Under the full mobilization of the Lu Group, a private flight took off from Chiang Mai, Thailand, in less than twelve hours.
Lu Bingkun lay on his hospital bed, constantly urging them on.
His personal secretary made several phone calls in succession to confirm, continuously reporting the situation:
“Master Zhang is already on the plane.”
“Yes, the flight has landed, and coordination is complete.”
“A small situation came up—the car sent to pick him up was rear-ended. Master Zhang was anxious to save you, so he is already on his way here.”
“A message from Master Zhang; he has arrived.”
...
At dusk, a gloomy Master Zhang walked into the grand villa. After taking a general look around the main building and the servants' quarters, he said to Lu Bingkun, “Chairman Lu, there is indeed the yin energy of an underworld messenger here. The sound of dragging chains you heard these past few nights is the Impermanence patrolling the boundary in advance to confirm the target for soul-reaping.”
“Destiny has been decided, and the underworld messenger is at your door. Let alone me, even if the most accomplished masters, living Buddhas, or Heavenly Masters of this age were here, they would all be completely useless.”
“A person's destiny and lifespan are written in the Book of Life and Death. Back then, Zhuge Liang lit the Seven-Star Life-Prolonging Lamps, but in the end, it was to no avail. This time, I am afraid your debt is due, and your doom is inevitable.”
“Your debt is due, and your doom is inevitable.” Lu Bingkun repeated these words over and over, shaking his head like a madman:
“I have money! I can donate for karmic merit, build temples, and construct Daoist altars! I can give away my entire family fortune! As long as I can live, I am willing to do anything! Master, Master, you must have a way! You definitely do!”
Master Zhang sighed softly and turned to leave. “The spiritual energy is recovering, but defying heaven and violating destiny will bring the reckoning of the underworld, which no one can stop. Chairman Lu, please take care of yourself. I am powerless to help. If I stay here any longer, I fear I will be dragged into your fatal yin tribulation and bring ruin upon myself.”
He seemed afraid to stay for even a single second longer, wishing only to extricate himself immediately.
But the moment Master Zhang turned around, his gaze seemingly drifted past the French windows toward the courtyard outside.
The lawn in the garden was flat and lush green, complete with an artificial sand beach and a children's play area.
In the center of the lawn, a five- or six-year-old boy was playing, surrounded by servants.
That was Lu Bingkun's most beloved eldest grandson, the young son of Lu Jianming.
The child was innocent and ignorant, completely unaware of what his father's death and his grandfather's critical illness meant.
Master Zhang's footsteps paused slightly.
This tiny anomaly, however, was instantly caught by Lu Bingkun.
“You have a way.”
The terror in Lu Bingkun's eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by an extreme, cold-blooded ruthlessness: “I know you can borrow longevity. You saw my grandson. You can borrow his lifespan and give it to me, right?”
There was not a single bit of concealment or testing.
Behind him, the personal secretary and the lawyer remained completely silent.
Master Zhang was clearly startled by Lu Bingkun's words.
“Do not hide it from me! Do we need to match our Eight Characters, or look at our horoscopes?”
Lu Bingkun's eyes flashed with a sharp, ruthless light. “Is it true that borrowing the longevity of a blood relative can extend my life? My grandson is only six years old. Is his lifespan enough to supplement mine? If it is not enough, I still have nine other children, as well as illegitimate sons and daughters overseas! I have many blood relatives; there will always be enough to extend my life!”
“...”
Master Zhang was silent for a long time before he finally lowered his voice and said, “The destiny of the world is written in the Book of Life and Death. When a mortal's lifespan is exhausted, the Judge will dispatch an underworld messenger to reap their soul.”
“But underworld messengers are people who have died; they are formed from the souls of the deceased. Since they originated as humans, they naturally retain the seven emotions, six desires, greed, anger, and ignorance. If they have humanity, they have weaknesses. They can be bribed, and they can be manipulated...”
“In ancient times, Judge Lu privately altered the Book of Life and Death to swap Zhu Erdan's heart and wife, bending the law for personal gain.”
“Now that the underworld messenger's summons is imminent, conventional methods to extend your life are too late. We can only—borrow longevity from the underworld messenger.”
Just as he finished speaking, a sudden clap of thunder exploded in the sky outside the main building, illuminating Master Zhang's face in a ghostly, snow-white light: “A day in heaven is a year on earth; a day in the mortal realm is a hundred years in the underworld. As long as we find a way to bribe the underworld messenger, we can ask him to delay the soul-reaping and add the lifespan of your blood relatives under your name, Chairman Lu—”
...
Every single word was as heavy as a thunderclap.
Borrowing longevity!
The personal secretary, who had been desperately suppressing his shock, could no longer hold back and voiced his doubts: “Master, the underworld is elusive and intangible. How can there be real underworld messengers, ghosts, and gods in this world?”
Master Zhang gave him a cold glance and casually tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear, displaying an oddly feminine mannerism: “Mortals have ordinary eyes and cannot see the yin and yang, so naturally, they do not believe. Now that spiritual energy is recovering and Instances are appearing in the world, it is a sign that the rules of yin and yang are collapsing and the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth are returning to their places. The yang realm has police stations to govern the laws of the living, and after death, there are City God Temples and the underworld to govern the dead.”
“If the living make mistakes, they are punished by national law. If the dead violate regulations, they are liquidated by the underworld.”
“Right now, Chairman Lu's lifespan is completely exhausted, and he has been locked onto by the underworld messenger. He will surely die within three days. Without borrowing longevity, no one can save him.”
“How do we do it?”
Lu Bingkun asked without hesitation how they could borrow longevity, and Master Zhang naturally did not hide anything either:
“First, we must cover the death aura on your body. When the underworld messenger captures people, he does not rely on appearance or names. He relies on the yang energy of the living and locks onto the death aura of the dead. Tonight, when the underworld messenger comes again, Chairman Lu only needs to strip completely naked and climb into a five-grain rice urn. The five grains gather yang energy and suppress yin evils, so the underworld messenger will naturally be unable to find you.”
Lu Bingkun glanced at his secretary, who immediately noted it down and set off to find someone to arrange it.
“Second, we must suppress the yin. The ground must be covered in quicklime to drive away wandering souls and prevent external evils from interfering with the ritual.”
“Third, since it is a bribe, we must do it thoroughly. Adopt the posture of welcoming an esteemed guest. Open all doors and windows, clear out any unnecessary living people from the villa, and lay out fine wine, rich meats, and exquisite delicacies.”
Speaking up to this point, Master Zhang specifically instructed the secretary: “It is best to prepare paper offerings—paper cars, paper horses, paper villas, paper gold and silver, paper servants, paper antiques... In short, the more, the better. ‘Money makes the devil turn the millstone.’ Arrange for people to burn gold paper ingots and underworld banknotes in the courtyard all night. The fire must not die out, and the incense must not be broken.”
To Lu Bingkun, these were all trivial matters, and he listened exceptionally seriously.
...
“Fourth, and most importantly, entertaining the deity.”
Master Zhang took a deep breath. “The underworld is bleak and bitter, lacking the pleasures and enjoyments of the mortal world. In the past, during the Ullambana Festival, Hong Kong businessmen would spend massive amounts of money to hire troupes to perform opera for the ghosts—but tonight, we cannot have too many living people present for the longevity borrowing, so we will use a DVD player instead. The effect is the same.”
The secretary shook his head inwardly. What era was this? Who still used DVDs? But he kept his mouth shut.
...
“Those who eat another's food must show leniency, and those who take another's gifts must show mercy. Once the underworld messenger enjoys your offerings and accepts your bribes, he will naturally be willing to soften his stance and negotiate terms with you.”
Master Zhang looked at Lu Bingkun and said honestly: “If you have gold ingots produced from an Instance, it is basically a sure thing. Those ingots are no ordinary gold. In the underworld, they can buy Mount Yin and purchase yin land. They are highly sought after.”
“Go find people to collect them. At all costs.”
After listening to each point, Lu Bingkun's emotions had stabilized significantly.
Absurd?
Ridiculous?
Nonsense?
It did not matter. As long as he could live, let alone bowing to underworld messengers and bribing ghosts and gods, even if he had to crawl on the ground to beg for his life, sacrifice his blood relatives, and squander his entire fortune, he would do so willingly.
“Go do it.”
After giving the order, Lu Bingkun looked at Master Zhang, his tone ruthless: “Once this succeeds, I will add two top-tier supernatural items from Instances to thank you, Master.”
Using heavy wealth to pave the way, and massive rewards to bolster courage.
Master Zhang nodded in agreement. “I can only say I will do my best. Success or failure depends on the underworld messenger's will, and also on Chairman Lu's... destiny.”
The lawyer and the personal secretary felt that something was wrong, but both could see that Lu Bingkun had already gone mad. Anyone who stopped him would die.
So, no one raised any objections.
Finally, Master Zhang laid down the last rule:
“The ritual must be kept away from people. All servants and outsiders in the mansion must evacuate. Only Chairman Lu will remain hidden in the rice urn, with two to three close blood relatives staying behind to guard the house and protect the ritual.”
“Remember! You must keep absolutely silent throughout the entire process. No matter what sounds you hear, what anomalies you see, or what terrifying scenes you encounter, you absolutely must not speak.”
“If you startle the underworld messenger, not only will the ritual be completely ruined, but the underworld messenger will reap your soul on the spot, and Chairman Lu will surely die.”
“The underworld messenger does not enter an empty house. Chairman Lu must stay here, otherwise all preparations will go to waste, and there will never be a second chance.”
...
Over here, the group of people had solemn expressions, their faces filled with the tragic solemnity of a last-ditch battle.
Over there, the four Special Investigation Bureau officers who had listened to the entire conversation and kept close surveillance had expressions like:
????
I have many questions.
Borrowing longevity from an underworld messenger, and even using a blood relative's lifespan.
And saying that gold ingots can buy houses and land in the underworld, and that human lifespans are written in the Book of Life and Death.
What, is there a real estate speculation group in the underworld too?
It was truly a dark comedy.
But the problem was, they had no reason to stop them.
Stopping someone from borrowing longevity—that would be admitting there were underworld messengers and an underworld.
How absurd.
So, the Special Investigation Bureau agents could only report the facts truthfully.
Including the part where Lu Bingkun personally admitted to using his deceased wife's corpse to set up the array.
...
Once the order was handed down, the entire mansion immediately went into high-speed operation.
Soon, everything Master Zhang requested was delivered.
The legal team notified all of Lu Bingkun's children at once, including his six sons and three daughters within marriage, and four illegitimate children overseas, totaling thirteen blood descendants.
Except for his eldest daughter, Chen Jianhua, who had been staying abroad, the rest had already rushed to Jiangcheng the day before yesterday.
At this moment, hearing that the old man was critically ill and dying, and had gone mad with superstition to hold some sort of ghost-worshiping longevity-borrowing ritual, and even wanted close relatives to stay behind to protect the ritual—
Quite a few people felt that Lu Bingkun was eighty percent likely insane.
Among the thirteen children, few were genuinely worried.
Everyone only had two things on their minds: fighting for the family property and seizing the right of succession.
As for the so-called “protecting the ritual”—was there any better opportunity than this to show loyalty and seize the voice of succession?
In the end, putting aside the private infighting and exchange of interests, his second daughter Lu Jianmin, third son Lu Jianye, and fourth son Lu Jiancheng snatched this duty.
The three of them each harbored their own hidden motives and calculations.
Yet they did not know that their dear father did not treat them as humans at all, but purely as blood bags and lifespan power banks.
...
Night completely shrouded the mountainside.
At ten o'clock in the evening, the longevity-borrowing ritual officially began.
The massive, three-thousand-square-meter detached mansion of One Summit was completely cleared out.
All servants, cleaners, cooks, gardeners, and outer-perimeter security personnel evacuated the main building.
As for the open lawn in the courtyard, a hundred meters away from the main building, dozens of highly-paid temporary workers were taking shifts to burn paper.
Boxes and bundles of underworld banknotes, gold ingots, paper villas, paper luxury cars, and paper servants were continuously delivered, piling up almost into small mountains.
One hundred thousand yuan in cash was settled in a single night.
Everyone burned exceptionally hard, and the roaring flames soared into the sky, almost illuminating the entire night sky of the mountainside.
The entire mansion was dead silent.
Only the ritual area of the main building was brightly lit.
The main hall on the first floor, the corridor on the second floor, and all entertainment functional areas were fully powered on.
The entire house was sprinkled with quicklime.
Though it was a residence for the living, at this moment, it exuded the chilling gloom of a tomb.
On the long redwood offering table in the main hall, hundreds of top-tier delicacies were laid out.
Abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, lobster, top-grade fresh meat, ancient-method braised meats, exquisite cold platters, aged famous wines, and seasonal rare fruits.
Layer upon layer, filling the entire long table.
The tabletop had a constant-temperature heating system, capable of keeping the food warm twenty-four hours a day.
Steam curled up from the dishes, dedicated solely for the enjoyment of the underworld messenger.
All entertainment facilities inside the mansion were powered on and operating without pause.
In the independent home theater, old movies and nostalgic TV series played on a loop on the 4K giant screen.
In the private KTV, the fully automatic song selection system stood ready, with the sound system turned all the way up.
In the card room, the fully automatic mahjong machines remained on standby, with their lights constantly lit.
In the game room, all consoles were powered on, with their interfaces constantly active.
In the master bedroom, inside a specially thickened solid wood rice urn, Lu Bingkun sat completely naked.
Everything was ready, waiting only for the underworld messenger to arrive.
Rate on N.U.
