Chapter 495: T Minus 8 Days (1)
Chapter 495: T Minus 8 Days (1)
He frowned deeply. In that instant when his consciousness was forcibly cut off, he saw two monsters standing right by Lee Jung-sook’s side.
In fact, they were so strong that he wasn’t even sure if Arthis could hold her own against either of them. Perhaps they weren’t as strong as Liu Yu, but they definitely weren’t far off. Furthermore, he could tell that they were both dressed like Nipponese Yin spirits.
Qin Ye rubbed his chin and slowly walked out of the cubicle and to the sinks where he began to wash his hands - Was she forcefully captured by the two evil ghosts? And what was she saying about the hungry ghost? What hungry ghost? Daolord of the hungry ghost? No, she wouldn’t know anything of it. And if that’s the case, she must be referring to the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Why does everything seem to be happening on the very same day?
It had nothing to do with romantic feelings. Instead… it was more of a trust between kindred spirits.
With that, he walked out of the washroom. Wu Wenqing walked right up to him with a genial smile as soon as he was out, “The executive committee in Prosperity Developers have indicated their preference to halt all works until investigations are complete. I’ve already notified the top brass of the Special Investigations Department, and they’ve asked you to go take a look at the site, and then give them your preliminary thoughts. You’re also given the latitude in accordance with your discretion.”
The most important thing to him right now was the grand festivities at the upcoming Hungry Ghost Festival, because that was exactly when the daolord of the asura would be visiting Hell. He had to do everything he could to take things up another notch at the upcoming festivities! Where was he supposed to find the time to care about such trivial matters such as the excavation of an artifact right now?
It was part of his duties and responsibilities.
“Yes. Our transport is ready and waiting.”
They boarded the car, and the driver soon sped off towards the Lush Garden Acres worksite, while Qin Ye shut his eyes to get some rest. Approximately ten minutes later, Qin Ye abruptly opened his eyes and glanced around the vehicle, before immediately yelling at the top of his voice, “Stop the car!!”
But Qin Ye remained completely silent. He simply gazed at the canopy of the skies with a grave expression on his face.
“See what?” Wu Wenqing was baffled.
“Yes… How did you know that?”
The car moved off immediately, and Wu Wenqing remained completely baffled by Qin Ye’s sudden outburst. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice that Qin Ye’s attention was completely enraptured by the sky above Lush Garden Acres.
In fact, the vast canopy of the skies above appeared no different from the tranquil surface of the waters, while drops of red dye appeared to be added slowly to it, gently diffusing throughout the skies with a smoky, wispy presence. Then, as the redness slowly tainted the skies, it gradually transformed into a massive vortex!
Whoosh… Just as Qin Ye was staring intently at the night sky, countless dark silhouettes suddenly appeared in the skies above like the rolling waves of the seas, crashing and swirling menacingly around the vortex in the middle.
Dear heavens… Qin Ye retracted his gaze and began to massage his temples - What the hell is going on here?! How am I supposed to rest in peace like this? Why do these things keep happening around me?!!”
In fact… he could tell that the aggregate Yin energy easily exceeded the Harken’s Yin energy readings!
What in the world is this thing?! And why wasn’t it here when I returned earlier? Why aren’t these mortals able to detect it?
All works had been halted, and the usual construction and engineering equipment had all been removed. As soon as Qin Ye entered the worksite, several others bearing the emblem of the Special Investigations Department immediately came forward to receive him.
The closer he drew to this place, the more his heart palpitated. This was a netherworldly phenomenon well beyond what he had ever witnessed before. Indeed, not even Arthis’ earlier display of her Judge’s authority could even come close to comparison. Yet, even then, the daunting phenomenon didn’t attract any trace of fear from his heart. Instead… he even felt a strange sense of familiarity to it.
Wu Wenqing was the first one to sense Qin Ye’s peculiar silence, “Mr Qin?” However, Qin Ye simply marched forward, and the rest of the investigators soon followed closely behind him.
Construction sites were generally cordoned-off with a plastic fence together with prominent signs designating the cordoned-off areas as construction sites and to caution all potential trespassers. However, this construction site was in particular different. Instead of the usual plastic fence, it was cordoned-off with wooden hoardings.
It’s already been sealed. I’ve got to hand it to Wu Wenqing for his efficiency. To think it would already be sealed so well in such a short span of time. But, no matter.
I shouldn’t stay here for long if I can help it…
Just then, the chains rattled softly.
The wooden hoarding was easily over two meters high, and the door was naturally as large as the gates to a grand home. In that instant that the chains rattled, a talisman slowly floated onto the ground. Following that, a hand gently pulled the door to the hoarding on the other side and opened it with a soft creak.
Dead silence.
Qin Ye’s eyes flickered softly. He was used to observing the minutest details to pick up traces of the supernatural, so while the others might have been focused on the opening hoarding, he had instead noticed the figure inside reaching out with several fingers, before slinking away into the depths of the inner reaches.
It was broad daylight, yet things were as chilling as opening a cursed closet in the depths of a musky home.
“Mr Qin…” Wu Wenqing gulped nervously, “Nobody’s in there…”
“This work site has been earmarked as a special location, and none are authorized to enter save for the strongest cultivator in the region..”
If that’s the case… who opened the door?
It’s just as well… Qin Ye calmed his heart and mind down, “I’ll head in to investigate. You guys wait outside.”
He crossed a hundred meters or so in the blink of an eye. And then, as soon as he entered the wooden hoarding, the door slammed shut with a loud bang.
Eerily silent.
Furthermore, he didn’t see a single person in sight.
He could see that the area enclosed by the wooden hoarding was clearly a construction site. The excavated portions of the ground were covered with neatly placed rebars, clearly intended to form the foundation of the next development in this locality. That said, what lay below the rebars wasn’t the usual hard soil. Rather… it was a bottomless abyss!
Wisps of black energy rushed out from the depths, spiralling into the skies above, where they would congeal into the Yin messenger birds that would fly high into the vortex in the sky, blotting out the sun like a boundless black tide. Even then, this was a sight that was completely hidden to the eyes of mere mortals.
It was almost as though they were all welcoming the arrival of the King Yanluo of Hell, and what lay at the very depths of the seemingly bottomless abyss was none other than his mighty throne.
Qin Ye gritted his teeth and began to walk over the intertwining rebars to get a closer look. He peered down through the gaps between the rebars, only to be buffeted by the chilling winds below.
“What the hell is that thing?” He felt conflicted. As the Infernal Judge of Martial City, he knew that resolving matters pertaining to the supernatural was a part of his duty. However, his own intuition told him that what lay below was closely related to him as well.
After several seconds of silence, he took out his cell phone and captured a five minute video of the incredible phenomenon, together with dozens of photographs. Then, just as he was about to leave, his hand suddenly trembled so hard that he nearly dropped his phone.
Someone was calling him from the bottom of the abyss.
The voice from below was faint, yet it seemed to carry traces of both bitterness and joy, “Can’t you… tell?”
Seconds later, his eyes quivered softly, and then he peered over into the abyss once more.
“Who are you?” Qin Ye asked again with an incomparably somber gaze.
“It’s… faith…”
Then, the voice trailed off.
There was a grave expression on his face. Moments later, he snickered, “Do you think you can bully me just because I’m new?”
“Try me. You’ve messed with the wrong person now.”