Chapter 69

With the Evil God Avatar pinned beneath his feet, Zhou Fangdong appeared detached and otherworldly, as if he wouldn’t blink even if Mount Tai¹ collapsed before him… but in reality, he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.

“System, I’m stuck. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

[Host, please wait. The system is currently extracting the Evil God Avatar Core. The shadow puppet cannot be moved during the extraction process.]

“System, this loading bar lock is a real pain… Even if I can’t control the puppet, why can’t I at least deactivate it?”

[The system requires the Host as a medium to extract the core. Since the Evil God Avatar Core is more than half-contaminated, the extraction speed is slow. Please wait.]

“Hurry it up, System. I can’t take much more of this. The people from the Supervisory Bureau are surrounding me while I’m just standing here posing. This is so socially awkward… And what is wrong with those baldies? Their god is gone, so what are they still worshipping? I’m done.”

While Zhou Fangdong was frozen in place, the personnel from the Supervisory Bureau split up. Some went to the other residential buildings in the complex to handle the rescue and cleanup, while others cautiously approached the pavilion.

Because the incident at Penghu Gardens took place in the city center, the General Captain of the Paranormal Affairs Department had personally led a team to the scene. However, like Hong Zhong who had been guarding the perimeter, they had all been cut off from the complex by a talisman array.

Even more unsettling was the fact that although communications weren’t jammed, they were completely unable to contact the investigators stationed inside.

Just as they were at their wits’ end, the talisman array isolating the complex was suddenly torn open. The people from the Supervisory Bureau rushed toward the location with the strongest fluctuations of paranormal energy. At a glance, Hong Zhong spotted that familiar figure.

Before he even had time to be shocked that the landlord could actually leave Liwan Apartments, something even more horrifying occurred… That terrifying monster summoned by the cultists—the one that had once devoured half of the northern suburbs and consumed thousands of people—was being stepped on like a pile of rotting mud by the landlord, utterly incapable of resistance.

The cultists didn’t fight back. In fact, they didn’t even spare the monster a glance. Instead, they chose to surrender to the landlord of Liwan Apartments, kneeling before him as if they were piously worshipping a god.

The mysterious landlord didn’t dodge or move. He simply stood there with an indifferent expression. No emotional fluctuations could be seen in his deep, lightless eyes; he was devoid of both sorrow and joy, like a divine statue seated upon a high platform, long accustomed to the submission and worship of believers.

The monster that had once cost the Supervisory Bureau a heavy price to seal was now like weathering silt under his feet, turning into black ash and dissipating.

It wasn’t until the monster had completely vanished that the General Captain and Hong Zhong led the investigators forward with extreme caution.

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Evil God Avatar Core (Semi-Contaminated).]

[This core must be purified in the apartment corridor’s renovation device before it can be used.]

Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, it’s finally over.

Zhou Fangdong nonchalantly brushed off his sleeves. Feeling a bit embarrassed after posing for so long, he quickly left the spot, avoiding the approaching investigators from the Supervisory Bureau.

The General Captain of the Paranormal Affairs Department watched the landlord quickly avoid them. That expressionless, cold demeanor made it seem as though he was dissatisfied with them for ignoring his warning and failing to deploy more personnel to Penghu Gardens; or perhaps he found them to be too late to be of any help at all.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of shame and lingering fear… Fortunately, this mysterious landlord had personally intervened. Otherwise, if that monster summoned by the cultists had been allowed to run rampant, this complex… no, the entire city center would have been in grave danger.

[Overall reputation with the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight +100. The Bureau of Paranormal Oversight has become a Friendly faction.]

Zhou Fangdong’s footsteps paused for a moment. He fought down the urge to turn back and look.

…So, beating up cultists in front of the Supervisory Bureau increases reputation.

Seeing that investigators had already taken charge of the four kneeling cultists, he abandoned the idea of giving them another beating.

Zhou Fangdong walked over to the fitness equipment by the pavilion and found Hou San and Miao Zheng.

Before he could speak, Hou San pulled a wooden rod from his loose suit sleeve and handed it over with utmost respect.

Zhou Fangdong took the Soul-Picking Rod. “Good work.”

[Detected [Cursed Tool: Soul-Picking Rod]. The system will automatically recover it. After the Host deactivates the shadow puppet, this tool will automatically merge with [Cursed Tool: Human-Skin Shadow Puppet].]

Hearing Zhou Fangdong’s words, Hou San was overwhelmed by the favor. “It was no trouble at all, no trouble. This is just what we should do.”

His eyes were filled with an irrepressible fervor and admiration. After witnessing the scene just now, Hou San’s respect for the landlord had reached its peak.

[Detected that Room 203 tenant Hou San’s Favorability has reached 100. Host, please claim the Favorability reward in a timely manner.]

Zhou Fangdong closed the system pop-up, planning to check everything once he returned.

He then checked on Miao Zheng’s condition.

Miao Zheng had recovered by now and was stretching her body. She had no external injuries, which allowed Zhou Fangdong to breathe a sigh of relief.

But immediately after, he remembered something and hastily called out to the system in his mind: “System, Miao Zheng had close contact with that Evil God Avatar. Does she still need to go to a Taoist temple for a priest to purify her?”

[It is no longer necessary. The apartment’s renovation Purification Device has been unlocked. Once the tenant returns to the apartment, the device will automatically purify the Evil God contamination on her body.]

Now Zhou Fangdong was completely at ease.

Catching a glimpse of several more investigators heading his way out of the corner of his eye, he simply deactivated the shadow puppet.

He was afraid the people from the Supervisory Bureau would try to claim the Cursed Tool: Soul-Picking Rod used by the cultists; after all, the entire paranormal incident in the complex had been caused by this item.

But this thing was his loot from this operation and could upgrade his shadow puppet play. Zhou Fangdong had no intention of handing it over.

The General Captain arrived with Hong Zhong, just about to express his gratitude to the landlord of Liwan Apartments, only to see the figure suddenly vanish.

A small black paper man fluttered down from mid-air. Then, a blue-purple, deformed ghostly hand appeared out of nowhere and snatched the falling black shadow puppet.

Hou San tucked the small black paper figure into his sleeve and turned around, a beaming smile on his face as he blocked the prying eyes of the investigators.

Miao Zheng was a paranormal streamer affiliated with the Supervisory Bureau; she couldn’t simply ignore the approaching investigators like Hou San did.

Therefore, before Hong Zhong and his team could get close, she took the initiative to walk over and explain the cause and effect of the entire incident.

After listening to her, Hong Zhong nodded with a serious expression. “I understand. I’ll take Zhu Di and Su Wan back to the Supervisory Bureau to keep them under protection.”

In a residential building in the city center, the atmosphere within this core stronghold of the Sigu Society was heavy with tension after news broke that the operation at Penghu Gardens had ended in total failure.

The cultists didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, fearing they would provoke the grim-faced High Priest.

To their surprise, despite the string of failed missions, the High Priest neither flew into a rage nor killed anyone. After a long silence, he simply said indifferently, “The two men we caught yesterday—the ones who performed the soul extraction—have their bodies been disposed of yet?”

The bald man who had been responsible for the soul extraction yesterday stepped forward tremblingly. “High Priest, we… we haven’t had time to deal with them yet because we had to prepare for Penghu…” Halfway through, he realized he had misspoken and nearly bit his tongue. He quickly corrected himself, “I’ll go handle it right now. I guarantee they’ll be cleaned up thoroughly.”

“It’s fine, don’t dispose of them.” The middle-aged man in a skullcap was surprisingly amiable. “Pick one of the two corpses with a relatively intact head and bring it to me.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man in the skullcap waved his hand irritably. “The rest of you are dismissed. Get out of my sight.”

Once the ordinary cultists had withdrawn, only the middle-aged man in the skullcap and another thin young man remained in the room.

Unlike the other members of the Sigu Society, this young man actually had a full head of hair.

“High Priest, I still have one core left. Why don’t we take advantage of the fact that the Supervisory Bureau’s personnel are all gathered at Penghu Gardens to summon another divine avatar? We need to let them know the price of provoking our Sigu Society.”

The middle-aged man in the skullcap shook his head. “We cannot summon a divine avatar in the city center again. Those things have no reason and no restraint. Our God hasn’t officially awakened yet. If all the humans are devoured by avatars and there aren’t enough sacrifices left for the God, that would be a disaster.”

“Then, you want that corpse because you intend to…”

“Yes, I plan to personally perform a Blessing Ritual to have the God bestow a wisp of a divine sense to resurrect that corpse.” The middle-aged man’s expression was solemn. “When the talisman array was torn apart, I felt a terrifying aura… it felt just like the one from when the incident first occurred at the apartments.”

“I suspect something has gone wrong at Liwan Apartments again. The apartment’s sealing power might be weakening. First, that Human-Skin Shadow Puppet escaped from the building, and today, an aura suspected to be from the rift on the apartment’s top floor appeared in that residential area… I suspect the apartment’s power is exhausted and can no longer suppress that rift. Moreover, it’s highly likely it can no longer trap the ghosts inside.”

Hearing this, the young man gasped and stood up in terror. “We can’t let the ghosts in the apartments escape! If they all get out, then we—”

“There’s no need to panic; it’s just a guess.” The middle-aged man in the skullcap patted his shoulder and pressed him back into his chair.

“Our church has suffered heavy losses. we can’t afford to waste more manpower on investigating the apartments… Let’s ask our Great God to take a look for us.”

“If that corpse can return smoothly, it proves the changes at the apartments are negligible.”

“If even intelligence can’t be sent back, then that’s the worst-case scenario… we’ll have to speed up the process of summoning our Great God.”

After deactivating the shadow puppet, Zhou Fangdong chose a comfortable position on his bed and lay down to look through his spoils of war.

The Supervisory Bureau people had arrived; leaving the cleanup to them shouldn’t be a problem.

With such a major incident occurring in a city center neighborhood, they would surely check every inch of the surrounding land and root out any cultist strongholds.

Furthermore, with Miao Zheng and Hong Zhong there, they knew the full story. The two girls targeted by the cultists would certainly be well-protected.

This operation had not only gained him a lot of Favorability from the tenants but also boosted his reputation with the Supervisory Bureau. The Supervisory Bureau was now a friendly faction; if he needed their help for something like Penghu Gardens in the future, they would likely take it much more seriously.

Zhou Fangdong opened his Inventory and took out the Human-Skin Shadow Puppet and the Soul-Picking Rod.

[Detected: Cursed Item · Human-Skin Shadow Puppet and Cursed Item · Soul-Picking Rod. Merging and upgrading items…]

[Merge successful. The Spirit · Shadow Wraith sealed within the Soul-Picking Rod has automatically converted into Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith.]

[Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith entry unlocked. Host, please check the entry for unlock rewards.]

[Detected: Host already possesses Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith. Necessary conditions for Lamp Oil Worker synthesis unlocked. Lamp Oil Workers can now be crafted.]

[The Special Item · Shadow Soul Pact resulting from the merger of the Shadow Puppet and Soul-Picking Rod has been directly upgraded and transformed into a Landlord Exclusive Skill.]

[Liwan Apartments Landlord Exclusive Skill: Shadow Soul Pact]

Skill Description: An exclusive skill for the Landlord of Liwan Apartments. Must be used in conjunction with an Apartment Contract.

Usage Methods:

① [Perfect Replacement]: By using the Shadow Soul Pact, you can completely transform into another person.

After using the Shadow Soul Pact on someone, the target will completely disappear from this world. The target’s soul and body will become the property of the user.

Cost: You will fully inherit all of the target’s memories. If used too frequently, you may lose yourself within these external memories, suffer memory confusion and become an irrational madman, or develop a split personality, becoming a mere vessel for these memories.

② [Ghost Servant Creation]: Utilize the Apartment Contract to bestow power upon ghosts, creating Ghost Servants who are completely loyal to you.

After using this skill, you can terminate a Ghost Servant’s life at any time, gain the right to use the Ghost Servant’s body at any time, and control all of the Ghost Servant’s actions at any time.

Using it required no price; this was an exclusive skill for the Landlord of Liwan Apartments.

[Current Ghost Servants: Ghost Tenant · Mu Yuechan, Zombie Taoist Master · Zhang Zhiwu, Furniture Store Manager · Mo Ming, Delicious Slaughterhouse Director · Sun Dali, Ghost Tenant · Ke Yan, Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith…]

[Detected that the Host has unlocked [Landlord Exclusive Skill: Shadow Soul Pact]. The Ghost Bus driver is awakening…]

[Congratulations to the Host for regaining a Ghost Servant: Ghost Bus Driver · Wang Yongshun]

[The Ghost Bus has officially awakened. Passengers can now be screened. The system has automatically set a restriction prohibiting Sigu Society cultists from boarding. The Host may modify or add new Ghost Bus boarding settings.]

After reading the skill description, especially that long list of Ghost Servants, Zhou Fangdong was shocked into silence.

What a domineering skill.

He wondered if the ghost tenants in the apartment knew what kind of unequal treaty they had signed. Giving up their very lives after signing a rental contract…

However, with this skill, he could seemingly summon ghost tenants from the Rear Building at will. There was no stronger method of suppression than this. Even if the ghosts in the Rear Building were dangerous, it wouldn’t matter.

Furthermore, he could finally leave his apartment room at night.

Complete control over the ghost tenants meant he could even control the mindless nighttime version of the Zombie Taoist Master.

In other words, when he went out at night, he could have a slaughter-mode Zombie Taoist Master acting as a bodyguard to escort him. What would he have to fear then? …He was still a little afraid of the elevator, though.

Last night, the Taoist Master had gone into a killing frenzy against the corpses near the elevator, yet the elevator hadn’t reacted at all. But that night when he had stepped out, the elevator had dropped straight down from the top floor. This suggested that the ghost moving through the elevator only descended after sensing his specific presence.

Even though the Taoist Master was strong, he didn’t dare gamble on what would happen if the Master clashed with whatever was inside the elevator. Leaving his room at night was a plan for another time.

“System, which room did you put the Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith in?”

[This tenant is currently in the apartment basement, at the Lamp Oil Production Base. It does not require an additional room from the Host.]

“Right, and the Ghost Bus driver… System, do I need to provide a room for Ghost Bus Driver · Wang Yongshun?”

[No. The Ghost Bus is his residence.]

That was good. He didn’t have to worry about clearing out rooms; these were two very low-maintenance ghost tenants.

As for the Ghost Bus passenger screening settings… the system’s rule of “not letting Sigu Society members on the Ghost Bus” didn’t need changing.

Currently, all roads leading to Liwan Apartments were blockaded by the Supervisory Bureau. The only way to reach the apartments was by taking the Ghost Bus. With this rule in place, he didn’t have to worry about more cultists like the pair from Room 103 raiding the apartment and harming his tenants.

After closing the system pop-up, Zhou Fangdong exhaled softly, feeling the satisfaction of someone who had just gorged themselves at a buffet.

The “delivery” those cultists had sent him this time was truly extravagant. Not only had he obtained an Evil God Avatar Core and gained a significant amount of favor from his tenants, but he had also gained two new ghost tenants, unlocked the necessary conditions for creating Lamp Oil Workers, and gained a vital skill to completely control his ghost servants…

Those baldies were practically as generous as the Main God.

Closing the system window, Zhou Fangdong opened the Lamp Oil production page and teleported directly to the basement.

He wanted to see his newly acquired Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith.

Upon teleporting to the basement, he saw a familiar figure standing before an ice coffin in the brightly lit room, seemingly staring at the corpse inside.

Hearing the sound of Zhou Fangdong appearing out of thin air, it turned its head toward him.

…The person looked exactly like him.

Zhou Fangdong quickly realized that this must be the Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith.

Seeing Shadow Wraith using his own face, looking at him with a vacant gaze and a somewhat dim-witted expression, Zhou Fangdong covered his eyes, unable to look. “Can you change your face?”

But the creature acted as if it didn’t understand. Nothing changed; it simply mimicked Zhou Fangdong by covering its own eyes.

…Compared to the other ghost tenants, this one seemed to have a rather low intelligence.

Zhou Fangdong recalled the system pop-up he had just seen. The system said this ghost tenant was once a “[Spirit · Shadow Wraith] sealed within a Soul-Picking Rod.” Being a spirit, it was likely similar to the Cat Ghost or the Blood Shadow Sac. Compared to ghost tenants who were humans in their past lives, it was normal for its reactions to be a bit slow.

Zhou Fangdong sighed, deciding not to force the issue.

Since Shadow Wraith lacked human thinking capabilities, it probably wouldn’t have the desire to leave the room. In that case, it didn’t matter. As long as it stayed in the basement, no one but him would see its foolish behavior.

Zhou Fangdong opened the basement door and moved the two corpses the Cleaners had piled outside into the basement.

Shadow Wraith curiously leaned in, nudging Zhou Fangdong aside to crouch on the ground and stare intently at the two corpses.

As it watched, its face began to melt rapidly like ice cream under a scorching sun, then automatically reshaped itself into the likeness of the corpse on the ground.

After a moment of silence, perhaps deciding that the mummy-like corpse wasn’t very attractive, it changed back into Zhou Fangdong’s appearance.

Zhou Fangdong ignored Shadow Wraith’s antics and checked the Lamp Oil Worker production interface.

The synthesis page stated that in addition to unlocking [Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith], manufacturing a worker to brew lamp oil required [A corpse from the Apartment Rear Building], [A set of worker uniforms made by the Ghost Tailor], and [A pair of shackles made by the Silversmith].

He had the corpse now, but he was still missing the uniforms and shackles.

He would have to make another trip to the Ghost Market tonight.

Oh, and he hadn’t claimed the reward for unlocking Shadow Wraith’s entry in the Tenant Illustrated Guide yet.

Zhou Fangdong closed the Lamp Oil Worker interface and opened the Tenant Illustrated Guide.

[Ghost Tenant · Shadow Wraith]

Guide Description: An object that gained spirit; a formless shadow derived from shadow puppetry. It lacks independent thought and acts entirely according to its master’s commands.

Traits: Difficult to detect. It exists wherever there are reflections. It enjoys mimicking living people and likes to control human bodies, much like a human manipulating a shadow puppet.

Ability: [Create Shadow Slaves]

The Shadow Wraith actively creates dim environments conducive to its activities, lurking within shadows, reflections, or reflective surfaces like mirror-like screens.

When targeted by a Shadow Wraith, the initial symptom is a change in one’s shadow. Once the Shadow Wraith has observed and mimicked a target three times, the connection between the entity and the living person deepens. It can then swap the living person with their shadow, creating a Shadow Slave that is completely obedient to its will.

If a living person remains swapped with their shadow for more than seven days, they will turn into a shadow completely and vanish forever.

If one wishes to use the Shadow Wraith to control a corpse, they only need to have it grant a small portion of its shadow to the body.

[Shadow Wraith Bestiary Unlock Reward: Second Floor Hidden Room Key]

After Zhou Fangdong claimed the reward, a shiny key dropped out and immediately merged with the [Landlord’s Key].

The hidden room on the second floor… was that the room where Qian Duolai, Quan Wuming, and the other three were tortured by the cultists before they died?

He decided to head to the second floor to look for it, and while he was at it, he would stop by the renovation device in the second-floor hallway to purify the semi-contaminated Evil God Core.

Zhou Fangdong left the basement and arrived at the second-floor stairwell of the apartment.

Just like the first floor, this area was currently without doors or windows.

However, even after Zhou Fangdong activated his [Ghost Pupils] and searched the walls for a long time, he couldn’t find the entrance to the hidden room.

He remembered from Qian Duolai’s memories that the hidden room should be right around here… Zhou Fangdong frowned, pacing the hallway once more.

After coming up empty-handed again, Zhou Fangdong suspected that this hidden room could only be opened by Qian Duolai and the others.

In that case, he would purify the Evil God Core first and find those Cleaners to open the door later.

Zhou Fangdong gave up his blind searching in the stairwell and headed into the corridor where the tenant rooms were located.

At the end of this corridor, there was a large metal cabinet mounted on the wall; this cabinet was the physical manifestation of the renovation Purification Device.

“System, give me the Evil God Core. I’ll put it in for purification.”

[The host only needs to place his hand on the cabinet door. The system will automatically place the core inside.]

Following the system’s instructions, Zhou Fangdong placed his hand on the cabinet door.

[Semi-contaminated Evil God Avatar Core placed. Purification in progress…]

[Estimated purification time: 3 hours]

Zhou Fangdong brushed off some non-existent dust from his hands. He stood with his arms crossed, watching the large metal cabinet for a moment before turning his gaze toward the remaining uncleaned rooms on the second floor.

Since it was still early, he figured he might as well clear out another room while the device was purifying the core.

With that thought, Zhou Fangdong walked to the door of Room 205 and opened it.

Translator’s Notes