Unexpected Turn

"Big Cat?" Both Da Yi and the Queen Mother of the West froze.

The Queen Mother of the West looked around and silently cursed:

Big Cat? Is he talking about This Dowager again?

Du Yu struggled to his feet and smiled at Da Yi. "Brother Da Yi, this is Big... this is the Queen Mother of the West."

"Hey! Were you just about to say something insolent?!" the Queen Mother of the West snapped at Du Yu.

"The Queen Mother of the West?!" Da Yi had never expected such a high-ranking immortal to stand before him. He dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Brother Da Yi, no need for that. The Queen Mother of the West is here to reward you." Du Yu helped Da Yi up and held out his hand to her. "Come on, hand it over."

"You are terribly rude! How can you demand a gift of thanks with that attitude?!" The Queen Mother of the West looked displeased.

Du Yu thought she really was the prickly sort who refused to show her softer side. He leaned closer and said, "We're all cleaning up your mess here, so none of us has room to criticize anyone else. Hurry up and give him the elixir so I can clock out."

Though angry, the Queen Mother of the West knew there was no reasoning with someone like Du Yu. She took a wooden box from her sleeve and was about to hand it to Da Yi when Du Yu stopped her again.

"Wait! Boss, do you have a Loudness Talisman?"

"A Loudness Talisman?" The Queen Mother of the West looked puzzled. "At my current level of cultivation, This Dowager hasn't carried such low-grade talismans in ages. What do you intend to do?"

"I want to shout something. Can you help me?"

The Queen Mother of the West nodded. "Simple. This Dowager can carry your voice for you."

She placed her hand on Du Yu's chest. "Go ahead."

Du Yu drew a deep breath and shouted, "Oh! Isn't this the Queen Mother of the West?! Yes, I'm Da Yi! I shot down the suns! What?! You want to thank me?! No need, no need! Please, don't! What?! The Elixir of Immortality?! A mortal can become an immortal just by eating it?! Oh, that's far too precious! You could've just come by-why bring a gift?! Really, there's no need! Oh, no need at all!"

The villagers at the foot of the mountain heard every word clearly.

"So that's what happened! Da Yi truly is a hero among us!"

Da Yi and the Queen Mother of the West stared blankly at Du Yu.

"Even if you have no shame..." The Queen Mother of the West withdrew her hand from Du Yu's chest. "The two of us still have to face people after this."

"None of that matters!" Du Yu let out a long breath. "Everything's finally settled. Brother Da Yi, hurry up and take it. Thank her for her gracious favor."

Da Yi gave a wry smile and waved his hand. "Forget it. You clearly did the most this time. How could I accept the Queen Mother of the West's gift...?"

"Brother Da Yi!" Du Yu suddenly gripped his shoulders, his expression solemn. "If you don't take this gift, all my efforts will have been wasted. You have to promise me you'll accept it."

"In that case..." After thinking for a moment, Da Yi nodded helplessly. "I'll accept it. I heard you say it was the Elixir of Immortality, but I probably won't have any use for it."

"Mm..." Du Yu already knew what Da Yi was thinking. "Whether you can use it or not, just accept it."

"What do you two mortals take This Dowager for? A flower seller?" The Queen Mother of the West had stood beside them holding the box for so long that she finally lost patience.

"Ah, Boss Big Cat, sorry, sorry." Du Yu hurriedly apologized.

"Insolence! You are not to call This Dowager Big Cat! Nor are you to call This Dowager Boss!"

"Brother Da Yi!" Du Yu turned straight to Da Yi. "Look how angry the boss is! Take it already! If you keep refusing, you're being unreasonable!"

"Huh? Yes, of course..." Da Yi hastily agreed and accepted the box containing the elixir. He opened it, and sure enough, the elixir lay inside, snow-white and radiating dense spiritual energy. Strangely, however, there was one whole pill and one half pill.

"Huh?" Du Yu looked puzzled. "Boss, didn't you promise me two pills altogether? Why is half a pill missing?"

The Queen Mother of the West wore a complicated expression. "I... I actually only have this one and a half left. The whole pill can allow a person to attain fleshly sainthood and ascend as an immortal. The half pill lacks sufficient spiritual power, so at most it can let livestock like cattle or sheep ascend as immortals..."

"Well, that's your fault..." Du Yu said. "You should've told me beforehand."

"Du Yu!" Dong Qianqiu suddenly interrupted. "Stop making things difficult for the Queen Mother of the West. She originally intended to take that half pill herself. After taking it, she could assume a fully human form. Now she would rather cultivate for several hundred more years herself than withhold that half pill from you. That's more than enough to prove her sincerity!"

Hearing Dong Qianqiu's words, Du Yu's heart suddenly softened. He looked up at the Queen Mother of the West. This big cat still looked utterly overbearing, even holding her chin high while apologizing.

"Big Cat, I didn't expect you to be such a good person..."

"Wha...?" The Queen Mother of the West's face instantly flushed. "Insolence! Insolence!"

"All right!" Du Yu walked over and patted her shoulder. "Enough with the insolence. Since you're already here, want to come home with us for a meal?"

"I!" The Queen Mother of the West glared at Du Yu. "This Dowager will not! Farewell!"

She swept her sleeves and flew straight into the sky.

"Brother Pang Meng, is the Queen Mother of the West a friend of yours? She's so strange."

"Yes. Strange as she is, she really is a good person." Du Yu still felt unwell, so he leaned on Da Yi. "Brother Da Yi, let's go home."

The two supported each other as they descended the mountain. All the villagers cheered, but their praise was entirely for Da Yi. No one knew who Du Yu was.

"Sister Qianqiu, how did I do? I finished the mission in just five days."

He had expected to trade a few jabs with Dong Qianqiu, but all he received was silence.

As far as Du Yu could remember, this was the first time he had called Dong Qianqiu and received no response.

"Sister Qianqiu?"

He called a few more times, but there was still no response.

"Strange. Did she go to the bathroom?"

Du Yu thought little of it and followed Da Yi home. Da Yi invited Youqiong over, and Heng'e prepared a table full of delicious food. Everyone enjoyed a hearty meal together in warm harmony.

For Du Yu, this was easily the happiest day since he had arrived. They ate and drank, welcoming a sunset they had not seen in far too long.

As the sun sank, the whole land rapidly began to cool. Even lying in bed, he could hear the earth cooling.

Yet Du Yu kept feeling that something was off. In television dramas, a scene this warm and harmonious usually meant the protagonist wasn't far from death.

"Sister Qianqiu, are you back?"

Du Yu called Dong Qianqiu again, but still no one answered.

This time, panic began to creep in. An idiom surfaced unbidden in his mind.

Cross the river, then tear down the bridge.

After all, he was only a lonely, wandering ghost. All that talk about "only a tiny number of people being able to enter legends" and "a reincarnation slot as a rich heir"-maybe it was all a lie!

They've abandoned me!

These strange thoughts poured out in a frenzy, and Du Yu grew more and more restless as he lay in bed.

Am I supposed to live out my life here as Pang Meng?

In this ancient age, in Emperor Yao's era, where absolutely everything is in desperately short supply?

"Du Yu."

Just as Du Yu approached the brink of collapse, a familiar voice sounded.

"S-Sister Qianqiu?" Du Yu didn't know how to face her. "Why... why did you ignore me for so long? I..."

"I'm sorry, Du Yu." Dong Qianqiu's voice held both apology and exhaustion. "I didn't mean to."

"Oh, it's... it's nothing. I was just a little worried about you." Du Yu hadn't expected Dong Qianqiu to apologize and didn't know how to respond.

What happened to Dong Qianqiu?

Countless questions assailed Du Yu.

How could this meticulous workaholic sound like this?

Since she contacted me herself, does that mean I haven't been abandoned?

"Du Yu, get some rest today. When you wake up tomorrow, I have something to tell you."

"Oh, give me a break." Du Yu rubbed his forehead. "Who could sleep after hearing that? Just tell me now."

Silence. More silence.

"Sister Qianqiu," Du Yu said, "I'll accept it. I imagined all sorts of bad endings just now. Whatever it is, I'll accept it. As long as you tell me what's really happening and put my mind at ease, I'll accept it."

Dong Qianqiu sighed. "Du Yu... the truth is, there's still an enormous problem with the legend you're in."

"An enormous problem?" Du Yu thought for a moment, then quickly caught on. "Could it be... Chang'e Flying to the Moon?"

"That's right. I originally told you that Chang'e Flying to the Moon would inevitably follow Da Yi shooting down the suns, but I was wrong. No matter how we run the predictions, the Heng'e in your story never swallows the elixir. After the suns were shot down today, we meant to wrap up work on the legend, but the instruments' predictions caught everyone by surprise. The machine predicted that if Chang'e Flying to the Moon fails to happen, twenty-one million Supreme Pivots will appear out of nowhere in our present-day society."

"Twenty..." Du Yu sucked in a cold breath. "Why so many?! It's just Chang'e Flying to the Moon! So what if that immortal doesn't exist in the legends?"

"You're wrong. Without Chang'e, Marshal Tianpeng wouldn't be banished to the mortal realm for secretly meeting her. If Tianpeng isn't banished, Zhu Wuneng will never exist, and the entire legend of Journey to the West will fall apart. The eventual consequences would be extraordinarily far-reaching..."

"That..." After Dong Qianqiu's explanation, Du Yu finally understood. There was that connection, too.

"So, no matter what..." The apology in Dong Qianqiu's voice was unmistakable. "Please make Heng'e swallow the elixir."

What is this supposed to be?!

Isn't this an even worse ending than being abandoned here?

Da Yi and Heng'e are clearly a match made in heaven, yet I have to tear them apart. Doesn't that make my supposed "solution that satisfies everyone" a complete joke?

Du Yu gazed at the moon outside his window, his heart heavy with melancholy.

"Sister Qianqiu, can I refuse this proposal?"

"I'm afraid not. This is the reason the Legend Management Bureau exists." Dong Qianqiu didn't know how to answer him. All she could say was, "Compared with Da Yi's feelings, I care more about tens of thousands of lives. I'm sorry."

Du Yu didn't close his eyes all night. He watched until the sun rose. When Da Yi came to knock at daybreak, Du Yu didn't open the door.

"Brother Pang Meng, are you all right?" Da Yi asked from outside.

"I'm fine. I just don't have much of an appetite. Don't come looking for me today."

Da Yi was puzzled. They had been drinking and laughing together just last night. Why did Brother Pang Meng seem like an entirely different person today?

Du Yu's thoughts were a tangled mess. He was at a loss, unable to advance or retreat.

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he sat straight up in bed.

"The brocade pouch!"

Mr. Kongming's third brocade pouch!

He had said to open the third pouch when there was nothing else he could do!

As though clutching a straw that could save him from drowning, Du Yu seized on the thought. Perhaps Mr. Kongming was the only one who could help him now!

He stumbled over to find his waist pouch and dug out the last slip of paper.

"Mr. Kongming, tell me! What should I do?!"

Du Yu slowly opened the third brocade pouch. After a single glance, he sank limply to the floor and sobbed too hard to speak.

"Is that so? Mr. Kongming, is that what you think?"

The third brocade pouch lay quietly on the floor, bearing only these words-

"Keep all living souls in your heart."

Yes, Mr. Kongming had been dead for many years, yet he still cared whether the people of the world lived in peace and contentment, whether children had enough to eat. If it were him, he would certainly do this...

But Du Yu remembered the way Heng'e looked at Da Yi, remembered the two of them embracing through tears and laughter...

"Do I really have no choice...?"

Watching Du Yu slumped on the floor, Dong Qianqiu's eyes filled with tears. He Suoyi approached and gently patted her. "Qianqiu, this is a test. Whether he can become a full-fledged Operator depends on this. Neither of us wants another incident like Xiao Zhan's, do we?"

Du Yu stayed in his room until the sun set again.

Worried, Da Yi came to knock once more. "Brother Pang Meng, I'm heading out shortly to hunt some wild beasts for everyone to eat. Seeing you like this has us all worried. If something's wrong, you must tell us."

Du Yu listened quietly without speaking.

Da Yi shook his head helplessly and left.

Turning the street corner, Da Yi went to Youqiong's home and said, "Youqiong, Brother Pang Meng helped me shoot down the suns, and his injuries still haven't healed. Your sister-in-law is home alone with no one to look after her, either. I'm going out to hunt some wild beasts in a moment. If you're free, could you go to my place and help take care of them?"

"Of course, Brother Yi!" Youqiong waved his hand. "Also, Brother Da Yi, could you stop calling me Youqiong from now on? I've changed my name! I'm going to be the second Yi after Da Yi. I want to be called Hou Yi!"

"Hou Yi?" Da Yi smiled. "Hahaha! All right, all right."

Da Yi bid Youqiong farewell and headed toward the woods.

"Hou Yi? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere..." Da Yi murmured to himself.

But where exactly had he heard it?

He couldn't remember.

Only after Da Yi had gone far away and the sky had darkened did Du Yu slowly leave his room.

As though he had lost his soul, he walked straight to the stove, picked up a sharp skinning knife, then turned toward Heng'e's bedroom.

Du Yu knocked. Before long, Heng'e poked her head out. "Oh! Brother Pang Meng! How are your injuries?"

Du Yu looked at her with lifeless eyes, then drew the sharp knife from behind his back.

"Brother Pang Meng, what... what are you doing?"

Du Yu advanced step by step. Heng'e could only retreat, and the two moved into the room.

"Hand over the Elixir of Immortality," Du Yu said coldly.

"The Elixir of Immortality?" Heng'e looked puzzled. "Brother Pang Meng, my husband told me about it. He never wanted it in the first place and meant to give it to you, but you didn't accept it that day. Since you want it now, I'll just fetch it for you."

Du Yu bit his lip hard.

How can you be so kind...?

Every one of you is so kind. How am I supposed to be the villain?