Legend Management Bureau Chapter 198

[ … words ]

Du Yu vaulted out of the alleyway, pondering the recent events as he made his way back.

He could not shake the feeling that something was off, yet he could not quite put his finger on the problem.

‘Just what is it that feels so strange?’

‘Is it the Can and Kui brothers?’

‘Is it Monk Wa Rang?’

‘Is it the Saint?’

“Saint… The Seven Saint Heroes…” Du Yu muttered to himself. “So there are actually seven assassins of this caliber? It seems I will need to be extremely careful from now on, whether dealing with legends or in everyday life…”

Before long, Du Yu arrived back at the scene of the street brawl.

An Lushan was dead, and since the Barren Mountain faction was already at a numerical disadvantage, their defeat had become inevitable.

“Damn… Are they already wrapping things up?”

As the Barren Mountain forces steadily lost ground, many of their members simply gave up resisting.

“Du Yu, you are back?” the Weaver Girl asked, glancing his way. “Where is An Lushan?”

“Brother Yu!” the Cowherd called out, turning his head.

“Don’t worry, An Lushan is dead,” Du Yu declared, waving the glass bottle in his hand. “I recovered quite a few spirits from him.”

The Cowherd hurried over to inspect the contents. Sure enough, the bottle was filled with vibrant, lively spirits.

“Brother Yu, is An Lushan really dead?” the Cowherd asked in disbelief. “Can your divine ability actually kill someone like him?”

“Uh…” Du Yu scratched his head. “It is a long story, but he is definitely dead. His corpse is still in that alleyway. Send someone to check it out… Also, help me find the owners of these spirits.”

Du Yu shoved several bottles into the Cowherd’s hands, looking somewhat desolate and absent-minded.

The Cowherd nudged the Weaver Girl with his elbow. “Wife, what is wrong with Brother Yu?”

“I have no idea,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“Well… Brother Lang, Sister Zhi, I am going to head back first to deliver this spirit to A’Kui…”

With that, Du Yu turned and walked away.

He left the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl staring blankly at his retreating back.

After walking for an indeterminate amount of time, Du Yu returned to the Cowherd’s bar. To his surprise, hundreds of headless wandering ghosts lay strewn across the ground. Their spiritual energy had not entirely dissipated, indicating they had died only recently.

An intoxicated scholar was currently fast asleep at the bar’s entrance, hugging a large wine jug.

“What in the world?” Du Yu blinked in shock. “Did someone raid the base?”

Unable to tell whose faction the headless evil ghosts belonged to, he had no choice but to walk over and wake the scholar.

“Hey, brother! Wake up!” Du Yu urged, shaking the man.

Shortly after, the scholar opened his eyes and stared blearily at Du Yu. “Oh… you are here… I thought no one else was coming.”

Du Yu frowned. “Who is coming?”

The scholar slowly got to his feet, stretched lazily, and asked, “Are you going inside?”

“Yeah.” Du Yu nodded. “Of course I am.”

The scholar scanned the surroundings with drunken eyes. “Just you?”

“Yes, just me.”

Du Yu completely failed to understand what this scholar was trying to do. Waking up and immediately interrogating him like a census taker was incredibly bizarre.

“Then it seems you are also quite the ruthless character…”

The scholar stretched once more and let out a long yawn.

“A ruthless character?”

“Do you enjoy listening to Pingju opera?”

“No, I do not,” Du Yu replied bluntly.

“Uh…” Now it was the scholar’s turn to be confused. “How can you not enjoy it?”

“I just don’t,” Du Yu snapped, growing annoyed. “You are a really weird guy. What does my taste in music have to do with you?”

“Never mind…” The scholar shook his head. “Even if you do not like it, this humble scholar must sing.”

‘I have really run into a madman,’ Du Yu thought. ‘Is this scholar a lounge singer for the bar?’

“If I don’t like it, why are you insisting on singing?” Du Yu was utterly baffled. “I like Jay Chou. Sing ‘Common Jasmine Orange.’ If you sing it well, I will request another.”

The scholar scratched his head awkwardly. “This… this is not a matter of what you enjoy. This humble scholar must sing a Pingju opera for you. If you still wish to enter after I finish, I will not stop you.”

Du Yu was already feeling irritated, and being pestered by this lunatic made him want to drop dead right then and there.

“Forget it, forget it,” Du Yu sighed, shaking his head. “How about this? I won’t go in. You take this glass bottle inside and give it to an injured young man. Tell them to come find me at the foot of the Mount of No Return once they have recovered.”

The drunken scholar paused, sobering up slightly.

“You… you are not going in?”

“That’s right.” Du Yu reasoned that he did not actually need to go inside. “Help me take this in, and while you are at it, fetch a pretty young woman from inside and tell her it is time to leave.”

The scholar blinked, let out a deep sigh, and yielded. “Just go in.”

“Huh?” Du Yu was getting angry now. “Is there something wrong with your head? When I wanted to go in, you insisted on singing opera. Now that I am not going in, you tell me to enter.”

The scholar sat down slowly. “People from the Barren Mountain would never say such things. Those who desperately want to enter must not be allowed, but those who refuse to enter—I must let them pass. As for the rest, I cannot be bothered to care.”

It finally dawned on Du Yu that this man was actually the bouncer. ‘Did this drunken scholar slaughter all those headless evil ghosts?’

But he quickly shook his head, feeling foolish.

‘If the Cowherd had a guy like this, why wouldn’t he bring him to the frontlines instead of leaving him here to get blackout drunk?’

Ignoring the scholar any further, Du Yu pushed the door open, entered the bar, and headed straight up to the second floor to find the room where the Can and Kui brothers were staying.

“I’m back…” Du Yu announced as he opened the door, finding Qu Xi administering medicine to the two brothers.

Upon seeing the siblings, Du Yu’s expression stiffened unnaturally.

Nobody would believe it, but just a short while ago, these two had nearly taken his life.

“Brother Yu!” the two shouted in unison.

The older brother, Can, was the first to speak. “Brother Yu, we were so worried about you. We are neither family nor old friends, yet you helped us so much… We are truly ashamed.”

Du Yu organized his thoughts. ‘The Seven Saint Heroes are the Seven Saint Heroes, and the Can and Kui brothers are the Can and Kui brothers. I cannot lump them together. They are different people.’

Du Yu pulled the glass bottle from his pocket and declared, “I snatched back A’Kui’s spirit.”

“Really?!” The brothers’ eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

“Really,” Du Yu confirmed, nodding as he handed the bottle to A’Kui. “Take a look and see if this is the spirit you lost. They all look identical on the outside, so I couldn’t tell them apart, but An Lushan claimed this was it.”

A’Kui took the bottle and inspected it. Naturally, he couldn’t tell the difference either, so he simply twisted off the cap and swallowed the spirit whole.

“How is it?” Du Yu asked, immediately realizing the question was redundant. He could visibly sense A’Kui’s aura growing significantly stronger.

“It is real…”

A’Kui’s sheer joy was beyond words. He turned to look at his brother, then back at Du Yu.

“Brother Yu, it is really mine!”

“That is good.” Du Yu offered a wry smile. “Brother Lang helped a lot in retrieving this spirit. You must remember to thank him later.”

Enduring their agonizing injuries, the brothers tumbled out of bed and immediately dropped to their knees.

“Brother Yu, you have given us a second lease on life! From this day forward, allow us brothers to serve you like beasts of burden!”

‘A second lease on life?’

Du Yu felt those words sounded a bit familiar.

Sighing, he gently helped the two back to their feet. His expression was slightly grim. A lingering knot of doubt remained in his heart: should he really trust these brothers?

They seemed like decent people, yet when they had tried to kill him earlier, they had acted without a shred of emotion.

“A’Can, A’Kui, I need to ask you something,” Du Yu began.

“Whatever it is, Brother Yu, just ask!”

“Suppose… I mean, hypothetically speaking…” Du Yu hesitated, stammering slightly. “If someone ordered you to kill me in the future, what would you do?”

The brothers exchanged a glance. The younger sibling replied, “Brother Yu, your enemies are my enemies. From now on, I will clear away all obstacles for you and follow your every command.”

The older brother cupped his hands respectfully. “Whoever wants to kill you, we will kill them first.”

“Right…” Du Yu nodded, as if he had anticipated this exact response. “Of course you would say that. But who can truly say what the future holds?”

The brothers were perplexed. Du Yu had been perfectly fine before he left, so why did he seem like a completely different person now that he was back?

Qu Xi studied Du Yu’s face and asked softly, “Du Yu, is something weighing on your mind?”

“It is nothing. There are just a few things I cannot figure out.” Du Yu let out a long exhale. “Forget it, I will not dwell on it. You two stay here and recover. Once your injuries are mostly healed, come find me at the Mount of No Return. That will be your home from now on.”

Hearing this, the two brothers surprisingly stood right back up.

“Brother Yu, our injuries are already healed,” the older brother insisted. “To prevent you from being unable to find us when you need us, we have decided to leave with you right now.”

The younger brother echoed his sentiment. “That’s right. These minor injuries are nothing to us. We do not feel any pain at all.”

Du Yu cast a brief glance at their wounds, knowing full well they were lying. Not only were their faces deathly pale, but their bandages were still seeping blood.

“You… want to come with me right now?” Du Yu asked.

“Yes,” they replied resolutely.

“It is a long journey back to the Mount of No Return. You could very well die on the way,” Du Yu warned.

“You saved our lives to begin with. If we die, consider it returning the favor.”

Du Yu gave a heavy nod. In that moment, he fully believed in the depth of their loyalty.

“Alright. Pack up your things. We will set off as soon as the Weaver Girl returns.”

With that settled, Du Yu pulled out his phone and dialed Dong Qianqiu.

“Sister Qianqiu, please invite the Four Great Physicians over. I have two patients here who need their care.”

Dong Qianqiu’s voice sounded frantic on the other end.

“Du Yu, where are you?! Hurry back! Empress Medusa and Shiranui Asuka have decided to head back!”

Du Yu froze. “Wait, what?”

He had almost forgotten that Medusa and Asuka were guests from afar. Now that their business was concluded, it was only natural for them to leave.

“Sister Qianqiu, try to stall them! I will rush back as fast as I can!”