Legend Management Bureau Chapter 45

[ … words ]

“It is true,” Du Yu said. “The reason I came here is to handle this exact matter. Besides, we have already crossed paths twice. When have I ever claimed I wanted to take the tiger’s life?”

The old woman seized Du Yu’s arm. “You have to save him. Please, save Si Huang…”

“Si Huang? I will remember that.” Du Yu nodded, comforted the old woman, and followed Headman Li and the others into the mountains.

The group remained silent during their trek. Du Yu was still turning over Headman Li’s earlier remark about an “on-the-spot execution” in his head. How could Cui Jue make such a ruthless ruling? Did he really intend to have the fierce tiger killed right then and there?

No, Du Yu suddenly realized something. Ordering an on-the-spot execution was exactly the kind of decision a normal official would make. An official who actually held a trial for a wild beast would be the anomaly. However, it was precisely because Cui Jue was such a maverick that he had become the Chief Magistrate of the Underworld, was it not?

Right now, his priority was figuring out a way to keep these three men from finding the tiger. After all, the mountain was riddled with twisting trails, and it had taken him an entire night of wandering to locate that cave. Without him leading the way, he was confident they would never uncover the stone grotto on their own.

The four men trekked through the mountains under the scorching midday sun for a long time, their mouths growing completely dry and parched.

“Headman Li, where exactly is this fierce tiger? We have been wandering up here for half the day…” one of the enforcers complained.

“Rest assured, I have a way to make it show itself. Just get your bows and arrows ready. The moment the beast appears, we will strike it down in one fell swoop.” Headman Li paused in thought for a moment before stepping into the center of the mountain path.

Before Du Yu could wrap his head around it, Headman Li suddenly hollered at the top of his lungs, “Si Huang!!! The little girl came up the mountain to see you!!!”

The booming voice echoed endlessly through the valley.

‘Oh no!’ Du Yu cursed inwardly. It seemed Headman Li had also crossed paths with the tiger before and knew some of its hidden secrets.

Sure enough, a rustling sound emerged from the nearby shrubs. Something was rapidly approaching.

A moment later, a large tiger’s head poked out cautiously from the foliage. It appeared somewhat hesitant. After all, three years ago, someone had used this exact same trick to lure it out and had nearly beaten it to death.

However, the moment the tiger peeked out, its eyes landed on Du Yu, and a distinct smile surprisingly crept across its bestial face.

Letting its guard down, the massive creature stepped out of the bushes, exposing its full body. It knew its friend had arrived.

“Don’t come out!!! Run away!!!” Du Yu bellowed.

At that exact second, two arrows tore through the air, shooting straight toward the tiger!

Caught off guard, the tiger only managed to dodge one of the projectiles. The second arrow sank deep into its front leg.

“Roar!!!”

Letting out a thunderous roar, the tiger prepared to pounce on the two men who had loosed the arrows.

“No!!”

Du Yu shouted at the top of his lungs, throwing himself forward to tackle the massive beast, wrapping his arms around it. “Brother Tiger!! You cannot kill anyone! Did you forget what I told you?? If you kill them here, not only will you face heaven’s wrath, but you will never be able to live with that little girl again!”

“But I…”

Just as the tiger was about to speak, Du Yu clamped a hand over its snout, whispering, “One more thing. Never speak in front of people you do not trust.”

“Yuan Xiangqin! What do you think you are doing?! Calling a man-eating tiger your brother—have you completely lost your mind?” Headman Li barked, clearly enraged.

“Brother Tiger, calm down. Let me handle this, all right?” Du Yu watched the beast slowly settle down and gradually released his grip. He then turned around to face Li Neng. “Headman Li, you absolutely cannot kill this tiger. I need to take it back to see Lord Cui Jue.”

“There is no need for that,” Li Neng scoffed coldly. “The lord’s orders were to slay it.”

“That is because I did not make certain matters clear to the lord. Give me a little more time,” Du Yu pleaded.

“Are you deaf? I said there is no need,” Headman Li growled, his temper flaring. “If you stubbornly persist with this foolishness, do not blame me for charging you with obstructing an officer and killing you alongside this beast.”

“Kill me?” Du Yu let out a cold laugh. “How about this? Let’s make a bet.”

“A bet?”

“That’s right. I will fight the three of you by myself. If I win, you give me one more day. If I lose, you can kill both the tiger and me.”

Headman Li sneered at the challenge. “Yuan Xiangqin, do you seriously intend to cross swords with me? I am a martial arts scholar, personally recruited by Lord Cui Jue!”

“What is so great about that?” Du Yu fired back with a scoff. “I am a Legendary Operator, personally recruited by Lord Cui Jue.”

“Legendary Operator? What the hell is that?” Li Neng demanded.

“Your rank is too low. Of course you wouldn’t know.”

“Hmph! You’re just putting on a front!”

“All right, Du Yu. Tag me in,” Zhongli Chun suddenly chimed into his mind.

“No way, Little Zhongli… If you take over, these three will probably end up dead. That would make completing the legend way too difficult. Things aren’t that dire yet.”

“Huh?” Zhongli Chun paused in confusion. “If I don’t step in, how do you expect to beat three grown men?”

Du Yu let out a hearty laugh and addressed the three men in front of him. “If you have elders at home, go back and ask them! What was the divine skill used to defeat the beast Jiu Ying during Emperor Yao’s era?”

“Emperor Yao’s era?” Headman Li and the two enforcers exchanged baffled looks. “Are you sick in the head?”

“Haa! Qianqiu Divine—”

Du Yu suddenly froze.

Far away in the heavens, Xiao Qi also froze.

Qianqiu my ass?! Sister Qianqiu wasn’t even here!

“Du… Du Yu… Don’t count on me. I can’t do anything like that…” Xiao Qi stammered nervously.

‘Now I am really riding a tiger and can’t get off…’ Du Yu knew perfectly well that given Xiao Qi’s timid personality, if she tried to use the taunt skill by yelling “Hey, grandson,” it would be so quiet no one would even hear her.

“Xiao Qi! I just realized, can’t you transmit images??” Du Yu asked frantically.

“Yeah…”

“Quick, go find a random picture right now. Preferably something with just one solid, dark color…”

“Where am I supposed to find that?? How about I just color one for you with a marker…”

“That…” Du Yu paused. “That works too! How long?”

“A minute or two…” Xiao Qi whispered. “I only have a red marker on hand… is that okay?”

“Anything is fine! Just hurry up!”

Headman Li stared at Du Yu, a deep suspicion rising in his chest. The man standing before him looked as if he were chatting with thin air, his facial expressions shifting wildly.

“Ignore this lunatic. Go and take him down,” Headman Li ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

Receiving their orders, the two enforcers charged straight at Du Yu.

“Hey??” Du Yu instinctively jumped back. “You guys are cheating! I haven’t even yelled start yet!”

Why would the enforcers care about that? They drew their blades and hacked at him. Du Yu twisted sideways, dodging the incoming strikes. As he scrambled to evade, he urgently demanded, “Xiao Qi! How much longer?”

“Almost done… I’ve colored half of it…”

“Good grief, only half?!” Du Yu sidestepped again, narrowly avoiding another blade. He couldn’t help but feel relieved that these guys were just thugs with a bad track record and lacked any formal military training. They were worlds apart from the soldiers of the Warring States period.

Another wave of attacks rained down. Not only did Du Yu manage to slip past the blades, but he used the momentum to kick one of the enforcers to the dirt. Unfortunately, he put far too much force into the kick and nearly lost his own footing.

“Hmph, you dare run your mouth with such sloppy skills?” Li Neng had been observing from the sidelines and quickly realized Du Yu had virtually no martial arts foundation. Rolling up his sleeves, he drew his own sword and lunged into the fray.

Li Neng was a martial arts scholar, after all. Every punch and kick carried a weight and technique that the two enforcers couldn’t hope to match. Under the relentless assault, Du Yu rapidly lost ground.

“Sister Qi! Are you still not done?!” Du Yu yelled.

“Almost, almost! I’m just touching up the edges to make the color look more even…”

“Screw making it even!” Du Yu roared. “Hurry up and show him the picture!”

Headman Li saw that Du Yu could no longer defend himself and prepared to end his life with a single, decisive cleave. Suddenly, his entire field of vision was swallowed by a massive sheet of red, blinding him completely. The blade that was inches away from hacking into Du Yu ground to a halt.

“Huh?” Headman Li assumed something had covered his eyes. He reached up to grab it, but his fingers grabbed nothing but empty air.

“What’s going on?”

Seeing that his plan had worked, Du Yu let out a cold laugh. He abruptly sprang up and knocked Li Neng flat with a solid right hook.

“Haha!” Du Yu crowed triumphantly. “If you have kids at home, go back and ask them! What kind of divine skill does a mute broadcaster use?”

“What kind… of demonic sorcery is this?” Although Li Neng’s eyes were wide open, he couldn’t see a single thing—only a sea of crimson.

“Demonic sorcery? Hmph, this is an immortal art! I officially name this technique—Hong Qi Gong!”

“Hong Qi Gong?”

Xiao Qi suddenly furrowed her brows. “Wait… Du Yu, why does the name Hong Qi Gong sound so familiar? It sounds like some old beggar…”

“He wasn’t just an ordinary beggar. He was the King of Beggars,” Du Yu boasted proudly.

Seizing the moment while Li Neng was blinded and confused, Du Yu rushed over and landed a few extra kicks for good measure.

Realizing the situation had gone south, the remaining enforcers hurriedly rushed forward.

“Hong Qi Gong! Transfer!!” Du Yu bellowed.

The first enforcer to charge immediately lost his vision, allowing Du Yu to fell him with a single punch. Seeing this, the second enforcer thought he had spotted an opening and tried to strike Du Yu’s blind spot. But before he could land a hit, his own vision was instantly swallowed by red.

Du Yu repeatedly knocked the three men to the ground. Although they didn’t suffer any severe physical injuries, the terror festering in their hearts grew exponentially.

“This guy really might know some kind of dark sorcery…”

Eventually, Du Yu exhausted himself. Panting heavily, he asked, “Do you three yield? Are we done fighting?”

At this point, none of the three dared to step forward. Li Neng swallowed hard and asked, “Who exactly are you?”

“Who I am isn’t important,” Du Yu wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “If you truly have Lord Cui Jue’s best interests at heart, you absolutely cannot kill this tiger. I’m taking him to see Lord Cui Jue.”

Headman Li and the two enforcers exchanged wary glances. Normally, he would never have submitted to mere martial force, but after being utterly thrashed by Du Yu’s magic, he couldn’t help but second-guess himself. Now that he had a way out to save face, he figured it was best to just back down.

“Although your words sound highly suspicious, you never once drew your blade during our fight. You must not be a wicked man,” Headman Li reasoned, pointing at the sword strapped to Du Yu’s waist.

“Eh?” Du Yu glanced down. “Crap, I actually have a sword.”

“Given the unique circumstances, I will humor you this once. I shall return and report this to Lord Cui Jue immediately. You had best take that beast down the mountain as soon as possible,” Headman Li declared. With that, he turned and marched off, his two enforcers trailing closely behind.

Du Yu hurriedly rushed over to check on the tiger demon, who had retreated into the bushes. “Brother Tiger? How are you holding up?”

The tiger demon looked at Du Yu hesitantly and spoke in halted breaths. “Did you not… tell me… that if I admitted to eating a human… in front of the officers… they would let me… live with the little girl?”

Du Yu started bandaging the beast’s wound. “In theory, yes… but I’m not sure where things went wrong. Come down the mountain with me in a bit. I will handle this matter personally.”

Hearing this, the massive tiger nodded.

Du Yu continued, “Brother Tiger, if you truly want to follow my plan and integrate into human society, you have to tell me absolutely everything.”

“What… do you want… to know?”

“A lot of things. About the man you ate. About that little girl you mentioned. About Si Huang. As long as it concerns you, I want to know about it.”

“I… cannot say. You take me… to see the little girl. I will let her… tell you.”

Du Yu considered this for a moment before replying, “All right. I’ll take you to see her.”

Xiao Qi was taken aback. “Du Yu, do you actually know who this little girl is?”

“I have a pretty good guess.”