Godfather, Will You Back Me as the Man in Charge?

At that moment.

Heavenly Court, Lord God of Wealth Hall.

A streak of golden light flew into the inner hall.

"My lord, you're back!"

The several temple attendants who had been dozing off immediately snapped awake and hurried over.

Lord God of Wealth nodded slightly, then reached up to straighten his robe.

Confusion appeared in the attendants' eyes. "My lord, if this servant remembers correctly, you weren't wearing this outfit before descending to the mortal world. Could it be... this servant remembered wrong?"

"Yes, I remember my lord wearing something else too."

Lord God of Wealth smiled. "What do you think of what I'm wearing?"

"It looks wonderful! This immortal robe suits you perfectly, my lord!"

"That's right! Wearing this, my lord looks magnificently imposing, brimming with majesty!"

"You lot certainly know how to sweet-talk. Here, these are your rewards."

Lord God of Wealth was greatly pleased and flicked his divine sleeve.

Each attendant suddenly found a hundred taels of Heavenly Gold in their hands.

Altogether, it came to at least four or five hundred taels.

"My lord, this?!"

The attendants were all stunned.

Though Lord God of Wealth usually rewarded them with a few taels of Heavenly Gold, it was never more than that.

After all, his own monthly stipend was only six or seven hundred gold.

Such lavish generosity had not been seen for a very, very long time!

Thinking back, it had probably been during the last period when his Incense Fire had flourished.

How could Lord God of Wealth not guess what they were thinking? He felt deeply moved. "Ever since my Incense Fire declined, Lord God of Wealth Hall has grown quieter by the day. So many attendants have left, yet only you few remained to serve me. Keep this Heavenly Gold. Consider it a small token of my appreciation."

"But my lord, your monthly stipend is only..."

Lord God of Wealth raised a hand to stop them. "No need to worry. This was not taken from my stipend. Spend it without concern!"

"Then this servant thanks my lord for the reward!"

Having received such a generous reward, the attendants grinned from ear to ear and skipped out of the hall.

Feeling this long-lost liveliness, Lord God of Wealth grew even more emotional.

"Clearly, I am the Wealth God, yet I never imagined that one day I would meet someone even more like a Wealth God than me. And the key is, he's a mortal."

Lord God of Wealth was still baffled. What secret art had his second brother used to directly offer Heavenly Gold, even Merit?

To him, it was practically a fantasy from the heavens.

"No matter how powerful a secret art is, it cannot break through the Heavenly Dao's restrictions between the two realms, unless..."

A bold speculation arose in Lord God of Wealth's heart.

His second brother was very likely a person of tremendous fortune or tremendous Merit.

As two natural products of the workings of heaven and earth.

They could naturally ignore the restrictions of the Three Realms and travel unimpeded.

"Could my second brother be the legendary Nine-Lifetime Benevolent Person? Or someone favored by destiny?"

As Lord God of Wealth pondered in secret.

He suddenly felt something.

A thread of connection had appeared upon his divine godhead.

"This is... someone has invited my divine statue? Who? Could it be Second Brother?!"

Lord God of Wealth was astonished.

He had only just returned. In those few brief moments, only several hours would have passed in the mortal world.

"How could Second Brother have brought me home so quickly? What exactly happened in between?"

Lord God of Wealth's curiosity surged, but since he had not received Lu Chen's summons, he could not descend to the mortal world.

Just then, he sniffed the air and immediately frowned. "Strange, why is there a stench from the Underworld Office of the Netherworld?..."

Southern Mountain Residential Compound.

"Thanks!"

Lu Chen waved at the departing vehicle, then hitched up his backpack and headed into the compound.

The Lord God of Wealth statue and King Yama's spirit tablet inside his backpack knocked against one another, making a racket and digging painfully into Lu Chen's back.

Inside the compound, snippets of neighborhood gossip drifted through the air, punctuated by hearty laughter.

Lu Chen went straight up to the third floor and opened the door.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back!"

"Why are you back so late again? I called you several times, but you never answered."

"I had something to do just now, Mom. I didn't hear it."

Mother Lu clicked her tongue. "From now on, when it gets late, you must send a message home. Don't leave your father and me worrying, understand?"

"I understand, Mom. I'm hungry."

"Wait there. I warmed up some food for you."

"Alright!"

"Brother!" Hearing the commotion, his little sister Lu Wan ran out of her room.

"Wanwan, were you good today? Did you eat properly?"

"I did! Wanwan ate lots of meat. Meat is so delicious! Wanwan wants to eat meat every day from now on!"

Lu Chen burst out laughing and rubbed his sister's head.

"Don't worry. Your brother promised you—there'll be meat to eat every day from now on!"

"Yay!" Lu Wan then noticed the bulging backpack behind Lu Chen. "Brother, did you bring back something good again?"

"I didn't bring anything today. Go back to your room and watch TV first."

"Oh, okay!"

The little girl ran barefoot back into her room.

Lu Chen set down his bag. "Mom, where's Dad?"

Mother Lu came out carrying dishes. "Your dad went downstairs for a walk. What's in that bag of yours? It's stuffed so full."

"Well..."

For a moment, Lu Chen did not know how to broach the subject.

"Come on, Mom. Sit down first."

"What are you doing, you child? There's still a bowl of soup in the pot. Let Mom bring it over first, then we'll talk."

"The soup can wait. Give me your phone first."

Mother Lu seemed to realize something and quickly handed him her phone. "Did you already spend all the money from yesterday?"

"Ding! One million yuan has been deposited into your FufuPay account!"

The cold mechanical voice echoed through the entire living room.

The surprise on Mother Lu's face instantly turned spectacular.

She shot to her feet. "Xiao Chen, where did you get so much money?"

"Mom, listen to me. What happened today is a little fantastical. Don't panic—listen while I explain it slowly."

Mother Lu guessed that her son had most likely encountered another great opportunity. She nodded repeatedly. "Alright, Mom definitely won't panic. Tell me slowly."

After laying the groundwork.

Lu Chen roughly told her about winning the lottery that morning, going to worship Lord God of Wealth afterward, meeting Sun Qingcang's family, and finally stepping in out of righteousness and, like a god descending to earth, saving the Sun family's old master.

Naturally, he left out buying materials, making joss paper, becoming sworn brothers with Prince Chai, and the minor conflict with Zhao Clan Temple.

The former was hard to explain, while the latter might worry his mother.

After all, offending one of Jiangdu City's four great families was nearly unthinkable for ordinary people.

Even so.

When Mother Lu heard that he had made offerings to King Yama, her face still turned deathly pale.

To ordinary people, the Netherworld was something not to be spoken of, something beyond description.

"Son, are you alright? I've heard that worshipping yin gods of the Netherworld can taint you with the evil aura of the Underworld Office!"

"Mom, don't listen to those people's nonsense. King Yama is an Orthodox God ordained by the Heavenly Court. Where would any evil aura come from? Those people are simply scared themselves, develop heart demons, then blame it on King Yama."

Lu Chen curled his lip.

Wouldn't he know whether there was any evil aura?

People these days were so shallow-minded!

Did they think someone was an evil spirit just because he was ugly, constantly leaked black mist, and did not bathe often?

If that was how they thought, Lu Chen only had one thing to say: kid, you're fixated on appearances!

"Alright, Mom doesn't really understand, but Mom believes you. My son is the best!"

"Of course I am!" Only then did Lu Chen take the Lord God of Wealth statue out of his backpack. "Mom, I invited Lord God of Wealth home."

Mother Lu's face lit up with joy. "Inviting the Wealth God home is a wonderful thing! My son is so capable! At such a young age, you can already invite a god into the house. No, I have to call your dad right away and tell him to come back."

"Don't rush yet, Mom. I also invited a..."

Lu Chen took King Yama's spirit tablet from his backpack.

Mother Lu was smiling one moment, and not smiling the next.

"You brat, it's one thing to worship him at a temple. How could you invite him home?!"

Mother Lu lowered her voice as she spoke, while her body honestly took a step back. Clearly, she instinctively resisted this yin god.

"Mom, I had no choice. This was the condition I negotiated with King Yama. Otherwise, he wouldn't agree to grant longevity."

"But... what if the neighbors find out? That wouldn't be good."

"It's fine. At worst, we can move out. I forgot to tell you—the Sun family also gave me a villa, at Cloudtop Manor nearby. They haven't handed over the keys yet, but it'll probably be today or tomorrow."

"They gave you a villa? Cloudtop Manor?"

Mother Lu's mouth fell open, and her expression changed again. The way she looked at Lu Chen also became strange.

"Xiao Chen, you haven't run into some kind of trouble lately, have you? How did you suddenly..."

"Suddenly change so much, right?" Lu Chen laughed. He leaned closer. "Mom, if I told you your son found a secret to worshipping gods, would you believe me?"

"A secret? What secret?"

Lu Chen grinned and enunciated each word. "Stoke—the—cold—stove!"

"Stoke the cold stove? You mean worship unpopular gods?"

"That's right! I don't know about anyone else, but for your son, it's worked every time. So far, my record is a hundred shots, a hundred hits!"

Mother Lu looked deeply into Lu Chen's eyes. "Alright. Looks like you found your opportunity, son."

Lu Chen nodded. "I think so too."

"Since that's the case... you can't tell anyone about this. Don't even tell your dad. He can be a bit of a blabbermouth sometimes."

"Alright, I'll listen to you, Mom!"

Mother and son smiled at each other. Mother Lu rubbed Lu Chen's head and said with relief, "Our Xiao Chen has grown up! You suddenly became so capable, so amazing—I wouldn't even have dared dream of it before! Fine! If you want to worship them at home, then worship them at home, as long as outsiders don't find out. But just in case, you'd better worship them at that villa instead. People occasionally come visit our home. Lord God of Wealth is fine, but King Yama could easily cause misunderstandings and trouble."

Lu Chen nodded. "Alright, I understand. That was what I was thinking too. Then, how about you handle Dad later?"

Mother Lu nodded. "Don't worry. Since I've agreed, what objections could your dad have? I'll explain it to him."

"Alright!"

After that, Lu Chen began wolfing down his meal like a whirlwind.

After filling his Five Organs Temple, he saw that Father Lu had yet to return.

"Not waiting anymore!"

Lu Chen cleared out a space and set up the two divine tablets.

Then he placed an incense burner before each.

"Brother, please wait a moment. Let me discuss something with King Yama first."

Lu Chen lit a stick of incense and inserted it into the burner.

Then he once again activated the Yama Heart Mantra.

Whether he could become the Netherworld's man in charge in the mortal world.

All depended on whether his prospective godfather would support him...