Legend Management Bureau Chapter 289

[ … words ]

“You are just being deliberately mysterious,” Du Yu sighed softly. “Then why don’t you tell me… who exactly brought me here?”

Hearing Du Yu’s question, the strange man silently lowered his head, lost in thought.

“Nothing to say?” Du Yu raised an eyebrow. “You are the only one here, and you still claim you weren’t the one who called me here?”

The man kept his head bowed, pondering for a long time before he slowly began to tremble. “That is right… Xie Yujiao!”

“Ajiao?” Du Yu froze for a moment. “Are you saying… Ajiao was the one who sent me here?”

“No…” The man immediately shook his head violently. “It was not Xie Yujiao, but you must kill Xie Yujiao…”

“Are you out of your mind?” Du Yu snapped irritably. “You just said yourself that it was not Xie Yujiao, so why should I kill her?”

“Because Xie Yujiao will trigger a massive disaster!!!”

The man was highly agitated and seemed to want to stand up, but his legs were like dead wood rooted in the earth, completely immobile. He tried several times before finally giving up. He let out a frustrated sigh, then slowly muttered, “Wrong… even if you kill Xie Yujiao, it will be useless… She will still return. She will always be here…”

The man fell silent, fixing one eye on Du Yu instead.

“You can either honestly tell me exactly what will happen. What will happen to me? What will happen to Ajiao? What will happen to everyone else? Or you can just shut your mouth, because I am not going to listen anyway.”

The man remained quiet for a long time, but then his demeanor abruptly shifted as he let out a raspy chuckle.

Seeing him act like this, Du Yu was completely unfazed.

“As expected of you… Du Yu,” the man said. “Was my acting… not convincing enough just now?”

“Acting?” Du Yu frowned at the strange man before him, who was exuding a bizarre aura and the stench of rot. “You were acting?”

“I thought I could bluff you… Hehehe…” The man chuckled incessantly in an aged, hoarse, and unpleasant voice.

“Ha, hahaha!” Du Yu burst into laughter as well.

This sudden outburst left the strange man slightly stunned. “What are you laughing at?”

“I am laughing at how pathetic you are.” Du Yu slowly stood up and said, “It looks like you have been trapped in here for a very long time, have you not? That little ‘scare tactic’ of yours, you did not spend decades coming up with that, did you? Because it was completely useless against me. Is that not pathetic?”

The strange man fell slightly silent before letting out another raspy chuckle. The two of them, meeting for the first time, bantered and laughed like two old friends who had not seen each other in years.

“If I am not mistaken… ‘Xie Yujiao’ is the key to your imprisonment here.” Du Yu shook his head and said, “If Ajiao dies, you will be completely freed from this place, right? It is just like Sun Wukong tricking Tang Seng into releasing him from under the mountain. Ajiao is the Tathagata Buddha keeping you pinned down, am I right?”

The man gave a slight shrug, silently acknowledging the theory.

“That is why I will absolutely never let Ajiao die… Besides, a woman has already verbally promised to entrust herself to me. For me to turn around and kill her—is that something a normal man could do?”

“Agreed.” The strange man nodded. “That does make sense.”

“Since I have already seen through your scheme, do you want to start telling me the truth?” Du Yu asked. “Who exactly are you? What is your purpose? Why are you trapped here? If you tell me the truth, I might figure out a way to help you, but let me warn you one last time: do not try playing any more little tricks with me.”

The strange man’s fingers twitched slightly before he slowly opened his mouth. “You want to know who I am?”

“Exactly.” Du Yu nodded. “You already know who I am, but I do not know you. Is that not a bit unfair?”

“Everyone in this world knows me, but very few have ever seen me,” the strange man slowly said. “As for my name… I am afraid you will not believe it.”

“That is not necessarily true,” Du Yu replied. “If you do not tell me, how do you know I will not believe you?”

“Haha!” The strange man let out a loud laugh, then said with a solemn expression, “Then listen well, Du Yu. I—am ‘Time’.”

“T-Time?!”

That word was easily the most absurd answer Du Yu had ever heard.

“That is right. I am infinity, I am eternity, I am the end of the universe, and I am the origin of all things. I am ‘Time’.”

Du Yu frowned, staring intently at the bizarre man in front of him. It was true that everyone in the world knew “Time,” but who would have ever thought that Time would be such a withered old man?

But on second thought, this freak was full of lies. This was probably just another piece of fabricated nonsense.

“You say you are ‘Time’, but how are you going to prove that you are ‘Time’?”

“Proving that I am ‘Time’ is very simple, but I have no obligation to prove it to you.” The strange man shook his head. Just as he was about to say something else, his entire body gave a slight shudder as he spoke up, “Oh no…”

“Oh no?!” Du Yu paused. “What do you mean, ‘oh no’?”

“Du Yu, hide behind me,” the freak said. “We have a guest!”

“Eh?! A guest?”

Du Yu tried to comprehend the man’s words, but he could not shake off an eerie feeling.

“Hurry up! I do not have time to explain! ‘She’ might have returned!” The bizarre man’s tone was clearly tinged with anxiety, and Du Yu felt like he was not lying this time.

So, Du Yu slowly walked toward him. The ground was covered with the freak’s hair. Suppressing his nausea, Du Yu stepped onto the soft layer of hair, moved behind the strange man, and slowly crouched down.

Du Yu carefully inspected the strange man’s back. His flesh and blood seemed to have fused with the chair beneath him. The area where they connected was a mass of substance that was indistinguishable between stone and flesh. No wonder he could not stand up at all.

“Du Yu, turn your back. No matter what happens later… absolutely do not turn your head!” the man instructed Du Yu, clear worry lacing his voice.

“Always acting so mysterious…” Du Yu grumbled. “Nine times out of ten, anyone who comes here is your enemy. What does that have to do with me?”

“Not many people can come to my place, but absolutely none of them can be allowed to see you!” the strange man urged frantically. “Just this once, listen to me!”

Du Yu sighed helplessly, then turned around and sat down back-to-back with the strange man. Fortunately, the freak’s hair cascaded down like a dense waterfall, completely concealing Du Yu’s figure.

It did not take long before the click-clack of footsteps echoed from within the tunnel. Someone was indeed approaching.

The newcomer walked up to the entrance with familiar ease, let out a soft sound of surprise, and then, acting as though nothing had happened, stepped into the cave.

Seeing the person’s face, the strange man could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, silently muttering, ‘Thank goodness it is not her’…

“Hey!” the person who entered spoke slowly. “I have thought of my question for today.”

“Oh…? Ask away,” the bizarre man replied.

Du Yu suddenly frowned. The voice of the man who just walked in… why was it so familiar? He had definitely heard it somewhere before!

The man slowly opened his mouth and asked, “Now that two Super A-Class Legends are reporting errors, Du Yu will definitely go intervene. How should I act to guarantee it is absolutely safe to keep him trapped within the Legends forever?”

“I do not know,” the strange man replied slowly. “I cannot answer that question. You can pick another one.”

“Why do you not know?” The man’s voice carried a hint of urgency. “Are you not ‘Time’? Do you not see through all of history, past and present? Can you not answer all of my questions? If I cannot keep Du Yu in the Legends forever this time, I will never get another chance!”

Hiding behind the chair, a chill ran down Du Yu’s spine as he listened to this conversation.

Who was this person?

He wanted to trap him in the Legends forever… meaning this person was his ‘enemy’?

He desperately wanted to turn around and take a look right now, but recalling the bizarre man’s warning made him hesitate.

Did this strange man truly want to protect him?

And who was this man with the familiar voice?

The freak cleared his throat and spoke, “As you know, I am unable to predict anything concerning ‘Du Yu’.”

“Is that so…” the man said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “I only came to ask for a ‘method’. Does that also count as being related to Du Yu?”

“Choose another question,” the strange man repeated. “It is rare for you to come see me. I will make an exception for you today.”

“I have no more questions.” The man’s tone gradually quieted down, as if he were pondering something. “Since you do not know what to do either, I can only go back and figure out a way with the other seven myself.”

Hidden behind the seat, Du Yu inwardly screamed that this was bad. He absolutely could not let this person leave!

He had clearly heard that voice before, but he could not remember who it belonged to. Right now, his top priority was to root out the Suspected Mole by his side. If this man was truly lurking near him, the damage he could cause would undoubtedly be fatal.

‘No matter what, I have to take a quick peek!’

Making up his mind, Du Yu shifted his body and slowly turned around.

In the distance, the discouraged man was already preparing to turn and leave.

Du Yu quietly stood up and peered outward. He caught a blurry glimpse of a slender figure. Before he could even process who this person was, a violent bout of dizziness suddenly overwhelmed him. It felt completely uncontrollable, as if his soul was about to be ripped from his body. Immediately after, he collapsed to his knees with a heavy thud.

In the distance, the man also abruptly swayed before collapsing to his knees with a thud, exactly like Du Yu.

“Wh-what is going on?” Du Yu shook his head, asking with a bewildered expression.

The man in the distance was also trembling slightly. “Time, you… you…”

Du Yu felt a twinge of confusion in his heart. Why did that man faint as well?

Could it be…

Du Yu pondered for a split second, and then everything clicked!

Every single hair on his body stood on end!

No wonder that voice was so familiar yet completely impossible to place!

He had heard about this dizzy sensation from others, but this was the first time he was experiencing it himself!

This was the feeling of encountering ‘another’ version of himself!

He was the “Saint”!