Quite a Show

"Sigh... what am I even doing..."

Fan Xiaoguo muttered silently to herself as she examined the wounds of the woman before her.

In this small room, besides Dong Qianqiu, whom she had just met, there was now another woman whose name she did not know. The woman was tall and strikingly beautiful. Fan Xiaoguo could not possibly compare.

"That bastard Du Yu... he actually left me behind and ran outside..." Fan Xiaoguo cursed inwardly. "Doesn't that make me the most awkward person here?"

After checking the woman's injuries, Fan Xiaoguo began bandaging her. She really was badly hurt, but the problem was that her face remained completely expressionless. She would not even glance at Fan Xiaoguo.

Before long, Dong Qianqiu finished regulating her breathing and stood up.

"Xiaoguo, how are her injuries?" Dong Qianqiu asked, looking at Zhongli Chun.

"They're serious, but she's incredibly tough. She'll probably recover very soon."

Dong Qianqiu nodded, studied Zhongli Chun again, and said, "I don't know what happened, but if you're scheming something, I won't let you get away with it."

Still expressionless, Zhongli Chun glanced at Dong Qianqiu and snorted coldly.

"Who do you think you are, trying to meddle in my affairs?"

Dong Qianqiu replied irritably, "I don't care what you do, but I will never allow you to hurt Du Yu! He's the lifeblood of the entire Legend Management Bureau!"

Zhongli Chun suddenly froze at those words, then murmured to herself, "So his name is Du Yu..."

Fan Xiaoguo took bandages and a few medicinal pills out of a Heaven-and-Earth Bag. Just as she was about to dress the woman's wounds, the woman spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh? Bandaging you," Fan Xiaoguo answered in confusion.

"No need. I've suffered worse injuries than these. I'll be fine in a little while."

"You still need bandages, though. If you keep bleeding like this, it'll have all sorts of negative effects on your body."

"I said there's no need. Don't you understand?"

"Huh?!" Fan Xiaoguo immediately frowned. Just who was this woman? She had been fussing over her all this time, and not only had the woman failed to thank her, she was being downright rude. "Why can't you recognize a good deed when you see one? I refuse to believe this! I'm bandaging you today, whether you like it or not. What are you going to do about it?"

Zhongli Chun looked utterly baffled. Even Dong Qianqiu jumped.

Young Fan Xiaoguo was unusually tough today.

After wrapping her up as thoroughly as a bound prisoner, Fan Xiaoguo finally breathed a sigh of relief. She stood and headed to the bathroom to wash her hands, asking, "Assistant Dong, what happened to you two? How did you get hurt in such a short time?"

"Hmph. You can thank this woman for that." Dong Qianqiu glared at Zhongli Chun.

"You fought? Then who exactly is this tall lady?"

"Zhongli Chun," Dong Qianqiu said coldly.

"Zhong... li... Chun..." Even the water on Fan Xiaoguo's hands seemed to turn icy. "You mean that Zhongli Chun?"

"That's right. The very Zhongli Chun you're thinking of."

"Oh my God!" Fan Xiaoguo shrieked. "I-I-I-I-I-I was just bandaging Zhongli Chun?"

The woman had such an extraordinary air and such a beautiful face that Fan Xiaoguo had never imagined she could be Zhongli Chun, the famously ugly woman. Everyone said Zhongli Chun was not only hideous, but also exceptionally violent, beating people until their souls scattered whenever the mood struck her. Yet this woman did not look like that sort of person.

Zhongli Chun sat up and inspected her bandaged body. She could barely even raise her hands, so she said expressionlessly, "What a busybody. Wrapping me up like this is such a nuisance."

Just then, Du Yu knocked on the door. "Ladies, is it all right if I come in?"

Zhongli Chun immediately smiled and gazed eagerly at the door. "Ah! Of course, of course! Come on in!"

"All right, my ass!" Seeing Zhongli Chun's newly bandaged body, Fan Xiaoguo was speechless. She was not wearing a thing! Fan Xiaoguo hurriedly picked up an outer garment and draped it over her. "Listen, even if you're Zhongli Chun, you can't be this careless about your appearance!"

"Busybody!" Zhongli Chun's eyes suddenly turned cold. "You've wrapped me up so tightly that I can't move my hands or feet, and I haven't settled that score with you yet!"

Du Yu could not make out what they were saying inside, so he opened the door and walked in.

"How did the bandaging go?" Du Yu asked, looking at Zhongli Chun.

"Sigh... this lady..."

Fan Xiaoguo sighed and shook her head. She was about to say something when Zhongli Chun suddenly spoke.

"The bandaging was excellent! Very thorough, and it doesn't get in the way at all!" Zhongli Chun said excitedly.

"Huh?!" Fan Xiaoguo frowned. She had seen a thing or two in her time, but this woman changed faces faster than someone turning pages.

"Did you study acting?"

Puzzled, Fan Xiaoguo turned to Dong Qianqiu, only to see her shrug helplessly. She did not know why either.

"That's good, that's good." Smiling, Du Yu took an orange out of his pocket. "Look, I bought you an orange."

"For me?" Irrepressible joy spread across Zhongli Chun's face. She solemnly reached out to take it. "Wonderful! This is the third time you've given me something."

"The third time?" Du Yu sank into thought. Xie Bi'an had said he had met Zhongli Chun before. Apparently, that claim had not come from nowhere. Perhaps he could only find the answer at the Legend Management Bureau.

"So... you two already knew each other?" Fan Xiaoguo asked in confusion. After thinking for a moment, her mouth fell open. "Don't tell me you ladies fought over him out of jealousy?"

Dong Qianqiu shook her head helplessly.

"Eat shit." Du Yu pressed a hand onto Fan Xiaoguo's head. "Miss Underworld Enforcer, if you don't know how to hold a conversation, you can just stop talking."

"Hey!" Fan Xiaoguo pushed Du Yu's hand away. "What are you doing?"

Knock, knock!

As the two bickered, a knock came at the door.

"Huh?" Du Yu was puzzled. No one should have known they were here.

"Don't make such a fuss. I ordered delivery." Fan Xiaoguo waved a hand and opened the door. Outside stood a delivery worker wearing a little black vest and a black helmet, with "Are You Starving to Death?" written across the chest.

"Hello, here's your order."

On closer inspection, it was four cups of milk tea.

"You seem to really like milk tea," Du Yu said.

"That's right. Milk tea is the source of my life," Fan Xiaoguo said solemnly, then took out the cups and handed them around.

"Milk tea?" Dong Qianqiu examined it in confusion. The cup held an oddly colored liquid with all sorts of additions floating inside. Do young people drink this now? I've had milk, and I've had tea. But what exactly is milk tea?

"Have some too, Du Yu. Full sugar with milk foam. It's really sweet and tastes amazing," Fan Xiaoguo said.

Before Du Yu could answer, Zhongli Chun suddenly spoke beside him.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Fan Xiaoguo jumped. "What's wrong?"

"Are you looking for trouble?" Zhongli Chun slowly stood. "Du Yu doesn't like sweet drinks! Bring out some unsweetened tea and milk."

"You... you're being unreasonable!" Fan Xiaoguo said with a pout. "Who would drink milk tea that wasn't sweet?"

Then Fan Xiaoguo held out the milk tea she had already sipped and said, "This one tastes better. Try a sip."

"You..." Zhongli Chun suddenly grew angry. "You dare feed me leftovers?"

"Huh...? Leftovers?" Fan Xiaoguo was truly at a loss. Zhongli Chun was far too strange.

"Leftovers?" Du Yu hurriedly stood. "No, no..."

Seeing Zhongli Chun bristling with murderous intent, Du Yu rushed over to soothe her. "Zhongli, this Underworld Enforcer means well. She's just sharing something she likes with you. She and Qianqiu over there are my friends or colleagues. You can't hurt them."

"Oh? Is that so?" Zhongli Chun withdrew her murderous aura and lowered her head. "Have I caused you trouble?"

"Not really." Du Yu shook his head and picked up a cup of milk tea. "You should treat them as friends too. Look, if she didn't consider you a friend, why would the Underworld Enforcer buy you milk tea?"

Du Yu inserted the straw and held the milk tea out to Zhongli Chun.

"Try it."

After hearing Du Yu's words, Zhongli Chun carefully accepted the milk tea and took a sip.

!!!

A look of utter shock appeared on her face.

"What is this concoction? It tastes so good..."

"Hehe!" Fan Xiaoguo could not help laughing at Zhongli Chun's expression. "You're actually pretty cute, Zhongli."

Zhongli Chun quickly finished the whole cup, still wanting more. She took a deep breath and let out an exceptionally loud belch. "Buuurp!"

"Oh, come on!" Fan Xiaoguo was a little embarrassed. "Zhongli, you're so beautiful! You're not allowed to burp that loudly!"

Zhongli Chun looked puzzled. "I'm full. Why can't I burp?"

Du Yu found it quite amusing. A tall beauty burping with such a serious expression-the contrast was simply hilarious.

As they chattered noisily in the room, Dong Qianqiu's phone rang.

"What is it, Qianqiu?" Du Yu asked.

"Something must have happened. Only people at the Legend Management Bureau know this phone's number," Dong Qianqiu said, taking out her phone.

"If something's happened, answer it."

Dong Qianqiu gave Du Yu a flat look. "Du Yu, we're currently absent from our posts without permission..."

"Uh..." Du Yu scratched his head. "That's true. If you answer, we're bound to get an earful..."

Although Dong Qianqiu feared being reprimanded, she was even more afraid that something really had happened. After considerable hesitation, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Little Dong." An elderly voice came from the other end.

"Director?"

"Yes, it's me. Have you had enough fun?"

"Huh?" Dong Qianqiu froze.

"Shall I give you another day off?"

"Ah, no... there's no need..."

He Suoyi chuckled. "Little Dong, although this is your first outing in nearly a thousand years, and I'd love to let you rest for a few more days, too much work has piled up over these nine hundred years that requires the Operator's attention..."

"Understood!"

Dong Qianqiu asked a few more detailed questions, then hung up.

"Du Yu, we need to go back."

"Oh?" Du Yu nodded. "All right."

Dong Qianqiu stood and walked over to Fan Xiaoguo, then said, "Xiaoguo... sorry to trouble you again..."

They got into the van and sped toward Mount Unreturning.

After driving for quite a while, Fan Xiaoguo finally could not hold back.

"Listen... I really don't mind driving you back..." Fan Xiaoguo glanced at Zhongli Chun in the rearview mirror. "But why is Zhongli coming to the Legend Management Bureau too?"

Du Yu also asked, "That's right, Miss Zhongli. Don't you need to go home?"

"Home?" Zhongli Chun asked. "What's home?"

"Home...?" Du Yu thought for a while, then said, "Home is somewhere you can relax, where you least need to pretend to be strong. There are also people there whom you care about."

"Home..." Listening to Du Yu's description, Zhongli Chun slowly smiled. She pointed at the van and asked, "From what you're saying, this is home, right?"

"Here...?" Du Yu looked around, unsure how to answer. To Zhongli Chun, was this place even more comfortable than home? Was there someone in this van whom she cared about?

"Du Yu, you won't get anywhere talking to her like that. Let me ask." Dong Qianqiu waved a hand at Du Yu, then looked at Zhongli Chun. "Zhongli Chun, where do you usually live?"

"Where do I live...?" Zhongli Chun thought for a moment. "When I'm tired, I sleep in the street. When I'm hungry, I rob wandering ghosts of their money and food. When I'm dirty, I bathe in the River of Forgetfulness."

"Huh?!" Fan Xiaoguo pouted. "So you don't normally do any skincare?"

"Miss Underworld Enforcer, is that really the point...?" Du Yu said irritably. "Besides bubble tea, is your favorite thing killing conversations?"

"None of your business..." Fan Xiaoguo muttered, glanced at Du Yu, and kept driving.

"Doesn't living like that make you sad?" Dong Qianqiu asked.

"If I'm sad, I eat something sweet."

For some reason, Du Yu felt a pang of sympathy for Zhongli Chun, so he asked, "You're a girl, and you just wander the streets like that?"

"A girl?" Dong Qianqiu almost thought she had misheard. Could the word "girl" possibly have anything to do with Zhongli Chun? "She-devil" would be more like it.

"So this is called wandering..." Zhongli Chun listened carefully to Du Yu and thought it over, then said a little sheepishly, "I thought everyone lived more or less like me."

"Not even close!" Fan Xiaoguo interrupted again. "We have to take care of our skin! Why is your skin so good when you don't do any skincare...?"

"Focus on driving!" Du Yu kicked the front seat. "Is skincare really the issue here? Do you sleep in the street or bathe in a river?"

"But I want to know..." Fan Xiaoguo looked at Dong Qianqiu again. "What do you think, Assistant Dong?"

"I wanted to ask too..." Dong Qianqiu looked at Zhongli Chun very seriously. "Don't you normally take care of your hair?"

"Ladies... how about we stop talking and just sit here in silence..." Du Yu said, covering his forehead.

Before long, the group arrived at the Legend Management Bureau on Mount Unreturning.

Dong Qianqiu knocked, and a staff member came out to greet them. Upon seeing Zhongli Chun, the staff member's expression visibly changed, but quickly returned to normal.

"Assistant Dong, the director would like to see you and the Operator."

Fan Xiaoguo exchanged a few farewells with them, then drove her battered van away into the sky.

Led by the staff member, Dong Qianqiu, Du Yu, and Zhongli Chun soon met He Suoyi, who was engrossed in a copy of the Underworld Daily.

"Director, we're here."

He Suoyi raised his head and was just about to speak when he spotted Zhongli Chun. "Oh? Now this is unusual."

Zhongli Chun paid He Suoyi no attention at all. She kept staring at Du Yu.

Dong Qianqiu stepped forward, pulled He Suoyi aside, and gave him a general account of what had happened that day.

"Such a thing happened?"

He Suoyi did not look particularly surprised. Turning back to them, he said, "Anyone who comes here is a guest. Normally, I would invite Zhongli Chun to make herself comfortable, but today's circumstances are special. We can't let her stay here to watch." He Suoyi waved to the side and summoned a staff member.

"Take Miss Zhongli to Du Yu's room to rest."

Hearing He Suoyi say this, Dong Qianqiu seemed to understand something.

"Why?" Zhongli Chun asked.

"It's a rule of the Legend Management Bureau," Dong Qianqiu said. "No one may see themselves within a legend. Today's legend must have something to do with you."

"No one may see themselves within a legend?" Du Yu asked. "What does that mean?"

"The Legend Management Bureau has had this rule since ancient times." He Suoyi stroked his beard. "No one may watch their own legend reenacted within the Legend Management Bureau."