Legend Management Bureau Chapter 254

[ … words ]

“Taste all the fine wines from every dynasty?!”

It had to be said that the condition Du Yu proposed was incredibly tempting, immediately piquing Liu Ling’s interest.

“Are you not deceiving me, sir? The fine wines of many dynasties have long been lost to history. No one in this world still possesses the brewing methods, yet you have a way for me to taste them?” Liu Ling asked, his eyes practically glowing.

“Of course,” Du Yu nodded. “Brother Liu Ling, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Du Yu, an Operator for the Legend Management Bureau. Right now, due to some special circumstances, I need to find people who can enter legends alongside me.”

“Legends?” Liu Ling asked blankly. “You mean personally returning to the past?”

“Exactly,” Du Yu replied. “So, letting you taste the fine wines of every dynasty isn’t just empty talk. Even if the brewing methods are lost, we can personally go back and sample them.”

Liu Ling nodded excitedly, then grabbed Du Yu’s hand. “Brother Yu! From today onward, you are my Big Brother!” he declared, his voice trembling with emotion.

Cowherd rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Liu Ling, who had seemed so righteous just moments ago, had actually been bought off this easily…

“No, no, no…” Du Yu chuckled awkwardly. “Let’s drop the Big Brother title. Just being brothers is fine…”

The Can Kui Brothers of unknown bloodline.

The Time Master, Shiranui Jinjiro.

The Onmyoji, Shiranui Asuka.

The Reincarnator and Array Master, Xie Yujiao.

The hundred-faced actress, Xu Liunian.

The drunken scholar, Liu Ling.

These were all the new employees Du Yu had gathered within the span of a few days.

As if destined by fate, they had all successively appeared in Du Yu’s life.

For Du Yu, gathering the Seven Holy Heroes so quickly was both a blessing and a curse.

The good news was that he no longer had to worry about the future Seven Holy Heroes suddenly popping up to assassinate him.

The bad news was that this also completely severed his connection to Saint.

Too many mysteries remained unsolved, and now he had lost the chance to catch one of the Seven Holy Heroes for an interrogation.

Not long after the group returned to the Legend Management Bureau, a woman wearing sunglasses and a hat walked through the door.

Although no one else recognized her, Du Yu could tell at a glance that this disguised ‘female celebrity’ was none other than Western Queen Mother. Lately, there had been quite a few strange characters coming and going from the Legend Management Bureau, so such a suspicious-looking woman walking in had surprisingly failed to cause any commotion.

“Big Cat, how are things with Lady Houtu?” Du Yu hurried over to greet her, inspecting Western Queen Mother’s condition.

Western Queen Mother seemed to have suffered a minor injury, her slender hand constantly clutching her arm.

“It is simply outrageous. To actually attack me over a man…” Western Queen Mother grumbled softly. “If I wasn’t afraid of hurting her…”

“Ah, yes, yes, yes…” Du Yu said with an anxious expression. “Should we get that wound checked out first?”

“Stop spouting nonsense. We agreed to split up and take action. How did things go on your end?”

“Split up and take action?” Du Yu blanked, not quite understanding what Western Queen Mother meant.

“Don’t tell me you forgot, you brat?” Western Queen Mother snapped crossly. “Weren’t you supposed to hold a preparatory meeting to test whether our plan was viable?”

“Oh, you mean that.” Du Yu let out a soft sigh; it was truly hard to explain in a few words. “Big Cat, not only did we brainstorm a countermeasure, but we also went to test it out in practice… As it stands, this matter looks a bit difficult, yet at the same time, it seems like there is no difficulty at all…”

“I do not understand,” Western Queen Mother frowned slightly. “Can it be done or not? Cease speaking in riddles to me.”

Du Yu smiled bitterly. He finally understood what A’xiang had meant when she said ‘there might be a way for everything, or there might be a way for nothing.’

Everything depended on Shiranui Jinjiro.

As long as he could cut Lady Houtu’s ‘threads,’ it wouldn’t matter even if Du Yu turned Lady Houtu’s legend completely upside down.

However, if he struggled just to cut Liu Ling’s ‘threads,’ could he really handle a high-ranking Immortal Deity like Lady Houtu?

“Big Cat, we’re just about to hold our next meeting. You should come along too.”

Du Yu brought Western Queen Mother along and held a small meeting in the conference room. This time, the participants did not include all of the Legend Management Bureau’s staff. Other than Zhi Nv and Western Queen Mother, everyone else present was an Operator.

After all, ordinary people were susceptible to the effects of temporal restoration when matters concerning time distortion were involved. It was better for them to sit this meeting out.

Once everyone was seated, Du Yu spoke slowly to the new employees, “Let me give you a formal introduction. The person next to me, wearing a mask, hat, and sunglasses looking like a female celebrity, is our Bureau Chief, Western Queen Mother.”

Naturally, quite a few people among them had never seen Western Queen Mother before, and they successively revealed surprised expressions.

Western Queen Mother helplessly removed her sunglasses and mask, slowly raising her head as she spoke in a highly official tone, “You do not need to mind me. I am merely here to observe.”

Du Yu nodded in agreement. “Everyone has gathered here through serendipitous circumstances. From now on, we are all on the same side. Even though Western Queen Mother is the Bureau Chief, we have to handle most of the bureau’s matters ourselves. Try not to trouble her unless absolutely necessary.”

Hearing Du Yu’s words, Western Queen Mother nodded in satisfaction.

“This is a critical moment. Lady Houtu’s matter urgently needs resolving. Fortunately, Shiranui Asuka’s brother possesses a special ability that appears to be the key to solving the problem at hand.”

After speaking, Du Yu turned to look at Shiranui Jinjiro. “Brother A’xiang, I have something I’d like to confirm with you.”

Shiranui Jinjiro frowned. “Could you just call me Jinjiro? The name ‘Brother A’xiang’ sounds very strange, like a girl’s name.”

“Pfft!”

The few people present were thoroughly amused by the exchange between Du Yu and Jinjiro.

“That doesn’t matter. I just want to ask, what magnitude of ‘threads’ are you capable of cutting?”

“What magnitude of ‘threads’?” Shiranui Jinjiro pondered for a moment before replying, “To be honest, no threads should ever be cut. After all, they represent true, tangible changes. We should follow the Heavenly Dao, allowing them to connect to the protagonists of those events and bring about their natural evolution.”

Du Yu nodded, his expression grave. “You’re saying… doing so defies the Heavenly Dao?”

“Of course,” Jinjiro affirmed. “Were it not for emergency situations, the Time Masters of Fusang would absolutely never choose to sever historical ‘influence’.”

“What if severing this ‘influence’ could save the lives of many people?” Du Yu asked.

“Then it would be even more impossible to cut,” Jinjiro stated, his face stern. “Even if a person’s ‘influence’ only causes vicissitude to themselves, the difficulty of handling it becomes incredibly high due to the length of time and the severity of the event. If this person’s ‘influence’ can lead to the deaths of a vast number of people, it signifies that their ‘influence’ is exceedingly powerful. With my strength alone, cutting it is an impossibility.”

Hearing Jinjiro’s words, the group couldn’t help but fall silent.

“Then… then what if this person is also a faction leader in the Immortal Realm…”

“Can you not understand what I am saying?” Jinjiro glared at Du Yu in exasperation. “Let alone some faction leader of the Immortal Realm, even if this person’s ‘influence’ could claim just three extra lives aside from their own, it would be extremely thorny for me to deal with.”

Du Yu fell into a hushed silence, just like the rest of the group.

Logically speaking, Jinjiro was their breakthrough point in this matter. If he couldn’t do it, then everyone else would be completely helpless.

“I do not quite understand. What are these ‘threads’ you speak of?” Western Queen Mother asked.

Du Yu finally realized that many people hadn’t witnessed Jinjiro’s ‘grand battle of man versus threads’ in the Inner Yellow Springs. So, he spoke up, “Brother A’xiang, since we have the opportunity, why don’t you explain it to everyone? Are all you Time Masters like this? As long as you sever the threads, can you resolve the issues that appear in the legends?”

Upon hearing Du Yu’s question, Jinjiro silently stood up. “Since the esteemed members of Huaxia have sincerely asked, I shall explain exactly what a Time Master is.”

“In truth, Time Masters, much like Onmyoji, are a very ancient profession in Fusang. The only difference is that the constitution of a Time Master is far more unique. From a young age, we study the art of Scissor Slash to sever the ‘threads’ within history, ensuring that past changes do not influence the present.”

Upon hearing this, Western Queen Mother and the others couldn’t help but furrow their brows. This truly sounded somewhat bizarre and unfathomable.

“Generally speaking, no one can see the ‘threads’ produced by history. Even we Time Masters cannot see them naturally, but we rely on certain tools to make these ‘threads’ manifest. If a segment of history is reversed, it leads to a ‘mismatch between the past and the present,’ causing the ‘threads’ to appear. They act as guardians of time, carrying various types of ‘influence’ as they seek out the protagonist of the story. The moment the ‘threads’ connect with the story’s protagonist, the world will begin to alter.”

After speaking, Jinjiro took out a stack of talismans and spread them flat on the table. There were exactly seven pieces.

The group looked closer and saw that each talisman was a different color, inscribed with traditional Chinese characters:

Cut Lovesickness, Slash Confusion, Severance and Release, Break the Red Dust, Ten Directions Ferry, Settle Thousand Machines, and Guide to Naraka.

Jinjiro continued, “Time Masters must rely on these talismans to empower our magical artifacts in order to sever the corresponding ‘threads’.”

Under Jinjiro’s introduction, the group finally understood the ‘threads’ that each talisman before them corresponded to.

When encountering Lovesickness, one empowers with Cut Lovesickness.

When encountering Confusion, one empowers with Slash Confusion.

When encountering Reluctance, one empowers with Severance and Release.

When encountering Suffering, one empowers with Ten Directions Ferry.

When encountering Resentment, one empowers with Break the Red Dust.

When encountering Circumstance, one empowers with Settle Thousand Machines.

When encountering Vicissitude, one empowers with Guide to Naraka.

“Generally speaking, whenever anyone’s history undergoes a Vicissitude, all seven of these ‘threads’ will be generated simultaneously. It is just that the durability of each ‘thread’ will vary slightly.”