Legend Management Bureau Chapter 75

[ … words ]

“Writing?” Du Yu had just woken up and was still a bit groggy. He paused for a long time before asking, “Writing what?”

“I want to write a letter to a girl, but I don’t know how to write,” Zhang San explained.

Du Yu rubbed his eyes, finally understanding what was going on. “Hey, I thought it was something serious. Just bring me some paper and a pen, and I’ll write it for you!”

“Paper… and a pen?” Zhang San looked entirely confused.

“Yeah, paper and a pen. How else am I supposed to write without them?”

“Du Yu… are you awake?” Xiao Qi asked.

“Yeah, I’m awake. I’m about to help someone write a letter, so don’t bother me right now.”

“What letter… During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people carved words onto tortoise shells and animal bones. Do you even know oracle bone script?” Xiao Qi asked in exasperation.

“Uh… oracle bone script…” Du Yu froze for a moment before admitting, “I definitely don’t know that… but you can help me, right, Sister Qi?”

“You can just search it online!” Du Yu suggested. “The internet is a wonderful thing.”

“You!” Xiao Qi stomped her foot. “All you ever do is cause trouble for me!”

“Heh heh!” Du Yu chuckled. He thought to himself, ‘Xiao Qi’s ability to transmit images is really convenient. I’ll just have her pull up the characters later, and I can trace them.’

“Zhang San, go fetch me a bone shell, and I will write it for you!” Du Yu declared.

“I… I already brought them…” Zhang San pulled out a small carving knife and a tortoise shell from behind his back.

“Alright, tell me what you want to say!” Du Yu took the two items and weighed them in his hands. Before this, he had never touched a tortoise shell or a carving knife in his life.

“Um…” Zhang San mumbled, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Could we make sure she doesn’t know this letter is from me? And it would be best if she didn’t know it came from the Zhang Family Stronghold either…”

“Huh?” Du Yu paused in confusion. “Why is that? You’re the one writing the letter, but you don’t want her to know. Doesn’t that make writing it completely pointless?”

“Well…” Zhang San shook his head helplessly. “I am a bandit, after all. I’m afraid of causing trouble for her…”

“Here is how I see it,” Du Yu reasoned. “First, truly great love doesn’t care about origins. If she can’t even accept your identity, then you shouldn’t waste your time pining over her. Second, you don’t have to be a bandit for the rest of your life. A real man should aim high. Who knows, maybe the Chief also hopes you’ll turn over a new leaf.”

“Ah!” Zhang San waved his hand sheepishly. “That is easy for you to say. I’ve spent my whole life killing and setting fires. If I suddenly claim to be a good person, who would believe me?”

“Sigh. If you don’t even believe it yourself, then nobody else will either,” Du Yu sighed, shooting Zhang San a look of exasperated disappointment. “Go on, what do you want to write?”

“Hmm…” Zhang San thought for a long time before finally saying, “Maybe just ask if she’s doing well… if she gets enough to eat every day… if she’s cold in the winter… or hot in the summer…”

Du Yu let out a heavy sigh. “Zhang San, I’m not trying to criticize you, but this letter won’t have a return address. Once it’s sent, it’s gone. If you ask all these questions, how is she supposed to give you any answers?”

“Ah, you have a point.” Zhang San let out a goofy laugh. “Then… then just tell her to eat a little more every day…”

“Are you sure…?” Du Yu stared at Zhang San with hesitation.

“Sigh…” Zhang San just kept laughing foolishly. “How about… how about…”

“Go ahead, I’m listening.” Du Yu had his carving knife and tortoise shell ready, but Zhang San simply couldn’t find the words.

“How about telling her that in the summer… no, in the winter…” Zhang San looked incredibly conflicted as he racked his brain.

Du Yu watched him for a long time. Aside from grinning like an idiot, all the man did was scratch his head.

“Argh, forget it, never mind. We won’t write it.”

“We’re not writing it?”

Zhang San rubbed his hands together with a silly grin. He looked like he was smiling, but there was a distinct air of sorrow about him.

“Zhang San,” Du Yu sighed. “If you have something to say, just say it straight.”

Zhang San raised his eyes to look at Du Yu, then murmured, “I… don’t really have much to say. I just want her to know… that I exist in this world.”

“That…”

Du Yu suddenly felt a pang of sadness. He had only known Zhang San for a single day, yet he could profoundly feel the man’s sorrow.

He wanted to write a letter merely to prove that a person named Zhang San existed in this world, caring for an unnamed girl from afar.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I wasn’t a bandit…?” Zhang San asked Du Yu with a bitter smile.

“I already told you earlier… you don’t actually have to be a bandit for your entire life…”

“If it weren’t for the Chief, I probably would have starved to death a long time ago,” Zhang San countered. “Now I have food in my belly and clothes on my back, and I’ve even learned some magic. How can I just say I won’t be a bandit anymore?”

“You might not know what the Chief is actually thinking… Truthfully, he…”

“Ah! Forget it, forget it!” Zhang San burst into loud laughter and waved his hand dismissively. “Brother Zhang Zhen, let’s go find some wine!”

“Sigh.” Du Yu shook his head helplessly. He straightened his clothes and stood up. It seemed that changing the mindsets of these people was not going to be a short-term project.

Zhang San leaned against the wooden door and called back over his shoulder, “Hurry up and put your shoes on! If you’re late, I won’t leave any wine for you!”

Du Yu curled his lips in resignation, thinking to himself that it wouldn’t matter even if no wine was saved for him.

Zhang San pulled the door open just as Du Yu finished slipping on his shoes.

Du Yu had barely raised his head when he suddenly saw Zhang San’s head explode like a bursting balloon.

A spray of warm, fresh blood splattered directly across Du Yu’s face.

Still frozen in the motion of opening the door, Zhang San slowly sank to his knees. His ruined neck acted like a gruesome fountain, gushing blood onto the floor.

“Zhang… Zhang San!”

Du Yu had never anticipated such a horrific scene. A vibrant life had vanished right before his eyes without warning. This man had his own joys and sorrows, his own person to care about, yet he had died before the girl he cherished even knew that someone named Zhang San existed in this world.

Before Du Yu could even process the shock, a sharp ice spike hurtled straight toward his head.

Du Yu clamped his eyes shut in panic just as a flash of green light shot out from his waist.

Feeling a sudden chill wash over his face, the ice spike shattered into pieces inches from his nose.

“You really need to be more careful!” The green pen hovered in the air, wiggling as it spoke to Du Yu. “If you die, who is going to take me back?”

“Yingning…” Du Yu opened his eyes and steadied his nerves. He hurriedly snatched the green pen out of the air and ducked behind the door.

What was going on? Someone was trying to kill him?

He was so tense that all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart. He peeked cautiously outside, only to find the area bathed in the fiery glow of flames. Listening closely, the night was pierced by a relentless chorus of agonizing screams and desperate wails.

“Du Yu! What happened over there?” Xiao Qi sensed that something was wrong, but she could neither see the scene nor hear anyone else’s voice.

“Something terrible has happened. The Zhang Family Stronghold has descended into chaos. People are setting fires and attacking others!” Du Yu gave Xiao Qi a brief, urgent summary of the situation.

“What?!” Xiao Qi was clearly stunned. She then turned her head and shouted, “Xiao Jin! Come here for a second!”

Du Yu heard Xiao Qi discussing something with Xiao Jin. Not long after, Xiao Qi reported, “Du Yu, there are no historical records documenting this event. You need to handle this carefully. This riot is highly likely to be the anomaly occurring within this legend.”

Du Yu scrutinized the area outside the door. Once he was certain the coast was clear, he stealthily slipped out of the room.

This riot was the anomaly of this legend? But who were the attackers? And what was their ultimate goal?

As Du Yu crept forward, he noticed many others stumbling out of their rooms in a similarly disheveled state. Some nodded in relief upon seeing him, while others immediately launched an attack without a word.

Utterly bewildered by the madness, Du Yu borrowed Zhongli Chun’s power, only incapacitating those who aggressively charged at him.

‘Zhang Jian, you better not die…’ Du Yu prayed silently as he sprinted through the sea of flames. ‘If you die, things will get incredibly complicated…’

Barely fifteen minutes had passed since the riot began, yet the entire stronghold was already a river of blood. For some inexplicable reason, the same bandits who had been cheerfully drinking together just the night before were now tearing each other apart. In the midst of the carnage, Du Yu realized that the stronghold’s population was far larger than he had originally assumed.

Before Du Yu could reach the building where Zhang Jian was staying, a deafening explosion ripped through the air. The crowd in the distance was suddenly blown apart, claiming the lives of dozens in an instant. Blood and severed limbs littered the ground. From the thick crimson mist, a figure clad in black slowly emerged.

“Zhan Qisheng?!”

Du Yu was absolutely certain he hadn’t misjudged the sight—Zhan Qisheng was standing right there in all his arrogant glory! Just like in Du Yu’s dream, the man annihilated a huge swath of people with a single, casual wave of his hand.

“Who exactly are you?!”

A furious roar echoed through the chaos as Zhang Jian descended from the sky, landing heavily right in front of Zhan Qisheng.

Zhan Qisheng raised his unfathomable eyes and glanced at Zhang Jian. His expression was a complex mix of emotions.

“I…” he began softly, “am merely a passing traveler to everyone within the long river of a thousand years.”

Du Yu didn’t dare to breathe, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the unfolding confrontation. So, Zhan Qisheng was the biggest anomaly this time around?! If that were true, things were about to get exceptionally thorny. His mission objective had just become incredibly direct and absolute: he had to defeat Zhan Qisheng.

But who could possibly defeat a monster like him?

“Hahahaha!”

A burst of mocking laughter suddenly erupted from behind Zhan Qisheng. Du Yu peered closely and realized it was none other than the second-in-command of the Zhang Family Stronghold, Zhang Qian.

“Chief, calm your anger!” Zhang Qian snickered as he strolled forward. “This True Immortal is a guest I invited. Your hostile attitude puts me in a very awkward position.”

“Zhang Qian?” Zhang Jian glared at him with icy eyes. “What are you trying to do?”

“What am I trying to do? I don’t really have any grand schemes,” Zhang Qian replied with a smirk. “It’s just that the way you’ve been running this stronghold has become increasingly pathetic. I plan to take over the management for you.”

“Take over?” Zhang Jian suppressed his surging fury, his voice dropping to a dangerous lull. “It seems your management is even worse than mine. You haven’t even taken the seat yet, and the Zhang Family Stronghold is already littered with corpses.”

“Hahahaha!” Zhang Qian roared with laughter. “Please rest assured, Chief! I have only killed your loyal confidants. As for the rest, if they swear their allegiance to me, I can spare their miserable lives.”

The surviving members of the stronghold gradually converged on the central plaza. Many were still struggling to process the nightmare unfolding before them. How had the perfectly fine Zhang Family Stronghold suddenly been reduced to a river of blood?

“Fellow Daoist,” Zhang Jian said, shifting his gaze to Zhan Qisheng. “This is an internal affair of our Zhang Family Stronghold. May I ask why you have intervened? If Zhang Qian has promised you something, I, Zhang Jian, will pay double.”

“I am not after wealth. I was merely entrusted with a task.” Zhan Qisheng cupped his hands in a polite, chilling salute toward Zhang Jian. “I will be taking your life today. If you become a wandering ghost and seek revenge, my surname is Zhan, and my given name is Qisheng. On the road to the underworld, do not drink the Soup of Forgetfulness. I will wait for you in your next life.”

Zhang Jian gritted his teeth upon hearing this, his expression turning exceedingly grim.

“Did you hear that, Chief?” Zhang Qian scoffed. “He doesn’t want money. He was simply entrusted with a task by me!”

“You shouldn’t misunderstand either.” Zhan Qisheng threw a frigid glance at Zhang Qian. “The one who entrusted me to take Zhang Jian’s life is someone else entirely.”