Legend Management Bureau Chapter 398

[ … words ]

Du Yu continued to mull it over. ‘If this place really is the Peach Blossom Spring, has the story recorded by Tao Yuanming already begun?’

‘Legend has it that a fisherman accidentally stumbled into this place and was warmly welcomed. He later reported it to the local magistrate, but when the magistrate brought men to search for it, they could not find the place no matter what they did. So right now…’

‘Wait!’

‘A fisherman?!’

Du Yu turned his head to look at the old peasant man. Just earlier, this old man clearly stated that he fished for a living!

‘Since that is the case… I might as well use this old man to fulfill this legend.’ Du Yu scanned the entirety of the Peach Blossom Spring, thinking to himself, ‘Once the legend is completed, the existence of this space will lose its purpose. That will be our ticket to the next dimension.’

With this in mind, he gently grabbed the old peasant man and spoke up, “Uncle… I suspect we really have fallen for a Great Immortal’s trick.”

“I know, these are all Great Immortals,” the old man said with a nervous expression.

“Which is why we need to tread carefully,” Du Yu advised. “We absolutely must not offend them. We’ll chat casually for a bit, then claim we have urgent matters and need to leave. We’ll see how we can get out of here. If there’s a chance, we also need to find that water monkey and make sure it doesn’t survive.”

Before Du Yu could say anything else, the villager walking ahead of them slowly came to a halt in front of a room and turned around. “We have arrived, you two. This is my humble abode.”

The two instantly stopped talking and walked over cautiously.

Upon opening the door, Du Yu found the place to be immaculately clean. An unfamiliar plant was burning inside, emitting a soothing and refreshing fragrance.

“You two really must have a good chat with me!” the villager exclaimed while tidying up a wooden bowl on the table. “It is rare for anyone to visit from the outside. I imagine the fellow villagers will be overjoyed when they find out.”

Old man Du seemed a bit reserved, but Du Yu casually picked up the wooden bowl from the table, inspected it, and asked, “Have you all always lived here?”

“Indeed.” The villager nodded. “Ever since Young Master Fusu was banished to the north, our people fled in all directions to escape the ravages of war, eventually settling down in this place.”

“Young Master Fusu?”

Du Yu pondered for a brief moment. The text of the Peach Blossom Spring clearly stated—they claimed their ancestors fled the chaos of the Qin Dynasty, bringing their wives and fellow townsmen to this isolated haven, never to emerge again, thus severing all ties with the outside world.

“Just as I thought, you are subjects of the Great Qin…”

The villager poured a cup of water for both Du Yu and the old man, then asked, “What generation of the Great Qin is ruling the outside world now? Did Young Master Fusu inherit the throne?”

“It wasn’t Fusu, it was Huhai,” Du Yu answered. “Besides, it is no longer the Great Qin out there. The dynasty has changed names many times over.”

“The dynasty changed?” The villager blinked in surprise. “Then may I ask what the current dynasty is called?”

“Uh…” Du Yu thought for a second and hurriedly replied, “It should be the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty.”

After saying this, he secretly thanked Tao Yuanming in his heart.

It was a good thing the opening line of the famous text was “During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty,” otherwise his cover would have been blown immediately.

“What are you two chatting about?” The old man scratched his head. “Right now we are citizens of China…”

“Don’t!” Du Yu immediately slapped a hand over the burly man’s mouth. He quickly added, “Actually, there was another dynasty before this called the Han Dynasty, and after that came the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties.”

The old man blinked a few times while Du Yu continuously shot him pointed looks. Although the old man didn’t know what Du Yu meant, the young man seemed to know exactly what he was doing, so he decided to follow his lead.

The villager looked deeply moved. “Is that so? The Great Qin is no more? Just how many years have passed?”

“Uh…” Du Yu was instantly stumped by the question.

Exactly how many years had passed between the Qin Dynasty and the middle of the Jin Dynasty?

Was that something a normal person could just blurt out without checking any reference materials?

His grasp of history was terrible to begin with, so being asked a question like this was truly putting him in a tight spot.

“Anyway… anyway, it has been a very long time,” Du Yu chuckled awkwardly. “It has been exactly as long as you all have lived here. You can calculate it yourselves.”

The old man frowned and pondered for a long time but still couldn’t understand. He whispered, “Young man, what does this all mean? How did we suddenly end up in the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty?”

“Don’t ask questions right now!” Du Yu murmured back. “I’ll explain everything to you when we get the chance!”

“Oh…”

“Alas…” The villager sighed with a hint of melancholy. “I truly never expected that the once-mighty Great Qin would actually fall.”

After saying that, he looked at the two of them and offered, “Please wait here for a moment, my two esteemed guests. I shall go slaughter a chicken and cook some rice. I must treat you well today.”

“Ah? There’s no need for that, brother…” The old man stood up and spoke with obvious tension. “We’ll just sit for a bit and leave, so don’t trouble yourself!”

“Absolutely not! Visitors are honored guests!” The villager said with a bright smile. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I will be right back.”

Once the villager was out of sight, the old man quickly leaned in close to Du Yu’s face, panic written all over his features. “This is bad, really bad! Young man! You absolutely cannot eat a Great Immortal’s food! The elders always said their food is made of rotting corpses and mud. Eat it and I guarantee you’ll be in agonizing pain for seven days straight!”

With that, he sneakily poked his head out the door to check the surroundings. “I don’t see anyone nearby. Should we make a run for it?”

Seeing the old man’s state, Du Yu couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing. The older man genuinely thought these people were mountain spirits and forest demons.

“Calm down, Uncle. There are good and bad Great Immortals. Let’s taste his cooking first to see if it’s any good, and then we can decide whether to run or not.”

“Will that really work, young man?” The old man shot Du Yu a skeptical look. “What if a few Fox Fairies show up later and bewitch the two of us?”

“Fox Fairies coming over specifically to bewitch you? Uncle, you sure like to daydream. Have you been reading a lot of ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio’?”

The old man shook his head helplessly and continued to keep a cautious eye on the outside. “I only know thirty-six characters in total. How could I read ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio’?”

“Pfft! Thirty-six characters?” Du Yu realized this older man had a unique aura about him. Just being around him made Du Yu feel a sense of reassurance, a feeling he hadn’t experienced since the “Great War”.

How wonderful it would be if a real Peach Blossom Spring could be found in this world… How wonderful it would be if all these heavy burdens weren’t pressing down on his shoulders?

Just as Du Yu was lost in his thoughts, the old man cried out nervously, “This is bad, this is bad! Young man, that young kid from earlier is bringing people over!”

“Bringing people over?”

“I’m terrified out of my mind. They’re not going to kill me, are they? I haven’t even taken a wife yet. The Du family bloodline can’t end with me!”

“Don’t worry about that.” Du Yu nodded reassuringly. “They shouldn’t be here to kill us, so your Old…”

Du Yu suddenly froze. “Wait, which family did you say?”

“The Du family, why?”

“You… how can your surname be Du?”

“Why can’t my surname be Du?” The old man stared at Du Yu in confusion. “They never said we weren’t allowed to have the surname Du, even during the Cultural Revolution.”

“It’s nothing…” Du Yu shook his head. “Uncle, if your surname really is Du, then I have even more reason to guarantee your safety.”