Legend Management Bureau Chapter 94

[ … words ]

Du Yu bid farewell to Zhang Youren and found a secluded corner where no one was around. After waiting for a while, Xiao Qi finally contacted him.

“Du Yu, are you finished on your end?” she asked, panting heavily.

“All done. How about you?”

“I have already notified the Great Emperor of Fengdu and the Great Emperor of Mount Tai,” Xiao Qi said. “The Ten Yama Kings and the Five Ghost Emperors have brought dozens of High Immortals to help. Right now, they are clearing the rubble and counting the number of souls that were completely destroyed.”

“That is great news…” Du Yu slowly sat down. “Find a good time to bring me back.”

“Understood,” Xiao Qi replied. “It might take a little while, though. Do not run off anywhere; after all, I am the only one handling the recall process right now.”

Du Yu nodded. “Why would I run off? I am eager to head back.”

Xiao Qi fell silent, likely going to prepare the recall. Having nothing to do, Du Yu decided to stroll around the mountain.

‘I wonder what mountain this is,’ he thought to himself. ‘I really should have traveled more when I was alive…’

“Not to mention, I never had the money anyway,” he muttered.

While wandering aimlessly, Du Yu suddenly spotted something wriggling in the distance. Its stark white color made it stand out sharply against the surroundings.

“Holy crap…” Du Yu froze for a second. “Is that a giant maggot?”

Gathering his courage, he approached for a closer look. The wriggling creature turned out to be a little white snake. It was pinned under a piece of jade, entirely unable to move. Du Yu recognized the jade as the material used to build the God Conferment Platform. It had been shattered by Nezha earlier and flown all the way here, coincidentally landing right on top of this little white snake.

“You really are unlucky…” Du Yu remarked as he shifted the heavy jade. “Well, I am leaving anyway, so I might as well help you out one last time.”

The jade was not terribly heavy, but the snake was incredibly small, barely thicker than a finger. If Du Yu had not intervened, it probably would not have survived another half hour.

“All done!” Du Yu moved the last piece of jade aside and brushed the dirt off his hands. “Try not to be so careless in the future!”

The little white snake slithered in a circle on the ground, looking happily up at Du Yu. Its eyes were bright and spirited, making it look far from ordinary.

Du Yu could not help but reach down and pet the little snake’s head. When he looked up, he saw a man dressed as a scholar walking toward him. The man was remarkably handsome. Seeing Du Yu, the scholar paused in surprise but quickly recovered his composure. “My good sir…”

Du Yu hurriedly stood up and returned the greeting. “Ah! Can I help you?”

“I heard a tremendous crash from the foot of the mountain just now, and from afar, I saw brilliant lights radiating from this spot. May I ask what happened?”

“Uh…” Unsure of how to explain, Du Yu simply scratched his head. “Probably some immortals fighting. I don’t really know, and I definitely didn’t dare to ask.”

“Immortals fighting?” The scholar’s face filled with clear astonishment. “To think that Mount Emei truly has immortals roaming about, just as the rumors say…”

“Mount Emei?!” Du Yu froze. This was Mount Emei?

‘Why does Mount Emei sound like it’s connected to some famous legend…’ he wondered.

‘Wait a minute!’

‘Mount Emei, an injured white snake, a scholar?’

“If I may ask, brother…” Du Yu’s voice trembled slightly. “What is your surname?”

“My surname is Xu,” the scholar replied with a polite smile. “Do you have some advice for me?”

Du Yu looked back down at the white snake by his feet, a look of sheer awkwardness spreading across his face. “Brother Xu… if you had seen this snake pinned under a rock… what would you have done?”

“Pinned down?” Only then did the scholar notice the remarkably cute little white snake near Du Yu’s feet. “I would naturally save it. Its eyes are so expressive, it almost seems to possess human intelligence.”

Du Yu flashed a bitter smile. “Is that so… Let’s take it from the top. I’m going to pin it back down, and then you come over and save it.”

Saying that, Du Yu turned around to grab the jade stones. ‘This is a huge mess,’ he thought to himself. ‘I accidentally screwed up the legend. This white snake is supposed to be rescued by the scholar, and then eighteen hundred years later, she is supposed to transform into a human to repay his kindness!’

“Ah?! Good sir, why would you do such a thing?!” Scholar Xu hurriedly rushed forward to stop him. “How can you pin this little snake down for no reason? It is a living being!”

“You don’t understand… If I don’t pin it down, we’re going to have a major problem on our hands…” Du Yu said, shaking his head.

“I simply will not allow it!” the scholar shouted, stepping firmly in front of Du Yu. “If you wish to harm this little snake, you will have to crush me with those stones first!”

Du Yu’s mind was reeling. He really should have listened to Xiao Qi. Why did he have to go wandering around for no reason?

“Don’t make me sound like some kind of villain. I’m only doing this for the sake of your lifelong happiness.”

Du Yu might have said that, but there was no way the scholar would believe him. As far as the scholar was concerned, a man stubbornly trying to crush a snake with a rock—despite his protests—was no different from an evil thug.

“Du Yu, what are you doing?” Xiao Qi’s voice suddenly chimed in. “Hurry up and find a deserted spot. The recall ritual is almost ready. If anyone is nearby when it activates, it will damage their soul.”

“I…” Du Yu hesitated, completely at a loss for words.

“You didn’t cause trouble, did you?” Xiao Qi asked.

“N-No, of course not,” Du Yu let out a dry laugh. “How could I cause trouble? I’ve been as good as gold.”

“Good. Get moving, then. Otherwise, that scholar next to you is going to get dragged into this.”

Du Yu gritted his teeth. He was about to leave, but he turned back to the scholar one last time. “Brother Xu, if you like this little snake, you’d better spend a lot of time playing with it. Find it some food, take it wherever it wants to go. To sum it up in one sentence: you absolutely must make sure it remembers you. Do you understand?”

“I… do not quite understand. Why must I ensure a white snake remembers me?”

“Sigh. If she doesn’t remember you, I’m going to be in deep trouble. I’ll probably have to come back here to fix it later,” Du Yu said, shaking his head. “Anyway, I’ve said my piece. Do whatever you see fit.”

…

When Du Yu opened his eyes again, the ruined scene before him made him jump in shock.

“Mother of God!”

The nearby walls were slowly burning, sending waves of intense heat washing over his face. The entire grounds of the Legend Management Bureau had been reduced to scorched earth.

“Did I end up in hell?”

Then again, he quickly realized—wasn’t this place literally Hell?

“Du Yu, you’re back!” Xiao Qi said from beside him, her face thoroughly exhausted. “Thank goodness… I can finally relax.”

Du Yu scrambled to his feet and immediately pulled Xiao Qi into a massive hug.

“Ah!” Xiao Qi gasped in surprise. “W-What are you doing?”

“It’s so good to see you. I almost thought I would never make it back,” Du Yu said. “This legend felt exceptionally long.”

Xiao Qi smiled faintly and hugged him back. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“Ahem!” A dry cough echoed from nearby.

Du Yu and Xiao Qi quickly let go of each other. A dark-faced, burly man was slowly walking toward them, accompanied by quite a few High Immortals.

“My young friends, while I understand the feeling of rebirth after surviving a great disaster, shouldn’t you exercise a bit of restraint?”

“Lord Bao?” Du Yu had not expected so many people to still be around the Legend Management Bureau. He hurriedly explained, “Please don’t misunderstand, Lord Bao. Xiao Qi and I share a deep revolutionary friendship! It’s not what you think.”

“A revolutionary friendship, is it?” Bao Zheng chuckled. “Never mind. The cleanup operations are mostly complete. This is the most catastrophic event to occur since the founding of the Underworld. Take a rest for now, Brother Du. Someone will soon be in touch to discuss the details of what comes next.”

“What comes next?” Du Yu asked in confusion.

“Indeed,” Bao Zheng nodded. “The Legend Management Bureau has been destroyed. We need to discuss its reconstruction, as well as the selection of a new Director, among many other pressing matters.”

“Ah!” Du Yu suddenly remembered something. “What about Sister Qianqiu and the others? How are they?”

“Ksitigarbha has already been escorted away by envoys from the Western Paradise for treatment. The rest have all been sent to the Impermanence Hall.”

“The Impermanence Hall?”

“That is the residence of the Black and White Impermanence guards,” Xiao Qi interjected.

“Are they going to be alright?” Du Yu asked.

“Rest assured, Brother Du. With the Celestial Venerable of the Dao intervening, they could be saved even if they only had half a breath left,” Bao Zheng assured him.

Du Yu quickly patted his pockets and found a leftover teleportation talisman. Without a second thought, he slapped it onto himself.

“I need to go see them!”

“Ah!” Xiao Qi and Bao Zheng both reached out at the same time, but they were too late. He vanished right before their eyes.

“Oh no!” Bao Zheng cried out. “Why is Brother Du so impatient?! Trespassing into the Impermanence Hall is no trivial matter!”

When Du Yu opened his eyes again, he found himself facing a bizarre, towering gate. Half of it was pristine white, and the other half was pitch black. Two lanterns hung from the gate, similarly colored one black and one white. Above the entrance, three large characters read: “Impermanence Hall.”

“I’ve known Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu for a long time now, but I’ve never actually been to their place to hang out,” he muttered.

Du Yu pushed the gate open and stepped inside, only to discover that the estate was impossibly vast. He could not even see the outer walls. Beyond the entrance stood countless buildings, divided neatly down the middle—all strictly black and white. A massive Yin-Yang symbol was painted across the central plaza, but there was not a single person in sight.

“Hey! Seventh Lord! Eighth Lord! I’m here to visit!” Du Yu shouted, but he still saw no one.

“Weird… Where is everyone?” Du Yu muttered in confusion. “They built such a massive courtyard, but there isn’t a single soul here?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a white mourning banner suddenly flew out of nowhere, plunging straight into the ground right in front of him.

Before Du Yu could even react, a figure materialized from the white banner. It was a burly, broad-shouldered man dressed entirely in white. He wore a sinister, hostile expression and glared fiercely at Du Yu. “A wandering ghost dares to trespass into the Impermanence Hall. According to the laws of the Underworld, your soul shall be scattered and utterly destroyed.”

“W-Wandering ghost?” Du Yu blinked. “Me?”

A black bell shot through the air right after, slamming into the ground as well. Du Yu took a quick step back just as a figure in black descended. Surprisingly, it was a little child.

“Punishable by death,” the child in black said coldly.

“Wait! Hold on a second!” Du Yu frantically waved his hands. “You’ve got the wrong idea! I’m not a wandering ghost! I’m Du—”

“It matters not who you are! You must die!” The young boy in black flicked his wrist, and the black bell on the ground shot aggressively toward Du Yu. “The Ancestor is at a critical juncture. Anyone who approaches now is a villain!”

“Holy crap!” Du Yu cursed. ‘Everyone from the Fan family is incredibly ruthless and utterly uncompromising,’ he thought to himself. “At least let me finish my sentence! I am Du Yu!”

“It wouldn’t matter if you were Du Fu!” the man in white shouted, immediately lunging forward to attack as well!

“Yingning! Help me!”