Legend Management Bureau Chapter 272

[ … words ]

Xing Tian looked troubled upon hearing this and said, “Brother Little Sage, isn’t this a bad idea? Have you already notified Houtu?”

“That’s right,” Du Yu nodded. “Don’t even think about running away. Whatever you have to say, make it clear to Houtu right now.”

“I… I am not trying to run away.” Xing Tian shook his head slightly. “I have already figured it out. I will absolutely not die by the Yellow Emperor’s hands. I am going to come back alive and marry Houtu.”

“Eh?” Du Yu was taken aback. “Marry Houtu? This…”

“It’s exactly because I’m afraid she will worry that I didn’t want to say goodbye to her alone,” Xing Tian explained, looking a bit embarrassed.

“She will only worry if you don’t say anything at all!” Du Yu countered. “That’s just how girls are. If you leave without a word, she will spend every single day living in anxiety. You don’t want her to suffer like that, do you?”

Xing Tian pondered this for a moment before replying, “Brother Little Sage makes a fair point…”

Du Yu frowned, still feeling a bit uneasy. “Big Brother Nameless, how about I help you rehearse first?”

“Rehearse?”

The towering Xing Tian actually offered a shy smile at this moment. “That doesn’t seem right, Brother Little Sage. The things I plan to say to Houtu are probably words meant for private… For me to say them directly to you, it might…”

“Stop hesitating, Big Brother!” Du Yu urged anxiously. “Houtu will be here any second! What if you say the wrong thing? What if you upset her?”

Xing Tian scratched his head awkwardly. “It is rare for Brother Little Sage to care so much about the matters between Houtu and me. In that case… please help me figure this out…”

Xing Tian clumsily articulated the thoughts in his heart.

Du Yu listened carefully. The speech essentially boiled down to two main points.

The first main point was the farewell, and the second was a marriage proposal.

Not only was Xing Tian going to solemnly bid Houtu goodbye, but he also planned to tell her that he would marry her upon his return and ask her to wait for him.

Although it sounded perfectly fine, Du Yu couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He rubbed his forehead and thought for a moment before finally realizing the issue.

“Wait a minute! Big Brother Nameless!” Du Yu said with a solemn expression. “Can you hold off on mentioning your plans to marry Houtu?”

“Oh? Why is that?”

Why?

How was Du Yu supposed to explain the reason to him?

Because Du Yu knew in his heart that if Xing Tian made such a promise here and ultimately failed to return, the blow to Houtu would be even more devastating. Her resentment would not decrease in the slightest.

It might even trigger far more severe consequences.

“This… I…” Du Yu’s eyes darted around as he scrambled for an excuse. “Big Brother, if you want to marry Houtu, you naturally need to do it properly with a matchmaker. In theory, you should formally propose to her parents first! Who just grabs a girl and blurts out something like that? Think of how embarrassed you would make her!”

Upon hearing this, Xing Tian suddenly felt it made a lot of sense. “Brother Little Sage, your words have truly enlightened me! Although I have fought on the battlefield for many years, when it comes to the matters between men and women, I still need your guidance…”

“You flatter me, you flatter me…” Du Yu smiled awkwardly, never expecting the burly man to actually believe his fabricated excuse.

At this time, Xiao Nian and Xie Yujiao hurriedly ran over, bringing a young girl along with them.

That young girl was none other than Houtu.

Houtu’s expression was incredibly complex—a mixture of anticipation, nervousness, loss, and joy.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them had arrived.

Houtu couldn’t see anyone else around; her eyes were fixed solely on Xing Tian.

After a long time, she finally opened her mouth and said, “I heard… you had something to say to this Old Lady?”

“Old… Lady?” Xing Tian suddenly let out a laugh. “What kind of strange title is that?”

“Ah… I, I mean… Old Woman… No, no, no, Little Old Lady…” Houtu grimaced nervously, utterly failing to utter a single gentle word.

Yet, it was exactly this flustered appearance of hers that Xing Tian found exceptionally endearing.

“Hahaha!” Xing Tian laughed and patted Houtu’s head. “Houtu! I am going out to war. I just came to let you know…”

Hearing Xing Tian’s affectionate tone, Du Yu shot a glance at A Can, A Kui, Xiao Nian, and A Jiao beside him. The group stepped far to the side, leaving the space entirely to the two of them.

Xing Tian very earnestly said his goodbyes to Houtu, not forgetting to remind her to eat more and practice her martial arts diligently while he was away.

Houtu nodded repeatedly as she listened.

She looked incredibly happy.

When someone was willing to bid you a private farewell before embarking on a long journey…

It proved that they always kept you in their heart.

It was as simple as that.

“But Houtu…” Du Yu muttered to himself, his face tinged with sorrow. “Do you know? Once he leaves, he will never come back…”

Du Yu deeply hoped they could say everything they needed to, leaving no regrets between them.

As if following their earlier rehearsal, Xing Tian did not promise Houtu that he would return to marry her. Instead, he gave her a laundry list of instructions, speaking almost as if he were arranging his final affairs.

Only then did the two reluctantly and slowly part ways.

After taking three steps, Xing Tian turned his head back and said, “Make sure you eat well. Remember?”

“Okay!” Houtu nodded earnestly. “No matter what, I will eat properly and wait for you to come back.”

Like a brave warrior stepping straight out of a movie, Xing Tian walked off into the distance, facing the sun with only one man and one axe.

And Houtu merely stood silently outside the village, staring blankly at his receding figure, unwilling to move a single step.

“Brother Yu, what should we do?” A Can asked.

“Let’s follow Xing Tian,” Du Yu replied. “Although it’s cruel to say, I want to witness Xing Tian’s defeat with my own eyes.”

Du Yu asked Dong Qianqiu to send a Voice Transmission to Jin Jianglang and Liu Ling, telling them to gather outside the village.

While waiting for the two to arrive, Du Yu told Houtu that they wanted to silently accompany Xing Tian, and Houtu agreed.

Having wrapped everything up, Du Yu and the Seven Holy Heroes set foot on the road heading toward the Yellow Emperor’s tribe.

Little did they know, all of this was being secretly observed by a tribesman covered in severe burns, hiding in the shadows.

“Nameless… Houtu…?” The burly man covered in burns endured the agonizing pain wracking his body as a sinister smile crept onto his face. “So that’s how it is…”

…

Du Yu and his group followed Xing Tian at a moderate distance, which made it impossible for Xing Tian not to notice them.

Xing Tian asked them several times what their true purpose was, but the group merely hemmed and hawed, refusing to speak clearly.

Helpless, Xing Tian could only say to Du Yu, “My departure this time is fraught with extreme danger. If you keep following me, you might bring disaster upon yourselves.”

“What are you saying?” Du Yu laughed. “We are Boss Houtu’s subordinates, and you are Boss Houtu’s future man, which makes you our future son-in-law. There’s nothing inappropriate about us escorting our future son-in-law along the way, is there? Don’t worry. If anything actually goes wrong, we’ll turn around and run away instantly.”

“Haha.” Xing Tian let out a hearty laugh. “That is for the best. I don’t want to see any of my fellow tribesmen throw their lives away in vain.”

Over the next few days, Xing Tian walked alone in the front, not speaking to anyone. The group had no idea what was truly going through his mind.

Finally, on the fourth day, a sprawling cluster of villages came into everyone’s view.

Unlike the Yan Emperor’s tribe, the houses here were surprisingly all built from stone. Several of the large structures even carried the distinct architectural charm of grand palaces.

The Yellow Emperor was truly worthy of being the head of the Five Emperors; the strength of this tribe likely surpassed the Yan Emperor’s tribe by a considerable margin.

“You have escorted me far enough. Do not follow me any further,” Xing Tian said slowly as he stood a short distance away.

Hearing him say this, Du Yu and the others couldn’t help but halt their steps.

Looking at the man wearing a dry grass cloak, wielding a Giant Axe in his right hand and a round shield in his left, a wave of melancholy washed over everyone.

They knew full well that Xing Tian would die the moment he went inside, yet they could not stop him.

“Big Brother Nameless… aren’t you going to formulate a battle plan?” Du Yu probed cautiously. “Launch a surprise attack on them or something…”

“There is no need,” Xing Tian declared. “I am a simple and foolish man. I know nothing of surprise attacks. One man, one axe, and one life—that is my entire battle plan.”

Saying this, he took a deep breath and roared toward the distant village, “Yellow Emperor! Come out and face your death!”

Du Yu and the group immediately sensed that things were about to go south and hurriedly ducked behind some nearby rocks to hide. With Xing Tian yelling such provocations, if the opposing side launched an immediate counterattack, Du Yu’s group would definitely be treated as enemies too.

After bellowing his challenge, Xing Tian marched straight forward.

Right at that moment, numerous black dots suddenly rose from within the Yellow Emperor’s village.

Du Yu squinted to get a better look and realized that they were Winged Humanoids. Wielding Long Spears, they flew directly toward Xing Tian.

“Who dares to act so wildly here?!” The leader, possessing a pair of pitch-black wings and an imposing aura, raised his Long Spear and thrust it straight at Xing Tian.

“Hah!”

Xing Tian let out a thunderous roar. Slashing his Giant Axe through the empty air, he unleashed a massive gale that immediately destabilized the numerous Winged Humanoids in the sky.

“Ants have no need to throw away their lives! Go fetch someone capable of putting up a real fight!”

The Winged Humanoids in the air never expected this burly man to possess such heaven-shaking strength. It took them a long while to stabilize their bodies before reorganizing their tactics and diving down from eight different directions.

Xing Tian scoffed coldly. He slammed his Giant Axe into the ground and directly threw a punch at one of the Winged Humanoids.

The Winged Humanoid attempted to block with his Long Spear, but the weapon snapped cleanly in half. The punch landed squarely on his chest with a heavy impact.

Xing Tian struck out with both arms, unleashing a wild flurry of punches.

Shockingly, not a single one of the many Winged Humanoids could block him. In just a few moments, the ground was littered with the dead and the severely injured.

Taking a few more steps forward, several immortal cultivators flew out of the village. Manipulating their respective Magical Treasures, they launched an attack on Xing Tian without a second word.

Xing Tian hoisted his Giant Axe, swatting aside the numerous Magical Treasures as easily as scattering snowflakes. He then leaped forward, kicking up another hurricane that blew those immortal cultivators away like flimsy pieces of paper.

Ordinary Immortal Beings were as fragile as flying insects in Xing Tian’s hands, lacking even the slightest ability to fight back.

“Unsatisfying! Utterly unsatisfying!” Xing Tian roared. “Is there no one who can give me a decent fight?!”

Du Yu was completely dumbfounded as he watched. Just how strong was Xing Tian?

Right at this moment, a figure with the appearance of a scholar slowly approached from deep within the village.

This scholar’s aura was worlds apart from the others. He was clearly a prominent figure within the Yellow Emperor’s faction.

Xing Tian recognized this person at a glance, and his expression grew cautious. He furrowed his brows slightly and said,

“Cangjie!”