Chapter 317: Yoke of Five Ghosts

He masterfully avoided all of the nearby patrols. Furthermore, it didn’t matter if his image was captured by the surveillance devices in the region. After all, he could justify his presence as an attempt to understand the situation a little bit better. As far as the mortal realm was concerned, he was a Soul Hunter, and he was fully entitled to do so.

“They’re too weak for my purposes…” He shook his head. The Yoke of Five Ghosts should never be used on regular wandering spirits. It minimally required the subject ghosts to bear some measure of grievances. That was the only way to ensure that the spirits remained with him for a long time.

Like Moses parting the red sea, the Yin spirits around cleared a path for him wherever he went until he finally arrived at his destination.

And for that reason, it didn’t take long for Qin Ye to spot his very first target.

Rather, a female ghost.

A dance of solitude under the moonlit sky. The image would have been somewhat romantic if not for the fact that the female ghost’s neck was also twisted a full 180 degrees.

An innate yet inexplicable sense of fear welled up in her heart, and her instincts told her that Qin Ye was vastly different from other cultivators.

It was a primal response.

The female ghost shuddered all over. The fact that she possessed spiritual awareness meant that it wouldn’t be long before she evolved into a vengeful apparition. Naturally, she would also possess her memory of her previous life. Hell… She couldn’t help but shudder at the mention of this word.

“Come with me.” Qin Ye turned around, “Take me to four other Yin spirits that are similar to yourself. You’ve struck the lottery.”

Soon, with the help of the female ghost, Qin Ye managed to gather a following of five different Yin spirits - an old woman, a middle-aged man, a woman in a dress, a child, and a young man.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“I don’t care what kind of sins you might have committed in your past life. But from now on, you’ll submit to me and be at my disposal. Don’t resist the bindings of my technique, and I’ll guarantee you entry to Hell.”

“Smart. This is probably the only opportunity you’re ever getting to enter Hell without first receiving any form of punishment whatsoever.” Qin Ye smiled and began to make a series of hand seals. As he progressed, the Yin energy around him began to intensify. And then, he yelled, “HAA!” The surroundings trembled…

He glanced at the unchanged Yin spirits, and then looked at his own hands in dismay. A blood red runic symbol had already appeared on his hand, and countless wisps of Yin energy were already pouring out from his fingertips and swirling in a faint vortex. So… why did I fail?

“My lord… is this… the Impure World Reincarnation Technique?!” The youth asked with great excitement.

Qin Ye nearly leapt to his feet and gave him a slap across the face. The most appropriate thing to do when your superior makes a fool of himself is to keep your damn trap shut! How dare you step forward and plunge another knife into my heart like that!

Whoosh… The Yin energy congealed into five black cocoons, almost as though they were five swirling storms that scattered the leaves and dust around them. Three minutes later, everything quaked violently, and the five vortexes silently crumbled, leaving five Yin spirits dressed in ancient Cathayan military uniforms. They stood at the very same place, rooted to the ground with abject shock.

“Are we… Emissaries of Hell?” The middle-aged man was similarly startled. Emissary of Hell?! That’s the stuff that we only see in movies and television! It’s a bona fide civil servant of hell! We’re no longer homeless, drifting spirits like we used to be! We can even help rid the mortal realm of evil!

“You no longer have to linger about in the mortal realm now. That said, complete this mission, and you may well earn yourself the chance at a promotion to a fully-fledged Emissary of Hell.”

It was peculiar, almost as though five new perspectives had opened up in his mind, and he could view the world through each of their eyes. Everything that went on in their minds was also transmitted directly to him. It was a technique that was far better than the useless Five Wealth-Generating Ghosts.

So, I’m only transmitted the general emotion in their heart, and I won’t be able to know any more than that, huh… Qin Ye nodded. It was still fairly decent. At the very least, this technique was akin to gaining five additional pairs of eyes.

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

When he passed by Li Jixi’s room, he casually swept a glance at it, and his eyes instantly grew cold.

He immediately turned to look at the card on his door handle. It wasn’t shifted. It was only then that he swiped his card and opened the door slightly - but only to a crack.

The card was simply a cover. The nigh invisible thread was the real trap over here.

Is this just a coincidence? He glanced at the discarded card. But why now of all times? Is the dead of the night particularly attractive to some people?

He slept straight through breakfast and woke up at only 11.00 a.m. After lunch, he met up with the rest of the students, and began to run through the reports of the local garrison.

The officer standing at the front of the conference room had just finished his briefing on the first hunting zone, and was taking a break to drink some water. Li Jixi took the opportunity to rap on the table and address the students, “Students.”

“I hope you’ve been taking notes.” Li Jixi continued, “You’ve all just embarked on your long journey of cultivation, and none of you can be considered strong right now. When it comes to hunting zones, the greatest advantage you can gather for yourself is to do your due diligence and prepare well.”

“But…” He glanced at the students around, and then revealed the huge twist in what he was saying, “I’m afraid that there will still be students who won’t take these lessons to heart regardless of how many times we repeat ourselves. Therefore…”

Qin Ye frowned slightly, “Professor Li, that’s not a good idea, is it? They’re all newbies, and most of them haven’t even reached the level of an Operative just yet. I’m afraid that they might find it difficult to protect themselves as soon as they encounter danger.”

“Students, these aren’t enemies that you can see, touch or even kill conventionally.”

“Yes!!” Ten students responded impassionately.

Qin Ye shook his head and stopped talking altogether.

Unfortunately… do you young calves truly understand what these Yin spirits are?

“Very well.” Li Jixi swept a gaze past Qin Ye, before drawing a deep breath, “Dinner at 5.30 p.m. We gather right outside the D-72 hunting zone at 6.30 p.m. Then, we’ll commence our operations at 7.00 p.m. sharp. No matter how the situation goes, all are to return back to our rendezvous point at twelve midnight. Everyone… please take care.”

His gaze paused momentarily on Wang Chenghao, and he continued with a meaningful undertone to his voice, “I sincerely hope that I’ll still see each and every one of you standing right here before me tomorrow… and not at the morgue.”

1. This is a reference to Naruto. Orochimaru is a villain in the story, while Impure World Reincarnation is one of the strongest skill he used to bind the soul of the dead to a vessel.