Legend Management Bureau Chapter 143

[ … words ]

Just as Qu Xi had said, Gorgon’s misfortune was almost entirely single-handedly caused by Athena.

She clearly had better ways to handle the situation.

But just as Ramla had pointed out, Athena was also a woman.

She must have noticed the priestess in her temple a long time ago. Many men came to Athena’s temple for no other reason than to catch a glimpse of the priestess’s beauty. This infuriated Athena. After all, Gorgon possessed a beauty that far surpassed hers; she had a stunning figure, fair skin, a melodious voice, and golden hair like an evening sunset.

Yet all of this had been personally erased by Athena.

Athena cast a glance at Gorgon, offered a cold sneer, and then flew off into the horizon, thoroughly satisfied.

Shiranui Asuka had long been scared speechless.

Gorgon kept her head deeply bowed in silence.

Du Yu couldn’t bear it. Twice he had failed to save her. Seeing her standing there with her head hung low, he stepped forward.

Gorgon slowly raised her head and stared at him.

The instant their eyes met, Du Yu felt every hair on his body stand on end. It felt as if his very soul was about to be ripped from his flesh, and an eerie, piercing shriek echoed in his ears.

“Oh no!”

Seeing this, Ramla quickly rushed forward. Before she could even shove Du Yu out of the way, Gorgon abruptly turned her back to them, and the immense pressure crushing down on Du Yu vanished.

A lingering wave of terror washed over Ramla. If they had maintained eye contact for even half a second longer, Du Yu would already be a stone statue.

“I’m sorry…” Gorgon slurred, her voice trembling. “Please do not look at me… I will hurt you…”

Du Yu finally snapped back to his senses. His back was drenched in cold sweat. He had just narrowly escaped death.

“I’m sorry,” Gorgon repeated as she moved toward the shoreline.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Du Yu stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder. Even though her back was turned to him, he could feel that she was crying.

“I… I am going to find an uninhabited island to hide on. I will only hurt others as I am now…”

Even now, this pitiful woman was still worried about hurting others.

Du Yu wanted to say something, but on second thought, he realized she was right. She was no longer Gorgon; she was Medusa. Any man who looked upon her would be turned to stone.

“Deity, I have always wanted to thank you,” Medusa said. “You are the only person in this world who wanted to help me.”

“I…” Du Yu’s heart ached. He clearly hadn’t been of any help at all.

Medusa reached up to wipe away her tears and said, “Deity, if you ever wish to find me, go to…”

“No! Don’t say it!” Du Yu covered her mouth from behind. Seeming afraid that her new fangs might cut him, Medusa tightly pursed her lips.

“Don’t tell me where you’re going, and don’t mention where you plan to hide to anyone,” Du Yu told her softly. “This is as far as I can help you. You’ll have to rely on yourself for the road ahead. Athena won’t let you off easily. In the days to come, she will try every possible method to take your life. If you feel even the slightest bit of danger, run. Never stay in one place for more than a year.”

Medusa froze. She seemed to want to turn around but stopped, afraid of hurting him.

“Deity, are you saying… Athena will kill me?”

“Yes. And stop calling me Deity. My name is Du Yu,” he said, lowering his voice even further. “I come from the future. I know how your story ends.”

“Du Yu, what… what happens to me in the end?” she asked.

“Athena kills you and mounts your head on her shield,” Du Yu answered honestly.

“But…” Medusa gazed out at the tranquil sea. “If you are from the future, wouldn’t helping me like this change history?”

Du Yu followed her gaze toward the horizon and declared, “I don’t want a history like that anymore. Gorgon, you are a good person. You shouldn’t die like this.”

Medusa gave a slight nod. “Du Yu, what era are you from?”

“I’m from about two thousand five hundred years in the future,” Du Yu explained. “From a distant place called Huaxia.”

“If I manage to live to see two thousand five hundred years from now, I will definitely come and thank you.”

With those parting words, Medusa plummeted straight into the ocean like a falling star.

Live for another two thousand five hundred years?

“Sister Qianqiu, is that even possible?” Du Yu asked.

Dong Qianqiu fell silent for a moment. “Are you asking about the odds of Medusa altering history and managing to survive until our present day? Those chances are… virtually non-existent. Once the ‘fated’ time passes and Medusa hasn’t died, it creates a paradox between the ‘past and present.’ The entire world will continuously try to correct her existence. Her probability of dying will gradually increase with every passing day until she inevitably perishes. This is the world’s self-correcting mechanism.”

“And what if the ‘correction fails’?” Du Yu asked.

“Well…” Dong Qianqiu pondered for a moment before answering, “Du Yu, do you know why the world recorded in the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ has four great continents—namely Dongsheng Shenzhou, Xiniu Huozhou, Nanshan Buzhou, and Beiju Luzhou—yet the modern world looks the way it does now?”

Du Yu hadn’t expected her to suddenly change the subject, but he had genuinely always wondered about this. Why was the modern world’s layout neither completely identical to the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ nor completely unrelated to it?

“It is exactly because this world was once destroyed,” Dong Qianqiu revealed the answer directly without giving him time to figure it out. “In ancient times, the world was indeed divided into four great continents, but the ‘Legend Management Bureau’ didn’t exist back then. As a result, a massive loophole appeared in the legends and could not be corrected. This led to the entire world being completely upended and destroyed. Because this change ‘could not be corrected,’ the world was forced to accept it. This is why many present-day locations and beasts can still be found in the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas,’ while others cannot. That is the result of a loophole where ‘correction failed.'”

“So that’s how it is…” Du Yu nodded slightly. Although such situations were rare, they had indeed happened before, hadn’t they?

“God of Huaxia, it seemed you were conversing with Medusa just now.” Ramla slowly walked over and said, “Rather than worrying about a dying person, you should worry about the living. We still need to complete the legend of Athena.”

“No need.” Du Yu slowly opened a portal nearby and stated, “The legend has already ended.”

“Ended?”

Shiranui Asuka was also taken aback. Did the legend no longer need to be ‘corrected’?

“God of Huaxia, are you trying to run away?” Ramla frowned, staring at Du Yu.

“No.” Du Yu shook his head. “I’ve carefully analyzed it. There is no longer any plot in this legend that requires ‘correction.’ The only variable left is me.”

“I don’t understand,” Ramla said with a shake of her head.

“You claimed that Zeus would marry Athena, which is why we descended in the first place. But this entire farce was orchestrated by you. Now that Zeus has abandoned the idea of marrying her because ‘Athena is no longer pure,’ the only remaining plotline is ‘killing Medusa,’ right?”

“Yes, and we haven’t helped Athena kill Medusa yet,” Ramla said, her brow furrowed.

“Is there a need to?” Du Yu looked at Ramla with a smile. “According to the legends, Athena will kill Medusa even without my interference. The plot of the legend hasn’t derailed, so why should we do something completely unnecessary? If I’m not mistaken, the longer I stay here, the more chaos you’ll stir up. My duty has never been to put on a show for you, but to correct the legends. As it stands, I have no reason to stay.”

Ramla was instantly rendered speechless by Du Yu’s retort. She couldn’t think of a single reason to keep him here. But as she turned her head, she realized that the other side of his portal didn’t lead to Huaxia at all—it led to Mount Olympus.

“Where are you going?” Ramla asked.

“I’m heading back to Mount Olympus to take care of some business.” Du Yu walked slowly toward the portal. “Asuka, you can tag along if you want. If not, just ask Sister Qianqiu to summon you back.”

After saying that, he glanced at Ramla. “As for you… you should stay here. There’s no need to travel with us anymore. I’ll transport your physical body over.”

Hearing this, Shiranui Asuka looked at Du Yu and then at Ramla. She offered Ramla a highly respectful bow and said, “Sister Ramla, I am glad to have met you on this journey. However, my training is not yet complete, and I wish to continue following Senior Du Yu. Please allow me to formally bid you farewell.”

Du Yu cast a slow glance at Ramla as well. His tone was far less polite than Asuka’s, simply offering a flat, “Goodbye.”

The two of them stepped into the portal, which snapped shut behind them.

Ramla stood quietly in place, lost in her own thoughts.

Though Shiranui Asuka had no idea why Du Yu was returning to Mount Olympus, she was certain he had his reasons.

Since it was just past morning, Mount Olympus was incredibly quiet. Perhaps the gods were late risers, or maybe everyone was simply nursing a massive hangover from last night’s drinking binge. Whatever the case, Du Yu and Asuka walked for a long time without seeing a single soul.

Du Yu led Asuka on a lap around the banquet hall. He seemed to be searching for something, but couldn’t quite find it.

“Strange… It was right here yesterday…”

Left with no choice, Du Yu stepped inside the banquet hall. He found numerous gods sprawled out in deep sleep. And there, lying not far from Zeus, was a cracked wine jug.

“Found it.”

Du Yu carefully picked up the jug. The moment his fingers brushed against it, he heard its mournful weeping.

“Deity of a foreign land…”

A faint voice suddenly echoed from within the pitcher.

“Male… Handsome, are you okay?” Du Yu caught himself just in time, nearly blurting out the words ‘male concubine.’

“Deity… Please take me away… I don’t want to stay here anymore. Last night, Zeus tried to pour wine from me, but discovered that the wine I poured was bitter and astringent. In a fit of rage, he smashed me to the ground…”

“Bitter and astringent…? Don’t worry,” Du Yu said. “The reason I came back was to take you away. I’m taking you back to my country.”

“No, I’ve changed my mind.” The jug trembled slightly. “Can you toss me into the river of stars? I can’t move anymore. Even if you take me away, I will be doomed to languish in the dark forever. Now, I simply wish to become a star. Watching over my family for all eternity will be enough for me.”

Du Yu fell silent. He knew that even if he brought this jug back, there was no way to heal the wounds it had suffered.

“Sister Qianqiu, help me ask Qu Xi. What is the ultimate fate of Ganymede?”

Dong Qianqiu remained silent on the other end for a moment before replying,

“After Ganymede was transformed into a wine bottle, he could only pour out bitter tears. In the end, he was tossed into the river of stars, becoming a bottle that pours for all eternity. Mankind calls him ‘Aquarius.'”