Legend Management Bureau Chapter 64

[ … words ]

Zhong Kui leaped backward, putting distance between them. He then fished out a pocket-like artifact from his robes, tossed it into the sky, and roared.

“Ghost-Annihilating Pouch! Absorb!”

Before Du Yu could clearly see what was happening, he felt the strength draining from his body, as if Zhongli Chun were being forcibly extracted from him.

‘Crap!’ Du Yu cried out inwardly, sensing disaster. “Little Zhongli! Hurry and hide back inside the Eight Directions Ghost Record! That guy’s artifact seems specifically made to absorb evil spirits; it’s going to suck you away!”

“I cannot do that, Du Yu!” Zhongli Chun said through gritted teeth. “If I withdraw now, your mortal body won’t be able to withstand the strain for even a moment. Your soul will shatter immediately!”

This completely panicked Du Yu. He never expected Zhong Kui to have such an artifact up his sleeve. If this stalemate continued, it would simply become a question of whose soul would scatter first—his or Zhongli Chun’s.

“Little friend!” the Great Emperor of Mount Tai suddenly spoke up, his face full of concern. “That is enough. I appreciate your intentions, but you need to escape right now!”

Du Yu gritted his teeth, desperately resisting the terrifying suction of the Ghost-Annihilating Pouch. He did not know if there was still time to flee, but the mere thought of letting Zhong Kui succeed left a bitter taste in his mouth. Yet, who was left to help him now?

Right at that moment, the green ink brush that had been resting quietly at Du Yu’s waist suddenly began to glow. It shot out, flying straight toward Zhong Kui’s face.

He focused his gaze and could not help but reveal a hint of confusion. “It actually carries a vengeful spirit?”

Zhong Kui kicked Du Yu away, then pulled out several paper talismans. After chanting an incantation, he tossed them into the sky. The talismans seemed to come alive, instantly swarming and surrounding the green ink brush.

“Nothing but crooked, heretical tricks! Today, I, Zhong Kui, will thoroughly cure you of them!”

“Crap!” Du Yu had not expected that the one to step up for him at the critical moment would be Yingning.

Seeing the talismans dancing through the air, he hurriedly jumped up and shielded the ink brush in his arms. Several talismans slapped squarely onto his back. The moment those talismans made contact, Du Yu’s figure actually turned slightly ethereal.

“Oh my!” a charming and seductive voice suddenly echoed from inside the cavern. “Who is fighting right on my doorstep?”

Du Yu struggled to look toward the cave entrance. He saw the Succubus standing there, with Dong Qianqiu following right behind her.

‘Did Sister Qianqiu bring reinforcements?’

“Sister Succubus…” Du Yu began, wanting to ask for help, but then hesitated. The Succubus was, after all, a ghost too; she was in no position to fight Zhong Kui. But for her to speak up at a time like this… did she have some sort of plan?

Everyone turned to look at the woman. She swayed her voluptuous figure, her natural charm practically oozing from her very bones. Every frown and smile was enough to snatch away a person’s soul. A few of the weaker Yin Immortals found themselves unable to handle it, their faces flushing red.

“Hmph, just a female ghost skilled in the arts of charm?” Zhong Kui scoffed coldly. “It truly is a night parade of a hundred demons today! Once I am done dealing with this little brat, I will take care of you next.”

“Hehe.” The Succubus covered her mouth and let out a light laugh. “I am actually quite terrified at the thought of you dealing with me. After all, human nature is so fickle. The world is full of ungrateful wretches who would watch someone die without lifting a finger to help.”

Hearing this, Zhong Kui snapped back in annoyance, “You are nothing but a mere female ghost. What do you know about the fickle nature of the world?”

“How could I not know?” The Succubus winked at Zhong Kui, then shifted her gaze to the Five Direction Ghost Emperors with a mocking smile. “Your own superior was tied up and about to be dragged away, yet not a single one of you dared to utter a word. Finally, a young man stood up for him, and even as he was on the verge of having his soul scattered, you all remained completely indifferent. If Yin Immortals who have worked together for thousands of years act like this, who would care about a wild female ghost like me?”

The Succubus casually mocked the Five Direction Ghost Emperors, and naturally, the expressions of those nine individuals turned rather ugly upon hearing her words.

They had been thoroughly disoriented by the sudden series of events, but thanks to the seductive woman’s reminder, they gradually snapped back to reality.

No matter how chaotic the scene in front of them was, their superior had already been proven innocent. What was there left to hesitate about?!

“Zhong Kui!”

Two burly men, just as massive as Zhong Kui, suddenly stepped forward. “Things have already reached this point. There is no need for you to keep acting out. Stop this at once!”

Zhong Kui turned his head to look. It was the Eastern Ghost Emperors, Yu Lei and Shen Tu.

“Hmph! If you two have the ability to stop me, then go ahead and try!”

Zhong Kui released Du Yu and controlled his flying sword to attack the two of them. They had already exchanged a few blows earlier, so Zhong Kui naturally knew they were not his match. Because of this, he completely dismissed them.

“It seems you won’t be stopped unless we intervene.” Two men dressed in Daoist robes stepped out from behind the Five Direction Ghost Emperors. They were clearly the Western Ghost Emperor Zhao Wenhe and Perfected Lord Wang.

Both of them also used flying swords as their artifacts, conjuring countless streams of sword qi to battle Zhong Kui.

Two fists could hardly fend off four hands, not to mention that the two who had just joined the fray possessed higher cultivation bases than Yu Lei and Shen Tu. Before long, his sharp sword was beaten back again and again.

“Seventh Brother! Eighth Brother! Hurry up and help!” Zhong Kui’s first thought was Black and White Impermanence, who were equally skilled in combat.

“Ah…? Oh…” White Impermanence suddenly pulled his cell phone from his robes. “Yes, yes, go ahead. Yes, I’m not busy. I have time right now. Is that so? Is it very serious? Alright, alright, I will head over as soon as possible.”

Black Impermanence instantly caught on and asked with terrible acting skills, “Oh? Did Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva ask for us? Do you need me to go with you?”

Zhong Kui blanked for a moment, thinking to himself, ‘Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is the ambassador for the Buddhist faction’s branch in the Underworld. Why would he need you two Yin Enforcers for anything?’

He quickly recovered his wits and shouted, “Third Brother! Fourth Brother! Come help!”

Horse Face’s eyes darted around before he immediately grabbed the Nine-Turn Soul Cleansing Whip. “Oh my! The Eastern Emperor’s cultivation is indeed profound! He’s about to break free!! I can’t step away right now, Second Brother!”

The Eastern Emperor was taken aback, thinking to himself, ‘I wasn’t even trying to break free.’

Ox Head also looked at Zhong Kui and said, “Second Brother… I forgot to bring my artifacts…”

Zhong Kui glanced at Ox Head’s completely empty belt and realized he really might not have brought any artifacts.

“You guys!” Zhong Kui could not figure out what was wrong with these people. They were actually all turning against him at the exact same time.

Du Yu finally managed to scramble to his feet when two people immediately rushed over to support him. He looked up and was instantly blinded by a brilliant flash of gold and silver light.

“Old Du! You’ve got some serious guts!” a young man wearing golden armor said, patting him on the back.

“Exactly! Exactly!” another young man in silver armor chimed in.

“To actually dare to clash head-on with Second Brother Zhong Kui! We both wanted to, but we just didn’t have the nerve!”

“Exactly! Exactly!”

“Don’t worry, we see exactly what’s happening here today. Second Brother is definitely in the wrong!”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“If you ever need help with anything in the future, just come find us!”

“You said it!”

Du Yu looked at the Gold and Silver Generals acting like a comedic duo in front of him with a hint of confusion. He offered a bitter smile, thanked them softly, and then slowly walked over to the Great Emperor of Mount Tai.

He looked at Horse Face and said, “Fourth Lord, put your artifact away. That way, we can end this farce.”

Horse Face pondered this for a moment before replying, “Brother Du, that’s not quite appropriate. If I pull back now, I will definitely offend Second Brother.”

“So what do we do?” Du Yu asked. “Are you just going to keep the Great Emperor of Mount Tai tied up forever?”

“Well, no!” Horse Face chuckled slyly. “You have to give me an out.”

Du Yu thought for a moment and understood.

…

Zhong Kui was currently engaged in a fierce battle with the four Ghost Emperors. He had pulled out over a dozen different artifacts and magical treasures. If it weren’t for his immense wealth, he would have been defeated long ago.

Just as he was wondering how this would all end, he heard Du Yu let out a loud shout from a short distance away:

“Halt! Brother Horse, aren’t you going to release him right now?!”

Confused, Zhong Kui turned his head to look. He saw Du Yu pressing that green ink brush directly against Horse Face’s throat.

“Ahhh!” Horse Face put on an exaggerated expression of sheer terror. “Brother Du! I was only following orders!”

“If you don’t release him right now, I will chop off your head!”

Du Yu jabbed the tip of the ink brush forward. The soft bristles brushed against Horse Face’s neck, tickling him so much that he almost broke character and laughed.

“Okay, okay, okay! I’ll release him immediately!”

Horse Face put away his artifact while looking at Zhong Kui with an apologetic expression. “Sorry, Second Brother. I was captured alive.”

Zhong Kui was furious. He thought to himself, ‘No matter how weak Horse Face’s cultivation might be, there is absolutely no way a mortal could hold him at knifepoint with an ink brush!’

It seemed that all this absurdity was the doing of that operator named Du Yu. As the saying goes, to catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader!

Ignoring the others around him, Zhong Kui flew straight toward Du Yu.

Meanwhile, the moment the Nine-Turn Soul Cleansing Whip left the Great Emperor of Mount Tai’s body, his long-suppressed anger surged forth like a monstrous tidal wave. With a mighty wave of his palm, he unleashed some unknown divine technique that forcibly blasted Zhong Kui dozens of meters away, slamming him brutally into the cliffside.

Dust billowed and crushed stones went flying. It took Zhong Kui a long time to finally stagger to his feet.

“Fine… Eastern Emperor, you finally made a move yourself, huh?” Zhong Kui demanded through gritted teeth. “Now I have an even better reason to arrest you…”

“Hmph!” The Great Emperor of Mount Tai scoffed coldly. “I will have no complaints no matter how you intend to discipline me, but today, no one is allowed to lay a hand on this little friend.”

Zhong Kui’s eyes widened. Given the current situation, there was no way for him to gain the upper hand anymore. His only trump card—the Nine-Turn Soul Cleansing Whip—had already been released.

Du Yu also quietly glanced at the Eastern Emperor. He had formed a general assessment of the man in his heart and essentially cleared him of all suspicion.

Dong Qianqiu slipped out from nowhere and stealthily approached Du Yu’s side. With a worried tone, she whispered, “Du Yu! Are you okay? Why were you so impulsive? How could you fight with the Second Lord, Zhong Kui?”

Du Yu flashed Dong Qianqiu a wicked grin. He looked over at Zhong Kui, then back at the Great Emperor of Mount Tai, and murmured, “Sister Qianqiu, I call this seeking fortune amid danger—you have to roll the dice to hit the jackpot.”