Chapter 1148: Rat

Never did the inner demon think that it would face a situation like this.

For the past several thousand years, no other being above the Yama-King level had arisen in the underworld aside from that monstrous second King Yanluo. Wasn’t the second King Yanluo currently busy dealing with extraterrestrial gods? Who was this being above the Yama-King level?

However, there was no time for it to be thinking about things like this right now. In the face of Zhao Yun’s all-out attack, the entire sky above the city had been stained a scarlet color!

“I’ll remember you!” Several thoughts flashed through its mind in the blink of an eye, following which the speck of netherfire exploded violently without any hesitation.

However, it wasn’t going to be that easy to get away.

Zhao Yun was also above the Yama-King level, and he was going all out from the very beginning, while the inner demon had been caught completely off guard. Currently, all of the surrounding Yin energy was under Zhao Yun’s control, and there was no way that a soul fragment could resist him.

Right as the soul fragment exploded, it discovered that the surrounding air had become a complete fortress! All of the Yin energy in the area had become as hard as iron and steel, and there was no way for it to self-detonate!

“Damn it!” It cursed as it stared intently at the fiery phoenix up ahead.

Self-detonation of the soul fragment clearly wasn’t going to be an option, nor were fighting or escaping. Thus, the only thing that it could do was take advantage of the little time that it had to think of a way to put the soul fragment into a hibernative state.

This breathtaking scene had been witnessed by everyone who was keeping an eye on the situation, and all of the people in the Special Investigations Department had been stunned into silence as they stared up at the screens before them with blank expressions.

This was what true power looked like!

With every gesture that he made, it seemed that Zhao Yun was able to bend the entire world to his will!

Zheng Shuguo shook his head with an awestruck expression. “If I can cultivate to that level, I’d be able to die with no regrets… How many people in history have managed to reach those heights?”

Right at this moment, a piercing alarm suddenly rang out in the hall of the Special Investigations Department.

“Alert, alert!” An emotionless, mechanical voice declared, “The supernatural perimeter has been activated, please evacuate all nearby personnel right away. Repeat: The supernatural perimeter has been activated…”

All of the investigators in the entire hall were instantly rooted to the spot.

No one knew why this had suddenly happened, and everyone exchanged perplexed glances with one another.

In the next instant, a burst of bright green suddenly erupted from the ground on the large screens.

Zheng Shuguo’s heart completely sank as he finally realized what had just happened. “This is bad!”

…………………………………

BOOM!!!

A burst of violent buzzing rang out across the entire city.

At the top of the Oriental Pearl Television Tower, there stood an extremely dilapidated cauldron.

It was an ancient artifact, and all four of its feet were welded firmly to the ground. Right at this moment, boundless green radiance erupted violently from the cauldron before erupting into the heavens.

At the same time, a bright green barrier emerged from the ground in all directions around the city, and it was as if a gigantic dome had suddenly fallen onto the city.

This was the city’s supernatural perimeter.

Even during the decade of supernatural disasters, the supernatural perimeter hadn’t been activated before, yet it had been completely activated here, with the Nine Tripod Cauldrons acting as the core of the array!

There were only eight of the nine cauldrons, so the set was incomplete, yet these were artifacts that had gathered the fortune of the entire nation during the past several thousand years, so they were certainly not to be scoffed at!

In order to ensure that they were able to function, there were hundreds of true energy conversion facilities installed underground throughout the city, which were able to generate advanced Yama-King level power in an instant!

The barrier connected heaven and earth, and it appeared no more than 10 meters in front of the fiery phoenix that Zhao Yun had transformed into.

As a result, Zhao Yun and the inner demon’s soul fragment were separated by the barrier.

Before they knew it, both of them just so happened to have reached the outskirts of the city.

In that instant, both of them faltered slightly.

Immediately thereafter, the speck of soulfire fled into the distance with all its might without any hesitation. Right behind it, a burst of fire that threatened to incinerate the heavens exploded violently.

The phoenix had only faltered for a split second before it tore through the green barrier violently, then shot forth like lightning toward the speck of soulfire.

At the same time, Qin Ye abruptly sprang to his feet as he stared up at the sky in disbelief.

Arthis was also astonished as she looked up at the radiance heavens, and the reaction of the Harken was much the same.

How was this possible?! Why had the city’s supernatural perimeter been activated at a time like this?!

None of them said anything. They all knew just how important this soul fragment was when it came to tracking down this invisible opponent. All of the underworld emissaries were staring up intently at the sky, watching as the flames drifted down from above, staring at the massive hole on the green barrier, looking on as the scarlet flames incinerated everything before slowly disappearing, revealing the spear-wielding figure at the center.

Zhao Yun withdrew his gaze, then turned toward the stunned city in silence. In the blink of an eye, he arrived beside Qin Ye, then cupped his first in an apologetic salute, making no excuses for himself. “Please pardon my incompetence, Your Excellency.”

Qin Ye closed his eyes, and his fists were tightly clenched by his sides. He was so furious that his shoulders were trembling slightly, and he could barely contain his own rage.

He had thought that he had already developed exceptional composure. After all, he had been able to face even the ruler death gods of the three pillars with calmness and grace.

However, only now did he discover that he simply hadn’t been pushed over the edge yet.

Only after several seconds of silence did he asked, “Are you unable to catch it?”

Zhao Yun shook his head with a grim expression. “The inner demon’s true body is already far away. It had begun to move as soon as you destroyed Ye Xianguo.”

“Then go after it!” Qin Ye roared.

There was nowhere for him to vent his fury, and he finally snapped.

Zhao Yun bowed his head as he replied, “If I go after the inner demon, no one will be able to ensure your safety, Your Excellency.”

The inner demon could instantaneously possess any host that it had possessed in the past.

Thus, the fact that the supernatural perimeter had suddenly been activated could only mean one thing: there was a rat in the Supernatural Investigation Department.

Furthermore, this rat had to be quite a high-ranking individual, given that they had access to the supernatural perimeter activation facilities.

If Zhao Yun were to set off in the pursuit, the inner demon could return, and a lineup of three Yama-Kings would be nowhere near enough to resist it.

Qin Ye didn’t say anything.

After a long while, he finally sighed, “My apologies, I let my emotions get the better of me.”

Before Zhao Yun had a chance to reply, he had already vanished as a gust of Yin wind.

He had forcibly repressed his own fury for now, but someone had to bear his wrath!

……………………………………………………

Less than three seconds later, boundless Yin energy gushed into the entire Special Investigations Department building like a tsunami.

Qin Ye was making no attempt to disguise his fury, and his Yin energy was causing the air temperature in the building to plummet rapidly.

Zheng Shuguo closed his eyes in despair. He knew that they were about to face the wrath of a Yama-King.

Half a second later, all of the Yin energy converged violently, and Qin Ye appeared before them in the blink of an eye.

Atop his shoulder-length black hair was a regal, golden crown, and he was wearing a black dragon robe. His entire lower body was completely formed by Yin energy, and more Yin energy was billowing out of all of his orifices incessantly as hundreds of specks of netherfire danced around him, forming a fiery vortex.

“Yanluo Qin…” Zheng Shuguo stepped forward with gritted teeth, yet before he had a chance to offer an explanation, he was struck by an irresistible force that pushed him back over 10 meters.

No one dared to say anything, and no one even dared to look directly at Qin Ye.

Amid the deathly silence, Qin Ye finally spoke.

He was smiling, but his smile was colder than ice and sharper than the finest of blades.

“Is this how the mortal realm planned to help us, Director Zheng? I told you to make preparations in advance, so this is what you prepared?!”

All of the screens in the room were shattered in unison, and the light fixtures flickered a few times before finally being completely snuffed out. Immediately thereafter, the emergency lights lit up, basking Qin Ye in green light, giving him the appearance of a demonic overlord.

No one dared to reply.

After a full 30 seconds of silence, Qin Ye demanded through gritted teeth, “I need an explanation. If no satisfactory explanation is given, no one will be allowed to leave this place!”

A string of dull thumps rang out as all of the doors were closed one after another.

Zheng Shuguo heaved a long sigh. “Yanluo Qin, I am very sorry about this, and I assure you that we didn’t want to see this happen, either.”

He cast a cold gaze around the room as he continued, “Someone here has been possessed by the inner demon in the past, and I promise that I’ll give you an answer within a day.”

“Do you know how many netherworldly citizens in the Cathayan Underworld will lose their lives due to your oversight?” Qin Ye asked in a cold voice.

The verbal agreement he had established with the inner demon still stood, but the inner demon certainly wasn’t going to just let things slide without any retaliation.

As such, the next riot was most likely going to take place very soon, and there was a very good chance that the affected area would be larger than a village on that occasion.

“Perhaps your grandparents could be among those to lose their lives!” Qin Ye’s fury had already faded at this point. Anger wasn’t going to solve any problems, the priority now was to track down the rat.

“The Reincarnation King will take care of this matter. I’ll be staying in this city to await your answer until the matter is resolved.”

He disappeared once again, and by the time he reappeared, he was already standing beside Zhao Yun.

“We all made an oversight.” Zhao Yun seemed to have already been thinking about this for a very long time, and as soon as Qin Ye appeared, he said, “The inner demon is different from all other Yin spirits.”

Qin Ye nodded in response. This was why his wrath had faded so quickly.

In the past, there would’ve been no way for Yin spirits to possess public servants, police officers, or soldiers unless these people willingly allowed themselves to be possessed.

Even Prefect-level Yin spirits wouldn’t dare to make a move against such sensitive personnel.

However, the inner demon was completely different.

To be accurate, it couldn’t even be referred to as a Yin spirit. Instead, it was an entity formed by the most primitive of desires, and as long as those desires still existed, it would have a basis on which to exist.

It was capable of taking over anyone with demons in their hearts, thereby making it impossible to defend against.

“Now that we’ve let it slip away, we’ll have to expend a massive price to capture it next time,” Qin Ye spat through gritted teeth.

Some servants immediately brought out a cape before gently draping it onto his shoulders, but he brushed them away with a frustrated expression. “You can all go back for now. I’m going to wait here until an outcome emerges!”