At that moment, Lu’s mother and little sister were already staying in their room ahead of time. Lu Chen had told them not to come out for the time being.
As the incense smoke curled up,
only a moment passed,
and then a cloud of black mist rose inside the room. On the throne of the King of Hell, a hideous, ghostly face appeared, faintly visible.
“Young man, you work pretty fast. So, this is your home?”
The ghostly figure looked around the room, smacking its lips repeatedly.
Lu Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Your Majesty, can I discuss something with you first?”
King of Hell: “What is it?”
Lu Chen: “From now on, could you maybe tone down your entrance a bit? You don’t have to make it so dark and terrifying. I’m not scared, but I still have my dad, my mom, and a little sister who’s only seven or eight. I’m afraid they won’t be able to handle it.”
“Oh… that makes sense. I was being rude. Don’t blame me, young man. After all, this is the first time I’ve been invited into someone’s home.”
Who knew that when this old King of Hell was in a good mood, he could actually be quite nice?
The black mist around him receded, and even the ghostly face disappeared.
“How about this?”
“Much better!”
Right. Just talking is fine. Why did he have to show his face like that?
“How are things going with the business?”
“Everything’s settled with the Sun family. They’ll start building the temple and gilding the statue right away.”
“Good. And what about you? Have you figured out how you want to serve me?”
Lu Chen smiled faintly. “Your Majesty, I’d like to tell you a story first.”
“A story? Interesting~ Go ahead.”
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 salesman do you think I want to be?”
“Hahaha!”
Suddenly, hearty laughter echoed through the room.
“Young man, that story you made up is very interesting. So, you want to be the excited salesman?”
Lu Chen saw the old King of Hell taking the bait, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but turn up. “Exactly!”
King of Hell: “It seems you already have a plan in mind?”
Lu Chen said firmly, “Yes!”
The King of Hell’s interest suddenly surged, and the black mist faintly started to seep out again. “Quick, tell me.”
“Your Majesty, do you know why the gods in the heavenly court can feast on all kinds of offerings in the mortal world, while our underworld can’t even get a sip of soup? Have you ever thought about the core of this problem?”
“Do you think I’m some kind of fool? The answer is crystal clear. Our underworld is responsible for ending people’s lives, taking the souls of the dead to judgment, and sentencing them based on their actions in life, throwing them into the eighteen levels of hell. That’s why people fear our underworld and dread us. Naturally, they don’t worship us. As for those useless gods in the heavenly court who just occupy positions and do nothing, they get to take all the good deeds for themselves while leaving us to do all the dirty work! Of course they get to feast and enjoy the offerings of the mortal world.”
“Exactly.” Lu Chen nodded. “All the work you do is the kind that offends people, so naturally you’re not well-liked. But Your Majesty, have you ever considered that sometimes bad things can actually be good things? You just need to look at them from a different angle, and suddenly the sea becomes vast and the skies clear up!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Easy. Let me give you another example, and then you’ll understand.”
Lu Chen smiled gently. “For instance, let’s say your mother dies…”
“Hmm?!”
“Sorry, wrong example.” Lu Chen quickly waved his hands and gave an awkward smile. “Let’s say Zhang San’s mother dies. But Zhang San is so busy with work that he never gets to see his old mother one last time. Wouldn’t you say that’s a tragedy in this world?”
“Hmph, what can be done about that? He can only blame himself for not making it in time. My underworld can’t just wait for him to show up before taking the soul, right?” The King of Hell snorted coldly. “Young man, what exactly are you trying to say?”
“Your Majesty, don’t you understand yet? This huge opportunity is right in front of you, and you haven’t even realized it?”
Lu Chen shook his head. It seemed the old King of Hell was trapped in an information gap and couldn’t see his way out.
So he decided to just lay all the cards on the table and break it down completely. “Think about it carefully. What if at that moment, Zhang San begs you, ‘King of Hell, please show me some mercy and let me see my mother one last time.’ You, moved by his filial piety, grant his wish and let them, separated by the boundary of life and death, see each other and say a few words.
Your Majesty, let me ask you this. From then on, won’t Zhang San worship you and make offerings to you every now and then? Won’t you have gained a devoted follower from that day forward?
To put it plainly, the reason people make offerings to you is because they want something in return.
The job of holding onto the souls of the dead is something only the underworld can do.
So why not take advantage of that?
Why not do something with the ancestors and their descendants?
There are so many underworld messengers. To you, the cost is nothing more than finding a messenger to bring the soul up here.
It’s not really that big of a loss.
So why not do it?
Besides, this would be a meritorious deed, too.
Once this path is opened up, the word will spread: one person tells ten, ten tell a hundred, a hundred tell a thousand!
For you, Your Majesty, this will surely be an unprecedented, earth-shattering achievement!
Then, will you still have to worry about competition in the underworld?
With this incredible accomplishment right in front of you,
let alone the Ten Kings of Hell daring to challenge you,
even if the Five Ghost Emperors showed up,
you would still have the right to make them kneel down and sing “Conquer”!
Your Majesty, do you think I’m right?”
The King of Hell suddenly fell silent. Then, after a moment, his voice carried obvious excitement. “Young man, how on earth did you come up with this idea?!”
“What’s so hard about that? It’s simply because Your Majesty doesn’t know the pain points of ordinary people down here. You’ve been trying to copy the gods in heaven, but that’s like drawing a tiger based on a cat. How could that ever succeed?
You should have long ago adapted to local conditions, developed your strengths, looked for breakthroughs, and carved a new path! That’s the only way to succeed!
Take me, for example. I wanted to extend my life. Why didn’t I go to the God of Longevity? Instead, I came to you, Your Majesty.
That’s exactly following this principle.
Sometimes, just looking at things from a different angle and thinking about them differently—maybe the answer will suddenly become clear.”
“Good young man! It seems I didn’t misjudge you! You truly are a talent of great promise! Your idea is excellent. If we can use ancestors as a starting point, maybe my underworld really can achieve great things.”
“Remove the ‘maybe,’ Your Majesty. It’s ‘definitely’!”
“Good! Good! Good!” The King of Hell said “good” three times in a row. “With this plan, why worry that my underworld won’t capture the offerings of the mortal world? Even if not seventy or eighty percent, at least forty to fifty percent—that’s definitely within reach!”
Lu Chen shook his head. “Your Majesty, you’re wrong again!”
“Wrong again?!”
“Not forty to fifty percent. In my view, it’s this number.”
Lu Chen held up one finger.
“What do you mean? Ten percent?”
“It’s one hundred percent!”
“One hundred percent?!”
“Exactly! Why should mortals only worship gods and immortals but not honor their own ancestors? Who doesn’t have ancestors? If we’re really talking about who should be worshiped, ancestors actually take priority over gods and immortals. But for ordinary people, this isn’t a single-choice question. It can totally be a multiple-choice question. After all, only children have to choose; adults want it all! Can’t I worship both gods and my ancestors? If so, isn’t that one hundred percent?”
“Hahaha!!” The room could barely contain the King of Hell’s wild laughter.
“Good young man! Good young man!! You’re so smart that I’m truly impressed! If you can actually carry out this plan, I might just have to adopt you as my godson!”
At that moment, Lu Chen could hear so clearly and so strongly, from the old King of Hell’s words, his absolute desire for political achievements!
It was like an underworld version of In the Name of the People slowly unfolding before his eyes…
Excellent!
Seeing that the big fish had successfully taken the bait!
Now it was time to ask for his own reward.
“Your Majesty, what if I told you that I have other ways to increase the offerings the underworld receives by at least this much more? What would you think of that?”
As he spoke, Lu Chen held up two fingers.
“Another twenty percent?”
“No. Double!”
King of Hell: “!!!???”
“Double?!”
“Exactly! At least double!”
“Young man, don’t get too cocky and start talking nonsense!”
“Your Majesty, wait a moment!”
Lu Chen decided to show the real goods.
He quickly returned to his room and soon came back, but now he had several banknotes in his hand.
To be precise, they were several “Big Silver” notes—large-denomination underworld currency.
Earlier that day, when he went out to buy materials, Lu Chen had not only purchased the gold foil needed for making heavenly gold, but he had also bought some silver foil, just in case. He didn’t expect to need it so soon.
It’s worth mentioning that after buying the materials, Lu Chen went straight home to start making them.
So his not-so-big room was now piled up with a fair amount of yellow paper, gold foil, silver foil, and other materials.
“What is this?”
“Your Majesty, just see for yourself.”
Lu Chen lit one of the notes and then waited for the King of Hell’s reaction.
A moment later, without any surprise at all,
he heard the King of Hell roar like a soul-shaking question.
“Young man, how can you directly offer underworld currency to me? How exactly are you doing this?”
Lu Chen said calmly, “It’s a secret family art. Have you forgotten, Your Majesty?”
To be honest, at this critical moment, Lu Chen wasn’t worried at all that the old King of Hell would investigate his family line for eighteen generations.
In the face of absolute profit, even if he did dig something up,
Lu Chen believed that he would intentionally turn a blind eye.
After all, even the God of Wealth, who was in charge of the treasury, had that attitude toward heavenly gold.
So how much more so for the underworld, which wasn’t wealthy to begin with.
Money makes the devil go to work.
Clearly, the underworld’s love for money was at least a level stronger than that of the heavenly court.
Just one of these Big Silver notes from him might be worth nearly half a month’s salary for the old King of Hell.
But Lu Chen was also taking a gamble here.
He was betting that the old King of Hell had no bullets left in his gun!
“Young man, it seems you truly are extraordinary! The fact that we met must be the result of fate. No wonder you’re so confident.”
Another long silence, and then the King of Hell’s voice came through with a hint of laughter.
Lu Chen secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Clearly, he had won this gamble!
“Oh, I remember you mentioned earlier, in the temple, that you had another meritorious deed to give me. Was that what you just talked about? So you already had a plan all along, right?”
Lu Chen: “Uh…”
To be honest, not really…
Honoring ancestors came to him later.
What he had meant by “meritorious deed” back then was just holding a ritual…
But fine, if he said so, then let it be. It worked perfectly as an invisible flex.
Lu Chen responded with a faint smile, raising the corner of his mouth by just a pixel. He looked unfathomably profound.
“You little rascal. You’re young, yet you have this kind of cunning and depth. You’ve really opened my eyes. Well, you’ve already drawn this grand blueprint for me. So now, it’s time to state your terms, isn’t it?”
The King of Hell seemed to want to see right through Lu Chen, trying to win back some ground.
Lu Chen’s expression turned serious. “Your Majesty, then I won’t hide anything. I have the intention to turn this cold stove of the underworld into a hot one! I’m willing to put all my energy and effort into the great plan of the underworld! But I have only one condition!”
“Speak!”
“When it comes to all matters regarding the underworld’s offerings and incense in the mortal world, from now on, I call the shots!”
