Chapter 224: We Meet Again

“What are you doing?” Arthis asked with a slight twitch to her lips. She had a bad premonition of what was to come.

As expected… Arthis stared blankly into the sky. I should never have expected much more from him… After all, we’re talking about a person whose lethargy runs so deep that he would never actively embark on a course of action unless he is pushed to the brink of desolation. It was naive of me to expect such an earth-shattering transformation of him overnight…

Qin Ye shook his head with great astonishment, “How could you have such unrealistic thoughts? Didn’t I tell you to watch less Netflix? Your brain’s going to rot away at this rate!”

Looks like it is imperative to reason with my fists.

Arthis slowly retracted the clump of hair that had stabbed into the floorboard right between his thighs as she coldly muttered, “I’ll give you a chance to restate your position.”

“I’ll guarantee your safety.” Arthis started off by giving Qin Ye some reassurance so that he would remain present for the rest of the discussion. It could be said that they were engaging in a battle of the wits and courage right now.

Arthis rolled her eyes at him, “Have you ever thought about how big of a deal the appearance of the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl truly is? Onmyojis would have sensed its appearance, and their goal is to destroy Oda Nobunaga’s soul altogether. The Nipponese underworld would have detected its emergence as well, and their objective would undoubtedly be to seize his soul back to their underworld to do their bidding. But Oda Nobunaga has appeared in the form of an evil ghost, and he would cease to exist as soon as his spirit is purged by the mortal realm. In other words, while these three factions appear to be in harmony with each other, but their motives and desired outcomes are in fact in great dissension with the other.”

“Let’s be more professional about this. It’s called divide and conquer.” Arthis explained, “If you don’t do this, you’ll face resistance from all three factions at the same time - Oda Nobunaga, Onmyojis and the army of the Nipponese underworld. In this regard, your goals are the most closely aligned with the Onmyojis. In essence, they don’t want Nobunaga’s evil spirit to ever show up on Nipponese soil again.”

Qin Ye’s eyes gleamed brightly. He waved his arm, and a piece of chalk quickly flew into his hands. Then, he began to map out the relationship between the conflicting parties on the ground as he murmured to himself, “Look, in other words, the only faction that we truly have to face head on is Izanami’s army. There’s no need to even wage war with the others. In fact, there may even be prospects for… cooperation?”

Qin Ye flicked his chalk away excitedly, “Done! This operation shall henceforth be called - ‘Saving Private Nobunaga’... No, ‘Saving Daimyo Nobunaga!’”

Arthis’ gaze turned stiff, “I’m going?”

“Do you want your mother to strangle you to death, you unfilial son?!!” Arthis exploded with great indignation, and her hair instantly rushed out like a tide, binding up Qin Ye and restraining his limbs. Arthis gnashed her teeth, “Yin and Yang must never mix! Every single advantage we possess hinges on the fact that you straddle both realms, and the emissaries of the Nipponese underworld can’t do what you can do! You’re the only one who can bring these plans to fruition! How dare you shirk your responsibility?!”

“You’re the disgrace of Hell! Don’t you have any self-awareness?!”

Kid… Be prepared to meet your maker!

Qin Ye lay on the ground, panting hard. His clothes were disheveled, and he grunted feebly in acknowledgment like a dead pig.

………………………………………………………..

Bai Yishan was pacing around anxiously as he waited for Qin Ye in front of an inn by the side of the road, and he immediately came running over as soon as he noticed Qin Ye.

“Of course I brought it with me.” Qin Ye pulled out a talisman which he had especially obtained from Arthis. This talisman was imbued with her Judge-class aura. As long as the assailant was no stronger than a Judge-class entity, he wouldn’t be able to hurt the owner of the talisman one bit.

Bai Yishan’s eyes gleamed. He was so desperate that he would believe anything Qin Ye said right now. He reached out to grab it, only to realize that Qin Ye wasn’t letting go of it.

What things?

Ah! Just before he left, he mentioned something about a billion of something?

Qin Ye glanced at him, and then slapped the talisman onto his forehead, “Do you even remember what I’d asked you to do?”

“Southsea Huanghuali.” Qin Ye looked him straight in the eye, “I’d like to sell a stock of Southsea Huanghuali worth a billion so that I can purchase the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl at the auctions. If you can’t get it done by the end of the month, then…”

After heaving a long sigh of relief, Bai Yishan felt much calmer and more spirited than before. He clutched tightly at his chest where the talisman was stored as he muttered, “Mr Qin, it seems like you’ve checked on the competition at the upcoming auctions. A billion RMB for a single artifact is practically unprecedented. The highest artifact that we’ve auctioned thus far is Picasso’s painting entitled ‘Boy with a Pipe’, and that had transacted at 100 million USD. But that said… I’m afraid a billion might not even be enough this time.”

Qin Ye’s eyes flickered, “Are you saying that there are foreign tycoons who have taken an interest in it as well?”

Qin Ye furrowed his brows, “He…”

Qin Ye’s gaze flickered for a long time, before he finally nodded with slight resignation, “I understand. Go ahead and make the preparations anyway. Tell them that there’s no cap on the stock of Southsea Huanghuali. Remember, I only accept checks that are acceptable worldwide.”

Yet Qin Ye stuck around for a while, lingering by the roadside as he cast a long, abstruse gaze into the deep abyss of the night.

There were currently four factions in competition, all of whom knew full well that the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl was broken into two fragments, and only one of it was to be sold at the auction. There was no reason to make a move for the fragment to be auctioned if they didn’t have the other fragment to complete the bowl. Therefore, the only faction that would make a move prior to the auction was one that necessarily possessed the other half of the bowl. The corollary was true, that whoever made a move right now would essentially be declaring that they possessed the other fragment of the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl in their hands! This was why everyone was biding their time, waiting for the auction to end so as to determine which party had made their move to secure the fragment of the bowl. And then… the competition for the bowl would officially begin.

“I wonder when it all began, when someone as cowardly as I somehow stepped onto the same stage of competition as these big names?”

He had done everything so far for the sake of his own survival.

And this trip to the East Cathay Sea was for the dual purposes of obtaining the Obsidian Heaven’s Eye Bowl and to finally commission the golden trade route of Hell built upon his stock of Southsea Huanghuali. His success… would mark the true beginning of Hell’s ascension!