Legend Management Bureau Chapter 152

[ … words ]

“But what do you mean by ‘Flashback’?” Du Yu asked, utterly confused.

“It is what the mortal realm calls the ‘Mandela Effect’,” Dong Qianqiu explained.

“The ‘Mandela Effect’? You mean that phenomenon everyone was debating online a while ago?” Du Yu asked.

Qu Xi cast him a serious look. “Exactly. The term originates from the story of the South African President, Nelson Mandela. In the memories of countless people, Mandela died in prison during the 1980s. But in reality, he didn’t pass away until 2013.”

“No… I still don’t quite get it. What does his death have to do with this ‘Flashback’?”

Fearing that Qu Xi’s explanation was too vague, Dong Qianqiu chimed in. “To put it simply, the ‘Mandela Effect’ refers to a collective false memory. People vividly remember an event, only to check the historical records and find it never happened, leaving them completely baffled as to why. The truth is, the emergence of certain crucial ‘Prime Pivots’ causes history to deviate. The world then undergoes a self-correction, forcibly altering everyone’s memories to match the new timeline. However, people with special constitutions are immune to this alteration. They retain memories of events that have ‘never happened.’ In fact, some of these very people are Prime Pivots themselves.”

“No wonder!” Du Yu suddenly exclaimed. “I used to argue about this with people all the time! There was this cartoon I watched as a kid, but somehow I was the only one who remembered it. Nobody else had ever seen it…”

“While we aren’t exactly talking about cartoons here, that is the general idea,” Dong Qianqiu said with a slight nod. “To handle these situations, the Legend Administration established the term ‘Flashback.’ Whenever a ‘Flashback’ is invoked, everyone must trust the memories shared by the other party.”

“I see…” This was the first time Du Yu had instantly grasped such a complex explanation. “So I really did save Medusa. You guys believe me now, right?”

“Resolve it?” Du Yu paused. “Frankly, even if we don’t fix it, no one will ever notice, right?”

“Uh…” Now it was Dong Qianqiu’s turn to be stumped. What Du Yu said actually made perfect sense.

While the group was debating the Medusa situation, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupted from Izanami.

“Ahhh!!!”

Startled, Du Yu and the others hurriedly whipped their heads around. They saw Shiranui Asuka delivering Izanami’s child. Wearing thick heat-resistant gloves, she pulled a fiercely burning infant from Izanami’s body.

“Wonderful!” Shiranui Asuka cheered. “Izanami, just as I predicted, you have given birth to the Fire God, Kagutsuchi!”

“But… but it hurts so much…” Izanagi’s face twisted in agony as he clutched his lower body.

“Qu Xi…” Du Yu called out. “What was the story of the ‘Death of Izanami’ again?”

“It is happening right now,” Qu Xi replied. “We told you before that Izanami ‘died in childbirth.’ In reality, she was burned alive while giving birth to the Fire God.”

“My god!” Du Yu gasped. “Burned to death alive…? That is way too tragic!”

Du Yu rushed over to check on Izanami. Her injuries were horrifyingly severe; she looked as if she had been roasted crisp, thick smoke billowing from her body.

“This…” Du Yu was growing frantic. Turning his head, he suddenly noticed Izanagi staring at Izanami with a completely expressionless face.

“Hey! Your wife is dying!” Du Yu roared, giving Izanagi a violent start. Snapping out of his daze, Izanagi finally leaned over to inspect Izanami’s horrific burns.

“Izanagi! Quickly, just say ‘Izanami will not die’ and she’ll survive!” Shiranui Asuka urged, still cradling the blazing child.

Du Yu froze. “Asuka! Are you crazy? If Izanami survives, the entire realm of Fusang will cease to exist!”

“Oh! I completely forgot!” Shiranui Asuka was about to stop Izanagi when he suddenly spoke.

“Why would I say that? She… she is clearly about to die!”

“Uhh…” Du Yu was left speechless. “You usually spout so much nonsense, but now you decide to be strictly logical?”

“Wife, you are dying, aren’t you?” Izanagi asked Izanami, sounding only mildly sorrowful.

“Yes… I am about to die…”

“Brilliant…” Hearing Izanami confirm it herself, Du Yu knew she was definitely beyond saving.

Izanagi simply knelt on the ground, gripping Izanami’s hand without saying another word, just waiting for her to perish.

Du Yu couldn’t fathom his thought process at all, but he didn’t dare speak out of turn.

Only when Izanami finally closed her eyes did Du Yu slowly exhale a heavy sigh. What kind of legendary, tragic, hasty, and utterly chaotic life was this?

Did true ‘love’ or ‘family affection’ even exist in her life?

Before Du Yu could process the moment, Izanagi suddenly sprang to his feet and roared, “Where is my sword?”

With that, he reached toward his waist, and miraculously, a sword materialized right there.

Izanagi drew the blade, examined it closely, and declared, “This sword is the length of ten hand spans. I shall name it the ‘Sword of Ten Spans’!”

Du Yu was thoroughly baffled. What on earth was this guy playing at?

Longsword in hand, Izanagi turned to face the Fire God. “Is it because she had to give birth to you that I will never see my wife again? Even if you are my son, this is absolutely unforgivable!”

With that, he swung the blade. Sensing things were taking a dark turn, Du Yu wanted to intervene, but he realized Izanagi was still four or five paces away from the Fire God. He couldn’t possibly land a hit from that distance. Du Yu had no idea why he was swinging at thin air.

“I will kill you!!”

Izanagi bellowed, and for some inexplicable reason, the Fire God flew directly toward him from several paces away, catching the blade with his own tiny body. He was instantly cleaved in two.

A vibrant, living infant just moments ago, now struck down on the spot by Izanagi’s bizarre magic.

Empowered by such absolute magic, not even the Heavenly Exalts of the Immortal Realm could have saved the Fire God.

“Is this how the original plot goes?” Du Yu turned and whispered to Qu Xi.

“Yes, Izanagi kills the Fire God with his own hands.”

Under Shiranui Asuka’s guidance, Izanagi buried Izanami on Mount Hiba, located at the border of Izumo and Hoki Provinces. Watching Izanagi’s puppet-like expression, Du Yu couldn’t shake off a deeply unsettling feeling.

“Are you… not sad?” Du Yu asked.

“Sad…?” A sudden glint of light flickered in Izanagi’s wooden eyes. “That’s right, I should be sad!”

With that revelation, he dropped to his knees and began bawling his eyes out. Everyone watched him sob, completely at a loss for what to do.

“Never mind, stop being sad. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.” Du Yu turned away and sat down beneath a large tree. He simply couldn’t comprehend what was going on inside Izanagi’s head.

“My wife is dead, how can I not be sad?” Izanagi wailed in agony. “I am incredibly sad right now, overwhelmed with an inescapable sorrow.”

Qu Xi, who had been observing from the sidelines, slowly walked over to him. “Izanagi, feeling sad is quite unbearable, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes, it is extremely unbearable,” Izanagi agreed, nodding through his tears.

“Don’t you think you would feel much better if you just forgot these memories?” Qu Xi approached Izanagi slowly and crouched down in front of him.

Du Yu sensed something was off. Izanagi’s mental state was highly unstable. Could Qu Xi’s ‘plan’ really work?

“Let us try it, Izanagi. Let us forget our painful memories.” Qu Xi gently stroked Izanagi’s cheek. “As long as we forget the things that cause us pain, we will be happy.”

Izanagi looked at Qu Xi, pondered for a moment, and slowly shook his head.

“No, I cannot.”

“Why not?” Qu Xi asked, growing slightly anxious. “You are crying endlessly. If you just forget these things, you will not cry anymore. Hurry up and say, ‘Please let me forget my painful memories.'”

Izanagi’s gaze suddenly grew profound and mature. “We must absolutely never forget our pain. Otherwise, living in this world loses all meaning,” he said slowly.

As soon as he spoke those words, the very memories Qu Xi had refused to revisit sharpened with agonizing clarity. They looped endlessly in her mind. Trembling violently, she covered her face in anguish.

“‘God’, do you harbor painful memories?” Izanagi slowly stood up, seamlessly taking control of the conversation as he loomed over Qu Xi. “You must remember them clearly. Never forget them, because this pain is what will make you strong.”

“Hey, shut up!” Du Yu stepped forward and gently patted Qu Xi’s shoulder, glaring impatiently at Izanagi. “When we want you to speak, you stay utterly silent. When we want you to shut up, you spout utter nonsense.”

“Nonsense?” Izanagi looked at Du Yu. “I am not speaking nonsense. I speak the truth. I can feel this pain making me stronger.”

With that, he picked up his Sword of Ten Spans again and declared, “I miss my wife dearly. I do not want her to simply die like this.”

“So what are you going to do?” Du Yu was taken aback. “Are you going to bring her back to life?”

“How could a ‘dead person’ possibly just come back to life?” Izanagi stared at Du Yu as if he were an idiot.

It was only then that Du Yu realized Izanagi and Izanami seemed completely oblivious to their own divine powers.

“Yes, you are entirely correct,” Shiranui Asuka suddenly interjected. “The dead cannot simply come back to life. If you want to see her, your only option is to go to ‘Yomotsu Hirasaka’ and bring her back.”

“‘Yomotsu Hirasaka’? Where is that?” Izanagi asked.

“It is the place people go after they die,” Shiranui Asuka said with a meaningful smile. “If you can bring her back from there, she will still be your wife.”

“Excellent!” Izanagi exclaimed. “So that is where people go when they die—Yomotsu Hirasaka!”

Du Yu felt there was a glaring plot hole in this logic and quietly whispered to Shiranui Asuka, “Asuka, hold on. Right now, Fusang has absolutely nothing. Where did Yomotsu Hirasaka even come from?”

“Don’t worry,” Shiranui Asuka told Du Yu with a smile. “Izanagi just believed it to be true, which means ‘Yomotsu Hirasaka’ has already been created.”