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

Chapter 132 A Dead End! (Please continue reading!!!!)
——Dong dong dong!

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.

He subconsciously swallowed, composed himself, and then walked step by step toward the thatched hut.

Upon entering the house, one finds the furnishings to be simple and unpretentious.

Out of the corner of Lu Chen's eye, he immediately noticed a white-haired young man sitting calmly at a wooden table next to the stove in the inner room.

The man, dressed in a brocade robe and possessing extraordinary handsome features, was leisurely putting a piece of candy into his mouth from a bowl or plate on the table.

"You...you are the Kitchen God?" Lu Chen was stunned on the spot.

In his mind, the Kitchen God should be a kind-faced, pot-bellied old man. How could he be so dashing and handsome in front of him?
and many more!

Lu Chen actually remembered.

It is said that the early Kitchen God was always portrayed as a handsome man.

However, as the worship of the Kitchen God became more widespread among the people, it was to better reflect the Kitchen God's status as a "folk deity and household immortal."

It gradually transformed into the image of an old man.

Clearly, the handsome man before them was the true face of the Kitchen God.

"Young friend, if you worship the Kitchen God, then who else could I be but the Kitchen God?"

The Kitchen God looked up and gazed at us, his divine eyes shining like stars.

"sit down."

"Yes, thank you, Kitchen God!" Lu Chen bowed deeply and sat down opposite him as instructed.

The Kitchen God picked up another piece of candy, savored it carefully, but shook his head slightly: "These candies of the present world, though novel in flavor, are ultimately not as mellow and sweet as before."

Lu Chen quickly replied, "If the Kitchen God likes it, I will definitely prepare more varieties for you to enjoy in the future. I will buy more of whatever you like to eat."

The young and handsome Kitchen God swallowed the candy, smiled, and nodded: "You're thoughtful. Tell me, what brings you to go to such lengths to summon me?"

Lu Chen hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "To be honest, I have come here today to ask you for a request. Recently, two cases of 'corpse dissolution to immortality' have occurred in Jiangdu City, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred people in just one month."

—The S-rank red-clad vengeful ghost from the Rebirth Academy slaughtered nearly a hundred people, plus the four lives of those who became immortals in the Five Hells.

Upon closer reflection, it's clear that this person who achieved immortality through corpse liberation did indeed take many lives.

"But the real culprit behind this is still at large. I dare to beg the Kitchen God to take action and capture this scoundrel!"

"You should have sought help from the Spirit Official for this matter. Why have you come to me?" The Kitchen God's tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

—The Spirit Official?
Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Right.

The duties of the spirit official are to investigate the three realms and expel evil spirits and ward off disasters.

Logically speaking, one could indeed seek help from the spirit official in this matter.

But Yu Feng only asked him to find the murderer...

He suddenly understood something and hurriedly said, "Reporting to the Kitchen God, although the Spirit Official is in charge of investigation, he only kills and does not save. Once he takes action, it will be with thunderous force, annihilating demons and evil spirits in both form and spirit. But there are laws in the human world. Whether human, demon, or ghost, since they have committed crimes in the mortal world, they should be judged by the laws of the mortal world. That is why I have come to see the Kitchen God—you know all things in the human world, and all matters of this mortal world are within your sight and hearing."

"Then why don't you go and pay respects to the Four Duty Officers? I see that you possess a token of office of the Underworld Gods and an edict from the Heavenly Court's Plague Department. Even the gold ingot pendant on your chest, if I'm not mistaken, should be the magic weapon of the Lord of Wealth among the Five Gods of Wealth. Hmm, you even have the aura of the Four River Dragon Gods on you!"

The Kitchen God was slightly speechless, but the silence vanished in an instant. He then said with a leisurely gaze, "At such a young age, to be able to form connections with so many powerful beings in the Heavenly Court, the Underworld, and the Dragon Palace is quite remarkable."

Under the invisible pressure, Lu Chen clasped his hands and said frankly, "Kitchen God, please understand, I was merely fortunate to have formed a connection with a few immortals. As for the Four Duty Officers..."

He paused, then smiled wryly, "To be honest, I did go to pay my respects, but..."

"Were they just driven out?" The Kitchen God, who had somehow produced a cup of tea, blew on it to warm it, and took over his words.

“Uh…” Lu Chen was speechless and could only nod.

"Hmph, those guys only know how to bury themselves in books all day long, they have no interest in the suffering of people."

To Lu Chen's surprise, the Kitchen God made no attempt to hide his contempt for the Four Duty Officers.

"These gods in heaven are all terrified of karma as if it were a venomous snake, afraid of getting even the slightest bit tainted, yet they greedily enjoy the offerings of incense from the mortal world, always complaining that there's too little. It's truly laughable..."

He stopped there, took a sip of tea, and then put down his cup.

—I'll blanch it!

Lu Chen was secretly astonished upon hearing this.

I never expected the Kitchen God to be so fierce, he just kept spewing insults at the gods in Heaven.

That's quite unique!
“Young friend, seeing your sincerity, I may speak frankly. In the past, I would have helped you with this. Even if you hadn’t asked, I would never have stood by and watched evil spirits harm those who worship me, the Kitchen God.” He paused, his expression slightly hardening: “Unfortunately, times have changed. Now, even if I wanted to, I am powerless to intervene.”

Lu Chen's heart tightened, and he asked solemnly, "Is the Kitchen God facing any difficulties? Is it related to entering the temple?"

The Kitchen God's eyes flickered slightly. After a moment of silence, he finally sighed softly and nodded: "Since you understand the meaning of the household spirit, you should understand—the household spirit protects the peace and well-being of the family. But ever since the Heavenly Court established a new rule, ordering all gods to be worshipped in temples, I have completely lost my foundation. Just imagine, a household spirit being invited into a temple for worship, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

"I am not complaining about the harshness of the heavenly rules; this is the inevitable trend and the cause and effect of heaven and earth."

But once I enter the temple, my divine duties are destined to be limited, and I will no longer be able to protect thousands of households as I used to.

Over time, its divine power became tarnished and gradually declined... This cycle continued, leading to its current state.

At this point, his brows furrowed with helplessness.

"If it weren't for the fact that the temple was once very popular and still has some foundation, I'm afraid that even guiding your soul into this sea of ​​consciousness would be difficult today."

Lu Chen was not surprised to hear this.

As expected, the Kitchen God's concern was that his magical powers would be greatly reduced after the incense offerings declined.

This is a common problem for obscure deities.

Currently, only Yama, the King of Hell, and the Plague Emperor are somewhat better off.

The former is a department with significant authority, and therefore is less affected by the burden of incense offerings.

The latter, after all, is one of the eight righteous gods, holding a high position and great power.

In contrast, whether it's the God of Wealth or the Dragon King of the Well, their situations are exactly the same as those of the Kitchen God.

However... he just happened to run into Lu Chen!

He's very familiar with this!
—We're too familiar with each other!

Even if it's not an easy task, it's still a piece of cake!
With a weight lifted from his heart, Lu Chen cupped his hands again and said, "The Kitchen God cares deeply for all living beings; he truly deserves to be called a benevolent deity of every household. I am not very talented, but I do possess some ancestral secret techniques that can help you accumulate merit in a short period of time."

The Kitchen God's eyes narrowed: "Continuing merit? Young friend, you've got it backwards. I only know that incense can be continued, not 'continuing merit'."

Lu Chen smiled slightly: "What this junior is talking about is indeed merit."

"Oh?" The Kitchen God gave him a deep look: "It seems you are indeed extraordinary, young friend. No wonder you have such connections with so many deities. I suppose it's because of this 'ancestral secret technique'?"

Lu Chen smiled without saying a word, which was taken as tacit agreement.

He bowed his head and clasped his hands, saying, "If you do not despise me, I am willing to do my best."

call--

The lamp on the table flickered gently.

The crackling of firewood from the stove behind them grew even louder.

This only made the room seem even quieter.

Lu Chen had assumed that the Kitchen God would be overjoyed upon hearing this news, just as he had been with the God of Wealth.

However, after waiting for a long time, there was still no response.

"My lord?" He looked up and saw that the Kitchen God's expression remained calm, even... somewhat indifferent.

“Young friend, although you possess extraordinary skills, my problem is not actually the amount of magic power you have.”

"What does the Kitchen God mean?"

This sudden turn of events left Lu Chen stunned.

The Kitchen God sighed deeply, his helplessness becoming even more apparent: "Actually, the reason I refuse incense offerings is not because I am unwilling, but because there is a knot that I cannot untie."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen raised his eyebrows sharply.

The heavy weight that had just been lifted from my heart was suddenly lifted again!

"A dead knot?!"

　Chapter Two is being polished, please wait a moment.

　　Also, Saturdays are a rest day, scheduled for the second watch in the evening.

　　Two more updates after midnight.

　　In total, six updates were posted within 24 hours.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)