Legend Management Bureau Chapter 154

[ … words ]

“Haha!” Izanami glared at the group behind her, laughing with fury. “Even the denizens of Yomi have come to my aid! They must be the Hags of Yomi and the Army of Yomi! Attack them for me!”

Du Yu’s heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, this woman hadn’t said, “Kill them for me,” or it would have been the end of the line for everyone.

But even with Izanami’s momentary verbal mercy, the so-called Hags of Yomi still lunged at the group with extended claws. Du Yu dodged to the side, narrowly evading an attack, and his footsteps slowed once more.

In the blink of an eye, a massive swarm of the Yomi Army surged forward, completely surrounding Du Yu. Sensing the danger, his eyes turned cold. He drew his rapier and executed his phantom-like footwork, weaving seamlessly through the horde of underworld soldiers.

Seeing Du Yu surrounded, Zhan Qisheng immediately spun around. With a powerful sweep of his right hand, he unleashed a fierce gale that tore open an escape route for him.

Qu Xi and Shiranui Asuka skidded to a halt, entirely unsure of how to help.

The brush in Qu Xi’s hand flew out on its own accord, smashing several nearby female ghosts to pieces. In the nick of time, it darted behind her back, effortlessly striking down an enemy attempting to ambush her.

Shiranui Asuka pulled out a talisman and roared, “Freeze!” Instantly, several female ghosts were paralyzed in place. She then retrieved a small knife and hesitated for a long while before lightly slicing open her index finger.

A single drop of blood fell before her, rapidly expanding into an eerie, glowing magical formation.

As the incantation fell from her lips, a massive plume of smoke erupted in front of her. A dark silhouette slowly materialized within the haze.

“Oh?!” Du Yu paused in surprise. “Ah Xiang, you actually have a trick like this up your sleeve?”

But upon closer inspection, the creature that bounded out of the smoke was a tiny black puppy. It happily wagged its tail and panted, staring up at Shiranui Asuka with big, bright, and exceptionally adorable eyes.

“Ghost Howl! Hurry, bite them!” Shiranui Asuka commanded loudly.

However, the little black puppy named Ghost Howl simply gave two cheerful barks, flopped onto its back, and exposed its belly.

“No! I don’t want to rub your belly!” Shiranui Asuka waved her hands in embarrassment. “Stand up! Go bite them!”

No matter what she said, the little black pup showed absolutely no intention of attacking. Instead, it enthusiastically began showing off a variety of tricks.

“Not that either! I didn’t ask to shake your paw!”

Du Yu finally understood why she hadn’t used this divine ability earlier. He shook his head helplessly and called out, “Ah Xiang, why don’t you scoop up that little cutie and stand off to the side? Try not to step on it.”

“Ah! Senior Du Yu, just give me a second! Ghost Howl will listen in just a moment!”

Right on cue, Ghost Howl rolled over in front of her, propped itself up on its front paws, and performed a handstand while taking a pee.

“Good grief…” Du Yu sighed. “This Ghost Howl really knows how to do everything except bite people.”

In front of the screen, True Lord Erlang’s expression had been slightly unnatural ever since he laid eyes on the little black puppy. Upon hearing that its name was Ghost Howl, his doubts deepened.

He silently closed his eyes and entered his inner mindscape. There, a massive white divine hound lay resting. It was True Lord Erlang’s very own summoned divine beast, the Xiaotian Hound, Divine Howl.

“Divine Howl,” True Lord Erlang called out softly.

“Master?” Divine Howl slowly rose to its feet, bowing its head respectfully. “You summoned me?”

“Do you recognize the black summoned dog on the screen?”

Borrowing Erlang’s vision, Divine Howl peered outward. The black pup on the screen was incredibly tiny, a stark contrast to its own imposing figure, yet there was something undeniably familiar about it.

“Master, what is this black hound’s name?”

“Ghost Howl.” True Lord Erlang also looked out at the screen and explained, “I simply noticed the similarity in your names. Since you are both summoned divine hounds, I was curious about its origins.”

“Ghost Howl…?” Divine Howl pondered for a moment. “I vaguely recall that name. Like me, it is one of the Six Dog Gods. However, it seems it hasn’t even developed sentience yet. Its luck and destiny must have been incredibly poor.”

“Is that so…” True Lord Erlang gave a slight nod, as if he had anticipated this answer.

“If I ever have the chance to meet this hound, I wouldn’t mind offering it a few pointers,” Divine Howl spoke slowly, acting very much like a senior cherishing the younger generation.

Back on the screen, Shiranui Asuka was frantic.

“Argh! Ghost Howl, why did you fetch a ball?! Is this really the time to play catch…”

Du Yu struck down a few more female ghosts and flickered over to her side. It was a miracle that the girl hadn’t been walloped while standing there in a daze for so long.

“Ah Xiang, pull yourself together! If the little black pup isn’t working, hurry up and try a different move!”

But Shiranui Asuka acted as if she hadn’t heard him. She turned her back and puffed out her cheeks in a pout.

“Ah Xiang, did you hear me?” Du Yu shouted again.

“Don’t talk to me! I’m giving Ghost Howl the silent treatment so it can reflect on its actions!”

“Reflect, my foot!” Du Yu rapped his knuckles against the top of her head. “You can throw a tantrum at it when we get home! Right now, figure out a way for us to escape!”

Shiranui Asuka finally snapped back to reality, realizing that the situation in front of her was indeed quite dire.

“Don’t panic, Senior Du Yu! I still have my ultimate move!”

“Your ultimate move?!”

“Shikigami Jutsu! Descend, Tengu Bankotsubo!” She violently shook a bell in her hand.

An eerie aura materialized before them, and Du Yu immediately felt a massive, oppressive pressure erupting from within it.

A man wearing a half-red mask slowly faded into view.

He was slender with handsome features, dressed entirely in black. A pair of pitch-black wings sprouted from his back, and his long hair was casually tied into a long braid.

But the man stopped materializing halfway through. He frowned, glancing around before letting his gaze settle on Shiranui Asuka.

“Little Xiang, what are you doing?”

“Heh, hehe…” Shiranui Asuka laughed awkwardly. “Bankotsubo, I-I’ve run into a bit of trouble, and I can’t beat them…”

“Little Xiang, how many times do I have to tell you? Wednesdays are a no-go. I have to go on my field trip.”

Looking distressed, Shiranui Asuka whined, “But you have dates on Thursdays, you visit the hot springs on Fridays, and you go fishing on Saturdays and Sundays…”

“Didn’t I leave you all of Monday?” The man named Bankotsubo scratched his head. “You were the one who promised I’d only have to work one day a week. With my level of demonic power, why else would I have agreed to become your Shikigami?”

Du Yu stared in sheer disbelief. Zhan Qisheng had to shout, “Careful!” to snap him out of it, allowing Du Yu to narrowly dodge an incoming strike. He glared at Shiranui Asuka and couldn’t help but complain:

“My god, just what kind of oddball did we drag into this legend with us?”

Shiranui Asuka stepped forward and grabbed Bankotsubo’s arm, looking as though she was about to cry. “Brother Bankotsubo! You have to help me! Otherwise, I’m going to be completely humiliated…”

“Today is really not going to work.” Bankotsubo silently pried her hands off his arm. “I already made plans with Shuten. He’s outside waiting for me on his motorcycle right now, and you know how difficult he gets when he’s angry.”

“Ahhh! Don’t leave…” Shiranui Asuka clung to Bankotsubo’s thigh, rolling on the ground like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

“Little Xiang, you are my master, after all. Acting like this is making me lose face, too. I’ll give Yuki-onna a call in a bit. She’ll swing by if she’s free.” Bankotsubo pushed her away once more, turned around, and vanished into the void.

“Ah Xiang… why don’t you just try smacking these ghosts with that wooden stick in your hand?” Du Yu suggested. “At least that might do some actual damage…”

“No!” Shiranui Asuka gritted her teeth and scrambled back to her feet. “I have another ultimate move!”

“Sigh… You…” Even though Du Yu was thoroughly speechless, her endless stream of bizarre tricks had sparked his curiosity. He couldn’t help but wonder what other nonsense she had planned.

“Shikigami Jutsu!” Shiranui Asuka yelled. Then, she directly pulled out her smartphone, quickly dialed a number, and declared, “Descend, Yuki-onna!”

“???” Du Yu blinked. “Why is the summoning method totally different from before?!”

“Hello… Sister Yuki? It’s me, Little Xiang. Yes, yes. Did Brother Bankotsubo talk to you? What? He didn’t say anything?”

“Ah Xiang! I’m losing my mind here!” Du Yu punted a female ghost away with a swift kick. “Get your butt over to Qu Xi right now and don’t move a muscle!”

Thoroughly scolded, Shiranui Asuka meekly hung up the phone and scurried over to stand beside Qu Xi. Since the number of enemies kept multiplying, Yingning finally revealed her true form. Fortunately, these female ghosts and the Yomi soldiers were incredibly weak, so she had no trouble handling them all on her own.

“I’m finally starting to understand why you people from Fusang couldn’t resolve this legend on your own…” Du Yu pierced a female ghost with his sword and glanced at Shiranui Asuka. “Everything before this was manageable, but you guys couldn’t win this specific fight, could you?”

“Hehe…” Shiranui Asuka chuckled sheepishly. “Not exactly… I’m just not in top form today.”

After summoning a tornado to blow away a squad of Yomi soldiers, Zhan Qisheng turned to her. “Miss Shiranui, according to the legend, how did Izanagi manage to escape?”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Shiranui Asuka told the group. “According to the legend, Izanagi takes off his hair ornament and throws it. When it hits the ground, it turns into a massive vineyard. The female ghosts are greedy for grapes, so they stop chasing him to eat them!”

“????”

The group struggled to process what they had just heard.

Throwing a hair ornament makes it turn into a massive vineyard?

In this life-or-death crisis, those vicious female ghosts would just run over to eat grapes?

And then everyone could use the opportunity to run away?

“If this were any other legend, I absolutely wouldn’t believe it, but right now, we just have to try.” Du Yu shook off the enemies in front of him and sprinted toward Izanagi. The god was desperately fighting the ghosts with the Totsuka Sword, though his combat skills seemed shockingly mediocre.

“Izanagi!” Du Yu shouted. “Hurry up and throw your hair ornament so it turns into a vineyard!”

Izanagi shoved aside the enemy in front of him and cast a bewildered look at Du Yu. “Gods above, what kind of joke is this? How could a mundane hair ornament possibly transform into a vineyard?”

Du Yu was stunned. “Huh? Why the hell are you suddenly being so logical?!”