The Ghostly Yin Army

Have you ever watched a movie where a single wizard or sorcerer fight off a huge force of invaders, or perhaps a kingdom of spirits with nothing but a crooked wand?

Standing alone, on top of a knoll, with his arms raised up to the heavens, he mutters strange incantations and waves his wand around, as if he is directing a full orchestra of musicians.

Suddenly, all around him, a thundering sound of an army approaches, and within minutes, there are shrieks and wails of desperate beings under heavy bombardment. The noise lasts for an eternity, although it could very well be mere minutes.

Finally, when the last scream fades away, the skinny wizard drops his hands and closes his eyes, his body sags as he teeters on unsteady legs.

Did he just fight off a huge army of spirit warriors by himself? What do you think?

Yin Army

Truth is, a single wizard, no matter how powerful, cannot do much against an entire battalion of yin soldiers. He needs his own yin army that he can command to take on the warriors from the other side.

Legend has it that during several great tribulations that happened across Asia thousands of years in the past, massive yin armies were recruited and trained by powerful wizards.

FY: The great tribulation periods correspond with all the various great wars between the warring states thousands of years ago.

To catch a glimpse of these armies, however, the wizard would have to know how to open up the portals that take him through a secret passage into deep mountains and valleys at various ancient battlefields.

He would then have the opportunity to see the army of the dead and, depending on his skills and abilities, be given the power to command the army of the dead. 

If he is lucky enough (or cursed enough, depending on the point of view) the wizard may be able to stumble upon a ready-made yin army for the taking (at a price, of course).

Since the wars happened so long ago, the armies would not be wearing camo fatigues and combat boots. They would be wearing ancient armor and would be on horseback. Ragtag though they may look, these are well-trained and efficient.

Make no mistake however, the souls that make up these troops of yin warriors are no victorious champions. On the contrary, they would be the troops on the losing side of the battle.

This did mean that they were weak, or even that they lost the war. It only meant that they lost the battle that they were in and paid for it with their lives.

Although defeated, these yin solders refuse to submit. They continue to hold their resentment within, their sense of righteous outrage does not dissipate, even through the long passage of thousands of years. The more resentful the souls are before death, the greater their power.

To regain their honor, these yin soldiers would be willing to fight under a commander who is powerful enough to command them.

So what is a yin soldier?

Yin Soldiers

Yin soldiers are not made up of humans. They are made up of those who once were, but are no longer humans. These yin spirits have been conscripted by a powerful wizard and turned into soldier-slaves.

I say ‘powerful wizard’ because weak wizards cannot command a huge army. Weak wizards can only get slaughtered, both mentally and physically.

There have been weak wizards who have died painful deaths at the hands of these yin soldiers––if they are lucky. There are some who have turned into raving lunatics who no longer even know who they are or who their family is.

The reason for this is because these yin soldiers can be compared to those employed by the mafia or yakuza.

These sorts of organized crime syndicates have strict codes of conduct and are of the sort of organized fiefdom nature that revolve around their Master (usually a human who works with dark sorcery).

Since no one wants to be willing slaves, sooner or later, they will band together and attempt mutiny. The head of this yin mafia or yakuza needs to be strong or he is eliminated entirely.

There are several types of yin soldiers. Let’s start with the most common ones.

Common Yin Soldiers (Khao Binh)

The vast majority of yin soldiers that are being deployed today are those wandering, unsuspecting souls that have been summoned or recruited by dark sorcerers.

These common yin soldiers are called ‘yin soldiers’, but that’s mostly for the sorcerer’s bragging rights. Every sorcerer wants to be able to say that he commands a huge army of yin soldiers and is more powerful than another dark sorcerer who may have fewer numbers of yin soldiers.

Truth is, common yin soldiers are just that. Common.

They are mostly just lost and lonely hungry souls wandering around looking for sustenance and protection from being bullied and harassed by more aggressive souls.

Many are children. Some haven’t even been born yet.

Without support or a place to go to, they are lured to work under the orders of a dark sorcerer and then forced to follow his orders so that they can obtain a small amount of offering such as food or drink once the task they have been given has been satisfactorily completed.

Dark sorcerers call these soldiers khao binh (common soldiers) because they are untrained, with little power and no experience with fighting. They are very weak and their ability to affect the yang world is so minor that they are unable to do much damage of any consequence.

These khao binh are mostly used to scare people or to cause minor mischief. Their power is only enough to perform minor poltergeist powers such as throwing pebbles at a person or moving small objects and light furniture around.

Enlisted Yin Soldier (trung ương binh)

These are the souls of real soldiers who have experienced war in all its gory details. Since war incinerates an incalculable number of human soldiers on both sides of the conflict, there is a huge number of warrior yin soldiers to be harvested, especially around war-torn areas of the world where there is heavy fighting.

These are also known as trung ương binh (enlisted warriors).

Most of these soldiers are those who died suddenly and violently, therefore they have not been able to move onto the next realm. They may not know that they are dead and will still be in a warrior mindset, even after having died for a millennia.

They are supposedly, some of the best yin soldiers because they have been trained on the physical yang battlefield to follow orders from their superiors. They will not hesitate to fulfill commands at the behest of their Master.

Armed with much more powerful energy weapons and a fully developed psyche to kill without fear and remorse, they are usually deployed to fight the more intense and deadly battles against another dark sorcerer’s legion of yin soldiers.

High Level Yin Officers

High Level Yin Officers are those who command high levels of energetic powers and often work under the orders of an entity known as Diêm vương (閻王), aka the King of Hell

The King of Hell has many names: Demon King, Maou, Devil, etc. He is the ruler of the entire structure known as hell, which has nine levels, governed by lesser demonic officers.

These demon officers will obey the dark sorcerer’s orders, either to save people or to harm them, depending on the requirements of the dark sorcerer working alongside the Demon King to achieve some objective. 

The subject of Buddhist hell is a bit complex so I won’t go into detail here other than to notate that these High Level Yin Officers will sometimes be summoned by human dark sorcerers (with permission from the King of Hell) to assist in destroying certain types of demons that even the King of Hell wishes to be rid of.

Here’s a little quick tale about the King of Hell.

According to folklore, for various reasons, the underworld army once went through a portal into the yang world because the King of Hell was on patrol and had to cross into the yang world.

On this journey, he took a team of the underworld army with him, and this is the infamous ‘scout guards’ of ancient legendary times.

It is said that if the King of Hell and his scout guards cross your path, it is advisable for you and everyone in your group to drop to the ground and lie flat. Whatever you do, don’t move a muscle, and don’t look up.

If you move, the yin army will see you and will send yin energy into your head which will cause serious illness. You might even be dragged away by the yin soldier and forced to join their legion.

It is believed that yin soldiers will bring diseases, deaths, and disasters to those who meet them. To get rid of the yin army, people look to other sorcerers and shamans to exorcise these evil spirits from their lands, their homes, and even their bodies.

When a dark sorcerer has been retained (employed) to remove the yin soldiers that have been plaguing some place or someone, he brings in his own yin army to fight against the yin soldiers that have been deployed to wreak havoc on the victim(s).

The winner of the fight is usually the one with the larger, stronger yin army. I can detail a few of these fights (not fictional––these are real fights that happen on a daily basis) if anyone wants to hear about them.

So what is the process that a wizard uses to build up a yin army? Is there even a process?

These are complex questions that could fill an entire book, but in the next posting, I’m going to condense the material a bit and highlight the most important parts so you can at least have a general understanding of the process that a wizard uses to build up his yin army.

Until then my friends, be kind and hold joy in your heart. This is your greatest weapon to fight against the negative forces around you.