But after just a moment, the King of Hell let out a cold snort. “Kid, you’d better confess to me this instant. Otherwise, even if your allotted lifespan isn’t over yet, I will definitely make a note of it in the Book of Life and Death.”
Lu Chen saw that this deity had a rather impatient temperament, so he didn’t dawdle. He gave a rough explanation of how Sun Qingcang had hired someone to bestow blessings and add years to his father’s life.
After the King of Hell finished listening, his voice sounded even stranger. “What did you say? You want me to bestow blessings and add years to a mortal whose lifespan is nearly over? Kid, are you sure you prayed to the right god? I am the King of Hell, not the God of Longevity! Besides, even that old man, the God of Longevity, isn’t willing to bestow blessings. And you want me to do it? Did you get your head stuck in a door?”
Times were changing, and apparently, the King of Hell’s profanity was evolving too…
Lu Chen chuckled. He seemed to have guessed this would be the King’s reaction and remained as steady as an old dog. “In reply to Lord Yama, as the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-tiered pagoda. Now, if you, Lord, would just raise your noble hand just a tiny, tiny bit, won’t that seven-tiered pagoda come right to you?”
“Bullshit! What do you think the Book of Life and Death is? Something you can just add to whenever you feel like it? What merit? What seven-tiered pagoda? This kind of behavior that scoffs at the heavenly laws – you want me to agree to it? Absolutely absurd! Do you think I’ve been sitting in this position for too long?”
As he spoke, the chill wind around them intensified, and even the surrounding air suddenly dropped by several degrees.
Bitterly cold, piercing to the bone!
Clearly, the King of Hell was getting angry.
“Kid, you’re not some spy sent to me by one of the other Kings of Hell, are you?”
The Netherworld has ten Kings of Hell.
They are colleagues with each other, but there’s also a lot of competition.
In the workplace, sometimes it’s a life-or-death struggle.
It wasn’t entirely unreasonable for King Yama to have this suspicion.
After all, the Netherworld gods’ way of serving in office is completely different from that of the celestial immortals above!
One wrong move, and you get devoured without leaving a trace of bone!
Lu Chen was also speechless.
He hadn’t expected the King of Hell to be not only hot-tempered but also so suspicious by nature.
How exactly did I become a spy for another King of Hell?
That’s just alarmist!
But judging by this King Yama’s demeanor, the one currently holding the position probably wasn’t Bao Zheng, also known as Bao Qingtian.
The divine positions in the Netherworld are actually very different from those in the Celestial Court.
To put it plainly, one is a selection system, and the other is a lifetime appointment system.
Think of it like a top-ranking official in the imperial court. Zhang San can hold the position, Li Si can hold it, and Wang Wu can hold it too.
Once the term is up, or if the emperor makes you retire early, you have to step down.
Conversely, the divine positions in the Celestial Court are different.
Take the God of Wealth, Chai Rong, for example. Unless his divine rank falls or he perishes, he will always be the Southern Road God of Wealth, one of the Five Road Gods of Wealth.
Only when he’s gone does the position become vacant for someone else to fill.
Therefore, the workplace competition in the Netherworld is much fiercer than in the Celestial Court.
It’s not just the Ten Kings of Hell. Even the Five Ghost Emperors of the Directions, and even the Netherworld’s CEO – the Fengdu Great Emperor – use a selection system!
Once the term is up, the person is immediately replaced.
And this term is typically changed every 3,000 years.
There are many historical figures who have served as Kings of Hell.
For example, the famous Northern Song official Bao Zheng, the famous Sui Dynasty general Han Qinhu, and others.
Of course, with this King Yama’s strange personality and temperament, Lu Chen couldn’t figure out who he was.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that he was the King of Hell.
Lu Chen pleaded his innocence. “Your Majesty, you’ve wronged this disciple. I have only ever worshipped you as the one righteous Netherworld god. How could I be a spy for another King of Hell?”
The King of Hell opened his crimson eyes. “Then I ask you, if not told by another Lord Yama, how do you know the secret art to communicate with me?”
Lu Chen stood his ground. “In reply to Your Majesty, my ancestors were once prosperous and left behind some secret arts for communicating with deities. And Your Majesty was among them!”
The King of Hell was suspicious. “Do you dare swear to the heavens?”
Lu Chen immediately raised his right hand. “This disciple swears that the secret arts I learned were all privately passed down, absolutely not told to me by any other Lord Yama. If I am lying, may heaven strike me down!”
Lu Chen’s face didn’t flush, nor did his heart race.
After all, it was true that they were privately passed down – these deity-invoking spells could only be learned by inner-court disciples of the Qingfeng Temple in his previous life.
And the second half – ‘absolutely not told to me by any other Lord Yama’ – was even more solidly truthful.
Lu Chen was 100% not lying.
“Alright, then I’ll believe you for now. So, you’re not one of those heretical cultivators with ill intentions. I did misjudge you there. Wait, no!”
The King of Hell suddenly thought of something and immediately changed his tune. “Come to think of it, you’re even more ill-intentioned than those heretical cultivators. How dare you ask me to violate the heavenly laws and tamper with the Book of Life and Death? You’re absolutely lawless!”
Lu Chen was starting to feel a bit uncertain now.
“Could it be that this term’s King of Hell is a straight-laced, rule-abiding, honest ghost?”
No, that can’t be right. If other Kings of Hell can do it, why can’t you?
Lu Chen quickly built a character model of King Yama in his mind.
– Naturally hot-tempered and suspicious.
– Simultaneously facing relatively fierce workplace infighting.
These two traits reinforce each other and interact.
You could say that the current King Yama seemed a bit jumpy and paranoid.
If that was the case, wanting to get in good with him was undoubtedly a multi-dimensional problem.
In comparison, the situation with the God of Wealth, Chai Rong, was simpler.
It was also easier to solve.
The God of Wealth lacked incense and merit to save himself, so Lu Chen would give him some incense and merit.
Looking at King Yama, though…
Offer him money?
He might want it.
Offer him merit?
He would definitely want it.
The key was that Lu Chen didn’t have either of these things prepared right now.
Give him an empty promise?
There’s no way he’d believe it…
“That’s not right. The passive ability of my Wealth-Attracting Ingot was triggered. Isn’t it a 100% win rate?”
Judging by the way things were going, it looked like even 30% would be hard!
Lu Chen frowned and continued thinking about how to play to his likes at this opportune moment.
His peripheral vision swept across the shabby surroundings.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into his mind!
“Right! How could I have forgotten about this? I’m an idiot!”
“Kid, why aren’t you saying anything? Have you finally realized you’ve gone too far?”
The King of Hell’s voice rang out again.
Lu Chen took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, it was indeed too much to ask.”
“That’s a good lad. At least you have some…”
Before the King of Hell could finish, Lu Chen said, “But! I can exchange it for something you, Lord Yama, want!”
“Oh~”
As soon as he said that, the King of Hell perked up with interest.
“You know what I want? Go on, let’s hear it.”
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, cupped his fists, and said, “Your Majesty, what if I get someone to build you a magnificent new Yama Hall, and also have a really nice golden statue made for you, so you can be properly worshipped in the mortal world? Would Your Majesty then be willing to raise your noble hand just a little and grant this disciple this tiny, effortless request?”
“Have a golden statue made for me!?”
Sure enough, for a Netherworld god who only had a memorial tablet and not even a statue…
Lu Chen’s mention of a golden statue plus a luxurious palace directly dealt a massive blow to the King of Hell!
“Kid, I can see this place is a temple. Is this temple owned by your family?”
The King of Hell’s voice suddenly became much softer.
Lu Chen shook his head. “No.”
King of Hell: “Then does your family have a temple?”
Lu Chen shook his head again. “No.”
The King of Hell flew into a rage. “You little brat! How dare you make a fool of me! Bring the book!”
“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t rush, Your Majesty! I’m not finished yet! My family doesn’t have one, but the person I’m praying for blessings and extended life for – his family does! And their family’s temple is one of the four great local temples. They’re extremely powerful! If Your Majesty agrees, I’ll go talk to him. He will certainly be sincerely convinced and build a temple and a golden statue for you!”
Building a temple and a golden statue would probably cost a hundred million at most.
Lu Chen believed Sun Qingcang wouldn’t even frown at that.
Sure enough, the chill wind around them suddenly died down quite a bit.
The howling of ghosts and wailing also lessened by several notches.
Clearly, the King of Hell was already daydreaming, mulling it over in his mind.
After a moment, he let out a long sigh. “Oh, alright. Considering your kind heart, I suppose I can bend the rules a little regarding this request for extended life…”
