Legend Management Bureau Chapter 171

[ … words ]

“Ah!”

Xu Xian cried out, suddenly sitting up in bed.

Everyone jumped in fright.

Opening his eyes, Xu Xian saw Bai Suzhen sitting right in front of him, with Little Xiang standing by her side.

“Y-You guys…” Xu Xian rubbed his forehead. “What happened to me?”

“Husband! You finally came back to life! Thank goodness!” Tears instantly welled up in Bai Suzhen’s eyes. “I had even made up my mind… if you never woke up, I would have followed you to the grave…”

“W-Wife…” Xu Xian slowly reached out, stroking Bai Suzhen’s hair. “Did we consummate our marriage last night?”

Medusa furrowed her brows. This man cared nothing for Bai Suzhen’s feelings. Was this really the first thing he asked upon waking up?

“N-No…” Bai Suzhen slowly shook her head. “Rest assured, Husband… I am already yours…”

“Ah!” Xu Xian shrieked as all the terrifying memories he had temporarily suppressed came rushing back. “A monster!”

Bai Suzhen froze. It turned out Xu Xian still remembered…

“Husband… I have always wanted to tell you… the truth is, we are…”

“Get out! All of you, get out!” Xu Xian screamed. “Leave me alone!”

Medusa flared with slight anger. “What is wrong with you, man?! Sister Peasant has been talking to you all this time, the least you could do is answer her!”

Bai Suzhen stood up awkwardly. It seemed it would take quite some time for Xu Xian to accept that she was a demon.

“Sister, say no more. Let us leave…” Bai Suzhen stepped forward and tugged at Medusa’s arm. “My husband has only just woken up. Give him some time.”

Just as they were about to head out the door, Xu Xian spoke up again. “Sister Xiang, you stay…”

“Huh?” Shiranui Asuka blinked in surprise. “Me?”

“Sister Xiang.” Bai Suzhen also looked at Shiranui Asuka and pleaded, “You and my husband usually get along so well. Please, help me talk some sense into him… You know all about me and Sister Xiao Qing. If you could just reason with him…”

“Do not worry, Sister Bai!” Shiranui Asuka replied. “I understand completely!”

Medusa and Bai Suzhen stepped out of the room, leaving only Xu Xian and Shiranui Asuka behind.

Shiranui Asuka scratched her head. Although she had a general idea of how this legend was supposed to play out, how exactly was she supposed to tactfully convince Xu Xian to accept that his wife was a demon?

“Sister Xiang… could you take off your clothes and come hold me?”

“Eh?!” Shiranui Asuka clutched her clothes and took several steps back. “What do you think you are doing?”

Xu Xian silently raised his head and said, “Sister Xiang, I am in so much pain right now. I need someone to comfort me, to guide me through this…”

Shiranui Asuka frowned, her eyes filled with skepticism.

“B-But why do I have to take my clothes off?”

“Because I am freezing…” Xu Xian put on a deeply mournful expression. “I need someone to hold me and share their warmth… Otherwise, I might fall ill… I might die.”

“R-Really?” Shiranui Asuka pondered. Judging purely by his expression, the man did not seem to be lying.

“Truly, Sister Xiang,” Xu Xian nodded. “Do not worry, I just want to hold you. I will not try anything.”

Shiranui Asuka looked incredibly conflicted, but seeing how grief-stricken he appeared, she could not help but feel a pang of sympathy.

“You really will not try anything?”

“I promise. Rest assured, I never lie.”

“Are you… are you really that cold?”

“Freezing. So very cold.”

Although Shiranui Asuka was hesitant, she had entered this legend specifically to help Du Yu complete it. She absolutely could not let Xu Xian fall ill, and definitely could not let him die!

Shiranui Asuka made up her mind. Just as she was about to undress, Dong Qianqiu suddenly shouted over their connection, “Asuka, don’t do it!”

“Huh?!” Shiranui Asuka paused. “Senior Telepath? What is wrong?”

“Asuka, listen to me,” Dong Qianqiu’s tone was somewhat frantic. “I felt something was off about this whole thing just now, but since I lack experience with matters between men and women, I asked Du Yu…”

“What did Senior Du Yu say?”

“Du Yu’s exact words were…” Dong Qianqiu paused before continuing, “Don’t believe a single word, and while you’re at it, have Asuka slap that scumbag across the face.”

“Ah?!” Shiranui Asuka was stunned. “Would that really be okay?”

“I have no idea…” Dong Qianqiu hesitated. “Perhaps it takes a man to truly understand another man?”

Shiranui Asuka carefully mulled it over. Compared to Xu Xian, whom she had known for less than a day, she definitely trusted Du Yu more.

Thus, mustering her courage, she gritted her teeth, walked over to him, and gave a deep bow.

“I-I am truly, incredibly sorry!”

“Sorry…?” Xu Xian blinked, utterly confused.

But in the very next second, Shiranui Asuka swung her arm and delivered a vicious slap right across Xu Xian’s cheek.

Smack!

Xu Xian was dumbfounded, and so was Shiranui Asuka.

“Brother Xu, please do not mind that. An acquaintance asked me to deliver this slap to you… If you do not like it, you can just reject it…”

Xu Xian’s expression slowly shifted from grief to frosty indifference, then twisted into a mocking sneer, and finally settled into a look of sinister malice.

“You little bitch… Have I been too nice to you? Have you completely forgotten your place?”

“Eh?!” Shiranui Asuka watched in utter shock as Xu Xian slowly slipped out of bed and stood up to his full height.

“Do you have any idea how much effort I wasted on you? And now you won’t even let me touch you?” Xu Xian spat on the floor. “I finally managed to marry two absolute beauties, only to find out they are both horrifying monsters, and now I can’t even handle you?”

Shiranui Asuka kept backing away, an ominous feeling swelling in her chest. How had Xu Xian suddenly turned into a completely different person?

“Oh no!” Dong Qianqiu screamed over the connection. “Du Yu, have you gone far?! Asuka is in danger!”

“Huh?” Du Yu was almost at the inn when he suddenly heard Dong Qianqiu’s frantic call. “What happened to Asuka?!”

“She slapped Xu Xian just like you told her to, and his true colors came out!”

“What?!” Du Yu was absolutely flabbergasted. “When I said to slap him across the face, I was just using a figure of speech! Why did you actually tell her to do it? Asuka is just a little girl, there is no way she can fight a grown man!”

“Who uses a figure of speech like that?! You are completely unreasonable!”

“Ugh! Enough talking, I am heading back right now!”

“Should I ask Emperor Medusa for help?” Dong Qianqiu asked.

“Absolutely not! She despises men like him the most! She will definitely beat Xu Xian to death!” Du Yu sprinted back like a madman.

Back in the room, Xu Xian had cornered Shiranui Asuka against the wall, staring at her with icy malice.

“D-Do not come any closer!” Shiranui Asuka yelled. “I-I know magic!”

“Magic?” Xu Xian sneered. “I have known you all this time, and I never knew you could use magic. Go ahead, then. Cast a spell on me.”

Shiranui Asuka hastily reached for the pouch at her waist, only to realize that she had changed clothes for this legend. Her waist was completely empty.

“Ah! Crap!” Shiranui Asuka realized she did not have a single talisman on her.

“Playing tricks on me? I’ll kill you!” Xu Xian swung his arm, aiming a heavy slap right at Asuka’s fair cheek.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Shiranui Asuka burst into loud, wailing sobs.

But just as the hand was about to strike her face, an arm suddenly shot out from the solid wall behind Shiranui Asuka, clamping down tightly on Xu Xian’s wrist.

Xu Xian froze. From out of the wall, a handsome man cloaked in pitch black slowly phased into the room. He wore a half-red mask and possessed a pair of jet-black wings sprouting from his back.

“Ah! Great Tengu Bankotsubo!” Shiranui Asuka cried out through her tears.

“Say, today is Monday, isn’t it?” Bankotsubo looked at Shiranui Asuka with exasperation. “You never stop yapping on a normal day, but the moment real trouble shows up, you just stand there like an idiot.”

Like a frightened child, Shiranui Asuka threw her arms around Bankotsubo, clinging to him tightly.

“Waaah! I was terrified! My mind went completely blank…”

Xu Xian stared at the winged man in utter bewilderment. Things had been truly bizarre lately. Why were there demons and monsters everywhere he looked?

But this man was babbling in some strange, incomprehensible gibberish. Was it some sort of southern barbarian dialect?

“This man deserves to die for daring to lay a hand on my master. It’s a good thing I decided to check in on you.” Gripping Xu Xian’s wrist, Bankotsubo gave a gentle shove. The force behind it was terrifyingly immense, sending Xu Xian flying backward to crash violently onto the bed.

Bankotsubo continuously patted Shiranui Asuka’s head. “Alright, alright, stop crying. You are my master, after all. What kind of master clings to her Shikigami and cries endlessly?”

Shiranui Asuka clung to him like a burr, refusing to let go. Bankotsubo could only offer a wry smile before turning his head toward the wall. “I was planning to teach that man a lesson, but it seems I am currently tied up. If you have some free time, why don’t you come out and play?”

There appeared to be someone else inside the wall. Upon hearing Bankotsubo’s words, the entire wall violently shuddered.

Another slender youth slowly stepped out from the solid stone. His eyes were pitch black, and he wore a Japanese student uniform along with a dark bandana wrapped around his head. A cigarette dangled from his lips. Even more bizarre was the massive, jet-black wine gourd strapped to his back, decorated with a skull spray-painted across its surface.

“S-Shuten?!” Shiranui Asuka gasped, still hiccuping between sobs. “You manifested too?”

Shuten-doji, the strongest yokai of Japan, was also one of Shiranui Asuka’s Shikigami, yet he had never once manifested in all these years.

Shuten-doji irritably scratched his head. “You are such an annoyingly loud woman… Hey, who made you cry?”

Bankotsubo shot him an exasperated glare. “Are you blind? How many people do you see in this room?”

Xu Xian was completely paralyzed with shock. Were there two men living inside the walls of his house?!

Shuten-doji looked at Xu Xian, a mocking sneer forming on his lips. “Oh? Looks like a pathetic small fry. And you actually made Little Xiang cry? Are you tired of living, you bastard? In this world, I am the only one allowed to make that woman cry!”

With that, he pulled a solid metal baseball bat out of thin air, lazily swinging it around in his hands.

Meanwhile, Fahai, who was meditating at the inn, suddenly sensed something. He furrowed his brows before his eyes snapped wide open.

“S-Such terrifying demonic energy?!” Fahai immediately tilted his head, gazing up into the night sky. “Where are these two massive, sinister bursts of demonic energy coming from?! Could it be that those two snake demons actually…”