Legend Management Bureau Chapter 93

[ … words ]

Nezha fought like a mad dog. Multiple pairs of arms sprouted from his back, each wielding a different magical artifact. With bloodshot eyes, it took him no time at all to lay out a massive swath of people.

“Truly worthy of the title Eight-Armed Nezha,” Zhang Jian said slowly, panting heavily. “It is truly wonderful that he came.”

“Wonderful? Wonderful my ass,” Du Yu retorted, turning his head. “Bosses, you haven’t forgotten the ‘Final Plan’, have you? How are we supposed to carry out our plan with Nezha here?”

“Ah!” Zhang Jian paused in surprise. “Mister Du is absolutely right! But…”

Zhang Jian slowly turned his head to look at Zhang Youren.

“Youren, I want to confirm one last thing with you.”

“What is it, Chief?”

“Are you truly willing to exchange identities with me and let me become the Jade Emperor?”

Zhang Youren stared blankly for a moment before whispering, “What are you saying, Chief? Why do you think I hid this from the entire Heavenly Court and sneaked away to come here today?”

“Chief, you can set your mind at ease. Now, just tell me what we need to do next.”

“Originally, according to Mister Du’s idea, I only needed to hand over my black veil to you, and our identities would naturally swap. After all, no one knows that beneath this veil, I have the exact same face as you. But I didn’t expect you to be wearing such an eye-catching set of golden robes. If we really want to keep that Nezha from getting suspicious, we have no choice but to exchange clothes as well.”

Zhang Youren nodded, then asked with a troubled expression, “But how can we swap clothes right in front of the Third Prince Nezha?”

The two men simultaneously turned their gazes back to Du Yu.

“Hm? Why are you looking at me?” Du Yu was taken aback. “No way, right? I can’t handle that edgy teenager!”

“Mister Du… there’s no one else we can ask right now…” Zhang Jian pleaded. “Could we ask you to lure Nezha away, just like you did earlier?”

‘Good grief,’ Du Yu muttered in his heart. ‘Do you have any idea how many lies I had to spin just to keep that Nezha in check earlier? There’s no way I can cover up those lies now…’

Yet, seeing the desperate looks in both of their eyes, Du Yu felt his resolve waver.

“Sigh… fine, fine… Xie Bi’an once told me that you have to love the line of work you are in,” Du Yu waved his hand dismissively and sighed again. “Who asked this to be my responsibility? I’ll help you all the way to the end and see this through.”

Du Yu kept his eyes on Nezha until the boy killed the very last person, then silently stepped forward and called out to him.

“Kid, come with me. I’ll teach you a few tricks,” Du Yu called out.

“Teach me?” Nezha, whose eyes were still bloodshot from the slaughter, instantly showed a delighted expression upon hearing this. “Are you going to teach me those special spells?”

“Er… that depends on your comprehension. Come with me.” After saying this, Du Yu walked into the woods without looking back.

Nezha was just about to follow when he suddenly remembered something, looking at Zhang Youren with hesitation.

“Go on, Third Prince. Once you learn the new spells, remember to come teach me. I happen to want to chat with an old friend here anyway,” Zhang Youren waved at him.

“Haha! Alright!” Nezha laughed heartily. “If you encounter any danger, Jade Emperor, just shout! I’ll come back right away!”

As soon as his voice faded, Nezha dashed off in Du Yu’s direction.

“Sigh… how in the world am I going to stall him?” Du Yu muttered to himself. “If I let him carefully examine my magical artifacts, he’ll naturally realize there are vengeful spirits attached to them… I need to think of another way…”

“Hey! Trendy Big Bro!” Nezha ran over with a smile. “What spell are you going to teach me?”

Du Yu lowered his head and pondered for a long while before finally answering, “I am preparing to pass down an incantation to you.”

“An incantation?” Nezha asked. “Is it powerful?”

“Extremely powerful,” Du Yu nodded. “If you ever encounter thorny danger, you might as well try reciting this incantation.”

Du Yu thought to himself that according to the legends, Nezha shouldn’t face much danger after his physical body was reforged. Teaching him any random thing would be fine, as long as it didn’t get him killed.

“That’s fantastic!” Nezha immediately sat down cross-legged. “I’m very smart, I can learn anything at first glance. Speak!”

Du Yu cleared his throat and instructed, “I’ll recite a line, and you repeat after me.”

“Alright.”

“It’s him! It’s him! It’s exactly him!” Du Yu recited with his eyes closed.

Nezha paused, completely baffled. “What kind of incantation is this?! Shouldn’t the first line of an incantation be about the flow of spiritual energy and the breathing techniques of the dantian?”

“Are you going to learn it or not?” Du Yu demanded in annoyance. “Could such a trendy incantation possibly be the same as the ones you usually hear?”

“Oh, oh… I was wrong…” Nezha mumbled, then repeated after Du Yu. “It’s him, it’s him, it’s exactly him…”

“Very good. Now listen to the next line—our friend~~~~ little Nezha!” Du Yu ended up singing as he spoke.

Nezha was truly starting to feel confused. “No, wait, Trendy Big Bro… I’m still a little lost. Setting aside why your incantation sounds like a song, why… why am I even in the lyrics?!”

“Did you discover the profound mystery hidden within?” Du Yu asked, feigning deep solemnity. “I created this incantation just for you. It’s called ‘Young Hero Little Nezha.’ Aside from you, no one else in this world can activate this incantation.”

“So that’s how it is!” Realization dawned on Nezha. “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have asked so many questions…”

“Then why aren’t you hurrying up and singing?” Du Yu blurted out, before quickly correcting himself, “Why aren’t you hurrying up and learning?”

“Oh, oh… our friend~~~~~~~ little Nezha!”

“Wrong, the pitch is off.” Du Yu shook his head, extending a hand and pointing downward. “You sang too high. It needs to be a bit lower.”

“Our friend~~~ little Nezha!” Nezha sang it again.

“Yes, yes, yes, exactly that pitch. The next line is—ascending to the heavens, he is~~~~ higher than the sky!”

“Ascending to the heavens, he is~~~~ higher than the sky!” Nezha sang at the top of his lungs.

“Excellent, excellent! Descending to the sea, he is~~~~ larger than the ocean! Sing!”

“Descending to the sea, he is~~~~ larger than the ocean!”

“Yes, yes, yes, very good!” Du Yu waved his hands like an orchestra conductor. “Matching wits with demons~~ bravely subduing ghosts and monsters~~~ sing!”

“Matching wits with demons~~ bravely subduing ghosts and monsters~~~”

“The young hero, is precisely little Nezha!” Du Yu waved his hand, delivering a beautiful finish.

“The young hero, is precisely little Nezha!”

A light breeze blew past, making the atmosphere slightly awkward.

Du Yu pretended to withdraw his energy and coldly instructed Nezha, “Memorize this incantation well when you go back. It will have miraculous uses at crucial moments.”

“That’s it?” Nezha scratched his head in confusion.

“Yes, I’ll teach you the first verse for now. I forgot the lyrics for the second verse—no, I mean, the time isn’t right yet. When the time comes, I will naturally teach you.” Du Yu turned his head to look at Nezha and asked, “After reciting this incantation with me, do you feel any changes in your body?”

“Changes?” Nezha carefully felt the flow of magical power within his body, but there was no difference at all. “I just feel a sore throat.”

“Exactly!” Du Yu pointed at Nezha and declared. “You’ve grasped the basics!”

“That means I’ve grasped the basics?”

“In the beginning, your throat will hurt when you sing, but once you get used to it, it won’t hurt anymore!” Du Yu urged. “Sing it a few more times on your own, let me see how well you’ve mastered it!”

Unable to make heads or tails of the situation, Nezha could only sing it again by himself.

Nezha’s childish voice echoed throughout the entire forest.

“Very good! Pay attention to the beat!” Du Yu clapped his hands, keeping time for Nezha. “Don’t rush the tempo!”

Nezha sang it over and over again. Aside from his throat hurting more and more, he didn’t feel anything strange at all.

“Good, not bad,” Du Yu nodded. “I’ll just teach you this much for today. The time has been stalled long enough.”

“What did you say, Trendy Big Bro?”

“I said it’s getting late, we should head back and check on them.”

…

Du Yu and Nezha slowly walked back to the Investiture of the Gods Altar. The area had been destroyed beyond recognition by Nezha’s ‘descending from the heavens’ spell earlier. No wonder future generations could never find the location where Jiang Ziya appointed the gods.

Du Yu looked up and saw that Zhang Jian and Zhang Youren were still standing there, though it was unclear if they had finished their swap.

Seeing Du Yu and Nezha, the two men also walked forward.

Du Yu asked the person wearing the veil, “Boss, did you guys… get it done?”

“Yes, my brother, it is done,” the veiled man nodded.

Hearing this phrase, Du Yu breathed a sigh of relief. If this person were Zhang Jian, he wouldn’t call him ‘brother,’ but rather ‘Mister.’ From the looks of it, the one wearing the black veil had already been swapped with Zhang Youren.

“Since that’s the case, let’s head back our separate ways,” Du Yu added.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nezha agreed, his voice completely hoarse. “If we don’t go back soon, it’ll be bad if we get discovered. I’ve already learned enough fun things, so I don’t feel like going to any other mountains anymore.”

With that, he hopped onto the carriage and turned around, extending a hand to the man in golden robes.

However, the man in the golden robes didn’t rush to get on the carriage. Instead, he took a step toward Zhang Youren and Du Yu, cupping his hands in a respectful salute.

“Brother, Mister, I will never forget your immense kindness in this lifetime. A thousand thanks cannot express my gratitude.”

Du Yu smiled faintly and returned the salute. “Jade Emperor, you are too polite.”

Zhang Youren also smiled at Zhang Jian and urged, “I can finally be at ease now. Hurry and go, Jade Emperor.”

Zhang Jian bowed to them three more times before reluctantly boarding the carriage.

With a sharp neigh from the dragon-horse, the carriage rose from the ground and soared rapidly into the sky.

The two men stared blankly at the sky, feeling a sense of profound loss.

After a while, Zhang Youren turned and gave Du Yu a bow.

“My brother, I heard the Chief mention earlier that you helped him tremendously this time. I wonder if you might remove your veil so I can behold your face? It will give me something to remember when I repay this favor in the future.”

“Let’s not!” Du Yu quickly refused. “This situation has already caused quite a massive incident, and we even scammed Nezha. The fewer people who see me, the better.”

“This…” Having only just met Du Yu, Zhang Youren didn’t know what to say.

“Oh, right, leader,” Du Yu interjected. “You don’t need to return to the Zhang Family Village for the next few days.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Did the boss not tell you?” Du Yu thought about it and realized it made sense. Time was tight earlier, and this sort of thing couldn’t be explained in a few words. “For the next few days, you should go wait at Mount Tai. The boss has his own arrangements.”

“Mount Tai?”

“Yes, and it would be best if you went to the summit and cursed a few times,” Du Yu suggested after a moment of thought. “That way, it will fit the plot…”

“Although I don’t quite understand, since the Chief trusts you so much, I will simply do as you say.”

Du Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Now he could finally return.