Legend Management Bureau Chapter 204

[ … words ]

Soon, Fan Wujiu finished cooking a large pot of millet porridge. He ladled it out into several worn wooden bowls and carefully distributed them to the group.

Du Yu took a look. The so-called “millet porridge” looked exactly like the standard millet porridge from his own time, except that aside from the millet, it also contained many unrecognizable grains.

Du Yu noticed that Fan Wujiu had served himself the least amount of millet and the most broth, while ensuring the bowls of the others were as full of grain as possible.

Through this tiny gesture, Du Yu could tell that Fan Wujiu was a decent person.

However, he still found it a bit strange. When he first met Fan Wujiu, although the man wasn’t a bad person, he had always seemed heavily fixated on personal gains and losses, a demeanor completely different from his current state.

Du Yu accepted the wooden bowl and expressed his gratitude to Fan Wujiu. But since he was already a dead man, he felt no hunger. He glanced at the Cankui brothers and saw that they were actually eating with great relish.

“This is the millet that Auntie Zhang from Nanfang Street gave us. She’s a good person. When we have time, let’s go help her out with some chores,” Xie Bi’an said between mouthfuls of porridge. “With all the chaos of war right now, after eating this meal, there’s no guarantee there will be a next one.”

Du Yu had originally intended to take a bite, but hearing Xie Bi’an say this, he silently picked up his bowl and poured a little of his porridge into the bowls of Xie Bi’an, Fan Wujiu, Xiao Nian, and the Cankui brothers.

“What’s wrong, Old Ninth? Are you not eating?” Xie Bi’an asked.

“Hah! I’m stuffed!” Without even caring if it was piping hot, Xie Bi’an wolfed down the millet porridge until his bowl was spotless. He patted his stomach, leaning back against the wall.

“Hey? Old Eighth, quickly, feel my stomach!” Xie Bi’an exclaimed to Fan Wujiu with a look of utter amazement. “My stomach actually doesn’t feel sunken anymore!”

Fan Wujiu gave a silly grin and reached out to poke it.

This was the first time Du Yu realized that Fan Wujiu could actually smile.

“How is it, Old Eighth? Have you ever seen a stomach with this much substance?” Xie Bi’an bragged. “Come on, let me feel yours.”

After feeling around for a while, Xie Bi’an shook his head and teased, “Looks like you didn’t eat as much as I did. You’ll be going hungry again soon.”

Du Yu watched Xie Bi’an with amusement. He and the Eighth Lord had probably rarely eaten their fill since childhood, to the point where they would actually show off about whose stomach wasn’t caved in.

Taking advantage of Du Yu’s distraction, Xie Bi’an suddenly grabbed at Du Yu’s stomach.

“Uh…” Du Yu froze. “Seventh Lord, are we really close enough for this?”

“Huh?” Xie Bi’an’s eyes widened. “Why… why is your stomach so round?”

“Round?” Du Yu looked down at his midsection. While he didn’t have any abs, he wouldn’t consider himself fat either. “You probably… just grabbed my paunch? I haven’t worked out much since graduation, so I’ve developed a little belly.”

“A little… belly?” Xie Bi’an was taken aback. “You actually have a belly? Just how full did you use to eat?”

“Well…” Du Yu thought for a moment. “It’s not that I ate until I was stuffed, I just rarely went hungry.”

“I’ve heard people say that the richer someone is, the bigger their stomach. If you have a belly, your family must have been either rich or noble in the past, right?” Xie Bi’an asked.

“How should I put this… Actually, as long as it isn’t an era of war, developing a little belly is quite easy.” Du Yu wore a look of utter embarrassment. How could someone talk endlessly about another person’s belly?

“From now on… I’ll just call you Little Belly,” Xie Bi’an declared. “It’s easier for me to remember.”

The moment he said that, Fan Wujiu, Xiao Nian, and the Cankui brothers beside them couldn’t help but burst into quiet laughter.

Only Du Yu stared at him blankly, muttering under his breath, “Seventh Lord… so this is why you always called me ‘Xiao Duzi’? You were calling me fat?”

After eating their fill, everyone was in high spirits, constantly chatting and laughing.

Du Yu silently stood up and checked on the condition of the Cankui brothers. According to A-Can, he couldn’t feel any pain, just a deep physical weakness.

Du Yu knew he needed to get them some medicine and bandages as soon as possible, otherwise their wounds could worsen at any moment.

However, the conditions of this arrival were truly abysmal.

‘Starting out as a beggar, with all equipment relying on begging?’

Before long, the sky began to darken. Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu announced that they wouldn’t go out begging anymore today. They would take a good rest and start working again the next day.

Du Yu went along with their plan and found a relatively clean corner in the City God Temple to lie down.

Knowing that the “future Cankui brothers” wouldn’t appear this time, Du Yu felt remarkably relaxed. This was probably the first time he had felt this at ease since A-Xiang and the others had come to Huaxia.

In no time at all, a wave of drowsiness washed over Du Yu.

“Du Yu, are you guys going to rest?” Dong Qianqiu asked softly in his ear.

“Mhm, yes, Sister Qianqiu,” Du Yu replied with his eyes half-closed. “Nothing went wrong on the first day, and I don’t know what needs to be corrected yet. I’ll think it over carefully after I wake up.”

“Oh…” Dong Qianqiu’s tone carried a hint of worry. “Are you guys… all right?”

“Huh?” Du Yu opened his eyes. “We’re fine. Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing serious, just that the legend is now covered in a dense fog. I can only hear voices, but I can’t see any of you anymore,” Dong Qianqiu explained slowly. “I was worried you’d be scared, so I was hesitant to say anything.”

“Covered in fog?” Du Yu pondered for a moment. “It’s fine. In my experience, the thicker the fog, the more important the events taking place. I bet something will happen right after we wake up tomorrow.”

Dong Qianqiu gave a slight nod. “That’s true, but you should still be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Sister Qianqiu.”

Du Yu didn’t know exactly when he drifted off. After all, he hadn’t slept for many days and was exhausted.

…

In the darkness, Du Yu felt that something was wrong.

He was clearly asleep, yet his body began to move on its own, completely out of his control.

He tried to open his eyes but couldn’t. This didn’t feel like a dream; instead, it felt like being heavily intoxicated. A strange power was controlling his physical movements, utterly ignoring his commands.

Du Yu fought back against the power with all his might. Finally, as if sensing his resistance, the force vanished into thin air, and his eyes snapped open.

The moment he opened them, Du Yu realized something was very wrong.

Although he was still inside the City God Temple and it was still night outside, he found himself standing upright. Right in front of him stood the beggar girl, Xiao Nian.

And his hands were wrapped tightly around her throat in a death grip.

“Huh?” Du Yu froze in shock, having no idea what was going on.

The beggar girl thrashed, weakly pounding against his arms. She was clearly suffocating and on the verge of passing out.

Terrified, Du Yu immediately released his grip.

Xiao Nian collapsed to the ground, covering her mouth as she coughed softly.

Du Yu frantically scanned his surroundings. Not far away, the Cankui brothers and the Black and White Impermanence were sound asleep. But why had he suddenly ended up standing here, strangling Xiao Nian?

‘Could it be that I have turned into Cao Cao? Developing a fondness for killing people in my sleep?’

Before he could even figure out how to explain himself, Xiao Nian scrambled away in a panic, returning to her makeshift bed and lying back down.

She acted as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring Du Yu.

Du Yu had wanted to apologize, but she just ran off like that?

Now, he was the only one left standing in the middle of the empty, silent City God Temple.

“Wasn’t I… just sleeping?”

Du Yu wanted to say something else, but then he saw Xie Bi’an turn over and slowly get up.

“Hey? Xiao Duzi?” Xie Bi’an spotted Du Yu standing in the moonlight. “What are you doing over there?”

“I…” Du Yu honestly didn’t know how to explain. “I couldn’t sleep, so I got up for a walk.”

“Oh… I need to take a leak. Do you want to come along?” Xie Bi’an asked.

“Uh… I’ll pass.” Du Yu waved his hand. Feeling troubled and confused, he returned to his corner and lay back down.

He thought back to that bizarre sensation from just moments ago.

‘Someone had taken control… of my body?’

If he hadn’t constantly struggled and snatched back control, what would have happened?

Xiao Nian would probably be dead by his hands, right?

The Black and White Impermanence and Xiao Nian depended on each other for survival. Du Yu couldn’t fathom the disastrous consequences if she had died by his hands. This legend would have likely come to an abrupt and terrible end.

But who in this world could possess his body?

Suddenly, a thought struck him. He closed his eyes and entered his inner world.

Zhada was currently fast asleep in the corner, but little Zhongli was standing right there.

“Little Zhongli…?” Du Yu stared in surprise.

“Du Yu.” Zhongli Chun turned around, looking at him with a complex expression.

“Do you know something about what just happened?” Du Yu asked.

Zhongli Chun nodded. “I’m sorry. I took over your body without permission.”

Du Yu was stunned for a moment before he broke into a smile and patted her on the shoulder. “Little Zhongli, what nonsense are you saying? Didn’t we have an agreement? Whenever you want, you can borrow my body anytime without needing to inform me.”

Zhongli Chun nodded again and said, “But I think I might have caused some trouble.”

“Caused trouble? About that girl, Xiao Nian? Can you tell me why you were strangling her? Is there something wrong with her?”

“I don’t know.” Zhongli Chun frowned, her tone somewhat hesitant. “I saw her get up in the middle of the night. When she walked past you, she carried a faint, almost imperceptible trace of killing intent. So, I immediately got up and grabbed her throat.”

“Oh?” Du Yu blinked in surprise. “So that’s what happened? In that case… Little Zhongli, not only did you not cause trouble, but you might have just saved my life.”

“Saved your life?”

“I can’t say for sure right now…” Du Yu mused. “But if you encounter this situation again, you don’t need to strike right away. You can wait a moment and catch her ‘red-handed’.”

Zhongli Chun gave a half-understanding nod.

Du Yu began to ponder the situation deeply.

‘Could this Xiao Nian actually be one of the “Holy Seven”?’

But her strength was far too weak. Let alone Zhongli Chun, she couldn’t even break free when he, who had just woken up, was strangling her.

With that level of strength, she definitely wasn’t a cultivator. No matter how he looked at it, she was a genuine mortal. Would the “Saint” really arrange for a mortal to assassinate him?