Legend Management Bureau Chapter 116

[ … words ]

“Why?” Du Yu asked with a hint of confusion. “Back then, during ‘Hou Yi Shoots the Nine Suns’, wasn’t I perfectly fine?”

“This is for your own safety,” Dong Qianqiu stated calmly. “Du Yu, if you truly are the ‘Grand Pivot’, you must originate from a legend dating back nine hundred years. If you rashly venture in, you could easily end up ‘correcting’ yourself.”

Du Yu instantly understood what Dong Qianqiu meant. If he were ‘corrected’, he would vanish from this world.

“That is indeed a problem…”

“Right,” Dong Qianqiu said, pulling a slip of paper from her pocket and handing it to Du Yu. “These are the ‘abilities’ of all the current Transmitters. I’ve written them all down. Familiarize yourself with them ahead of time when you are free. You are quite clever, so figure out how to maximize the use of their ‘abilities’.”

Du Yu took the note and skimmed it. The abilities of the Transmitters were truly bizarre and incredibly varied.

One person could force a light rain to fall within a legend for five minutes. Another could make a virtual image float across the visual feed of a legend. Someone else could broadcast music into the legend. There was even an ability far stranger, which Dong Qianqiu had described as: Anyone who makes physical contact with this person can temporarily become a Transmitter.

Although most of them seemed like utterly useless abilities, Du Yu knew they might come in handy at some crucial moment, so he carefully tucked the paper into his pocket.

“By the way, are you really ready for this?” Dong Qianqiu inquired. “For this ‘exchange’?”

“I am asking if ‘you’ are truly ready,” Dong Qianqiu pressed, her tone heavy.

“Me?”

“Yes. You have been running yourself ragged these past few days, yet I haven’t seen you make any actual plans. When the time comes to actually enter those legends, are you confident?”

“You should be asking those four foreign Operators if they are ready. Since they invited us to enter their legends, we have to bring out our own legends to entertain them properly. That is only polite,” Du Yu replied with a wicked grin.

“Our legends?” Dong Qianqiu glanced toward the display screens in the distance. “As far as I know, while there are quite a few legends currently experiencing issues, only two are imminent threats. One is ‘Black and White Impermanence’, and the other is ‘The Legend of the White Snake’. Neither of these can be resolved simply. Which one do you plan to have them enter?”

“Heh heh,” Du Yu chuckled. “Don’t worry, Sister Qianqiu. These are four pieces of free labor. It wouldn’t be in my nature not to exploit them thoroughly. I have a plan.”

As the two were talking, they saw Xiao Qi rush in from outside, panting heavily. Seeing this, Du Yu quickly walked over to her.

“You’re back, Xiao Qi? Did you deliver the letter to the Queen Mother of the West?”

Xiao Qi gasped for breath and nodded. After a moment, she finally managed to speak. “That scared me to death! The Queen Mother’s aura is so terrifying…”

For some reason, Xiao Qi always felt as if the Queen Mother exerted a sort of ‘racial suppression’ over her, much like a house cat encountering a lion.

“The Queen Mother might be a bit fierce, but she is actually a very good person. What did she say?”

“She said that first thing tomorrow morning, she will bring the foreign ambassadors over. When the time comes, numerous immortals will also accompany her to ‘observe the ceremony’.”

“What?!” Du Yu was taken aback. “Observe the ceremony? To put it bluntly… they just want to watch a movie.”

Du Yu quickly turned his head and asked, “Sister Qianqiu, have the two sons of Kua’e left yet?”

“Not yet. I arranged for them to stay in the guest rooms.”

“Hurry up and have them build a ‘movie theater’.”

“A ‘movie theater’?!” Dong Qianqiu paused in surprise. “For what?”

“Ah! For the gods to ‘observe the ceremony’, of course!” Du Yu explained. “We cannot afford to slight them. Also, have Zhan Qisheng and Master Shen work together to construct a few new ‘teleportation devices’ and place them in the theater. Tomorrow, those Operators and I will perform a live teleportation right there in the theater.”

Hearing this, Dong Qianqiu remarked that this was no small amount of work, and immediately hurried off to make the arrangements.

“There’s one more thing…” Xiao Qi, having finally caught her breath, turned to Du Yu. “As for the foreign Operators, only three will be coming tomorrow, not four.”

“Huh?” Du Yu blinked. “Why is that? Did one of them get beaten to death by the Queen Mother?”

“No, no, no. One of them followed me here today…” After saying this, Xiao Qi slowly stepped through the doorway. Only then did Du Yu notice a bald monk trailing behind her.

“You are…” Du Yu pondered for a moment. “Varan from India?”

“I am indeed.” Varan pressed his palms together in a respectful greeting to Du Yu. “This poor monk is humbled that the benefactor remembers my name.”

“Uh… don’t be, don’t be humbled. Come in and have a seat!” Even as Du Yu said this, he wondered why Varan had arrived a day early. Could he be here to scout for intelligence?

Varan stepped into the courtyard and slowly sat directly on the ground. He then patted an empty patch of dirt beside him and invited Du Yu, “Benefactor, will you sit with this poor monk for a while?”

Seeing this, Du Yu felt a bit awkward and hurriedly asked, “Master, why are you sitting on the ground? There are chairs inside.”

“Heh.” Varan smiled gently and asked, “What difference is there between me sitting here and sitting on a chair?”

“Difference?” Du Yu thought for a moment. “Although the chairs here are also made of stone and feel about the same as the ground, having you sit in a chair is a matter of basic etiquette. No matter how you look at it, I can’t just let you sit on the floor.”

“Yet this poor monk does not feel that sitting on this ground is a ‘discourtesy’ from the benefactor. In that case, does the benefactor still care about such ‘etiquette’?”

Du Yu couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a hidden meaning in the monk’s words. He couldn’t help but recall the Eastern Emperor’s warning from back then—the purpose behind this Indian monk’s arrival was likely far from simple.

He deliberated for a moment before taking a seat on the ground across from Varan.

“Benefactor, now that you too are seated on the ground, do you feel it is a discourtesy?”

“Well… not exactly.” Du Yu shook his head. “It’s nice and cool. Actually quite comfortable.”

“Heh.” Varan revealed another deeply profound smile. “Benefactor, tell me. Did you sit down because this poor monk sat on the ground, or did this poor monk voluntarily sit on the ground because I already knew the benefactor would follow suit?”

Du Yu offered a dry laugh. He vaguely felt that someone had asked him a similar question before. “Master, your words carry too much depth… I don’t quite understand.”

Varan smiled slightly and replied, “This is ‘karma’.”

Du Yu found the term vaguely familiar. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Varan reach into a pouch at his waist. After rummaging around for a moment, the monk pulled out a small jug of wine and two weathered cups.

“Eh?” Du Yu stared in surprise. “You’re clearly a bal—I mean, you’re a monk. Why are you carrying alcohol?”

Acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing, Varan placed a cup in front of himself and the other in front of Du Yu. He then uncorked the jug and slowly poured out two servings. The liquor was clear and bright, exuding a potent aroma, with rich bubbles rippling outwards with every pour.

Du Yu thought to himself, ‘The alcohol content of this wine is definitely not low.’

“There is a saying that goes, ‘Wine and meat pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in the heart.’ This poor monk wishes to give it a try.” With that, he picked up a cup, handed it to Du Yu, and then took the other for himself.

His face completely expressionless, he was just about to take a drink when he suddenly remembered something. He paused and asked, “When mortals consume wine, do they not clink their cups together?”

Du Yu looked completely baffled, unsure of how to answer.

Without waiting for a response, Varan lifted his cup and gently clinked it against Du Yu’s.

“That is better.” Varan offered a satisfied smile, then tilted his head back and downed the cup of strong white liquor in a single gulp.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

It was painfully obvious that this was indeed Varan’s first time drinking. The moment he swallowed, he broke into a violent fit of coughing.

“Master… what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?” Du Yu looked at him in total confusion.

Varan steadied his breathing, picked up the jug again, and refilled his cup.

“Benefactor, why are you not drinking?”

“I…” A look of sheer helplessness crossed Du Yu’s face. “I’m actually the one who wants to ask. Why are the two of us suddenly sitting in a courtyard drinking for absolutely no reason?”

“Oh?” Varan pondered for a brief moment before replying, “I see. Do mortals require a ‘reason’ to consume wine?”

Du Yu let out a soft sigh and explained, “That rule isn’t exactly set in stone. One can drink without a reason… but this is only our second time meeting. We’ve barely exchanged a few words, so why should we sit together and drink? Furthermore, you are a bal—you are a monk. Why seek me out to drink?”

Hearing this, Varan slowly set his cup down, his expression turning a degree more serious.

“Benefactor, this is this poor monk’s first time consuming wine. But this poor monk knows that even if I were to finish this entire jug and become intoxicated, I could still recite the ‘Diamond Sutra’ without missing a single word.”

Du Yu nodded. “And your point is?”

“The ‘Buddha’ resides in my heart, not in my mouth,” Varan told him. “Benefactor, there are some people who harbor a ‘demon’ in their hearts. Because of this, even when completely sober, they are unable to finish reciting the ‘Diamond Sutra’. This, too, is ‘karma’.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Du Yu.” Varan changed his address, calling him directly by name. “The path you currently walk is exceedingly perilous. It will shake the ultimate fate of the entire world. This ’cause’ of yours will sow the seeds of ‘evil karma’.”

Du Yu slowly furrowed his brows. “Shake the ultimate fate of the world? Are you saying… I am going to destroy this world?”

“Not so.” Varan shook his head. “It is not that you will destroy this world, but rather that this world will be destroyed because of you.”

Hearing this, Du Yu slowly put down his cup, a hint of displeasure creeping onto his face.

“Then I don’t understand, Master,” Du Yu argued. “Up until now, I have only ever done the right thing. If constantly doing the right thing leads to the destruction of the world, then this world shouldn’t exist in the first place.”

“In the eyes of this poor monk, there is no such thing as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in this world. You must know that your very existence is a variable to this world. A single decision of yours can dictate the life and death of many. That is why this poor monk has appeared before you today—to offer you a choice.”

“A choice?” Du Yu looked at Varan, utterly bewildered. “What do you want me to do?”

Varan’s eyes were filled with ancient vicissitudes. He picked up his cup and downed another serving of wine. This time, he seemed to have grown slightly more accustomed to it and did not cough.

“This poor monk requires you to sever all ties with that ‘demon’, enter the cycle of reincarnation, and be reborn.”