Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 27 Turning a Cold Stove into a Hot One! But! I'm the one who calls the shots!
Meanwhile, Lu's mother and younger sister were already in the room, and Lu Chen told them not to come out for the time being.

As incense smoke curled around.

In just a moment.

A cloud of black mist rose from inside the room, and on the Yama tablet, a hideous ghost face appeared and disappeared.

"Kid, you're pretty quick. Is this your house?"

The ghostly figure looked around the room, clicking its tongue repeatedly.

Lu Chen was both amused and exasperated: "Your Majesty, can I discuss something with you first?"

King Yama: "What is it?"

Lu Chen: "Could you tone down your entrance a bit in the future? You don't have to make it so eerie and scary. Although I'm not afraid, I have my parents and a little sister who's seven or eight years old at home. I'm worried they won't be able to handle it."

"Oh...that makes sense. I was being presumptuous. Please don't take offense, young man. After all, this is the first time I've been invited home."

Unexpectedly, when this old Yama is in a good mood, he can be quite nice.

The black mist around him receded, and even the ghost face disappeared.

"How about this?"

"much better!"

Right, just say it, why do you have to post a picture?

"How are things going?"

"We've already reached an agreement with the Sun family. They'll get started on building the temple and casting the gilded statues immediately."

"Very well, and you, have you decided how you intend to serve me?"

Lu Chen smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, I would like to tell you a story first."

"A story? Interesting~ Tell me about it."

Lu Chen cleared his throat and said with his hands behind his back, "There was once a place called Feizhou. The natives there all liked to walk barefoot. Two shoe salesmen traveled a long way to this place. After learning about this, one of the salesmen was very desperate and frustrated. He immediately called his company and said that this place was doomed because the locals didn't like to wear shoes and they couldn't sell any. But the other salesman was very excited and called his company, saying that the market here was incredibly vast and they could sell countless shoes to the locals!"

"Your Majesty, after hearing this story, which salesperson do you think I'd like to be?"

"Hahaha!"

A hearty laugh suddenly rang out in the room.

"Kid, this story you made up is quite interesting. So, you want to be this exciting salesperson?"

Seeing that Old Yama had taken the bait, Lu Chen couldn't help but smile: "Not bad!"

King Yama: "It seems you already have a plan in mind?"

Lu Chen answered decisively: "Yes!"

King Yama's interest was piqued, and the black mist faintly reappeared: "Quick, tell me."

"Your Majesty, do you know why the gods in Heaven can feast on meat and fish in the mortal realm, while we in the Underworld can't even get soup? Have you ever thought about the core of this problem?"

"Do you think I'm some kind of fool? The answer couldn't be clearer. We in the Underworld decide life and death, imprison the souls of the dead, and sentence them according to their deeds in life, sending them to the eighteen levels of hell. Therefore, people in the world fear and dread our Underworld, and naturally they won't offer us any sacrifices. Meanwhile, those incompetent gods in the Heavenly Court do all the good work, while we bear the dirty burden! They can, of course, feast on fish and meat and enjoy the offerings from the mortal world."

“That’s right.” Lu Chen nodded: “All the work you do offends people, so naturally you’re not well-liked. But has Your Majesty ever considered that sometimes bad things can be good things? If you just look at it from a different perspective, you can see the bigger picture and have a clear understanding of the world!”

What do you mean by that?

"No rush, let me give Your Majesty another example, and Your Majesty will understand."

Lu Chen chuckled softly: "For example, if your mother died..."

"Um?!"

"Sorry, I gave the wrong example." Lu Chen waved his hands repeatedly and said with an embarrassed smile, "For example, Zhang San's mother died, but Zhang San was too busy with work to see his mother one last time. Wouldn't you say that's a tragic thing?"

"Hmph, what can we do? He can only blame himself for not arriving in time. My underworld can't wait for him to arrive before we collect his soul, can it?" King Yama sneered, "Boy, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Your Majesty, don't you understand? This tremendous opportunity is right in front of you, and you haven't even realized it?"

Lu Chen shook his head. It seemed that the old Yama was trapped in the information gap and couldn't get out.

He simply laid it all out and explained: "Think about it carefully. If Zhang San were to beg you, King Yama, please have mercy and let me see my mother one last time. If you take pity on his filial piety and grant his wish, allowing mother and son to meet across the divide between life and death and exchange a few words, that would be a good thing."

Your Majesty, let me ask you this: will Zhang San worship you every few days from now on? Will you have gained a loyal pilgrim from now on?

To put it bluntly, why would anyone make offerings to you? It must be because there's something to gain from it.

Only the underworld can do the job of imprisoning the souls of the dead.

Why not take advantage of this?

Could we make a fuss about our ancestors and their descendants?
With so many underworld officials, the price you pay is simply to have one of them escort your soul back up to the underworld.

Actually, there wasn't much loss.

In that case, why not do it?

Moreover, this is a good deed.

Once this road is open, the news will spread like wildfire, from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, from a hundred to a thousand!

For Your Majesty, this will surely be an unprecedented and unparalleled achievement!

At that time, will you still need to worry about competition from the underworld?

This incredible achievement is right before our eyes.

Don't even mention that the Ten Kings of Hell wouldn't dare challenge you.

The Five Ghost Emperors have arrived.

You still have the right to make them kneel down and sing "Conquer"!
Does Your Majesty agree with what I've said?

The King of Hell suddenly fell silent, until a moment later, his voice was clearly filled with turmoil: "Boy, how did you come up with this idea?!"

"What's so difficult about that? It's just that Your Majesty doesn't know the pain points of the common people and only focuses on imitating the immortals in Heaven. How can you possibly succeed by just copying them?"
You should have adapted to local conditions, developed your strengths, and sought breakthroughs long ago to find a new path! Only then would you have a chance of success!
For example, I also seek longevity, so why don't I pray to the God of Longevity, but instead come to Your Majesty?

It simply follows this principle.

Sometimes, looking at things from a different perspective and thinking about them can reveal the answer.

"Good lad, it seems I was right about you! You are indeed a pillar of society! Your idea is excellent. If we can leverage this from our ancestors, perhaps our Underworld can truly achieve great things."

"It is certain that the king will be taken away!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Yama said three times in a row: "With this plan, why should I worry about the underworld not being able to get the offerings from the human world? If not seven or eight out of ten, at least four or five out of ten, we might not be without a chance!"

Lu Chen shook his head: "Your Majesty, you're wrong again!" "Wrong again?!"

"It's not 40% or 50%, in my opinion it's this number."

Lu Chen held up one finger.

"What do you mean? One-tenth?"

"It's 10%!"

"10%!"

"Yes! Why should mortals only worship immortals and not their ancestors? Who doesn't have ancestors? If we're talking about worship, ancestors should take precedence over immortals and gods. But for mortals, this isn't a single choice; it can be a double choice. After all, only children make choices; adults want it all! I can't worship immortals and gods and also offer sacrifices to my ancestors. Wouldn't that be perfect?!"

"Hahaha!!" The King of Hell's maniacal laughter could not be contained in the room.

"Good lad! Good lad indeed!! You are so clever that I am truly impressed! If you can really carry out this plan, I might actually take you as my adopted son!"

At this moment, Lu Chen heard so clearly and strongly from the old man's words that he had an absolute desire for political achievements!

It was as if a hellish version of "In the Name of the People" was slowly unfolding before him...

very good!

The big fish has taken the bait!
Next, it's time to ask for some benefits in return.

"Your Majesty, if I were to tell you that I have other ways to increase the amount of incense offerings received by the Underworld by at least this much, what would you think?"

As Lu Chen spoke, he held up two fingers.

"Another 20%?"

"No, it's twice as much!"

Yama:"!!!???"

"double?!"

"That's right! At least twice as much!"

"Kid, don't be so smug and spout nonsense!"

"Your Majesty, please wait a moment!"

Lu Chen decided to reveal the real deal.

He quickly returned to his room, then soon came back again, this time with several silver notes in his hand.

To be precise, it was several large silver bills, a large amount of ghost money.

When Lu Chen went out to buy materials during the day, he not only purchased the gold foil needed by Tianjin, but also bought some silver foil, thinking that he would need it in case of emergency. He did not expect to use it so soon.

It's worth mentioning that after buying the materials, Lu Chen went straight home to start making the food.

So his small room is now piled with yellow paper, gold leaf, silver leaf, and other materials.

"what is this?"

"Your Majesty will know for yourself."

Lu Chen lit one of the cards and then waited for the King of Hell's reaction.

A moment later, there was not the slightest surprise.

All that could be heard was the King of Hell's roar, a roar that seemed to question the very soul.

"Boy, how are you able to offer me underworld currency directly?! How did you manage to do that?"

Lu Chen said calmly, "Ancestral secret technique, has Your Majesty forgotten it?"

Frankly speaking, at this critical juncture, Lu Chen wasn't worried at all about Old Yama investigating his ancestors for eighteen generations.

Faced with absolute self-interest, even if He discovers something, it's worth it.

Lu Chen also believed that He would consciously turn a blind eye.

After all, even the God of Wealth, who is in charge of the Ministry of Finance, has such an attitude towards Tianjin.

Moreover, the underworld was not wealthy to begin with.

Money can make the world go round.

Clearly, the underworld's love for money far surpasses that of the heavenly court.

This large sum of money I've spent might almost equal half a month's salary for the old King Yama.

However, Lu Chen's move also involved an element of gambling.

He bet that there were no bullets in Old Yama's gun!
"Young man, it seems you are indeed extraordinary! Our meeting must be preordained by fate, no wonder you are so fearless."

After another long silence, the King of Hell's voice, tinged with amusement, finally came through.

Lu Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Clearly, this gamble paid off!

"By the way, I remember you said at the temple that you had another merit to give me. Could it be what you just mentioned? You had a plan all along, didn't you?"

Lu Chen: "Uh..."

To be honest, that's not really the case...

Paying homage to his ancestors was something he came up with later.

The merit mentioned at the time was simply performing the ritual...

But if He says so, then so be it; it's a good opportunity to subtly show off.

Lu Chen smiled, his lips curving upwards by a pixel, making him utterly unfathomable.

"You brat, you're so young, yet you possess such cunning and shrewdness. It's quite an eye-opener for me. Alright, you've already drawn up this grand plan for me. Now, shouldn't you mention your terms?"

As if he could see right through Lu Chen, Yan Jun was determined to turn the tables.

Lu Chen's expression hardened, and he said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I will not hide anything. I am determined to turn this cold stove of the Underworld into a hot stove! I will do my best for the grand plan of the Underworld! But I have only one condition!"

"Say!"

"From now on, all matters concerning the incense offerings of the Underworld in the mortal realm will be decided by me!"

(End of this chapter)