Legend Management Bureau Chapter 39

[ … words ]

“What a joke,” the man sneered coldly. “Even if all eight of the Great Underworld Emissaries were here… could they stop me?”

Horse-Face piled on a fawning smile and hurried forward to ask, “May I ask what immortal rank… you two high immortals hold? And which Great Golden Immortal do you serve?”

“Get lost,” the man spat coldly.

“Oh my!” Horse-Face smiled faintly. “You high immortals certainly have a fiery temper… Then this minor immortal will take his leave…”

Horse-Face cupped his fists and bowed his head. In that instant, a slender object shot out from behind his back, hurtling straight toward the man’s face.

The man was startled. He reached out and snatched the slender black shadow. Upon closer inspection, it was actually a black snake formed entirely of nether energy.

“Mystic Nether Snake, detonate!”

Horse-Face roared, and the black snake instantly ruptured right in the man’s grasp. A massive wave of nether energy immediately engulfed him.

“Third Brother, now is the time!”

“Savage Ox Charge!”

A tremendous crash echoed through the air. A single hand reached out from the swirling nether energy, firmly grabbing Ox-Head’s horn. With a wave of his other hand, the man dispersed the gloomy aura surrounding him.

“Cheap parlor tricks.” The man exerted a slight pressure with his hand, and faint cracks actually began to appear on the magic-infused horn.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Ox-Head paled in fright. “Let go of me!”

‘This is bad,’ Cui Jue thought to himself. This person’s cultivation was clearly far above his own. Even with the combined efforts of Ox-Head and Horse-Face, repelling him would be incredibly difficult. However, since Du Yu had sent out a distress signal, the Seventh and Eighth brothers would surely arrive soon. In a pure magical duel, their strength was absolutely on par with his own. His only job right now was to stall for time. With this in mind, Cui Jue drew his Soul-Reaping Pen once more.

“Infernal Purgatory Grand Array!”

Cui Jue sketched several runes in the air with his pen, sending them flying toward the man. Instead of attacking directly, the runes landed around him, resonating with each other to trace out an encircling formation. As soon as the array was complete, the man felt something wrapping around his body, as if siphoning all his strength. Forced to let go of Ox-Head, the latter took the chance to roll away and escape the formation.

“Infernal Purgatory Grand Array…” The man glanced around coldly. “Do you know where I cultivated to become a Nether Immortal? What does this kind of purgatory array amount to against me?”

Step by step, the man walked to the edge of the array, where Cui Jue’s magically conjured runes floated. He waved his hand, causing the runes to tremble violently. Yet, Cui Jue had clearly poured an immense amount of magical energy into the spell; the grand array held strong, refusing to shatter right away.

“Hehehe.” The alluringly wicked woman suddenly laughed. “How interesting. Cui Jue isn’t trying to kill you. He’s pouring all his magical energy into maintaining this array, as if he’s trying to stall for time.”

With that, the wicked woman slowly stepped forward. Pitch-black light immediately flared around her hands. With a surge of power, she completely shattered one of the runes, causing the entire grand array to collapse on itself. She smiled and said, “I’m sorry, little brother Cui Jue, but time is exactly what we lack the most. If you keep standing in our way, we really will have to deal with you.”

“Everyone, stop!”

A cold shout echoed from the sky.

Cui Jue looked up, a look of pure joy washing over his face. “Excellent! They’re here!”

Two figures, one dressed in black and the other in white, slowly descended and landed right in the middle of the group.

“Seventh Brother, Eighth Brother, hurry up and join forces with us to take these two down!” Cui Jue roared, preparing to recast his grand array. But as he focused, he realized that Black and White Impermanence were completely ignoring the ongoing magical duel. Instead, they bypassed Du Yu and walked straight up to Dong Qianqiu.

“Seventh, Eighth… what are you doing?”

White Impermanence fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

“Assistant Dong, you should go with them…”

“Huh?” Dong Qianqiu thought she had misheard. “Seventh Lord, what did you just say?”

“Old Seventh, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?” Ox-Head bellowed. “Old Eighth, do you agree with this too? These two barged into the Legend Management Bureau to abduct someone! Five of the eight Great Underworld Emissaries are here, and we’re just going to let them take her away?!”

“Third Brother,” White Impermanence Xie Bian said as he looked at Ox-Head. “This matter is far more serious than you realize. Nobody make another move. Old Eighth and I will guarantee Assistant Dong’s safety with our lives.”

Black Impermanence sighed and said, “Assistant Dong, just as Old Xie said, we will protect your safety, but you must make this trip.”

“Seventh Lord, Eighth Lord, what are you two…” Du Yu stood to the side, unable to hide his frustration. But when he saw the grave expressions on Black and White Impermanence’s faces, he quickly realized something. “Are these people really big shots?”

“Massive. Far bigger than you can possibly imagine,” White Impermanence Xie Bian said with a nod.

“Who exactly are they?” Du Yu demanded. “If I don’t know where Sister Qianqiu is being taken, I will absolutely not agree to this.”

Xie Bian turned his head to look at the man and woman. “Ghost Chi, Ghost Mei, may I tell him?”

The alluring woman known as Ghost Mei smiled faintly. “Things have already escalated to this point. We won’t be able to leave unless we tell them, will we?”

Xie Bian gave a slight nod and addressed the group. “Assistant Dong, little brother Du, as well as Big Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother, please stand down. These two are Ghost Chi and Ghost Mei of the Four Great Demons. Their master is the founder of the Underworld, Lady Houtu.”

“Lady Houtu?!”

The group paled in shock. The most astounded among them was Du Yu. Dong Qianqiu had once educated him on the divine hierarchy of the Underworld. She had explicitly stated that while Lady Houtu founded the Underworld, she disliked managing it. Therefore, she had handed over administrative control to the Great Emperor of Fengdu of the North and the Great Emperor of Mount Tai of the East. The two ruled the Underworld, dividing it between the north and the east. Later, the Heavenly Court appointed the Ten Yama Kings and the Five Ghost Emperors to serve under the two Great Emperors. As for Lady Houtu herself, she lived a semi-secluded life. So why had she suddenly reappeared now to forcefully abduct Dong Qianqiu?

“Lady Houtu wants to see me…?” Dong Qianqiu asked blankly.

“Correct,” Ghost Chi nodded. “This was supposed to be a secret. Now that so many people know, it’s going to be very hard for me to report back.”

“You still have the nerve to complain!” Ghost Mei kicked Ghost Chi. He didn’t budge an inch, but she still continued to curse at him, “Isn’t it all your fault, you idiot?! Why didn’t you just talk to them nicely? Why did you have to resort to violence?!”

“I’m not good with words. Fighting is much faster,” Ghost Chi replied coldly.

“But… why?” Dong Qianqiu was completely baffled. “I don’t even know Lady Houtu.”

“We can’t disclose the reason.” Ghost Mei took a step forward and patted Dong Qianqiu’s shoulder. “But you have to believe us, little sister Qianqiu. Lady Houtu definitely didn’t summon you to harm you. Otherwise, with our level of cultivation, you wouldn’t still be breathing.”

Though her words were harsh, they made perfect sense. As Lady Houtu’s personal guards, the duo’s cultivation base was likely on par with the Ten Yama Kings. They were naturally not something that ordinary nether immortals like them could handle. Taking her head right then and there would have been as easy as picking something out of a pocket.

“Alright… I will go with you,” Dong Qianqiu nodded. She turned to a staff member and added, “If you see the Director, please let him know what happened.”

“There’s one more thing, little sister Qianqiu…” Ghost Mei smiled faintly and told her, “Lady Houtu mentioned that once you leave, you won’t be back for quite some time. If the new operator wants you to return sooner, he’d better do Lady Houtu a favor. Here is a jade pendant…”

Ghost Mei turned and handed the jade pendant to Du Yu. “Keep this on you, then descend into the legend of the Eight Great Underworld Emissaries. At the critical moment, Lady Houtu will send you a voice transmission.”

“If I want Sister Qianqiu to come back sooner… I have to do her a favor? Why does this feel so sketchy?” After taking the jade pendant, Du Yu looked between Ghost Chi and Ghost Mei. “Is Lady Houtu using Sister Qianqiu to threaten me? Did you take her just to use her as a hostage?”

“I wouldn’t call it a threat, but it’s close enough.” Ghost Mei giggled charmingly. “Just make sure you work hard.”

“Work hard?” Du Yu grumbled in annoyance. “I don’t know what this Lady Houtu is plotting, but how am I supposed to work without Sister Qianqiu?”

“That is none of my concern. After all, that’s business for your Legend Management Bureau.” Ghost Mei shook her head. “I’ve delivered the message as instructed. The rest is entirely up to you.”

Ghost Mei waved her hand, taking Dong Qianqiu and Ghost Chi with her. With a single flash, all three vanished from where they stood.

“What on earth is going on…” Du Yu stared blankly at the empty space where Dong Qianqiu had just been. “Seventh Lord, Eighth Lord, is she really going to be okay? Do you two know Lady Houtu?”

“Forget just the two of us; every single one of the Eight Great Underworld Emissaries was personally selected by Lady Houtu,” Fan Wujiu sighed heavily. “It’s just that we are the only ones who know Chi and Mei.”

“Then…” Du Yu still felt unsettled and pressed on. “What kind of person is Lady Houtu? Why did she take Sister Qianqiu away?”

“Lady Houtu…” Fan Wujiu thought for a moment. “I don’t know why she took Assistant Dong away, but I do know that Lady Houtu is not an evil person. Assistant Dong should be perfectly fine. Moreover, Du Yu… that ‘Records of the Eight-Directional Ghosts’ manual you have? It was actually Lady Houtu who entrusted me to give it to you.”

“What?” Du Yu recalled Dong Qianqiu once mentioning that the ‘Records of the Eight-Directional Ghosts’ was the cultivation technique Lady Houtu used when she established the Underworld. Yet, this very technique had been handed over to him through Fan Wujiu. What exactly were Lady Houtu’s intentions?

“Look, if that old lady wanted to harm you, there would be no reason for her to give you the ‘Records of the Eight-Directional Ghosts’, right?” Xie Bian reasoned. “So let’s just place our trust in her.”

Du Yu was caught in a serious bind. Dong Qianqiu wouldn’t be returning anytime soon, so could the work of descending into legends even continue?

Seeing that the situation had come to an end, Ox-Head and Horse-Face greeted Du Yu before taking their leave. It was only then that He Suoyi’s figure came hobbling over from a distance.

“Director!” As if seeing a savior, Du Yu rushed forward and gave He Suoyi a rough rundown of everything that had just happened.

“Oh?” He Suoyi’s expression shifted noticeably. “You’re saying Lady Houtu took Dong Qianqiu away?”

“Yes… what should we do?”

He Suoyi pondered for a moment before replying, “Very well. I imagine little Dong won’t be in any danger, so we’ll just carry on with our work as usual.”

“But… without Sister Qianqiu, who is going to send me voice transmissions?”

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of other transmitters. That Little Seven you know is one of them. Lady Houtu rarely issues commands. Since she has made a request, we need to hurry up and prepare the legendary tales of the Eight Great Underworld Emissaries. Currently, the legends with issues are those of Chief Magistrate Cui Jue and Black and White Impermanence. We’ve already sealed those two up. The remaining legends of Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Martial Magistrate Zhong Kui, and Lord Cangue and Lord Lock haven’t encountered any problems,” He Suoyi said calmly.

“Director… do you really trust this Lady Houtu? Why does it feel like you’re acting as if nothing happened? Or rather… you’re acting as if you knew this was going to happen all along?” Du Yu stared at He Suoyi, voicing his suspicions.

“Me?” He Suoyi stroked his beard and chuckled. “How could that be?”