Legend Management Bureau Chapter 264

[ … words ]

“Sigh…” Du Yu shook his head helplessly. Today, he finally understood what it meant when they said a leopard could never change its spots.

“Boss, forget it. Stop calling yourself ‘Old Woman’ or ‘Little Old Lady.’ You should just refer to yourself as ‘Old Lady.’ It sounds at least a little better.”

“Old Lady?” Houtu paused, then nodded happily. “That’s a great title! It sounds like a grown woman, yet it carries an imposing aura!”

‘Great title my foot!’ Du Yu thought to himself.

If a teenage girl went around calling herself “Old Lady” every day, what man would ever dare approach her?

But at least it was better than her referring to herself as “Your Father.” Du Yu decided to just accept it.

Just as Du Yu was about to teach Houtu more about proper posture and tone of voice, a sudden commotion erupted within the tribe.

In the distance, someone blew a resonant blast on a horn. Others began shouting at the top of their lungs, “Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” Clearly, something major was happening.

“Male tribesman!” Houtu cried out. “We are under attack! Prepare for battle immediately!”

Houtu waved her hand, and the nearby sand and stone converged into her grasp, forming a solid stone machete. She quickly scanned the surroundings, trying to pinpoint the enemy’s location. However, after probing carefully for a long time, she couldn’t detect a single trace of hostile presence.

“It’s just like last time…”

Houtu’s expression turned frigid, and she immediately leaped into action. At the same time, bursts of colorful light erupted all throughout the tribe. The tribespeople looked around in confusion, unable to locate the unseen invaders.

“Senior Du Yu, there doesn’t seem to be anyone nearby!” Shiranui Asuka said in confusion. “Are we really under attack?”

Du Yu also glanced around in bewilderment. “Could it be a false alarm?”

Suddenly, a massive fireball crashed into the ground right in front of them, sending a scorching wave of heat washing over their faces.

The pungent smell of char filled the air, leaving the two of them shaken. Had they taken even one step forward, they would have been roasted alive by now.

This was definitely no false alarm. Something invisible was genuinely launching an assault on them.

Enormous fireballs continuously rained down upon the tribe, plunging all the tribespeople into sheer panic.

“Senior Du Yu! What should we do?” A’xiang asked anxiously.

Before Du Yu could answer, another colossal fireball crashed beside them, kicking up a second searing shockwave.

Du Yu furrowed his brows. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something incredibly bizarre about these fireballs.

“A’xiang, move through the interiors of the buildings and see if you can find anyone else. If you do, stay hidden inside with them and don’t move.”

“What about you?”

Du Yu glanced at the distant fireballs descending from the sky. “I’m going to check somewhere else.”

With that, he ushered A’xiang into a nearby house before heading off in the opposite direction.

It wasn’t long before another fireball plummeted right in front of Du Yu, with astonishing destructive power.

Du Yu looked around at the other members of the Jiang Tribe. Although everyone was in a chaotic frenzy, running about trying to extinguish the flames, not a single person appeared to be injured.

He had lived through the rebellion at the Zhang Family Stronghold. Back then, just like now, lethal spells had flown wildly through the air.

But Du Yu remembered it clearly: even though the spells back then lacked the sheer destructive might of these descending fireballs, every attack had been launched from tricky, lethal angles, aiming straight for vital spots. If Ying Ning hadn’t intervened at the critical moment, Du Yu would have nearly lost his life.

Right now, however, this rain of fireballs felt more like a flashy special effect from a blockbuster movie. Despite the astonishing spectacle, every single projectile landed safely beside the tribespeople, without harming anyone.

“Sister Qianqiu, what’s the situation?” Du Yu asked. “Can you identify the attacker?”

“No.” Dong Qianqiu shook her head. “I can’t pan the camera out that far. The view is restricted to the Operator’s immediate vicinity.”

“Far?” Du Yu pondered for a moment. “Sister Qianqiu, are you saying the attacker is attacking from a distance?”

“Exactly. Judging by their trajectory, these fireballs are all being launched from very far away.”

“Got it!” Du Yu nodded. “Sister Qianqiu, point me in the right direction. I’m going to take a look.”

Dong Qianqiu paused before saying, “Du Yu, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Magical warfare was extremely common during the era of the Yan and Yellow Emperors. Regardless of who the attacker is this time, there is no need for you to get involved. Just focus on completing our mission.”

Dong Qianqiu’s meaning was crystal clear. Du Yu wasn’t here to correct a legend this time; he was here to cause ‘sabotage.’ Interacting too much with the overarching plot might end up altering the legend’s final outcome.

Yet, Du Yu remained deep in thought. He couldn’t shake the lingering feeling that this attack reeked of a conspiracy.

“Tell you what, Sister Qianqiu. I’ll just take a quick peek. I won’t get involved,” Du Yu promised.

Unable to sway him, Dong Qianqiu finally relented and gave him a general direction. Using Zhongli Chun’s movement technique, Du Yu sprinted forward at blinding speed.

It wasn’t long before he dashed right past Houtu. However, his attention was so hyper-focused on the fireballs in the sky that he completely failed to notice her.

Houtu turned around and cried out in shock, “Male tribesman, where are you going?!”

“Boss! I have something to take care of!” Du Yu yelled back over his shoulder, accelerating even faster as he bolted away.

“Something to take care of?” Houtu stared blankly in the direction Du Yu had disappeared, a deeply complicated look in her eyes.

Du Yu ran for about fifteen minutes before he could finally see the clear trajectory of the fireballs. To his surprise, they were blasting out from a nearby forest.

He immediately crouched low, concealing himself within the dense foliage as he slowly crept toward the center of the woods.

After slipping past over a dozen massive, century-old trees, Du Yu finally laid eyes on the caster.

It was a red-haired man with a naturally imposing and majestic face. His entire body was wreathed in extremely pure fire-attribute Spiritual Energy. Right now, he was casually hurling fireballs into the sky, acting like a human anti-aircraft gun.

‘Sister Qianqiu, who is this guy?’ Du Yu silently asked in his mind.

Dong Qianqiu carefully scrutinized the man’s face. A hint of bewilderment crept into her voice as she slowly answered, “That is the Fire God, Zhurong!”

“Zhurong?” Du Yu was stunned. “Isn’t Zhurong the son of the Yan Emperor? Did he betray the tribe?”

But the moment the words left his mouth, Du Yu realized things weren’t that simple. Zhurong’s mastery over fire was absolutely exquisite; he was perfectly calculating the trajectory to ensure that not a single fireball harmed anyone. This didn’t look like an act of treason—it looked like he was executing a carefully laid plan.

While Zhurong wildly chucked fireballs into the air, he was simultaneously using a mind-boggling technique to control their flight paths.

The sky, now blotted with blazing meteors, looked like a colossal chessboard, and Zhurong was manipulating countless fiery pieces as they danced across the heavens.

‘I get it!’ Du Yu exclaimed internally. ‘Could Zhurong be trying to create the illusion of an enemy that doesn’t actually exist…’

“What do you mean?” Dong Qianqiu asked.

“Sister Qianqiu, what if this is the case?” Du Yu offered a bold hypothesis. “Right now, the only force daring enough to attack the Yan Emperor’s tribe is the Yellow Emperor’s faction. If Zhurong fabricates a few of these attacks, he can easily incite hatred among all his tribesmen. If that happens, the Yan Emperor and the Yellow Emperor will be forced into an all-out war!”

“Are you saying Zhurong is posing as the Yellow Emperor’s forces to launch these strikes?” Dong Qianqiu was taken aback.

“It’s just a guess…” Du Yu murmured, continuing to mask his presence as he observed the flame-like man in the woods.

He had encountered fire-attribute cultivators before, but not a single one possessed an aura anywhere near as terrifying as Zhurong’s.

“If Zhurong is truly doing what you said just to incite a war, then you absolutely cannot interfere,” Dong Qianqiu warned. “This matter has nothing to do with us. It is an inevitable outcome of history.”

“Right.”

Du Yu nodded in agreement. He was just about to leave when Dong Qianqiu suddenly gasped, “Hide quickly! Someone is coming!”

“Someone’s coming?!”

Du Yu instantly ducked into a nearby bush, silently peering through the leaves.

High above, two dark specks flew in from the distance, arriving before his eyes in the blink of an eye.

The two figures landed gracefully on the ground, seemingly completely unfazed by Zhurong’s chaotic display.

Upon seeing their faces, Du Yu drew a sharp breath, nearly crying out in shock.

Because the new arrivals were none other than the Yan Emperor Shennong and Xing Tian!

‘Oh no!’ Du Yu cursed inwardly. He knew that the Yan Emperor was inherently a pacifist. There was no way he would recklessly drag his people into a war with the Yellow Emperor without regard for their lives. If Du Yu’s theory was correct, then the Yan Emperor had definitely come to stop Zhurong. A massive clash might break out at any second.

However, after Xing Tian and the Yan Emperor landed beside Zhurong, they didn’t make any aggressive moves. They simply stood there in silence.

Du Yu stared at the trio in utter confusion, completely clueless as to what was going on.

Right in front of them, Zhurong tossed out a dozen more fireballs before gradually halting his barrage. He took a moment to adjust his breathing, then looked at the two men standing before him.

Xing Tian offered a slight bow to Zhurong and greeted him, “Greetings, Patriarch Zhurong.”

Zhurong hurriedly returned the gesture by bowing to the Yan Emperor. “Greetings, Great High Father.”

Du Yu was dumbfounded. Watching them politely exchange greetings, he realized the situation was entirely different from what he had imagined.

“My son, Zhurong. You have truly suffered for us,” the Yan Emperor said, walking over and patting him on the shoulder.

“I haven’t suffered at all. Everything I do is for the Jiang Tribe,” Zhurong replied.

Xing Tian, evidently overwhelmed with emotion, took a step forward and dropped to one knee. “Patriarch Zhurong, you must know that this matter has nothing to do with the Jiang Tribe. This is merely a personal grudge of mine…”

Startled by Xing Tian kneeling, Zhurong felt deeply humbled and immediately rushed to help him up. “Nameless, what are you doing? You have risked your life time and time again to protect the Jiang Tribe. You have given our tribe a second lease on life. You must absolutely not kneel to me!”

But no matter how hard Zhurong pulled, Xing Tian stubbornly refused to rise.

The Yan Emperor offered a bitter smile. “Nameless, after Rong conducts one more attack tomorrow, the time will be ripe. Are you truly prepared?”

“I…” Xing Tian hesitated, unable to give an immediate answer.

The Yan Emperor continued, “I completely understand that you wish to leave the Jiang Tribe to avenge your brother, Chiyou. There is no need for you to feel conflicted. Everything we are doing right now is to ensure you can depart from the Jiang Tribe in a logical and justifiable manner.”

Hearing this, Xing Tian nodded in silent gratitude.

“It is just that…” the Yan Emperor sighed, his voice heavy. “The people of the Jiang Tribe currently live in peace and work happily. No one wishes to go to war with the Yellow Emperor. So this time… no one will be able to assist you.”