Legend Management Bureau Chapter 228

[ … words ]

Time: September 28, 2021.

Location: Jiangcheng City, Linhong Street, Huilin Gardens, Building 1, Unit 3, Apartment 404.

Characters present: Zhi Nv, Qu Xi, Zhan Qisheng, Ying Ning, A Can, and A Kui.

After leaving the house, Qu Xi hailed a cab to the bus stop. She had to ensure that she boarded at the exact same time as she had back then.

She kept checking her watch as she waited for the Route 232 bus.

The reason she remembered the time so clearly was because she had posted a status on Moments at exactly five o’clock. It read: “The interview is over, I’m so nervous I can’t even stand it.”

But who could have imagined that it would be the last Moments post of her entire life?

If she had known she would meet an untimely end so soon, she would have written a much more eloquent farewell to this world.

Watching the scenery on the street, Qu Xi could not help but sigh. In this fast-paced city teeming with heavy traffic, everyone was rushing about, but how many of them were truly happy?

Qu Xi quickly fished out some loose change and stepped aboard.

It was only after she got on that the memories of that day truly resurfaced. Everything on the bus was exactly as it had been. Since the vehicle had just left the terminal, there were very few passengers—only two men.

One was in the very back row. He looked like a Drunken Man, swaying and sleeping heavily. The other was a Stern-Faced Man sitting in the front row, staring continuously out the window.

Qu Xi made her way to the third row from the back and slowly sat down.

She remembered being exhausted at the time, which was why she chose a seat near the back. That way, she would not have to frequently give up her seat and could just ride straight home.

As the bus slowly departed the station, Qu Xi looked out the window just as she had done before. She never expected that everything would truly repeat itself. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

Because it was rush hour, the traffic was heavily congested, forcing the bus to crawl at a snail’s pace. It took nearly twenty minutes to finally reach the next stop. At this point, they were four stops away from where Du Yu would board.

Surprisingly, despite the crowded bus stop, only one person got on.

Qu Xi knew that none of their people were assigned to this station, so she did not pay much attention to who boarded.

She stared blankly out the window, but from the corner of her eye, she noticed a slender figure walking straight toward her.

Qu Xi casually glanced at the figure, and her face immediately twisted in confusion.

“Shiranui Asuka?!”

Right now, Shiranui Asuka had changed into a student’s school uniform and carried a large backpack, looking perfectly natural and blending right in. She smiled at Qu Xi, then took the seat directly behind her.

Qu Xi was filled with bewilderment. Why did A’xiang follow them in?

Werent they supposed to leave one person outside to hold the door open?

Thinking of this, Qu Xi quietly turned her head to double-check the schoolgirl behind her. Sure enough, it was unmistakably Shiranui Asuka.

Just as she was about to say something, her Mobile Phone buzzed with a message. She picked it up and saw it was from the chat group they had set up in advance.

“Is everything normal on everyone’s end?” Zhi Nv asked in the chat.

Qu Xi hesitated.

Should her situation be considered “normal” or “abnormal”?

Taking a deep breath, Qu Xi pulled out her Mobile Phone and typed a line of text: “Why is A’xiang here?”

Before she could hit send, a hand patted her shoulder.

“Don’t look back,” Shiranui Asuka whispered from behind. “Just pretend you don’t know me, and listen to me quietly.”

Qu Xi nodded blankly, keeping her eyes forward.

Shiranui Asuka continued, “Don’t tell them I’m here for now. You just need to remember that I’m here to help you.”

After saying that, Shiranui Asuka sat up straight, acting as if nothing had happened.

Qu Xi thought it over again and again, utterly unable to understand what was going on. However, she knew Shiranui Asuka had no reason to harm Du Yu. Having no other choice, she deleted what she had typed and replaced it with: “Everything is normal.”

The atmosphere on the bus had turned somewhat eerie ever since Shiranui Asuka boarded. Even though there were several people present, all the doors and windows were tightly shut, and the silence was terrifyingly heavy. Qu Xi felt like she was about to suffocate.

The bus continued to crawl slowly through the congested traffic. Qu Xi wanted to turn around and look at Shiranui Asuka countless times, but remembering the girl’s words, she forced herself to hold back.

Finally, the bus arrived at the next stop. Only three stops remained until Du Yu would board.

The doors opened. Just like the previous stop, even though there were many people waiting on the platform, only three passengers got on.

One was A Kui, one was Zhi Nv, and one was Ying Ning.

After boarding, the three of them scanned the interior of the bus. Confusion flashed across their faces, but they swiftly concealed their reactions and sat down quietly.

Zhi Nv found a single seat and sat down, while A Kui took the seat right behind her.

The world inside the bus seemed completely isolated from the outside. There was not a single sound; everyone remained shrouded in silence.

Qu Xi was a bit stunned. Was A Kui supposed to board at this stop with Zhi Nv and Ying Ning? Weren’t they assigned to different stations?

An inexplicable tension gripped her, but she did not dare to speak.

Suddenly, her Mobile Phone screen lit up with a message from Zhi Nv in the group chat:

“Qu Xi, help me see if A Kui, who is sitting behind me, is looking at this message.”

After reading the text, Qu Xi subtly raised her head and glanced at A Kui behind Zhi Nv. Looking as if he hadn’t received any notification at all, A Kui simply continued staring out the window.

“He isn’t,”

Qu Xi replied.

“Be careful. He’s not one of ours,” Zhi Nv sent another message.

Qu Xi’s heart leaped into her throat. Were members of the Seven Holy Heroes already on the bus?

But then where was their A Kui?

At the next stop, Zhan Qisheng and a girl wearing a mask boarded.

Zhan Qisheng took a seat on the right side of the vehicle, while the masked girl sat directly in front of Qu Xi.

Only two stops left until Du Yu boarded.

Qu Xi observed the current seating arrangement of the entire bus.

In the very front row, the Stern-Faced Man sat on the left, and Zhan Qisheng sat on the right.

In the row behind them, Zhi Nv was on the left, and Ying Ning on the right.

The row behind that was empty, theoretically reserved for Du Yu.

In the row behind that sat A Kui.

Behind him was the masked girl.

Behind her was Qu Xi.

The last two rows were occupied by Shiranui Asuka and a young Drunken Man, respectively.

Everyone seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally maintaining a bizarre distance from one another. No one sat next to anyone else.

Under this oppressive atmosphere, another person boarded. This time, it was a rather Ugly Woman.

This Ugly Woman sat down right next to A Kui. Seeing her approach, A Kui silently made room for her.

This was the first time two people had sat together on the entire bus, and the atmosphere seemed to shift slightly.

At the next stop, A Can and Du Yu would board together.

To Qu Xi, the time it took to reach this stop felt as long as an hour. Everyone slowed their breathing, waiting for the bus to pull into the station.

Finally, Du Yu appeared in the distance on the platform. He looked utterly drained, as if he were exhausted to the bone.

A Can stood right behind him, scanning their surroundings with a vigilant gaze, silently protecting him.

The two of them boarded the bus one after the other.

The moment Du Yu stepped onto the bus, every single person raised their heads and stared at him. This eerie synchronization gave him a startled jump.

Sitting in the back, Qu Xi witnessed this scene and could not help but gasp.

Everyone was focused entirely on Du Yu. Could it be that this bus was already packed with members of the Seven Holy Heroes and the Legend Management Bureau?

If that was the case, didn’t that mean this bus was…

Everyone here is a Great Pivot?

Could a scene so rare that it wouldn’t be seen in tens of thousands of years truly be happening right now?

Zhi Nv seemed to sense the anomaly as well. It appeared she had made the right choice in coming here today.

Whether Du Yu existed or not was of monumental importance—not just to the present, but to the past and the future.

After casting their gazes at Du Yu, everyone immediately pretended that nothing had happened, either looking out the window or playing with their phones.

Du Yu thought nothing of it. Finding the only empty seat in the front row, he sat down.

Now, they only had to wait for Zhou Zhuangshi to board for the plot of the Legend to officially begin.

However, there was one question Zhi Nv simply could not figure out: the appearance of Shiranui Asuka.

Why would someone completely outside of their plans be here?

In order to avoid Alerting the Enemy, she did not display her suspicions.

Gifted with exceptional intelligence, Zhi Nv naturally knew there was something very strange going on. If she didn’t figure out the truth before Zhou Zhuangshi boarded, they would fall into a passive position for the rest of the operation.

With that thought, an idea came to Zhi Nv’s mind.

She scrolled through her phone’s contacts, found the name “Shiranui Asuka,” and directly dialed the number.

In an instant, two identical ringtones echoed through the bus simultaneously.

Zhi Nv furrowed her brows and immediately hung up. The two ringtones vanished.

She understood now. The situation was far more severe than she had imagined.

There were actually two of Shiranui Asuka’s Mobile Phones on this bus at the same time.

What did this mean?

One phone went without saying—Zhan Qisheng had it. Because he didn’t own a Mobile Phone, he had borrowed A’xiang’s. But what about the other phone?

Just who was that A’xiang?

The fact that she was carrying that phone proved she was also the real Shiranui Asuka.

Zhi Nv sorted out her thoughts. Regardless of which timeline this Shiranui Asuka hailed from, she was definitely not one of their people.

If Shiranui Asuka was counted as an enemy, then the balance of numbers between the two factions had been completely reversed.

The personnel for the Legend Management Bureau were: Zhi Nv, Zhan Qisheng, Ying Ning, A Can, and Qu Xi.

The personnel for the Seven Holy Heroes were: the Stern-Faced Man, the Ugly Woman, the masked woman, the Drunken Man, A Kui, and Shiranui Asuka.

A full six members of the Seven Holy Heroes had come. This meant that aside from A Can, the entire Seven Holy Heroes had assembled.

But A Can… was he truly one of their own?

Zhi Nv pondered for a moment. Yes, he was one of their own.

If A Can was with the Seven Holy Heroes, he could have simply chosen to stop Du Yu from boarding the bus. After all, their ultimate goal was to save Du Yu.

Since he had protected Du Yu and boarded the bus with him, it meant the final numbers for both sides were locked in.

“Five against six, huh…?”

Zhi Nv knew this was going to be a tough battle. The most dangerous factor wasn’t the numerical disadvantage, but the fact that their group of five knew absolutely nothing about their opponents, while the enemy had a perfect grasp of their intelligence.

The only piece of good news was perhaps that Saint himself was not here, meaning their control over unexpected situations would be inferior to hers.