But of course… It’s a pity you aren’t aware that he was a master of escape, concealment and assassination. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised at all. If not for the fact that you’re around, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to capture him with just the Porter Spirit and the Spatial Spirit.

No… In fact, I might even have been misdirected by his tricks and look in all the wrong places. That’s where his specialties lie after all…

Nevertheless, Qin Ye kept these thoughts to himself and didn’t say another word. He simply watched the cocoon of Yin energy closely. So long as he even moved in the slightest bit, the massive net of voracious hands in the sky would swoop right back down onto him.

Meanwhile, the black cocoon slowly condensed into the shape of a writhing human, creaking and cracking as it appeared to reach its limits. Then, five seconds later, the top of the cocoon exploded, and the pale figure of a human burst out from within.

He was still clothed in tattered leather, but it was clear that the man had two heads, that of a man and a woman, replete with four arms. His skin was terrifyingly pale and pasty, while his arms and legs sported an additional joint compared with regular human beings. He appeared more akin to a beast designed to crawl on all fours than a human.

As soon as he emerged from the cocoon, hair instantly flowed out from the lady’s head and weaved together to form a pair of feathery wings. With a mighty flap, the man instantly darted towards the closest gap in the massive net of voracious hands!

Escape… I’ve got to get out of here! This monster is far more terrifying than anything I’ve ever encountered before! In fact… it’s far more terrible than even the monster hidden in the coffin at the bottom of Gonjiam Asylum! The next minute is everything. If I can’t get out by then, death would be but a reprieve for me!

However, as soon as the wings unfolded, tongues instantly lashed out from the palm of every voracious palm and leashed him to the spot.

“Unnnngghhhh…” The intense fear in Richard’s heart manifested in his bloodshot eyes. The scarlet tongues were each comparable to giant pythons, binding up his body and crushing him inch by inch and wringing out every bit of Yin energy from his body. At once, he cried out in pain and anguish.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”

With a miserable scream, his entire body suddenly twisted, and his mouth opened wide. His skin appeared to wither away, almost as though he were drained by an invisible force. Then, a split second later, a muscle-clad skeleton exuding copious amounts of Yin energy suddenly emerged from his wide-open mouth and darted towards the closest opening as quickly as a bolt of lightning.

Still not caught?!

Qin Ye was somewhat astounded. Just how many life-saving measures did this man have up his sleeves?

Leather clothes, and then the human skin, and then flesh and bones… Is he only going to stop when he sheds everything?

“Haha… Interesting… truly interesting…” Ryu Changmin cackled wildly for a moment, before drawing a deep breath and unleashing a shrill shriek.

SSS!!!

Whoosh!!!

 The web of voracious hands in all directions began to shift like a forest that had come to life.

The entire canopy of the skies were filled with coravious hands and copious amounts of Yin energy. Answering the call of their master, they immediately bore down at once in an attempt to envelop Richard. At once, Richard looked up. His body clicked into the shape of a bow, with bones forming the bowstrong and his spine as the arrow. This was the face-off between a monster of a man and a terrifying ghost. Even the air made crackling sounds under the might of their abilities.

Yin energy in the vicinity began to converge onto the bone bow. Two seconds later, with a heart-wrenching crack, the bow released its arrow like a bolt of lightning!

Pshk!

 The ball of Yin energy that had enveloped Richard was instantly torn apart. With a mighty sonic boom laced with the cries of a million ghosts, the bone arrow hurtled through the air, crossing the vast expanse of a thousand meters in the blink of an eye. It was aimed straight at Ryu Changmin’s head.

Qin Ye subconsciously raised his hand. However, Ryu Changmin promptly hissed back, “No need.”

BOOM!!

At once, Qin Ye sensed the space around him tremble violently. Yin energy exploded like a volcanic eruption, causing Qin Ye’s clothes to flutter wildly. The two-meter long bone arrow arrived in an instant. But just as it was ten-meters away from Ryu Changmin, it suddenly paused. It… couldn’t even advance an inch further!

Qin Ye could even see the tip of the arrow shaking violently as Yin energy continued to pour out of the arrowhead. Like a viper, it struggled to bore through the invisible wall obstructing its advances. It was only ten meters away, and yet the distance felt completely insurmountable.

Meanwhile, Ryu Changmin revealed a bloodthirsty smile and clenched his fists tightly.

Whoosh…

 The Yin energy that had previously wrapped itself around Richard drifted away with the wind, revealing hundreds of tongues binding up Richard’s skull. Richard’s eyes were clearly trembling with fear, and he appeared to be trying to say something. Unfortunately, his lips were completely bound up by the tongues around him.

“Fortunately, I haven’t made a fool of myself.” Ryu Changmin bowed courteously to Qin Ye.

Very good…

 Qin Ye nodded and walked over.

Whether or not the crazy idea of his can come to fruition depended entirely on the interrogation that followed.

He could simply walk away from everything right now. After all, he’d learnt most of the things he could already learn from the script of death. All that remained was but one final step. However, Qin Ye refused to be humiliated like this!

Sure, it might be prudent to live and let live, especially while he was still weak. But, that said, didn’t he still have a shot at this?

“You’re a talent in your own right.” Qin Ye ran his finger gently across Richard’s skull and smiled faintly at him, “Do you know something? I’ve read your biography. You’ve… lived an incredible life.”

“Unfortunately, you’ve joined the wrong team in death.”

With that, Qin Ye clenched his fist and crushed the skull into pieces. A sharp, mournful scream filled the air. What remained of the King of Spies turned to ashes.

Meanwhile, Qin Ye closed his eyes, and his consciousness once again entered the pitch-black world representing Richard’s memories. Richard was once a top undercover intelligence agent, whether in life or in death. Naturally, Qin Ye neither expected Richard to betray the Russian Underworld nor hear the truth from his lips.

After all, he could always glean the truth from Richard’s memories.

Soul Search.

……………………………………………………

Gonjiam Asylum.

The fiercely haunted mental hospital that was ubiquitously known throughout Daehan. In fact, its legends were so well known that none dared to even draw close to it.

Gonjiam Asylum, together with an area spanning thousands of meters in radius around it were all demarcated as a forbidden zone. It was now 10 p.m. Under the soft glow of light in the vicinity, the darkness about these parts seemed deeper than ever.

It was located on the outskirts of the city, and regular taxis would never think of picking up any customers here at this time of the night. Even then, there were hundreds of brave agents dressed in camouflage uniform stationed at every intersection of the roads here both day and night.

The asylum represented hell in the eyes of ordinary people. But to these agents who bore the emblem of the LSD, it was better known by other names.

Forbidden zone for the living.

Daehan’s largest rift to the underworld.

Forbidden Zone S001.

The countless chains establishing a perimeter around Gonjiam Asylum rattled wildly in the wind. The talisman papers drifted up, rusting softly like leaves in autumn. It was generally a dark area, yet there was one particular spot of interest where ancient statues and manuscripts abounded.

“What the hell is going on?!” A Daeian man dressed in white lab coat barked at the gathering of people around him in English, “Gonjiam Asylum’s seal is on the verge of shattering! The Yin energy reading within has already exceeded 20 million! When will reinforcements from your country be arriving?”

The man beside him wore the emblem of the Special Investigations Department. He stared at the red dot on the instruments in front of him intently, “With Yin energy readings like this… I would sincerely advise you to evacuate everyone from Gyeonggi Province at once--…”

“Sir!!” Several men from the LSD immediately interjected, and one explained, “But this is the Gyeonggi Province we’re talking about! It’s the heart of Daehan, and also where Hanyang is located!”

“How could we possibly evacuate this place? Besides, there’s no way we can evacuate everyone even if the entire Daehan army was mobilized - not even with the help of the Usonian forces!”

A middle-aged woman who was an advanced Hellguard-class expert looked up at the Cathayan man with despair written all over her face, “Sir… I’m begging you! Please call for aid from the three strongest powers of your country! The paranormal within Gonjiam Asylum has already been brewing for several years, and it seems to be on the verge of eruption tonight! By our estimates, the evil ghost within will emerge in no more than three days’ time! You… You’ve got to spare a thought about the lives of millions living in Gyeonggi Province!”

However, the man representing the Special Investigations Department simply shook his head placidly, “First, there are differences in our faith. Secondly, the troops here are Usonian forces. Daehan is no longer the vassal state of Cathay. We’re here only to perform our usual bilateral duties, and not interfere with your domestic affairs.”

“Rather than begging us for help, shouldn’t you be seeking aid from Adrian, the Archbishop of the East Continent, who is also an intermediate Prefect-class expert? We’ve already been kind enough to help Daehan with the construction of several counter-supernatural facilities since the founding of modern day Cathay.”

Beep, beep, beep!

 Just then, the alarm system went off, interrupting everyone’s discussions. Everyone froze for a moment, and immediately turned to look at the instruments beside them.

There was a thin LCD scream located in front of them depicting a particularly remote part of the Gonjiam Asylum. Nobody was there, and yet… the entrance slowly opened up on its own.

Creeaaak…

 The yellow talismans in the vicinity fluttered wildly as the heavy iron doors slowly opened up, almost as though they were celebratory streamers welcoming the arrival of a monarch ghost. The agents froze in horror as they watched the screen. A split second later, the perimeter of 150 meters radius collapsed altogether!

The ferocious beast was finally baring its fangs. They were on the cusp of the final act of the script of death.

“The third… the third door has opened…” One of the LSD members muttered with great trembling, “They… they’re coming…”

Elsewhere, at Gonjiam Asylum. A Yin spirit stood out on the open road, decked out in brilliant golden armor and holding an exquisite lance in his hand.

The golden armor on his body was finely made. His glorious black beard ran down to his chest, completing the awe-inspiring appearance of his that sets him apart from the rest around him. The man stood in the middle of the road as though he were destined to act as the pillar of the heavens.

It was none other than Liu Yu.

The only man to ever have been recognized as invincible across Cathayan history was bracing himself for war because… the MV Sewol had already vanished for 30 minutes by now.

This was the calm before the storm. The night seemed particularly dark, and the rustle of the leaves seemed to stir with great uneasiness. Even the skies were overcast and rumbling with thunder and lightning.

And Liu Yu was standing right where he should be.

There were 20,000 cavalrymen arrayed behind him, of which the first 10,000 were decked out in their newest Tigerform Battle Armor. Their lances rested softly on the ground, while scarlet netherflames peeked out from behind their black masks like fiery constellations in the sky.

This was the army of the Hanyang Underworld - the might of the Emperor Wu of Song!

Furthermore, there were 30,000 infantrymen with their bows and arrows at the ready.

Apart from that, there were nine other men and women dressed in trench coats and sunglasses and leaning on their canes as they stood guard around a massive carriage driven by skeletal horses.

In fact, it would be more accurate to describe the carriage as a skeletal throne. It was ten meters high, formed entirely out of stacked human bones and dragged by skeletal horses. Rumyantsev was decked out in his decorated marshal’s uniform as he sat on the throne, resting his hand on the hilt of the sword that was plunged straight into the ground. The nine KGB agents around gazed intently at the road ahead.

This was the route that the MV Sewol was supposed to take. It was the only passageway in.

Anyone who dared pass through without his permission would instantly be greeted by thousands of arrows and the charge of thousands of cavalrymen!

A massive illusory gate stood right in front of them, emitting dark Yin energy.

The numbers of soldiers arrayed in this place spelt war. No Emissary - not even Abyssal Prefect - would be allowed entry into Gonjiam Asylum, no matter the cost!

The night wind howled softly. After some time, Liu Yu turned back, “Will he come?”

“He will.” Rumyantsev responded curtly and without any hesitation, “So long as he’s an Emissary of Hell, he will surely come.”

“You should know better than I exactly how proud they are as an underworld. If they don’t come, they wouldn’t deserve their title as Emissaries of Hell.”

“The mighty Russian Underworld has never set cowards in their sights.”

“Neither has the rest of the netherworld.”

There were underworlds out there who would bang the table and make a fuss during international conventions, yet their actions would hardly cause a stir because of how insignificant they were.

Meanwhile, there were also underworlds that could close their borders for hundreds of years on end, yet still remain such an indomitable existence in the hearts of the other underworlds that none would belittle their existence!

Everyone knew that the dragon was merely sleeping, but most certainly not dead.

And sooner or later, it would arise and make its grand appearance once again!