Chapter 72

Just moments ago, Zhou Fangdong had been in the hidden rooms on the second floor collecting materials to repair the kerosene lamp. As he opened the door to the final cell, he had been preparing to step on the black slime in the center of the ritual runes when the creature suddenly surged to over six feet tall, nearly swallowing him whole.

Following the method provided by the system, Zhou Fangdong managed to seize the giant slime. To his surprise, the mass of goo transformed into a man.

Chains manifested from ancient texts wound tightly around the man’s body, while the ritual runes below exerted their power, pinning him firmly to the spot.

Zhou Fangdong stared, stunned by the sight of a slime turning into a living human.

The man who had abruptly appeared in the cell was equally stunned once he took in his surroundings—especially upon seeing Zhou Fangdong.

As the two stood staring at each other, only the system remained in a state of inexplicable excitement, its electronic voice rising significantly in pitch:

[Host! Shadow Soul Pact! Hurry up and eat this guy!]

“It’s a replacement, right…?” Hearing the system use the word “eat” brought back Zhou Fangdong’s psychological trauma.

Despite his internal grumbling, Zhou Fangdong didn’t hesitate. Before the man could react, he activated the [Shadow Soul Pact].

The runes in these cells had clearly been left behind by the Sigu Society. Anything summoned by a cultist ritual was unlikely to be anything good.

The [Shadow Soul Pact] took effect instantly.

The visual effect of this skill wasn’t as exaggerated as [Death Realm Invasion]; only his shadow changed. Upon activation, Zhou Fangdong’s shadow instantly blanketed the entire floor of the room, covering the crimson, blood-lit ritual runes and enveloping the man standing in their center.

The man had no room to resist. Like a drop of clear water falling into ink, he was instantly swallowed by the boundless darkness.

The moment the man was consumed by the shadow, scattered, fragmented memories flooded into Zhou Fangdong’s mind.

However, because he frequently used [Soul Siphon], and because this person—for some unknown reason—had even fewer memories than some vengeful spirits, the “Perfect Replacement” function of the Shadow Soul Pact carried no side effects. Without even a hint of dizziness or discomfort, Zhou Fangdong realized he possessed an extra body.

As the chains binding the form receded, Zhou Fangdong moved tentatively, adjusting to the sensation. This body and his original self could move simultaneously, much like one could move their left and right hands at the same time.

The sensation of having an extra body was bizarre. His field of vision had expanded, his sensory input had doubled, and he could even view his original body from a third-person perspective.

[Congratulations, Host, on successfully devouring an Evil God Avatar! The “Pseudo-Evil God Descent” function of the Evil God Disguise Interface has been unlocked.]

A new function had actually unlocked… Zhou Fangdong remembered the system mentioning that unlocking a new feature required two Evil God Avatar Cores.

He hadn’t expected this single body to be worth two cores. It was a massive windfall.

After sorting through the memories in his mind, Zhou Fangdong discovered the identity of this body. It was a corpse brought back to life—resurrected by that middle-aged man wearing the melon-peel hat^[1].

That fellow was truly ruthless, not just toward others, but toward himself as well.

While the body appeared to be an Evil God Avatar, the consciousness controlling it was actually a fusion of a portion of the Evil God’s consciousness and a portion of the hat-wearing man’s own mind. Together, they had created this independently functioning entity.

The Evil God’s power and consciousness served as the foundation, animating and controlling the corpse, while the human element of the consciousness was supplied by the man in the hat.

A human possesses three souls and seven po^[2]. The “soul” carries the consciousness, while the “po” controls bodily functions and harbors various desires.

The three souls are divided into the fetal light, the ethereal soul, and the vital soul—commonly known as the souls of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

Zhou Fangdong wasn’t sure how the middle-aged man had accomplished it, but he had actually separated his “vital soul^[3]” from his own body. He then fused it with a sliver of the Evil God’s divided consciousness to serve as the soul for this corpse, creating a person capable of independent action and thought.

Due to the Evil God’s power, this hybrid soul could transfer between different corpses via the Blessing Ritual, disguising each corpse to look exactly as it did in life.

Until this soul fragment returned to the main body, each resurrected corpse existed as an independent entity, unable to transmit information back in real-time.

Now, however, this soul fragment had become Zhou Fangdong’s property. It had been completely assimilated by him, losing any chance of ever returning.

Zhou Fangdong manipulated the body to sit in the corner of the cell.

After reviewing the memory fragments, he finally understood how the man had been teleported here.

The cells in the hidden rooms on the second floor were more than just torture chambers for the cultists; they had also served as sites for various rituals.

The red runes on the floor of this final cell were Blessing Ritual runes left behind by the Sigu Society.

The primary purpose of the Sigu Society’s Blessing Ritual was to offer sacrifices to communicate with the Evil God, obtaining supernatural items, methods for crafting talismans, or temporary buffs to enhance a believer’s power.

The Evil God accepted the sacrifice and bestowed the blessing; this exchange created a brief teleportation effect.

Consequently, the cultists had begun experimenting with activating two Blessing Rituals in different locations simultaneously, using the Evil God’s power to help transport items, achieving real-time delivery.

Zhou Fangdong figured it was a stroke of luck that the man had been delivered right to his doorstep. Even the system likely hadn’t expected that while hunting slimes, he would get a “buy one, get one free” deal on a living human.

The slime in this cell had accidentally activated the blessing runes on the floor just as a Blessing Ritual was being initiated elsewhere by the Sigu Society. The connection between the two points had teleported the man directly to him.

As for how the slime had activated the runes—it was because the slime itself was a manifestation of the Evil God’s power.

After the Sigu Society’s ritual succeeds, it leaves behind certain derivatives—specifically, slimes. These slimes are the product of the Evil God’s dissipated power merging with the residual ghost souls or resentment left in the cells.

The power of the Evil God worshipped by those cultists is extremely infectious; it corrodes the soul bodies of ghosts, assimilating them into a part of the Evil God itself.

To ghosts, the slimes derived from the Evil God’s power are a disgusting pollutant… to put it simply, they are a pile of excrement.

Previously, when Zhou Fangdong used the damaged Kerosene Lamp to repel ghosts, it only consumed Lamp Oil—the oil played the primary role in repelling ghosts, while the Kerosene Lamp was merely a vessel for the oil.

After absorbing the slime, the Kerosene Lamp item itself now possessed the ability to repel ghosts, so the rate of Lamp Oil consumption when lit would slow down.

Although the ghost-repelling effect had been enhanced after the Kerosene Lamp was repaired, Zhou Fangdong couldn’t help but feel that his lamp had become… dirty by using that slime to fix it.

It was like walking around carrying a pile of shit; people would avoid you because they were afraid you might smear it on their faces…

No wonder there were no ghosts in these hidden rooms on the second floor. To those ghosts, this hidden room must be a latrine.

At this thought, Zhou Fangdong suddenly fell silent.

If that were the case, what did he look like to the ghosts on the second floor after wandering around the hidden room for so long… Was he swimming in a latrine?

He couldn’t think about it anymore; it was getting too disgusting.

Zhou Fangdong sighed. “System, the [Pseudo-Evil God Descent] function on the Evil God Disguise Interface has already been unlocked. This body is useless to me now, right?”

[The host can transform this body into a Ghost Servant and place it in the cell of the hidden room on the second floor.]

[Under the influence of the ritual runes in the cell, it will produce varying quantities of derivatives every few days. The host can come to collect them periodically to repair the Kerosene Lamp.]

“To put it simply, a slime farm?”

[Yes.]

Zhou Fangdong looked at the corpse leaning against the wall, feeling somewhat hesitant. “After transforming it into a Ghost Tenant, it won’t suddenly develop self-awareness and backstab me, will it?”

After all, this thing was created by the cultists of the Sigu Society. Although it was now his property and could be controlled at any time with the Shadow Soul Pact after being transformed into a Ghost Tenant, Zhou Fangdong was still a bit uneasy.

[This is already the host’s body; it will not develop an independent consciousness.]

With the system’s assurance, Zhou Fangdong no longer hesitated. He used the Shadow Soul Pact on the body once more, transforming it into a Ghost Servant.

The body that had been sitting against the wall was originally just a normal human body, but after the second transformation, it turned into a half-human-tall mass of black slime.

[Ghost Tenant automatically signs a rental contract. The “Ghost Tenant: Evil God Disguised as a Human” entry in the Illustrated Guide has been unlocked. Please claim the unlock reward in a timely manner.]

Zhou Fangdong opened the Tenant Illustrated Guide interface.

Perhaps because this Ghost Tenant was a “stitched” monstrosity—it was originally a resurrected corpse with a soul made of fragments, and then he had stripped it of its consciousness and body to turn it into a mindless slime—the entry in the guide only had a name, with no description or traits.

Fortunately, the unlock reward was normal, though it didn’t provide anything great—just another glob of slime.

After absorbing this slime, the repair progress of the Kerosene Lamp reached 40%.

While browsing the Tenant Illustrated Guide, Zhou Fangdong also noticed an additional entry in the list: [Ghost Bus Driver: Wang Yongshun].

Unlike the slime Evil God, the Ghost Bus Driver’s entry only had a description and no reward.

[Ghost Bus Driver: Wang Yongshun]

Description: In life, he was a bus driver who died of a myocardial infarction. Before he died, he used his powerful willpower to park the bus steadily by the roadside. Even after death, his hands remained gripped tightly around the steering wheel. He was once a tenant of Liwan Apartments; after his death, he was rehired by the apartments to become the driver of the Ghost Bus.

Traits: Diligent and responsible, taciturn, only knows how to drive. Whether in life or death, he performed the act of driving to the best of his ability.

After finishing with the Illustrated Guide, Zhou Fangdong opened the Tenant Favorability interface.

During the resolution of the Penghu Gardens incident, many new tenants’ Favorability had reached 80. He had forgotten to claim the rewards while counting his spoils in the room earlier.

The four investigators living in Room 201 all had Favorability ratings of 80. Their respective Favorability rewards were:

Supervisory Bureau Cafeteria Food Quality Anonymous Survey x4, Cafeteria Meal Card x4, Half-finished Self-Reflection Letter^[4] x2, Blank Self-Reflection Letter x2, 10% Discount Voucher for the Ghost Market x1, “Comprehensive Review of Takeout Shops Near the Supervisory Bureau,” and a two-month membership for a takeout app.

After looking at this pile of rewards, Zhou Fangdong didn’t know what to say for a moment.

—System, what kind of things are you taking as rewards? Give people back their half-finished self-reflection letters and meal cards!

Out of this pile of junk, only the [10% Discount Voucher for the Ghost Market] was of any use to him.

Zhou Fangdong checked the description of the Ghost Market voucher.

[10% Discount Voucher for the Ghost Market]: As a former commodity of the Ghost Market, you are actually still alive after being bought and sold twice. To reward your luck, holding this voucher grants a 10% discount at any shop in the Ghost Market.

He could use this voucher when he went to the Ghost Market to buy the Lamp Oil Worker uniform… Zhou Fangdong didn’t claim it immediately, planning to wait until he returned to his room.

Claiming the voucher would mean claiming the self-reflection letters and meal cards as well, and his Inventory space was currently insufficient.

Before closing the Favorability interface for those four, curiosity got the better of him, and Zhou Fangdong checked the two half-finished self-reflection letters.

[Half-finished Self-Reflection Letter, Part 1]: I should not have secretly ordered takeout in the dormitory, and I certainly should not have snuck out of the dormitory during the midnight break to pick it up. Although the Supervisory Bureau cafeteria food is terrible, and the late-night snacks are even worse, ordering takeout is wrong. I… (The rest is a mess of scribbles, though one can vaguely see curses directed at the cafeteria.)

[Half-finished Self-Reflection Letter, Part 2]: I shouldn’t have used unauthorized appliances to cook hot pot in the dormitory. Even though I think the voltage in the Supervisory Bureau’s dorms is high enough that unauthorized appliances won’t cause a fire, eating hot pot in secret is wrong. I should have shared half with the Captain instead of eating it all myself… (The rest is a mess of scribbles and redactions. It looks like he got beaten up; there are a few drops of nosebleed on the paper… or is it hot pot chili oil?)

After reading these two self-reflection letters, Zhou Fangdong had only one thought—just how bad is the food in the Supervisory Bureau’s cafeteria to drive a kid to this point?

Fortunately, the four of them had already moved out of the Supervisory Bureau’s dorms. Now they could order takeout freely…

Well, maybe not that freely. After all, there probably weren’t many delivery drivers willing to bring food to Liwan Apartments.

He felt a bit sorry for these four investigators.

As he continued scrolling down the Favorability interface, Zhou Fangdong noticed that Hong Zhong’s Favorability had also reached 80.

At the beginning, because Hong Zhong’s Favorability numbers kept jumping up and down, Zhou Fangdong had muted his notifications. He hadn’t expected it to have stabilized by now.

The reward for Hong Zhong’s 80 Favorability was actually a quite useful item: Portable Supernatural Power Detection Device (Iterative Model).

[Portable Supernatural Power Detection Device (Iterative Model)]: An outdated supernatural power detection device, but for an ordinary person, it is an excellent danger warning system. It can be used after charging.

If he had ordinary human tenants in the future, he could give this detection device to them. Although it wasn’t as effective as Zhao Dawei’s Peace Talisman, it could help a tenant avoid some dangers.

Lighting up after Hong Zhong’s Favorability interface was He Yansheng. The 80 Favorability mark for this passive philosopher-doctor had also lit up at some unknown point.

Zhou Fangdong checked the timestamp for when the Favorability reached the requirement and found it was shortly after he had handed the [Blood-Tear Suicide Note] to the Bandage Ghost in Room 202.

At that time, he had been in the basement, his Sanity points plummeting because he was looking at his own corpse for the first time, so he hadn’t noticed the Favorability pop-up.

Without much hope, Zhou Fangdong clicked to view the reward, and then fell silent.

He Yansheng’s 80 Favorability reward was a bottle of blood.

[A Bottle of Blood]: A bottle of blood collected from He Yansheng’s body. It has the effect of dispelling curses and suppressing mutation. It is a life-saving medicine for ordinary people who have not yet undergone deep ghostification.

Zhou Fangdong sighed softly. “System, if you really don’t have any rewards, let’s just not give any.”

He felt he wasn’t as heartless as those baldies from the Sigu Society. He wasn’t so desperate that he needed to squeeze his own tenants as if they were items.

After that, only Hou San’s Favorability remained unchecked.

During that brief period at Penghu Gardens just now, the furniture peddler had maxed out his Favorability.

Hou San’s 80 Favorability reward was an item: [Cursed Item: Ghost Mirror].

[Cursed Item: Ghost Mirror]: A mirror Hou San stole from a Sigu Society stronghold. By using the Mirror Immortal^[5] ritual with this Ghost Mirror, one can see the future, but will also harvest misfortune.

(Note: Ghosts will emerge from the mirror from time to time; it seems to be an entrance to a gathering place for ghosts and monsters.)

Zhou Fangdong felt he didn’t have anything he needed to predict, and the ghosts in these two apartment buildings were already plenty. There was no need to go to some ghost gathering place through this mirror.

He decided not to claim this item for now, leaving it until he had a need for it.

Hou San’s 100 Favorability reward was also an item: [Cursed Item: Cinerary Urn].

[Cursed Item: Cinerary Urn]: A cinerary urn Hou San stole from a Sigu Society stronghold. It is an urn that can produce its own ashes. After consuming the ashes within the urn, one will randomly obtain the powerful strength of a certain malicious ghost. The duration of this power depends on the user’s physical fitness. After the effect ends, there is a risk of ghostification—with good luck, one becomes a half-ghost; with bad luck, one will be possessed by a ghost.

Good heavens, this item and He Yansheng’s blood were a perfect match. He Yansheng’s blood could eliminate ghostification, which was equivalent to using this Cinerary Urn without side effects.

No wonder those cultists were so anxious when they lost He Yansheng…

And now, not only was He Yansheng gone, but this Cinerary Urn was gone too. The Sigu Society had essentially become a supply depot for system rewards.

Speaking of which, did those cultists not care about losing things? They were far too generous. Or was this Cinerary Urn mass-produced, so they didn’t mind?

This Cinerary Urn was currently of no use to Zhou Fangdong. He didn’t claim it, closing the Favorability interface and teleporting back to his room.

He had finished investigating the hidden rooms on the second floor. Now he had to start writing the Tenancy Rules for Room 205, and then find a new tenant for that Ghost Granny tomorrow during the day.

Zhou Fangdong sat at his desk and began writing furiously.

By the time the system finally approved his Tenancy Rules for Room 205, the sky had turned dark.

Zhou Fangdong stretched his wrists and opened the Tenancy Preview Interface for a quick glance. After confirming that all his tenants were safely staying in their rooms, he decided to pack up and go to the Ghost Market to buy the Lamp Oil Worker uniform and shackles.

On the Avatar Interface, in addition to the pixelated Dan role performer and the pixelated Daoist priest, there was now a curly-haired pixelated figure.

The face of this curly-haired pixel figure was constantly switching, as if it were incessantly putting on and taking off masks. At its feet were many small black pixelated figures, only as high as its knees, with hunched bodies, circling around it in rhythm with the face-changing frequency.

It seemed that using Ke Yan’s body allowed for freely changing one’s appearance…

Zhou Fangdong rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment.

Although Ke Yan’s combat strength wasn’t as high as Mu Yuechan’s, his disguise ability was very strong.

Yesterday, he had caused a huge scene at the Ghost Market using Mu Yuechan’s body before leaving. If he went back to the Ghost Market as Mu Yuechan, he might be fined for disturbing public order or simply driven out…

In that case, it was safer to go to the Ghost Market using Ke Yan’s body.

Zhou Fangdong tapped the curly-haired pixel figure.

Ke Yan’s Favorability toward him was currently at 60; he should be able to use it successfully.

But just as he was about to use the Possession Feature, Zhou Fangdong’s hand paused, and his gaze shifted toward the Evil God Disguise Interface.

…Producing Lamp Oil didn’t seem all that urgent after all.

Why not try out that newly unlocked [Pseudo-Evil God Descent] feature? He was curious to see what the interior of the Sigu Society’s stronghold actually looked like.