As Lu Chen pulled out that thick stack of underworld banknotes—a full six hundred thousand taels!—
in that instant, the entire City God Street seemed to have been pressed into silence.
Every single yin soldier and yin general’s eyes went wide, their pupils reflecting the dazzling silver gleam.
This sudden “mountain of silver” hit these poorly-paid ghost officials with an impact no less overwhelming than a tidal wave!
Even Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu, the two Yin Marshals who had seen their fair share of grand spectacles, were frozen in place, utterly stunned.
Even the lofty Prefectural City God, and the dozens of Prefectural and County City Gods behind Him—
at that very moment, their pupils shrank and their throats bobbed involuntarily.
“You—!” the Prefectural City God began to speak.
“You what, you’ve never seen money before?” Lu Chen snorted, raising the underworld notes even higher, and called out to the dark mass of yin soldiers surrounding him: “Listen up! The first one to drop their weapon gets a hundred thousand! The second gets fifty thousand! The third gets ten thousand!”
As his words fell, a wave of sharp intakes of breath swept through the City God Street.
The Five Generals, the Day and Night Wandering Spirits, the City God’s clerks… every one of them had shock and greed written all over their faces.
The grip on their weapons slackened noticeably.
But despite the heavy reward, not a single yin soldier laid down their arms.
“Hmph!” The Prefectural City God laughed at the sight. “You brat, you think you can buy off my officers with money? Have you any idea where you are?”
With a flick of His sleeve, in the next second, the underworld notes in Lu Chen’s hands had already appeared in His grasp.
“Oh no!” Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong cried out simultaneously.
The Prefectural City God looked down at the notes, and His heart gave a sudden jolt.
This stack of banknotes was actually a full six hundred thousand silver taels!
That was equivalent to five or even six years of His own salary!
“Well, well, kid, you really do have some means…” The Prefectural City God suppressed the surge of excitement in His heart and calmly pulled out two notes, handing them to the clerk beside Him. “Give these to the brothers later.”
“Yes, my Lord!” The clerk took them respectfully, letting out a cackling laugh.
The rest of the money was smoothly slipped into the Prefectural City God’s sleeve. He sneered, “For the sake of this little bit of money, I will pardon your grave offense of trespassing on City God Street! Now put down that Nine-Lives soul and leave at once!”
BOOM—
The pressure descended again, only to be blocked once more by Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu working together.
“General, what do we do now?” Xie Bi’an was panicking for the first time.
Lord Yan hadn’t arrived, the money had been taken, and it seemed like their last trump card had been played.
All around them, the three thousand yin soldiers were grinning with cold amusement.
They had originally just been out on duty, and now they were getting paid and a bonus on top!
The amount might be small, but even a fly’s leg is meat—this extra income had them absolutely thrilled.
But just when the situation seemed most dire—
a soft laugh rang out across the battlefield.
Not only did Lu Chen not retreat, he stepped forward, facing the Prefectural City God on the clouds with an easy grin:
“Lord City God, you don’t honestly think… this is all I’ve got, do you?”
“Oh?” The Prefectural City God narrowed His divine eyes.
Lu Chen ignored Him and walked straight up to a yin soldier holding a halberd, paying no heed to the sharp tip aimed directly at his chest.
“Hey, you. Let me ask you—what’s your monthly salary?”
“None of your business!” The yin soldier, now that the money was no longer in Lu Chen’s hands, puffed up his chest defiantly.
“Just asking out of curiosity.” Lu Chen smiled innocently. “Checking the market rates.”
“Five hundred taels!” The soldier said with a hint of pride—that was a pretty decent salary for the City God Street.
“What? Only five hundred? So that’s six thousand a year?”
“Six thousand isn’t enough? That’s already way more than the yin soldiers in other prefectures and counties. It’s not much less than what your Underworld soldiers get, either.”
“Whoa whoa whoa.” Lu Chen waved his hands dismissively. “Our Great Underworld soldiers earn a whole lot more than you guys do.” Then his tone shifted abruptly, and he held up one finger right in front of the soldier’s face. “What if I told you, if you come work for me, I’ll give you ten thousand silver taels a month. How about that?!”
“WHAT?!” The soldier was dumbfounded. “T-Ten thousand?!”
Lu Chen pointed around at the surrounding soldiers like he was calling roll. “You! You! And you! Every single one of you who’s willing to follow me gets a monthly salary of ten thousand taels!”
WHOA—
The entire City God Street erupted into commotion!
The yin soldiers looked at each other again.
Lu Chen spread his hands. “Look at yourselves. You risk your lives for a few hundred taels a month? Follow me, and from now on, it’s fine wine, good food, and the good life—anything you want, you’ll have!”
“Outrageous!” One of the Prefectural City God’s fierce generals, the Five Generals, stepped forward and pointed at Lu Chen, bellowing, “Stop spouting nonsense here! There are three thousand yin soldiers on this City God Street alone. At the rate you’re going, you’d have to pay thirty million taels a month just in salaries. Do you even have that kind of money?!”
“You’re the one who’s outrageous!”
Xie Qingyi darted forward, hands on her hips, and jabbed a finger at the Five Generals. “Do you have any idea that our General also oversees the Finance Ministry in the Underworld? Thirty million is nothing! He can pull out three hundred million silver taels if he wants to! Right, General?”
Lu Chen gave her a thumbs up. “Top-tier performance! That’s exactly right! What’s thirty million silver taels? Your City God stole sixty thousand from me just now, and you didn’t see me even blink, did you? A paltry sixty thousand—in my eyes, that’s not even money! I wouldn’t even use that much to wipe my butt.”
“What?! Even sixty thousand isn’t enough to wipe your butt?!”
Every yin soldier on the City God Street nearly popped their eyes out.
“Don’t believe me?” Lu Chen waved at the people behind him. “Qingyi, Xiaoru, Xiao Ma—show them the pocket money I usually give you. Let them see what real money looks like!”
“Yes, General!”
Three flashes of silver light—three thick stacks of underworld notes gleamed in the hands of Xie Qingyi and the others, and that blinding silver glow once again made every yin soldier gasp.
The thickness was obviously no less than the sixty thousand taels from before!
Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu stared at the thick stacks of notes in their daughters’ hands, their jaws practically dropping to the ground.
All that money was Lu Chen’s reward?
It would take them years of work to save up that much!
After the three ghost officials had shown off their money, they quickly stashed it away, afraid that the old Prefectural City God might somehow snatch it again from midair.
And by now, the three thousand City God yin soldiers were thoroughly restless.
Lu Chen pressed his advantage, patting Xie Qingyi on the shoulder and saying loudly, “These are my personal ghost attendants. Guess how much I pay them per month?”
“H-How much?” The soldier from before swallowed hard, his voice trembling.
Lu Chen smiled faintly and slowly raised one finger.
“T-Ten thousand taels?”
He shook his head.
“Could it… could it be a hundred thousand?”
Still a shake of the head.
The three thousand yin soldiers’ “hearts” nearly stopped beating.
“D-Don’t tell me it’s a million taels?!”
“Bingo!” Lu Chen’s voice shot up. “My four ghost attendants get a monthly salary of one million taels! That’s twelve million a year! But—”
He deliberately drew out the pause, waiting until every last soldier was holding their breath and staring at him expectantly, before continuing slowly:
“—at the end of the year, I also give them a fifty percent bonus! That means each of them is guaranteed at least eighteen million taels a year!!”
Silence.
At this moment, the entire City God Street fell deathly quiet!
Every yin soldier and yin general was frozen as if struck by a paralysis spell. Even Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu stood like statues.
High above, from the Prefectural City God all the way down to the County City Gods—every one of them had their eyes bugged wide.
Eighteen million taels?!
The Prefectural City God quickly calculated how many years He’d have to work to earn that much.
The answer was at least a hundred and fifty years!
He would have to toil for a hundred and fifty years, and still not make as much as one little ghost attendant in a single year?!
The Prefectural City God felt his head buzzing.
“General!” Even the three ghost attendants couldn’t believe the number.
Lu Chen gave them a warm smile. “Don’t be surprised. From now on, this is the standard. Payment will arrive on the 20th of every month, on time, not a single coin less.”
“Thank you, General!!” The three attendants knelt down together, their voices choked with emotion.
Lu Chen then turned and walked over to his own hundred yin soldiers, patting one of them on the shoulder:
“You all were my very first personal guard, and I will never shortchange you! You’ve performed exceptionally well during this time too! So from now on, each of you gets a monthly salary of a hundred thousand silver taels! Plus a thirty percent year-end bonus—that’s a guaranteed minimum of one hundred and fifty thousand taels a year! And I promise, every single coin will go straight into your pockets—no one will skim off the top.”
As he said this, he shot a meaningful glance at the Prefectural City God on the clouds.
“GENERAL!!!!!!”
That number struck like a hammer blow, bringing tears to these yin soldiers’ eyes.
One hundred and fifty thousand taels!
Even the King of Hell couldn’t dream of earning that much.
And they were just the lowliest soldiers in the Underworld, yet they were getting such insane pay.
In an instant, these hundred personal guards were seething with burning blood and righteous fury.
“Anyone who dares touch our General—I’ll wipe out their entire household!!!!!!”
“Yeah! Wipe them all out!!!!!!”
The hundred personal guards let out a earth-shaking roar, their surging ghostly aura shooting straight into the sky, their momentum actually overwhelming that of the three thousand City God yin soldiers!
Lu Chen spoke with gravity: “From now on, when you salute, shout ‘Loyalty’! That’s the rule of my Lu Family Army!”
“Yes, General!!”
—”LOYALTY!!!”
The three ghost attendants raised their arms and shouted in unison too!
Lu Chen nodded with satisfaction, clasped his hands behind his back, and turned to face the City God yin soldiers, who had already started to retreat:
“Now I’m giving you a chance! Surrender to me—yin soldiers get ten thousand taels a month, with a ten percent year-end bonus—at least a hundred and thirty thousand taels a year! Yin generals get fifty to a hundred thousand taels a month, with a twenty percent year-end bonus—that’s at least seven hundred thousand to one point four million taels a year!
Hear me clearly—that’s just the base salary!
If you perform well and I’m in a good mood, a casual bonus of eighty or a hundred thousand here and there is nothing unusual.
I would never do what certain people do—take the lion’s share for themselves and then hand out a measly twenty thousand taels to three thousand soldiers and officers.
Let me do the math—that comes to less than seven taels per soldier.
What generosity!”
Lu Chen’s cold laughter echoed through the entire street, every word like a dagger stabbing into the hearts of the City God’s soldiers.
“Now, I’m counting to three! Anyone willing to surrender, come stand behind me! From now on, you will be under the Underworld’s jurisdiction, and I’ll cover all your food, clothing, and housing!
Three!
Two!”
Before the “two” even fully left his mouth—
CLATTER!!!
The three thousand yin soldiers and officers exchanged glances, then surged like a bursting dam toward Lu Chen’s back.
Hell, where else were they going to be a yin soldier?
And this was with the more prestigious Underworld!
With treatment that was absolutely off the charts!
Only a fool wouldn’t jump at this chance!
Even the Five Generals, the Day and Night Wandering Spirits, and the City God’s clerks gritted their teeth and flashed over to stand beside Lu Chen, turning their weapons in unison to aim at the City Gods on the clouds.
What was even more absurd was that the two personal clerks beside the Prefectural City God himself were itching to fly down and defect—only to be frozen in place by a furious snort from their Lord.
Behind him, Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu were completely dumbfounded.
Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong exchanged a knowing smile, gazing at their general with nothing but admiration in their eyes.
What did it mean to make enemies scatter with a few words and a smile?
That was their general!
“Excellent!!!”
Seeing the overwhelming effect,
even Lu Chen couldn’t help but applaud his own genius.
He had come to the City God Street, and somehow ended up recruiting three thousand yin soldiers and officers out of nowhere!!
Let’s see who dares stop me now, and who dares to mess with me?!
—”LOYALTY!!!”
More than three thousand yin soldiers roared in unison, the sound shaking the heavens and nearly knocking the City Gods off their clouds.
“Lord City God.” Lu Chen turned around with a grin, looking up at the dozens of city gods whose faces had turned ashen. Behind him stretched a mighty host of over three thousand troops:
“Now then—your soldiers are all mine!!”
