Du Yu turned to look after hearing that. Sure enough, dust billowed along the distant horizon. Something seemed to be following them from far away, and judging by the amount of dust, it was probably huge.
"Brother Pang Meng, what's wrong?"
"N-no, nothing." Du Yu knew telling Da Yi something was following them would be useless right now, so he turned back and said, "Da Yi, I hope you won't worry about anyone else. Just follow your heart. For your own sake, do you want to shoot down the suns?"
Da Yi thought for a while, then nodded.
"I want to shoot down the suns, but I also want to grow old with Heng'e."
Du Yu gave it some thought too. That wasn't difficult.
If Da Yi became a half-immortal and his love for Heng'e faded over ten years, then Heng'e might indeed steal the elixir and swallow it to become an immortal. But things were different now. Da Yi and Heng'e had always been deeply in love. If they could find a way to shoot down the suns while things were still like this, neither Heng'e nor Da Yi would swallow the elixir. Wouldn't that let them shoot down the suns and preserve their love?
Or could they simply ask the Queen Mother of the West for two elixir pills...?
None of that was actually difficult. The hard part was figuring out how to shoot down the suns.
Du Yu glanced back at the billowing dust in the distance again. That thing seemed to be keeping its distance from them, never coming close.
Though fear still lingered in his heart, Du Yu certainly wasn't going to seek that thing out himself, so he continued traveling with Da Yi.
For some reason, despite traveling for so long under the scorching sunlight, Du Yu didn't feel very tired. In the real world, he figured he would have been drenched in sweat long ago.
Was it because I was already dead?
Throughout the entire day, Du Yu looked back many times without catching sight of that thing. He also had Dong Qianqiu check several times. Only after she confirmed that nothing was following them anymore did he relax.
"Brother Pang Meng, we've reached the Aolai Kingdom. We must be extremely careful."
"Um..." Du Yu said. "Could you give me our current delivery address in detail?"
"Delivery address?"
"I mean our exact location," Du Yu said. "I keep feeling like I've heard the name Aolai Kingdom somewhere before."
"We're currently near the Fierce River in the Northern Di Territory of the Aolai Kingdom, on the Eastern Victory Divine Continent."
"No, but the Eastern Victory Divine Continent and the Aolai Kingdom... why do they sound so familiar?" Du Yu said. "I used to repeat this stuff every day as a kid, but a few years of working and I've fucking forgotten it all."
"Familiar? Have you been here before, Brother Pang Meng?" Da Yi asked.
"No, I haven't. I'm not from around here, and I haven't been many places," Du Yu said.
"Oh, right." Du Yu lowered his voice. "Qianqiu, are there any famous people from this Aolai Kingdom?"
Dong Qianqiu sighed helplessly. "You've actually entered a legend, yet you don't even know this? On the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, in the Aolai Kingdom, there's a mountain called Flower-Fruit Mountain."
"Oh, right, right, right!" Du Yu slapped his forehead. "Isn't that the place they always mention in the episode where the Monkey King is born? Flower-Fruit Mountain in the Aolai Kingdom on the Eastern Victory Divine Continent! The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong!!"
"You're getting so worked up now. Why couldn't you remember any of it earlier?" Dong Qianqiu shook her head helplessly.
"You can't blame me. I haven't used that bit of knowledge since high school."
Da Yi stared at Du Yu in bewilderment. "Great what, what Wukong? Who's that?"
Du Yu waved a hand and gave a supremely confident, cold chuckle. "You don't need to know."
Then he patted his backpack and murmured, "Grandpa Great Sage, we're playing on home turf today. No pressure, okay? You're in the starting lineup. Let's wrap this match up in five minutes."
"Brother Pang Meng, are you overheating?" Da Yi asked worriedly.
"Haha, I'm not overheating. I'm on fire!"
Du Yu strode forward confidently, as though he could already see Nine-Infant's corpse.
Suddenly, a massive fireball plummeted from the sky!
Da Yi reacted instantly and tackled Du Yu out of the way.
Du Yu had only just dodged the fireball and hadn't yet figured out what was happening when a gigantic dragon tail swept toward him. It struck him squarely in the waist and sent him flying.
"Brother Pang Meng!!" Da Yi roared.
"I... I'm fine..." Du Yu lay on the ground, dry-heaving. That blow had been brutal, but this body seemed rather tough. Even that didn't seem to have injured his internal organs.
A monster covered in red fur slowly descended. It stood a hundred feet tall and looked like a water buffalo with nine heads, except for the dragon tail covered in scales behind it.
"So you're here, Nine-Infant?" Du Yu wiped the corner of his mouth and reached for his backpack.
"Brother Pang Meng, I'll hold it off. Hurry and find a chance to recite your spell!" Da Yi immediately drew three arrows, nocked them, and fired, each aimed straight at Nine-Infant's eyes.
But Nine-Infant was no ordinary foe. Whenever an arrow was about to hit an eye, it twisted its head and let the arrow skim past its face.
"Rooaaar!" Nine-Infant roared and spat a jet of water at Da Yi.
Relying on his agility, Da Yi darted left and right, barely evading the attack.
Good. All I need to do is hold it off, Da Yi thought. Brother Pang Meng needs time to recite his spell. As long as I don't get killed before then, everything will be fine.
Just as he was thinking that, Da Yi suddenly heard a scream from Du Yu:
"Sun Wukong, aaaaaaaaaah!!!"
He sounds so desperate. Has Brother Pang Meng finished unleashing his power?
Behind a tree, Du Yu stared at the shattered jar inside his waist pack.
Nine-Infant's blow had landed squarely, smashing the jar at Du Yu's waist that contained the soul of Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha. The moment Du Yu opened his waist pack, he saw a wisp of white smoke drift away.
He hadn't thought much of it at first. Only when he looked inside did he realize that what had just flown away was almost certainly Sun Wukong's soul.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Du Yu screamed like a madman. "What the fuck do I have to swagger about now???"
"Heavens." Da Yi grew excited. "Brother Pang Meng sounds especially desperate this time. Just how powerful a Divine Ability is he unleashing?"
The Legend Management Bureau.
Dong Qianqiu, Xie Bi'an, and Fan Wujiao all shot to their feet the moment they saw this.
"This is bad!"
As it happened, Xie Jin and Fan Xiaoguo had finished resting at home and were about to enter, each holding a cup of milk tea.
"Jin, my dear granddaughter!" Xie Bi'an shouted in a panic. "Quick, check the soul-summoning records from two thousand years before recorded history! If you see the soul of Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, call me immediately!"
"Ah, yes, Ancestor!" Xie Jin received her orders the moment she stepped inside and hurried away.
"Guo'er!" Fan Wujiao called as well. "Contact Cui Jue and Zhong Kui immediately. Check all the souls from Emperor Yao's era and see whether an extra wronged soul named Sun Wukong has appeared!"
"Okay, okay, Ancestor!" Fan Xiaoguo took a sip of milk tea and hurried off too.
"Director!" Dong Qianqiu also shouted. "Go check which of Sun Wukong's seven corporeal souls, out of his three ethereal and seven corporeal souls, Du Yu took with him!"
He Suoyi stood there blankly. "Wait, those two are ordering their grandchildren around. It's pretty awkward for me when you order me around like that..."
"Director! This is hardly the time!"
"Ah, yes, yes." He Suoyi scurried away sheepishly.
"What terrible luck..." Dong Qianqiu said. "He actually released Sun Wukong's soul in Emperor Yao's era. If Sun Wukong enters the Underworld, we'll have an unprecedented catastrophe on our hands!"
"Brother Pang Meng! Are you ready yet?" Da Yi was on the verge of giving out. Though Nine-Infant spat jets of water, they struck as heavily as stones, and Da Yi was already covered in bruises. "I can't hold out much longer!"
"What the hell are you still holding out for?!" Du Yu ran out from behind the tree. "Change of plans, change of plans! Run!"
"Huh?" Da Yi couldn't grasp it right away. "What do you mean?"
"The heat's on! Scram!" Du Yu shouted and took to his heels.
Even if Da Yi hadn't understood the words, he understood what he saw. He turned and followed Du Yu, running for his life.
Seeing the two trying to flee, Nine-Infant immediately attacked Da Yi, who was closest.
It lunged forward and sank its teeth into Da Yi's shoulder.
"Aah!"
Da Yi screamed.
"Da Yi!" Du Yu looked back and steeled himself. "Let go of my brother, you fuck!"
As he ran toward Da Yi, Du Yu snatched an arrow off the ground, leaped up, and drove it hard into Nine-Infant's eye. Nine-Infant hadn't expected such ferocity from him and failed to dodge in time, losing an eye.
Nine-Infant released its jaws in pain. Du Yu immediately hauled Da Yi up and ran into the distance. He glanced at Da Yi; the wound in his shoulder was deep.
"Brother Pang Meng, let go of me," Da Yi said. "If you drag me along, we'll both die."
"Not happening," Du Yu said through gritted teeth. "I brought you out here. Whatever happens, I'm taking you back."
Nine-Infant soon recovered. Fury blazed within it, and it immediately spat several enormous fireballs at them.
"Shit! We can't dodge!" Seeing the size of those enormous fireballs, Du Yu knew there was no way he could evade them while carrying Da Yi.
In the blink of an eye, the ground between them and Nine-Infant suddenly churned. Just as the fireballs were about to reach them, a massive black shape burst from the earth and took the blows head-on. Scales scattered, and an enormous python appeared before them.
"Holy shit! What's that?!"
Dong Qianqiu cried out in alarm at the sight. "Du Yu! Watch out! The Cultivated Serpent has appeared too! In every version of the legend, Da Yi shoots out one of the Cultivated Serpent's eyes, so they've always been mortal enemies!"
"Then aren't we completely screwed?!" Du Yu said as he pulled Da Yi along.
Da Yi looked at the scales on the ground and turned his head with difficulty. "Little Ba?"
"Yi, I've come to save you."
"Well, damn, you two know each other?" Du Yu grinned at the Cultivated Serpent. "You're one of us, big guy."
The Cultivated Serpent ignored Du Yu and faced off against Nine-Infant.
"No... Little Ba... you're no match for it. Hurry and leave..." Da Yi said weakly.
"I can't leave. My master said she wanted you to live." The Cultivated Serpent stared unblinkingly at Nine-Infant. Nine-Infant, too, seemed surprised to have drawn such a massive opponent.
"Strange," Dong Qianqiu said. "Why would the Cultivated Serpent risk its life for Da Yi?"
Nine-Infant took a few tentative steps. Seeing that the gigantic snake remained motionless, it finally lost patience and spat out a barrage of water jets.
The Cultivated Serpent was too enormous to dodge easily. It could only charge through the jets and ram Nine-Infant headfirst.
The two massive monsters battled on the open ground, but the Cultivated Serpent was clearly no match for Nine-Infant. Nine-Infant possessed monstrous magic and could spit water and fire, while the Cultivated Serpent was merely an enormous snake.
Seizing an opening, the Cultivated Serpent coiled around Nine-Infant. Nine-Infant showed no mercy. Its nine heads spread in nine directions and bit straight into the Cultivated Serpent's body. In an instant, the serpent became a bloody mass of torn flesh. Pressing its advantage, Nine-Infant spat fireballs onto the mangled serpent, which could only howl in agony.
Even so, the Cultivated Serpent kept Nine-Infant locked in its coils and refused to let go.
"What do we do now?" Du Yu stared at the scene before him. He was the only one who could move right now, but what could he possibly do to help?
Right! I still have those talismans for immortal cultivators!
Du Yu yanked open his backpack, pulled out a Rejuvenation Talisman, and slapped it straight onto Da Yi. Golden light spilled out, and Da Yi's bleeding wound healed before their eyes.
"This...?" Da Yi stared at his body in disbelief. "I never imagined you still had this trick up your sleeve, Brother Pang Meng."
"It's a one-time trick, though," Du Yu said.
"That's enough." Feeling some of his strength return, Da Yi picked up his bow and arrows and told Du Yu, "I can't abandon Little Ba. I'm going to fight Nine-Infant to the death."
"Wait." Du Yu thought for a moment. "It can dodge your arrows. Follow my instructions in a minute, and we should have a way."
"Oh? You have another trick up your sleeve, Brother Pang Meng?"
"Yes." Du Yu nodded. "I haven't used my strongest technique, the Thousand-Autumn Divine Art, yet."
"Thousand-Autumn... Divine Art?"
Dong Qianqiu was stunned. "Du Yu, I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless. I can only observe your world and transmit my voice. I can't cast spells."
"I don't need you to cast spells," Du Yu said. "I remember the director saying that during these nine hundred years without an operator, you often used voice transmissions to interfere with the legends, right?"
"Right."
"So you can transmit your voice to anyone in a legend?"
"In theory, yes, as long as we can see them."
"Perfect. Can you switch audio channels for these transmissions?"
"Switch audio channels?"
"Yes, like with headphones. Choose whether the sound comes through the left ear or the right."
"There should be a function like that... but I've never used it... what exactly are you planning?" Dong Qianqiu sounded unusually anxious.
"Then we're good," Du Yu said. "Say 'Hey, punk!' and let me hear it."
"What? I'm not saying that. It's so embarrassing," Dong Qianqiu said disdainfully.
"Lady! Embarrassing?!" Du Yu roared. "I'm about to lose my life here!"
"I... fine..." Dong Qianqiu struggled for a long moment before finally saying, "Hey, punk..."
"Good, perfect!" Du Yu shouted. "Da Yi! Come here too. I'll explain the tactics!"
While Nine-Infant grappled with the Cultivated Serpent, it suddenly saw a figure carrying a bow and arrows stride swiftly to its left. Knowing this person was about to launch another sneak attack, it watched him intently.
Just then, Nine-Infant suddenly heard someone on its right say, "Hey, punk!"
The voice sounded so close that it seemed to be right against its face.
Nine-Infant whipped its heads to the right, but saw nothing.
Whoosh!
An arrow flew in at precisely that opening, cleanly shooting out another of Nine-Infant's eyes.
Nine-Infant looked around in bewilderment, confusion written all over its faces.
"Thousand-Autumn Divine Art, boundless magical might..." Du Yu sneered.
Before you continue