Legend Management Bureau Chapter 61

[ … words ]

“This is bad!” Du Yu turned around and whispered to Dong Qianqiu. “Sister Qianqiu, we absolutely cannot let them fight, or things will get completely out of hand!”

“But what can we do?” Dong Qianqiu replied anxiously. “Even the one with the lowest cultivation base among these people is on par with my own. How could the two of us possibly stop them in a situation like this?”

While the two were whispering, Zhong Kui made his move. He summoned a longsword out of thin air and slashed directly at the Great Emperor of Mount Tai. Every time the blade swung, the wails of ten thousand evil spirits echoed through the air. Anyone lacking sufficient cultivation would likely have their courage shattered just by hearing that horrifying sound.

“Insolent!” the Great Emperor of Mount Tai bellowed. “Do you truly intend to assassinate me?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Lei and Shen Tu, the Eastern Ghost Emperors among the Five Directions Ghost Emperors, immediately rushed forward to shield the Great Emperor of Mount Tai. They each summoned their natal magical treasures—one wielding a pair of iron maces, the other suspending a glowing gourd in the air—and launched a fierce counterattack against Zhong Kui.

“Sister Qianqiu…” Du Yu muttered. “Don’t you think those two look a bit comical? They’re dressed exactly like Door Gods.”

“They are literally the Door Gods,” she replied.

“Huh?!”

Zhong Kui truly lived up to his reputation as the second-in-command of the Eight Great Underworld Emissaries. Having spent years capturing malicious spirits, he was incredibly skilled in combat. Facing two opponents at once, he did not lose the slightest bit of ground. The sword danced in his hands, generating fierce gusts of wind. Amidst the howling of countless ghosts, Yu Lei and Shen Tu soon found themselves locked in a bitter struggle.

Watching this scene unfold, the Great Emperor of Mount Tai could not help but frown. ‘What exactly is going on? These Yama Kings came here armed with their treasures, which clearly means they were prepared for this… Could it be at the behest of the Great Emperor of Fengdu?’

“Zhang Heng, assemble the ghost soldiers and underworld generals immediately. These people are committing insubordination, and I intend to arrest them!” the Great Emperor of Mount Tai scoffed coldly, speaking to a man standing behind him.

The moment those words fell, Zhong Kui also turned his head and shouted, “King Chujiang, quickly assemble the underworld emissaries and judges!”

“Sister Qianqiu…” Du Yu asked quietly from the sidelines. “Something still doesn’t feel right… Earlier, the Great Emperor of Mount Tai mentioned that Mount Bugui belongs to the Legend Management Bureau, and it wouldn’t be good to fight here. So why are they fighting with such reckless abandon? They’re even calling in reinforcements!”

“That depends on the situation,” Dong Qianqiu replied, her face filled with distress. “It is precisely because the Legend Management Bureau holds such a special status that no one normally steps foot in the territory of Mount Bugui. But if you look at it from another angle, because it’s so isolated and devoid of people, it’s also the most suitable place to start a fight.”

Du Yu pondered for a moment, then hurriedly turned and ran back into the cave. Lady Houtu was sitting inside with a deeply unsettled expression, though the demons and monsters standing behind her looked completely calm.

“What’s going on out there?” Lady Houtu asked immediately upon seeing Du Yu.

“They’re fighting!” Du Yu said. “There are over twenty people having a standoff out there. Right now, only two or three of them have stepped into the middle to duel, but both sides have already called for backup. I reckon the scene is going to get much bigger in a little while.”

“What are we going to do!” Lady Houtu jiggled her leg anxiously. “I spent all that time trying to stop them, but they ended up fighting anyway.”

‘Since when did you try to stop them?’ Du Yu thought to himself. ‘If it weren’t for you, these people probably wouldn’t even be fighting right now.’

“Boss, can you step forward and handle this?” Du Yu asked. “With your seniority, you could probably talk some sense into the people out there. I definitely can’t do it.”

“You brat… did you forget what you promised me back then?” Lady Houtu said in a troubled tone. “Stepping in to mediate isn’t an issue, but then this hiding spot that I’ve kept secret for thousands of years would be exposed…”

“Boss… Look at the situation, how can you still care about that…” Du Yu shook his head. “If even one of those twenty people outside drops dead, the Underworld is finished.”

“Sigh… it’s a long story…” Lady Houtu wiped a grease stain off her hands and said, “If I reveal myself, it will lead to endless trouble.”

“This!” Seeing that Lady Houtu was completely unwilling to show herself, Du Yu had no choice but to find another way. He continued, “Then how about this: you summon the other seven of the Eight Great Underworld Emissaries and have them stop this fight.”

“Stop them…?” Lady Houtu considered this for a moment. “It’s not impossible. But if we do that, the Great Emperor of Mount Tai will retreat safely. Who knows if he’ll retaliate and send more assassins after he goes back?”

Although Du Yu wanted to say that this matter didn’t seem to have anything to do with the Great Emperor of Mount Tai, he couldn’t jump to conclusions. His only goal right now was to mediate this conflict.

“Let’s do this: I’ll go back out in a bit and see if there’s any chance of talking to them. You hurry up and summon the remaining seven emissaries.”

Du Yu returned to the cave entrance, hiding behind Dong Qianqiu as he peeked outside.

“What’s the situation now?” Du Yu asked.

“The fighting has temporarily stopped, but the atmosphere is extremely tense,” Dong Qianqiu replied.

“I knew it. Usually, in fights like this where both sides have about the same number of people, they just stand there, drop a few names, realize everyone is mutual friends, and quickly disperse.”

Dong Qianqiu shot Du Yu an exasperated look over her shoulder. “The people standing in front of you are High Immortals, True Immortals, and Great Luo Golden Immortals. Do you think they’re a bunch of street thugs?”

Du Yu pursed his lips and silently watched the situation outside.

He saw a dark-faced man pull Zhong Kui behind him before walking straight toward the Great Emperor of Mount Tai.

“That is one of the Ten Yama Kings—King Yanluo, Bao Zheng,” Dong Qianqiu whispered.

“Bao Zheng?” Du Yu raised an eyebrow. “I’m familiar with this guy. Why doesn’t he have a crescent moon on his forehead?”

“Crescent moon, my foot! Folk legends aren’t always true,” Dong Qianqiu said. “This man holds a very high position among the Yama Kings. You must not show disrespect.”

Bao Zheng offered a slight bow to the Great Emperor of Mount Tai and spoke in a sonorous, forceful voice. “Eastern Emperor, I have respectfully called you a senior in vain. Could you enlighten this official on exactly how you convinced King Zhuanlun to carry out such a ruthless assassination attempt against the Great Emperor of Fengdu?”

“What?!” The Great Emperor of Mount Tai flared with a hint of anger, his imposing aura surging toward the heavens. “What kind of outrageous nonsense are you spouting?! King Zhuanlun is clearly a subordinate of the Great Emperor of Fengdu. He assassinated his own master! Why would you assume he was acting on my orders?”

“As I expected, you would not admit it, Eastern Emperor. It’s a pity that under Horse Face’s magical treasure, anyone will spill the truth,” Bao Zheng said coldly to the Eastern Emperor.

“What did you say?!” The Great Emperor of Mount Tai became even more confused. “Are you saying that Horse Face used the Nine-Turn Soul Cleansing Whip during his interrogation and extracted that I was the mastermind?”

“Correct.” Bao Zheng nodded slightly. “Eastern Emperor, you should be well aware that if one speaks a lie while being lashed by the Nine-Turn Soul Cleansing Whip, they will suffer the agony of an unearthly fire incinerating their heart until their soul is entirely scattered.”

Looking on from afar, Du Yu noticed that the Great Emperor of Mount Tai’s expression did not look like he was merely making excuses. If he wasn’t genuinely oblivious to this matter, then he must possess an incredibly shrewd and calculating mind.

But if this matter truly had nothing to do with the Great Emperor of Mount Tai, yet King Zhuanlun’s confession was the absolute truth, wasn’t that a complete contradiction?

Du Yu thought back to the story Dong Qianqiu had told him earlier. For a man to step down from the position of Haotian God and become a regional Emperor of the Underworld, he was naturally no ordinary person. Because of this, Du Yu decided not to step forward and mediate just yet; it was better to observe the situation first.

“If you juniors trust me, please stay your hands,” the Great Emperor of Mount Tai said after a moment of silent pondering. “Although I do not know why King Zhuanlun would claim to have acted on my orders, I truly had no part in this. I will absolutely return and investigate this matter thoroughly.”

“Investigate?” Bao Zheng’s face grew cold. “When we captured King Zhuanlun, he was holding a Soul-Dissolving Pill in his mouth. If brother Fan Wujiu hadn’t acted fast enough, King Zhuanlun would have already swallowed it.”

“A Soul-Dissolving Pill?” The Great Emperor of Mount Tai paused in surprise. “King Yanluo, what exactly are you trying to say?”

“Eastern Emperor, not only did you want to kill, but you also wanted to silence the witness,” Bao Zheng declared. “A Soul-Dissolving Pill. As long as one swallows a single pill, no matter how high their rank as an Underworld Immortal, their soul will instantly scatter. If we hadn’t captured King Zhuanlun, we naturally wouldn’t have known that you were the one who made the move. Now that we’ve captured him alive, you want to go back and investigate? If we let you investigate, I’m afraid the first one to die will be King Zhuanlun himself.”

“King Yanluo! Stop spouting such baseless nonsense!” The Great Emperor of Mount Tai felt a level of humiliation he hadn’t experienced in many years, his anger rising uncontrollably. “I only just found out about this matter, yet you speak as if I have been plotting this for ages!”

“This official is merely speaking according to the available evidence,” Bao Zheng continued. “The Soul-Dissolving Pill has been strictly regulated for the past thousand years. Nowadays, apart from the two Great Emperors and a few of the Underworld’s founding elders, no one else should possess them. What else do you have to say for yourself?”

The Great Emperor of Mount Tai fell silent.

Hearing this, the Five Directions Ghost Emperors looked at each other in dismay. If this were true, it would be an unprecedented catastrophe. But they knew the Great Emperor of Mount Tai far too well. Having worked together for thousands of years, they knew him to be a modest and courteous man. How could he possibly do such a thing?

“This is truly infuriating,” the Great Emperor of Mount Tai muttered. “You refuse to believe what I say, you won’t let me leave, and you forbid me from investigating. Is what I’m hearing not just a one-sided story from you all? What do you want now? Do you really intend to fight me to the death right here?”

The anger that the Great Emperor of Mount Tai had been suppressing was completely unleashed. In an instant, the loose rocks on Mount Bugui were blown away by the sheer force of his fury. Although Du Yu and Dong Qianqiu were standing quite far away, they were nearly knocked to the ground. Both the Five Directions Ghost Emperors and the Ten Yama Kings hastily summoned their protective golden auras just to barely keep their footing.

The Ten Yama Kings and Second Master Zhong Kui could not help but feel a surge of apprehension. Even if the man before them had committed a grave crime, he was still a bona fide Great Luo Golden Immortal. If a real battle broke out, they feared it would come at the cost of several of their souls being completely scattered.

King Yanluo Bao Zheng was just about to say something when the sharp sound of piercing wind suddenly rang out behind him. An object came flying from a distance, hurtling straight toward his back. He had never expected to have enemies behind him and couldn’t mount a defense in time.

Fortunately, King Qinguang, Jiang Ziwen, who was standing to the side, had been channeling his magical treasure all along. Seeing the danger, he immediately tossed out his Birth Chart, enveloping Bao Zheng in its protection.

“Boom!” A deafening explosion echoed as the two magical treasures, gleaming with their respective lights, violently clashed together.

If not for King Qinguang’s Birth Chart, Bao Zheng likely would have had his soul scattered by that single strike.

“What?!”

Bao Zheng turned his head in disbelief, only to see that the object suspended before him was actually the magical treasure of King Biancheng, Bi Yuanbin—the Divine Stone of Wojiao.

“King Biancheng… what are you doing?”

To think that there was another traitor among the Ten Yama Kings besides King Zhuanlun. Bao Zheng couldn’t help but gulp nervously.