Yama Rising

Chapter 538: Arrival at Hanyang

Kim Sang-woo’s eyelids were trembling. He stared straight into Qin Ye’s eyes, scrutinizing any traces of wild movements to see if he was telling the truth. Unfortunately…

Qin Ye clutched tightly at his heart, and tried to stand up. But as soon as he did, his legs went limp, his knees buckled, and he fell right back into his seat. At once, he began to gasp for breath, and his face flushed with an unusually red hue.

“Are you ok?” He helped Qin Ye to his feet, to which Qin Ye promptly responded, “I’m fine, thank you.”

A moment later, he ‘noticed’ the death and destruction in the cabin around him. Qin Ye gasped in horror, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out completely.

He was completely baffled!

He turned his gaze towards Wang Chenghao. Wang Chenghao was desperately trying to roll his eyes back to reveal only the whites of his eyes. Unfortunately… his skills were far too lacking.

Wang Chenghao nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“What the hell just happened?”

Damn it… Kim Sang-woo gritted his teeth and turned to look at Oda Nobutada, “Sir, what about you?”

One can only hope that there are still eye-witnesses around…

There were a lucky few who had managed to survive the great slaughter.

“I imagine we’ll have to give our statements once we touch down in Hanyang.” Qin Ye straightened out his clothes and glanced out the window. He could already see some farmlands below. The cars below appeared to be swarming straight to Hanyang, just like an army of ants.

This is like a new director running along with the script of an old screenwriter. Isn’t he afraid that the film will be a flop?

Incheon International Airport, located on Yeongjong Island in the western part of Incheon, a famous seaside resort city in South Daehan. It was 52 kilometers from Hanyang, and 15 kilometers from the coast of Incheon. Incidentally, this was also the sixth busiest international airport in the East Continent.

“What’s going on?” “What’s happening?” “Why is the army mobilizing in full force?” “Is this a terrorist attack? Are we experiencing a terrorist attack?”

Whoosh… As soon as the door opened, the middle-aged priest at the head of the pack narrowed his eyes and exclaimed aloud in English, “What a heavy stench of blood…”

A second later, a team of soldiers rushed in with their guns raised. Minutes later, they transmitted through their intercoms, “All clear. There are survivors. Requesting evacuation.”

The passengers were all howling and screaming in anguish and fear as they were slowly escorted out of the plane. All of them were covered in blood that wasn’t their own, and their legs were still numb from the horrifying ordeal that left a plethora of scars in their heart.

“Yes.”

As they drove along, Qin Ye slowly scanned the surroundings in Daehan. Although Gyeonggi Province must be experiencing a terrifying supernatural outbreak no different from hell on earth, the general atmosphere around Daehan was still far more relaxed than it was back in Cathay. At the very least, the households didn’t have crosses or talismans hanging by their doors, and the citizens weren’t looking over their shoulders with tension and worry like the ones back in Cathay.

“A demon hunter.” Qin Ye’s lips parted slightly. The staff sergeant seated in the front of the car was keeping a close eye on them through the rear-view mirror. Qin Ye could tell from his expression that he was silently warning them not to step out of line.

Oda Nobutada continued with a deep voice, “Hanyang is known as the city with the most churches in the entire world. The organization we know to be the Special Investigations Department will have an equivalent counterpart in foreign countries as well. As far as that man is concerned, it’s not wrong to refer to him as a demon hunter. I’m not surprised that he would enter Hanyang as a priest either. That said… this tells us that the strength of cultivators here in Hanyang isn’t too strong. It’s surprising that only an Operative-class expert was deployed for an incident as serious as this.”

Qin Ye responded softly, “Currently, South Daehan forces would all fall under Usonian control should war break out. Demon hunters and the army should be in communications with each other, just like how the Special Investigations Department works closely with armed forces back in Cathay. The Special investigations Department has been conferred the highest authority to mobilize military forces… Speaking of which, the Second King Yanluo was right - it’s only when you make the trip abroad that you start to see Cathay comparatively from the lenses of other nations, as well as the developments in other nations.”

He continued with his analysis, “Daehan Catholicism is rather well known throughout the world. They have a total of 15 dioceses, including three archdioceses and one military ordinariate.”

Qin Ye nodded slightly and glanced at the soldier who was keenly observing them through the rearview mirror, indicating that they should revisit this issue sometime later.

He had two primary objectives in his trip to Daehan. Firstly, it was to see if the nameless god of death was pulling the strings in the shadow. Secondly, if the answer to the former question was in the affirmative, he wanted to see with his very own eyes how Tsar Arturo would actually successfully cast myths and fabricate miracles in the short span of a single year, thereby allowing Liu Yu to firmly establish his foothold as the Hanyang Underworld.

Liu Yu was hardly an important existence to his mind at all. In fact, he was as good as dead to Qin Ye ever since he first made the call to declare his independence from Hell.

An instance of ignominy, an eternity of penance!

LSD was the Daeian counterpart of the Special Investigations Department. Lee’s Sharp Edge. However, Qin Ye didn’t trust them.

Their absence of faith would necessarily prevent them from peering beyond the facade concealing the truth. They would never be able to understand the intentions of all that was happening!

In fact, Qin Ye had already decided upon his angle of entry as soon as he saw the priest and the Usonian commander back at the airport - through the church!

I’m the source of their pain, and yet we’d simply brush past each other’s shoulders…

“Sorry about that. Just one last thing, you’ll be allowed to leave once you sign and endorse this agreement.” The equally tired police officer pulled out an agreement and placed it before the three men. Qin Ye took a quick skim through it, only to realize that it was a confidentiality agreement.

Excellent…

Qin Ye picked up a pen and promptly signed the agreement. Investigations at this level would never attract the attention of the Hanyang Underworld. There was still over a month until the end of October. This would give them plenty of time and space to go about their business and slowly peel back the layers of facade that were concealing the truth of the living hell in Gyeonggi Province.

---

1. A military ordinariate is an ecclesiateical jurisdiction of the church responsible for the care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. They used to be called military vicariates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_ordinariate