Legend Management Bureau Chapter 117

[ … words ]

“What did you say?” Du Yu tightly gripped the wine cup in his hand, spilling the liquor all over the floor.

“Du Yu, you and He Suoyi are mutually bound by karma. You determined his ending, and he determined yours,” Warang said slowly. “If you can stop now and no longer act as this Operator, your ill-fated connection with him can be brought to an end.”

Du Yu pondered for a moment before asking, “Master, how do you know the ending between He Suoyi and me?”

Hearing this, Warang simply smiled at Du Yu, seemingly contemplating something.

“That is not important,” Warang replied. “This humble monk does not wish to force you into anything. I am merely offering you a choice. The one who makes the choice will always be you.”

‘This person is truly strange,’ Du Yu thought. ‘He keeps saying I’ll destroy the world, but he doesn’t look anxious at all, as if he’s talking about something completely ordinary.’

“I’m in no mood to think about that right now,” Du Yu said, shaking his head. “I don’t have your grand perspective, constantly worrying about the whole world. In our country, we have a saying: ‘Just do good deeds and do not ask about the future.’ I wonder if you have heard of it, Master?”

“Heh.” Warang chuckled. “This humble monk has only heard of ‘Do your best and leave the rest to fate.'”

“Don’t they mean the same thing?” Du Yu countered. “Right now, I am doing exactly that—doing my best and leaving the rest to fate.”

Du Yu knew that if this monk truly knew his ending, then his words were indeed “fate.” Thus, he replied, “Master, right now I just want to properly finish this Exchange Conference. If you still want to have a deep conversation with me, why not wait until tomorrow is over? We can drink merrily and talk through the night.”

“After tomorrow…” Warang slowly shook his head. “But I am leaving today.”

“Leaving today?! Why the rush?” Du Yu exclaimed. “There’s no need to hurry. Isn’t there still the Exchange Conference? You can stay and have fun for another couple of days after it ends.”

“No. This humble monk can only stay for seven days on this visit, and today is already the seventh day.”

“Listen to yourself.” Du Yu chuckled. “You make it sound like you’ve entered a legend, only having seven days…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Du Yu froze.

A legend?

He slowly turned his head to look at Warang, but the monk’s expression remained entirely calm.

A bold thought couldn’t help but surface in Du Yu’s mind. Could this monk have come from the future to “correct” him?

Was that why he knew his ending?

But was he a legend himself?

That wasn’t the only thing that made Du Yu curious. If this Warang really was an Operator who traveled back from the future, and he clearly had seven days, why did he wait until the very last moment to say all this? In that case, wouldn’t the probability of a successful “correction” be far too low?

“Master… could you… be…”

Du Yu wanted to ask for clarity, but Warang simply stood up, bowed to him, and said,

“Do not ask the next question, Almsgiver. This humble monk will not answer it either. Let us end it here.”

The words Du Yu was about to blurt out were swallowed back down. Warang continued,

“I have said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done. As for this destined karma, let it take its course…”

“Master, you…”

“This humble monk takes his leave.” Warang smiled, nodded at Du Yu, and walked out the door.

Du Yu sat in a daze for a long time before finally snapping back to reality. He had originally intended to ask this Indian monk about He Suoyi and Little Zhongli, but the situation had completely exceeded his expectations.

“An Operator who came to ‘correct’ me…” Du Yu muttered silently. “I suppose we’ll meet again.”

Just as Du Yu was standing alone in the courtyard, staring blankly at the fallen wine cup on the ground, Qu Xi walked over holding a stack of documents. “Du Yu, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Hm?” Du Yu snapped out of his daze. “What’s wrong?”

“These are the files on those four foreign legends that Little Qi and I compiled… There’s quite a lot of material…” Qu Xi said as she flipped through the pages. “The longest one is about Patriarch Bodhidharma. His life was legendary and full of hardships. I wonder which stage of his life that Indian monk will choose…”

Hearing this, Du Yu silently shook his head and said, “There’s no need. Patriarch Bodhidharma probably won’t be showing up tomorrow.”

“No need…?” Qu Xi paused. “I heard from Little Qi that the monk came by just now. Did he say something?”

“Nothing much,” Du Yu replied. “He just said he had an emergency and bought a ticket back to his hometown.”

“Back to his hometown? Alright then… Well… the other one is Athena, the Goddess of War… Athena’s life is also incredibly long, with many fascinating stories. Little Qi told me to let you know that any single one of these legends is at least Grade B, so you need to read through them carefully.”

After saying that, Qu Xi handed the thick stack of documents to Du Yu. It was so hefty that he almost mistook it for a dictionary.

“What about the other two?”

“The other two legends have much less content, just a single page each.” Qu Xi handed over two more sheets of paper. “One is Jack the Ripper, and the other is Izanagi.”

“Huh?” Du Yu was taken aback. “Nezha told me before that Izanagi was the creation myth of Fusang! How can it only be one page?”

“I have no idea, but it really is just one page.”

Du Yu picked up the page on Izanagi and glanced at it. It was merely two or three hundred words long. But then he remembered that Pan Gu Separating Heaven and Earth was also only two or three hundred words. If something went wrong with it, it would absolutely be an Ultra Grade A legend.

“Alright, I’ll read it carefully in a bit,” Du Yu said with a nod to Qu Xi.

“Little Qi also highlighted the potential issues that might arise in the legends.”

Du Yu nodded. Suddenly thinking of something, he asked, “Is the cinema finished?”

“I took a look just now, and it’s practically done.” Qu Xi sounded somewhat envious. “Having magical powers is truly amazing. So many things that mortals can’t even comprehend get accomplished in the blink of an eye.”

“Qu Xi, since the cinema is built, I need to assign you a very important task…” Du Yu looked at her, his expression turning deadly serious. “This matter will impact our entire revenue plan for the year!”

“Rev… revenue plan?!” Qu Xi was confused. “Our department actually has a revenue quota?”

“You don’t understand. The moment the cinema is built, we have one.” Du Yu shot her a wicked look. “Plus, this task can only be handled by a few clever people. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with it.”

“What is it?”

Du Yu slowly leaned in and whispered something into Qu Xi’s ear.

“Ah?!” Qu Xi jumped in shock. “How can we do that? Aren’t they all immortals?!”

“So what if they are immortals?” Du Yu retorted. “I’ve interacted with quite a few deities since I got here. Don’t worry, the ones coming tomorrow are all prominent figures who definitely care about their dignity.”

Qu Xi still felt it was terribly unreliable, but since Du Yu kept insisting, she could only agree.

…

The next day, under the arrangements of the two Great Emperors, the entire Underworld had its streets cleansed with pure water. All ferry vehicles were grounded, fully replaced by the most primitive form of manual flight. Numerous underworld immortals stood guard at every intersection in the realm. An underworld enforcer was stationed every ten steps, a captain every hundred steps, a High Immortal for every two-and-a-half kilometers, and a True Immortal for every fifty kilometers. Within every five-hundred-kilometer radius, the Five Ghost Emperors and the Ten Kings of Hell stood watch, all to showcase the majesty of their great nation.

At sunrise, a convoy of carriages drawn by spirit beasts flew across the Underworld’s sky. Wherever the procession passed, the divine aura was overwhelming, radiating a brilliant golden light.

Leading the way were the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West. Their carriage was pulled by a massive Azure Bird. Close behind them were numerous fairy maidens, riding in groups of two or three, all pulled by Jade Dragon Horses. Further back were the Heavenly Realm deities; though few in number, every single one of them appeared to possess incredibly profound cultivation. Trailing at the very end of the procession were the three foreign ambassadors. Sitting in their carriage, they couldn’t help but look around with expressions of pure curiosity.

As soon as they entered the Underworld’s airspace, the Eight Great Enforcers and the two Great Emperors flew up to meet them, acting as escorts for the esteemed immortals.

In a short while, this magnificent convoy arrived at the foot of the Mount of No Return, stopping in front of the Legend Management Bureau.

As the deities disembarked one by one, they couldn’t help but marvel at the luxurious construction of the Legend Management Bureau. Dong Qianqiu and the others were already lined up outside, waiting to receive them.

“Welcome, esteemed Immortals!” Dong Qianqiu led the numerous staff members in bowing to the deities. Now that they were without a Bureau Chief, she was the highest-ranking leader here.

The Queen Mother of the West gave a slight nod. “There is no need for such formalities.”

Dong Qianqiu thanked the Queen Mother of the West, straightened her posture, and led everyone directly toward the cinema.

The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West both felt a bit puzzled. Why hadn’t they seen Du Yu anywhere?

Just as they were wondering about this, the group arrived at the entrance of the cinema. Looking up, they saw that this so-called cinema actually had a massive wooden plaque hanging above it, bearing five large words: “Legend Live Streaming Room.”

At this moment, Du Yu was standing outside the door hugging a box, with a QR code hanging right next to him.

‘This kid isn’t planning to sell tickets, is he?’ an ominous feeling arose in the Queen Mother of the West’s heart.

“Ah! The Queen Mother of the West has arrived!” Du Yu hurriedly stepped forward respectfully. “Please come in, Queen Mother, please come right in.”

The Queen Mother of the West looked at Du Yu with a face full of suspicion, but let him guide her inside. Inside the cinema was a massive screen with various pieces of equipment sitting quietly in front of it. There were easily several hundred seats remaining. Du Yu escorted the Queen Mother to a seat with an excellent view and helped her sit down.

“Kid, that Indian monk returned home due to illness, so only three of them came today.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Du Yu feigned surprise. “That’s fine. Queen Mother, just rest here for a moment. I’m still a bit busy, but I’ll come entertain you shortly.”

“Wait a minute!” The Queen Mother of the West grabbed Du Yu’s arm. “What are you doing acting so sneakily at the door? Are you trying to sell tickets?”

“Sell tickets?” Du Yu blinked. “Big Cat, you really underestimate me. Am I that kind of person?”

“Good.” The Queen Mother nodded. “Do not let the foreign guests laugh at us. A magnificent nation like ours does not care for such petty change.”

“I know, I know. Am I the kind of person who makes ‘petty change’?”

With that said, Du Yu darted out of the room, leaving the Queen Mother of the West alone inside.

Once outside, Du Yu immediately put on a different face and announced, “Alright guys, our Legend Live Stream is about to begin. This is a pay-per-view channel, so anyone who wants to go inside and watch needs to buy a membership.”

“A membership?!” The crowd was thoroughly bewildered.

“That’s right.” Du Yu nodded. “Basically, the Legend Management Bureau is setting up a Live Streaming Room from now on. Once you get a membership card, you can come over and watch anytime.”

“Ev-everyone has to get one?” The Jade Emperor looked a bit troubled.

“Oh, you don’t need one,” Du Yu chuckled. He then pointed out a few more people from the crowd.

“Nezha, the Eight Great Enforcers, Fairy Chang’e, Taishang Laojun, and the Eastern Emperor—none of you need a membership. You can all just head right in.”

Hearing this, Yang Jian, who was standing in the crowd, frowned slightly and asked, “Brother Operator… why is this?”

“Why?” Du Yu replied. “Because they’re all friends of mine. This is my business, so I’m letting them in through the back door. None of you have a problem with that, right?”

The crowd was stunned. ‘Can business really be done like this? Openly letting people through the back door?’ they all thought to themselves.