Chapter 641: Defection? Negotiations?

Even though there wasn’t an Abyssal Prefect here in the First Academy of Cultivators, it still wasn’t a place where any other evil ghost could come and go as it so desired. So what was the messenger bird of an evil ghost doing around these parts? And why?

Are you… searching for me?

He glanced over. At once, a gale swept by, causing the crown of the trees on the campus grounds to rustle and sway about. Approximately 100 meters away, a pair of scarlet eyes hidden in the canopy of the trees shrieked as it turned abruptly to stare at Qin Ye.

“You daren’t reveal yourself here at the First Academy of Cultivators?” Qin Ye raised a brow quizzically, before promptly transforming into a nethergale that followed the messenger bird.

The farmlands were quiet and quaint under the soft glow of the moonlight. Even then, the messenger bird only flew faster and faster, right out of the City of Salvation, and straight towards the deep mountains across the horizon.

It was a temple.

The temple appeared to have been abandoned years ago. The wooden structure and frames were already rotting in several places, while the cobwebs were so profuse that they almost formed a white gauze that covered the plaque on the gate. One side of the temple gate had already collapsed, and tattered streamers were scattered everywhere on the temple grounds, rustling ever so softly against the wind.

Crackle… As soon as he arrived, the two stone lamps standing at the entrance to the abandoned temple suddenly flared up with eerie, crackling netherflames. A dark silhouette wearing a white palace maiden dress immediately drifted out of the temple, before laying prostrate on the ground with fear and trepidation, “Greetings, esteemed Emissary of Hell.”

No response.

How terrifying…

It was a primal fear.

To think that even I would feel such intense fear… Is this the entity that I’ve been hearing so much about? Is this none other than the legendary Emissary of Hell?

“The Daolord of the Hungry Ghost h-h-has instructed me to relay an i-i-important message to the Emissary of Hell.”

The letter was written with great humility and respect.

However, Qin Ye could tell that this was all wordsmithing. Her true intention was to negotiate.

“Furthermore, I would be willing to join hands with the Daolord of the Asura to seize the soul of the Daolord of the Beast. This is something that I shall be willing to swear on oath against the Heavenly Dao, and so long as I shall violate this oath, I shall be subject to a thousand years of sky lantern punishment, and thereafter be banished to the Eighteen Abysses of Punishment for all eternity!”

“If Hell is prepared to grant me this little bit of mercy, I shall take it upon myself to personally hand over the shards of King Yanluo’s Seal to Hell as soon as we take down the Daolord of the Asura. I only ask that Hell acts mercifully to me.”

Yet, Qin Ye remained taciturn, not because he was considering the request, but because he was enraged!

Qin Hui… He’d actually acted and even reached out to the other two daolords without notifying anyone of his intentions?!

Intentions aside, the fact that he had even thought to act without an imperial edict was already tantamount to an act of rebellion!

“If I give her my word, she would be willing to join forces with the Daolord of the Asura. But… what if I don’t?” Qin Ye snorted coldly and flicked his robes, “Does that mean she would instead be joining forces with the Daolord of the Beast?”

Qin Ye boomed at the top of his voice, causing Chen Yin to shiver and shudder at the wrath of his anger. In fact, even with her head to the ground, she could tell that the dense Yin energy pouring out from Qin Ye’s body was almost like a giant beast that was staring straight at her, raring to tear her soul to bits at a moment’s notice!

“Hell will only extend it’s grace to her once. She can choose not to comply, but she must be prepared to face the consequences of death. Additionally, tell her that I will be arriving in Pearl River in a few days. Tell her to be prepared to receive me. Otherwise… she’d better be prepared for the worst!”

This is bad… Really bad!

In fact, Qin Ye had made it clear through his murderous intent that they had every means to completely wipe out the Daolord of the Hungry Ghost and all of her forces from Cathay!

………………………………………………

Three days later.

This was once known as one of the three tier one cities in Cathay. Unfortunately, the southern part of the city had been completely abandoned and locked down. Beyond that, a perimeter had been set up by the nation’s authorities. Countless military forces and armed policemen, as well as the investigators of the Special Investigations Department, researchers of the SRC, and other members of the top brass, were all gathered in the headquarters of the perimeter.

Incidentally, this was also one of the largest regions of supernatural activity in Cathay. Mount Jasper in the southwest, Pearl River District, as well as White Mountain of the northeast. That said, the supernatural activity in the northeast had been on a constant decline in recent times. Naturally, this meant that more and more attention and military strength was being channeled and diverted to the other two locations.

That said, the national highway was already a complete trainwreck. Master Chan Ming sat suspended in mid-air like a stone statue. With each breath that he took, dense white wisps of true energy would diffuse from his seven apertures into the darkness of the night sky.

Therefore, the atmosphere around these parts was incredibly tense and somber. Spiritual and physical, Yin and Yang - everything was separated by this single perimeter that they had set up. The rest of the city rested north of the perimeter.

There was no room for retreat at all.

“Amitabha…” Master Chan Ming opened his eyes, only to reveal a look of compassion, “These Yin energy readings have begun to surge only two days ago. And to think they’ve already breached 20 million Yin…”

With Pearl River City as the launching pad, it could easily engulf the entire Pearl River Delta in moments, just like how the evil ghost did in the three eastern provinces. Otherwise, it was impossible to explain why the evil ghost station in Pearl River City had suddenly decided to consolidate its forces.

“Evacuate?” Master Chan Ming sighed, “Then… what about the 10 million or so citizens in the city? What about them?”

Master Chan Ming grew silent.

Some of these soldiers were in their late teens, while others were just in their early twenties. Did they all have to be buried in this hopeless place?

“Huh?”

There, he could see a cloud of dense Yin energy, far thicker and more terrifying than when Qin Hui had arrived. In fact, it was so thick that it completely engulfed the abandoned buildings across the horizon. It was so dark that it consumed practically everything.