Legend Management Bureau Chapter 244

[ … words ]

After finishing his sentence, Du Yu turned to look at Xiao Nian and Xie Yujiao. “You two are new colleagues, so you cannot participate in the distribution for now, but I definitely won’t treat you unfairly.”

With that said, Du Yu pulled a Cosmic Bag from his chest and declared, “This is my personal share. I don’t need it, so I am dividing it equally between the two of you. Ten thousand Spirit Stones each.”

He then picked up another Cosmic Bag from the table and turned to Dong Qianqiu. “Sister Qianqiu, this is Ying Ning’s share. She has no use for it, so give it to A Can and A Kui. They arrived late, so it’s also ten thousand Spirit Stones each for them. Keep it safe for them for now.”

Dong Qianqiu silently took the Cosmic Bag and nodded.

However, Xie Yujiao looked somewhat offended as she questioned Du Yu, “Are you trying to send me away?”

“Send you away?” Du Yu paused in surprise. “Not at all, it’s just that you guys have living expenses too…”

“Marry a beggar, follow a beggar; marry an old man, follow an old man,” Xie Yujiao snorted coldly. “What is yours is mine. Even if you don’t have a single penny to your name, I will still follow you.”

Xie Yujiao’s public declaration completely mortified Du Yu.

This was happening right in front of all the employees of the Legend Management Bureau!

“What are Spirit Stones?” Xiao Nian asked blankly.

“Spirit Stones are… the currency around here,” Du Yu replied after a moment of thought.

“So this is my acting fee?” Xiao Nian asked again.

“Uh… basically,” Du Yu nodded.

“In that case, I cannot accept it either,” Xiao Nian stated firmly. “I haven’t even started acting yet. Where is the logic in taking the money first?”

Du Yu looked at Xiao Nian, then at Xie Yujiao, thinking to himself that he had truly recruited a bunch of eccentric oddballs. These people were the Seven Holy Heroes, after all. Not only did they refuse money, but they would also faithfully follow him all the way to the very end. Just thinking about it felt completely unbelievable.

“If you won’t take it, fine…” Du Yu turned his head and addressed the room. “Their identities are a bit special, but the rest of you absolutely must accept yours. It would be entirely too much trouble for me to pack all these Spirit Stones back up.”

After a long pause, a girl finally reached out and took a Cosmic Bag. Seeing this, the other colleagues also stepped forward one by one to claim their respective shares.

Now, only Zhan Qisheng, Dong Qianqiu, Qu Xi, and Zhi Nv had yet to take theirs. Under Du Yu’s persistent pointed glances, three of them helplessly accepted their bags.

“Zhi Nv, take yours too. That is the Western Queen Mother’s share,” Du Yu told her.

Zhi Nv helplessly picked up a Cosmic Bag and placed it in her own bag. Even though the Western Queen Mother would look down on this paltry sum, it was still a token of appreciation from the Legend Management Bureau.

“Old Du, have you been scared out of your wits by Saint?” Zhan Qisheng asked in a low voice from the side.

“Hmm?” Du Yu glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

“You are acting as if you are terrified you’re about to drop dead and need to urgently distribute your assets.”

“Good lord, you think way too highly of me.” Du Yu shook his head in amusement. “Do my meager savings even count as assets? I am just afraid of disappearing without a trace while still owing everyone money. They wouldn’t even be able to find someone to air their grievances to.”

“Isn’t that the exact same thing?”

“It’s vastly different.” Du Yu chuckled, then announced to the group, “Alright, the first part of our meeting is over. Next up is the second item on the agenda.”

Du Yu looked at Qu Xi, then at Zhan Qisheng. “Since our Legend Broadcasting Room has already been set up, we need to put it to good use. From now on, this place will be operated by Qu Xi and Ying Ning. They will specialize in handling Grade C and Grade D Legends.”

“Ah? Me?” Qu Xi looked at Du Yu with hesitation. “Can I really pull that off?”

“You absolutely can,” Du Yu nodded assuringly. “We have already distributed our black gold membership cards. It definitely won’t do if we leave our members without a broadcast for too long. From now on, you will be the primary revenue department for our Legend Management Bureau.”

After saying that, Du Yu turned back to the rest of the staff. “If any of the rest of you want to help out Miss Qu Xi, you can apply directly to her. No matter what, there is only one strict requirement: you must guarantee Miss Qu Xi’s safety.”

At this, several employees visibly showed expressions of interest. This was especially true for Shiranui Asuka; the sheer number of Chinese legends, as numerous as the stars, held a massive appeal for her.

Du Yu then spoke to Zhan Qisheng, “Old Zhan, from now on you will serve as our mobile operative. If you see Miss Qu Xi in trouble out in the field, go help her out. The rest of the time, you are free to act on your own.”

“Old Du, are you setting me up?” Zhan Qisheng scowled. “You assigned Ying Ning to Qu Xi too. Even if I ignore Qu Xi, I definitely cannot ignore Ying Ning.”

“Heh, you saw right through me?” Du Yu flashed him a wicked grin. “I am tying you down here so you can’t run even if you want to.”

Zhan Qisheng shook his head in resignation.

Du Yu laughed along for a moment before his expression suddenly grew solemn.

“The first two matters are settled. Now for the third.”

Seeing the dramatic shift in Du Yu’s demeanor, everyone naturally sat up straight and listened intently.

“Some of you may know this, and some may not, but there is someone in this underworld whose status supersedes even the Eastern Emperor and Northern Emperor. She created the entire underworld, yet she has lived in seclusion for years, rarely showing her face. She is Lady Houtu.”

The crowd didn’t know why Du Yu was suddenly bringing this up, so they could only continue to listen.

“Actually, many of you sitting here have crossed paths with Lady Houtu; you just didn’t know her true identity. But that is not important. You only need to know one thing: if something happens to Lady Houtu, the entire underworld will be severely impacted. And right now, Lady Houtu has encountered a massive problem, and the Legend Management Bureau is the only group with any chance of helping her.”

Du Yu patiently explained everything to the group, starting with the Chi Ghost, detailing his relationship with Lady Houtu, bringing up the immense debt of gratitude he owed her, and finally laying out her current predicament.

Everyone’s expressions turned grim.

“Operator… there really was a crazy woman who came by yesterday…” one person said with a trembling voice. “She kept asking if we knew her, but unfortunately, no one had ever seen her before, so naturally we said we didn’t…”

“That is to be expected,” Du Yu nodded. “Not many people in the entire underworld recognize Lady Houtu. She probably realized this day would come, which is why she chose to live in seclusion.”

Zhan Qisheng suddenly realized something and asked, “Du Yu, is it really a good idea for you to tell us this directly? Doesn’t that Old Hag want to keep it a secret?”

“That’s exactly what I’m getting at,” Du Yu explained. “If our plan succeeds, Lady Houtu will no longer need to hide in seclusion.”

“You already have a plan?”

“Yes.”

Du Yu’s face was incredibly heavy, completely devoid of his usual optimism. It was clear that this matter was proving to be exceptionally thorny for him.

“Colleagues, we need to enter the legend of War God Xingtian. We must find a way to sever Lady Houtu’s romantic ties without affecting the plot in any way.”

At his words, shock rippled through the entire room.

Even though many of them had only joined recently, they were already familiar with the Legend Management Bureau’s workflow.

Namely, if a problem arose in a legend, they had to find a way to correct it. The simplest method was to fix it in the capacity of a Voice Transmitter. If the situation exceeded a Voice Transmitter’s scope of intervention, an Operator would have to step in.

But no matter how they looked at it, diving into the legend of War God Xingtian this time broke all the rules.

More importantly, attempting to solely sever a romantic connection without affecting the rest of the storyline sounded absolutely absurd.

“I know what everyone is thinking,” Du Yu said. “Our operation has been approved by the Western Queen Mother, so no one will blame us for this. We only need to focus on how to achieve this goal.”

The crowd remained silent. Du Yu furrowed his brow and continued.

“While this mission seems impossible, there must be a way. After all, I…”

Du Yu nearly blurted out everything about Saint, but after a second thought, he held his tongue.

“After all, I have heard of instances like this. It is possible to change a legend’s plot and let time mend itself without generating a Great Pivot. However, I currently don’t know the exact method to pull this off, so I need to brainstorm with all of you.”

Zhi Nv pondered for a moment before speaking up. “Du Yu, even though I am aware of the scenario you’re describing, I still feel it would be terribly difficult to achieve. If Lady Houtu never had this romance… wouldn’t that mean she wouldn’t become the founder of the underworld?”

Hearing Zhi Nv’s words, a realization suddenly struck Du Yu.

That was right. The Western Queen Mother had once told him that Houtu only ended up managing the underworld because the demonic nether energy on her body was too overwhelming. The reason the sky in the underworld was so heavily laden with nether energy was precisely because Lady Houtu had constantly lingered there.

“This…” Zhi Nv had raised an issue Du Yu hadn’t even considered, leaving him utterly speechless for a moment. “Is there really no way to sever the romance while still preserving the underworld?”

“It is not that there is no way, but the conditions are simply too strict,” Zhi Nv said, her expression equally grave. “We would need to fully master the story of Xing Tian and Houtu, carefully deduce the exact stage at which to intervene, and then run countless simulations to anticipate every possible consequence. We won’t get a second chance. If we fail, not only will we be unable to save Lady Houtu, but we might also trigger the creation of a massive Great Pivot.”

Du Yu fully grasped the gravity of the situation and responded, “I considered that as well, which is why I asked Sister Qianqiu about the legend of Liu Ling’s Drunkenness ahead of time. I plan to use that legend for practice first, to see how we can ‘implant an idea’ into Liu Ling without ruining the legend… Even though I feel a bit sorry for Liu Ling, we have to test if our theory is viable.”

Seeing the troubled looks crossing everyone’s faces, Du Yu added, “We don’t need to rush this. If anyone has any ideas, bring them up gradually. We only have one shot at this, so failure is not an option.”

At that moment, Shiranui Asuka observed the crowd’s expressions, frowning in deep thought. She looked like she wanted to say something several times but stopped herself.

Qu Xi noticed Shiranui Asuka’s hesitation and asked, “A’xiang, is there something you want to say?”

Shiranui Asuka gave a slight nod and spoke a familiar phrase, “Seniors… I think I have a way.”