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

Chapter 42 Slaying the Dragon!

On the way back.

Lu Chen took out his phone and quickly swiped his finger across the screen, searching for the location of "Longhu County".

It is about 30 kilometers away from Jiangdu city.

It only takes an hour or so to get there by taxi.

He decided to call a taxi to go home and get some things first, and then head straight to Longhu County.

"Hey! Lu Chen! Lu Chen!"

Hearing someone call his name, Lu Chen subconsciously turned around and realized that Li Ruoyi had been following him the whole time.

"Li, classmate?" Lu Chen stopped in his tracks.

Li Ruoyi jogged to catch up, slightly out of breath: "Why are you walking so fast? I almost couldn't keep up."

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What's wrong?"

"I..." Li Ruoyi hesitated, her expression complicated.

Lu Chen saw a mixture of three parts intimacy, three parts surprise, and four parts barely concealed fear on her face.

It must have been his appearance as Yama, the King of Hell, that terrified her.

"Lu Chen, don't you... have anything you want to say to me?" Li Ruoyi hesitated for a long time before finally asking in a low voice.

"What did you say? Did I scare you just now?" Lu Chen scratched his head and smiled. "Sorry, I just hate people like Song Hao, so I went a little too far. Otherwise, I would have encountered something similar again next time."

“Yes, I understand.” Li Ruoyi nodded, then mustered her courage to raise her eyes, took a deep breath and asked, “So, the person who worshipped Yama at the Zhao Clan Temple the day before yesterday… was also you. Lu Chen, how did you suddenly become so powerful? I really can’t believe it.”

"Didn't the city lord say that everyone has their own destiny? As for me... I think I've found mine too."

Lu Chen brushed it off lightly.

"Okay, congratulations."

"Okay! If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Wait a moment!"

Li Ruoyi called out to him again.

For some reason, her eyes reddened and her nose twitched slightly.

"What's wrong, Li?" Lu Chen was genuinely confused.

Li Ru sniffed, as if she had suffered a heavy blow, and said with red eyes, "Lu Chen, how can you be so amazing... You're like this, I... I'm so scared!"

"Scared? I'm not going to eat you." Lu Chen thought she was frightened by his previous menacing appearance.

To everyone's surprise, Li Ruoyi shook her head vigorously: "I'm not afraid of what you were like just now... I'm afraid I'll never catch up with you again. Before, when your grades weren't as good as mine, I didn't feel any pressure liking you. But the day before yesterday, when you raised your Divine Servant Level to 5% in one go, I started to feel pressured. I couldn't believe it was real. Later, I comforted myself, maybe you were just lucky, 5% isn't that much, if I work harder, maybe I can still catch up with you."

She paused, her voice choked with emotion:

“But what about today? Your Divine Servant Level is 50%... What am I supposed to do? I'll never catch up with you in this lifetime. And that's not all, you actually have such a deep connection with the Underworld... Just now, your Dharma Avatar power, I bet it had at least 20% of your Divine Servant Level, right? One is 50%, the other is 20%... You've covered in two days what others can't cover in a lifetime. Lu Chen, I'm afraid... I'm afraid we'll eventually become people from two different worlds.”

In the end, she seemed completely defeated and burst into tears.

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.

Is this considered... a confession?
He chuckled, shook his head, and stepped forward: "Student Li."

Li Ruoyi is still crying.

"Oh, don't worry..."

The crying stopped abruptly. Li Ruoyi raised her head, a hint of expectation in her eyes, and looked at him.

Lu Chen smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "The gap between you and me is destined to widen. So you really don't need to be afraid, just accept it calmly."

Li Ruoyi: "??!!"

"Alright, stop crying. This isn't the age for romance. Keep up the good work, and I wish you success in getting into the top class soon. I'm off!"

After saying that, Lu Chen turned and left without looking back.

Li Ruoyi stood there stunned for a while before she came to her senses.

Was what he just said meant to comfort her, or was it just to comfort her?
wrong!

"Lu Chen, you damn straight man!"

Li Ruoyi stomped her feet in anger, but couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

"Mom, I've taken on a school assignment and will be away for a few days. Remember to offer incense for me morning and evening."

Back home, Lu Chen quickly packed her luggage, and before leaving, she made sure to call her mother to give her some instructions.

"Where are you going, son?"

"Longhu County".

"Longhu County? What are you going to that godforsaken place for?"

"I need to do a task. I have to go now, Mom."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Chen bowed to the two shrines in his home, then picked up his schoolbag and went downstairs.

As soon as I reached the entrance of the residential area, I heard a loudspeaker blaring.

Turning his head, he saw Sun Yourong leaning against her luxury car, waving at him.

"What brings you here, Miss Sun?"

"Don't call me Miss Sun anymore. I'm only a year older than you. Just call me Yourong. And from now on, I won't call you Mr. Lu anymore. I'll just call you Lu Chen. How about that?"

"It doesn't matter, it's just a form of address. You... came here specifically to find me?"

Sun Yourong nodded: "I heard you took on an S-level mission to pray for rain in Longhu County?"

Lu Chen was slightly taken aback, then laughed: "You big families really have connections everywhere. I just accepted the mission, and you already know about it."

“What’s so special about having connections? A little inquiry would have been enough,” Sun Yourong said, her smile fading. “But to be honest, I was quite startled when I first heard it. But then I thought, you’re not one to follow the rules, so it’s not surprising. Come on, let’s get in the car!”

Lu Chen: "Where to?"

Sun Yourong: "Longhu County. I happen to be free these days, so I'll go with you."

Lu Chen quickly waved his hand: "No need to trouble yourself, Miss Sun, I'll go by myself."

"Didn't we agree not to call her Miss Sun?"

"Then let's go with Sister Sun. Anyway, you're older than me, so it's not a loss for me to call you 'sister'."

Her name is You Rong...

Lu Chen couldn't bring himself to call out, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

Sun Yourong: "..."

"Fine, whatever you want. But with me going with you, you'll not only have an extra driver, but also an extra bodyguard. Aren't you grateful for that?"

"No need, I don't like to trouble others," Lu Chen politely declined. Having a woman with him would inevitably make things more difficult.

"You!" Sun Yourong's eyebrows shot up. As the daughter of the prestigious Sun family, she was always the center of attention wherever she went in Jiangdu City.
Now that I'm offering to be his driver and bodyguard, he's still complaining?
“Alright,” she changed the subject, “then don’t you want to know what exactly happened in Longhu County that caused this three-year drought?”

"Three years? Didn't the mission say one year?"

“The mission is the mission, and the reality is the reality. This drought actually started three years ago. All the information you can find online has been manipulated. You can’t find out what really happened.” Sun Yourong pointed to herself, her tone certain: “But I know.”

Lu Chen frowned, thought for a moment, then opened the car door and sat directly in the passenger seat.

Seeing this, Sun Yourong's lips curled into a slight smile, and she muttered under her breath, "Little rascal~"

The car started and headed towards Longhu County.

On the way, Lu Chen casually asked, "By the way, Sister Sun, your grandfather should be alright now, right?"

"Thanks to you, my grandfather was discharged from the hospital today. I originally wanted to invite you to my home, as he really wanted to meet you. However, after hearing that you took on a mission in Longhu County, my dad asked me to accompany you, so here I am."

Sun Yourong paused, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, her tone teasing: "By the way, you really stole the show today as Yama."

Lu Chen remained noncommittal and went straight to the point: "Tell me about Longhu County. What exactly happened? I just looked it up, and it's said that the locals offended the Dragon King of the East Sea, who is in charge of rainfall, so the Dragon King refused to send rain in anger."

Sun Yourong nodded: "That's correct, but it's too general, it's like saying nothing at all. The truth... is far beyond what ordinary people can imagine, and it has long been covered up by the relevant departments. Even in the Jiangdu City government, there are many people who are completely unaware of the inside story."

"Is it that serious? What's the inside story?"

Lu Chen's curiosity was completely piqued.

Sun Yourong slowly uttered a single sentence, yet it was enough to shake the heavens and earth:

"Someone has slain a dragon!"

　There will be more later

　　
　
(End of this chapter)