Legend Management Bureau Chapter 50

[ … words ]

Goddess Houtu rolled her eyes. Being watched by so many villagers, what should she do?

After a long thought, she suddenly came up with a plan.

“Freeze!”

With a loud shout, all the mortals in the county office stopped moving.

Du Yu looked around and found that besides the villagers, Cui Jue, Li Neng, and even the old woman and Si Huang were completely motionless like statues.

“Phew, I’m roasting alive here.” Goddess Houtu breathed a sigh of relief and slowly landed. She unceremoniously lifted her skirt, revealing a pair of long, pale legs. “Who made the rule that you have to wear this when descending to the mortal realm? It’s so hot and stuffy.”

Du Yu was stunned. This Goddess Houtu was like a completely different person. However, this made her seem much easier to communicate with.

“You there, come here,” Goddess Houtu waved impatiently.

“Coming, coming.” Du Yu hurried over to her. “What are your orders, boss?”

“Ah!” Du Yu said with a troubled expression. “Boss, my identity is just too special. I can’t go be an official in the Underworld. As for who I am, I really can’t say.”

“What a pain…” Goddess Houtu muttered. “So what do we do now? You rejected me in public, and I’m losing face here.”

“That’s easy!” Du Yu leaned in and said, “Boss, just make that Cui Jue a Netherworld Emissary. He is incredibly well-suited for it.”

“Who? That county magistrate?” Goddess Houtu glanced at Cui Jue. “He’s not bad looking, but he’s too stupid. He couldn’t even see through Meng Shan’s lies.”

“Exactly!” Du Yu cursed along with her. “He was really too stupid back then, I was furious too.”

“Right? I really can’t stand him. Several times up in the heavens I couldn’t bear watching anymore and wanted to come down and beat him up myself.” Goddess Houtu rolled up her sleeves. “Oh right… while he can’t move, I should go kick him first…”

“Hey, wait, wait a minute…” Du Yu quickly grabbed Goddess Houtu. ‘This Goddess Houtu is quite hot-tempered,’ he thought to himself. “Boss, you are a Great Golden Immortal after all. Descending to the mortal realm, freezing a mortal, and then kicking him… no matter how you look at it, it’s not very appropriate…”

“True.” Goddess Houtu curled her lips. “If the Jade Emperor finds out about this, he’ll probably nag me for half the day again.”

“Exactly,” Du Yu agreed. “But that Cui Jue really will become a Netherworld Emissary in the future, and a very good one at that.”

“That’s not right, is it?” Goddess Houtu gave Du Yu a suspicious look. “Even I couldn’t divine that on my fingers. How do you know?”

“This…” Du Yu was put in a tough spot. ‘Goddess Houtu seems like a decent person, so it should be fine to tell her, right?’

“I’ll tell you the truth, boss.” Du Yu thought for a moment and declared. “I come from a thousand years in the future. My purpose here is to ensure that Cui Jue follows history and becomes the head of the Netherworld Emissaries—the Civil Magistrate.”

“Civil Magistrate?” Goddess Houtu’s eyes suddenly lit up. “I haven’t even decided how many people I’m looking for, and you already know he’ll be an emissary in the future? You said you’re from a thousand years in the future, so how many emissaries did I actually find?”

Seeing Goddess Houtu’s interest piqued, Du Yu sat right beside her and explained, “There are millions of Netherworld Emissaries, but eight of them, personally appointed by you, act as leaders. They are known as the Eight Great Emissaries, or the Eight Lords of the Underworld.”

“Eight Great Emissaries?” Goddess Houtu held out a hand and commanded, “Wait a minute!”

Du Yu was confused as he watched Goddess Houtu rummage through her robes for a long time before pulling out a small notebook. Then, with a wave of her hand, she conjured a pen.

“Go on. Which eight?”

“Huh??” Du Yu was completely dumbfounded. “No, boss, what do you mean? You want me to give you spoilers?”

“Spoilers?” Goddess Houtu looked puzzled for a moment. “What’s a spoiler? No, don’t overthink it. I just want you to tell me directly who these eight people are. Then I won’t have to search all over the world for them. I can just appoint those eight directly and be done with it, right?”

“That is exactly what a spoiler is!” Du Yu covered his face, never expecting Goddess Houtu to be this kind of person. “Boss, I can’t do that. You have to find these eight people through various coincidences, or by following your own heart.”

Hearing this, Goddess Houtu pondered for a moment.

“Are you saying that I will choose eight people according to my own thoughts, and then they will become the Eight Great Emissaries?” Goddess Houtu asked.

“Yes, boss. After all, that was the choice you made in the past.”

“But I chose you today, and you said no.” Goddess Houtu chewed on the end of her pen, thinking it over. “Following this logic, let me make a bold guess. Whenever the person I choose differs from the history of your world, you have no choice but to come here and correct me.”

“Huh?” Du Yu was startled. Although Goddess Houtu seemed a bit brash, she was the head honcho of the Underworld after all. The fact that she could think this far was truly remarkable, proving she possessed a brilliant mind. “That’s exactly it, boss.”

“Then I understand.” Goddess Houtu flashed a wicked smile. “If you don’t tell me who these eight people are, believe it or not, I’ll just pick eight random peasants in Qi County right now to be the Eight Great Emissaries, forcing you to run back and forth over and over again!”

“Ah?” Du Yu hadn’t expected Goddess Houtu to play so dirty, actually threatening him directly. “Boss, you can’t do that. Aren’t you just causing trouble for me on purpose?”

Du Yu was rendered completely speechless. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have revealed my identity to Goddess Houtu. It seems the rules of the Legend Administration really must be followed.’

“So if you tell me, it saves me trouble, and it saves you trouble.” Goddess Houtu nudged Du Yu with her elbow. “Am I right, little brother?”

“No, no.” Du Yu shook his head, never imagining that a Great Golden Immortal of such high status would actually act like a rogue. “It might look like it saves me trouble, but there’s no telling what serious consequences it might cause. How about this, boss? Let’s both take a step back.”

“Take a step back how?”

“I won’t tell you who these eight people are, but I will tell you their official titles and roles. Then you can look for these eight people based on their job descriptions, which should make things a bit more convenient for you.” Du Yu thought for a moment before adding, “Boss, if I’m not mistaken, you haven’t even figured out the eight official positions yet, have you?”

“Uh…” Goddess Houtu looked embarrassed. “These eight people actually need official titles? If it were up to me, I’d just have them become sworn brothers and be done with it.”

“Sigh, how could that work? They are eight Netherworld Immortals after all! Making them sworn brothers is just too…” Du Yu paused, suddenly realizing that these eight people actually were sworn brothers in legend. It seemed Goddess Houtu’s line of thinking truly had a profound impact on the Underworld.

“Boss, just tell me if you accept this deal. If you don’t, I’d rather run back and forth over and over again, otherwise I’ll be in too deep.” Du Yu reasoned. “I have superiors too, and they will hold me accountable.”

“Fine, little brother.” Goddess Houtu nodded. “Deal. Speak.”

Du Yu recalled the structure of the Underworld gods that Dong Qianqiu had once taught him and recited the eight official roles: “First and foremost are the Civil and Martial Magistrates. The Civil Magistrate handles the laws, and the Martial Magistrate judges evil spirits. Second are the Beast-Faced Rakshasas, specifically responsible for capturing and punishing all kinds of fierce and malicious ghosts. Third are the Gold and Silver Generals, who escort souls through the Underworld. Fourth are the Black and White Impermanence, tasked with traveling between the mortal realm and the Underworld to guide away the recently deceased.”

Goddess Houtu took out her little notebook and earnestly jotted all this down.

“This is really such a hassle…” Goddess Houtu stared at the crookedly written words filling her notebook. “Does it have to be divided this thoroughly? It would be so much easier to just rank them from one to eight…”

Du Yu shook his head, having completely figured out what kind of person Goddess Houtu was. “Goddess, you have to look at it this way. If you don’t divide it so thoroughly, no one will do these jobs, and you’ll end up having to do it all yourself. Wouldn’t that be even more troublesome?”

“True…” Goddess Houtu thought about it and nodded. “Alright, I’ve noted down these eight positions, but what do we do right now?”

“Right now?”

“Yes! Everyone saw me point at you and invite you, and you rejected me. How am I supposed to wrap this up?” Goddess Houtu asked in exasperation.

“Goddess, you don’t strike me as someone who cares much about formalities anyway. Why don’t we just play dumb and deny everything?”

“Don’t care about formalities? Hehehehe.” Goddess Houtu chuckled wickedly. “That’s a fresh way to put it, I quite like that. So, what exactly should we do?”

“We’ll do it like this…”

…

“Release!”

Goddess Houtu shouted loudly, and everyone resumed their movements. She was still floating in midair, and Du Yu was still kneeling beside Cui Jue.

“Huh? What just happened?” Cui Jue wondered aloud. He had clearly sensed something strange, but couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly had transpired.

The many villagers also exchanged glances, but because they were at the scene where a deity had descended to the mortal realm, none of them dared to speak up.

“Cui Jue, I have waited for you for a long time. Have you made your decision?” Goddess Houtu asked majestically.

“Eh? Who?” Cui Jue was stunned. “Wait for my decision? Why are you waiting for my decision?”

The crowd of villagers was also bewildered. Wasn’t she just trying to recruit that constable into the celestial ranks? How did it suddenly turn into waiting for the county magistrate’s decision?

“Yes. I just said that you, the magistrate, can distinguish right from wrong and understand good and evil. I want to bring you into the Underworld and make you…” Goddess Houtu paused, sneaked out her little notebook for a quick peek, and then tucked it away as if nothing had happened. “…make you the Civil Magistrate. You didn’t mishear me, did you? You didn’t think I was talking to someone else, did you?”

This time, the crowd was truly confused. Had they really misheard just now?

But in the presence of Goddess Houtu, no one dared to open their mouths to question it!

“This… this…” Cui Jue was astonished. “Can this humble official truly serve in the Underworld…?”

“I… I say you can, so you can.” Goddess Houtu nodded. “If you agree, I will help you ascend right now.”

Du Yu smiled and nodded. Only now was the legend finally fulfilled.

“This humble official is terrified… For Goddess Houtu to descend in person, this humble official is duty-bound not to refuse. However, the current situation is special… Forgive this humble official… I cannot comply…” Cui Jue kowtowed and answered solemnly.

“Eh? Rejected again??”