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

Chapter 163 Kill me? I'll do your bidding!
After all, besides subduing demons and upholding righteousness...

The most well-known divine role of this True Lord is that of the Door God.

If you put up an image of Zhong Kui in your home, all evil spirits will be protected and all ghosts will flee.

However, the imperial court had long ago explicitly prohibited the common people from privately inviting gods, and even portraits were not allowed.

"This has turned into another troublesome matter."

Lu Chen took out the [Zhong Kui Token].

There are only three days left before the token expires.

There are only two more opportunities left to invite Zhong Kui.

"No rush, let's wait for news from Li Chenghuang before making any plans."

Lu Chen put the token away.

The formalities for the temple have been completed. After the Ma Family Temple is transferred to my name tomorrow, the subsequent renovations can be entrusted to Zeng Rou.

In this way, he doesn't have anything to handle personally for the time being.

"It's time to check out the new mission..."

Lu Chen felt uneasy if he didn't take on a new task for a day.

After all, he had only completed three tasks before he had already entered the ranks of the "new elites".

If we could do six or seven more, wouldn't the position of "great clan" be within our grasp?
—If any fellow Daoist happens to pass through Jiangdu City at that time and doesn't come in to kowtow to me, Lu, wouldn't that be far too arrogant? ...

Ah!
Lu Chen made up his mind to go to the city lord's mansion tomorrow to see if there were any suitable "temple missions".

In any case, tasks of rank A and above are interchangeable between the two sides and are essentially the same.

The only question now is: can the rewards for temple quests be doubled like those for personal quests?
If not, Lu Chen might need to reconsider further.

A-level missions are fine, the difference isn't that big.

But S-level missions often award several thousand military merits, so the difference is obvious—Lu Chen also felt he was being cheated.

"I'll investigate this temple mission more thoroughly later to see if there's anything else special about it..."

Seeing that it was already late at night, Lu Chen turned around and went upstairs to rest.

He was certain that someone would be unable to sleep tonight…

……

Meanwhile, in the north of the city, at the Zhao family's residence.

Zhao Wanliang was enjoying himself in his room when he suddenly sensed something and his expression changed drastically.

"Get out! All of you, get out!!!"

He shoved the woman beside him aside, sending the stunned crowd outside.

Once everyone was out of the villa, a spatial rift quietly opened.

Li Chenghuang's figure had already appeared in front of the door.

"Sir, what's wrong...?"

"Snapped!!!"

A slap carrying a chilling wind landed hard on Zhao Wanliang's face, sending him flying onto the bed.

Li Chenghuang's face was extremely ugly: "You good-for-nothing, more likely to ruin everything!"

"Grandpa, what happened?!"

Ignoring the pain on his face, Zhao Wanliang hurriedly pressed for answers.

He knew that Li Chenghuang would never be so angry unless something serious had happened.

Do you even know how big of a mess you've made?!

"Could it be... that he discovered something?" Zhao Wanliang's face turned pale. "Could it be... that serious is it that he didn't nominate you as the City God?!"

"What do you think!" Li Chenghuang's tone was frighteningly gloomy.

With a thud, Zhao Wanliang knelt down immediately:
"Grandpa, what exactly happened?"

After a long silence, Li Chenghuang finally let out a long sigh:
Fortunately, the kid didn't notice anything unusual.

"That's good..." Zhao Wanliang breathed a sigh of relief.

"But do you know what he asked me to do?" Li Chenghuang interrupted coldly.

"do what?"

"He wants me to wipe out the Zhao family."

"What?!!"

Zhao Wanliang almost thought he had misheard.

"How...how could this happen?!"

"Isn't this all because of what you did during the day! You've made people hate the Zhao family for a long time!"

After calming down, Li Chenghuang truly understood Lu Chen's vengeful nature.

All of this stemmed from a simple provocation and suppression by Zhao Zhihong, a servant of the Zhao family, when Lu Chen was still unknown.

Unexpectedly, this grudge has been held onto to this day. In addition, the two fools, Zhao Wanliang and Zhao Jiutang, kept escalating the conflict, finally bringing it to the point of no return.

Thinking about it this way, it makes perfect sense that the kid wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work.

"Grandpa... if it really comes to no use," Zhao Wanliang's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he raised his hand to his neck, "we'll..."

"Fool!" Li Chenghuang shouted sternly, "My path to promotion is practically in his hands!"
Kill him now.

You, me, and the entire Zhao family are doomed!

Do you really think it's as simple as him just having a good relationship with a few gods?
He's managed to obtain two divine offices at such a young age; you could never learn that skill in your entire life!

Zhao Wanliang's face was ashen, and at this moment, a chilling hatred flickered in his eyes.

After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and said:
"What should I do, grandson? Please advise me, grandfather!"

Li Chenghuang was also deeply troubled.

He certainly couldn't really wipe out the Zhao family as Lu Chen said, but he couldn't leave them without giving an explanation—otherwise, that kid would definitely become suspicious.

However, it would be too difficult to reconcile the Zhao and Lu families at present.

Moreover, if the Zhao family suddenly shows weakness, it would only make things worse and easily expose His relationship with the Zhao family.

Li Chenghuang never imagined that since taking the position of Chenghuang of Jiangdu, he would one day be forced into such a predicament in his own territory.

He paced back and forth in the room, but could not come up with a solution that satisfied both sides.

"Grandpa... I have an idea."

After a long silence, Zhao Wanliang suddenly spoke.

"explain."

"Now that things have come to this point, we can't afford not to give an explanation. But it's absolutely unacceptable for you to personally intervene!"

The conflict must be quelled first through a third party.

Li Chenghuang frowned: "Continue."

"That kid is so vengeful. In the end, he just wants to use this opportunity to force you, Grandpa, to pave the way for him in the north of the city. But if our Zhao family doesn't compete with him... do you think he'll still be determined to destroy the Zhao family?"

"Hmph!" Li Chenghuang sneered, "Now you know to back down? Too late! If you make any move to back down now, given this kid's wary nature, he will definitely suspect the relationship between me and you. In that case, you'll make things worse and suffer more losses."

"Grandson understands. But what if...grandson has a way to shift the conflict, or even become his 'ally'?"

Li Chenghuang's gaze sharpened, and he asked with slight confusion, "Allies? What do you mean?"

Zhao Wanliang stood up and slowly said:

"Right now, everyone in Jiangdu City, whether they are established families or newly rich, is hoping that our two families will fight to the death so that they can reap the benefits."

I don't believe that kid couldn't see that.

Given this, if I do the opposite and take the initiative to befriend him, I can shift the conflict onto the other companies.

Isn't there still a chance for things to turn around?

Before Li Chenghuang could urge him on, Zhao Wanliang continued his explanation:
"According to reliable information obtained by my grandson, the Wu family and the Qin family have been secretly plotting against that kid."

The Wu family secretly cultivated several spirits who worshipped the underworld, hoping to get a share of the underworld money business.

The Qin family has set its sights on the Plague Emperor of the Plague Department and is arranging for its members to find relevant temple missions in order to invite the god into the temple.

It was clearly that the boy's ability to slay demons and control the plague in seven days that piqued Qin Guangshan's interest.

And these two businesses are the foundation of that kid's business.

Zhao Wanliang smiled:

"If your grandson reveals these inside stories to him, do you think he will still be determined to fight the Zhao family to the death, allowing the Wu and Qin families to take advantage of the situation?"
I don’t think so.

Besides, who says that families in the north of the city must be promoted in the north?
I could easily agree to his request and use the entire Zhao family's resources to help him accumulate worshippers and establish and expand the Lu Clan Temple in Jiangdu City, without ever touching the deities of the Lu Clan Temple.

Later, if you help him defeat the Wu or Qin family and rise to the ranks of the powerful clans of Jiangdu—do you think he wouldn't be tempted?

Upon hearing this, Li Chenghuang's anxious expression softened.

He was clearly somewhat tempted.

"That's true, but how exactly do we implement it? Are you going to confront him directly? That would be suspicious and too deliberate."

Zhao Wanliang pondered for a moment, then asked in return:

"Grandpa, what happened today? Is it that the boy still has doubts about the autopsy case? Or is it simply that he has a personal grudge against my Zhao family?"

"I didn't sense any doubt from him about the case; it should be a closed chapter now."

"Good! So, when you discussed the matter of eliminating the Zhao family with him on City God Street today, did anyone else know about it?"

"It was I who took the initiative to come to your door, and Third Sister was also present."

"Third Sister!!" Zhao Wanliang's eyes lit up: "That's good! I have an idea!"

"What's the idea?"

"Let Hu Sanniang be the 'stepping stone'—give me a plausible reason to confront him."

Zhao Wanliang narrowed his eyes: "Grandpa, it's time to make another move..."

　A new chapter begins tomorrow!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)