Legend Management Bureau Chapter 430

[ … words ]

“So what if it’s been a hundred or a thousand years?!” Du Yu declared. “You can show me all these illusions and let You Si wander the world for so long. If you have so much free time to search for a new Time, why don’t you carry out the duties of Time yourself?”

Hearing this, Time instantly tackled Du Yu to the ground. He continuously yanked at Du Yu’s collar, screaming at the top of his lungs,

“Du Yu!! Three hundred and thirty thousand years!! I sat on that stone bench for three hundred and thirty thousand years!!”

Du Yu’s ears rang from the sheer volume of Time’s voice. It was as if the entity was roaring out three hundred and thirty thousand years of accumulated resentment.

“My flesh and blood grew into the stone!!! I couldn’t move!!! I couldn’t die!!! I couldn’t escape!!!”

Time’s voice grew increasingly hoarse and hysterical. “You say I don’t carry out the duties of Time?! Who in this world would sit in dead silence for three hundred and thirty thousand years?! Who?!”

Du Yu gritted his teeth, slowly breaking free from Time’s grip. “You lunatic… let go…”

It took a long while for Time to slowly calm down. He finally spoke up, “You… have people you want to save, and I have people I want to save… Let us each save our own… and not cause trouble for one another…”

As he finished speaking, the long hair on Time’s head unexpectedly began to slowly fall out.

Time froze for a long moment before waving his hand. Another fragment of space-time flew over, and the entire scene shifted once again.

It was yet another great battle.

It seemed identical to the great war Du Yu had experienced, but not entirely the same.

This time, the helpers on the battlefield included the Greek Gods Du Yu had seen before—Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena—along with a host of British demons, a massive swarm of exotic beasts, and even that female ghost who had relentlessly pestered Du Yu in the Legend of Xing Tian.

Closest to them was a Tiger Demon who appeared to have only recently taken human form. He was sprawled on the ground, desperately protecting the Eight Directions Ghost Record.

At this moment, hundreds of millions of Threads were still swirling in the sky. If the image had not been paused, everything would have vanished like a burst bubble.

“My brother Sihuang is using his life to protect the Eight Directions Ghost Record. They are all waiting for me to return.” Time turned his head, and the last lock of long hair fell from his scalp.

He raised his head, looking exactly like Du Yu. Using a youthful voice, he slowly spoke.

“Du Yu, we are exactly the same kind of person. You think you are incredibly smart. You try to break the closed loop between yourself and Saint, but you never considered that everything you are doing, I have already done. Every word I have said to you, every single thing I have done, has been solely to ensure that you become the new Time.”

“What?!” Du Yu was stunned. “Are you saying… whether it’s Saint or He Suoyi… they are all just your pawns?”

“Exactly.” Time nodded. “I love watching you outsmart yourself. You always think you have everything under control, yet you have always been entirely within my grasp. That includes whatever is going through your mind right now—I can guess it with near-perfect accuracy. It is absolutely impossible for me to help you. If you want to save your friends and turn back the clock to before the great war, you must become Time yourself.”

Du Yu trembled slightly, feeling as though everything finally made sense.

“I see… If I kill Saint, I become Saint. If I don’t kill Saint, I will become Time…” Du Yu let out a bitter laugh. “I can never escape, can I?”

“I suppose I didn’t make myself clear.” Time shook his head. “It’s not that failing to kill Saint will turn you into Time. It is only because I allow you to become Time that you will actually become Time.”

“What do you mean?!” Du Yu faltered. “Do I even have a choice?”

Time gently waved his hand, returning the entire space to a dazzling river of stars.

“Du Yu, let me ask you. How many versions of yourself do you think exist in this world?” Time asked with a smile.

Du Yu pondered for a moment before quickly arriving at an answer. “Three.”

“Oh? Why three?”

Hearing Time’s question, Du Yu slowly raised a finger. “The first me is the illusion you showed me. He has parents, an academic degree, and lives a completely different life than I do.”

“And the second?”

“The second me is the one on the screen—the one who experienced the Legends of Meng Jiangnu, Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother, and the Magic Paintbrush. He is the person I know as Saint.”

Time nodded. “I think I understand your train of thought.”

“Exactly! The third me is the present me. And if I’m not mistaken… you are the very first generation of Du Yu,” Du Yu gritted out. “This is a game of chess between the three of us, isn’t it?”

Time didn’t answer, merely beckoning toward the distance.

A massive cluster of nebulae slowly drifted over.

Under Time’s control, they all unfurled, transforming into individual images.

These images instantly filled the sky, the fragments connected by individual stone pathways. And in every single image, the person depicted was Du Yu.

Time paused before speaking with complete seriousness. “You are the four hundred and sixty-fourth Du Yu of this Reincarnation Cycle. All the ones before you have died.”

“Wha—?!” Du Yu was instantly left speechless. He stared up at the fragments in the sky with profound horror. “Four hundred and sixty-four versions of me…”

Sure enough, he gradually realized that the majority of the Legends displayed in the sky were ones he had never personally experienced.

Whether it was A Chinese Ghost Story or the Four Heavenly Kings, the fragments in the sky seemingly encompassed every Legend in existence.

“Are you saying… you have witnessed the lives of four hundred and sixty-four versions of me?” Du Yu stared at Time in sheer disbelief. It felt as though everything he thought he knew had just been completely overturned.

Time shook his head. “Incorrect. I said you are the four hundred and sixty-fourth in this specific Reincarnation Cycle. As for me…”

He waved his hand once more, sending the sky full of stars dancing wildly.

A massive number of fragments came and went, swirling endlessly before Du Yu’s eyes.

By the time all these fragments completely blanketed the sky, the space had become as bright as day.

“I… have witnessed seven hundred and thirteen Reincarnation Cycles.”

Du Yu felt the world spinning around him. It was as if all reality had shattered into an illusion.

“Over seven hundred Reincarnation Cycles… with over four hundred versions of me in each cycle…”

Du Yu muttered to himself. He felt as though he were trapped in a terrifying nightmare—a nightmare where every single person he met was actually himself.

“It’s not an exact science,” Time said with a faint smile. “The performances of the various Du Yus were rather unstable. Sometimes it only took a few dozen generations to mold you, while other times it took hundreds of generations to complete. But no matter what, I would always personally administer the Assessment Trial on the results. What a pity… it took three hundred and thirty thousand years for me to finally meet the true you.”

Du Yu listened quietly to Time’s words, his mind an absolute mess.

It was all so utterly absurd.

Could it really be exactly as he said?

Time… was a web.

A web woven together by countless versions of himself.