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

Chapter 114 The Feast at Hongmen Once Again Became a Personal Show!
After Lu Chen calmly took his seat.

In the high hall, Yu Feng's majestic and resonant voice rang out once more:

"Lu Chen, I will leave aside your past with the Rakshasa Sect for now. But today, in front of the four major families and ten rising stars of Jiangdu City, I will only ask you one question—what do you intend to do with these three thousand remnants of the Rakshasa Sect?"

All eyes were once again focused on it.

Lu Chen's expression hardened, and he clasped his hands in a solemn manner, saying, "Reporting to the City Lord, this junior is willing to swear a military oath: after these three thousand men enter the city, they will never commit any crimes. The reason I kept them here is to guide them onto the right path. From now on, the three words 'Rakshasa Sect' will be completely erased from history."

"Words are meaningless; produce something concrete." Yu Feng's gaze was piercing. "Otherwise, how can I dare to gamble the safety of an entire city on a mere promise from you?"

Although Yu Feng and Lu Chen had a decent personal relationship, Yu Feng also greatly admired the young man.

However, the Rakshasa Cult has wreaked havoc on the world for a century and is still an cult wanted by the SS-level.

Yu Feng dedicated half his life to eradicating this sect.

However, fate has played a cruel trick on them, and now this cult has openly appeared on their own territory.

Due to pressure from Zheng Lao, Yu Feng cannot take action yet.

But for both public and private reasons, he could not let Lu Chen get away with it so easily.

“I understand your concerns, sir,” Lu Chen said in a deep voice. “Why don’t you set the conditions, sir? As long as it is within my ability, I will not refuse.”

Yu Feng nodded upon hearing this: "Very well, since you are so aware of this, then this city lord will not stand on ceremony. Guards!"

A servant carrying a tray walked up to Lu Chen.

"I and the other family heads have already reviewed this document. If you have no objections, please sign it."

Yu Feng pointed to the file on the disk.

Lu Chen picked it up and examined it closely. The terms and conditions were all designed to restrain the Rakshasa Cult:
Article 1: The three thousand followers shall not leave Jiangdu City without permission. If they need to go out, they must report in advance and wear a locator so that they can be monitored at any time.

Lu Chen's brows furrowed slightly at just the first point.

Article 2: Any member of the Rakshasa sect who commits a crime in the city, regardless of its severity, shall be severely punished, even for theft.

Article 3: If any member of the Rakshasa sect makes any unusual move, they shall be killed without mercy as a warning to others.

Upon seeing the third item, Lu Chen immediately put down the document and stopped reading.

"My lord, isn't this too harsh? Even if it's an offer of amnesty, it shouldn't go this far."

How can this be considered treating people as human beings?
They were clearly being kept as livestock.

Although the Rakshasa Cult did commit many evil deeds in the past, weren't the most vicious members already executed?

“Strict?” Yu Feng sneered. “Have you not yet realized what the Rakshasa Sect has done in the past? I’ve already shown them leniency by allowing them to establish themselves in Jiangdu City. If you don’t even dare to sign this document, how can I trust you?”

If it were anyone else, Yu Feng would have already unleashed his power and intimidated them.

But Yu Feng really didn't want to use his power to intimidate Lu Chen.

Therefore, the oppressive aura that he was about to release was forcibly withdrawn by him.

He just breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Yu Feng's restraint, Lu Chen pondered for a moment, then picked up the document again: "Well then, sir, I fully understand that your thoughts are all for the benefit of the people in the city. I do not deny that the Rakshasa Sect committed many evils in the past, but now that they have joined me, I must give them an explanation. So how about this: if any of these three thousand people commit a crime in the future, I am willing to bear joint responsibility. If they commit serious crimes, I am also willing to bear the consequences. I will vouch for them!"

As soon as this statement came out, the whole hall was in an uproar.

The heads of the families looked at each other, all showing surprise.

Sun Yourong gritted her teeth, thinking, "Has this guy gone mad?! Human hearts are unpredictable. How can he possibly guarantee three thousand people? Besides, what leader would take such a risk for his subordinates? It's simply a fantasy!"

Yu Feng's gaze was sharp as a knife: "Kid, are you serious? I advise you to think twice before you act!"

“Absolutely true!” Lu Chen declared resolutely, “Since I have decided to take them in, I am responsible to them, to the city lord, and to all the people of the city!”

How could three thousand soldiers arrive so easily?

There's always a price to pay.

Lu Chen was prepared.

Since it's a trap, only those who brave it can be considered true heroes!

"Very well! Since you put it that way, I will do as you wish. Guards!"

The attendant stepped forward in response.

Yu Feng ordered him to draft the document again.

Before long, the new document was presented. Yu Feng read it and found no errors. He then had each family head review it before finally handing it to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen read it carefully, and after confirming that there were no problems, he signed and stamped it without hesitation.

"Good! Since you have made this promise, I believe you will keep it. So, what exactly do you plan to have these three thousand remnants do?" Yu Feng's tone softened slightly, and he even subtly changed his term for the Rakshasa Sect from "remnants" to "remnants".

"Don't worry, sir. I happen to have a few jobs that would benefit the people. Let them do them!"

Lu Chen smiled slightly.

"How many?" Sun Yourong was slightly taken aback. She had originally thought that Lu Chen would at most use these people to expand his business of making ghost money.

But what does "several" mean?
Could he have other plans?
Seeing his confident and determined demeanor, Yu Feng nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

He then changed the subject, saying, "But you are still a commoner, and suddenly you possess three thousand private soldiers, which is illogical..."

"That's right! To recruit a private army, you have to be at least a newly rich family. For ordinary families, no matter how rich they are, hiring one or two hundred bodyguards is already the limit; three thousand is far too many!"

Another newly wealthy family head seized the opportunity to cause trouble.

In contrast, the four heads of the family remained calm and collected, observing the situation from all angles.

Yu Feng frowned and asked, "How many military merits do you have?"

"Twenty-eight thousand two hundred."

hiss--

Another gasp rippled through the hall.

Except for Sun Qingcang, almost all the family heads had a solemn expression.

What? This kid has nearly 30,000 military merits?

"I remember now!" A newly rich family head suddenly stood up: "Someone in Qianjiang City used plague magic to sweep through the demon dungeon before, could it have been you?"

Lu Chen nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"It really is you! I was wondering why you looked so familiar, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen you before. So you were worshipping a plague god?! Wow! You little rascal!"

The head of the family was clearly surprised by the act of worshipping the plague god.

However, Yu Feng, Sun Qingcang, and Sun Yourong, who were standing to the side, were all trying hard to suppress their laughter.

This kid worships more than just the God of Plague.

He also worships the God of Wealth, Yama, and the Dragon King of the Well...

Yu Feng coughed lightly and said seriously, "You'd better get promoted to a new noble as soon as possible, otherwise your three thousand private soldiers will ultimately be illegitimate."

"This junior obeys and will do my utmost!" Lu Chen stood up and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"hehe."

Just then, a soft laugh suddenly rang out.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhao Jiutang, the head of the Zhao family, one of the four great families, with a warm smile, bowing to Lu Chen and saying:
"Young friend Lu, I am Zhao Jiutang, the head of the Zhao family in the north of the city. I just heard Lord Yu say that you are also from the north of the city?"

Lu Chen's gaze narrowed slightly—the Zhao family?
He really didn't have a good impression of him.

“That’s right, I am also from the north of the city, the Zhao family head.”

Out of courtesy, Lu Chen returned the greeting with clasped hands.

"Since we're both from the north of the city, we're practically 'fellow villagers.' If you ever need any help, young friend Lu, just come to my Zhao family."

Zhao Jiutang was very polite.

This person had a kind face, and at first glance, he was indeed easy to get along with, which was completely different from Zhao Zhihong of the Zhao Family Temple.

But Lu Chen prefers to believe that "if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too."

Therefore, in response to Zhao Jiutang's overtures, he merely clasped his hands in greeting again, showing courtesy but remaining distant.

Unexpectedly, Sun Qingcang suddenly laughed and said, "Brother Zhao is fortunate to think so highly of Xiao Chen. However, if Xiao Chen needs anything, my Sun family has already instructed him to come at any time."

"Oh, Brother Sun also knows Young Friend Lu."

“It’s more than just knowing him; Xiao Chen is our Sun family’s savior.” Sun Qingcang also wore a kind smile, but the meaning behind his words was clearly tense: “Brother Zhao is busy with many affairs and may not know, but I went to your Zhao family temple to ask the God of Longevity for blessings. I invited that immortal master Tan who increases longevity, but he failed halfway. In the end, it was Xiao Chen who went to ask the King of Hell to help our old man get through the crisis.”

"What?!!"

These words caused an uproar in the hall several times.

"So it was you who persuaded the King of Hell to extend the lifespan of the Sun family!"

The patriarch suddenly realized what was happening and exclaimed, "You worship both the Plague God and the King of Hell... I know, you're on the path of worshipping two gods!!"

(End of this chapter)