Yama Rising

"In the face of the Nipponese Underworld's blatant disregard of international laws, the Cathayan Underworld retains the right to take further measures should it choose to do so. We are unable to understand why the Nipponese Underworld insists on trampling over the friendship of our two nations and disrespecting the boundaries between our two nations! If the Nipponese Underworld continues to do as it pleases without any regard for consequences, then the Cathayan Underworld will be forced to take action!"

At the press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Formosa, speaker Geng Lijun was wearing a Mao suit with a serious look on his face.

His voice was loud and clear, and it was audible throughout the entire hall, within which were gathered several dozen reporters from all over the world, and countless cameras were flashing all around them.

Right as Geng Lijun completed his address, a reporter raised their hand before standing up. "May I ask what you're referring to when you say 'take action'?"

Geng Lijun replied in a steely voice, "Even now, the Cathayan Underworld still hasn't received any official communication from the Nipponese Underworld. The Nipponese Underworld insists on denying the incident or attempting to pin the blame on others, thereby preventing the issue from being resolved. The Cathayan Underworld will not tolerate any other underworld sending its armed forces into our territory without permission! This is an unprecedented act of aggression and disrespect! Due to the sinister nature of the incident, the Cathayan Underworld will be removing Formosa's Nipponese Embassy and temporarily cease all international relations with the Nipponese Underworld with immediate effect. All visas for netherworldly citizens of the Nipponese Underworld traveling to Formosa will also be canceled, and the Nipponese Underworld's scientists will be temporarily kept out of the work conducted by the energy resource research and development committee."

All of the reporters in the hall erupted into a frenzy upon hearing this.

This was a one-sided cold war!

The Cathayan Underworld was refusing all communication with the Nipponese Underworld, and the situation between the two nations had never been this grim!

Geng Lijun continued without pause, "Of course, that won't be the extent of the measures taken by the Cathayan Underworld to address this issue. No underworld can trespass upon the Cathayan Underworld's territory without permission, and the Cathayan Underworld will certainly not allow foreign Yin soldiers to pass through its territory! The aforementioned transgressions are equivalent to acts of war! As for the final outcome of this incident, further observation will be required to determine that, but the worst outcomes are not out of the question."

A teacup was gently set down onto the table, and the entire conference hall fell deathly silent in response to the television broadcast.

This was a spacious conference hall with pronounced Nipponese-style decor. At the center of the hall was a round timer table, around which were a series of televisions that had been embedded into the walls. At this moment, the live broadcast of the Cathayan Underworld's press conference were playing out on all of the television screens.

Geng Lijun's voice wasn't overly loud, but it was like rumbling thunder in the ears of those in the conference hall, and none of them dared to say anything.

Izanami was sitting on the main seat, and seated alongside her were Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Tamamo-no-Mae, Shuten-doji, and several other powerful yokai. Finally, she exhaled before asking, "What happened to our people?"

"They didn't get to enter the venue," Susanoo-no-Mikoto sighed. "It's not that they didn't want to, the Cathayan Underworld refused to grant them entry. Envoy Kawashima and Saotome's group have also been detained at the Cathayan Underworld."

Izanami raised her head to sweep her gaze across all of the yokai present, but all of them averted her gaze, and after several seconds, she asked, "So we don't know anything about the current state in the Cathayan Underworld at the moment, is that right?"

No one replied.

"This is not the time to be pinning blame, our top priority is to resolve this matter!" Susanoo-no-Mikoto said.

"We can hold a press conference ourselves. That is the only way we can communicate with the Cathayan Underworld at the moment. Alternatively, you could call the Cathayan Underworld to negotiate something."

"I tried that, and they refused," Izanami replied.

Emperor Sutoku gave a cold harrumph. "So they want to resolve this matter, but they're refusing to communicate with us. What exactly is the Cathayan Underworld trying to do?! Does it think that it owns the entirety of Asia?!"

Everyone could sense that a storm was coming, but no one knew what the cause of the storm was.

International affairs were an extension of domestic politics. This had always been a fact.

Did this mean that something had gone wrong in the Cathayan Underworld?

No. On the contrary, it was in a period of rapid growth, raking in astronomical sums of money every single day! With that in mind, this simply didn't make any sense!

Was there someone from the international stage exerting pressure on the Cathayan Underworld?

That wasn't the case, either. No one would dare to exert pressure on the Cathayan Underworld unless they wanted to be threatened with nationwide power outages. Case in point: even a figure as high and mighty Yamaraja had swallowed his pride and was treating Qin Ye with the utmost respect.

"There are only two possible ways that we can proceed right now," Emperor Sutoku said through gritted teeth. "One, we hold a press conference and declare to the world that this incident has nothing to do with our Nipponese Underworld. The problem is that the ship and all of the people involved have been detained, and the so-called Nipponese Yin soldiers have been wiped out by the governor and the administrative commissioner, so we have no leads."

Tamamo-no-Mae had a head of shoulder-length black hair, and she was wearing a fox mask and a black kimono. Her voice was full of seduction as she said, "But wouldn't that be a direct revocation to the Cathayan Underworld? As you know, all of the supposed evidence is in their hands. If they insist on pursuing this matter, then there's nothing we can do. The most important thing is whether they intend to take this further or not."

If they were to deny trespassing on the Cathayan Underworld's territory, only for the Cathayan Underworld to release a series of evidence to the contrary, that would be an extremely awkward situation.

Furthermore, it gave the Cathayan Underworld the impression that the Nipponese Underworld was refusing to admit to its faults and bow its head. However, the question was: what did the Cathayan Underworld want to gain from forcing the Nipponese Underworld into submission? Was it just a show of strength?

If they really were seeking to start a war, then there was no way that the Nipponese Underworld would be able to survive!

Everyone was hoping against hope that the Cathayan Underworld would defuse the situation eventually, but the chances of that were getting slimmer and slimmer.

"What's our second option?" Izanami asked.

"Contact the Hindustani Underworld and hope that they'll act as mediator," Emperor Sutoku sighed. "It's the duty of the four pillars to ensure peace in the underworld, so this is not a request that they can refuse."

Silence.

Izanami took several minutes to consider the situation, then decided, "Hold a press conference, and also contact the Hindustani Underworld at the same time. Regardless of whether the Cathayan Underworld defuses the situation or not, we have to clarify why exactly it's doing this! Yanluo Qin can refuse to speak to us, but he can't do the same to Yamaraja."

She rose to her feet and cast a grim gaze toward all of the yokai in the room. "We are the only independent Asian underworld left to the east of the Cathayan Underworld, so we are the most heavily impacted by its return to its position as one of the four pillars. Hence, we have to resolve this issue no matter what!"

"Understood."

"Go," Izanami said as she waved a dismissive hand, then added, "Susanoo-no-Mikoto, please stay behind."

All of the yokai departed, and soon, Izanami and Susanoo-no-Mikoto were the only ones left in the room.

Only after a full 10 minutes of silence did Izanami speak again. "Come on a walk with me."

Her pristine white kimono trailed over the ground like a cloud, and several servants immediately followed along behind her, gently picking up the hem of her kimono.

The two of them walked along in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

They turned a corner into a passageway with reliefs of the Hyakki Yagyō on the walls. It was unclear where this passageway led to, but the deeper they went, the more Yin soldiers there were. At the same time, there were also many Yin rune restrictions concealed within the reliefs, and they were flashing incessantly.

The passageway was very long, roughly around 100 meters in length. The two of them had only walked around 20 meters before Susanoo-no-Mikoto suddenly raised his head and cast his gaze toward Izanami. Izanami's expression remained unchanged, while Susanoo-no-Mikoto opened his mouth, as if to say something, but decided against it in the end, and the two of them continued onward in silence.

At the end of the passageway was a stone gate that was riddled with engraved restrictions and was also carrying motifs of the three divine artifacts. The aura emanating from the restrictions was quite powerful, but what was strange about it was that one wouldn't be able to sense it at all from any distance in excess of 10 meters away.

By the time the two of them arrived, the stone gate had already been opened by the Yin soldiers on either side of it, revealing a golden shimenawa, beyond which was a boundless expanse of darkness.

Izanami and Susanoo-no-Mikoto stepped over the shimenawa, upon which they arrived in a spacious and luxurious courtyard that was over 200 square meters in area.

It was a classic Nipponese-style dry garden, and there were many servants standing in the courtyard, but every single one of them was an Anitya Hellguard.

"You think… it has something to do with him?" Susanoo-no-Mikoto asked as he turned to face Izanami.

Izanami closed her eyes and took a deep breath before replying, "Aside from this, I can't think of any other reason. All rulers need to leave their mark on the world. Ever since the first King Yanluo passed the throne onto the second King Yanluo, the Cathayan Underworld was destined to be different from other underworlds in that its ruler could be replaced without warning. That's why the world wasn't all that stunned when Yanluo Qin ascended to the throne. The first King Yanluo established Hell, while the second King Yanluo took the Cathayan Underworld to unprecedented heights. What is the third King Yanluo's legacy going to be? What is he going to leave behind?"

"The new energy resource?" Susanoo-no-Mikoto asked.

"Yes, but that's not enough," Izanami replied as she opened her eyes. "Just the new energy resource alone isn't enough to compete with the grand achievements of his two predecessors. On top of that, he wasn't the one who developed the new energy resource. If he wants to leave his mark on the world, don't you think this is a very good incision point? If 'he' is returned to his homeland, the entire Cathayan Underworld would praise Yanluo Qin. After all, there are very few figures in Cathayan history who's viewed as more heroic than he is. Aside from that, I can't think of a better explanation for the Cathayan Underworld inexplicable actions."

A door was slowly opened to reveal a brightly lit room. At the very center of the room was a man who was drinking alone, and he didn't even raise his head to acknowledge his visitors.

Izanami put on a gentle smile as she said, "We've come to visit you again, Yue Fei."

Yue Fei continued to ignore them, looking as if he hadn't heard her at all.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto's brows furrowed tightly as he said, "There are very few people who are definitively aware that Yue Fei is in the Nipponese Underworld, including a small handful of the Cathayan Underworld's highest-ranking officials and you and me. If they really are coming for him, then the situation is very troublesome…"

They would either have to hand over Yue Fei or accept the sanctions.

At this point, they were still completely oblivious to just how much danger they were in, thinking that this was still just foreign affairs dispute.

Never did they think that the Cathayan Underworld was truly coming for their throats!