The Lord God of Wealth Hadn't Received Incense for Years, Yet Someone Still Remembered Him!

Song Hao burst out laughing. "What nonsense. The reason he doesn't answer prayers is that someone tried ages ago, found he didn't work, and then nobody bothered trying again. You don't even understand that?"

"Exactly," the worshippers chimed in.

Song Hao gave a cold snort. "You think you're the only clever person in the world, and everyone else is an idiot?"

This time, Li Ruoyi agreed with Song Hao. "Lu Chen, these popular deities have been put to the test by countless people over countless years. That's why their temples are so busy. By contrast, the gods you're planning to worship are the ones who've been weeded out. To put it bluntly, they're the gods who didn't make the cut. You... get what I mean, right?"

Lu Chen couldn't be bothered to argue with them. "Forget it. I've already bought the incense. I'll pay my respects first, then we'll see."

"You're still going to worship him? This god can barely protect himself, and you think you can get anything out of him? Lu Chen, Lu Chen, your divine stroke of genius today has left me speechless! Hahaha!"

Song Hao laughed so hard he could barely stand upright. He looked at Lu Chen as if he were an idiot.

Seeing Song Hao act so outrageously, Lu Chen couldn't help laughing too. He pointed at the sky. "Song Hao, you dare blaspheme against a deity in a temple? You've got some nerve. Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"

"Rumble!"

A low rumble of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky.

It almost seemed to be agreeing with Lu Chen.

Song Hao's smile froze on his face.

The worshippers nearby also stopped smiling, their expressions turning grave.

They had apparently realized that what they'd just done was indeed inappropriate.

No matter what, he was a god, after all.

No matter how little incense he received, crushing them mere mortals would be as easy as crushing ants.

Lu Chen gave Song Hao a provocative nod. "Go on, keep talking. Why'd you stop? Scared?"

Song Hao's face turned pale, then flushed. He snorted. "You don't actually think one lousy stick of incense is enough for Lord God of Wealth Jun to bless you, do you?"

Lu Chen pursed his lips. "Hard to say."

Song Hao said, "Then let's make a bet. Dare you?"

"A bet?"

Song Hao said, "If you really manage to get a blessing from this God of Wealth, I'll pay you a thousand. But if you don't, you'll get down on your knees, bow your head to me a few times, and apologize. Dare you?"

Li Ruoyi's expression turned cold. "Song Hao, what are you saying?!"

Song Hao's stupidity had Lu Chen laughing in disbelief. "How about this, Song Hao? Go burn ten sticks of incense to Zhao God of Wealth right now. If he blesses you, I'll be your servant for the next month. If he doesn't, your family's entire fortune goes to me. Deal?"

Song Hao stared at him. "Are you sick?"

Lu Chen's expression darkened. "So you know you're sick. With a brain like yours, you still think you have a chance with Li Ruoyi? Honestly, even if you don't find yourself disgusting, I do."

With the last sentence, Lu Chen turned to Li Ruoyi and shook his head.

Li Ruoyi looked awkward, then glared angrily at Song Hao.

The people around them couldn't hold back any longer either.

"Young man, that bet you just proposed wasn't fair at all. Who makes a bet like that?"

"Exactly. He said it was hard to say, not that it was guaranteed. As long as you pay your respects, there's a chance, in theory."

"Right. You want someone to bow to you for a thousand yuan? You sure know how to make a deal."

Listening to the jibes around him, Song Hao was furious, but he didn't dare turn everyone against him. He could only glare and say, "Fine. I'll wait right here. Let's see if you can actually pull it off."

Just then, the ticket checker began urging them along. "All right, the next group can go in. Hurry up."

Lu Chen stopped paying Song Hao any attention and headed straight for the inner courtyard.

Song Hao folded his arms. "Ruoyi, we're not in a hurry, are we? If not, let's wait for him. I want to see how he plans to succeed."

Li Ruoyi gave Song Hao a speechless look, but after thinking it over, she didn't refuse.

The two of them waited by the exit.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Following the signs, Lu Chen made his way to the back courtyard.

The other worshippers from his group had already gone to the temples they wanted to visit. He was the only one walking along the deserted path.

What you can't do, I might still be able to manage!

But the moment Lu Chen stepped into the back courtyard, he was stunned.

Compared with the pavilions and towers in the front courtyard, where every statue looked solemn and majestic, this place was utterly dilapidated.

Weeds grew everywhere, and even the buildings were falling apart.

"Good grief, the Zhao family really are a disgrace. They're gods, for heaven's sake. The least they could do is repair the back courtyard! Just because they can't sell incense, they treat them this differently?"

As the old saying went, people depended on clothes, and gods depended on gold.

With the back courtyard in such a state, it was no wonder worshippers didn't want to come.

The fewer worshippers came, the less these deities answered prayers. The temples fell further into disrepair, creating a vicious cycle.

Lu Chen shook his head.

He couldn't help gaining a deeper understanding of the harsh reality of the God Temple.

After searching for quite a while, he finally found Chai Rong's shrine in front of a dilapidated altar.

The shrine's roof tiles were already broken.

The gold paint on Chai Rong's clay statue had peeled away too.

The entire shrine looked utterly decrepit.

Unable to bear seeing it like that, Lu Chen didn't rush to worship. He first picked up a few intact tiles from the ground nearby, replaced the ones on the shrine, and cleared away the weeds.

Only after tidying everything up did he light the three sticks of incense in his hand.

He held them before him in the proper Daoist offering gesture.

Then he began reciting the Daoist spell for summoning the gods, the Incense-Blessing Divine Mantra.

"'The Dao is learned through the heart, and the heart is conveyed through incense; the incense burns in the jade censer, while the heart stands before the Emperor. May the true spirit look down upon us, and the immortal's carriage arrive at the hall. I now make my petition, sending it afar to the Nine Heavens. Haste, as the law commands!'"

When he finished reciting the spell, Lu Chen waited devoutly for a response.

One second passed after another, but the statue still showed no sign of reacting.

"Could one recitation not be enough?"

Lu Chen recited it again.

After a long wait, there was still no response.

Now Lu Chen was getting a little nervous.

It's not as if any gods showed their power in my previous life, but this Incense-Blessing Divine Mantra has been passed down through the Daoist tradition for a thousand years as a spell for summoning deities. How can it not work? Could it be that a spell from the previous dynasty can't summon a god from this one?

Lu Chen tried to keep himself calm.

Don't panic. If your heart is sincere, it will work. Wait a little longer!

Lu Chen simply knelt before the statue, holding the incense up in both hands.

Unbeknownst to him, as the smoke curled upward, a wisp of spiritual essence rose from the incense. It had already crossed the heavens and arrived in a brightly glowing hall!

Heavenly Court, Lord God of Wealth Hall.

Chai Rong, Lord God of Wealth, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. He suddenly opened his eyes in surprise. "Oh? A mortal is making an offering to me?"

Just then, the hall's doors were suddenly pushed open.

A temple attendant hurried inside, overjoyed. "My lord, a wisp of Incense Fire has flown into our Wealth God Hall."

Lord God of Wealth nodded. "I've already received it. I never expected that, after all these years, someone in the mortal world would still remember me. This person even knows a secret art for communicating with the gods. His background must be unusual!"

Chai Rong nodded. "Then let me go down to the mortal world and take a look!"

Meanwhile, in the God Temple's back courtyard.

Lu Chen had been kneeling on the ground for a long time. Only when his fingers began to feel scorching hot did he suddenly look up.

He saw that the incense had almost burned down.

"Looks like one try still wasn't enough. I'll have to try several more times before I can make a clearer judgment."

Lu Chen wasn't discouraged.

After all, succeeding on the first try had only been wishful thinking.

Failure was perfectly understandable, and well within his expectations.

"Forget it. I'll come back next time."

He placed the incense in the burner, then rose and bowed with his hands clasped. "Lord Jun Cai, I'll come back another time to trouble you."

With that, he turned and left.

"Stop!"

At that moment, a voice, ethereal and sacred, rang out behind him.

Lu Chen's feet seemed nailed to the ground. His pupils shrank, and he spun around.

Inside the shrine, the golden clay statue glimmered faintly.

Lu Chen asked tentatively, "Lord Jun Cai? I-is that you?"

Lord God of Wealth replied, "If it isn't me, who else could it be?"

Holy crap, it worked!!

Lu Chen's heart churned. He immediately bowed with his hands clasped. "Welcome, Lord Jun Cai. I'm Lu Chen, and I humbly pay my respects!"

Lord God of Wealth said, "All right, you may rise. I haven't received offerings of incense from the mortal world in many years. I never expected anyone to still remember me. Young man, did you worship me today to ask for wealth?"

Lu Chen nodded frankly. "Yes!"

Lord God of Wealth's tone took on a hint of amusement. "If you're seeking wealth, why didn't you worship Zhao God of Wealth? Why come to me instead? Don't all you mortals say that Zhao God of Wealth is far greater than I am?"