Chapter 263
The Troublesome Matters of the Moon Goddess
Chapter 263 The Troublesome Matters of the Moon Goddess...
"Dudu-"
The call was connected.
"What is it?" came a cold, hard question from the other end of the phone.
"Sir, Mr. Lu has arrived. He says... he says he wants to talk to you."
The person in charge swallowed hard and handed over the phone.
"Oh, it's my young friend Lu. It's been a long time. I hope you've been well."
Grandpa Wu's laughter came through the receiver, gentle, but to Lu Chen at that moment, it clearly sounded insincere.
Ha, that old fox, he really is two-faced, no wonder he's always been disliked.
Lu Chen, too lazy to mince words, cut to the chase: "Old Wu, I won't waste any more time on pleasantries. Wu Jingzhi has only offered a way to compensate the worshippers so far, but he kept saying there would be follow-up, and three days have passed. What's the follow-up? Where's the news?"
"Young friend Lu, please don't be angry. Why don't you come to the Wu residence and sit down so we can talk things over?"
"If you don't have time, just say it over the phone, get to the point." Lu Chen's tone was impatient, giving the other party no chance to beat around the bush: "I only have one thing to say: if you don't give me a decent explanation, I'll go and exchange it for the imperial edict. Then we'll see just how much the Wu family is worth, and whether they can withstand it."
Threat!
A blatant threat!
As expected, the other side fell silent.
"Young friend, please speak freely." After a moment, Old Master Wu's voice came again, now somber.
“Okay, you said it. Zeng Rou told me before that your Wu family owns forty well-located shops across the country. I happen to be opening a shop, and I’ve got my eye on these shops.”
"Young friend Lu, what's the difference between this and outright robbery?" Old Wu's voice suddenly turned cold.
Lu Chen chuckled softly and nodded, saying, "Okay, I understand."
After saying that, he was about to hang up the phone.
"Wait!" Old Master Wu shouted urgently, "Fine! I'll give it to you! You can have it all!"
"Wouldn't it have been better if you had agreed so readily earlier? I'll have someone come to your residence to sign the contract later."
Lu Chen hung up the phone, tossed it back to the person in charge, and then turned and strode into the Wu Family Temple.
The person in charge held the hot phone, his back covered in cold sweat.
One phone call, and forty prime properties vanished...
The power struggles of big shots are indeed beyond what someone at his level could even imagine.
--rough!
That's too brutal!
Soon after, Sun Yourong also arrived at the Wu Family Temple.
……
Inside the Taiyin Xingjun Temple, incense smoke curled upwards, and women were the only ones moving about, their eyes filled with piety.
When Lu Chen stepped inside, he felt a subtle embarrassment, as if he had mistakenly wandered into a women's area.
"Lu Chen, you... really want to worship the Moon Goddess?"
Sun Yourong's expression was also somewhat strange.
"There's no other way. The Old Man Under the Moon is too stubborn. Neither the Two Immortals of Harmony nor the God of Happiness can help. We can only ask their superiors to step in."
"Okay, what do you need me to do?"
“Each person offers their own incense and makes their own wish. Whoever succeeds will then report their request to the Goddess and see if they can receive Her mercy.”
"Row……"
The two stood before the serene and benevolent golden statue of the Goddess of the Moon.
The female pilgrims passing by all cast surprised glances at them.
"Handsome sir, did you... come to the wrong hall?"
"That's right, this is the Taiyin Xingjun Temple, where we girls come to pray for blessings. How can a grown man like you come to worship the goddess?"
Lu Chen gently pulled Sun Yourong aside and smiled, "I came with a friend and also offered incense. Please forgive me, beautiful ladies."
"I see……"
After the greeting "Beautiful sister," the female pilgrims looked at Sun Yourong with envy.
"Beautiful lady, your boyfriend is too good! My husband would never go into a palace like this, it's like asking him to go into a lingerie store."
"Absolutely! My guy's the same way; he runs away the moment you mention the Temple of the Goddess of the Moon." "These days, it's rare to find such understanding guys. It's really frustrating to compare yourself to others..."
……
"Not at all, you flatter me, my lovely fairies."
Lu Chen smiled and then said no more: "Let's begin."
He picked up an incense stick, lit it, and respectfully inserted it into the incense burner, silently reciting the "Invocation of the Yin."
—A special incantation for specific purposes.
All I ask is to attract the attention of the Moon Goddess.
"Your Majesty, please give me a chance, I beg you!"
He prayed silently.
……
In the celestial realm, beside a sea of clouds, the Milky Way lies silent.
The Moon Palace, like a jade bead soaked in moonlight, hangs quietly against the dark blue sky.
The palace was built of white jade that had been there for ten thousand years, polished by the waters of the Milky Way, and connected by the flowing clouds of the nine heavens.
Jade steps descend from the clouds, and the pillars of the corridor stand tall like jade branches, supporting a patch of clear light.
Inside the palace, the ancient osmanthus tree, with its gnarled branches, resembles a lurking jade dragon.
Under the tree, a snow hare is pounding medicine with a pestle.
Several Chang'e figures, riding on wispy auspicious clouds, gathered osmanthus honey from among the osmanthus branches, their robes fluttering like a gentle breeze.
At this moment, countless incense sticks drifted from the mortal world into the palace, carrying with them the prayers of countless women. Some longed for eternal youth, others hoped for peaceful times, and still others prayed for a smooth marriage—all were the gentle wishes of young women.
However, from the innermost chambers of the Moon Palace, a barely audible sigh suddenly came.
Inside the inner chamber, the Moon Goddess leaned lazily against a soft cloud-silk chair, her silver crown covered with a thin layer of frost, her face more beautiful than the moonlight, her eyes filled with a cool starlight, and her plain fairy dress was dappled with dew. Every move she made exuded an unparalleled elegance and aloofness.
“Your Majesty, perhaps… this servant should go and seek out the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak, and ask Him to order the local City God to thwart this scheme? That would save Your Majesty from this trouble. If all else fails, this servant may personally descend to the mortal realm; at worst, I may be imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison for a few years.”
The attendant Chang'e, who was standing below, looked displeased and asked for permission in a low voice.
"Enough. They came prepared this time. How could they be completely unprepared? They probably already sent heavenly soldiers to protect you in secret. Whether you descend to the mortal realm or the City God intervenes, the moment you make a sound, you'll fall into their trap."
"But... are we just going to let that scoundrel use the goddess's incarnation to give birth to a child? He's clearly trying to curry favor with the goddess and steal the fortune of my Moon Palace!"
The steward Chang'e grew increasingly angry as she spoke: "In recent years, the methods of some immortals in the Heavenly Court have become more and more despicable! With no hope for their own path to immortality, they resort to these wicked schemes, which is truly shameful! Why don't they dare to plot against His Majesty's incarnations? Is it because they don't want to? Or because they dare not!"
Chang'e, the steward, suddenly looked puzzled: "Your Majesty, who leaked the news of your incarnation? Could it be the Old Man of the Moon, or the Underworld's Reincarnation Department?"
The Moon Goddess waved her hand gently, her tone indifferent: "A determined person can always find a flaw. The method of incarnation is not perfect; if one is determined to search, one can always find traces."
“Indeed…” the steward Chang’e responded softly, “Then… how should we deal with this? We can’t just watch them attack the goddess’s incarnation, can we?”
The Star Lord's eyes were cold and clear, a faint smile playing on his lips: "If I insist on not allowing it, what can they accomplish even with their thousand schemes? At most, they'll just lose some merit. Even if the Arctic Exorcism Institute comes, would they dare to lay a hand on me?"
"That's for sure. The Empress is in charge of the Moon Palace and ranks among the Nine Luminaries, which is related to the rotation of the moon in the human world. If the Exorcism Institute dares to disrespect the Empress, I'm afraid the night sky in the mortal world will never have a bright moon again."
The Moon Goddess remained noncommittal: "However, this is a last resort. I will not use it lightly unless absolutely necessary. After all, we must maintain the dignity of the Heavenly Court and not put the Jade Emperor in a difficult position."
"Yes, Your Highness understands your good intentions." The steward Chang'e was about to say something more when her gaze suddenly stopped and she looked at a wisp of incense smoke drifting in from outside the hall.
"Huh? It's actually incense from a celestial register... and there's a peculiar meaning entwined within it, like a man's prayer?"
The steward Chang'e frowned slightly: "Your Majesty, would you like to bring it here for a look?"
The Moon Goddess waved her jade hand lightly: "What's there to see? Just handle it according to the old rules."
"Yes," the steward Chang'e replied, then suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Your Majesty, speaking of which, a strange thing happened at the South Heavenly Gate today... I heard that a mortal stole the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King and tried to escape to the mortal realm, but was stopped by the Old Star Official. Not only was he not severely punished, but he was also given the position of 'Horse and Straw Clerk'. It's truly unheard of, very strange indeed!"
"Oh? Is that so?" The Moon Goddess's eyes flickered slightly, as if she were showing a hint of interest.
"I heard about it from a fellow immortal who happened to be passing by. They said that although the mortal was young, his methods were extraordinary. Not only did he obtain the divine position of 'Plague Master' in the Plague Department, but he also befriended great immortals such as the God of Wealth, the Kitchen God, and the Water God. He even managed to mobilize the Twenty-Eight Constellations. In the end, when the theft of the pagoda was exposed, it even led to Nezha, the Third Prince, chasing after the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, almost tearing down the Southern Heavenly Gate..."
As Chang'e, the steward, spoke, she suddenly looked in the direction from which the strange incense had come from.
"Wait, immortal status, male? Could it be..."
Her delicate body suddenly trembled: "Could it be such a coincidence?"
(End of this chapter)