Legend Management Bureau Chapter 233

[ … words ]

“Say… say goodbye to me?” Qu Xi did not understand Zhi Nv’s meaning.

“Yes, the moment you return to ‘our timeline,’ everything about you will be reconstructed.” Zhi Nv offered a bitter smile and said, “If everything starts over from the beginning, you might…”

Qu Xi’s eyes instantly widened.

That’s right!

Zhou Zhuangshi was dead!

He had not violated her past self!

Then she would never experience depression, commit suicide, or meet Du Yu—that entire sequence of events.

“Of course… I am only saying it is ‘possible’,” Zhi Nv added. “It is also possible that after you step through this door… time will simply repair itself without erasing your existence…”

Qu Xi naturally understood the gravity of the situation, but she did not dare to gamble.

One outcome led to hell, and the other to heaven.

It was a fifty-fifty chance either way.

“I…” Qu Xi stared blankly at Zhi Nv outside the door and everyone else inside.

“So… what I mean is…” Zhi Nv stammered, “If you have anything you want to say, say it now, just in case… I mean, just in case…”

Although Zhi Nv did not state it plainly, Qu Xi perfectly understood her meaning.

She was asking if she had any messages to pass on to Du Yu. That way, if she vanished after stepping through this door, she would not leave with any regrets.

“I just want to tell Du Yu that all of this was worth it.” Qu Xi smiled bitterly and said, “No matter what happens, I will never regret it.”

With that said, she took a step forward and walked straight through the door.

Zhi Nv was taken aback, not expecting her to leave so resolutely.

She was about to say something else when she suddenly heard the sound of the house’s front door opening. It seemed the Qu Xi of ‘this time’ had returned.

Knowing she could not stay any longer, Zhi Nv quickly hurried through the magic door and closed it to hide.

Just before the door shut completely, she heard the Qu Xi of ‘this time’ let out a terrified scream.

Zhi Nv frowned. Could it be…

The moment she closed the door entirely, the entire stone archway collapsed, losing its radiant glow forever.

Zhi Nv hurriedly turned her head to look at Qu Xi.

After a brief moment of confusion, Qu Xi’s eyes instantly brightened with vibrant life.

All the sorrow that had accumulated in her gaze vanished completely, making her large eyes appear even more beautiful and moving.

“Qu…” Zhi Nv observed her closely, breathing a sigh of relief after confirming that Qu Xi showed absolutely no signs of disappearing. “That is wonderful! You are perfectly fine!”

Qu Xi blinked in surprise. She turned to Zhi Nv with a bright, sunny smile and asked, “Zhi Nv, what is wrong with you? Why would anything happen to me?”

“I…” Zhi Nv offered a wry smile and asked, “Do you still remember how you got here?”

Hearing this question, Qu Xi looked confused and replied, “Me? Is there something wrong with my memory?”

Under everyone’s relentless questioning, Qu Xi slowly recounted her memories.

It turned out that on that fateful day, when Qu Xi returned home, she shockingly discovered a dead man lying on her floor with his eyes wide open. Nearly fainting from fright, she hurriedly called the police.

After an investigation, the police found that the old man seemed to have let himself into her apartment before suffering a sudden cardiac arrest. Further investigation revealed a terrifying truth: the man was named Zhou Zhuangshi, a criminal who had committed multiple rapes and murders. He had clearly planned this for a long time, sneaking into Qu Xi’s room while she was out. Had he not suffered a fatal heart attack and died right there, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The police told Qu Xi that this was a classic case of karmic retribution.

Although this incident had nothing to do with Qu Xi and she had not suffered any physical harm, Zhou Zhuangshi’s wide-open dead eyes still left her with an indelible trauma. The thought that someone could secretly sneak into her room with malicious intentions left her terrified and restless. Compounded by the horrifying image of Zhou Zhuangshi’s death constantly tormenting her, Qu Xi still fell into a deep depression and ultimately committed suicide.

Hearing Qu Xi’s explanation, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

So that was what happened. Although Qu Xi still ended up committing suicide because of Zhou Zhuangshi, at least she had not suffered any physical violation, and her complexion looked much better now.

The group looked at Qu Xi with concern. Before anyone could speak, the door to the room was pushed open.

A familiar face peeked inside, speaking with a cheeky tone, “Good grief, are you all slacking off in here? The Legend Management Bureau has so much work to do, you can’t expect me to handle it all by myself! At least give me a hand!”

“Du Yu…” the others muttered, staring in disbelief at the person who had just suddenly appeared before them.

“Oh? A’xiang is back? Zhi Nv is here too?” Du Yu sighed helplessly. “Let me make this clear right now: it is fine if you want to hang out, but absolutely no causing trouble. The Legend Management Bureau has enough on its plate as it is. I can’t have you guys making a mess of things.”

Zhi Nv listened to Du Yu in silence. Quietly stretching her wrists, she declared, “Comrades, our mission is not quite over yet. There is still one last thing left to do.”

Hearing Zhi Nv’s words, Zhan Qisheng, Ying Ning, and Qu Xi all began cracking their knuckles and stretching their limbs.

Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Du Yu silently took a step back. “What are you guys doing?”

“Relax, Du Yu, this will be over soon,” Zhi Nv said, smiling sweetly at him before turning to shout at the others. “Beat him up!!”

“Eh???”

Before Du Yu could even react, everyone except A Can and A Kui rushed forward, surrounding him and kicking him mercilessly. As they stomped on him, they shouted, “This is for causing us so much trouble! Take that for causing us trouble!”

While getting beaten up, Du Yu wailed, “A Can! A Kui! Save me!”

A Can and A Kui stood on the sidelines, shaking their heads with bitter smiles. “Brother Yu, you really deserve this beating. We can’t help you with this one. After all, you brought everyone way too much trouble.”

Amidst Du Yu’s constant shrieks of agony, the group gave him a thoroughly vicious thrashing.

…

Du Yu sat at the round table sporting a blackened eye and a large swollen bump on his head.

“I… I am truly sorry…” Du Yu said timidly to the people gathered in front of him. “I didn’t expect to cause everyone so much trouble. On behalf of my future self, I apologize to you all…”

Zhi Nv, Qu Xi, and Ying Ning stood with their arms crossed over their chests, glaring angrily at Du Yu.

“Do you have any idea how much risk we took this time?” Zhi Nv demanded fiercely. “Every single one of us defied the heavenly decree because of your mess!”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Du Yu said with an embarrassed expression. “I couldn’t really do anything about it either… After all, I had no idea Saint would do such a thing…”

“Forget it. Beating you up helped us vent our frustrations. And thanks to this unexpected incident, we actually have some good news now,” Zhi Nv said.

“Good news?” Du Yu looked at Zhi Nv in confusion. “I just heard you all recount the entire ordeal. It’s a miracle we made it out without any disasters. How could there possibly be good news?”

Zhan Qisheng also frowned and asked, “That is right, Zhi Nv. I have been wondering about that since you spoke with the Seven Holy Heroes earlier. You mentioned there was a way for us to completely break free from the Seven Holy Heroes. What exactly is it?”

Zhi Nv smiled faintly and replied, “Isn’t it simple? Don’t forget, we have already met all of the Seven Holy Heroes.”

“I still don’t get it.” Du Yu felt like his brain simply wasn’t enough to process this. “Why would meeting them allow us to break free from them?”

“Du Yu, have you ever considered that since we have seen all of the Seven Holy Heroes, you can use our memories to quickly gather these people together?”

The moment Zhi Nv finished her sentence, Du Yu’s eyes widened.

“Are you saying… if I gather the ‘current Seven Holy Heroes,’ then the ‘future Seven Holy Heroes’ will not be able to get near me?” Du Yu felt that Zhi Nv’s method was incredibly bold, but it just might work.

“Exactly.” Zhi Nv nodded. “Since they cannot meet their past selves, the more of the Seven Holy Heroes you have by your side, the safer you will be.”

After hearing Zhi Nv’s analysis, Du Yu did not immediately respond.

Indeed, it was a fantastic idea.

But…

If he gathered all the Seven Holy Heroes, wouldn’t he be acting more and more like Saint?

If that was the case, could this truly be considered good news?

Du Yu looked at Zhi Nv, staying silent on the matter. Instead, he changed the subject and asked, “Zhi Nv, I have always been curious. Why are you the Great Pivot?”

“Hm?” Zhi Nv cast a calm, unreadable glance at Du Yu and replied, “I… do not wish to discuss that.”

“Fair enough. Perhaps everyone has their own hidden difficulties.” Du Yu smiled at Zhi Nv and pulled the topic back. “Anyway, even if we know what the Seven Holy Heroes look like, we still don’t know their actual identities. How are we supposed to find them?”

“That is precisely why we are sitting together to discuss this.” Zhi Nv looked at the people seated around the table and said, “Everyone here has had some degree of contact with the Seven Holy Heroes this time. We now need to exchange intel and piece together their identities.”

The others nodded in agreement. They knew perfectly well in their hearts that without Zhi Nv’s help this time, the failure rate for their mission would have been nearly one hundred percent.

They had initially assumed that simply traveling back to Du Yu’s past would be enough to correct his storyline. They had never imagined that the Seven Holy Heroes would also be on that bus. Those seven individuals had clearly established their roles and formulated a meticulous plan long in advance. Fortunately, under Zhi Nv’s command, their own group had also divided their tasks efficiently, which allowed them to narrowly successfully complete this legend.

Regardless of anything else, Zhi Nv’s contribution was indispensable.

“Du Yu, first take a look at the faces of these seven people.”

With a wave of Zhi Nv’s hand, several pieces of white cloth and a spool of black silk thread flew out from her Cosmic Bag.

Under Zhi Nv’s magic, the black silk thread danced rapidly through the air, meticulously embroidering the portraits of the Seven Holy Heroes onto the white cloths one by one.

The seven white cloths gently floated down right in front of Du Yu.

The seven individuals were: A Can, A Kui, the Ugly Woman, the woman wearing a face mask, the Stern-Faced Man, the Drunken Man, and Shiranui Asuka.

Du Yu couldn’t help but stare in sheer bewilderment. There was so much to unpack about these portraits of the Seven Holy Heroes—so much that Du Yu didn’t even know where to begin.

Beside Du Yu, Shiranui Asuka gaped at the seven portraits with her jaw dropped. She would have never expected to see her own face among them.

What shocked her even more was that, aside from A Can, A Kui, and herself, there was one other person among the Seven Holy Heroes whom she recognized.