Villagers, I Won't Keep This Glory to Myself!

Lu Chen waved his hand. "Don't rush, Patriarch Sun. I haven't finished yet. Although King Yama is currently only willing to grant seven extra days of life, I've already made a deal with him. Getting the old master to live a few more years may not be that difficult."

"A deal?" Sun Qingcang was immediately intrigued. "Please, tell us, young friend Lu!"

Lu Chen then told Sun Qingcang, word for word, about the deal he had made with old King Yama.

When he mentioned building a temple and casting a golden statue, Sun Qingcang's expression changed slightly, but not by much.

Clearly, it was well within what he could accept.

After all, the Sun Clan Temple was so large. Building one more Yama Hall wouldn't be difficult.

However, when they heard that Lu Chen intended to invite King Yama into his home for worship—

The Sun family members nearly all sucked in a sharp breath at once.

"Young friend Lu, you... aren't you afraid of bad luck?"

"That's right. Inviting King Yama home for worship... if we searched the ancient records, you're probably the first person to do so in thousands of years, Mr. Lu!"

"Alas, for the old master's sake, I really had no choice. Otherwise, King Yama wouldn't agree."

Lu Chen's face was full of helplessness as he cupped his hands. "Patriarch Sun, for the sake of your Sun family this time, I've sacrificed the small self to fulfill the greater self. Fortunately, I didn't fail your trust."

Sun Qingcang was deeply moved and immediately clasped his fists.

"Young friend, your loyalty and righteousness truly leave Sun deeply impressed! Rest assured, I am not the sort to tear down the bridge after crossing the river! Since you've shown such generosity and righteousness, I will certainly give you a lavish gift in return!"

See? High-end clients really were high-end clients!

Just for that one sentence—

All the lip service he'd spent today hadn't been wasted!

"And then?"

"And then..."

Lu Chen told Sun Qingcang about the most crucial condition: one thousand Incense Fire—more precisely, one thousand worshippers—in exchange for five years of life.

The moment those words came out—

The Sun family was collectively shocked, delighted, and astonished.

Five years?!

That number was far beyond anything they had imagined!

But after they calmed down—

Sun Qingcang's expression suddenly turned troubled. "One thousand worshippers... I'm afraid that won't be easy, will it?!"

Even Sun Yourong, who rarely spoke and was clearly cold by nature, frowned. "One thousand worshippers? If it were a heavenly deity, that would be easy enough. But the Netherworld... it's simply harder than climbing to heaven!"

Her gaze swept around the room. "Even counting all of us, we'd only have a pitiful handful. We're still far too far from one thousand!"

Lu Chen asked, "Miss Sun, how many employees does your group have?"

Sun Yourong replied, "Our Sun Group has quite a few people—around two thousand. But worshipping deities is entirely voluntary. Even if we force it, it would still be useless if the employees aren't sincere."

Lu Chen nodded. "That makes sense... How about this? Let's think it over slowly. You can first build the temple and cast the statue, then secure however many people you can. At the very least, make sure the old master has enough remaining life for the short term. I'll also actively look for a solution. After all, I was the one who agreed to this deal with Lord Yama. I'll have to bear the bigger share myself."

Sun Qingcang excitedly gripped Lu Chen's hand. "Young friend Lu, I won't say any more words of gratitude. In short, from now on, if you run into any trouble in Jiangdu City, come find our Sun family. We will never refuse."

"How could I possibly accept that?" Lu Chen was polite for a moment before no longer being polite. "All right, then. Thank you for your favor, Patriarch Sun."

"Young friend Lu, don't stand on ceremony. Why keep calling me Patriarch Sun? Just call me Uncle Sun from now on. I'll call you Xiaochen. How does that sound?"

He hadn't gained a godfather, but he had gained an uncle instead.

Good, good, good. This deal wasn't a loss.

After all, the Sun family was one of Jiangdu City's Four Great Families.

How many people wanted to latch onto such a backer and couldn't?

Naturally, Lu Chen didn't refuse.

But he also understood perfectly well that Sun Qingcang was treating him this way only because the old master of the Sun family had his life in Lu Chen's hands.

Thinking about it that way—

Old King Yama's deal had invisibly done him a huge favor.

He'd made another profit!

"Then this nephew... will respectfully obey rather than decline!"

Sun Qingcang laughed heartily. "Good, good, good! Today really is a double blessing! Yourong."

"Father."

"Transfer the money to Xiaochen later. Oh, right, Xiaochen, where do you live?"

Lu Chen's heart tightened. "Uncle Sun, I live in the north of the city."

Sun Qingcang asked, "Which residential compound?"

Lu Chen thought about it. He couldn't hide it anyway, so he simply told the truth. "Southern Mountain Residential Compound. It's not far from the God Temple, an old residential compound."

Sun Qingcang nodded. "Then that's perfect. Our Sun family also has a small villa in the north of the city, at Cloudtop Manor. It's not too far from the Zhao Clan Temple either. Yourong, transfer that house into Xiaochen's name later. As for the keys, find a time and hand them to him first."

"Yes, Father." Sun Yourong didn't waste a single word.

Cloudtop Manor?

That villa complex really wasn't far from Southern Mountain Residential Compound.

It was probably only a few minutes away by car.

Though it wasn't one of the top luxury developments in the north of the city—

It was still at least above average.

Its market price was around twenty million.

"No, Uncle Sun, this isn't appropriate, is it? It's far too valuable!"

"Enough. Don't be polite with Uncle Sun. For my father's sake today, you didn't hesitate to go this far. Uncle Sun is truly moved. What does one mere house amount to?"

All right then. Lu Chen had originally only planned to squeeze out a few more million.

He hadn't expected them to directly give him tens of millions.

The happiness of rich people really was beyond a poor person's imagination.

"How about this, Uncle Sun? Just give me five million in reward money first. After all, I've only secured seven days. I wouldn't feel right taking all thirty million, and what Young Master Sun said earlier wasn't wrong either. Once I gather one hundred worshippers and at least guarantee the old master one year of life, you can pay the remaining balance. How about it?"

Sun Qingcang thought about it, but didn't refuse. "Then... all right. We'll do as you say, Xiaochen! If you can truly gather one thousand worshippers and let my family's old master live another five years, Uncle Sun will certainly give you an additional generous reward!"

Lu Chen secretly thought that Sun Qingcang really was filial.

For the sake of letting his father live a few more years, he was willing to throw away money like dirt.

Such a person was worth befriending.

Very soon, Lu Chen received the five million Sun Yourong transferred to him.

"Let's go to the God Temple's main hall and invite King Yama's statue."

Sun Qingcang suggested.

"Sure. I happen to have another deity to invite as well."

"Another deity?" Sun Yourong asked. "Lord God of Wealth?"

Lu Chen nodded. "That's right. To be honest, the reason I volunteered today was ultimately for him! Otherwise, after seven days, I'm afraid I won't be able to worship Lord God of Wealth anymore."

Who was Sun Qingcang? He immediately smelled that something was fishy.

The foundation of the Zhao Clan Temple was Zhao God of Wealth.

Now, out of nowhere, a remarkably gifted Lu Chen had appeared, worshipping Lord God of Wealth from the same [Wealth Department].

No wonder the Zhao family felt a trace of unease.

So that was why Supervisor Zhao had been so aggressive and exclusionary toward Lu Chen earlier.

Sun Qingcang nodded. "All right, then I'll go with you and invite both of them!"

A moment later—

Inside the God Temple's main hall.

Lu Chen completed the procedures and paid the money.

Thanks to Sun Qingcang's influence—

The final price to invite Lord God of Wealth dropped from one million to eight hundred thousand.

As for King Yama, the Zhao family only charged four hundred thousand, calling it a friendship price.

And those four hundred thousand had been paid out of Sun Qingcang's own pocket as sponsorship for Lu Chen.

Looking at the brand-new Lord God of Wealth statue and King Yama's memorial tablet in his hands—

The huge stone in Lu Chen's heart finally dropped to the ground.

"I thought there was no road where mountains and rivers ended, but in the dark willows and bright flowers, another village appeared."

At the entrance to the God Temple—

The two sides said their farewells.

"Come, let me scan you."

Sun Yourong took out her phone on her own initiative.

"Scan what?" Lu Chen came to his senses, took out his phone, and added her contact information.

Sun Qingcang smiled. "That's right. You two are about the same age, so it's good for you to talk more. Xiaochen, my Yourong has never taken the initiative to add anyone before. You're the first."

"Dad!" Sun Yourong's face reddened.

Sun Qingcang burst into laughter.

"It's getting late. We'll head back first."

"All right, goodbye, Uncle Sun!"

Lu Chen got into another one of the Sun family's cars, waved, and left first.

"Supervisor Zhao, see you around."

"Safe travels, President Sun!"

As both parties' vehicles drove away from the God Temple—

Zhao Zhihong's smile gradually disappeared, but his gaze remained fixed on the direction Lu Chen had gone.

"Brat! Your financial luck really is flourishing!"

Each word seemed to burst from between his clenched teeth.

On the way back—

Lu Chen was also pondering how exactly he should complete the upcoming mission of one thousand believers.

If he wanted King Yama to enter a thousand households—

If that got out, people would probably drown him in spit.

After all, what normal person would worship King Yama?

He didn't mind, but that didn't mean others wouldn't!

Lu Chen could even imagine the looks on his parents' faces when they saw King Yama's memorial tablet later.

"The key is that there are too many people and too many eyes in the residential compound. If word gets out that I'm worshipping King Yama at home—

The entire compound will probably explode!

They might even hold an all-residents meeting and viciously denounce me!

They might even kick our family out of the compound.

Unless...

I make them deeply understand the benefits of worshipping King Yama.

Only then could it spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and finally achieve an explosive effect."

But King Yama's abilities were basically all related to the dead.

He couldn't have him add years to people's lives every time, could he?

Was he supposed to use him as the Longevity Star?

That clearly wasn't realistic.

"The living, the dead, King Yama..."

Lu Chen kept muttering under his breath.

But as he muttered—

A sudden idea gradually took shape in his mind.

"Wait. If the original owner's memories are correct, people in this world don't seem to have any custom of worshipping their ancestors! At most, they place a few photographs at home as memorials.

If I can imitate the way my previous life honored ancestors and tightly connect the living with their ancestors—

Wouldn't that naturally allow me to bring the Netherworld into the mortal market?

Then the underworld would get everything it wanted.

Would it still lack worshippers or Incense Fire?

Impossible!

Whose family didn't have ancestors?

This was absolutely a rigid demand!

By then, I wouldn't need to promote it at all. This news would spread even faster than Pinduoduo, exploding outward in viral fashion.

I could even start a Netherworld Currency business!

Lord God of Wealth just happens to bless me with prosperous business!

This Netherworld Currency business would absolutely be a legitimate business!

But I'd have to negotiate with King Yama first. I had to secure a monopoly!

Make my Netherworld Currency the Netherworld's sole officially designated currency in the human world!

By then, wouldn't I be making a fortune?

As long as I open up this route—

I can make money hand over fist—

And earn Merit hand over fist too!

Maybe I can even attract the Heavenly Dao's attention and have fortune gather around me!"

Fulfill my own Great Dao!

Maybe someday, King Yama would even have to acknowledge me as his godfather!"

Lu Chen brainstormed, growing more and more impressed by his own earth-shattering brilliance.

Then, out of nowhere, a thought struck him.

The problem that had plagued him was actually solved in an instant.

Of course, this was only a preliminary idea for now. He'd have to discuss it further with old King Yama first.

As long as he agreed.

Then Lu Chen would get to work immediately!

By then, the lights of Southern Mountain Residential Compound were already close at hand outside the window.

Lu Chen's heart stirred with eagerness again.

Dear fellow townsfolk.

I've brought you benefits!

After all, this glory!

I, Lu Chen, wouldn't keep it all to myself!