Legend Management Bureau Chapter 413

[ … words ]

“Heh…” Xie Yujiao sneered, quietly lowering her head. “How amusing. What kind of person do you take me for? Just because you don’t like me… you think I would kill you?”

Saint slowly walked over to Xie Yujiao and gently patted her shoulder. “Ajiao, you misunderstand,” he said softly. “I know you have always respected my choices, which is why I trust you more than anyone else. Erasing my past is my own choice, and I hope you will support it.”

Seeing that Xie Yujiao remained silent, Saint stopped paying attention to her and turned to arrange the assassination plan with the Can Kui Brothers.

“…Remember, Gorgon’s control over her sacred relic requires the chanting of an incantation. Steal a Silencing Talisman from A’xiang’s room; it will be of great use at a critical moment.”

“…Prepare two extra silk scarves. If Gorgon reveals her true form, immediately cover your eyes. However, I expect that fighting blindfolded, you will stand no chance against her. Therefore, you must exploit her weakness. At the crucial moment, you can threaten her by exploiting the fact that she might accidentally injure Du Yu.”

Watching all of this from the sidelines, Du Yu had practically confirmed his suspicions.

It could be said that everything he had experienced was caused by Saint. Without Saint, his life would never have changed in the first place.

He quietly stepped in front of Saint and muttered, “And to think I actually teamed up with you… yet here you are, doing everything in your power to ruin my life…”

As soon as those words left his mouth, the surrounding space abruptly shifted.

Saint and the Seven Holy Heroes moved before Du Yu like blurry phantoms. Du Yu had no idea how much time was passing.

In merely ten seconds, the scene returned to normal. Shiranui Asuka and Jin Jianglang were now standing right in front of him.

“Brother… why do you think this is?” A’xiang asked in frustration. “I’ve already completed the first independent task Saint assigned to me, so why doesn’t he seem happy about it?”

From A’xiang’s explanation, Du Yu realized that they had indeed completed their mission. They had directly caused Du Yu’s parents to separate early on, leading his mother to marry someone else and give birth to a baby girl.

Fortunately, Jin Jianglang had intervened midway and severed the threads, turning Du Yu into an orphan who appeared out of thin air instead of vanishing completely.

It was also a blessing that the world they had been in was already destroyed. Even if a Great Pivot were generated, it would not affect these Operators.

Shiranui Jinjiro pondered for a moment, then reached out and rubbed A’xiang’s head. “Little Xiang, stop overthinking it. Saint’s unhappiness isn’t because of you.”

As soon as his voice faded, space twisted once more. Du Yu clearly hadn’t moved an inch, yet he found himself passing through wall after wall until he arrived in a basement. At this moment, Saint was sitting quietly in the room, with A Can and A Kui standing nearby.

“Just as I expected…” Saint’s lips moved slightly. “You managed to escape both times.”

“Perhaps… he just got lucky?” A Can asked tentatively.

“Lucky?” Saint frowned. “The Legend of the White Snake is one thing… but what about Meng Jiangnu? He actually used the two of you to shatter the Great Wall. If you’re telling me he had no plan and relied entirely on luck, I absolutely refuse to believe it.”

Du Yu, who had just regained his bearings, froze in shock. “Meng Jiangnu…?!”

‘When did I ever enter the legend of Meng Jiangnu?!’

‘Could it be that the person on the screen isn’t me either?’

He turned his head toward the screen. Displayed on it was indeed a vast expanse of ruins from the Great Wall. A “Du Yu” was pulling up a frail woman and shouting at the top of his lungs, “Wife of Qiliang! I did what I promised! Run!”

Immediately after, a large group of soldiers chased after them. The other Du Yu hoisted the woman onto his back and channeled the power of Zhongli Chun to swiftly flee the battlefield.

A Can stared at the screen for a moment before speaking up again. “Brother Saint, if we want to succeed… we might as well try ‘Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother’ or ‘Ma Liang and the Magic Brush’ next time. Du Yu’s situation in both of those legends is quite dangerous, so the success rate of striking then would also…”

“That is not the issue,” Saint interrupted the two. “Just follow my arrangements and carry out the assassination. Whether you succeed or fail, I have my own plans.”

A Can and A Kui exchanged a glance, unsure of how to respond.

A Kui looked as though he wanted to say something. After holding back for a long time, he finally asked, “Brother Saint, if you want to save this world… why not just kill Mahakala directly? Must you really kill yourself?”

Hearing this, Saint smiled faintly. “A Kui, let me ask you: is Mahakala a legend?”

“Mahakala… is naturally not a legend,” A Kui replied.

“Then do you know where Mahakala has been hiding all this time?”

“This…”

A Kui instantly understood the reasoning. When Mahakala first appeared on the battlefield, he was already a colossal Buddha. Even if they had killed him then, the outcome would not have changed in the slightest.

Before that moment, no one in the world knew of Mahakala’s whereabouts.

“If you understand, then stop asking questions. Like I said, just do as I instruct.” Saint glanced at the two. “Get back to work.”

The two nodded. Sure enough, they asked no more questions and turned to leave.

Only Saint and Du Yu remained in the basement, and Du Yu accurately caught a subtle shift in Saint’s expression.

What kind of expression was that?

Du Yu knew it well—he only ever wore that look of deep satisfaction when absolutely everything was under his control.

“Saint… you don’t care at all whether A Can and A Kui can kill me, nor do you care if this makes you an orphan… do you?” Du Yu murmured to himself. “You have a much deeper plan…”

After saying this, he fell deep into thought. The Saint he knew had once mentioned that every generation’s Saint had died at Du Yu’s hands. Could it be that everything Saint was doing now was simply to ensure his own death?

“But that’s not right…” Du Yu furrowed his brow. “Why do I feel like the Saint I met truly wanted to kill me?”

What was even more bizarre was that the Du Yu whom the Saint before him was trying to assassinate wasn’t actually him. That version had a completely different set of experiences. Saint, the Du Yu on the screen, and himself—they felt like three entirely independent individuals.

The Du Yu on the screen had experienced legends such as “Meng Jiangnu”, “Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother”, and “Ma Liang and the Magic Brush”, yet he himself had never even heard of them.

Just as Du Yu was entirely baffled by the puzzle, he watched as Saint opened a portal and walked straight through it.

Du Yu tried to follow, but alas, his body in The Void simply couldn’t pass through the portal. He tried several times, but even after Saint’s figure had completely vanished and the portal had entirely closed, he remained stuck in place.

He had vaguely glimpsed a barren wasteland on the other side of the portal, but he had no idea where exactly it was.

Suddenly, the space flickered.

Du Yu was yanked away by a wondrous force once more.

During the transit, the surrounding scenery warped frantically, as if ten thousand years were flashing by in a single glance.

“Time, what exactly are you trying to do?! Come out and see me! I have questions for you!”

A second later, Du Yu indeed came to a halt right at the entrance of Time’s cave dwelling.

Everything here was just as familiar as before.

An incredibly ancient stone door stood before him, draped in a thick layer of vines.

Suddenly, giant golden characters began to light up on the surrounding walls:

“Du Yu, do you understand time?”