“How dare you all treat my guest with such disrespect?”
Old Zheng’s voice turned icy cold as he sensed the spiritual energy roiling off the several experts before him.
In an instant, those same experts felt a jolt of alarm and quickly withdrew their auras. The pressure bearing down on Lu Chen vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
Lu Chen’s body relaxed, and he couldn’t help but let out a couple of dry coughs.
Old Zheng hurried over to him. “Young friend Lu, are you alright?”
Lu Chen waved a hand. “I’m fine.”
“How did it go?”
Lu Chen pointed toward the upstairs. “Come with me, and you’ll see!”
“Alright!”
The two quickly ascended the stairs, leaving the group below staring at each other in bewilderment.
“City Lord Huang, should we…”
“Let’s go. Follow them up!”
“Yes, sir!”
The group hurried to the door of Madam Zheng’s room. Zheng Changguo suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right—the mask!”
Lu Chen raised a hand to stop him. “No need for that anymore.”
With that, he pushed the door open directly.
And sure enough, as the door swung open, the suffocating miasma that had once filled the room was now completely gone.
Lu Chen was the first to step inside, his gaze immediately locking onto the blood-red pearl floating above Madam Zheng.
—The Plague Humming Pearl!
Within the pearl, a dark crimson light swirled, while sinister green vapors coiled around its surface.
Lu Chen only needed a moment’s contact with it.
And in that instant, he fully grasped how to use this treasure.
“Th-this is…”
Behind him, Zheng Changguo stared in disbelief at the scene before him. “The miasma… it’s actually dissipated?!”
The others who had accompanied him had also visited before, and not one of them could hide their shock.
“That poison was so terrifying before—how did it just vanish like that?”
“It seems this young man… really does have some skill!”
Amid the murmurs of awe, Lu Chen turned to face Zheng Changguo, who was still reeling from the shock. His expression turned serious.
“Old Zheng, I’ll keep this brief, so listen carefully.”
Zheng Changguo tore his gaze away from his wife and nodded gravely. “Go ahead, Mr. Lu.”
“The trouble isn’t fully resolved yet. See that pearl? The red part inside is Madam Zheng’s karmic calamity. Within seven days, if I’m back, she can be saved. If I’m not…” Lu Chen paused. “Then I’ve done all I can. Right now, I need you to arrange a car for me—as soon as possible. As for the rest, don’t worry about it. Just stay home and wait for my news.”
“Understood!” Zheng Changguo, true to his former governorship, didn’t ask a single unnecessary question. He immediately called Secretary Fan to make the arrangements.
Lu Chen put away the Plague Humming Pearl, gave a slight nod to the experts, and made his way through the crowd, heading back downstairs to the study.
According to what the Plague Emperor had just shown him, this kind of karmic force could only be resolved by “subduing demons, exorcising evil, and slaying ghosts.”
But to dissolve such a massive amount of karmic debt…
How many demons would he have to slay? How many evils exorcise? How many ghosts kill?
Just thinking about it made Lu Chen’s scalp tingle.
“This Plague Emperor really thinks highly of me! I’m just a mere second-rank spiritualist, and he wants me to dissolve the karmic calamity of a nine-lifetime virtuous person? Is this a trial? This is basically telling me to go take a postgrad entrance exam!”
He needed help!
The more, the better!
Otherwise, he’d be like Confucius moving house—nothing but books (losses)!
But Lord Wealth wasn’t skilled in combat, so the only option was to squeeze some coins out of Old Man Yan.
And he’d been meaning to find him anyway.
Now he had an even better reason.
A moment later, inside the study.
Black mist swirled around.
“Godfather, here’s the situation. If we two can get through this, from now on…”
Lu Chen puffed out his chest. “I’ve got your back in the Heavenly Court!”
“Pfft! You little brat, getting cocky, are you? I’m the King of Hell of the Netherworld—since when do I need you to have my back?”
Old Yan spat, clearly irritated. “Bah! Forget it. At this point, we’ve got no choice but to gamble. If you win, I’ll get one over on that Western Plague Envoy too. But let me make one thing clear—if you come asking for eighty or a hundred thousand Nether soldiers, you can get lost right now.”
“Don’t worry, Godfather. Do I look like that kind of person? How about ten thousand?”
“Get lost!”
“Five thousand?”
“Not a chance!”
“Eight hundred! Give me eight hundred Nether soldiers, and in seven days, I’ll take down the Plague Emperor!”
“No! One hundred at most. Take it or leave it!”
Lu Chen was speechless.
“One hundred? Godfather, were your ancestors in procurement or something? With that kind of haggling skill, you’d be a killer in purchasing!”
“So do you want them or not?”
“Of course I want them… One hundred it is! But don’t tell me these Nether soldiers can only operate at night?”
“What else did you expect? They’re Nether soldiers, not underworld messengers. Have you ever seen Nether soldiers strolling around in broad daylight?”
“Then what’s the point! Twenty-four hours a day, and they can only work half of them?”
“Hmph, kid, when you have time, study the Yanluo Decree a bit more. There’s plenty of good stuff in there. Now that you’re second-rank, there’s a skill called Black Nether Shroud you can learn. Once activated, it blankets a ten-li radius in Netherworld aura. That way, even under the blazing sun, your soldiers won’t be harmed.
The only downside is that it drains a lot of spiritual energy.
But this Black Nether Shroud is the foundation of a Ghost Domain.
If you can’t master it, you’ll struggle with any future skills related to Ghost Domains.
Especially one of the Nether Bureau’s ultimate techniques—the Heart-Stirring Nether King’s Mantra. Forget about that entirely.
Think it over and decide for yourself.”
Lu Chen dropped his playful attitude and nodded seriously. “Thank you, Godfather!”
“Move quickly. This opportunity doesn’t come often. If you succeed, my trip here won’t have been in vain.”
“But how do I deploy the Nether soldiers? This makeshift idol of mine can’t exactly bestow blessings.”
“No problem. I’ll have Black and White Impermanence, and Ox-Head and Horse-Face act on your behalf. When you return later, you can take command of these hundred Nether soldiers yourself.”
“Thank you, Godfather!”
As the third invocation ended, the simple idol cracked apart and crumbled into sawdust, vanishing without a trace.
Lu Chen pushed the door open and stepped out.
Outside, Secretary Fan had already prepared the vehicle.
“Mr. Lu, here you go.”
This time, there was a newfound respect in Secretary Fan’s tone.
“Thank you. I’ll be off now.”
“Best of luck, Mr. Lu! Madam’s life… is in your hands!”
Lu Chen nodded, and was about to get into the car—
“Mr. Lu!”
A shout came from the direction of the villa. It was Zheng Changguo.
Lu Chen paused and turned to look.
Zheng Changguo stood at the entrance, his posture straight and firm like a pine, yet taut as a drawn bow.
Slowly, he bent at the waist—a deep, ninety-degree bow.
“My wife… I entrust her to you, Mr. Lu!”
“Rest assured, Old Zheng. For my own sake as well—I’ll give it everything I’ve got!”
With those words, Lu Chen hit the gas and sped off, disappearing into a cloud of dust.
“Old leader… just what kind of background does this young man have?”
Huang Yaowu, the City Lord of Qianjiang, still couldn’t figure it out. How could a mere second-rank spiritualist communicate with a Plague God?
Never mind where he even got the idol.
Even if he had a way—just how high must his servitude to the divine be to trigger such a phenomenon?
The clan heads of Qianjiang’s major families were equally curious, utterly baffled.
Zheng Changguo watched until the vehicle was out of sight before finally turning back to the group.
“You don’t need to worry about his background. Just remember this—in seven days, whether or not I become his background—that’s what matters.”
At those words, the influential figures of Qianjiang all froze, their smiles stiffening.
The old man certainly didn’t mince words. With a single sentence, he had rendered everyone speechless.
If this young man truly became a guest of honor in Zheng Changguo’s home, then he’d truly skyrocket to success!
…
On the road.
Lu Chen pulled up the navigation and headed straight for the Qianjiang Mission Hall.
It was still several hours’ drive back to Jiangdu.
Might as well make some trouble in Qianjiang for the next few days.
…
Twenty minutes later, at the Qianjiang Mission Hall Headquarters.
This landmark building, famous throughout the city, stood as grand and magnificent as a palace.
Lu Chen walked into the hall and found it packed with people.
Spiritualists were either handing in missions or browsing contracts—it was a lively scene.
Lu Chen walked straight to the counter. “Hello. How many C- to A-rank missions are still available?”
“Hello, sir. As of now, there are forty-eight left. Would you like me to print out the detailed information?”
“No need. Just let me take a look at the computer directly.”
Lu Chen leaned over the counter and quickly scanned through all forty-eight missions.
And he came to one conclusion—I can probably do all of them?!
What the heck am I waiting for?
Lu Chen immediately pulled out his documents and handed them over. “Sorry for the trouble—I’ll take all of them!”
The receptionist froze. “Sir, I’m sorry, but we don’t really allow joking around here.”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Lu Chen flipped his palm over, produced the special-grade badge, and pinned it openly on his chest.
“Sorry, but I’m really not joking.”
