"... Where's your dignity as an Emissary of Hell?"
Arthis was taken aback for three seconds, and then she couldn't help but ask, "You've been bought over with such a small favour?"
Zhang Chenghai was also taken aback, and then chuckled, "It looks like Mr Qin is truly hungry."
"Ahem …" The waiter paused for three seconds, "Sir, can you finish it?"
"I'm about eighty percent full."
Qin Ye replied calmly. In his impoverished life, the last time he had a Cantonese breakfast was twenty years ago …
"Bring it on." Zhang Chenghai nodded.
Very soon, dishes that looked, smelled, and tasted good were served.
Surprisingly, Qin Ye didn't seem like a reincarnated hungry ghost. Instead, he ate with ease.
He ate quickly, but it didn't feel like he was gobbling down his food.
Qin Ye narrowed his eyes as he enjoyed the delicious food. The tender shrimp mixed with eggs and spinach rolled around in his mouth, while the shallots and ginger enhanced its freshness. He simply couldn't stop eating!
How delicious.
"Your expression … isn't it an exaggeration to call it lewd." Arthis couldn't help but complain.
"What do you know?"
Qin Ye picked up a phoenix ball with his chopsticks and whispered, "I'm savouring my past that deserves to be mourned …"
"... Really, I'd like to know what happened to you in the past … I can't help but feel like you've led a life worse than pigs and dogs …"
Zhang Chenghai finished his bowl of porridge and waited patiently for twenty minutes. Qin Ye wiped his mouth with some embarrassment, "So … what's the matter, Mr Zhang?"
Ahhhh … He's even using honorifics over a single meal … Arthis shut her eyes and decided not to look at the most shameful and undignified Emissary of Hell in history for the time being.
Zhang Chenghai rang the bell on the table, and the waiter immediately collected all the dishes and glanced at Qin Ye with great surprise.
Qin Ye magnanimously let him off the hook.
Two cups of fragrant tea were placed on the table, and the room immediately fell silent.
"Mr Qin, are you wondering why I've personally come to pick you up today?" Zhang Chenghai lit a cigarette and continued, "Firstly, it's because we're on the same level.
Secondly … "
He leaned forward, "Because … I don't think you'll be able to hail a cab."
"The government didn't cover up last night's incident. It was too sudden, and there wasn't enough time. How could the citizens be in the mood to drive a cab?
Furthermore … from this morning onwards, all entry and exit from the City of Salvation will be prohibited. "
"Why?" Qin Ye's eyes flickered as he asked.
Zhang Chenghai pulled out a brown paper envelope from his leather bag and placed it on the table. Then, he pressed two fingers against the envelope and announced in a deep voice, "The City of Salvation … will be under direct jurisdiction in three days."
Her words caused Qin Ye's nerves, which had just finished his meal, to immediately tense up.
Zhang Chenghai didn't give him time to digest. His calm voice echoed in the room, "The people have the right to know. It's better to let them know than to block them.
Sooner or later, you'll know the truth. Look at this. "
He picked up a remote control from the table and pressed it. Instantly, the curtains of the entire room closed with a rustle.
This was a special curtain. After it was closed, no light could be seen.
Then, the projector in the corner slowly lit up.
A map of China appeared on the wall.
"What is this?" Arthis was surprised. "A television?
No … it's much bigger than a TV. A mainframe computer? "
Qin Ye couldn't be bothered to converse with a product that had been abandoned by the times.
"This is a table of Yin energy statistics from the early days of the nation's founding."
Qin Ye looked at it carefully. In 1949, most of the country was green. In fact, there wasn't even a single trace of red. Only the western, northeastern, and coastal regions were tinged with orange.
Although the borders of the various cities weren't green, they were still yellow.
"There are three types of supernatural alerts. Green indicates absolute safety, yellow indicates an epidemic, orange indicates a serious level of danger, and red indicates a destructive level."
Zhang Chenghai drew a deep breath and spoke with a cold voice. Then, he pressed the remote control, and the next image appeared on the screen.
This image showed that the provinces were already flooded with yellow, and even … a trace of red appeared for the very first time!
The Qinling Mountains!
It was a sea of red!
"Yin energy index … six million?" Qin Ye frowned as he looked at the numbers on the screen.
"This is the year 60."
Zhang Chenghai continued, "Do you remember … the great famine that began in 58 and lasted until 60?"
Of course Qin Ye remembered. To be more precise, he had personally experienced it.
"After the bumper harvest of 58, various regions began to misreport their yields, making it difficult for the farmers to continue living.
This wasn't a big problem in the first place. The problem lay in the fact that Cathay was operating under a grain tax system back then. Every region had to pay a corresponding tax on the amount of grain produced. This made the agricultural taxes unimaginably heavy. "
"Then, in the summer of 59, a nationwide drought struck Cathay.
This led directly to the terrible famine. "Zhang Chenghai explained placidly," Perhaps that's what many people think. "
Qin Ye grew taciturn. He could vaguely sense something amiss.
The image on the wall changed once more. It was filled with a sense of history, and even the colours on the image were somewhat distorted.
"This is …" Qin Ye gasped in horror. The image depicted a towering forest, where countless workers, soldiers, and even some men in white coats were gathered around an excavation site.
The excavation site was massive. It was at least a thousand meters wide.
It was filled with piles of decaying skeletons, and the stone slabs were covered with all sorts of carvings of exorcism.
However, the most eye-catching thing was the one located right in the middle.
There was a massive scarlet coffin that was three meters long and one meter wide!
The coffin was surrounded by eighty-one oil lamps that shone like the sun.
Furthermore … it wouldn't be extinguished by the wind!
"Sixfold Ghostly Execution Formation!!"
Arthis exclaimed before he could even react, "How could there be something like this on the ground?!!"
"What's this?" Qin Ye asked softly. He appeared to be asking Zhang Chenghai, but in truth, he was asking Arthis.
Arthis didn't respond immediately. Several seconds later, she finally responded with great emotion, "I've only heard of such things … Even I've only seen records of such things.
Legend has it that the Sixfold Ghost Kings roam the lands, slaying evil ghosts that are incarnate revenants and above. However, there are some evil ghosts that even the Sixfold Ghost Kings can't kill. They can only suppress them. "
Qin Ye's gaze was filled with disdain.
Some people … were slaughtered as soon as the Sixfold Ghost King possessed them … What a weakling …
"... What's with that look in your eyes?!
I've been suppressed in the depths of the abyss for hundreds of years, and I've even experienced the eruption of Ksitigarbha's ascension.
It's only natural that I'm no match for the Sixfold Ghost King!
What's the point of drawing such a clear distinction between Emissaries of Hell? "
Qin Ye was being rather shameless.
Arthis gnashed her teeth, "That's not important … What's important is that the ghosts that can be suppressed by the Sixfold Ghost Kings are definitely Judge-class existences!
There's practically no power in the mortal realm that can erase something like that. The consequences would be unimaginable if it were to erupt! "
Zhang Chenghai thought that Qin Ye was asking him a question. After a minute of deliberation, he muttered through gritted teeth, "Hiderigami."
"Inside the coffin … is the corpse of a woman dressed in the garments of the Xia Dynasty. Her clothes are still intact, and she has fangs protruding from her mouth. Her skin is pure gold.
It's exactly the same as the hiderigami described in the ancient records and records of the major sects. "
"This is only recorded in the most confidential archives of Cathay. On the 2nd of March, Year 59, a landslide occurred on Mount Taibai of the Qinling Mountains, revealing the ruins of the Immortal Seizing Peak. Initially, I thought it was an ancient tomb, and one of the rarest of the Xia Dynasty tombs. But when I dug it up, I discovered that … this … might very well have been a daoist temple used by an ancient powerhouse to suppress evil spirits!"
Qin Ye sighed wistfully. This is the might of Hell … To be able to seal a hiderigami at the foot of Mount Taibai of the Qinling Mountains for who knows how long. Did the Qinling Mountains fall into such a state because of this?
Naturally, Zhang Chenghai was oblivious to Qin Ye's thoughts. He continued hoarsely, "And then … came the great famine …"
Qin Ye drew a deep breath. He had never expected that the truth behind the great famine of the sixties … was actually the discovery of a hiderigami in the Qinling Mountains!
A hiderigami was the pinnacle of all vampires. Vampires were at least at the level of evil spirits!
They were equivalent to the Hellguards of Hell!
"Hang on …" Qin Ye blinked vacantly and shook his head softly, "Wasn't the hiderigami sealed?
How did it cause the great drought?
Could it be … "
Zhang Chenghai's expression was bitter, "Back then, we dug up a total of eighteen hiderigami coffins …"
Sss … Qin Ye felt his lips go dry. No wonder … no wonder the great drought of the sixties was so terrifying. 28 million people died of starvation.
So … we actually dug up eighteen hiderigami coffins!
"You guys … opened them?"
Zhang Chenghai chuckled bitterly, "We immediately understood what was going on. The eighty-one sky lanterns were the seals.
But there were also some places that we weren't aware of … In order to get to the bottom of the matter, the archaeologists even opened up half of the coffins … "
Qin Ye shook his head and shut his eyes.
Zhang Chenghai continued, "It was then that the Special Investigations Department was established.
In fact, from the sixties onwards, no archaeological excavation could be carried out without our approval. "
"It was also from the sixties onwards that the amount of Yin energy in Cathay skyrocketed."
"4 February 1975, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Haiying, Liaoning Province.
The epicenter was 16 kilometers deep, and it affected an area of 9,000 square kilometers. 2,734 square kilometers of houses collapsed in an instant, and the number of people affected by the disaster reached over 8 million … The Yin energy level exceeded 100 million for the first time ever! "
"The Special Investigations Department entered and discovered a cave 700 meters underground at the border between Haiying and Haicheng. Ten thousand corpses were found to be sitting cross-legged in a cave. Anyone who entered would surely die.
It has been sealed to this day. "
"The following year, there was a major earthquake in Tangshan. Footprints of humanoid creatures were found 600 meters below the heart of the city …"
"3 February 1996, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Lijiang County. Some citizens witnessed a man dressed in a golden costume emerging from the ground. Subsequent investigations revealed that the Yin energy in the epicenter of the earthquake was as high as ten million!"
"You know about the 1998 floods, right?
But did you know that upstream of the floods, a black coffin blocked off all of the tributaries of the rivers, and then suddenly vanished, leading to the tragedy along the river … These secrets are all recorded in the most confidential files, and only the Special Investigations Department's Special Investigations Department can access them. "
"Cathay needs us.
People like you and me. "
Zhang Chenghai heaved a sigh of relief and pointed to himself and Qin Ye, "Right now … Cathay's Yin energy level has already reached 1.1 billion!
It increased by 100 million last year!
I'm afraid it'll be even higher this year!
As soon as the Yin energy level in Cathay surpasses the 1.5 billion Yang energy scale … the balance between Yin and Yang will be completely disrupted, and the entire Cathay will become a forbidden zone for the living! "
"Mr Qin, I'm Zhang Chenghai, Special Investigations Department's Special Investigations Department's Special Investigations Department's City of Salvation. I'd like to invite Mr Qin to join the Special Investigations Department.
There's not much time left for mankind. "