Legend Management Bureau Chapter 85

[ … words ]

A chill ran down Du Yu’s spine, spreading all the way to his heels.

Why was He Suoyi at the Legend Administration?

What about Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Phantoms, and the Eight Great Reapers?

Where was Dong Qianqiu?

Countless thoughts collided in his mind. The world spun around him as an overwhelming sense of dread spread through his body.

Had everyone at the Legend Administration been killed?

Would Xiao Qi be killed too?

Du Yu slowly opened his eyes, trying hard to calm his racing heart.

“Well, do you understand now?” Xiao Qi asked.

“Good.”

Du Yu’s mind raced as he quickly calculated his next move. If He Suoyi was going on a killing spree, why hadn’t he killed Xiao Qi? Did she still have some use to him?

If Xiao Qi died, wouldn’t he be trapped in this legend forever?

But how could Du Yu save her?

“Du Yu,” Xiao Qi called out, her tone unnervingly flat.

“I’m here.”

“I want to ask you a question,” Xiao Qi said.

“You want to ask me a question?” Du Yu’s heart pounded wildly. He knew there was an eighty percent chance that He Suoyi was forcing her to ask this. He tried his best to keep his voice steady. “Go ahead.”

“If… the Legend Administration ordered you to kill Zhang Jian, would you follow the Administration’s orders, or would you follow the legend’s original plot?”

What was this?

This was a literal death trap of a question. If Du Yu gave the wrong answer, it would instantly cost Xiao Qi her life.

“I’d have to think carefully about that,” Du Yu replied ambiguously. “Given my personality, I’d definitely want to follow the legend’s original plot. However, the Legend Administration hasn’t treated me poorly either, so sometimes exceptions can be made…”

Xiao Qi remained silent for a moment before saying, “Du Yu, in that case, the Legend Administration has a mission for you.”

Du Yu forced a smile and asked, “So you want me to kill Zhang Jian this time?”

“Yes. Can an exception be made?” Xiao Qi asked.

“Well…” Du Yu feigned hesitation while frantically brainstorming a countermeasure. “Zhang Jian hasn’t treated me poorly either… We might have to negotiate a proper price before I can decide.”

“A price?” Xiao Qi asked, sounding stunned.

“Yeah, a price,” Du Yu nodded. “You guys sent me thousands of years into the past to act as an assassin. It’s not too much to ask for an appearance fee, right?”

“I see. That makes communicating much easier,” Xiao Qi said flatly. “What do you want? The Legend Administration will definitely agree to it.”

“A man only lives once, and it’s all about wealth, fame, and profit,” Du Yu declared. “I want money, and I want a woman.”

“Money is easy, but how are we supposed to give you a woman? We aren’t a human trafficking organization.”

“I don’t need our organization to traffic humans.” Du Yu tried hard to squeeze out a smile. “The woman I have my eye on is right there in the bureau. It’s you.”

“Me?” Xiao Qi asked in astonishment.

“Yes. As long as you agree to be my woman, I’ll consider killing Zhang Jian. How about it?”

Xiao Qi fell silent for a long time again before finally saying, “Alright, I agree.”

“Good girl.” Du Yu paused for a moment before adding, “Xiao Qi, I know you’re good at slipping away, so you have to keep talking to me until I finish the mission. The moment I call for you and you don’t respond, I’ll assume you’ve backed out, and I will immediately cancel the deal.”

Xiao Qi shuddered, instantly understanding Du Yu’s true intention.

Du Yu was trying to protect her, preventing He Suoyi from silencing her.

This would temporarily save her life, but once Du Yu actually killed Zhang Jian, she would still die.

Du Yu nodded, then stood up and said, “Then it’s a deal. Keep talking to me while I go see Zhang Jian.”

“See Zhang Jian?”

“Yeah, I have to go see what kind of price Zhang Jian can offer. What if it’s higher than what the Legend Administration is giving?” Du Yu said. “Since I’m so outstanding, naturally, I’ll go to the highest bidder.”

Xiao Qi did not speak again. Du Yu composed himself and walked out of the house.

Zhan Qisheng was still standing far away. Seeing Du Yu walk out of the house as if nothing was wrong, he prepared to step forward.

“Zhang Mazi!” Du Yu suddenly shouted. Zhan Qisheng halted his steps; judging by Du Yu’s tone, it seemed the matter was still unresolved.

“Didn’t you want to write a ‘letter’ to your ‘mother’?” Du Yu hollered. “Use my ‘pen’.”

Du Yu pulled the green pen from his waist and tossed it through the air over to Zhan Qisheng.

“Some things are hard to say aloud, and can only be written out using ‘this pen.’ It’s much better than your carving knives.” Du Yu paused, then added, “Remember to tell your ‘mother’ not to stay cooped up in the mountains all the time. She should come down and take a look once in a while. After all, the world at the foot of the mountain is wonderful, and there are many ‘long-sought people’ down there. It’s incredibly interesting.”

Zhan Qisheng caught the pen and stared blankly at Du Yu, thoroughly confused.

Du Yu secretly prayed in his heart, ‘Zhan Qisheng, oh Zhan Qisheng, you absolutely have to be smart about this. I’ve said all I can say; the rest is up to you.’

Du Yu tried his best to stall for time. Every few steps, he would stop to chat with a nearby bandit or a passing girl, moving at a snail’s pace toward the house where Zhang Jian was staying.

Zhan Qisheng looked at the pen in his hand and asked, “Ying Ning… did you understand what Du Yu just said?”

Ying Ning pondered for a moment before replying, “Little Zhan, although I don’t fully understand it, Du Yu gave off a really strange feeling…”

“Strange?”

“Yes. He was shivering non-stop just now, as if he were terrified. I’ve never seen Du Yu like this before. Even when he was locked in a magical duel with Zhong Kui, he never trembled.”

Zhan Qisheng carefully recalled the words Du Yu had just spoken, then looked down at Ying Ning.

“Letter… Mother… Pen?”

His brows suddenly shot up. “I know!”

“You know?”

“Earlier, I told Du Yu that Houtu birthed the character for ‘letter,’ so the ‘mother’ of ‘letter’ is Lady Houtu. When Du Yu told me to ‘write a letter to my mother,’ he must have meant for us to contact Lady Houtu.” Zhan Qisheng looked at Ying Ning in his hand and continued, “Saying that some things ‘can only be written using this pen’ means that right now, only you can transmit a message to Lady Houtu. But I don’t understand the second half… What does it mean to ‘let mother come down the mountain’ and who is the ‘long-sought person’?”

Ying Ning thought for a second and said, “Lady Houtu lives on Mount Bugui. Telling her to come down the mountain likely means asking her to go check on the Legend Administration at the foot of the mountain. Right now, the Legend Administration and the Eight Great Reapers are all searching for Director He Suoyi. If I’m guessing correctly, He Suoyi must be the ‘long-sought person,’ and he might have shown up at the Legend Administration.”

Ying Ning had witnessed the entire incident alongside Du Yu, so she naturally knew this matter was of utmost importance. After the two of them sorted out the clues, Ying Ning immediately sent a voice transmission to Lady Houtu.

“My Lady!”

“Huh? Little girl Ying Ning? You startled me. What’s wrong?” Lady Houtu sounded like she was in the middle of eating something.

“My Lady, it’s an emergency. Please listen to me…”

…

After delaying for quite a while, Du Yu finally arrived outside Zhang Jian’s house.

‘I wonder if that guy Zhan Qisheng understood what I meant…’ Du Yu muttered silently in his heart. ‘Please don’t waste any time…’

Along the way, Du Yu had called out Xiao Qi’s name every three steps. Not only did Xiao Qi not seem annoyed, she actually sounded a bit happy. Knowing that she was alright put Du Yu’s mind somewhat at ease.

But what was he supposed to do now?

Du Yu stood outside Zhang Jian’s door, thinking that if he knocked and opened this door, the progression of events would spiral completely out of control.

“Xiao Qi, you’re still there, right?” Du Yu asked again.

But this time, Xiao Qi did not answer.

“Xiao Qi? Where are you?” Du Yu froze.

There was still absolute silence from the Legend Administration’s end.

“Xiao Qi!” Du Yu felt a sense of foreboding. Could he have stalled for so long that He Suoyi had grown suspicious?

“Did you slip away?! I’m telling you, if you ran off, our deal is off! Say something, quickly!”

This time, someone finally spoke.

However, the speaker was not the timid-sounding Xiao Qi, but He Suoyi.

“Did you discover me from the very beginning?” an aged voice drifted over slowly.

Du Yu stiffened, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

“What happened to Xiao Qi?”

“She is right beside me,” He Suoyi said. “I made her sleep for a while. I will take over the voice transmission in her place now.”

“Sleep for a while?” Du Yu gritted his teeth. “He Suoyi, what exactly are you trying to do?”

He Suoyi let out a dry chuckle. “Do you remember what this old man said? In this world, there must be a cause to have an effect. If I sever the cause, the effect will no longer exist in this world.”

“Zhang Jian is that ’cause’?” Du Yu asked. “Everything you’ve done is just to kill Zhang Jian?”

“Du Yu, you are a smart man,” He Suoyi stated. “Help me kill Zhang Jian, and I will let you return to the present world safely. He is just a complete stranger to you; you should know which choice to make, right? I currently control everything within the Legend Administration, yet I am calmly negotiating with you. I’ve given you more than enough of a right to choose.”

“I refuse,” Du Yu declared without a shred of hesitation. “Don’t get the hierarchy twisted here. I’m the one currently inside the legend, and I’m the only one who can kill Zhang Jian. If you want him dead, you have to listen to me. The question isn’t whether ‘you are negotiating with me,’ it’s whether ‘I am willing to negotiate with you’.”

He Suoyi stayed silent for a moment before replying, “Just as I expected, you wouldn’t agree so easily. I meticulously planned every single step, yet I failed to plan for you.”

“You mean I disrupted your plan…” Du Yu prodded. “That plan to kill Zhang Jian?”

“Yes, and no,” He Suoyi said. “Killing Zhang Jian isn’t the final goal. It is only one part of the plan.”

“How about you tell me about this plan since we have some free time right now?” Du Yu asked.

“Are you stalling for time?” He Suoyi retorted. “This is the Legend Administration. It rarely sees any visitors on an ordinary day. Furthermore, you can’t use voice transmissions, much less call for reinforcements. Even if you stall for time, what could you possibly do?”

“Oh?” Du Yu scoffed lightly. “You’re right, I am stalling for time. Director, you are a smart man too. Why don’t we chat about your plan this time and discuss where each of us might be lacking? After all, it’s rare to meet a worthy opponent. It’ll be hard to find another opportunity like this in the future.”