Legend Management Bureau Chapter 174

[ … words ]

Xu Xian had never imagined that the monk-like man before him could be so ruthless. When he uttered the words “beaten to death,” he didn’t even blink an eye.

“M-Monk… no… Master…” Xu Xian was clearly frightened. “Why are you doing this? I’m just a poor apprentice, I don’t have any money…”

Du Yu’s face turned cold as he declared, “To tell you the truth, this has nothing to do with money. I am the serial killer wanted in the neighboring English Village. Come midnight, I go out to solicit customers, and along the way, I murder and disembowel people. Right now, the English Village is terrified of my moonlight business, so they gave me a respectful title—Jack the Solicitor.”

After saying this, Du Yu pulled a rapier out of thin air and slashed it around.

Jack the Solicitor?

Xu Xian stood frozen in place. Just from the monk’s icy tone, he knew the man wasn’t lying. This was someone who would absolutely follow through on his threats.

“Master Solicitor, you… please stop waving that around. I’ll write it, okay?”

“That’s more like it,” Du Yu nodded slightly. “Hurry up.”

Although Xu Xian agreed, he found himself in a dilemma. Where was he supposed to find paper and a pen in the dead of night?

Du Yu bellowed, “Insolence!” terrifying Xu Xian into snapping his mouth shut.

“You’re a grown man, and you’re letting something this trivial stop you? If you don’t have paper and pen, I’ll go with you to buy them, steal them, or rob someone for them. If all else fails, you can slice your finger open and write it on your clothes in blood.” Du Yu glared coldly at Xu Xian. “There are always more solutions than problems, right?”

Trembling, Xu Xian looked at Du Yu and could only nod in silence.

…

Medusa pushed open the door of the pharmacy, tossed a bucket of water outside, and couldn’t help but mutter a few curses under her breath.

Hadn’t they agreed that she wouldn’t have to do “maid” work? Wasn’t she waiting on people hand and foot right now?

Just as she was about to head back inside, she suddenly heard a noise from a pitch-black corner.

“Gorgon! Over here! Come quick!” a familiar voice called out from the shadows.

Medusa’s eyes flashed with golden light. Peering into the darkness, she saw Du Yu sporting a shiny bald head, waving at her.

“Du Yu?” Medusa set the bucket down and hurried over. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s so good to see you!” Du Yu flashed a wicked grin and pulled a spatial pouch from his waist. “Give this to Bai Suzhen and pass along a message. Tell her that inside is ‘the cause of everything’ and ‘Xu Xian’s future’. She’ll understand once she sees it.”

Medusa nodded slowly, took the spatial pouch, and tied it to her own waist.

“Why don’t you just give it to her yourself?” Medusa asked.

“Bai Suzhen doesn’t really like me. I’m worried she’ll drag me into an endless interrogation. It’s best if you hand this over.”

“Oh…” Medusa nodded slightly.

“Why don’t you look happy, Gorgon?” Du Yu asked, noticing her expression. “Are you getting tired? Don’t worry, if everything goes well, this legend will end soon, and we can finally go back!”

“Really?” Medusa raised an eyebrow.

“Really,” Du Yu confirmed with a nod. “All you have to do is give this pouch to Bai Suzhen, and it’ll all be over!”

Medusa nodded, half-believing and half-doubting. She did want this legend to end; she was honestly feeling quite exhausted.

But on second thought, if the legend ended, would Du Yu still need her?

Would she even have a reason to stay in China?

Had she truly completed her repayment of gratitude?

Medusa hesitated to speak several times, her stunning face painted with conflicting emotions.

“Are you alright, Gorgon?” Du Yu asked again.

“I’m fine,” Medusa offered a bitter smile. “I’m doing great. Let’s finish this legend as soon as possible.”

After bidding farewell to Du Yu, Medusa slowly walked back into the pharmacy, where everyone was still bustling about in a chaotic frenzy.

“Sister, where did you go?!” Bai Suzhen asked anxiously. “I’m completely swamped over here, hurry up and help me.”

Medusa was about to walk over but suddenly remembered her errand. “Peasant Sister, come here for a second. I have something for you.”

Bai Suzhen paused in surprise. She had known Xiaoqing for many days now, and this was the first time she had seen her look so serious.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Suzhen picked up a towel and walked over while wiping her hands. “Did something happen, sister?”

“I ran into that young monk just now. He asked me to give this to you. He said that inside is ‘the cause of everything’ and ‘Xu Xian’s future,’ and that you’ll understand once you look at it.” Medusa reached down to her waist, unhooked one of the two spatial pouches, and handed it to Bai Suzhen.

Bai Suzhen was taken aback. “Young monk? You mean Fahai’s disciple?”

Medusa nodded.

Bai Suzhen quickly took the spatial pouch, turned it over, and poured out its contents.

Strikingly, a fiery red mushroom tumbled out of the pouch.

Both Bai Suzhen and Medusa froze in confusion.

‘How strange,’ Medusa thought to herself. ‘Why does the item Du Yu gave look exactly like the red mushroom I collected?’

Bai Suzhen also stared silently at the red mushroom resting in her palm.

This thing was “the cause of everything” and “Xu Xian’s future”?

As the two women stood there puzzled, the pharmacy owner suddenly caught sight of the scene and cried out in alarm.

“Ladies! Careful!”

Startled, Bai Suzhen flinched, dropping the red mushroom onto the floor.

The owner hurried over, wrapped his hands in a towel, and carefully picked up the mushroom.

“This…” The pharmacy owner turned around and looked at Bai Suzhen in sheer horror. “Miss, where did you get this mushroom?”

“An old monk gave it to me… His dharma name is Fahai,” Bai Suzhen replied, frowning.

The pharmacy owner looked at her with grave concern. “Master Fahai? You absolutely cannot touch this mushroom with bare hands! Its surface is coated in a lethal poison. If a normal person so much as licked it, it would claim their life!”

“What?!” Bai Suzhen gasped in shock. “But the monk told me… this thing is ‘the cause of everything’ and ‘Xu Xian’s future’!”

The owner cast a bewildered look at Bai Suzhen before pondering for a moment. “‘The cause of everything’? Could it be that Master Fahai was the one poisoning the wells? No wonder so many people in the city suddenly fell ill… But ‘Xu Xian’s future’… Oh no! This thing represents death. Could he be planning to murder Xu Xian?!”

The nearby townsfolk overheard this and stood completely dumbfounded. To think that the seemingly righteous and pious monk was actually a sinister and ruthless villain?

Bai Suzhen was alarmed. She was just about to speak when someone suddenly shouted from outside the door:

“Demoness, show yourself at once! This poor monk has a matter to confront you about!”

Bai Suzhen’s expression turned frigid at the sound of the voice. She shouted back toward the door, “Fahai, you actually have the nerve to show your face! I have something to ask you, too!”

Bai Suzhen was about to step outside, but several commoners beat her to it, rushing into the house and straight to the backyard to draw a bucket of water from the well.

Floating in that water were several red mushrooms. The crowd of townsfolk thought to themselves, ‘Just as we suspected.’

Bai Suzhen glanced at the mushrooms and scoffed coldly, thinking to herself, ‘Just as I suspected.’

Bai Suzhen then marched out the door, trailed by a group of furious citizens who wanted to ask Fahai why he had poisoned their wells.

But upon stepping outside, they saw that Fahai was also followed by a large crowd of citizens. They, on the other hand, wanted to ask why this poisoned water had flowed out of the Rejuvenation Hall.

Fahai wore a stern expression as he glared at Bai Suzhen. “This poor monk originally did not want to make things difficult for you two demonesses, but now that you are harming innocent civilians, how can I sit by with a clear conscience?!”

Hearing this, Bai Suzhen sneered. “Save your venomous slander, you bald donkey! My sister and I have been up all night treating the poisoned citizens without resting for even a moment. Why would we harm them? Meanwhile, you have tried time and time again to tear my husband and me apart. What are your true intentions?!”

Fahai frowned, his anger flaring. “What does this have to do with Xu Xian?! When this poor monk tried to separate you, it was truly to help you, without any selfish motives! But now you have poisoned the entire population, plunging Hangzhou City into utter misery. This is absolutely intolerable!”

“What a joke! If I wanted to poison the whole city, why would I stay up all night saving them?! Has all your study of the Buddhist dharma been for nothing, you bald donkey?!”

“You run a pharmacy for healing the sick! The more people fall ill, the more silver you earn. Such a simple and obvious logic does not require the dharma to explain! You two sisters are clearly trading human lives for silver—it is utterly despicable!”

“Pure nonsense!” Bai Suzhen roared furiously. “It is obviously you who poisoned the city, yet you attempt to frame me for it all! When the time comes, you’ll expose my true identity to everyone, inciting the public to attack me, and naturally annulling my marriage with my husband. You are the one playing a vicious game!”

The two engaged in a fierce, heated argument, leaving the surrounding citizens completely speechless.

Both of them made valid points… Who were they supposed to believe?

However, the more the two argued, the angrier they became, each feeling that the other was maliciously slinging mud at them.

Fahai was originally an ordained monk entirely devoted to goodness. He never expected someone to intentionally frame him like this. Even if it meant breaking his vows, he absolutely could not tolerate this any longer.

Bai Suzhen had always kept to herself and rarely interacted with mortals. She had naively assumed that everyone was as kind as the benefactor who once saved her. But she had lived for a thousand years, after all, and wasn’t foolish. Today, she had truly witnessed the dark side of the human heart.

The rage in both of their hearts was beyond words. If they weren’t afraid of injuring the innocent bystanders, they would have long since come to blows.

Medusa slowly backed away, an incredibly awkward expression plastered across her face.

If she wasn’t mishearing things… was she the poisoner?

She had never imagined that the “Lingzhi” she brought back would be this potent. After all, they were just red mushrooms! Even if they couldn’t cure people, they shouldn’t be killing them… It was all because these types of mushrooms didn’t grow in the Hellenic Realm. Otherwise, such a humiliating blunder would never have happened.

Ever since she was little, her kind grandmother had warned her to beware of the angel-white mushrooms on Mount Olympus because they were highly toxic. But why, in China, were mushrooms as red as fire also fatally poisonous?

At this moment, the Gorgon Medusa’s face flushed bright red. There was only one thought racing through her mind—

‘I absolutely cannot let anyone know I was the one who did this.’

She had traveled thousands of miles to repay a debt of gratitude, only to accidentally cause a massive disaster. How could she possibly show her face now?