Chapter 114: Underworld Law Enforcement (Part II)

Rumble... Countless chunks of earth and sand cascaded down. Li Jiankang stood in the center, wide-eyed and speechless as he stared upward.

“You... what exactly are you?” After a long pause, he finally spoke in a trembling voice.

Qin Ye’s body floated up slowly before gently settling down.

The sand fell softly to the ground as he surveyed the underground cavern. He spoke in a faint voice, “What am I?”

“I am the one who collects your soul.”

“Black and white... Impermanence?” Li Jiankang’s voice was faint and unsteady. He leaned against the wall, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Suddenly, he bolted backward. With a sharp clang, the sound of metal echoed, followed by the grating rattle of iron chains.

Qin Ye ignored him. This was clearly an underground storage room.

The walls were polished smooth.

Houses on Tianxi Fourth Street were quite old. Originally, this area wasn’t part of the city center. Only in recent years, with the expansion of Daishan City, was this area incorporated. It used to be farmland, and cellars like this were not uncommon when this building was constructed.

The walls bore a grayish-brown hue, lined with emergency lights that cast a feeble glow. Numerous freezers surrounded the space—more and larger than those on the second floor—but all were empty.

A strong fishy stench permeated the air. The dim yellow light flickered in the darkness, illuminating a small iron door. Li Jiankang had escaped from here. As a normal human, seeing someone like Qin Ye—part ghost, part mortal, a Yin official—he surprisingly did not freeze in fear.

“Is it because you have a strong psychological constitution... or have you just gotten used to it?” Qin Ye gently raised his blade and swung it down with force. A crisp sound rang out as the lock snapped open.

Inside was a long, narrow corridor barely wide enough for two people to pass side by side. Dim lamps were spaced every five meters along the ceiling. It must have been an old air-raid shelter. Qin Ye sneered coldly, and his figure dissolved into a shadowy wind as he surged forward.

Ghost?

Before a genuine Yin official, such a word did not exist.

Boom! The shadowy wind was deeper than the darkness itself. Just as he rushed through the corridor, the iron door behind him slammed shut abruptly, and the overhead lights simultaneously went out.

Whoosh... The shadowy wind swirled and reformed into Qin Ye’s figure. Arthas spoke calmly: “Cornered and desperate, he’s been discovered. He’s preparing to fight with all his might here.”

“Better be careful. These ancestral inheritance ghosts... are not so easily dealt with.”

Qin Ye said nothing. He planted his ghostly blade before him, its burning teal spectral flames illuminating the area within a meter around him. At that moment, a series of anguished howls echoed from the far end of the passage.

“Blood... flesh... let me out... I’m so hungry... so hungry...”

The pitch-black corridor pressed in from all sides, suffocating and oppressive.

Mad howls filled the air.

Mixed with other noises—like rats scurrying or stones falling—then a heavy thud sounded from the corridor’s end, followed by a relentless series of thuds... thud! Thud thud thud! Clatter!

The dragging of iron objects across the floor, accompanied by the subtle tremors beneath, surged like a tide from the darkness toward him!

Any ordinary person would have screamed and scrambled for something to hold onto, like the walls. But Qin Ye stood unmoved, like Mount Tai. In the faint light, a twisted figure finally appeared at the edge of his vision.

Its speed was slow, and its movement eerie. With each step, both feet lightly bounced about a foot off the ground, while its hands clawed at the air as if trying to seize Qin Ye from several meters away, to drink his blood in one gulp.

A zombie.

The so-called “jiangshi” were characterized by rigid joints, unable to bend even slightly. In regions like Xiangxi and other fringe areas, secret arts existed to create these zombies. Their bodies were incredibly tough due to this rigidity.

Of course, that was assuming equal levels.

“Blood... flesh... so hungry... so hungry!!!” Only this chilling whisper could be heard in the dark, narrow underground tunnel. Darkness held no sway over a Yin official; Qin Ye had long seen through his visitor.

It was a short youth with disheveled, shoulder-length hair. His skin was not the color of any Asian ethnicity but an iron-black shade.

He wore a tattered T-shirt shredded into strips, revealing skin covered in black hair like steel needles. His eyes were entirely white, and his black nails extended over two inches. A talisman was affixed to his forehead.

His gaze upon Qin Ye was like that of a predator eyeing a pork chop, with sickening saliva dripping vehemently from his mouth. When he closed to within five meters of Qin Ye, he let out a piercing scream, leapt five meters forward, his mouth opening over a foot wide, revealing razor-sharp teeth as he lunged wildly to bite at Qin Ye!

Meeting him was a dazzling flash of blade.

The sword cleaved with unstoppable force, its teal flames spreading along both walls, turning the deserted underground tunnel into a netherworld. With a wail, the zombie was sliced cleanly and sent flying over ten meters.

“Not dead?” Qin Ye was surprised. He stared at his blade in disbelief, momentarily doubting he had the right weapon.

The opponent’s Yin energy was extremely faint, almost invisible beyond one meter. His level was that of a grudging spirit equal to a Yin official, yet Qin Ye could not kill him?

Instead... it felt as if an equal soul-binding power was dispelling part of his Yin energy.

“Then let’s see how many cuts you can take,” he sneered. Dark wind swirled around him as he charged straight into the shadows.

There, the zombie sprang up like a coil, roaring and rushing again. Its laughably chaotic clawing was ineffective, but... it truly blocked a fierce assault from Qin Ye’s ghostly body!

Clang! The sound of metal striking metal rang out as the two separated almost evenly. Qin Ye stared incredulously at his adversary, whispering, “So this is an ancestral inheritance Yin spirit?”

“That’s right,” Arthas replied calmly. “In the Yin spirit system, this is known as ‘atavism.’ Once an ancestral inheritance Yin spirit matures, its threat is indescribable. It ranks as an A-level spirit, the highest threat rating. Once found, even breaking the Yin-no-interference rule with the living is permitted to eradicate it. It’s just one step below the topmost wanted level. You’re lucky to encounter an A-level Yin official at this stage. Otherwise... heh heh heh...”

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow. “That powerful... and it’s only A-level? What about the top tier?”

Arthas answered coolly, “In thousands of years of Chinese history, during times of war and bloodshed, all sorts of demons and monsters appeared. The top-tier Yin spirits are so rare that one might see only one every five hundred years. Even I have never seen one—only three exist. Any appearance leads to bloodshed and chaos. But in this peaceful era, they shouldn’t appear. You don’t need to know more... besides, do you have time to ask? Can you even handle it?”

Qin Ye watched the zombie rush again and took a deep breath. His blade sliced a ten-centimeter gash across his arm.

Sizzle!

Instantly, blood scattered like crimson pearls into the air before transforming into a scarlet mist that enveloped him.

The frenzied zombie stopped dead.

Its limited intelligence sensed an overwhelming danger.

“Not bad... for a Yin official to make my spectral soldier draw blood,” Qin Ye’s white hair fluttered in the shifting blood-red and black radiance as he assumed his soul-capturing form, like a ghostly king.

The sealed corridor’s shadowy wind roared to life, billowing his cloak. The black and red mist shimmered, swirling faster and more violently!

Seconds later, a one-inch-tall crimson figure slowly rose from Qin Ye’s blade. At the same time, the surrounding walls creaked and cracked under the immense Yin energy, fractures spreading rapidly... Within ten seconds, countless intertwined fissures appeared!

“Roar... crack... Daddy... save me... save me!!” The zombie went mad, turning and screaming as it fled deeper into the passage.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a chance to reunite,” Qin Ye smiled, then swung his blade down!

Boom!!!

The raging Yin energy tore through the entire corridor like a minor earthquake. Nearby, two Special Investigation Unit officers gasped and abruptly stood.

Before them, the Li family’s small building had collapsed.

Without warning, it suddenly sank, sending dust and debris flying, shaking the night with a deafening roar. They stood stunned for two seconds before dashing forward.

Visible to the naked eye, a large cavern lay several meters below!

“A deep cave... an old air-raid shelter? So deep no instrument could detect it,” one officer remarked.

“Is this the time to care about that?” the other’s eyes burned fiercely. “Such a huge tremor... s9527 found it... he must have found a way to unlock this hunting zone!”

“Should we notify the boss?”

“No need... this is an SRC project; we can’t interfere...” Before the colleague could finish, a violent tremor hit again. Some walls, not yet fully collapsed, suddenly crumbled, sending clouds of dust into the air.

Rumble... This quake clearly originated underground. The two exchanged glances, their faces full of envy.

Such powerful true Qi...

Such strength...

No wonder he dared challenge a level-C difficulty hunting zone...

Gritting his teeth, one officer opened Momo and sent a voice message to Lin Haixueyuan.

“Boss... s9527 has likely found the way to unlock Hunting Zone X-7. Fierce fighting is underway. Do you want to come and see?”

“What?” Though it was nearly three or four a.m., Lin Haixueyuan immediately responded.

“Mobilize nearby police to secure the scene. I’m on my way!”

Qin Ye remained unaware of these developments. His only urge now was to bring Li Jiankang to justice.

His law, his judgment, his justice.

Standing amidst the nearly collapsed tunnel, the distant terrified screams of the zombie still faintly audible, Qin Ye knew this strike wasn’t aimed at the zombie. Air-raid shelters often branched off; he had no desire to explore each path one by one.

To stir the grass is to startle the snake.

(End of chapter)