Legend Management Bureau Chapter 108

[ … words ]

“Huh?” Shen Shi nearly collapsed onto the floor upon hearing this. “Join the immortal ranks? Brother, do you have the wrong person? Even though I live in the Heavenly Court, my cultivation base is nowhere near enough to be canonized as a god.”

“It is not about making you a god, but rather making you a Netherworld Emissary,” Du Yu explained. “It is far better than running around swindling people. Who knows what day you might finally get caught.”

“A Netherworld Emissary?” Shen Shi blanked for a moment. “Are you saying I would go work for… the Legend Management Bureau?”

“Exactly. The Queen Mother of the West and the Jade Emperor gave me the authority to recruit my own staff. Right now, the Legend Management Bureau is in desperate need of talent, and I have my eye on your practical skills.”

“Ah?” Shen Shi hurriedly waved his hands. “I only know a little bit about artifact forging! I have absolutely zero experience with anything related to legends!”

Du Yu offered a wicked smile. “And how much experience do you think I had before I became an Operator?”

“Uh… well…” Shen Shi pondered for a moment. “My entire family is made up of merchants, and as an outlier, I never really fit in with them anyway. If you truly need me, I can go help out. I am just afraid my lack of knowledge will only end up causing trouble for you.”

“Do not worry.” Du Yu gave a slight nod. “You just need to follow my arrangements. Your abilities will definitely come in handy. Starting today, the Legend Management Bureau is establishing a new department called the Prop Team, and you are going to be the director.”

“D-d-director? Really?”

Shen Shi could hardly believe his ears. Just a moment ago, he had been terrified of being arrested, and now he was officially a civil servant?

“Brother Du,” Shen Shi declared, looking right at him. “I will go grab all my artifact-forging tools and head to the Underworld immediately. I will be counting on your guidance from here on out.”

Shen Shi bade Du Yu farewell and dashed out the door like a whirlwind.

Nezha remained silent for a moment before looking up. “God of Trends, are you in desperate need of help right now? The destruction of the Legend Management Bureau is directly tied to me. If there is anything you need me to do, just say the word.”

“Uh…” Du Yu thought it over. Although Nezha possessed boundless magical power, he could not exactly hire him as a bodyguard. Instead, he smiled and said, “Nezha, I do have a small favor to ask. Since you run a shop on this commercial street, you naturally know a lot of people. I am hoping you can help me put out an advertisement.”

“An advertisement? What kind of advertisement?”

“A recruitment ad,” Du Yu said with a grin. “I want to give these people a chance to join the immortal ranks.”

Nezha nodded slightly. “The God of Trends truly does things in unexpected ways… To think you would use a mortal body to recruit immortals…”

“There is no rule saying I cannot, right?” Du Yu countered. “Keep the requirements for this recruitment as low as possible. I need to cast a wide net and hold massive open auditions. Simply put, everyone is welcome to try out.”

“I understand,” Nezha agreed, nodding.

“There is one more thing,” Du Yu added. “Those foreign emissaries—could you help me find out what kind of legends they have prepared?”

“The legends they prepared?”

“Yes. We agreed to enter each other’s legends for an exchange of knowledge. I need to know my enemies as well as I know myself so I can formulate a counter-strategy in advance. Do you think you can dig up any information on that?”

“That will not be difficult,” Nezha replied. “My father has two great generals under his command. One is Clairvoyant, and the other is Clairaudient. They are perfectly suited for gathering military intelligence. I will have them keep a close eye on those foreign emissaries at all times and report back to you the moment they learn anything.”

“That is fantastic!”

Du Yu exchanged a few more pleasantries with Nezha. After making sure he had not forgotten anything, he immediately slapped a teleportation talisman onto himself and flew toward the Legend Management Bureau.

“Phew.”

Du Yu sighed, lamenting that this was shaping up to be another busy day. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find that he had not landed directly at the Mountain of No Return, but had instead arrived at the Ghost Gates.

Thinking about it carefully, since the Legend Management Bureau had been destroyed, the teleportation talisman had likely lost its precise anchor point. If he had known earlier, he would have targeted the Mountain of No Return instead of the Legend Management Bureau. With a full twenty kilometers left to travel, he had no choice but to use another talisman.

Du Yu pulled out another teleportation talisman. Just as he was about to stick it to his chest, he noticed two familiar figures stepping out of a minivan in the distance. It was Xie Jin and Fan Xiaoguo, and trailing behind them was a girl with long hair.

‘Saved me some money. My rides are here.’

Du Yu quickly ran up to them, calling out, “My two lovely Emissary sisters!”

Hearing this, the two turned around and spotted Du Yu.

“Du Yu?” Xie Jin gasped in surprise. “Were you not going to see the Jade Emperor? Are you back already? We actually heard the celestial broadcast in the van; the Queen Mother of the West has ordered all immortals to cooperate with your work.”

Seeing Du Yu, Fan Xiaoguo shot him a cross eye roll and said, “Let me just state this upfront: we cannot give you a ride today. We are working.”

Du Yu peered behind the two women. A beautiful young girl stood there, though her eyes were vacant and her expression haggard. For some reason, Du Yu had the distinct feeling that he had seen her somewhere before.

“What kind of talk is that!” Du Yu laughed awkwardly. “What do you take me for? I was not looking for a chauffeur, I just came over to chat… But then again, I almost forgot that you two are Ferrymen. The scene of our first meeting is still fresh in my mind.”

Xie Jin chuckled softly. “Indeed. When we drove this minivan to pick you up, we never imagined you would become a Netherworld Emissary yourself. Now you are even a prominent figure in the Underworld.”

Fan Xiaoguo nodded as well. “Sigh. The number of people dying unjust deaths has only been increasing these past few years, and the girl behind us is one of them…”

At this point, Fan Xiaoguo suddenly remembered something and let out a surprised gasp. “Ah! I just realized, you actually have some history with this girl.”

“History?” Du Yu took another close look at the girl, confirming he had never met her while he was alive. “What history?”

“You do not remember?” Fan Xiaoguo prompted. “On the day you died, this girl was on the same bus.”

Du Yu narrowed his eyes in deep thought. ‘A pretty girl?’

‘Ah!’

Dawn broke over Du Yu. “Could she be…”

“To be precise, she directly caused your death,” Xie Jin said with a faint smile. “The Book of Life and Death recorded that you were supposed to offer your seat to Zhou Zhuangshi, he would accept, and then he would die in your seat. But right then, he spotted this pretty girl at the back of the bus and walked straight toward her instead.”

“She is that Tai Shu!” Du Yu exclaimed. “I remember now!”

The girl silently lifted her head and glared at the three of them. “Are you done yet? Tai Shu this, Netherworld Emissary that… When exactly do I get to be reincarnated?”

Xie Jin turned back and spoke gently to the girl. “Like I told you in the van, you were victimized and driven to suicide, which still falls under the category of an unjust death. You can apply to become a Netherworld Emissary or receive a custom reincarnation package. Won you seriously reconsider?”

“No,” the girl blurted out without a second thought.

“Well…” Xie Jin looked troubled. She felt immense pity for the girl, yet she realized she could not help her at all.

Du Yu tugged at the corner of Fan Xiaoguo’s shirt and asked in a hushed tone,

“Xiaoguo, what is the situation? How was this girl killed?”

“Sigh, it all goes back to that Zhou Zhuangshi. He was a bona fide serial rapist and murderer. On that day, he followed this girl all the way to her home and brutally assaulted her… And then…”

“And then what?”

“And on that particular day, Zhou Zhuangshi’s Soul Summoning Value hit 97 percent. His death was practically guaranteed. But no one expected him to suffer a sudden cardiac arrest and die right on top of her… Ever since then, the poor child suffered from severe clinical depression, and just a short while ago, she hanged herself. Although those who commit suicide are usually sent to Hell, her circumstances were brought on by extreme victimization, so she was classified as an unjust death.”

Du Yu swore loudly upon hearing this. He thought to himself that the man was a complete animal; even in death, he had managed to traumatize someone. He looked at the young girl again, a wave of profound sorrow washing over his heart.

“Where is this Zhou Zhuangshi? I am going to beat his soul until it shatters.”

“Give it a rest.” Fan Xiaoguo grabbed hold of Du Yu. “He was thrown into the Hell of the Mirror of Retribution a long time ago. The torment he faces now is far worse than having his soul scattered.”

“Are you finished gossiping? This is the Underworld, is it not? Can you just let me drink Meng Po’s Soup and forget all of this?” The girl raised her desperate eyes to stare at the three of them.

Du Yu finally came to a stark realization. Even though a Tai Shu was an individual spontaneously generated by a glitch in a legend, they were still flesh-and-blood human beings. They possessed their own joys, sorrows, and independent thoughts. They were not at fault. The fault lay entirely with the legends.

“Miss, what is your name?” Du Yu asked gently.

“Does it matter?” The girl gave a bitter smile. “Even if you remember it, I will forget it shortly anyway. No matter how many times you call that name, no one will answer.”

“It would not hurt to tell me, would it?”

“Qu Xi,” the girl answered slowly. “Can I go now?”

“Miss Qu Xi, do you know how you died?”

The moment Du Yu asked this, all three women turned to stare at him. Not only was Qu Xi baffled by his intentions, but Fan Xiaoguo and Xie Jin were also completely lost.

“Are you making fun of me? I killed myself,” Qu Xi replied coldly.

Du Yu shook his head. “No, you were murdered by a legend.”

“Murdered by a legend?” Qu Xi barked out a hollow, furious laugh. “Was that middle-aged man who raped me a legend? Was the electrical wire I used to hang myself a legend? Were the suicidal thoughts that constantly haunted my mind a legend?!”

“That is not what I mean,” Du Yu said softly. “Because something went wrong with a certain legend in history, you were suddenly brought into this world. And it was precisely because of your sudden existence that Zhou Zhuangshi, who was supposed to die under absolutely fatal circumstances, managed to survive on that bus. This anomaly did not just kill you; it killed me, too.”

Du Yu then carefully recounted his own story to Qu Xi, explaining in detail how he had been killed as a direct result of her status as a Tai Shu.

“After all that, what exactly is your point?” Qu Xi asked.

“My point is very simple,” Du Yu declared. “Do you want to come work with me? Do you want to join me in hunting down more monsters like Zhou Zhuangshi, and saving more victims like Qu Xi?”