rising up into the air amid the howls and wails of countless Yin spirits! It was as if a true god had descended upon them. As the boundless wall of Yin energy ascended into the heavens, all of the evil ghosts shrieked in horror as they scattered and fled in all directions.
Their only thought was to flee and survive!
If they stayed here, then they would be dead in a matter of seconds, so they had to get as far away as possible! Perhaps if they could reach the borders of the city, the Yama-King would lose interest in them and let them live!
Qin Ye paid no heed to those evil ghosts. He swept a hand through the air, and the six Yin spirits, Kwon Kyung-ho, Ryu Changmin, Chu Renmei, Huang Jiansen, the Spatial Spirit, and the Porter Spirit instantly appeared behind him, following which he declared, "You can devour to your hearts' content here. Leave the special Yin spirits at or above the Infernal Judge level, but make sure to leave no one else alive. There are at least several hundred thousand evil ghosts in the city. Aside from Chu Renmei and Huang Jiansen, don't bother coming back to me if you don't make a breakthrough after devouring so many Yin spirits."
The netherflames in the eyes of all of the Yin spirits flashed upon hearing this. There were two ways through which one could join the Dusk Legionnaire, one of which allowed the Yin spirits in question to retain their sentient will, such as in the cases of Kwon Kyung-ho and Chu Renmei, while the other method completely erased one's soul and transformed them into mindless puppets, such as in the cases of the Porter Spirit and Otakemaru. However, regardless of which category the Yin spirits fell into, they all retained their instincts.
Devouring other Yin spirits was the quickest way for an evil ghost to progress up the ranks, so their instinct was to devour! As soon as Qin Ye's voice trailed off, the six evil ghosts immediately swept forth as six gusts of Yin wind.
The group consisted of two Abyssal Prefects, one Infernal Judge, and three Anitya Hellguards, and their combined Yin energy formed a massive wave that swept through a huge section of the city. Yin clouds were suffocating the city from above, while Yin energy was flooding through the city like ink.
In the southern part of the city.
Most of the buildings here were tile-roofed bungalows that were rather dilapidated, and there were also countless caves dug out of the side of a mountain on the seabed. At this moment, countless evil ghosts were rushing out of the caves before fleeing for their lives like insects.
There were foreign zombies, vengeful spirits, and headless corpses, but they were outnumbered by the Yin spirits who had perished in the seas of eastern Asia. Yin spirits wearing all types of attire from countries such as Cathay, Nippon, and Daehan were screaming as they ran through the streets. However, amid the chaos, there was a group at the very forefront that was traveling at an alarming speed, rushing directly toward the borders of the city that were encompassed within the Heavenly Dragnet.
This group was led by a female evil ghost with a head of black hair wearing a white dress. Wisps of Yin energy were drifting out of her dress, making it appear as if the dress had been woven from Yin energy.
Her mouth was extremely large. In fact, her entire body below her mouth was completely split open, and within the exposed cavity sat an inky-black ghostly infant, which was clawing at its own face as it screeched, "Run! Get as far away from here as possible! We'll all die if we stay here!"
If there were any people from Malaya present, they would definitely be able to identify this female Yin spirit as a nationally renowned evil ghost by the name of Sundel Bolong. She had committed suicide while pregnant, and a cemetery had taken shape following her death. Within the cemetery, it was said that vengeful spirits roamed for all of eternity. As the leader of the group, she was an Abyssal Prefect!
Around a dozen evil ghosts were frantically rushing along beside her as quickly as they could. They didn't know whether they would be able to escape by following her, but they were instinctively following the most powerful being they could find.
Right as Sundel Bolong's voice trailed off, violent tremors suddenly ran through the ground behind her as Yin energy erupted up into the heavens. She immediately took a glance backward, and the sight that she beheld sent chills running down her spine!
"That's... an Abyssal Prefect level servant spirit!!!"
Who exactly was the Emissary of Hell that had arrived at the city?
However, this wasn't the time to think about such things. She gritted her teeth tightly as she did everything in her power to repress her own Yin energy while frantically rushing toward the borders of the city. She didn't dare to fly, as anyone who dared to take flight right now would become an instant target.
If I can escape from Mirage City, there's a chance that I could survive, but if I stay here, I'll be dead for sure!
She was getting closer and closer to the border of the city, and beyond the gates was the vast sea. If she had a heart, it would most definitely have already jumped to her throat. 1,000 meters... 500 meters... 300 meters... The closer she got to the gate, the more she repressed her own Yin energy, not daring to release it for even a single instant. In the face of a Yama-King, displaying her Yin energy would be no different from suicide.
100 meters... 50 meters!
Every second that passed by felt like an eternity, and finally, she heaved a long sigh of relief as she reached the city gates. Only then did she notice how tense she had become from fear, and she made an active effort to relax her own body.
She cast her gaze toward the dark seabed outside, and she gritted her teeth before rushing out without any hesitation.
She didn't know how many people were going to die in this city today, but she wasn't about to be one of them. However, before she even had a chance to celebrate, she was repelled back into the city amid a resounding boom!
A stunned look appeared on her face as she cast her gaze forward, only to discover that a blue light barrier had appeared up ahead, and there was a massive chain on either side of the barrier!
It was the Heavenly Dragnet!
Damn it!!
Sundel Bolong grabbed fistfuls of her own hair in desperation. She completely forgot about this thing! It was clear that the Yama-King planned to kill every single person in this city!
"Wh, what do we do now?" The blue light barrier was like the final straw that broke the camel's back, and all of the Yin spirits accompanying her began to scream in horror.
"He's sealed off the entire city!"
"Is he going to kill us all?!"
"Since when did Emissaries of Hell become so ruthless?"
"Are you an idiot?! When weren't the Emissaries of Hell this ruthless?!"
All of a sudden, the spiritual bodies of several Yin spirits were destroyed amid anguished howls. Sundel Bolong gritted her teeth tightly, and bloodthirsty netherflames were flickering in her eyes while Yin energy surged between her hands as she said in a menacing voice, "Shut up or piss off! How can you be yelling like idiots in front of a Yama-King? Do you have a death wish?!"
"M, Madam Sundel..." a Yin spirit called out in a trembling voice before falling to his knees.
Sundel Bolong took a deep breath to repress her anger. This wasn't the time to be eradicating these maggots. If worse came to worst, they would be ideal as meat shields for her. With that in mind, her tone softened a little as she said, "Get up and find a place to hide. All we can do now is hope that the Yama-King doesn't see us."
However, the Yin spirit didn't get up.
Instead, he began to kowtow over and over again with all his might. His soul was trembling violently, and even the netherfire in his eyes had turned a stark white color from excessive fear.
Thump, thump... In the next instant, all of the Yin spirits around Sundel Bolong fell to their knees and also began to kowtow frantically as if they were begging for mercy from a god of retribution.
Sundel Bolong fell completely still.
Her back was facing the light barrier, while ahead of her were the trembling Yin spirits. Her head turned around in a stiff and mechanical fashion, and her lips were trembling so violently that it looked as if she were suffering from spasms. She felt as if a vice, by the name of fear, had clamped her heart tightly, and she was even struggling to breathe.
She then caught sight of the man standing behind her.
This was a middle-aged man wearing an official's robe from the Song Dynasty. In contrast with the netherfire in everyone else's eyes, his were tiny red specks that were only the size of needle tips.
She had no idea when he had appeared here. They were both Abyssal Prefects, but he was far more powerful than she was.
Her teeth began to chatter from fear as she took several involuntary steps backwards. "Wh, who are you?"
"I am Qin Hui," Qin Hui replied with an extremely amicable smile. "Are you a citizen of Mirage City?"
Sundel Bolong nodded in a mechanical manner in response.
Qin Hui's smile widened even further, as if he had just been presented with a precious gift. "That's great to hear!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, red light flashed within his mouth, and a bright red tongue had already pierced through Sundel Bolong's glabella.
"I've only just come in, and I've already bumped into an Abyssal Prefect. Madam Su has to stay outside to ensure that no one escapes, so it looks like I'll be accepting this offering all to myself..."
Right at this moment, the light barrier behind him rippled slightly, and one Yin soldier after another passed through it in a formidable wave.
They were all clad in black armor and wielding black spears, giving off chilling killing intent. In the blink of an eye, several thousand Yin soldiers had appeared behind Qin Hui in a scene reminiscent of the dawn of Yin spirits during the Hungry Ghost Festival! The black armor that was giving off a menacing sheen, those specks of stark white netherflames, the orderly rows of Yin soldiers... Just the mere sight of all of this was enough to completely root all of the evil ghosts to the spot.
Qin Hui cleared his throat before declaring loudly, "By Hell's Dictum, all rabble shall disperse!"
Ferocious Yin wind was swept up on the seabed, causing the surrounding seawater to churn violently. At the same time, all of the Yin soldiers pointed their spears forward with unbridled killing intent.
All of the evil ghosts shuddered, and they finally returned to their senses upon hearing Qin Hui's declaration. They frantically began to kowtow again as they begged for their lives.
"Please spare me, your Excellency! We're willing to serve the Cathayan Underworld until our dying breaths!"
"We... We've never done anything to provoke the Cathayan Underworld!"
The combination of 5,000 troops from the Asura Legion and countless skeletal Asura dogs created an intertwining sea of death that was red and white in color, and Qin Hui was the one who would decide the fate of all of the evil ghosts. He made his way over to the trembling evil ghosts before shaking his head as he heaved a forlorn sigh, "It's a pity, but you can only blame your own ill fortune."
He then rose to his feet, and the sea of Yin soldiers and skeletal dogs immediately surged forth!
They were like wolves that had entered a pen of helpless sheep, laying waste to all of the evil ghosts in their wake. The Yin soldiers transformed into gusts of Yin wind, interspersed within which were the skeletal Asura dogs and hungry ghosts, forming what appeared to be a doomsday sea of zombies as they crashed toward the city gate.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous boom rang out, and the ancient city gate was nowhere near strong enough to withstand such a ferocious impact. The Yin spirits that were fleeing in this direction immediately stopped cold in their tracks, and they instinctively wanted to retreat from the formidable wave crashing toward them, but they then looked back to discover the terrifying sea of Yin energy released by Qin Ye.
There was simply nowhere for them to go.
Morale completely collapsed in that instant, and one Yin spirit after another fell to their knees as they implored in trembling voices, "Please spare me..."
However, they received no sympathy from the ruthless Asura Legion and Hungry Ghost Legion.
Right at this moment, a thunderous roar of fury suddenly rang out within Mirage City.
"Who dares to wreak havoc in Mirage City?!"
Has he finally come out? Qin Ye cast his gaze directly toward the ship where the voice had come from, and in the blink of an eye, he was already standing in front of the bow of the ship. "It is I."
"You're... a Yama-King?!" A horrified scream rang out within the ship, and only after close to 20 seconds of silence did the owner of the voice continued in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, Mirage City has already existed here for a very long time, and we have no conflict of interest with the Cathayan Underworld. The owner of this city is also a Yama-King, so..."
"Shut up!" Qin Ye cut him off in a cold manner. "You dare to say that you have no conflict of interest with the Cathayan Underworld? The owner of this place once served the emperor of Cathay, yet he's established a nation so close to Cathay's territorial sea! This is an act of treason! There have been three generations of Hell, and never has there been a treasonous Emissary of Hell! You lot are hiding here in this putrid city, hosting heinous foreign underworld emissaries, and holding secrets of the Cathayan Underworld as trump cards and bargaining chips! What right do you have to ask for mercy from the Cathayan Underworld? What use do I have for insubordinate traitors like you?!"