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

Chapter 128 Strange... Why would the Heavenly Court implement such a reform?
"This……"

Lu Chen was speechless for a moment, completely exasperated.

The four officers on duty spoke one after another, clearly leaving no room for discussion.

"Hey, brothers, you can't say that."

Li Chenghuang smiled and smoothed things over:
"General Lu is also a man of great sincerity, with the people at heart. Now, demons lurk in Jiangdu City, and chaos is about to break out. As guardians of this region, how can we sit idly by and let evil run rampant?"

“Your Majesty, you are mistaken. My four brothers and I are only responsible for recording the good and evil deeds of humankind and investigating merits and demerits. Protecting this land has never been our responsibility throughout history; it is your duty, Your Majesty, to devote more effort to it.”

The annual official in charge showed no mercy.

“Indeed!” the Moon Duty Officer interjected, “No matter what kind of demon it is, when the time comes, the Heavenly Dao will naturally operate and bring down karmic retribution. If you, like me, come to us brothers for this convenient way whenever you encounter a slightly difficult problem, then what is the point of maintaining our positions as the Four Duty Officers?”

“My second brother is absolutely right! This act not only violates the rules of Heaven, but will also incur immense karmic consequences. What are these consequences? They are like poison that pierces the intestines and a steel knife that scrapes the bones! You are seeking a quick death, but aren’t you dragging the four of us brothers down with you to share the blame?”

"Why bother talking to them any longer? Without a legal order, just see them out!"

The daily duty officer is the most straightforward and direct.

Seeing that the Fourth Duty Officer's attitude was so resolute.

Zhong Kui stopped wasting words and said decisively, "Let's go."

Li Chenghuang sighed and left in a huff.

I got a real slap in the face from the Fourth Duty Officer.

The group had no choice but to return to the City God's Mansion in disappointment.

A moment later, in front of the City God's Palace.

A group of people appeared.

"It seems we'll have to find another way?"

Lu Chen frowned.

These four officials are also masters of Yin and Yang.

Please ask the Jade Emperor?
The Jade Emperor is the head of the Six Emperors and the supreme ruler of the Three Realms.

After enduring twelve thousand kalpas, one can finally enjoy the boundless Dao.

Its status is second only to the Three Pure Ones.

Even if he wanted to pray, he would need to have a statue of a god to worship.

Let's take a step back.

Even if there is a statue of a deity, whether one can actually worship it is another matter.

He's the Jade Emperor!

Even emperors of the mortal realm had to spend 10,000 military merits to pay homage.

Lu Chen's strongest "divine vein" is the Plague Emperor Haotian.

If calculated according to human official positions.

This refers to positions like Zheng Changguo's, such as "prefect".

Did he see Zheng Changguo as someone who needed military merit?

This gives an idea of ​​just how difficult it was to petition the Jade Emperor.

We humbly request the Jade Emperor to issue a decree.

What do you think?
Even the King of Hell doesn't have that kind of power.

There probably isn't a God of Wealth either.

Even if the Plague Emperor went...

It's estimated that before Lu Chen could even finish his request, the Plague Emperor would have to slap him twice to bring him to his senses.

"Damn it!" Lu Chen's indomitable spirit flared up again: "I refuse to believe that I can't solve this case without you guys!!"

Just as he was pondering, Li Chenghuang's voice came from beside him: "General, there is no need to worry too much. Now that I know about this matter, there is no reason to let it go unchecked. I will immediately dispatch the Day and Night Patrol Gods and the Five Paths Generals, leading their underworld soldiers, to strengthen patrols in Jiangdu City day and night!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen immediately turned around and bowed respectfully: "Then I will trouble you, Lord City God!"

"General, you are too kind. This is my duty. To be honest, I am ashamed to say that this action is only a belated attempt to mend the fence after the sheep have escaped, and I am truly at ease with my conscience." Li Chenghuang looked ashamed and was filled with remorse.

"Please await good news, General. If any disturbance is discovered, I will immediately report to you. If it is found to be the work of ghosts, I will punish them severely according to the laws of the underworld; if it is the work of villains, I will capture the culprit and hand them over to you, General, so that they may be severely punished according to the laws of the mortal world!"

Lu Chen bowed deeply again: "On behalf of the Jiangdu government, I thank Your Majesty the City God!"

Li Chenghuang also bowed in return, saying, "General, you flatter me. This matter was indeed due to my oversight."

Lu Chen bowed even lower: "It is really too much trouble for you, sir."

Li Chenghuang lowered his body again, saying, "General, please don't do this. You're making me feel ashamed."

Seeing the two exchanging endless pleasantries, Zhong Kui waved his hand, "Alright, alright, you two don't need to be so polite. The most important thing now is to get things done. City God Li, I'll leave this matter to you." "Rest assured, True Lord, this humble official will do his utmost!"

"Very well, with you saying that, we are relieved. In that case, we won't bother you any longer. Farewell!"

After saying this, Zhong Kui flicked his red robe, swept up Lu Chen and the others, and disappeared from Chenghuang Street.

"Farewell, True Lord!"

Li Chenghuang bowed deeply and respectfully. Only after he straightened up did his face regain the dignified bearing of a city god.

"Third Sister..."

"What are your orders, sir?" Hu Sanniang appeared in response.

"Go, summon the Day and Night Guardians to come see me immediately."

"Yes!"

Hu Sanniang accepted the order and transformed into a streak of blue light, disappearing into the distance.

Li Chenghuang stood with his hands behind his back in front of the main hall, gazing at the entrance of Chenghuang Street, his eyes slightly narrowed...

……

Inside an office in the South Suburb Industrial Park.

Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on the sofa, his soul returned to its place.

Before them stood Zhong Kui, Xie Qingyi, and Fan Rusong.

"General, are you alright?" Fan Rusong stepped forward and asked with concern.

"It's alright." Lu Chen waved his hand and sat up.

Zhong Kui spoke up: "Although we have now received the City God's permission to assist in the investigation, in my opinion, young friend, we must not let our guard down. Waiting passively for the rabbit to run into the tree stump is not a good strategy."

Lu Chen nodded and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "What you say is absolutely right, True Lord. That is what I think too. I will definitely continue to try to investigate."

Zhong Kui nodded, a hint of appreciation in his eyes: "Very well, in that case, I would appreciate your continued assistance, young friend. I will return to the Underworld now. If you encounter any trouble during your investigation..."

He hesitated for a moment, then with a flick of his finger, a token that was entirely crimson and engraved with a ferocious ghost head appeared in Lu Chen's hand.

"This is my decree. If you encounter danger, you can infuse it with your magic power, and I will sense it and come to your aid. However, please remember that this token can only be used twice, and its validity is only seven days. After seven days, the decree will disappear on its own, regardless of whether it has been used."

"Thank you, True Lord!" Lu Chen solemnly accepted the gift.

"No need for formalities, I'm off!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhong Kui waved his red robe, and his figure transformed into a wisp of red smoke, returning to the underworld.

Lu Chen looked down at the red token in his hand.

Beside him, Fan Rusong suddenly sighed, "It seems that the True Lord's magical power is indeed... incomparable to that of his prime."

“Yes,” Xie Qingyi sighed softly, “this token can only last for seven days.”

"What do you mean?" Lu Chen asked, puzzled.

“General, you are unaware of this,” Fan Rusong explained. “Back then, the most popular deity in the underworld was none other than Zhenjun. But now, with the prohibition against privately inviting deities in the mortal realm, Zhenjun’s popularity has plummeted. With the incense gone, his magical power naturally diminishes as well.”

"You're not allowed to privately invite deities?" Lu Chen was taken aback. "You mean... the Guardian Deity? The Door God?"

"Yes, back when Zhenjun's incense was at its most popular, almost every household put up his image as a door god and enjoyed all the offerings from the people! But now, General, do you still see anyone putting up door gods in their homes?"

Lu Chen became interested in this topic: "Then why does the imperial court forbid the private worship of deities and require them to be worshipped only in temples?"

"Actually, this is not the court's intention. Ultimately, it is still their intention."

Xie Qingyi pointed to the top of his head, clearly indicating that someone of his rank as a Yin official was somewhat wary of the Heavenly Court.

Lu Chen frowned: "You mean that the Heavenly Court forbids privately inviting deities, and all deities can only be worshipped in temples, which has led to the extinction of incense offerings and a great reduction in magical power for some former household spirits?"

Fan Rusong nodded: "That's right. According to my father, although the incense offerings of my underworld were not as numerous as those of the celestial gods in the past, they were certainly not as bleak as they are today. We could still hold our own."

But since all the gods have been enshrined in temples, they have been crowding together to compete for incense offerings, and the incense offerings in my underworld have been declining day by day.

People already have a grudge against us, and since this is the price for inviting celestial immortals from the Heavenly Court, it's the same price for inviting me, a god of the underworld.

Ordinary people naturally tend to worship the righteous gods of Heaven.

This situation, if continued, has led to the predicament we face today.

Even a once-powerful deity like Zhenjun, with his flourishing incense offerings, ultimately couldn't reverse the tide and was forced to...fall into obscurity.

"There's such a story from the past..."

This was the first time Lu Chen had heard of this claim.

He had assumed that this was how this world of gods was supposed to be.

But after hearing what they said, it seems that this model of centralized worship has only been around for a few hundred years.

Strange... Why would the Heavenly Court implement such a reform?
(End of this chapter)