Legend Management Bureau Chapter 290

[ … words ]

Du Yu did not understand why, despite having been in the same room with Saint for a while, he was only just now feeling dizzy. Could this strange man be the cause of it all?

Possessing such bizarre abilities, could this eccentric man truly be Time?

“He… is here?” Saint muttered, his voice trembling slightly. “Time, what are you playing at?!”

“If I said this was not my doing, would you believe me?” the strange man said slowly.

“If not you, then who?!” Saint asked in frustration. He was about to lash out, but a sudden realization hit him. “Could it be…”

“Exactly. You need to go back and keep a close eye on her. She is about to remember everything; she is going to recall that ‘mission’…” the strange man replied unhurriedly.

“A’jiao, she…” Saint struggled to lift his head, staring past the strange man. “No, A’jiao is not important right now… As long as I kill Du Yu, everything will be over…”

With that said, Saint began crawling step by step toward the area behind the strange man. Yet, with every inch he moved, his dizziness intensified, until even his vision blurred entirely.

Du Yu was experiencing the exact same bizarre sensation. His head was buried deep into the ground, completely immobilized.

Both Du Yu and Saint lay there, gasping for air.

“No one is allowed to act recklessly in my domain,” the strange man declared calmly. “Since you are Saint, go back and deal with your Xie Yujiao obediently. And since you are Du Yu, return and focus on finding a way to save your own life.”

This was the first time Du Yu had truly come into direct physical proximity with Saint. As soon as the dizziness faded, an inexplicable wave of rage surged through him.

“Saint my ass!” Du Yu cursed fiercely, his back still turned. “If I eventually turn into a cowardly turtle like you in the future, it would be an absolute disgrace!”

“What did you say?” Saint, also lying on his back, furrowed his brows. “You young kid, do you have the guts to say that again?”

“Am I wrong?” Du Yu retorted. “In all my life, I’ve never stooped to ‘sneak-attacking’ someone, yet you keep coming after me time and time again. Now, you’re doing everything you can to trap me in those two Super Grade-A legends. If you aren’t a cowardly turtle, then what are you?”

“What do you know?!” Saint shouted, growing anxious. “It’s exactly because of this mindset of yours that everything ends up getting out of hand! If you had just listened to reason, would I be this exhausted?”

“What the hell are you blabbering about!” Du Yu yelled back. “If you have the guts, let’s face off fairly and squarely! Stop dragging innocent people into this!”

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time!” Saint roared back. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t look at you, I would have charged over and killed you myself!”

“Bring it on then!” Du Yu, still on his back, began to shuffle backward.

“Oh, I’ll bring it!” Saint, mirroring the posture, writhed his body to slide backward as well.

Judging by their ridiculous postures, the two versions of Du Yu looked as though they were trying to bump each other to death with their backsides.

“Enough foolishness,” the strange man interrupted slowly. “If the two of you truly wish to compete, wouldn’t the upcoming legends serve as the perfect stage?”

“Legends?”

“Indeed.” The eccentric man nodded. “I will not favor either of you, so I can act as an impartial arbiter. Go forth and unleash your capabilities within the legends, and I shall be the judge.”

Du Yu pondered for a moment before nodding. “Fine! You dirty old man, tell us, how do we compete?”

Saint also gave a faint nod. “Alright, I accept as well.”

“Since both of you can receive error reports from the legends, why don’t you each enter one of the two Super Grade-A legends? We will determine the victor by speed. How does that sound?”

“Speed?”

Both men were momentarily stunned. Although they had always been racing against time within the legends, neither had ever raced against another person before.

“Deal!” Du Yu declared. “It’s settled! If I win, Saint has to roll out of my timeline and never cause trouble for me again!”

“Fine!” Saint roared back. “And what if I win?”

“Then my life is yours to do with as you please!” Du Yu stated resolutely.

“It’s a promise!”

The two of them exchanged harsh vows while still lying back-to-back.

“Which legend are you going to enter?” Saint asked.

“How should I know?” Du Yu replied. “I don’t even know what those two legends are.”

“Is that so…?” Saint mused for a moment before proposing, “How about this: regardless of what those two legends are, I will enter the one with the longer name, and you enter the one with the shorter name. Deal?”

“And what if their names are the exact same length?” Du Yu countered.

“If their names are the same length, I will enter the legend that happens first chronologically, and you enter the one that happens later.”

“Fine!” Du Yu snapped viciously. “This time, I’m going to make you suffer a crushing defeat!”

After establishing the rules of their wager, Saint’s figure suddenly became ethereal, and he vanished from the spot.

Du Yu then turned to look at the strange man, thinking for a moment before asking, “Does Saint… come to ask you questions regularly?”

“He does,” the strange man nodded.

“Then I want the same,” Du Yu demanded. “If I manage to return here, you must answer my questions too.”

The strange man paused slightly upon hearing this, then replied, “Of course. One question each time, just like the treatment Saint receives.”

“Then I want to ask one right now…” Du Yu lifted his head to look at the eccentric man. There were simply far too many unanswered questions burning in his heart!

“No. You have already asked me far too many questions this time.”

The strange man smiled faintly as Du Yu’s figure also became translucent before fading away entirely.

With both of them gone, only Time remained in the vast space.

He stood still for a long moment, before the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward, revealing a terrifying, sinister grin.

“Hehehehehehe… What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…”

Just then, someone else descended into the tunnel, their brisk footsteps echoing softly.

The newcomer approached the entrance, expressing a trace of mild confusion. “Why is the door open?”

“Now that you were no longer here, didn’t the door naturally open?” Time responded slowly.

A black silhouette slipped inside. Upon closer inspection, it was actually ‘a certain’ Xie Yujiao.

“Time, I apologize for keeping you waiting so long. Are you alright?” ‘Xie Yujiao’ asked.

“What could be wrong with me? I have even experienced ‘eternity’. There is nothing in this world that feels longer than enduring ‘eternity’.”

‘Xie Yujiao’ gently approached Time, tilted her head slightly, and rested it against his shoulder.

“Rest assured… Time, I will find it very soon,” ‘Xie Yujiao’ said with a sorrowful expression. “Soon, I will be able to liberate you from ‘eternity’…”

It should have been a heartwarming scene, yet an imperceptible, wicked smirk lingered at the corner of Time’s mouth.

“Good. I will be waiting. Waiting for you to save me from ‘eternity’… Hehehehe…”

…

Du Yu abruptly snapped his eyes open. He was startled to find himself still inside a stone cavern.

He quickly sat up, only to accidentally smack his forehead directly against someone else’s head.

Pain flared through Du Yu’s skull, and the person opposite him seemed to be hurting just as badly.

“Damn it… Who is that? Why is your head as hard as a rock…” Du Yu cried out.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch…” the person across from him whimpered in pain.

Du Yu froze. Why did that voice sound so familiar… Could it be?

“A’xiang?” Du Yu finally got a good look at the figure he had headbutted. It was actually Shiranui Asuka.

“Senior Du Yu, did you do that on purpose?!” Shiranui Asuka rubbed her aching head. “Who suddenly sits up like that… You nearly bumped me to death!”

“No… I…” Du Yu glanced around his surroundings and finally relaxed. This was not Time’s cave, but Lady Houtu’s Cave Dwelling. “How did I end up here?”

“You have the nerve to ask!” Shiranui Asuka scolded gently. “You have been unconscious for over half a month!”

“Half a month?” Du Yu didn’t appear particularly surprised. “That’s actually a bit shorter than I imagined.”

“What kind of thing is that to say?” Shiranui Asuka said, somewhat annoyed. “Just this half a month alone was enough to make everyone worry to death! Not only have Lady Houtu and the Western Queen Mother been healing you every single day, but even the Seven Holy Heroes, Senior Zhi Nv, and Senior Dong Qianqiu have been working tirelessly inside and out. They are dead tired!”

“Well…” Du Yu scratched his head apologetically. “I really didn’t expect that. Was I that sick? Why did it require so many people to heal me?”

At that moment, a tall woman slowly walked over from the side. “You weren’t sick. You almost died.”

Du Yu turned his head to look. The person was none other than Lady Houtu.

Her gaze was different now. Her eyes no longer carried their previous confusion; instead, they shone brighter and more alertly than anyone else’s.

“I almost died?” Du Yu looked at Lady Houtu in bewilderment. “Was it really that serious?”

“It was.” Lady Houtu sat down beside Du Yu and checked his pulse once more. “If you want to blame someone, blame that old coot Xing Tian. Using someone else’s body, yet throwing punches with absolutely no restraint.”

“Xing Tian?” Du Yu paused. “Leader, you know everything?”

“How could the Old Lady not know?” Lady Houtu, feeling that Du Yu’s pulse had no major issues, let go of his wrist. “Young kid, don’t summon Xing Tian to possess your body anymore. Your physical vessel is completely incapable of harnessing his power.”

“After suffering this loss, I’ll be more careful from now on…” Du Yu sighed. “I’ll try my best to properly temper my physical body first…”

“Don’t be foolish,” Lady Houtu shook her head. “The Old Lady means it would be best if you ‘never’ asked Xing Tian to possess you ever again.”

“Never?” Du Yu was startled. “Leader, I don’t understand… What do you mean by ‘never’?”

“You are a Mortal. No matter how much you train, you will never be able to freely control Xing Tian’s power. Consider yourself incredibly lucky this time. Xing Tian only shattered all your heart meridians, broke all four of your limbs, and temporarily rendered the Eight Directions Ghost Record useless…”

Du Yu frowned deeply as he listened. “You call that lucky?”

“Of course,” Lady Houtu nodded. “If you had been unlucky, you would have dropped dead on the spot. Furthermore…”

“Furthermore what?”

“Furthermore, Xing Tian brings a potent ‘Primordial’ aura with him. This kind of aura can trigger certain unknown changes…”

“A Primordial aura?” Du Yu furrowed his brows, as if he had just realized something. However, he quickly masked his thoughts and pretended nothing was wrong. He turned to Lady Houtu and said, “Leader, I understand everything you’re saying. From now on, unless it’s an absolute life-or-death crisis, I will definitely not ask Xing Tian to possess me.”

With that said, he stood up, his expression turning entirely serious. “Right now, I have no time to waste. I am racing against several people, and I must rush back to the Legend Management Bureau immediately without stopping.”