Legend Management Bureau Chapter 194

[ … words ]

Du Yu thought it was just a joke, but he did not expect the two brothers to seriously consider the suggestion.

“Eh?” Du Yu jumped in surprise. “Judging by your expressions, it looks like you’ve actually accepted it?! I was just joking…”

“No, I actually quite like this name,” the older brother replied. “We’ll go with Brother Yu’s idea. From now on, I’ll be called Ah Can.”

The younger brother chimed in weakly, “And I’ll be Ah Kui from now on.”

“Uh…”

Du Yu initially wanted to stop them, but upon careful reflection, all his arrangements were a way of ‘changing history.’ Now that their fates and names had changed, they would inevitably disappear from the side of the future ‘Saint.’ Looking at it from another angle, this was actually a good thing.

“Alright, you two focus on recovering from your injuries for now. We will be right back,” Du Yu smiled at the brothers before stepping out of the room.

Niulang followed closely behind, a serious expression on his face.

“Niulang! You…” Zhinü started to say something, but she suddenly found him incredibly charming in this moment.

Zhinü pondered for a moment before declaring, “You think I’ll just sit back and ignore you? Dream on!”

Du Yu thought she was going to stop Niulang, but to his surprise, she reached into her Cosmos pouch and pulled out a pitch-black leather jacket.

“It just so happens that I’ve been missing my days in the Inner Yellow Springs…” With a gentle wave of her magic, the black leather jacket draped itself perfectly over her figure. “Let’s remind them of the glory of ‘Machete Sister Zhi’.”

“Good lord…” Du Yu instantly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Machete Sister Zhi…? Does that sound like a title for a fairy maiden?”

Zhinü did not answer. Instead, she retrieved a hairband from her Cosmos pouch and tied her hair up. Next, she whipped out a pair of machetes. Examining the blades, she noticed they were a bit dull from lack of use, so she fished out a whetstone and casually sharpened them a few times.

“Just what exactly do you keep in that Cosmos pouch of yours…”

Niulang smiled warmly at Zhinü and murmured, “You still look best wearing this…”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Zhinü froze. “Was I not pretty before?!”

“Uh… no, no, no…” As expected of a dense blockhead, Niulang had managed to infuriate his wife with a single sentence.

“Enough nonsense, let’s go!” Zhinü snapped.

Niulang nodded and turned to one of his subordinates. “Raise the flag and call the boys. Tonight, we are leveling Desolate Mountain!”

Receiving the order, the subordinate immediately whipped out his phone and started making calls.

Du Yu, Niulang, and Zhinü slowly walked out of the building. The street outside was already packed with Niulang’s men.

Seeing the trio emerge, the massive crowd of subordinates promptly parted to make way.

“Get your weapons ready,” Niulang ordered. “Today, we are settling all our old and new scores with that fat bastard.”

“Yes, Boss Lang!”

Du Yu had only ever seen scenes like this in movies and couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He glanced back at the hundreds of murderous thugs behind him, all pulling out machetes, iron pipes, and other weapons. They didn’t look like evil spirits at all; instead, they resembled a triad gang straight out of a gangster flick.

Just as they crossed an intersection, another group of people approached from the opposite direction.

The man leading them had a delicate, handsome appearance, and the number of subordinates trailing behind him was no less than Niulang’s.

“Uh?” Du Yu had no idea what was going on. Had they run into the enemy the moment they stepped outside?

It wasn’t until the man slowly drew closer that Du Yu recognized him as Zhi Er, whom he had met previously.

Niulang gave Zhi Er a brief nod.

Zhi Er then bowed respectfully and greeted, “Boss Lang, Sister Zhi.”

As soon as his voice fell, the multitude of thugs behind him shouted in unison, “Greetings, Boss Lang!”

Niulang didn’t break his stride. He continued walking forward, and Zhi Er’s men seamlessly parted to let him through. Once Niulang had passed, those several hundred men merged into the rear of the procession.

Du Yu couldn’t help but be amazed. He had thought Niulang was just a bar owner with a bit of minor influence at most, yet in the blink of an eye, he had already amassed a force of nearly a thousand men.

Then another thought struck him. With such a massive syndicate, they still didn’t dare to provoke that An Lushan?

They hadn’t walked much further before two more groups joined their massive ranks. Their leaders were a young woman with dreadlocks and a colossal, crimson-skinned, one-eyed evil spirit.

Niulang introduced them to Du Yu. The girl was named Luan Tong, and the crimson one-eyed spirit was Sang Gui. Both were his subordinates.

According to Niulang, Zhi Er, Luan Tong, Sang Gui, and another individual who hadn’t shown up were his four most capable commanders. The inhabitants of the Inner Yellow Springs called them ‘Niulang’s Four Fiends’.

“Good lord… That’s quite imposing…” Du Yu mused. He thought that in the future, he should also form a small squad and give it an intimidating name, something like ‘The Three Heroes and Five Gallants’ or ‘The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’.

…

Meng Po was in her room arranging flowers when a subordinate rushed over and reported, “Sister Meng, Boss Lang from West Street has raised his flag!”

Meng Po’s hands paused for a fraction of a second before she calmly asked, “Who is the target?”

“I heard it’s Desolate Mountain.”

“Desolate Mountain, huh…” Meng Po smoothly inserted the fresh flower into the vase before asking, “What’s the scale?”

“Zhi Er, Luan Tong, and Sang Gui are all present, though Liu Ling hasn’t been spotted. Besides them, numerous major and minor factions affiliated with Boss Lang of West Street are continuously joining their ranks.”

Meng Po was just about to speak when a knock echoed from the door.

A moment later, Meng Po’s bodyguard led a young street punk into the room.

Upon seeing Meng Po, the punk bowed his head slightly and delivered his message. “Sister Meng, Boss Lang asked me to inform you that he has raised the flag tonight to wash Desolate Mountain in blood.”

Meng Po smiled and nodded. “It seems Niulang still holds some respect for this senior of his. To think he would actually follow the rules and report to me.”

“Boss Lang has always respected you immensely, which is why he is doing things by the book for this campaign.”

“Alright, I understand. You may leave.”

The punk gave Meng Po another nod as a bow, then took his leave.

“Notify An Lushan,” Meng Po instructed her men. “Tell him to prepare himself. If he dies, it simply means his time is up.”

“Understood!”

Receiving the order, the subordinate was just about to leave when Meng Po called him back.

“Wait!”

Several subordinates immediately hurried over and lowered their heads, awaiting her command.

“Keep a close eye on ‘Li Lianying’ of North Street and ‘Qiang Nü’ of South Street. If they make a move, report back to me immediately.”

Her subordinates acknowledged the order and dispersed.

“It looks like the power dynamics of the Inner Yellow Springs are about to change…” Meng Po muttered to herself as she admired the floral arrangement on her table.

…

The further they walked, the more anxious Du Yu became. There had to be nearly two thousand people following him by now, right?

Before they set out, he never could have imagined it would turn into a spectacle like this!

Fortunately, the current Du Yu was a man of the world. Not only had he personally visited a battlefield during the Warring States period, but he had also participated in the thousand-man magical counterattack at the Zhang Family Village. Just recently, he had even witnessed the clash between a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and a hundred thousand shrimp and crab demons.

Although this current situation paled in comparison to those epic events, this particular conflict was entirely instigated by him…

“Du Yu, what’s wrong?” Zhinü asked from beside him.

“N-Nothing really…” Du Yu forced himself to calm down. It was good to have someone to talk to at a time like this. “Zhinü, did you guys often have brawls on this scale in the past?”

“Street fights happen every day, but something of this scale is rare.” Zhinü glanced back at the seemingly endless procession behind them. “Most of the time, the four districts mind their own business, so it’s incredibly rare for anyone to mobilize the entire force of a street to attack another.”

“Then…” Du Yu asked nervously. “Aren’t we breaking the rules? Won’t Meng Po intervene?”

“Sister Meng is merely an ‘overseer’, not a ‘law enforcer’. To her, all the conflicts on these streets are perfectly natural. As long as no one commits an act that ‘violates the code of honor’, she turns a blind eye.”

“Violates the code of honor?”

“Exactly. If we were to ambush An Lushan, we would lose our honor. But since we are marching over openly and righteously, Sister Meng won’t interfere with whatever happens next.”

Du Yu couldn’t help but smile bitterly. What kind of management style was that?

But thinking about it carefully, to govern a massive horde of highly vicious criminals in the Inner Yellow Springs, one needed more than just world-shaking cultivation; they needed a method of doing things that everyone would respect. Du Yu grew curious. Just what kind of person was Meng Po? Despite possessing a level of cultivation equal to the Northern and Eastern Emperors, she currently resided in her own isolated corner of the Inner Yellow Springs.

Under the guidance of the commanders, the crowd arrived at East Street. This was the territory of Desolate Mountain.

The people of Desolate Mountain seemed to have received the news well in advance, as there wasn’t a single soul in sight on the streets. Niulang didn’t pause, leading the army deeper and deeper into East Street.

Countless evil spirits began pulling out strips of cloth, tightly wrapping their weapons to their hands.

The further Niulang walked, the more unnerved he felt. He had clearly notified Sister Meng, and she would have definitely warned An Lushan to prepare himself. Yet, they had nearly traversed the entirety of East Street, and they still hadn’t caught a glimpse of An Lushan or his men.

The army of nearly two thousand halted as they entered the plaza of East Street. Any further, and they would be right at An Lushan’s residence.

Niulang slowly scanned his surroundings. The air reeked of a conspiracy.

“Zhi Er, Luan Tong, Sang Gui,” Niulang called out.

“Here, Boss Lang.”

“Get ready. An Lushan is coming.”

The commanders nodded gravely, instantly directing their respective squads to prepare for battle.

The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet. Zhinü furrowed her brows and said to Du Yu, “It seems that regardless of whether the ‘Lang Syndicate’ succeeds or fails today, ‘Desolate Mountain’ will be punished.”

“What do you mean?” Du Yu asked, not quite understanding.

The very next second, a firework rocketed into the distant sky. As everyone looked up and the firework exploded, deafening war cries suddenly erupted from all around them. Countless evil spirits surged out from every direction, having lain in ambush for who knows how long. They roared as they charged into the fray.

“That fat bastard An Lushan really did set an ambush,” Zhinü chuckled coldly, gripping her twin machetes. “Now we can kill him completely justified.”

Before Du Yu could even react, the two massive armies violently clashed.

Thrust into a massive street brawl like this, Du Yu found himself in a tough spot. For one, he couldn’t distinguish friend from foe, and for another, he completely lost his sense of direction. He could only grip his rapier tightly, striking down anyone who dared to rush at him.

The battles in the Inner Yellow Springs were indeed vastly different from anything he had witnessed before. People rarely cast spells; after all, most of them were evil spirits and demons who relied entirely on the sheer physical toughness of their bodies to hack and slash at each other.