Legend Management Bureau Chapter 58

[ … words ]

“Listen here, little Wangliang…” Goddess Houtu glanced at the young boy. “Release Dong Qianqiu first. It’s unseemly to treat her like that.”

Wangliang shook his head. “What if this operator tries to snatch her away? What happens to the plan then?”

“He is merely a mortal.” Goddess Houtu went back to gnawing on her chicken leg. “If he thinks he can snatch someone right out from under my nose, he is sorely mistaken.”

Du Yu’s mind raced. So far, the situation was manageable. Even if Goddess Houtu had forgotten him, she was still fundamentally the same person. They had built a solid rapport before, and he was confident they could do it again.

Following Goddess Houtu’s orders, Wangliang’s right hand shifted from a pitch-black blade back into a normal human hand. He picked up the apple he had dropped earlier and took a crunchy bite.

Dong Qianqiu immediately clutched her neck. The skin felt terrifyingly cold, already slick with a layer of fresh blood.

Du Yu slowly walked forward and took a seat opposite Goddess Houtu. All the while, the little imp named Wangliang kept his unwavering, intense gaze fixed squarely on him.

“Boss, I have something I need to discuss with you in private,” Du Yu requested. Given the gravity of the situation, the fewer people involved, the better.

Goddess Houtu looked up, pondered for a moment, and then gave a slight nod to Ghost Mei.

“I’m not leaving,” Wangliang retorted, viciously biting into his apple. “If I leave, this guy will ruin everything.”

Goddess Houtu absentmindedly twirled a chicken bone between her fingers. “Relax, little Wangliang. I know exactly what I am doing.”

Hearing the assurance directly from Goddess Houtu, Wangliang finally relented. He swiped two more apples from the table and trudged outside.

Goddess Houtu shifted her attention back to Dong Qianqiu before questioning Du Yu, “Well? Does she need to leave too?”

“No…” Du Yu replied, still deeply concerned for her safety. “Let Sister Qianqiu stay right here where I can keep an eye on her.”

Only after Ghost Mei and Wangliang had completely exited the stone house did Goddess Houtu finally break the silence.

“Speak, kid. What do you want to talk to me about?”

Du Yu knew that this conversation was as critical as a top-tier SS-rank mission. A single wrong word could lead to catastrophic and irreversible consequences. At best, it would destabilize the entire hierarchy of the Underworld; at worst, it could throw the mortal realm into absolute chaos.

“Boss, can you tell me…” Du Yu began carefully. “What exactly did you send Seventh Master to do?”

“You should already know the answer to that,” Goddess Houtu replied.

“Have you… already initiated your assassination plan?”

“I have,” Goddess Houtu confirmed, spitting out a chicken bone. “You destroyed the communication jade I gave you. That made your stance perfectly clear. I didn’t see any reason to wait for you anymore.”

“My stance?” Du Yu frowned, turning the word over in his head. “Do you mean to say we are no longer on the same side?”

“Precisely.” Goddess Houtu narrowed her eyes. “At a critical juncture like this, you are either a friend or an enemy. The very fact that I am allowing you to sit across from me right now is already the utmost courtesy I can offer.”

Genuinely bewildered, Du Yu asked, “What exactly is this ‘critical juncture’?”

“Du Yu…” Dong Qianqiu turned her head toward him, her voice trembling slightly. “Something terrible is about to happen in the Underworld.”

In a few succinct sentences, Dong Qianqiu relayed everything Goddess Houtu had disclosed to her earlier.

Du Yu was momentarily stunned by the revelation, but his shock quickly gave way to suspicion. There were far too many glaring inconsistencies in the story.

“Boss…” he started hesitantly. “You claim that King Zhuanlun assassinated the Great Emperor of Beiyin. Do you have any solid proof?”

“King Zhuanlun confessed to it himself,” Goddess Houtu stated matter-of-factly.

“That still doesn’t add up,” Du Yu argued. “The whole thing sounds absurd. Failing the assassination was already a catastrophic blunder on his part. Why would he willingly expose the mastermind behind it? If his soul is destined to be scattered regardless, why would he brand himself a treacherous and disloyal traitor on top of it?”

Dong Qianqiu mulled over his words before chiming in. “Du Yu, your skepticism is justified. However, Horse-Face was the one conducting the interrogation. He possesses unique magical artifacts designed specifically for extracting the truth. No one can lie under his watch.”

Even so, the entire affair wreaked of a twisted conspiracy to Du Yu. Even if the Great Emperor of Dongyue truly wanted the Great Emperor of Beiyin dead, what could possibly be his motive?

They had co-ruled the Underworld for thousands of years. Why would he suddenly turn on his peer now?

“Boss, given your usual temperament, you wouldn’t normally come up with a countermeasure like this, would you?” Du Yu asked, carefully organizing his thoughts. “Ever since you took Sister Qianqiu, you’ve been meticulously plotting how to punish the Great Emperor of Dongyue. From what I know of you, you aren’t exactly the meticulous, calculating type.”

Goddess Houtu paused, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. “You read me pretty well, kid. You’re right, I don’t have the head for this kind of scheming. This was all little Wangliang’s idea.”

“Wangliang?” Du Yu pointed toward the door where the child had just exited. “You mean that extraordinarily twisted, psychotic little kid? That actually makes perfect sense. Someone attempts an assassination, so his immediate solution is to assassinate them right back. Very on-brand for him.”

“Mind your tongue, kid. Little Wangliang’s methods may be extreme, but he would never do anything to harm me,” Goddess Houtu defended fiercely. “Not just him. Ghost Chi and Ghost Mei are exactly the same. All three of them would lay down their lives for me without a second thought.”

“Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Du Yu countered. “Boss, a lot of people do things they genuinely believe are for your own good, only for those very actions to end up destroying you.”

“Oh?”

“I’m saying there are far too many holes in this narrative. Until we uncover the whole truth, we shouldn’t act so recklessly. If Dongyue truly orchestrated an assassination against Beiyin, then that’s on him. There are plenty of legitimate ways to hold him accountable. But the moment you send your own assassins to strike back, you stoop to his level and put yourself in the wrong.”

“I wrote the rules for this entire Underworld!” Goddess Houtu snapped. “If I want to teach one of my juniors a lesson, do you really think I need anyone’s permission?”

“Boss, at the very least, we need to uncover the Great Emperor of Dongyue’s true motive.” Du Yu knew this was the linchpin of the whole mystery. “Why would he risk doing something so insane? He is already one of the two highest authorities in the Underworld. Eliminating the Great Emperor of Beiyin doesn’t benefit him at all. Even if you just see this as two kids squabbling in the sandbox, as the head of the household, shouldn’t you at least interrogate the one who threw the first punch to find out why they did it?”

Goddess Houtu’s hands suddenly stopped moving. After a long pause, she spoke, her tone deadly serious. “The Great Emperor of Dongyue… he does indeed possess a monstrous motive for doing this. It’s a closely guarded secret known only to the highest echelons of the Heavenly Realm. And it is the exact reason why I moved to strike him down immediately.”

“Could you tell me what it is?” Du Yu ventured cautiously.

“This is a matter of paramount importance. If I am to share it with you, I need a very good reason,” Goddess Houtu demanded.

“My reason?” Du Yu shot back, a flash of anger in his voice. “Because I refuse to let Cui Jue, Xie Bian, and Fan Wujiu throw their lives away for nothing. Regardless of whether your assassination plot succeeds or fails, those three are almost certainly going to die in the process. Cui Jue has shown me tremendous kindness, and Fan Wujiu and Xie Bian saved my skin in the past. I absolutely will not stand by and let them be slaughtered.”

Goddess Houtu glanced over at Dong Qianqiu, thinking to herself, ‘Just as this little girl predicted. This new operator is dead set on protecting a handful of lowly Underworld reapers.’

Dong Qianqiu pondered for a long while before speaking up. “Goddess Houtu… this hidden truth known only to the highest echelons of heaven… Does it have to do with the former Haotian God?”

“Haotian God?” Du Yu blinked, completely lost. “Who in the world is that?”

“He is the deity you mortals know as the Jade Emperor,” Dong Qianqiu clarified.

“The Jade Emperor…?” Du Yu felt a headache coming on. “Weren’t we just talking about the Great Emperor of Dongyue and the Great Emperor of Beiyin? How did the Jade Emperor suddenly get dragged into this mess?”

Dong Qianqiu didn’t respond. Instead, she lifted her gaze to Goddess Houtu, whose expression had become incredibly complicated.

“So…” Goddess Houtu murmured. “The Legend Administration Bureau knows about this as well?”

Having just confirmed her long-held suspicions, Dong Qianqiu nodded solemnly. “Goddess Houtu, any myth or legend automatically generates a record in our Bureau. Whether it’s the Haotian God or the Great Emperor of Dongyue, they are both living legends. Naturally, we have a complete archive of their history.”

“Impressive,” Goddess Houtu conceded. “You bore witness to a cosmic upheaval of that magnitude, yet you never breathed a word of it to anyone. As expected of the strictly neutral Legend Administration Bureau.”

“Hold on… ladies, please…” Du Yu waved his hands frantically, feeling entirely left in the dust. “You can’t just talk in riddles like this! What in the world are you two discussing? I have absolutely no idea what’s going on!”

“Forget it. I wasn’t going to tell you, but since the Legend Administration Bureau already has it on file, I’ll let Dong Qianqiu fill you in.” Goddess Houtu didn’t even bother looking up, returning her full attention to the feast on the table.

Du Yu immediately spun around to face Dong Qianqiu. “Sister Qianqiu, what exactly happened? What is this massive secret that I’m missing?”

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Dong Qianqiu finally spoke. “It’s true, Du Yu. There is a massive piece to this puzzle that you’re unaware of. If you want to understand the full picture of what’s happening right now, you need to factor this history into the equation.”

“Well, what is it?!” Du Yu demanded, practically dying of suspense.

“The current Great Emperor of Dongyue,” Dong Qianqiu began, delivering earth-shattering news in her characteristically calm, deadpan voice, “was once the Haotian God.”

“Wait a damn minute!” Du Yu’s jaw hit the floor as her words finally registered. “Are you telling me that the Great Emperor of Dongyue used to be the freaking Jade Emperor?!”

“Exactly,” Dong Qianqiu nodded. “There are actually several fragmented myths in the mortal realm that hint at this event. Long ago, the Haotian God descended to the mortal realm in disguise. While he was there, a cultivator surnamed Zhang stole his divine mount. Because this cultivator bore an uncanny physical resemblance to the Haotian God, he ascended to the Heavenly Court in his place and successfully usurped the throne, becoming the new Jade Emperor. Naturally, the true Haotian God was furious and caused chaos in the mortal realm. To placate him and avoid an all-out divine war, the new Jade Emperor granted him absolute dominion over the Underworld, conferring upon him the title of Great Emperor of Dongyue. Only then was the conflict temporarily resolved.”

“Holy crap…” Du Yu was utterly flabbergasted. “Sister Qianqiu, are you absolutely certain you aren’t pulling my leg? That sounds completely insane. The logistics alone make zero sense!”

“I assure you, it is the absolute truth,” Dong Qianqiu said with a quiet nod. “And this usurped throne is precisely what serves as the Great Emperor of Dongyue’s greatest motive.”

“I honestly thought…” Du Yu murmured, a chill running down his spine, “that this was just some petty political dispute between two Underworld Emperors, sending assassins to rough each other up… I never imagined it ran this deep. If what you’re saying is true, then Dongyue’s end goal is downright terrifying. He wants to unify the Underworld so he can wage a full-scale war against the Heavenly Court…”