Legend Management Bureau Chapter 287

[ … words ]

“I do not need your meddling!” the Queen Mother of the West shouted coldly. “Just open a protective barrier for me!”

“A protective barrier?”

The Eight Great Underworld Messengers were taken aback. Cui Jue quickly snapped out of it, “Queen Mother, who do you want us to protect?”

“You don’t need to protect anyone. Just enclose me and those two nature spirits inside!”

With a forceful flick of her wrist, the Queen Mother of the West unleashed a chain forged of pure lightning. It lashed around the distant white wolf. She yanked it back with a fierce tug, dragging the beast closer until both the girl in red and the white wolf were gathered right in front of her.

Cui Jue and Xie Bi’an were the first to react. Their hands blurred through incantation seals before thrusting their palms forward.

A spherical protective barrier expanded from their hands, drifting outward like a blown bubble.

Seeing this, the rest of the Underworld Messengers hurriedly formed their own hand seals. In an instant, eight glowing spheres floated gracefully through the sky.

Operating with perfect harmony, the eight directed their respective orbs to collide and merge. Within seconds, they coalesced into a single, massive protective barrier that drifted over to encapsulate the Queen Mother of the West.

But at this point, how could the Queen Mother of the West possibly let her escape?

Another crackling chain of lightning lashed out, pinning the girl in red firmly in place.

At the same time, the massive barrier settled over them, enveloping all three within its confines.

Du Yu watched this scene unfold with deep confusion.

“Big Cat clearly has the power to just trap them instantly, so why did this turn into such a bitter stalemate?”

Zhi Nv grabbed Du Yu and pulled him aside, explaining, “Don’t be silly, Du Yu. Just trapping thousand-year-old nature spirits like them isn’t enough to kill them. The Goddess is finally getting serious!”

After warning him, Zhi Nv whipped her head around and shouted at the rest of the group, “Anyone lacking sufficient cultivation must close your eyes! Otherwise, you will be blinded!”

Right as her words fell, a cold sneer tugged at the corners of the Queen Mother of the West’s mouth. She stretched out her hands and let out a soft exhale. “Finally, I can exert a little bit of strength… You two have entertained me for quite a while. Now, it’s my turn to stretch my muscles. Infinite Thunder!”

A blinding flash of white light erupted inside the protective barrier as countless heavenly thunderbolts surged wildly within it.

The lightning struck at such a frenzied pace that the roaring thunder merged into a single, continuous boom, making it utterly impossible to distinguish individual bolts.

The spherical barrier shone like a colossal star, radiating explosive luminescence across the sky.

Xiao Nian and Xie Yujiao had squeezed their eyes shut, but they could still feel the intense glare piercing through their eyelids. The radiance felt like tiny needles stabbing painfully into their eyeballs.

Du Yu furrowed his brows. He realized his own eyes were somehow capable of withstanding this wave of intense light. Though perplexed, he quickly dashed over to Shiranui Asuka’s side and gently covered her eyes with his hands.

“A’xiang! Quick, close your eyes!”

Shiranui Asuka had naturally rarely witnessed such a spectacle, and she had been utterly spellbound for a moment. If Du Yu had not shielded her vision, she would likely have gone blind.

Du Yu looked back up at the Eight Great Underworld Messengers. Every single one of them wore a heavy expression, with cold sweat steadily dripping down their faces.

They were all clenching their teeth, pushing themselves to the absolute limit just to contain the Queen Mother of the West’s assault. Yet even so, they knew full well that she wasn’t using her true strength.

“This puny little shell is already tottering on the brink of collapse. Are you really putting your hearts into working for me?”

The Queen Mother of the West’s cold reproach from within the barrier gave the Eight Great Underworld Messengers quite a fright, forcing them to channel even more magical power to keep the shield intact.

“Crack!”

With a crisp shatter, a visible fissure spiderwebbed across the protective barrier encasing the Queen Mother of the West. Faint tendrils of lightning leaked through.

“Not good!”

Seeing this, Cui Jue immediately shifted his stance, stepping closer toward Xie Bi’an. “Old Seven, your injuries haven’t fully healed yet. Don’t push yourself too hard!”

Xie Bi’an grit his teeth savagely, his hands trembling violently. The situation was extremely precarious. If they failed to contain the Queen Mother of the West’s lightning, the surrounding dozens of miles would likely be reduced to scorched earth.

No sooner had they repaired the crack on Xie Bi’an’s end than the barrier fractured again, this time right in front of the Black Impermanence, Fan Wujiu. His injuries were even more severe than Xie Bi’an’s, leaving him completely unable to withstand such high-intensity spellcasting.

Zhong Kui wanted to split his focus to help, but suddenly, the fissures on the barrier multiplied into a dense, spiderweb-like cluster, with countless thunderbolts thrashing chaotically inside.

In the blink of an eye, the entire protective barrier shattered into a blinding burst of brilliance.

Just as everyone thought their souls would be scattered and spirits dispersed, all the light vanished in an instant.

It turned out that the Queen Mother of the West had rapidly reined in her magical power, preventing the blast from harming the people on the ground.

Shiranui Jinjiro still didn’t lower his guard. He hurriedly looked up to search for the girl and the white wolf.

But there was no trace of the two nature spirits to be found.

Instead, two arm-thick threads, one red and one white, slowly drifted downward, twitching on the ground like dying fish.

Thick black smoke poured off them, bearing witness to the countless lightning strikes they had just endured.

Zhi Nv felt a lingering wave of fear upon seeing the aftermath. Not a single immortal being had ever been subjected to such a devastating barrage of lightning, yet these two nature spirits had the sheer misfortune of facing it.

Shiranui Jinjiro rushed forward and let out a resounding shout, “Severance and Release! Sever all Reluctance!”

He activated the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, slicing cleanly through the white thread of Reluctance.

The instant the white thread snapped, a sky-piercing wolf howl erupted into the heavens, startling everyone.

“Goddess Houtu’s Reluctance, I am sorry,” Jin Jianglang said softly. He then turned his gaze toward the dying Lovesickness on the ground.

“And you… Lovesickness. Goddess Houtu has been tormented by your existence for thousands of years. It is time you returned her freedom.”

Jin Jianglang covered the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors with Cut Lovesickness talismans, then aimed the blades at Lovesickness.

But before he could strike, a melodious female voice suddenly called out softly, “Jinjiro…”

Jin Jianglang’s eyes widened, and his entire body stiffened.

The others nearby were also stunned. The voice hadn’t just spoken to Jin Jianglang; incredibly, everyone present had heard it clearly.

The voice continued in a hauntingly ethereal tone:

“Jinjiro… We made a promise. There is still one year left… You haven’t watched the cherry blossoms with me for that final year.”

The voice, hovering somewhere between reality and illusion, echoed in their ears, making the group look at each other in dismay.

“Are the cherry blossoms in that final year beautiful? Will they fill the sky like dancing flames?”

“Enenra…” Shiranui Jinjiro’s lips trembled. Even as a dignified, grown man, large teardrops began to cascade down his face the moment he heard that voice.

“A’xiang’s brother! She’s lying to you, don’t let her mislead you!” Du Yu shouted. “Snap out of it! That is just Goddess Houtu’s Lovesickness, not some Enenra!”

Shiranui Jinjiro knew Du Yu was right. This was likely just the survival instinct of Lovesickness. It could peer into the deepest lovesickness hidden within a human’s heart and parrot back the perfect words to prey on it. Yet, even knowing all this, he still couldn’t bring himself to strike.

After all, it had been far too long since he last heard this voice.

Just hearing one more sentence from her was a tremendous blessing to him.

“Enenra… I miss you so much…” Shiranui Jinjiro’s entire body trembled as he finally poured out the words he had been burying at the bottom of his heart.

“Jinjiro, how could you miss me? You’re trying to kill me right now…”

“I…” Shiranui Jinjiro shook his head repeatedly, overwhelmed by excruciating torment.

“Kill everyone around us for me, and I will stay by your side for all the days to come. Jinjiro, we will never be separated again.”

Seeing the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors stabbed into the earth, clasping Lovesickness right between its blades, yet Shiranui Jinjiro still unable to bring himself to strike, the surrounding crowd grew incredibly anxious.

At that moment, Shiranui Asuka slowly walked up and delivered a swift kick to the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors.

The impact forced the blades to snap shut. With a sharp “Snip,” Lovesickness was cleanly sheared in two. A wretched scream echoed out, and the voice drifting through the air faded away completely.

“Brother!” Shiranui Asuka said, her own eyes brimming with tears. “That wasn’t Sister Enenra! I won’t allow it to insult Sister Enenra like that!”

“Little Xiang…” Shiranui Jinjiro looked at Asuka with profound guilt, his inner agony written all over his face.

“Sigh…” The Queen Mother of the West glanced at Shiranui Jinjiro and murmured softly, “Just another foolishly enamored soul…”

The crisis involving Goddess Houtu had finally come to an end. The moment all the threads were cut, the sky above the Underworld suddenly began to churn erratically. The dark clouds flashed intensely, as if brewing something ominous.

Shiranui Jinjiro let out a long breath to calm his racing emotions, then slowly looked up and declared, “It’s over… Time is beginning to repair itself.”

The group couldn’t help but gaze up at the sky, utterly unsure of what would happen next.

After a good fifteen minutes had passed, while everyone’s attention was still glued to the dark clouds, the doors of the ruined temple right in front of them slowly creaked open.

Goddess Houtu stepped out leisurely, looking at the crowd gathered outside with absolute bewilderment.

“Oh, having a meeting?” Goddess Houtu stretched her limbs and asked, “Why are you all gathered here?”

Everyone was startled by this sudden development. Du Yu stared blankly at Houtu and stammered, “Leader… you…”

“What is it?” Houtu scratched her head in annoyance. “Don’t you have work to do? For an Operator, you sure are acting rather leisurely.”

“You remember who I am?” Du Yu asked in sheer disbelief.

“What kind of nonsense is that?” Houtu looked at Du Yu in confusion. “Why the hell would this old lady randomly forget you?”

“That’s amazing… That’s fantastic!” Du Yu was so thrilled he wanted to jump for joy, though his body was in far too much pain to actually leap. “The Underworld didn’t collapse, and Goddess Houtu didn’t lose her memories! Our mission this time… was a massive success!”

The Seven Holy Heroes and the Queen Mother of the West all broke into relieved smiles.

This victory had truly not come easy for any of them.

Before Du Yu could exchange another greeting with Goddess Houtu, a sudden ringtone erupted from the mobile phone in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that the caller was actually Dong Qianqiu.

“Hello? Sister Qianqiu? I have the most incredible news to tell you…”

“Du Yu! Disaster has struck! Get back here immediately!”

“Huh?” Du Yu choked on his words. “What happened, Sister Qianqiu?”

“The red alert at the Legend Management Bureau just flashed! Just now, two Super A-Class legends suffered catastrophic errors at the exact same time!”

“What?!” Du Yu was deeply alarmed. “Two Super A-Class legends bugged out simultaneously?!”

‘Could this… have something to do with Goddess Houtu?’

Du Yu gave a hasty response and hung up, turning to leave. But before he could even take two steps, a wave of intense dizziness washed over him. He swayed dangerously on his feet and collapsed face-first onto the ground.