Legend Management Bureau Chapter 98

[ … words ]

With a crisp creak, the wooden door behind Du Yu slowly swung open.

“Taishang Laozun!” Du Yu exclaimed. “How is Sister Qianqiu?”

Xie Bi’an also stood up, looking at the old man before them.

“It is Taishang Laojun, not Taishang Laozun,” Taishang Laojun said with a frown. “When will you ever get my name right, kid?”

“This junior is simply burning with anxiety. It was a slip of the tongue.”

Taishang Laojun pulled a towel out of thin air and wiped the bloodstains from his hands. He then produced a small wooden box. Opening it, he inspected the contents—seven blood-red pills lay quietly inside. After confirming everything was in order, he slowly handed the box to Meigui.

“Little ghost girl, go dress her properly. Have her take one pill from this box every day. It will restore her lost vitality and blood.”

Meigui carefully took the wooden box and turned to enter the room.

Du Yu offered a deep bow of respect to Taishang Laojun. “Heavenly Venerable, I do not even know how to begin thanking you…”

“Regardless… please pass on my gratitude to the Jade Emperor as well.” Du Yu bowed to Taishang Laojun once more.

“I shall.” Taishang Laojun nodded and slowly walked away.

“I need to go in and check on her!” Du Yu turned to enter the room, but Xie Bi’an grabbed him.

“Little Du, based on what the Heavenly Venerable just said, Assistant Dong is not wearing any clothes, right? How can you go in right now? Would you be doing right by my sworn sister, Fan Xiaoguo?”

“Huh?” Du Yu barely processed Xie Bi’an’s words. “What does this have to do with Fan Xiaoguo?”

Xie Jin also giggled softly from the side. “It truly would be unfair to Xiaoguo.”

“Sigh… You Xie family members are so annoying…” Du Yu muttered with a frown. “My mind is an absolute mess right now, so please do not add to the chaos.”

Xie Jin and Xie Bi’an exchanged a smile. Xie Bi’an spoke up, “Du Yu, you shouldn’t just wait around here. Leave it to Meigui. The other netherworld emissaries have likely woken up by now. Let’s go out and meet them.”

Du Yu pondered for a moment before silently nodding.

The three of them slowly walked down the corridor and arrived at the previous room. The seven netherworld emissaries had already regained their senses and were sitting together, chatting.

“Du Yu?”

Seeing Du Yu approach, they all stood up.

“Respected leaders…” Du Yu offered them a bow and said, “I am truly sorry for this time… I never expected the Director to possess such vast divine abilities. I nearly got everyone killed.”

“What nonsense are you spouting, kid?” Zhong Kui suddenly bellowed. “If you hadn’t discovered that old thief’s conspiracy, who knows how many people in the Underworld would have died!”

“Heh, indeed,” Cui Jue agreed. “Both the Great Emperor of Mount Tai of the Eastern Peak and the Great Emperor of Fengdu of the Northern Yin faced immense danger during this disaster. This is a catastrophic event the likes of which the Underworld has never seen since ancient times. You are the hero of this crisis.”

“Actually…” Du Yu hesitated before speaking, “It wasn’t just the Underworld. Even the Jade Emperor was almost killed.”

“What?” The immortals were stunned. “Why do you say that?”

Du Yu slowly sat down and recounted everything that had happened within the legend to the eight great emissaries in detail.

“I see…” Xie Bi’an said. “He Suoyi’s scheme was to assassinate all the leaders of the immortal realm?”

“Thinking about it this way, it isn’t surprising that the Jade Emperor was targeted.” Cui Jue lowered his head in thought for a moment before adding, “There are only a handful of leaders in the immortal realm. The Queen Mother of the West and the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas possess demonic and monstrous physiques, born with innate magical powers. Even if one traveled back in time, killing them would be no easy task. On the other hand, the Jade Emperor and the Great Emperor of Mount Tai were once mortals, making them far easier targets.”

“The scale of this turmoil is truly severe,” Xie Bi’an stated. “Let’s rest for a moment, and then we will immediately send a voice transmission to the Jade Emperor.”

As they were discussing the matter, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from the courtyard.

“You two mighty entities!” a tender, childlike voice called out. “Please wait here for a moment and allow me to report to the ancestor.”

“Report what?” a youth replied. “I’m not here to see the Black and White Impermanence. I’m here for the Operator.”

Du Yu and the several emissaries stood up and walked out to take a look.

Nezha and Yang Jian were trying to force their way into the room, completely ignoring the protests of Xie Sha and Fan Tu.

Fan Tu was truly in a difficult position. Why were so many people barging into the Palace of Impermanence today?

Du Yu looked over and immediately recognized one of them as the True Lord Erlang, Yang Jian. This Erlang Shen truly looked exactly as the legends described—radiating heroism and bearing a third eye on his forehead. But who was the youth next to him, sporting dreadlocks, riding on rollerblades, and wearing an oversized shirt…?

Du Yu scrutinized his face carefully before a look of pure shock washed over him. “The young hero, little Nezha?!”

“Yo, if it isn’t the little trendsetter and little three-eyes?” Xie Bi’an chuckled as he stepped out. “Here for a sparring match?”

“Ah, Old White,” Nezha greeted. “The Jade Emperor sent a message. We’re here to take that operator to report in.”

Yang Jian frowned deeply upon hearing this.

“Nezha, can you not speak properly?” After reprimanding him, Yang Jian bowed to the crowd. “Honorable Emissaries, the Jade Emperor just transmitted an order. If the Operator has no other pressing matters, we are to invite him for a meeting.”

“Oh? The Jade Emperor is looking for me?” Du Yu naturally knew that the current Jade Emperor was Zhang Jian, and he couldn’t help but want to meet him as well.

“May I ask who the Operator is?” Yang Jian inquired.

Du Yu stepped forward and declared, “That would be me.”

Yang Jian carefully studied his face and slowly said, “Have we…”

“Stop!” Du Yu hurriedly threw his hands up to interrupt Erlang Shen. “Whatever you do, don’t say you’ve met me!”

“Uh…” Erlang Shen paused in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“If you’ve met me, it means something is going to go wrong with your legend. Given your status, your legend must be at least Grade B or higher. Now that the Legend Management Bureau is destroyed, I might not be able to help you.”

“Hahaha!” Cui Jue laughed heartily. “Even if Erlang doesn’t say he’s met you, does that mean his legend won’t have any problems?”

“I’m just looking for some psychological comfort anyway,” Du Yu shook his head. “None of you try to scare me right now.”

Nezha stared intensely at Du Yu. He felt that the man’s figure was somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember who he was.

“Brother, do you have any other important matters to attend to?” Yang Jian asked. “If not, please come with us.”

Du Yu frowned and replied, “You two immortals, while I also really want to meet the Jade Emperor, can this wait a bit?”

“Wait a bit?” Nezha snapped impatiently. “The two of us don’t have all the time in the world to stand around waiting for you.”

“Oh!” Du Yu quickly waved his hands upon hearing this. “You don’t need to wait for me here. I still have a few teleportation talismans on me. Once I finish my current tasks, I’ll head up to the Heavenly Court myself.”

“Teleportation talismans?” Nezha blinked in surprise. “Only mortals can use teleportation talismans.”

“Do not be rude, Nezha.” Yang Jian held out a hand to stop him. “This brother is indeed a mere mortal.”

“A mortal?” Nezha curled his lips and muttered under his breath, “I guess I really did mistake him for someone else. How could a mortal possibly be the ‘God of Trends’?”

“Little Du,” Xie Bi’an said to Du Yu. “Assistant Dong is currently being taken care of by Meigui, and she won’t be in any danger while in my residence. Furthermore, since the Legend Management Bureau has been destroyed, I assume there won’t be any work for you to do for a while. If you are free, you should go meet the Jade Emperor. You just completed his legend, so he is likely thinking of you right now.”

“Seventh Lord, those aren’t the issues I’m worried about.” Du Yu said, looking troubled. “I need to resolve Little Zhongli’s situation first…”

“Oh?” Xie Bi’an suddenly realized what he meant. “That’s true. Zhongli Chun is currently unconscious. You definitely should go find Empress Houtu and ask her for an explanation first.”

Du Yu turned back to Yang Jian and Nezha. “You two big brothers, I should have everything sorted out in a day or two. When the time comes, I’ll go up to the Heavenly Court and pay my respects to the Jade Emperor on my own.”

“Since that is the case…” Yang Jian cupped his fists in a salute to Du Yu. “We shall not overstay our welcome. We will meet again in the Heavenly Court in the future.”

Du Yu nodded, and the two transformed into a flash of golden light, vanishing from the spot.

“Everyone, I won’t stick around any longer either!” Du Yu announced. “I must go see Empress Houtu immediately. I leave Sister Qianqiu in your care.”

Bidding farewell to the eight great emissaries, Du Yu took out another teleportation talisman, slapped it onto his body, and headed towards the Mountain of No Return.

With Yingning present, the entrance to Empress Houtu’s cave dwelling opened on command, revealing the passageway.

After disabling the magical arrays along the way, Du Yu returned to the familiar stone cavern.

Empress Houtu was inside, stuffing her face with food in massive bites. Little Wangliang and Chigui were standing behind her, watching. After a short while, Empress Houtu seemingly choked and hurriedly gulped down a large bowl of wine.

Du Yu had always been curious as to why immortals still needed to eat, but Empress Houtu wasn’t an ordinary immortal, so he had never dared to ask.

“Boss! I have something to ask you!”

Empress Houtu paused upon hearing him and slightly raised her head.

“Boss! I know you just fought a massive battle and I should let you rest, but this is incredibly urgent. Do you remember the ‘Record of the Eightfold Ghosts’ you gave me? A malicious spirit signed her name and entered it, but something seems very wrong with her…”

Du Yu babbled on endlessly. Empress Houtu stared at him, slowly exuding an intimidating aura.

Du Yu froze. When he saw Empress Houtu just a few days ago, she definitely hadn’t possessed such a terrifying presence. How could she seem like a completely different person in just a few short days?

He watched as she tilted her head, glaring at him with a frown, and muttered softly, “‘Record of the Eightfold Ghosts’?”

“Yeah!” Du Yu grew a bit confused. “Boss, don’t you remember? The ‘Record of the Eightfold Ghosts’ that you gave me!”

“How could I possibly have given the ‘Record of the Eightfold Ghosts’ to you? I clearly gave it to…” Empress Houtu narrowed her eyes in bewilderment. “Strange… who did I give it to again…?”

“Boss… what are you saying?”

“Ah, whatever. Best to forget it…” Empress Houtu sighed and went back to gnawing on a chicken leg.

Du Yu slowly stood up. He was getting a very bad feeling about this.

“Boss… do you still remember who I am?”

“Hmph.” Empress Houtu scoffed coldly. “Does this grand aunt really need to know every random, wandering ghost?”

Du Yu’s eyes widened in shock. He quickly looked towards Chigui and Wangliang behind Empress Houtu, only to see Chigui shaking his head helplessly, while Wangliang happily munched on an apple as if nothing had happened.