Legend Management Bureau Chapter 235

[ … words ]

“I know him,” the voice on the other end of the phone answered almost without hesitation.

“You know him?!” Shiranui Asuka exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “How do you know Senior Du Yu? How did you two meet?!”

The person on the other end sighed slowly. “Look, Little Xiang, you’ve only been back in Takamagahara for two days, yet you’ve muttered the name ‘Du Yu’ to me hundreds of thousands of times. Even if I wanted to forget him now, I couldn’t. It is incredibly agonizing.”

“Ah…” Shiranui Asuka sat back down with an awkward expression. “So that’s why…? Wait, no! Brother Jinjianglang, I meant to ask if you have ever met Senior Du Yu in person! Has anything ever happened between the two of you?”

“Little Xiang, have you lost your mind?” Jinjianglang asked over the phone. “I haven’t even been to China. How could I have possibly met him?”

Shiranui Asuka thought for a moment before asking, “Brother, could you make a trip here, then?”

“Make a trip?” Jinjianglang sounded a bit confused. “Are you telling me to go to China?”

“Yes,” Shiranui Asuka nodded. “There is a rather unique situation here that requires you to come and handle it.”

“Say, that’s really strange…” Jinjianglang’s tone was hesitant. “If I’m not misunderstanding you, you’re saying that there are matters in China that actually require a Time Master from Fusang like me to resolve?”

“Coming over in a flash is definitely out of the question,” Jinjianglang said helplessly. “I still have quite a few things to delegate to my subordinates. Anyway, I will try to be as quick as possible.”

Shiranui Asuka casually added a few more instructions before hanging up the phone.

But then a wave of confusion washed over her. ‘Brother Jinjianglang, I am truly curious… If it weren’t for this phone call I just made to you, how exactly would you have met Senior Du Yu and become one of the Seven Holy Heroes?’

On this day, Shiranui Jinjiro officially set off from Fusang.

…

Impermanence Hall.

Du Yu arrived at this familiar place once again.

The main gates had been restored to their familiar black and white colors—half pitch-black, half pure white. A Yin-Yang fish motif was painted in the courtyard, and everything looked just as it had before. Thousands of houses within the compound were neatly arranged, divided evenly into black and white.

At that moment, Xie Sha and Fan Tu were sparring in the courtyard. They were startled by Du Yu’s sudden intrusion.

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong with you?” Xie Sha demanded, an impatient expression on his face. “Even if you are a friend of the Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord, you can’t be this reckless! At least knock on the door when you visit!”

“Ah! Hehe!” Du Yu chuckled sheepishly. “I accidentally forgot. I was just in a rush to see the Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord, alright?”

Fan Tu stared coldly at Du Yu and said, “The ancestors are not here. Leave.”

“They aren’t here?” Du Yu felt that this gloomy child still didn’t like him, even though he had saved the entire Fan family. “No way, right? Are you just trying to keep me out?”

“They really aren’t here this time,” Fan Tu said, shaking his head. “Both ancestors received a Voice Transmission early this morning and hurried out in a panic.”

Du Yu found this quite odd upon hearing it, so he asked, “Are you saying that the Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord left in a ‘panic’?”

“Yes, we found it strange as well, but we don’t dare to ask too many questions about the ancestors’ affairs.”

Du Yu nodded, unable to stop himself from pondering the situation.

What kind of massive crisis could have occurred in the Underworld to make both the Seventh Lord and the Eighth Lord leave with such panicked expressions?

If something that serious had genuinely happened, why hadn’t the Legend Management Bureau received any news about it?

Could it be…?!

Du Yu thanked the two of them and hurriedly ran back, having a vague idea of what might be going on.

If a major incident had truly struck the Underworld—causing the Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord to panic while keeping outsiders entirely in the dark—it meant that the “person involved” had a very special status that absolutely could not be exposed.

Thinking about it this way, there was only one possibility!

Du Yu sprinted, taking leaps and bounds using Zhongli Chun’s movement technique to rush back to the Legend Management Bureau. He grabbed Ying Ning from Qu Xi and then raced straight toward Mount Bugui.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Ying Ning asked from within the brush.

“I don’t know either, but let’s hope not!”

Upon arriving at Lady Houtu’s Cave Dwelling, Du Yu had Ying Ning dismantle all the traps and magical formations before hurriedly stepping inside.

The interior of the Cave Dwelling was terrifyingly quiet, echoing only with the sound of Du Yu’s rapid footsteps.

Du Yu rounded the passage and reached the center of the cave, but the sight before him left him completely baffled.

Inside the cave were Lady Houtu, her monsters and demons, the Seventh Lord, and the Eighth Lord.

However, aside from Lady Houtu, everyone else was severely injured, collapsed and scattered haphazardly across the ground.

“Eh????”

Du Yu froze for a moment. Looking at the scene, it almost seemed as if Lady Houtu had gone on a murderous rampage.

“Little… Du…” The White Impermanence, Xie Bi’an, called out, struggling to sit up with a pained expression when he saw Du Yu run in.

Du Yu immediately rushed over to Xie Bi’an’s side, helping him up as he asked in a low voice, “Seventh Lord, what happened? Were you guys sparring with Lady Houtu?”

Gritting his teeth and clutching his chest, Xie Bi’an replied, “Stop talking nonsense and get out of here!”

“Leave?” Du Yu looked at Xie Bi’an and argued, “How can I do that? All of you are heavily injured. If I leave now, you’ll be in deep trouble!”

“You can’t fix this situation…” Xie Bi’an said weakly, constantly trying to push Du Yu away. “If you stay here, you will die!”

At that moment, Lady Houtu finally noticed Du Yu. Her originally vacant eyes instantly snapped into focus.

She slowly stood up and began walking toward him.

“Huh?”

Du Yu couldn’t help but feel terrified when he saw Lady Houtu’s expression. Her face was frighteningly cold and stern, completely devoid of even the slightest trace of emotion.

“Hey! Old Hag!”

The Black Impermanence, Fan Wujiu, suddenly bellowed, causing Lady Houtu to halt in her tracks.

Fan Wujiu staggered to his feet, picking up his Soul-Hooking Chain from the ground. He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the floor and declared, “I haven’t lost yet! Come fight me again!”

“Old Eight, you…” Xie Bi’an looked at Fan Wujiu in sheer panic. “Do you have a death wish?”

Du Yu’s mind was filled with questions. Just how massive was the grudge between Fan Wujiu and Lady Houtu for him to actually risk his life like this?

Lady Houtu cast a cold glance at Fan Wujiu and stated, “You are no longer of any use to this Old Lady. Continuing this fight is meaningless.”

“Is that so?” Fan Wujiu retorted just as coldly. “I’ve been your lackey for so long, and now I’m suddenly useless to you? You really are a harsh Old Hag. I will definitely knock some sense into you today.”

“Hmph, a mere True Immortal, yet so arrogant.” Lady Houtu gently waved her hand. The sand and dirt on the ground instantly floated into the air, coalescing into dozens of Sharp Knives.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey!!!” Du Yu yelled. “What are you doing? Are you seriously going to fight to the death? What in the world is wrong with you two?!”

Xie Bi’an quickly grabbed Du Yu and urged, “Little Du! Run quickly! Old Eight is trying to buy you time!”

“Buying me time?!” Du Yu was stunned. “What do you mean? Lady Houtu wants to kill me? Why?”

“She doesn’t remember you anymore!” Xie Bi’an shouted. “She doesn’t remember any of us, and she’s killing anyone she sees! There’s no point in you staying here!”

“Huh?”

Before Du Yu could react, the green brush at his waist flashed, and Ying Ning materialized.

“Goddess!” Ying Ning cried out.

Hearing this cry, Lady Houtu visibly faltered. The numerous Sharp Knives floating in the air crumbled back into sand at that very moment.

She slowly turned her head and looked at Ying Ning.

“You…” Lady Houtu narrowed her eyes, seemingly trying to recall something. “Do you know this Old Lady?”

Tears welling in her eyes, Ying Ning rushed toward Lady Houtu.

Xie Bi’an desperately shouted, “Vengeful Spirit! Don’t!”

Just as Ying Ning was two or three steps away from Lady Houtu, the goddess viciously swung her hand, sending the spirit flying backward.

Ying Ning clearly hadn’t anticipated this. Without channeling her protective True Qi or any spells, she took the full brunt of the strike. Her entire silhouette immediately flickered and turned translucent.

“Holy shit!” Du Yu truly couldn’t wrap his head around this. “You Old Hag, you’re going too far! You even hit Ying Ning?”

“Ying Ning…” Lady Houtu pondered for a long time before speaking. “This Old Lady does not know any Ying Ning.”

With that said, she slowly approached Du Yu. “Judging by your tone, you know this Old Lady?”

Seeing this, Xie Bi’an tried to get up, but his injuries were too severe; he couldn’t move an inch.

Fan Wujiu managed to take two steps forward before his legs gave out, causing him to crash back to the floor.

“Little Du… run away…”

Du Yu offered a bitter smile. Faced with an Immortal Deity of this caliber, where could he possibly run?

“Who is this Old Lady?” Lady Houtu demanded.

Du Yu swallowed hard and slowly replied, “Sorry, I don’t know you. I might have walked into the wrong door… Isn’t this Cuihua’s house?”

The Seventh Lord was dumbfounded upon hearing this. “Little Du… I really can’t figure you out…”

Lady Houtu furrowed her brow and said, “So you don’t know this Old Lady either?”

“Nope, I haven’t even seen you before.”

Her expression visibly shifted to one of disappointment. She turned around and began walking out of the Cave Dwelling step by step, muttering, “If you don’t know me, forget it. This Old Lady will go out and search. There must be someone in this world who knows who this Old Lady is.”

“Huh?” Du Yu jumped in alarm. “Wait, are you seriously going out in your current state?”

Lady Houtu didn’t answer, continuing her slow march outside.

“Little Du! You can’t let her leave!” Xie Bi’an warned. “She’s going to tear the entire Underworld apart!”

Du Yu shook his head helplessly. “Seventh Lord, do you really think I can stop her?”

“Uh, well…”

“Since I can’t stop her, I might as well not try. Let me check on your condition first.”

Taking advantage of the time Lady Houtu spent exiting, Du Yu helped everyone up from the ground and moved them to the side to rest.

After inspecting their injuries, he found that the Chi Ghost was the most severely injured, remaining completely unconscious. The others fared slightly better.

“What on earth happened?” Du Yu asked.

“Sigh… It’s a long story…” The White Impermanence shook his head. “Do you remember the demon blood the Chi Ghost obtained from the legend of ‘Jack the Ripper’?”

“Demon blood?” Du Yu thought for a moment before sudden realization struck. “Ah! You mean the bizarre, highly toxic poison that infected Zhan Qisheng’s body and was ultimately taken away by the Chi Ghost?”