Legend Management Bureau Chapter 41

[ … words ]

“Eh??? Execute my entire extended family?!” Du Yu froze. “Xiao Qi! What is wrong with you!”

Xiao Qi also grew a bit displeased. “What does it have to do with me… You were the one who insisted on saying it…”

“If I could actually hear what you were saying, would I have resorted to making things up?”

“If you could not hear clearly… you could have just asked me…”

“When would I have had the time to ask you?!”

Cui Jue asked again, “What is your name?”

“My name is…” Du Yu paused, hurriedly calling out to Xiao Qi in his mind. ‘Xiao Qi, stop arguing. You never told me during the meeting earlier, what is my name?’

Xiao Qi snorted and muttered in an incredibly tiny voice, “Constable Jiang Qin.”

“What Qin??” Du Yu was genuinely dying of anxiety. If there was something wrong with him, please let the Chief Magistrate judge him instead of assigning him a telepathic guide with such a quiet voice. “I really cannot hear you!”

“I…” Du Yu only caught the gist of it and could only bite the bullet and guess.

“My name is Constable Yuan Xiangqin…”

“Constable Yuan Xiangqin?” Cui Jue scratched his head. “A rather strange name. It sounds like a girl…”

“Haha, and a clumsy girl at that,” Du Yu offered a dry laugh, his face full of embarrassment.

“Never mind, I will deal with your matter later… What about the other two? What crimes did they commit?”

“This lowly one knocked out a person’s teeth in the street,” one constable reported.

“This lowly one was starving and stole a chicken,” the other constable said.

After they finished speaking, everyone turned their heads to look at Du Yu.

“Eh?” Du Yu was stunned. “Is that all it takes? Petty theft and street brawls are enough to become a constable??”

“What did you expect?” Xiao Qi retorted. “You are joining a constabulary, not a demonic cult.”

Du Yu thought to himself that things were truly getting out of hand now. It seemed he had just said something disastrous.

“Xiangqin,” Cui Jue called out, looking at Du Yu.

“What is it, Zhishu?” Du Yu replied.

“Zhishu?”

“Nothing, nothing. Please continue, Chief.”

Cui Jue let out a sigh and said:

“I know that as constables with checkered pasts, you all definitely have your own secrets, and it is fine if you do not want to share them. Qi County is short-handed, so I specifically petitioned the royal court to have the few of you come over to help. Since you have arrived in Qi County, we are a family from now on. I hope you can slowly come to trust us. Whenever you want to tell me about your past, I will be all ears. Just do not use those tall tales from street storytellers to fool me anymore.” Cui Jue’s voice was not loud, but it was very warm. “If you three have any problems in the future, you can come find me or Captain Li at any time. It is getting late today, so go rest first. Starting tomorrow, Captain Li will take you on your patrols.”

Du Yu nodded upon hearing this. Thank goodness Cui Jue did not believe his nonsense, otherwise, he would have been exposed on his very first day here.

Du Yu thanked Cui Jue and walked out of the main hall. Right now, the top priority was finding that old woman whose son had been eaten…

No, that was wrong. The top priority was not the old woman.

It was dealing with someone else.

“Xiao Qi, we need to talk,” Du Yu said after stepping out the door.

“Ah, talk about what?”

“Why does your voice get so quiet whenever we reach a crucial moment?”

“I…” Xiao Qi stammered tremulously. “I am a little nervous, and a little scared.”

“Huh? Are you not a telepathic guide? What is there to be afraid of? Besides, I am the one who entered the legend, not you. If something goes wrong, I will be the one taking the hit.”

“But… I have only been on the job for a hundred years, and I have never worked with an operator before. I am afraid I will mess up…”

Du Yu sighed and shook his head. “Xiao Qi, do not worry. I completed the Hou Yi Shoots the Nine Suns mission. This kind of Grade C task will not be difficult. Besides, you want Sister Qianqiu to come back sooner too, right?”

Du Yu knew that although Xiao Qi seemed very unreliable, she harbored no ill intentions, so he could only offer her some encouragement.

Xiao Qi patted her own cheeks and declared, “I was in the wrong earlier. I will not make the same mistake again.”

Du Yu smiled. “That is more like it! Alright, I am heading to that old woman’s house now. Help guide the way.”

Xiao Qi nodded. “Okay, the old woman’s house is at…, …, …”

“What the hell!” Du Yu could not hold it in anymore. “I still cannot hear you!”

After a tremendous amount of effort, Du Yu finally arrived at the old woman’s house under Xiao Qi’s directions. It turned out she did not live in Qi County at all, but at the foot of a mountain just outside of it. It would take half a day’s journey from here to the county seat. One of the reasons she had not reported to the authorities was probably the sheer distance; a journey that would be much too difficult for her elderly body to manage.

“Why does this mountain look so familiar?” Du Yu looked up at the peak, feeling as though he had been here not too long ago. Was it just because all mountains looked roughly the same?

“Do you not recognize it?” Xiao Qi said. “This is Mount Yunmeng. You can still see it today near Qi County, Hebi City, Henan Province. During the Warring States period, this mountain was known as Mount Guigu.”

“Ah? Mister Guigu…?” Du Yu truly did not expect that two legends would take place near the same mountain. He did not know if it was just a coincidence or part of some divine providence. But considering they were currently in the Tang Dynasty, roughly a thousand years had passed since the Warring States era. There were probably no longer any hidden masters living on this mountain.

“Knock-knock-knock—”

Du Yu snapped back to reality and knocked on the door of the humble dwelling at the foot of the mountain. “Excuse me, is anyone inside?”

After a moment, an elderly woman’s voice rang out. “Who goes there?”

“Someone here to deliver warmth to lonely seniors.”

“Deliver warmth?” The old woman was a bit puzzled. However, it was rare for her to receive visitors, so after hesitating for a long while, she finally opened the door.

Du Yu took a closer look. The old woman had a full head of silver hair, but her eyes shone with a sharp light. Her figure was thin and withered, yet she neither slouched nor hobbled. She seemed quite hale and hearty.

“An official?” The old woman looked at Du Yu’s attire. A trace of disgust clearly flashed in her eyes, though it quickly dissipated. She then asked, “What business does an official have with this old woman?”

“Oh.” Du Yu offered a slight smile. “The Magistrate of Qi County, Lord Cui Jue, has ordered us to tally the number of elderly widows and widowers in the area so we can distribute some welfare benefits at the end of the year. May I ask if you live alone?”

“No, this old woman has a son,” she said, immediately moving to shut the door.

Reacting quickly, Du Yu hurriedly wedged his foot in the doorway.

“Wait, hold on.” Du Yu was somewhat bewildered and whispered to Xiao Qi, “Did I arrive at the wrong time? Is her son still alive?”

“There is no mistake with the timing. This old woman’s son has already been eaten by a ferocious tiger,” Xiao Qi said. Though her voice was not loud, it was exceptionally clear.

“In that case… why is this old woman lying? Has she truly gone senile?”

Without another word, Du Yu pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“Official, what do you think you are doing?” The old woman was both confused and angry. Who simply barged into someone else’s home without a word?

“Madam, I mean no harm. I just wanted to ask where your son is right now, and when he will be coming back?” Du Yu walked straight in and sat down on a chair, making himself entirely at home.

The old woman gave Du Yu a profound look before saying, “My son has gone up the mountain. As for when he will return, this old woman does not know.”

After speaking, she went about her own business, cleaning up a single set of bowls and chopsticks scattered on the table, along with some freshly gnawed chicken bones.

Du Yu kept a close eye on the woman in front of him. It was obvious that her mind was clear and her logic was sound. She did not look the least bit senile. But then he remembered Director He Suoyi, who also possessed clear thoughts and sound logic… and the Director was completely out of his mind!

“Madam, please listen to me. I suspect your son is already dead,” Du Yu said, getting straight to the point.

“Is that so?” The old woman did not even turn her head, merely tossing back a calm reply.

‘Interesting,’ Du Yu thought to himself. The old woman’s reaction was definitely abnormal. Any ordinary person hearing those words would either be furious, deny it vehemently, or simply throw him out. But this old woman acted as if it had nothing to do with her.

Seeing that the old woman was determined to hide the truth, Du Yu did not press the issue. He simply stood up and looked around the room.

“Madam, have you just finished eating?” Du Yu asked.

“Yes. I did not know an official was coming, otherwise I would have prepared an extra set of bowls and chopsticks,” she stated mildly.

“So, you live with your son, yet you only prepared your own bowl and chopsticks?”

The old woman paused her movements, then turned back to look at Du Yu. “Official, this old woman already told you. I do not know when my son will return, so I did not set out his tableware.”

“Oh, is that right?” Du Yu raised his eyebrows. “How many days has it been since your son last came home?”

“Three or four days, I suppose.” The old woman thought about it before adding, “He heard that immortals had appeared on the nearby mountain, so he went up to seek them out.”

“I see.” Du Yu glanced at the chicken bones the old woman was gathering. “Your son has been up the mountain for three or four days, yet you are still able to go out hunting by yourself and catch wild pheasants. That is quite an impressive feat.”

The old woman gritted her teeth upon hearing this. “Official, what exactly are you implying?”

The more Du Yu looked at her, the more he felt this old woman was far from simple. She was hiding far more secrets than he had imagined. “Madam,” he stated, “if your son has died, it is our duty as officials to handle the matter. If you conceal this and fail to report it, you are breaking the law.”

“Breaking the law?” The old woman frowned. “This old woman knows nothing of the law. I only know that I have not filed any reports to the authorities. So do not waste your breath, official. It is getting dark. You should head back early.”

How truly bizarre…

Du Yu’s mind raced. There was clearly something very wrong with this old woman, and her son had definitely been eaten by a tiger. So why did she refuse to report it to the authorities?

The plotlines of the over one thousand episodes of detective anime that Du Yu had watched slowly surfaced in his mind. Could it be murder by proxy?

But that did not make sense. Why would this old woman use a ferocious tiger to kill her own son?

Du Yu pondered for a moment, then stood up and addressed the old woman. “It really is getting late. In that case, I will take my leave.”