Legend Management Bureau Chapter 183

[ … words ]

“Damn you!”

Medusa froze for a moment before her eyes widened in fury. Conjuring a round shield with her left hand, she raised it before her and slammed ruthlessly into the Leifeng Pagoda.

“Damn it! Give her back to me!”

The entire pagoda seemed to be reinforced by an immense magical power. It took several of Medusa’s fierce strikes head-on without budging an inch.

“No one takes what is mine! Give her back!”

Du Yu stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him. He had clearly killed Xu Xian, yet the legend had still come to pass.

The tiny emerald snake coiled around Medusa’s arm was equally shocked. It immediately transformed into a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen. Chanting an incantation, she unleashed a barrage of spells at the Leifeng Pagoda.

Du Yu was utterly baffled as to why a young snake demon girl had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He carefully studied the girl’s facial features and glanced at her emerald green clothes.

“Could it be…?” Du Yu hesitated. “Could there really be such a coincidence?”

Du Yu could not help but feel suspicious. If this young girl was really “her,” then she was far too young.

Just as the Leifeng Pagoda seemed unable to hold on any longer, on the verge of shattering completely, the entire structure shrank rapidly, instantly becoming the size of a palm.

“Huh?” Medusa and the girl in green both paused as they watched the pagoda fly straight into the sky and land in someone’s hand.

This person was clad in battle armor, exuding an imposing aura without a hint of anger as he looked down coldly.

“It’s him?”

Medusa’s expression turned frigid. “Well, this makes things easier!”

Medusa recognized him at a glance. She had defeated the man holding the pagoda once before. When she first arrived in the Chinese Divine Realm, this man had brought four strange, burly men to block her path. She had beaten him back then, and she could certainly do it again now!

She was about to fly forward when Du Yu grabbed her arm.

“Gorgon, enough! The legend is over!”

“Over?!” Medusa gritted her teeth. “No! I have to save that peasant!”

“She will get out!” Du Yu declared solemnly. Then, turning to the emerald-clad girl beside him, he added, “But you are not the one who should release her. It should be…”

The girl in green blinked in surprise and retorted, “What do you mean? Don’t you know Sister White Snake? Are you just going to stand there and not save her when she’s in danger?”

Du Yu thought for a moment before replying, “If we do not go, what will you do?”

The girl in green stomped her foot in anger. “If you won’t go, I will!”

With that, she flew upwards, charging fearlessly towards the celestial troops, heavenly generals, and the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King in the sky.

Just what kind of person would dare to challenge a sky full of gods all by herself?

Du Yu watched her slender back and could not help but smile. “Gorgon, relax. The person who truly cares about Bai Suzhen has finally appeared.”

Medusa still did not understand, and Du Yu had no intention of explaining it here. He opened a portal and sent Medusa through.

As soon as Medusa landed, Black Impermanence rushed over to perform the soul-returning ritual on her.

Everyone was now watching Du Yu on the screen.

“Sister Qianqiu, what about the two people who tried to assassinate me?”

“They seem to have retreated!” Dong Qianqiu switched between several camera feeds but found no trace of them.

“Retreated?” Du Yu was puzzled. Given their skills, they easily could have killed Fahai and then finished him off. Yet, they had held back at every turn, as if afraid of hurting Fahai.

‘Are they also afraid of the legend failing?’

“Sister Qianqiu, do you know someone called ‘Saint’?” Du Yu asked.

“I have never heard that name before. I just asked the Queen Mother of the West and the Daode Tianzun, and they haven’t heard of it either,” Dong Qianqiu said slowly.

“Forget it. Whatever is coming will come,” Du Yu said coldly. “At least I know now that besides He Suoyi, there is someone else out for my life.”

Du Yu reached out and traced a few lines in the air, only to find that he could no longer open a portal.

“Huh? Zha Da, why can’t I use that spell anymore?” Du Yu asked.

Zha Da had been chatting with Zhongli Chun. Hearing Du Yu’s voice, he quickly checked on his condition and replied, “Mr. Du, my portal can only be used two or three times within a short period. You just need a good sleep to recover your stamina.”

“Well I’ll be. This is the first time I’m hearing this skill has a cooldown,” Du Yu said, shaking his head helplessly.

“A skill cooldown? What does that mean?”

“Never mind, it’s nothing. Carry on.”

Du Yu looked up. The emerald-clad young girl was holding her own among the celestial troops and heavenly generals. Although she was young, her every move was executed with textbook precision, clearly indicating that she had been trained by a prestigious master.

For some unknown reason, Fahai had tried to step in and subdue the girl multiple times, but Li Jing blocked him on every occasion.

“Sister Qianqiu, recall me,” Du Yu said.

“Already preparing it. Just wait a moment.” Dong Qianqiu’s tone sounded a bit downcast.

“What’s wrong, Sister Qianqiu?” Du Yu noticed the shift in her mood and asked.

“I… I’m fine…” Dong Qianqiu replied slowly. “It’s just that the plot of this legend deviated quite a bit… I feel a bit uneasy.”

“Yeah…” Du Yu shook his head in resignation. “It’s my fault. I thought if I just endured it and let the legend run its course to the end, it would be fine. But that Xu Xian…”

“No, Du Yu, it is not entirely your fault, because something you said was right… Even if everything was perfectly normal, it would be impossible for Bai Suzhen to weave a tragic, deeply moving love story with a Xu Xian like that. So, this outcome was destined from the start.”

“Sister Qianqiu, you know, don’t you…?” Du Yu paused before continuing, “If I ‘used every means possible’, I really could have made them live ‘happily’ ever after. I just didn’t want to do that, which is why things started veering off course halfway through.”

“Stop overthinking it. Regardless, the legend is over. If new issues arise in the future, you can always return to this legend…”

“Yeah.” Du Yu nodded. He was just about to find a place to sit and wait for the Legend Management Bureau to recall him when a sudden realization struck.

He froze in place, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.

“Sister Qianqiu, where is the child?”

“Child?” Dong Qianqiu was confused. “What child?”

“Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian’s child!” Du Yu shot to his feet, feeling that this legend was still missing a crucial piece.

“Logically speaking, weren’t Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen supposed to have a child? Xu Shilin! The TV shows I watched as a kid showed that when Xu Shilin grew up, he and Xiao Qing would come to save Bai Suzhen! Didn’t you also say that the reason she lost the magic battle this time was because she was giving birth in the water?”

A bizarre sense of inconsistency swirled relentlessly in Du Yu’s mind.

“This…” Dong Qianqiu was also baffled. “The legend has already been distorted so much this time. It wouldn’t be unusual for there to be no child, right?”

“No…” Du Yu shook his head. “The ’causes’ that were supposed to happen have all happened, but the ‘effects’ that should have followed never came to fruition.”

‘Could it be that Bai Suzhen never consummated her marriage with Xu Xian?’

Du Yu’s heart pounded wildly. The events that had transpired flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. Just where exactly did this feeling of incongruity come from?

The naive Bai Suzhen, the amiable Fahai, the debauched Xu Xian, the missing Xiao Qing, and the non-existent Xu Shilin.

Not a single one of them matched the records of the legend. If Du Yu had never shown up, how would this story have played out?

Without the ‘Meeting at the Broken Bridge’ and ‘Borrowing the Umbrella on the Lake’, Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian had gotten married on the very first day they met. Was a beginning like that truly normal?

It could be said that the entire plot thus far had been single-handedly orchestrated by the Legend Management Bureau; it had absolutely nothing to do with the individuals themselves.

“Sister Qianqiu! Something is wrong. Don’t recall me just yet!” Du Yu shouted, sprinting toward the top of the mountain.

“What is it?!” Dong Qianqiu knew that if Du Yu was getting anxious, the situation was far from optimistic.

“I need to go find an answer!” Du Yu dashed toward the summit at breakneck speed.

Only from the peak could he clearly witness the magical battle unfolding in the sky. He feared that the answers to everything were about to surface.

Fahai, having been intercepted by Li Jing once again, could not hide the fury on his face.

“Heavenly King! Why do you constantly prevent this poor monk from striking down this demoness?!”

Li Jing was genuinely placed in a difficult position, for he had met the young girl before. She was none other than the direct disciple of the Old Mother of Mount Li!

The Old Mother of Mount Li had once proudly hosted a disciple-accepting ceremony, inviting all the immortals to attend. Under the watchful eyes of the assembly, this green snake girl had been taken in as a direct disciple.

He had already violated the heavenly laws by mobilizing troops without authorization, and he still had no idea how he was going to explain himself to the Queen Mother of the West. If he were to wound the direct disciple of the Old Mother of Mount Li on top of that, he would be offending two celestial heavyweights simultaneously. He naturally understood the severe stakes involved.

“Master, there are hidden circumstances at play here. We absolutely cannot harm this girl!” Li Jing said. “Besides, she was not the one who summoned the great flood. Please, Master, let it go!”

“Let it go?!” Fahai spat fiercely through gritted teeth. “Even if she is not the demon who summoned the flood, she is undoubtedly an accomplice of those two snake demons. The flood submerged Jinshan Temple and claimed the lives of countless monks! If the Heavenly King does not give this poor monk a reasonable explanation, I will never back down!”

Li Jing frowned at Fahai and asked, “Master, you are a monk. Why are you so prone to anger? To tell you the truth, that girl is the direct disciple of the Old Mother of Mount Li. Even if her magical powers fall short of yours or mine, we must still show some respect to the Old Mother of Mount Li.”

“Respect?!” Fahai was thoroughly enraged. “The life of a direct disciple of the Old Mother of Mount Li matters, but the lives of my monks at Jinshan Temple do not?! Hundreds of people have lost their lives in the flood that swallowed my temple, and you want me to show them respect?!”

Having reached the mountaintop, Du Yu happened to witness this exact exchange. At this very moment, Fahai’s imposing demeanor perfectly matched the records of the legend.

“Master, are you trying to interrogate me?” Li Jing was displeased. “You absolutely cannot kill this girl today. There are too many ties involved here. If something really were to happen to her, not even the Queen Mother of the West would be able to give the Old Mother of Mount Li a proper explanation!”

“Haha! What a joke!” Fahai coldly shouted, completely descending into madness. “I mistakenly trusted those two demons before, bringing utter devastation to my Jinshan Temple! From this day forth, I will never share the same sky as demonkind! This demoness must die today!”