While Chen Mo was squatting on the steps of the Hall of Supreme Benevolence eating Latiao, Clairvoyant chased him across eight streets waving a bankruptcy liquidation notice—the Celestial Court's fiscal deficit had become so severe that even the gold paint on the South Heavenly Gate had been replaced with tomato-red spray paint. The Xiaotian Hound was so hungry it used the Lord of Thunder's hammer as a teething toy, while the Goddess of Lightning wandered the world holding a leaking power bank looking for a shared outlet.
"Director Chen!" shouted the Broom Spirit, rushing over with an emergency letter from the Jade Emperor. "His Majesty says if you don't pay our wages soon, the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers are going to quit and deliver food!"
Chen Mo calmly pulled out the Xuanming Mirror, whose surface displayed the Queen Mother of the West's online shopping cart: "Selling His Majesty wouldn't even cover the final balance on this bottle of divine elixir."
Chapter 18