Legend Management Bureau Chapter 99

[ … words ]

“You forgot?” Du Yu stared blankly at Goddess Houtu. “You don’t remember who I am?”

As soon as Du Yu’s voice fell, a flash of green light burst from his waist, and Yingning appeared. Tears welled up in her eyes as she rushed forward and threw her arms around Houtu.

“Ah! Little Yingning!” Goddess Houtu exclaimed. “Why are you here? Have you been comfortable these past few days? Did Chi or Mei bully you?”

Yingning quietly hugged Houtu for a moment, then turned her head and asked Chi, “Where do we start now?”

Chi shook his head. “Start from when you arrived here.”

Hearing this, Yingning nodded silently, then said to Goddess Houtu, “My Lady, I’ve been extremely comfortable! Mei and Chi have been very good to me too.”

After saying that, she turned and glared at Chi. Chi’s helpless expression instantly vanished, replaced by a look of utter impatience. “Are you confused, you old woman? Could Mei and I even beat Yingning in a fight?”

“I don’t care about that!” Goddess Houtu said with a smile, stroking Yingning’s hair. “Yingning is my little treasure. You are not allowed to mistreat her.”

“Hmph!” Chi scoffed coldly. However, Du Yu could clearly see the deep sorrow in his eyes; his impatient tone was completely faked.

“Rest assured, My Lady,” Yingning said, leaning against Houtu’s leg.

“I changed a long time ago, but you only ever remember me being arrogant and domineering, you old woman,” Chi muttered to himself.

“What exactly is going on?” Du Yu turned his head and asked Chi.

“It’s the old woman’s usual affliction,” Chi replied. “She has lived for far too long. Every once in a while, she has to forget certain things.”

“What?!” Du Yu stared blankly. “Is it the legendary… insufficient memory storage?”

“It’s much worse this time,” Chi said. “She forgot hundreds of years of memories all at once. The old woman usually hates seeing people, purely because she is terrified of running into old acquaintances and not being able to recognize them.”

“So that’s how it is…” Du Yu sighed. “No wonder the last time I met Goddess Houtu, she forgot that we had crossed paths before…”

“Yingning, who is that man?” Goddess Houtu asked, pointing at Du Yu.

“Him…” Yingning thought for a moment before declaring, “He is an annoying, detestable, and troublesome guy.”

“Oh?” Goddess Houtu raised her eyebrows and looked Du Yu over. “Boy, come here. Let this old lady get a good look at you.”

Du Yu froze, unsure of what she meant, but he did not dare to delay and slowly shuffled forward.

Goddess Houtu smiled. “Our little Yingning seems to find you incredibly annoying.”

“Uh, yeah, though I have no idea why,” Du Yu said, twitching his mouth. “There was even a time she tried to kill me.”

“Hahaha!” Goddess Houtu laughed uproariously. “Excellent, excellent.”

“Excellent?” Du Yu blinked in confusion. “Boss, you might have forgotten, but you were the one who entrusted Yingning to my care. Since you don’t seem to be feeling well today, I’ll return her to you so she can keep you company and chat with you.”

Du Yu felt a pang of reluctance in his heart. He had found no way to cure Zhongli Chun, and now he was giving Yingning back as well.

“Hold on,” Goddess Houtu said. “I left Yingning with you before?”

Du Yu gritted his teeth and said, “Yes… Boss, I don’t understand why they are all hiding things from you, but I don’t have the patience for that. Do you know? You have amnesia. You’ve forgotten a lot of things. For example, you know me. You sent Yingning to follow me into the legends. I came to you for help, and you even had a massive battle with He Suoyi.”

“What?” Goddess Houtu looked stunned. “All of that… this old lady forgot all of that?”

“Just look at the people around you. Every single one of them has a complicated, worried expression, yet how can you still eat with such a hearty appetite?”

“So that’s how it is…” Goddess Houtu offered a bitter smile. “No wonder they’ve been so evasive whenever I’ve tried to talk to them over the past couple of days.”

“Boss, is there any way to cure this illness of yours? As long as there is a treatment, I will definitely find a way to help you.”

“Illness?” Goddess Houtu shook her head. “How is this an illness? This is a good thing.”

“A good thing?”

“Boy, you are quite honest. I figure I must forget things often, but these little rascals around me never say a word about it.”

“They probably do it for your own good.”

Goddess Houtu nodded, then spoke slowly.

“Right now, this old lady really does need a favor from you.”

“What is it?”

“On my behalf… please continue keeping Yingning company.”

“Eh?” Du Yu paused. “What does that mean? Although I’d love to take her along, I keep feeling like she’s getting more and more annoyed with me. Who knows, she might actually kill me one of these days.”

“I have always been looking for someone,” Goddess Houtu interrupted, then looked dotingly at Yingning. “I wanted to find someone who could make Yingning lose her smile, even if it meant making her angry all day long. Yingning is just a child, after all. She doesn’t need to constantly use a smile to disguise herself. Even though she claims to find you annoying, I can tell she is actually very happy.”

“Happy?” Du Yu was taken aback. Not long ago, he had confidently told Zhan Qisheng to comprehend the meaning behind Yingning’s smile, but did he himself completely misunderstand the meaning behind her anger?

“My Lady… you need to take responsibility for your words. If I end up angering Yingning so much that something terrible happens…”

Goddess Houtu held up a slender hand to stop Du Yu, then turned to Yingning. “Little girl, what do you think?”

“Me?”

“Do you want to continue traveling with him?”

“I…” Yingning lowered her head, fiddling with the hem of her clothes, before murmuring, “As long as he doesn’t annoy me all day long, I guess I can stick with him for a couple more days…”

Now Du Yu was truly baffled.

‘They say a woman’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the ocean…’ Du Yu thought secretly to himself. ‘Zhan Qisheng, I was wrong. If you can’t comprehend the meaning behind Yingning’s smile, I definitely won’t blame you.’

“Since little Yingning has already spoken, what about you?” Goddess Houtu asked, looking at Du Yu. “You’re a grown man, are you still going to dawdle?”

“Then I naturally wouldn’t dare refuse.” Du Yu chuckled. “I suppose I’ll reluctantly take Yingning out to see the world some more.”

“You!” Yingning cried out indignantly, glaring at Du Yu with her bright eyes.

“There is one more thing,” Goddess Houtu said. “You just mentioned the ‘Eight Directions Ghost Record’…”

“Ah! Right!” Du Yu snapped back to reality. “My Lady, can you help me? There is someone very important to me inside the ‘Eight Directions Ghost Record’…”

“I once had a plan to find someone trustworthy and pass the ‘Eight Directions Ghost Record’ to them.” Goddess Houtu looked back at Yingning. “Yingning cannot commit herself to a jade pendant for eternity. The pendant will shatter one day, but the ‘Eight Directions Ghost Record’ will not. When that time comes, the owner of the ‘Eight Directions Ghost Record’ will become Yingning’s new master.”

“My Lady… I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing…” Du Yu chuckled awkwardly. “But I understand what you’re saying… Since you care about Yingning so much, why don’t you use this technique yourself and let Yingning stay with you forever?”

“I can’t do it.” Goddess Houtu shook her head. “Because Yingning always smiles at me, I am not qualified.”

“My Lady…” Yingning looked startled, on the verge of tears. “I genuinely like you, which is why I smile at you…”

“I know, I know.” Goddess Houtu clasped Yingning’s hand gently. “But little one, joy isn’t the only emotion in this world. I hope you can experience everything life has to offer. Don’t just harbor hatred in your heart while wearing a joyful smile on your face. You need to love, to grieve, to resent, to fear, and to worry. Only then can it be said that you have truly lived.”

Yingning froze for a second, then burst into loud wails, throwing her arms tightly around Goddess Houtu.

Although Du Yu desperately wanted to ask more about the “Eight Directions Ghost Record”, he couldn’t find an opening to interrupt, so he could only stand there helplessly.

Wangliang wandered over to Du Yu with an apple in hand. He took a bite, then mumbled through a mouthful of food, “Before your evil spirit fell asleep, did she go through a massive battle?”

Du Yu blinked in surprise, then hurriedly nodded. “Yes, yes, she did!”

“Did her magical power suddenly increase by a lot?”

“Yes, exactly!”

“And she erupted with billows of black mist?”

“Yes, she did!”

Wangliang nodded. Still holding his apple, he slowly wandered back to the table and continued eating.

Du Yu stared at Wangliang in utter bewilderment, then marched over. “Wait, you just asked me all those questions. According to normal logic, shouldn’t you directly tell me why that happened?”

“Hmm?” Wangliang raised his eyes and looked at Du Yu. “I was just asking. Besides, why should I tell you? Are we close?”

“Uh…” Du Yu looked troubled. “No, we aren’t really close… but in this situation, you are the only one who can help me…”

Wangliang took a few more bites of his apple before saying, “It’s nothing major. She just temporarily succumbed to her inner demons. She should wake up after sleeping for a while. Just pay more attention in the future and don’t let her enter a frenzied state. Otherwise, the demonic energy will grow heavier, and she won’t be able to be saved.”

“Succumbed to her inner demons…?”

Wangliang nodded. “It isn’t just ghosts who can become demons. If they possess a demonic heart, even the living can turn into demons. The evil spirit attached to you already has an incomplete set of seven mortal souls. If a demon were to possess one of those souls one day, she would become a genuine demon in every sense of the word.”

Du Yu hadn’t expected the situation to be this complicated.

Zhongli Chun… a demon…?

Even if she really had fallen to the demonic path, there was naturally nothing to fear. She was still her. She was still that Zhongli Wuyan who always held him dearly in her heart.

Du Yu simply felt that Little Zhongli had lived too harsh a life. When she was alive, she never fought or fought for anything, yet after death, she had risked her life for him time and time again. When exactly would he become strong enough to protect Zhongli Chun?

Since he learned from Wangliang that Little Zhongli was not in any serious danger, Du Yu finally relaxed.

“I’ll have to be careful not to make Little Zhongli angry from now on…” Du Yu muttered, then suddenly paused. “But that’s not right either… What if we run into Zhan Qisheng next time and Little Zhongli goes berserk again?”

Knowing it was useless to overthink it, Du Yu decided he simply had to pay closer attention to Little Zhongli’s emotional state.

Yingning and Goddess Houtu affectionately cuddled for a while longer before finally parting with great reluctance. She transformed back into a cluster of green light and flew back into Du Yu’s waist.

“Boss, I’ll be taking my leave then. I have a gathering in the Heavenly Court, so I’m quite busy.”