Before the words had even faded.
Sun Dechang had already bent down to make a bow. “Benefactor, please accept this old man’s salute!”
His movement was so fast it caught people off guard.
Lu Chen was quick-eyed and quick-handed, instantly supporting him by the arm. “Old Master, this absolutely must not be done! It would shorten your lifespan!”
“Grandpa!~” Sun Yourong stood to the side with a mild reproach, a hint of helplessness in her voice.
Sun Dechang laughed heartily, then suddenly opened his arms and gave Lu Chen a solid hug. “Xiao Chen! A thousand thanks and ten thousand gratitudes are still not enough to express the gratitude in this old man’s heart! But… still, thank you!”
“Old Master Sun is too polite. I was also entrusted by someone, and I must be loyal to their matter.”
“What a fine saying, ‘entrusted by someone, loyal to their matter’! This temperament, this old man likes it!”
Sun Dechang released Lu Chen, his face glowing red. “But ‘Old Master Sun’ sounds too distant. Since you and Yourong are good friends, why not also call me Grandpa?”
He flipped his palm and produced a thick, bright red envelope.
“This is Grandpa’s meeting gift. You must accept it!”
Sun Yourong was speechless.
Lu Chen was speechless.
Damn!!
This… this even came with forcibly adopting a grandson?!
“I…” Lu Chen instinctively looked at Sun Yourong, his eyes pleading for help.
“Why are you looking at me? If you want to call him that, just call him that.” Sun Yourong blushed.
“Xiao Chen, at this old man’s age, I should deserve the title of Grandpa, no?” Sun Dechang said with a smile.
“Grandpa Sun, of course there is no problem calling you that, but this red envelope, you should still take it back.” Lu Chen politely declined.
“All right, you have already called me Grandpa. How can there be a reason not to give a meeting gift? Keep it, keep it. We should still hurry and handle proper business first!”
Sun Dechang stuffed the red envelope into Lu Chen’s hand without allowing refusal, then glanced at his granddaughter and strode into the Wu family temple in high spirits.
“Why do you keep looking at me? If he gives it to you, just take it.” Sun Yourong’s cheeks grew even redder, and she hurriedly followed her grandfather through the gate.
Lu Chen weighed the red envelope in his hand. It was shockingly thick.
He secretly tore open a corner and took a peek.
“Holy crap, they are all in the highest ten-thousand denomination. This red envelope is probably at least a million?!”
—Hiss!
I really do love dealing with big families!
Silently accepting this “cheap” red envelope.
Lu Chen immediately followed.
The group went straight to the main hall of the temple.
From afar, they could see that one side of the hall had been cleared, and several spirit users, all at rank two or above, had formed a strict human wall.
In the center of the human wall, an old man also with white hair and a youthful face, but relatively short in stature, was looking toward the entrance with bright, piercing eyes.
“Oh, Old Sun?!”
“Yo, Old Wu? Why are you here too?”
When Sun Dechang saw that old man, he immediately smiled and went up to greet him.
The old man also walked over with a smile. “After that phone call with you, I got curious about just what kind of person this young friend Lu Chen is, and I could not resist coming to see him with my own eyes. I did not expect you would be here too.”
“Hey, you old thing, are you trying to poach while I am not looking?”
“If you put it that way, I really cannot deny having that thought.”
The two chatted and laughed without reservation, clearly very close.
Sun Dechang pointed behind him. “Come, let me introduce you. This is Lu Chen.
Xiao Chen, this is the old patriarch of the Wu family in the east of the city. Do not let his honest-looking appearance fool you; he has a belly full of tricks.
The Wen Chang Emperor he worships reached a attendant deity degree of 51% ten years ago. Across all of Jiangdu, no one can match him.
Even in the entire Jiang Province, he can steadily rank in the top three.
Back then, he even made a name for himself across the whole country in the national examination with the rank of third place.
Among Jiangdu’s four great families, only his Wu family rose entirely under this old fellow’s hand. Just think about how formidable his methods are.”
“Old Sun, oh Old Sun, are you praising me or insulting me? You, you!” Old Wu pointed at Sun Dechang, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
At this moment, Sun Yourong quietly added beside Lu Chen, “This Old Wu really is formidable. With the Wen Chang Emperor worshiped to that level of attendant deity degree, he is already worlds apart from ordinary spirit users. Not only is the probability of inviting other literary-path deities into the temple three to four tenths higher! He may even have already received a divine post! If you truly compare them comprehensively, the strength of the Wu family temple is still a notch above the Zhao family temple!”
Lu Chen nodded slightly, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: what the King of Hell had once said—those powerful deities, whose backers are they?
He cupped his hands respectfully and said, “Junior Lu Chen greets Old Wu!”
“Young friend, there is no need for such courtesy. I heard from Old Sun that you plan to worship the Kitchen God?”
“Exactly!”
“Young friend, it is not that this old man wants to pour cold water on you, but this matter is likely not so simple.” Old Wu’s tone suddenly became serious.
“What is it?” Hearing this, Sun Dechang’s expression also turned serious.
Old Wu frowned slightly. “You may not understand the Kitchen God deeply. It was only after I invited this family immortal that I realized He was different from others.”
He paused, then continued, “Old Sun, back when my Wu family was promoted to a great family, we respectfully invited the Wen Chang Emperor to descend and bestow blessings. You should still remember, right?”
“Nonsense, of course I remember. That day was an unprecedented grand occasion. It was only because you old fellow’s attendant deity degree was terrifying enough. Otherwise, if it were any other [Great Family], how could they have such momentum? At the very least, it would have to be a [Famous House], or even a [Great Clan].”
What?
Opening a temple and establishing a sect could even invite a deity to descend and bestow blessings?
Lu Chen was shaken inwardly.
This… Lord Wealth God, the King of Hell, and the Plague Emperor had never mentioned this.
He silently noted this key piece of information.
“And then?” Sun Dechang pressed.
“Later, my Wu family temple expanded to 125 divine seats in one go. The Emperor, moved by our sincerity, bestowed a [Register of Invited Deities]. Any deity named on the register could have a statue made to connect with the divine and be invited into the temple for worship.”
“The [Register of Invited Deities] is essentially like a package of deities. When my Sun family worshiped King Lingguan, Lord Lingguan also bestowed a similar register.”
Sun Yourong was like a translator. Whenever Old Wu reached a key point, she would explain at the right moment, afraid Lu Chen would not understand.
Lu Chen kept nodding. These were all precious pieces of knowledge for opening a temple and establishing a sect in the future, and this was a perfect chance to learn.
“All of you know that among literary-path deities, those with weak incense offerings far outnumber those among martial-path deities. Therefore, as a great literary-path deity, the Emperor would naturally care more for subordinate immortal officials, and the Kitchen God is one of the members on the [Register of Invited Deities].”
Old Wu changed tone. “However, it was only after I invited Him into the temple for worship that I discovered that, unlike other deities whose spiritual power fluctuations could be clearly sensed, when I worshiped the Kitchen God, I could not sense the slightest spiritual response from Him.”
“At the time, I refused to believe it.”
“I worshiped no fewer than three hundred times.”
“Not to mention a blessing response, there was not even the slightest fluctuation of divine power.”
“There is actually such a thing? Old Wu, the one you worship is the Wen Chang Emperor! Logically speaking, communicating with any literary-path deity, even if they do not grant blessings, should be far easier than for other spirit users.” This was also Sun Dechang’s first time hearing this, and he looked astonished.
Old Wu nodded. “That is how it should be in principle, but the facts were just the opposite. Later, I consulted the Emperor again, and only then did the Emperor tell me that the Kitchen God was originally a family immortal. His divinity is quite different from the orthodox deities of the heavenly court. It is likely difficult for Him to adapt to the solemn atmosphere of a temple. So difficulty in communicating with Him is also normal.”
“Then, does that not mean… it is equivalent to worshiping a [Dead Immortal]?” Sun Yourong blurted out instinctively. The moment the words left her mouth, she felt it was inappropriate and quickly covered her mouth, lightly patting it twice as if to apologize for a slip of the tongue.
Old Wu shook his head. “Rongrong, a dead immortal is absolutely impossible. Otherwise, He could not have been placed on the Emperor’s [Register of Invited Deities]. It can only be said that this Kitchen God has a unique temperament, unlike the ordinary, and even I find Him hard to fathom.”
As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Lu Chen and said kindly with a smile, “Today this old man came for two reasons. First, I wanted to meet you, this young talented man. Second, I specially came to tell you this, so that you would not think my Wu family temple’s incense is ineffective and develop misunderstandings.”
Lu Chen quickly cupped his fists. “Thank you for taking the trouble to inform me, Old Wu!”
“Then… do you still plan to worship Him?” Sun Dechang looked at Lu Chen and asked.
Lu Chen’s gaze was firm, and he nodded heavily. “Worship! I have already come. If I do not try, how would I know the result!”
“Good! Then please go buy incense first, young friend. This old man will personally take you there.” Old Wu made a gesture of invitation.
Lu Chen immediately walked to the incense window.
He had not yet formally worshiped the Kitchen God. According to the rules, he could only buy ordinary incense at 100 yuan per stick.
“Please help me get ten sticks of incense.”
After paying, Lu Chen held the incense.
Led by Old Wu, the group passed through the corridors and headed toward the back courtyard.
Along the way, they passed the three main halls of the Wu family temple. The three halls respectively enshrined the [Wen Chang Emperor], [Great White Venus], and [Taiyin Star Lord].
The first two were renowned, so there was no need to elaborate.
This last one, the [Taiyin Star Lord], was equally extraordinary.
She was a deity who protected women.
She governed the Moon Palace and was the moon deity.
The widely known [Chang’e] was actually not the master of the Moon Palace, but merely a divine maiden of the [Moon Palace].
This [Taiyin Star Lord] was the true great immortal residing in the [Moon Palace].
She controlled souls, protected women, governed appearance, and coordinated marriages.
If a woman wished to pray for youthful beauty, this [Taiyin Star Lord] was the orthodox deity for that.
“No wonder the Wu family’s incense is so flourishing… With such a goddess who fits people’s needs enshrined here, it would be hard for the incense not to flourish! Just the point of ‘eternal youth’ alone is enough to attract countless female worshipers!”
Lu Chen thought secretly.
He could not help but glance up at Old Wu walking ahead.
As expected of a big figure who could raise the Wen Chang Emperor’s attendant deity degree to 51%!
These subtle operations really showed he understood things well~
“By the way, Sister Sun, have you ever come to the Wu family temple to worship the Taiyin Niangniang?” Lu Chen leaned closer to Sun Yourong and asked quietly.
Sun Yourong shot him a roll of her eyes. “Do I need to right now?”
Lu Chen said, “Planning ahead is wise. When you really need it, it will be too late.”
Sun Yourong gave a light scoff. “Get lost!”
Amid their talk and laughter, the group had already arrived at the back courtyard.
As expected.
It was indeed a desolate sight.
Lu Chen had previously wondered why these temples invited deities but did not worship them wholeheartedly.
Only after learning about the [Register of Invited Deities] today did he suddenly understand.
So most of these deities had been “assigned by quota.”
—They belonged to auxiliary worship.
No wonder they were not taken seriously.
“Young friend, this is the statue of the Kitchen God.”
Old Wu stopped in front of a somewhat worn shrine and pointed to the statue inside.
