Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 102 My backer is above yours!
On the battlefield, Lu Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

Honestly, this city god is really stubborn.

He used every trick in the book.

The other party simply didn't budge.

Lu Chen did not deny that he was in the wrong this time.

But the City God had his principles, and so did he.

When conflicts are irreconcilable, each side can only resort to its own methods.

At this moment, Yama paused, then coldly shouted again, "You are utterly stubborn and unreasonable! Zheng Zhangshi was a virtuous person for nine generations, with immeasurable merits. This time she was unjustly killed, and not only do you fail to distinguish right from wrong, but you also disregard your duties as the City God, only caring about your own little job. Don't you know you're wrong?!"

"Absurd!" The City God's voice grew even harsher. "While this prefecture has the responsibility to understand the people's plight, there are ironclad laws and golden rules above all else! Even if Zheng Zhangshi has a grievance, it should be dealt with by the Ten Kings of Hell in the Underworld! If this prefecture does not question her, it is at most a dereliction of duty! But today, you have asked this prefecture to disregard the laws of the Underworld and release her back to the living world—this is a crime of dereliction of duty! Who will bear the responsibility? Can you, King of Hell, bear it? If the Great Emperor of Fengdu blames me, how will this prefecture explain myself!"

"you!"

"What do you mean, 'you'? Unless you have the supreme imperial decree to allow Zheng Zhangshi to return to life."

Otherwise, even if you personally lead your ghostly soldiers to raze my City God Street and kill me, I will never back down!
But do you dare?

Can you bear the consequences of leading troops to attack my City God Street?

I'm making this clear today: I'm determined to send this Zheng Zhangshi away!
"I will investigate your case thoroughly as well!"

The City God's attitude was extremely resolute.

There was absolutely no room for negotiation.

They didn't give Yama (the King of Hell) any face at all.

Clearly, despite being a subordinate, he was not afraid of Yama.

"You!!" Even Yama, the King of Hell, found it difficult to deal with such a stubborn City God.

Lu Chen stepped forward again and bowed, about to say that if the Emperor of Fengdu held him accountable, he would take full responsibility.

Anyway, the underworld still needs him to continue promoting it.

At worst, all the credit for this can be used to exchange for Lady Zheng.

I imagine the Emperor of Fengdu will be furious!
It's not a crime punishable by death!
He doesn't need to seek merit in the future; making money just from ghost money is not bad.

However, he had only just opened his mouth when he said, "The City God..."

"Shut up!" the City God roared. "I don't want to hear your nonsense! I will remember this humiliation! You brat, don't be so arrogant. Just wait and see!"

However, this time, within the Ghost Realm, a fierce wind suddenly blew, and a murderous aura filled the air.

The King of Hell was thoroughly enraged.

"Wow—"

A pitch-black ghostly hand suddenly reached out from the void, instantly grabbing the City God by the neck and lifting him up!
"Old man, I've really given you too much face! A mere city god, yet you dare to act so arrogantly! It seems you've gotten used to bullying others in your little ghost realm, truly ignorant of your own limitations!"

The real killing intent surged forth like a tidal wave, and the City God's divine body began to crumble inch by inch.

"Lord Yama, spare my life!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, the city gods of the surrounding prefectures and counties all knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Go ahead and kill me if you dare! Do you dare!?" However, the City God seemed to have something to rely on and still did not back down.

"Lord Yama, I'm leaving now."

Lu Chen had given up all expectations of the City God and turned to leave.

"How dare you, you brat..." the City God roared.

"enough!!!!!"

Lu Chen suddenly turned around and pointed at the City God: "You think you're worthy of sitting in this City God's seat and ruling over this region with peace?!"

Lu Chen's long-suppressed anger erupted, and he was furious: "You wear official robes and enjoy the offerings of the people. You should be a god of justice who distinguishes good from evil and redresses injustices! But what have you done?"
You ignore so many evil spirits in Qianjiang City, you turn a blind eye to so many innocent victims, and you turn a deaf ear to so many evildoers who go unpunished.

But they insist on cutting off the path to life for these nine benevolent souls!
The Zheng Zhang family has done good deeds for nine generations, never harming a single thing or wronging a single person!
But you, you close your eyes to injustice and only think about your 'duty'.

They keep talking about the laws of heaven and the laws of the underworld.

You're not fulfilling your duties; you're clearly just a deadbeat, a good-for-nothing, a god who can't distinguish between good and evil and ignores injustices.

You are not worthy of the title 'City God' at all, much less worthy of being worshipped by sentient beings!

These words resonated deeply within my soul, like the sound of a morning bell and an evening drum.

Behind him, Xie Qingyi was stunned and murmured, "General..."

"Well said! Well said!" Fan Rusong listened with great satisfaction. He had wanted to curse for a long time, but he didn't dare to.

He truly is a general!
If they are not afraid of the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, how could they be afraid of a mere City God?
The city gods of the prefecture, state, and county were clearly surprised that a mere mortal dared to rebuke the deities.

They were all stunned and at a loss.

Lu Chen snorted coldly, turned to Yama, clasped his hands and said, "King Yama, I believe that I have contributed greatly to the great cause of the Underworld, even if I have not achieved great merit. Today, I dare to offer my meager contribution in exchange for the return of this virtuous soul from nine lifetimes to the living. If the Emperor of Fengdu pursues this matter, I humbly request that you convey my message!"

"Granted!" Yama replied without hesitation. "I will personally report this matter to the Emperor of Fengdu. Given your merits, I believe the Supreme One will show leniency!"

He glanced coldly at the still struggling City God: "You want to impeach me? Fine, then I'll impeach you too! I'll dig out everything you've done in Qianjiang City over the years, leaving nothing behind, and let Your Majesty judge!"
Look at you, the City God, are you really as well-behaved and generous as you appear!
Let's see who has the harder fist!

"You!!" The City God's voice this time was clearly a bluff, and it was several decibels lower.

"Let's go." Lu Chen didn't bother to look at him again and turned to walk towards the exit.

Three thousand soldiers followed in a grand procession.

"Wait!" Yama shouted, "You few can leave, but these three thousand City God's ghost soldiers and generals must stay!"

Lu Chen was stunned: "Lord Yama, this..."

"Enough talk! There's no room for negotiation on this!" Yama roared angrily. "Letting you intercept a benevolent soul is already breaking the rules, and now you want to take away so many Yin soldiers and generals? What, do you really want to declare yourself king and rebel?"

Lu Chen's heart tightened: "But these brothers have already followed me in fighting against the City God. If I abandon them, wouldn't I be putting them in dire straits?" "Yes, yes!"

Upon hearing that they could not leave, the three thousand Yin soldiers and generals panicked.

They knew the City God's character better than anyone!

"Rest assured, I have my own arrangements." Yama's voice was steady: "From now on, I will station a judge of the underworld on Qianjiang City God Street to oversee the City God. If He dares to take this opportunity to retaliate, I will not let him off lightly!"

As he spoke, He then cast a meaningful glance over the city gods of those states:
"After all, if he can sit in the position of the prefectural city god, others can sit in it too. The city gods of the states behind him are all hoping that he will fall."

The words had barely left his mouth when the smiles of the several city gods froze. Seeing the cold gaze of the prefectural city god sweeping over them, they quickly bowed and said, "My lord, we had no such intention!"

"I don't think you'd dare!"

"Dare not? Then you try it and see if they dare!" Yama sneered. "I think one judge isn't enough. We need to send two to watch you day and night and see if you're really that clean!"

Seeing that Yama had spoken to this extent, the three thousand Yin soldiers and generals were immediately disheartened. They had just thought they could live a good life, but in the blink of an eye, they were defeated again.

Fortunately, with the judge of the underworld in charge, the city god of this city didn't dare to act recklessly, and his life was spared.

"I'm really speechless..." Lu Chen thought to himself. He thought he had found a great opportunity, but he was still blocked by the cunning old man.

However, since the other party promised not to let the City God settle scores later, it can be considered an explanation.

"Xiaoqing, Xiaoru, Ox-Head and Horse-Face!"

"exist!"

"Register the names of all three thousand brothers."

"Yes!"

The four underworld messengers leaped up in response, their mysterious light sweeping across the area, quickly creating a register.

Holding the roster, Lu Chen said loudly, "Brothers, although I can't take you with me, I will definitely repay the debt I owe you! In a few days, I will send someone to pay you a year's salary as agreed."

He turned to Yama, the King of Hell: "King Yama, please grant me one more request. Make sure that every penny of this money reaches the hands of my brothers, and that it doesn't end up in the pockets of some people."

"Don't worry!" Yama chuckled. "Doesn't he pride himself on being high and mighty? I actually hope he dares to make a move!"

"Then I'm relieved." Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and bowed deeply to the three thousand Yin soldiers and generals: "Brothers, may our paths cross again someday! Farewell!"

"General!!!"

At that moment, upon hearing that the three thousand Yin soldiers and generals would receive an additional year's salary, he was immediately moved to tears.

They clearly didn't put in much effort.

However, they still agreed to give them half a year's salary, which means each Yin soldier would receive 120,000 and each Yin general would receive at least 700,000.

With their current salaries, they would have to work for at least twenty years, or even longer, without eating or drinking, to earn that much money!

Such a loyal and devoted master, yet I couldn't follow him!
The five generals, judges, and wandering spirits at the head of the group were indescribably miserable.

They exchanged a glance, then stepped forward and shouted in unison, "All troops, listen to my command!"

"exist!"

"To the General!"

--"loyalty!!!"

The shouts of three thousand people reverberated throughout the entire City God Street.

Yan Wang, Xie Bi'an, Fan Wujiu, and the others all twitched their lips slightly.

Although Lu Chen didn't take any people with him, he had clearly won their hearts.

"This kid..." Yama gasped inwardly, thinking that he must never let him come to the Underworld again, otherwise the Underworld would be in chaos just by his methods of winning people's hearts.
Lu Chen waved and smiled, "Goodbye!"

He then strode toward the exit like a leader.

"General!!!"

Behind him, three thousand ghost soldiers and generals followed his gaze.

"Want to leave?!"

But at that moment, a ferocious look suddenly appeared on the face of the City God, and his eyes blazed with bloodlust.

"boom!!!!!"

next moment.

A loud slamming sound echoed through Chenghuang Street as a gate suddenly closed.

In an instant, the entire ghost realm shook violently.

It all seemed to be teetering on the brink of collapse.

"How dare you! You actually close off Chenghuang Street!?" King Yama roared in fury.

The city god suddenly broke free from his restraints, flashed to the back, and a chilling smile appeared on his face.

"Now that the entrance to City God Street is closed, even if it were the Ghost Emperor himself, let alone Yama, it would still take some effort to reopen the path to the mortal realm! If we wait for me to open it personally, it will take at least thirty days!"

He suddenly stared at Lu Chen, his laughter becoming maniacal:

"Boy, since I have dominated the world, I have never suffered such a humiliation. How could I let you leave!"

Don't think you're the only one with powerful backers; this manor certainly has plenty too!

He looked at Yama, showing no fear whatsoever, even a hint of mockery: "Today, I will trap you to death! What can your powerful backer do to me?!"

　The next chapter is being polished.

　　I will try to finish writing this chapter as soon as possible.

　　I'm thinking of writing a follow-up.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)