Yama Rising

Chapter 321: Choices (1)

Chapter 321: Choices (1)

At least, he appeared stunned.

“Instructor Qin, what do we do now?”

Wang Chenghao was his friend. Although he wasn’t as close to Wang Chenghao as he was with Lin Han, he nevertheless still considered Wang Chenghao a friend of his.

Furthermore, there was an added realm of complexity in this matter given how Li Jixi had placed the problem on his shoulders.

But just put yourself in his shoes. When an emergency arises, and someone beside you asks how they ought to react to the situation, what would be the first thing that comes to mind?

It was an almost primal response - one that arrived at the conclusion without passing through the usual logical thought processes.

But, given the distance, a mere Soul Hunter would never be able to arrive in time! Unless…

“Didn’t you earlier vow to take all responsibility for any problems that arise?” Qin Ye snorted coldly, “Why are you asking me about the situation now? What do you think I can do? How could a Soul Hunter possibly arrive in time to save him? Professor Li, you don’t take your students’ lives seriously, do you? Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to report all of this to the academy as soon as we’re back.”

Unfortunately, Li Jixi switched off the intercoms before he could even finish speaking.

“We’re not calling it off.” Li Jixi responded with an equal measure of frigidity in his voice, “Student Wang is the only one who has encountered a problematic situation thus far. The other hunting zones are still fine. Let them continue. We’ll make our way towards Student Wang in the meantime to retrieve his corpse.”

Wang Chenghao was definitely related to Qin Ye. Although he hadn’t verified the extent of their relationship just yet, he still never expected Qin Ye to be so indifferent to Wang Chenghao’s death!

But… wasn’t it pretty much a foregone conclusion by now?

“You’re crazy!” Qin Ye felt a wave of anger surge from the bottom of his heart, and he shot to his feet, “You’re toying with the lives of others!”

“Whatever it might be, you should never be toying with the lives of other human beings! You’re practically sending them to the slaughterhouse right now!”

“What are you so afraid of?”

“Or should I say that you’re… afraid we’ll finally discover what you’ve done back at the Strait of Tsushima?!”

Recording device… And probably one that transmits the message real time at that…

Li Jixi was dumbfounded.

But a split second later, just as he began to let down his guard, he suddenly noticed Qin Ye’s lips curling up right at the edge of the teacup.

Unfortunately, before he could even react, Qin Ye flicked a small drop of water at his fingertip straight into Li Jixi’s pocket.

Like a bullet, the drop of water ripped right through the pocket, and the wrecked recording device immediately fell out of his pocket.

It’s impossible for a Soul Hunter to breach my defenses so easily… So, this means that he’s…

An eighteen years-old Hellguard?!

Clatter… As expected, Qin Ye grabbed the chain before it could strike his vitals. And then, his voice echoed out in the sudden darkness of the room, “So it seems like the Albatross did send you…”

“What is there to ask?” Qin Ye’s voice was cold and menacing, and even laden with a trace of laughter, “About the incident at the Strait of Tsushima?”

Li Jixi’s body trembled with excitement as he continued hoarsely, “I promise that no harm will come to you as long as you turn yourself in! All you need to do is to tell us the truth!”

“There are bound to be sacrifices under these circumstances!” Li Jixi roared loudly, and tried tugging hard at the chain in his hand. Unfortunately… the chain didn’t budge an inch.

Qin Ye muttered indifferently, “Then, are you aware of the fact that you should never tempt humanity?”

A bad premonition rose from the depths of Li Jixi’s heart, and he gasped deeply, “You…”

Qin Ye’s voice was filled with satisfaction, “And now… he’s right behind you.”

With that, Li Jixi felt the chain in his hands loosen limply, and he could tell that Qin Ye’s voice had already grown distant and far.

Why was that sound so crystal clear?

It was a rainy night, filled with thunder, lightning and a torrential downpour outside. But for some strange reason, he couldn’t hear a single buzz of sound right now!

Then, there was a sudden slamming sound. Bang! The doors and the windows around were suddenly flung right open, and the torrential rain poured right into the room! Just as he was about to raise his hand to shield himself from the pelting rainwater, he abruptly froze.

In fact, the series of footprints were preceded by a series of handprints, almost as though someone was crawling into the room on all fours!

“You’re courting death!!” Li Jixi’s hair stood on end. He tightened his grip around the chains and was just about to lift his hand when he froze once more. Moments later, he stiffly lowered his head and looked down at his feet.

To be precise, he could see a pair of white hands wrapped tightly around his legs.

The child’s entire body was pale, save for the countless spots of livor mortis that speckled its skin. The child’s hair was tied in dreadlocks, and its gaping wide eyes were completely devoid of colour, akin to an intense black hole!

“Shit!!” Li Jixi cursed aloud as he scrambled backwards. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to get far before his body struck something behind him.

And rancid.

“Little baby, let’s do it together, alright?” A hoarse voice reverberated through the corners of the surveillance room, and Li Jixi promptly shut his eyes in despair.

There really was a Hellguard-class spirit…

He could see from its reflection a woman in a navy blue dress and red embroidered shoes standing right behind him. Her hands were nearly a meter long, and bore two or three joints to them, and they were currently wrapped tightly around his neck.

…………………………………………………

Twelfth floor.

Thus, he soon arrived right in front of the exit on the thirteenth floor. It was peculiar. The “EXIT” sign on the door was illuminated with a scarlet hue, almost as though the blood from Hell had tainted and tarnished it. He turned the doorknob desperately, but it just wouldn’t open for him no matter what he did!

“Ahhh!!!” Moments later, he slumped back down onto the floor and ran his fingers desperately through his hair in abject despondence, “No… I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die!!”

A pale hand emerged from the stairs and held tightly onto the railing.

“No… NO!!” Wang Chenghao shot to his feet like a madman, and began to kick and beat at the door, but to no avail.

He didn’t want to die. Not one bit! But what could he possibly do to get out of this predicament of his?

“Everyone runs… Everyone! I’ve pleaded time and again for the cars to stop… but everyone ignored me!!!”

How can I open the door?

This was a talisman that Qin Ye had given to him. It was for self-defenses purposes, and it was something that he had never thought would come in handy one day.

It was pouring right outside. This was the thirteenth storey rooftop of the building. And yet, it looked no different from paradise to him right now.

A pale, mangled corpse was already leaning heavily on his back, and it whispered softly to his ears, “Why… are you running?”

And the corpse bit down with its sharp fangs the very next moment!