Chapter 47

Hearing Zhou Fangdong speak so nonchalantly about calling out The Peddler, Hong Zhong was stunned once again.

Could this being actually be summoned so casually?!

The strength of this landlord was truly unfathomable. A ghost capable of creating a B+ rank supernatural incident was, in his eyes, an entity that could be summoned at a moment’s notice… it was practically like calling a delivery boy.

Zhou Fangdong flipped through the worn notebook and tore out a yellowed page.

This notebook was one of his main quest rewards, [The Peddler’s Consignment List]. By tearing out a page and writing the name of a commodity on it, he could summon The Peddler to come and collect the goods.

He had originally intended to have The Peddler help him sell the [Room 103 Collection] at the Ghost Market anyway. Since Hong Zhong happened to need to see The Peddler now, he simply decided to summon him here.

Looking at the page in his hand, Zhou Fangdong realized he hadn’t brought a pen.

Just as he was considering whether to teleport back to his room to grab one, ink began to manifest automatically on the yellowed paper, forming the words he was thinking of: [Room 103 Collection].

As the handwriting appeared, the collection that had been occupying a slot in his Inventory vanished.

Simultaneously, an anomaly began to occur within Room 106.

Large swaths of thick, ink-like black mist spread silently. Following several shrill, piercing cat cries, a rhythmic “thump-thump” of a wooden stick striking the ground suddenly echoed from within the mist.

An exceptionally tall and thin shadow emerged from the depths of the black fog. He carried an old shoulder pole, with two heavy bamboo baskets hanging from either end, weighing the pole down into a precarious arc.

As the figure drew closer, the cat’s cries grew even more agonizing.

Amidst the churning black mist, a black cat the size of a small leopard lunged out from beneath the floorboards. Its eyes glowed with an eerie green light as it bared its teeth, arching its back and watching the approaching figure warily.

The figure’s legs were incredibly thin, almost like bamboo stalks. From beneath his heavily frayed pant cuffs, two stick-like objects were faintly visible, causing every step he took to sound like a cane tapping the ground.

He wore a massive bamboo hat, with faded colored paper strips glued to the rim that swayed gently as he moved. The hat obscured the upper half of his face, leaving only a chin as pale as paper visible.

The Peddler stopped in front of Zhou Fangdong, his head lowered and his withered back slightly hunched, as if bowing in greeting.

The large black cat continued to pace restlessly around Zhou Fangdong and Hong Zhong, seemingly wanting to drive The Peddler away, yet appearing wary of something and not daring to attack lightly.

Zhou Fangdong did not give the paper to The Peddler immediately. Instead, he looked at Hong Zhong, who was still in a daze. “What did you want to ask him?”

Only then did Hong Zhong snap out of his shock.

He had known for a long time that this mysterious landlord possessed unfathomable power, but knowing it was one thing; seeing it with his own eyes was quite another…

It was like a dream. Such a terrifying ghost stood before the landlord in a submissive, respectful posture, summoned and dismissed at will… should he expect any less from the landlord of Liwan Apartments?

Hong Zhong steadied his nerves. Emboldened by Zhou Fangdong’s presence, he got straight to the point: “Were you the one who took the children who went missing in the city center? Where did you take them? Why did you take those children?”

The Peddler gave no reaction to Hong Zhong’s words.

Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong shook the paper in his hand. “Answer his question.”

“Yes…” An extremely hoarse, unpleasant voice emerged from The Peddler’s mouth, as if he hadn’t used his vocal cords to speak in a very long time.

“It was me… taken to the Ghost Market… a transaction for the Sigu Society…”

He forced the words out almost one by one, falling back into silence immediately after.

Hong Zhong’s expression turned extremely grim.

As expected, it was the work of those cultists from the Sigu Society. However, Li Zhe still hadn’t woken up. He didn’t know where this so-called “Ghost Market” was, nor did he know how to rescue the children held there.

Hong Zhong looked at Zhou Fangdong again, then plucked up his courage to ask, “What will it take for you to return those children?”

This time, The Peddler didn’t speak. Instead, he slowly held up two fingers.

Zhou Fangdong understood his meaning with eerie clarity.

…To have him return the children, it would cost two pages.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the thick notebook in his hand. Without much hesitation, he tore out two more pages and handed them over along with the page labeled [Room 103 Collection].

The Peddler accepted the three pages and spoke again in his rasping voice: “Tonight… the first quarter of the Hour of the Ox¹… the children… Jinxi Plaza…”

As the words fell, the “thump-thump-thump” sound echoed once more as The Peddler swayed and walked back into the darkness.

The black mist in the room dissipated with his departure.

Only after the fog had completely receded did the large black cat return beneath the floorboards.

The first quarter of the Hour of the Ox… 1:15 AM? Hong Zhong wished he could rush out right now to inform the bureau so they could wait at Jinxi Plaza to receive the children.

Hong Zhong struggled to calm his excitement and looked at Zhou Fangdong, bowing deeply. “Mr. Landlord, thank you for saving these children.”

He knew that if it weren’t for this landlord, The Peddler wouldn’t have acknowledged him at all, let alone agreed to return the children.

All of this was done out of respect for the landlord.

Hong Zhong hadn’t understood before why that young man, Duan Wenyu, became so fanatical whenever the landlord of Liwan Apartments was mentioned. Now, he understood completely.

When an omniscient and omnipotent person stands by your side, unconditionally granting your every request, the sense of security is indescribable…

As long as a request is made, it will be answered.

How…

Thinking of this, Hong Zhong suddenly dithered, forcing himself to break away from this increasingly fanatical sense of gratitude.

However, the landlord of Liwan Apartments needed them to help capture cultists alive—if the cultists were all eaten, what would this landlord eat next?

Even if this mysterious landlord was currently on the side of ordinary people, if in the future he…

No, the landlord only said he wanted the cultists; he never said he would eat them. The idea of the landlord eating people was just his own speculation. Perhaps he wanted to use these cultists to catch whatever was behind them…

But…

Looking at the pensive Hong Zhong, Zhou Fangdong hesitated to speak.

While Hong Zhong’s left and right brain were at war, Zhou Fangdong’s Favorability notification interface was flickering incessantly.

One moment, a pop-up would jump out: [Hong Zhong’s Favorability has reached 80, please claim your reward in time]. A moment later, the notification would vanish.

Then, a few seconds later, the pop-up would jump out again.

This reminded Zhou Fangdong of when he first unlocked the [Eyes of True Essence] skill; Hong Zhong’s Favorability numbers had flickered just like this.

It has to be a bug.

Zhou Fangdong let out a long sigh and called out to the system in his mind.

“System, can you mute the Favorability notifications for Hong Zhong?”

[Favorability notifications for Tenant Hong Zhong of Room 106 have been muted. If the Host wishes to check this tenant’s Favorability, you may open the Favorability interface manually.]

Seeing that Hong Zhong was still deep in thought with a constantly shifting expression, Zhou Fangdong didn’t want to stand there like an idiot watching him space out.

He had originally wanted to discuss the matter of the garbage station administrator with Hong Zhong, but on second thought, there was no rush.

He was still missing two Cleaners, and that group of cultists from the Sigu Society hadn’t been fully dealt with yet. There was no need to have Hong Zhong resign from the Paranormal Affairs Department for the time being; he would wait a few days before deciding.

Just then, Zhang Qingyang’s movement trajectory updated in the Special Tenant Watchlist. It showed that he had taken the Ghost Bus back to the Liwan Apartments.

Zhou Fangdong remembered that he had asked Zhang Qingyang yesterday to purchase a VCR, some tragic drama DVDs, and audio tapes of inspirational stories. Since Zhang Qingyang had to stay at the Taoist temple tonight to watch over Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu, he must have returned to the apartments to drop these items off.

With that thought, Zhou Fangdong left Room 106 and headed to the apartment entrance.

After reimbursing Zhang Qingyang for the expenses, he conveniently delivered all the items to Room 103.

Teleporting back to his own room, Zhou Fangdong checked the newly unlocked Tenant Illustrated Guide that he hadn’t had time to look at earlier.

[Intermediate Tenant: Captain of the Paranormal Affairs Department Investigators]

Guide Description: A dedicated captain who is beloved by his subordinates. He has devoted his entire being to protecting the common people, and his greatest wish is to eradicate supernatural incidents. To this end, he is prepared to sacrifice himself at any moment.

Traits: Strong sense of justice, responsible, slight OCD, and somewhat overly cautious. Due to professional habits, his thinking is very divergent, and he tends to overthink things. Until he uncovers the reason behind the anomalies at Liwan Apartments, he will not terminate his lease.

[Guide Unlock Reward: 300 Ghost Coins]

After closing Hong Zhong’s guide information, Zhou Fangdong opened the reward for reaching one hundred favorability with Zhang Zhiwu.

The old man had already given him several useful items: a ghost-dispelling tool that even an ordinary person could use, the [Ancestral Dharma Tool: Iron Hoe], and the [Apothecary Gourd] which could contain ghosts. He wondered what good thing would drop this time.

[Zombie Taoist Master: Zhang Zhiwu] 100 Favorability Reward:

[Cursed Tool: Blood Compass]

Item Description: Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwu sprayed his final breath of essence blood onto this compass before he died, transforming it from a tool for geomancy into a malevolent object filled with resentment.

Using this compass to mark a lucky spot will turn it into a cursed land where corpses never decay.

The Blood Compass can curse others, but the curse will rebound upon the user with double the intensity.

Regardless of how the compass is used, the user will suffer from the [Directionally Challenged Debuff] after use.

After reading the item description, Zhou Fangdong fell silent.

This was basically designed to stop anyone from using the compass… No matter how it was used, it would backfire. It was even more exaggerated than the curse of the Human Skin Mask; it was a completely useless item that harmed both the enemy and the self.

Zhou Fangdong didn’t even dare take it out of the favorability interface, fearing he might be cursed just by touching it.

After closing the favorability interface, Zhou Fangdong didn’t leave his room again. Instead, he waited until dark and opened the Avatar Interface.

He planned to use the Avatar Feature to head out tonight and see if he could capture a few cultists alive.

To Zhou Fangdong’s surprise, when he clicked on the pixelated Dan role actor on the Avatar Interface, the little figure twisted its body to dodge his touch. Immediately after, a giant speech bubble appeared over the pixel character’s head with a bright red ‘X’ inside.

Zhou Fangdong was stunned, and then a system pop-up appeared:

[Detected that the Ghost Tenant in Room 103 is in a state of extreme emotion. Consciousness is too active to be suppressed. Avatar Feature currently unavailable.]

He hadn’t expected to be rejected… Zhou Fangdong opened the favorability menu in confusion to take a look.

It was still at 90, no mistake. The favorability hadn’t dropped.

But Mu Yuechan hadn’t refused his use of the Avatar even when favorability wasn’t even at 70. Why was he being rejected at 90?

Thinking this, Zhou Fangdong opened the rental preview interface to check the status of Room 103.

Inside the room, the pixelated Dan actor was sitting in front of a VCR, crying a river. Large pixelated teardrops were sliding down his face; he looked as if he were about to melt away.

In stark contrast to this weeping, fragile pixel character were the speech bubbles constantly popping up over his head.

The edges of the speech bubbles were thick, distorted, and bolded. The font inside was also extremely twisted and colored an eerie crimson, looking like some vengeful spirit’s curse.

[Aaaaah! I’m going to kill this man!!!]

[The female lead waited for him her whole life, took care of his old mother, looked after his younger siblings, and worked hard for a lifetime. I thought the male lead was dead, but this bastard was actually out living a happy, carefree life the whole time??]

[This dog of a man not only married another wife, he even has grandsons! How hateful! And in the end, the female lead actually forgave him! Why?!!!]

[Why are there so many heartless people in this world?! I’m going to kill them all, kill them all! Kill, kill, kill—]

By the end, the speech bubbles—which nearly occupied the entire room—were filled with blood-dripping characters for “Kill.” The originally quaint pixelated actor’s room seemed to have turned back into a haunted house. The thick resentment almost burst through the screen, leaving Zhou Fangdong feeling numb.

How did it feel like the tragic drama DVDs had the opposite of the intended effect?

Zhou Fangdong remembered that in his previous world, some older ladies particularly loved tragic dramas and would habitually project themselves into the female lead’s perspective.

Mu Yuechan was a ghost from the Republican era. He had thought that an “antique” like him would have even more empathy than those ladies and would be moved by the saintly female leads of these tragedies, thus reshaping his personality…

But he hadn’t expected that all Mu Yuechan could think about was how to murder the male lead.

With a heavy expression, Zhou Fangdong closed the rental preview interface.

He was wrong. He shouldn’t have bought tragic drama DVDs for Mu Yuechan… Was it too late to pick out some other discs for him?

Because he had been rejected by Mu Yuechan, the next use of the Avatar Feature would have to wait twenty-four hours. Zhou Fangdong could only sit on his bed and stare at the system interface to pass the long night.

“System, do you think I should have Zhang Qingyang buy a VCR for me too? I feel like I need to watch some TV to kill time.”

[The Host is only one thousand experience points away from leveling up. Would you like to start a Roleplay Task?]

“No, absolutely not. I haven’t reached that level of desperation yet. I’m in no hurry to level up, and I don’t want to experience fancy ways of dying,” Zhou Fangdong refused decisively. “I can level up by completing another side quest. Tomorrow, I can start clearing the rooms on the second floor.”

[The rooms on the second floor are somewhat difficult to clear. Please be prepared, Host.]

After a brief pause, the system’s cold electronic voice sounded again:

[The Host currently possesses a total of 8,470 Ghost Coins. You may consider purchasing higher-level items from the mall to clear the rooms.]

The system was being very subtle, stopping just short of saying, “Stop hoarding Ghost Coins and spend some.”

Zhou Fangdong hesitated. “But the Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts…”

[The Host has already drawn the [Half-Body Shrine] skill. There is no need to be so anxious about this dynamic event.]

“We’ll see after I actually see the state of the rooms on the second floor.” Zhou Fangdong opened the mall interface and scrolled through. Perhaps because he had completed Main Quest 1, quite a few good things had indeed been unlocked in the mall.

“System, I’ve noticed that sometimes you’re very intelligent, and other times you’re like a bot. Is there someone frequently logging into your account behind the scenes?”

[The System does not understand what the Host is saying. Please provide more detailed instructions.]

“Fine, here we go again.”

Zhou Fangdong closed the interface and lay on the bed in boredom for a while. Suddenly, another system pop-up appeared:

[Ding—Detected that the Shrouded Shop Owner of the Ghost Market has sent an invitation to the Host. Do you wish to go to the Ghost Market?]

“Huh? I can go directly to the Ghost Market in this state?” Zhou Fangdong was shocked. “System, can I use the map exploration function even without controlling a Ghost Tenant’s body?”

[Negative. Map exploration and teleportation are exclusive functions of Ghost Tenants. Teleportation is only available when using a substitute or when a Ghost Tenant explores on their own.]

[This is an invitation. The host may view it as a holographic video call. The costs and consumption for the call are borne by the inviter. The host’s physical body remains in the apartment.]

“Then I’ll accept the invitation.” Zhou Fangdong got out of bed and smoothed the wrinkles in his clothes. “I’ve got nothing better to do tonight anyway. Let’s see what this Shrouded Shop Owner wants from me.”

[Invitation from the Ghost Market Shrouded Shop Owner accepted…]

[Loading Ghost Market scene… Loading, please wait…]

The scenery in the room collapsed without warning, replaced instantly by a dim, endless long street.

The only light source for this long street was the ghostly flames floating in the sky, dyeing the entire street in an eerie, sickly green hue.

Scattered stalls lined both sides of the street. The ‘people’ sitting behind them all wore identical gray robes. Where their faces should have been, there was only a smooth, blank void, like unfinished clay sculptures.

The goods displayed on these stalls were all sorts of nonsensical items. Some were plastic bottles plucked from trash cans; others were broken bricks and tiles seemingly scavenged from construction sites. Zhou Fangdong even saw a stall selling a toilet…

Do ghosts even need to use toilets? Did the stall owner ever consider if there was an audience for such a thing in the Ghost Market?

Zhou Fangdong continued down the street, and the scattered stalls were gradually replaced by various shops.

A few unpainted log coffins sat in front of a coffin shop, with faint traces of blood seeping from the lids. A paper effigy shop displayed brightly colored paper boys and girls; the two little paper figures had round, rosy cheeks painted on their faces, their mouths curved into stiff arcs. Several massive iron hooks hung before a butcher shop, empty of flesh, yet the dull sound of bone-chopping echoed from the dark interior…

Along the way, Zhou Fangdong spotted The Peddler who had visited the apartment not long ago. He walked silently along the stone path, his shoulder pole swaying with a rhythmic ‘thump, thump.’ There were also other passersby—whether human or ghost was unclear—carrying white paper lanterns as they drifted through the shops ahead.

Whether it was The Peddler or the lantern-bearing pedestrians, they all seemed unable to see Zhou Fangdong, showing no reaction to his presence.

Zhou Fangdong walked to the very end of the street before finding a shrouded shop.

As he entered, he was hit by a strange scent—a mix of stale fabric and low-quality sandalwood incense.

Hearing the sound of his entry, an old woman behind the counter, wearing a black cloth jacket and a blue floral headscarf, slowly raised her head.

She smiled at Zhou Fangdong. “You’ve come.” Her smile was kind and her voice gentle, as if she were welcoming a relative’s child for a visit.

Zhou Fangdong didn’t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point. “You have business with me?”

The old woman slowly walked out from behind the counter.

It wasn’t until she stood before him that Zhou Fangdong realized that while she looked hunched, she wasn’t short at all. Standing in front of him, she was nearly his height.

If she straightened her back… wouldn’t this old lady be over 1.9 meters tall?

Zhou Fangdong took a step back in awe, putting a bit of distance between them.

“Hahaha, don’t worry, I don’t eat people…” The old woman was amused by his reaction. “I’ve just stayed in the Ghost Market too long, and my body has partially ghostified.”

Without waiting for Zhou Fangdong to ask, the Shrouded Shop Owner continued, “I received goods from the little peddler that carried the aura of Liwan Apartments. That’s how I knew the apartment finally has a new master.”

She looked Zhou Fangdong up and down. “I actually cannot see through your strength, little friend. No wonder the apartment chose you…”

“Time is short, so let’s skip the small talk. The reason I called you here is because I heard from the peddler that you don’t seem to get along with those fellows from the Sigu Society. I’d like to ask you to get me a few human skins from the Sigu Society.” As she spoke, the old woman licked her lips, a faint trace of dark energy flickering across her kind face.

Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly. “You want the skins those cultists peeled off their victims?”

“No.” The elder shook her head. “I want the skins of the cultists themselves… Only skins soaked in such heavy karma make for sturdy shrouds. The quality, tsk tsk tsk…”

Zhou Fangdong lowered his gaze and noticed that the black cloth jacket the old woman wore was patterned with human faces.

Truly, karma is a cycle. When those cultists coveted the skins of others, they probably didn’t realize their own hides were being watched.

After a pause, the old woman continued, “Of course, if you can find the skins of the victims, I can also help. I can transfer the evil karma the cultists shifted onto the victims back onto the cultists themselves.”

She looked at Zhou Fangdong, seemingly seeing someone else through him. “Consider this my thanks—thanks for letting this Ghost Market remain, giving us old things a way to survive.”

“Ever since that crack appeared on the top floor of Liwan Apartments, we old folks haven’t even dared to die… We can only linger here in the Ghost Market, neither human nor ghost.”

It seemed she hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time; once she started, she couldn’t stop, and her words began to drift off-topic.

Noticing Zhou Fangdong’s confused expression, the elder snapped back to reality and held up three fingers. “One cultist’s skin for three hundred Ghost Coins. How about it?”

“Deal. It’s a bargain,” Zhou Fangdong agreed immediately.

Zhao Dawei stays in Room 101 for a month, and the Mirror Ghost in his room only pays three hundred Ghost Coins. Selling one cultist for that much was a great deal.

Hearing Zhou Fangdong agree so readily, the old woman laughed again, revealing toothless gums.

Realizing the elder was talkative, Zhou Fangdong asked curiously, “By the way, the Ghost Market is in the gap between Yin and Yang, right? Since this place connects to the world of the living, can one reach the Underworld from here?”

He had been curious ever since reading the detailed description of the Ghost Market. The term ‘Gap between Yin and Yang’ reminded him that since there were so many ghosts in this world, there must be an Underworld. He wondered what had gone wrong there to let so many ghosts escape. Weren’t the soul reapers of the Netherworld doing anything about it?

Hearing his question, the elder let out a long sigh, appearing to age ten years in an instant.

“The Underworld? The Netherworld? It’s been closed for a long time. There is no reincarnation now. Why else do you think those ghosts linger in the living world? The world is in upheaval, Yin and Yang are inverted, and things are getting messier. But it’s a blessing the Netherworld closed in time. If it were left unchecked, the ghosts in Hell would all have escaped into the apartment.”

With that, the elder waved her hand, looking exhausted and unwilling to say more.

In the next instant, Zhou Fangdong found himself back in his apartment room.

He sat on the bed, brow furrowed, his mind replaying the information-heavy words of the Shrouded Shop Owner.

Zhou Fangdong felt as though he had discovered the source of this world’s chaos.

The Shrouded Shop Owner had mentioned a crack on the top floor of the apartment that made those in the gap between Yin and Yang afraid even to die…

Mu Yuechan and Zhang Zhiwu, the two Ghost Tenants, had both mentioned that the Yin Energy in the apartment was unique. It possessed a strange allure, acting like a vortex that drew all sorts of ghosts and monsters into the building…

The old man from the shroud shop had also said that if the gates of the Underworld hadn’t been closed in time, every ghost in hell would have flocked to the apartment…

So, the reason ghosts were rampant in this world, the reason supernatural incidents were erupting, and the reason Liwan Apartments had such chaotic Yin Energy that attracted monsters—was it all because of that crack on the top floor?

Zhou Fangdong recalled the scene he had witnessed in front of the elevator when he left his room that night.

At that time, the elevator’s floor display had jumped instantly from 18 to 1.

And Liwan Apartments only had eighteen floors in total.

…Whatever had stepped out of the elevator that night had come from the top floor of the apartment.

Zhou Fangdong let out a heavy sigh.

He hardly dared to imagine what kind of horrors were lurking on the top floor if even the Kerosene Lamp’s flare-up could only stall them for a fleeting moment.

As Zhou Fangdong sat on his bed, his mind racing with tangled thoughts, the sky gradually began to brighten.

A system pop-up appeared once again:

[Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts (Countdown: 13 days)]

Seeing the pop-up, Zhou Fangdong pulled himself together.

There was no point obsessing over the top floor right now; he hadn’t even fully figured out the second floor yet.

The flesh and blood in the second-floor corridor should be cleared away by now. It was time to go and clean those rooms on the second floor.

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Translator’s Notes