Legend Management Bureau Chapter 407

[ … words ]

“Hahahaha!” Nana doubled over with laughter in the kitchen. “Supreme Lord Lao-‘zun’?! Yi, even I know you read that wrong without having read the Chinese Gods Registry. I suggest you stop teaching our baby. If he learns from you, his classmates will laugh at him!”

Yi looked a bit embarrassed and quickly defended himself, “Can you blame me? The words printed in this book are way too small. The first line says ‘Supreme Lord Laozi’, and the second line right next to it says ‘Heavenly Venerable of the Dao and its Virtue’. Anyone would read it wrong.”

Old Man Du swung his hand and smacked the back of Yi’s head again, shouting, “You brat! Don’t teach him nonsense! What if you ruin my precious grandson?!”

“Dad, why are you doing this too…” Yi scratched his head helplessly.

“Supreme Lord Laozun! Supreme Lord Laozun!” little Du Yu continued to cheer, clapping his hands. He looked ecstatic.

Old Man Du jumped in fright and hurriedly picked up little Du Yu, saying, “Good boy, good boy, you absolutely must not speak nonsense. It will make the old Immortal Deity unhappy. Don’t learn from your silly dad. Come, say it again—Dao—de Tian—jun—”

Nana finished washing the fruit, brought it out, and placed it on the table. “Dad, Yi, you two really need to stop teaching him. I feel like little Yu is going to be led astray by both of you very soon.”

Hiding in the bedroom, Du Yu’s back was drenched in sweat. He quietly watched this happy family of four from afar, feeling as though his memories had been completely overturned.

‘Time… have you started casting illusions on me again?’ Du Yu thought to himself. ‘Do you think that fabricating these completely non-existent memories will shake my resolve to return?’

Du Yu also noticed the change and asked, “Uncle, what are you looking at?”

The old man’s lips trembled slightly. “That old man is me in the future, right… And your name is Yu. I’m going to name my grandson Yu in the future too. You’ve been helping me catch the water monkey all this time, and you even said that if my surname was Du, you would guarantee my safety. Could it be that you are…”

Du Yu froze, realizing that things were taking a dangerous turn. If this old man figured out right here and now that Du Yu was his grandson, Du Yu might completely vanish due to some subtle butterfly effect.

The old man leaned in close to Du Yu’s face mysteriously and asked, enunciating each word, “You are an Immortal Deity, right? Just now, the future me even said, ‘I have met an Immortal Deity.’ That person is you… right?”

Du Yu completely failed to grasp the old man’s logic and nearly tripped over his own feet. “Uncle, are you a genius or just plain foolish…”

Right at that moment, Du Yi in the living room seemed to hear a faint noise and turned his head toward the bedroom.

Du Yu and the old man jumped in fright and hurriedly closed the door as gently as possible.

“You brat, what is it?” the future old man outside asked.

“Dad, something feels off. I’m going to take a look.”

Now the two of them completely panicked. There was absolutely nowhere to hide in the bedroom. The bed was a solid box frame, the wardrobe was too short, and even the only window had security bars installed.

“What should we do, young man…” the old man asked anxiously. “Isn’t that person my future son? I don’t want him to end up with two dads!”

Du Yu hastily pacified the old man, telling him that this wasn’t an issue of “two dads.” He then searched frantically for a hiding spot. After scanning the room, the only viable option was the curtains. Thus, he and the old man hid behind the curtains, one on the left and one on the right.

He held his breath, only able to hear the sound of his own heartbeat.

One minute passed. Then three minutes.

The two waited for a full ten minutes, yet no one entered the room. Cold sweat continuously rolled down their faces.

“What’s going on?” Du Yu cautiously poked his head out from behind the curtain. Surprisingly, it was dead silent outside the door.

“Young man, don’t show your head! Quick, hide!” the old man whispered urgently.

Du Yu, however, felt that something was amiss. He pulled the curtain aside and slowly stepped out.

Even though the old man kept whispering for him to come back, Du Yu ignored him, walked up to the door, and reached out to pull the handle.

Just as Du Yu had suspected, the moment he opened the door, the outside had transformed back into a stone tunnel.

“Time, your attempt to shake my heart was much too brief this time. In your mind, am I someone who gives up so easily?” Du Yu called out into the stone tunnel.

At the end of the stone tunnel was still a Stone Door.

But the instant Du Yu stepped through the doorway, the bedroom door behind him slammed shut. The old man had not followed him.

“What?” Du Yu turned around and knocked on the door. “Hey! Open up, there’s still someone else!”

“Knock, knock, knock!” Du Yu pounded the door three more times, but the doorknob refused to turn.

“Bang, bang, bang!” Du Yu went from knocking to outright slamming his fists against the door, but it remained as unyielding as a solid boulder, not budging an inch.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!”

Du Yu waited a moment, panting heavily. He felt that things had taken a dire turn. If the old man was left behind in that illusion, there would only be two possible outcomes.

Either he would be discovered, causing severe paradoxes and madness, or he would be lost within the space-time rift forever, never able to return to the correct timeline.

Regardless of which outcome came to pass, Du Yu would cease to exist.

Thinking of this, Du Yu no longer lingered by the door. He was now racing against time. If he could find Time before everything unfolded, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

This time, new text appeared on the stone walls.

“Du Yu, do you understand obsession?”

Du Yu sneered coldly. After tossing and turning in the space-time rift for so long, he never expected to end up all alone once again.

“Time, I don’t understand anything. If you want to keep showing me illusions, then bring it on.”

Du Yu continued toward the eerie Stone Door. This time, he pushed the Stone Door open without a second thought. On the other side lay a space of absolute, pitch-black darkness, looking exceptionally bizarre.

After taking a few deep breaths, Du Yu stepped inside. Instantly, the world spun around him, and he felt as though he were free-falling at a terrifying speed.

A short while later, Du Yu felt himself crash heavily onto something. His vision was still pitch black.

“Senior Du Yu! Senior Du Yu!”

A melodious voice, clear as silver bells, continuously echoed in Du Yu’s ears. He slowly opened his eyes.

Before him was a familiar ceiling—the very scene he seemed to wake up to every time he descended.

He slightly lifted his head, only to discover that the person before him was Shiranui Asuka.

A’xiang looked in Du Yu’s direction with a face full of worry. In contrast, tears gradually streamed down Du Yu’s face.

“A’xiang…! A’xiang!!!”

He practically wailed as he sat up, wanting to pull the young girl before him into a tight embrace and tell her that he had just had a terrifying, horrible nightmare.

In that dream, he had fought a massive war, and everyone had died.

Yet, just as Du Yu was about to touch Shiranui Asuka, his hands phased right through her body.