Chapter 44

After Zhou Fangdong clicked on the detailed introduction for the newly unlocked Ghost Market, a location information pop-up appeared.

[Ghost Market]: Located in the rift between Yin and Yang, this is a trading hub for ghosts who still possess their sanity. Occasionally, humans capable of crossing into the underworld come here to purchase supernatural items.

Note 1: You can earn Ghost Coins by placing idle items on consignment in Ghost Market shops.

Note 2: If you choose to set up your own stall, you must possess the [Curse Tool: Human Skin Mask] to unlock the Ghost Market Vendor identity.

Note 3: The Ghost Market holds irregular auctions where you can use Ghost Coins to bid on items you like. If you possess overwhelming offensive capabilities, you may also opt for a “zero-dollar purchase¹” at the auction.

Seeing that he could sell things on consignment in the Ghost Market, Zhou Fangdong remembered the [Room 103 Collection] he had cleared out from Room 103, which was still sitting in his Inventory.

He was too lazy to organize that pile of junk anyway, so he might as well toss them into the Ghost Market for consignment to earn some Ghost Coins. Even a little bit of mosquito meat was still meat.

As for wearing the Human Skin Mask to set up a stall himself… setting aside whether he had the time, that mask was a cursed tool. Wearing it triggered random negative effects, and a “black-handed” unlucky player like him didn’t dare gamble on what kind of debuff he might roll.

But speaking of consigning idle items…

Zhou Fangdong lowered his head in thought for a moment before teleporting back to his room.

He walked to his desk and began rummaging through the cluttered surface.

Zhou Fangdong remembered that he seemed to have obtained a special item he couldn’t use, the [Three Purities Bell]. He had a vague memory of tossing it onto the desk, but he didn’t know where it had rolled off to.

Eventually, he found the bronze bell beneath an agricultural textbook.

Zhou Fangdong picked up the bell with two fingers, a strange expression crossing his face.

This… the shape wasn’t quite right, was it?

Was the bell he unlocked originally like this?

Zhou Fangdong remembered that when he first unlocked the bronze bell, although it was small and worn, it carried an ancient, majestic aura of righteousness—it clearly looked like a seasoned antique.

But the bell before him looked incredibly eerie.

Not only was the rust completely gone from the surface, making it exceptionally smooth, but its color had turned into a garishly bright, fluorescent green. The “Mountain” shaped handle of the bell was now tightly entwined with dense, unknown vines. At the very top of the handle, a tiny green sprout with two leaves had emerged, trembling incessantly like cockroach antennae.

An antique from the Shang or Zhou Dynasties² had completely transformed into a “made-last-week” toy from Yiwu³—specifically, the kind of cheap, glow-in-the-dark plastic toy sold at street stalls for a few cents.

Holding the bell, Zhou Fangdong was genuinely afraid that the eerie fluorescent green would rub off on his fingers.

How on earth did it end up like this?

Staring silently at the trembling little green sprout wrapped around the handle, Zhou Fangdong finally recalled that he had also obtained a growth-type item called “Ghost Seedling.”

At the time, he seemed to have fed it a stick of Offering Incense and then completely forgotten about it.

He had assumed it would be like the other green plants he had tried to grow in the past—withered and dead in some corner of the room. He hadn’t expected it to not only survive but to stubbornly fuse itself with the Three Purities Bell.

Zhou Fangdong sighed softly and asked without much hope, “System, can I still sell this bell for money?”

[Ding—Strange item detected…]

[Eerie Item: Three Purities Bell (Ghost Seedling Fusion Version)]

(A Three Purities Bell that can be used by a Zombie Taoist Master. Gifting it will significantly increase Favorability.)

Item Description: A strange bell where Yin and Yang energies coexist in harmony. It has the effect of dispelling evil, breaking curses, and suppressing malevolent spirits.

The ringing contains both Pure Yang Righteousness and Purest Yin Energy. When activated by the power of a Zombie Taoist Master, it has a soul-shaking effect on ghosts, capable of stunning them. If facing low-level ghosts, it can directly shatter their soul forms. When a Zombie Taoist Master uses this bell, they can also suppress or seal Ghost Tenants who already possess physical forms.

“I didn’t expect to accidentally upgrade the Three Purities Bell…” Zhou Fangdong scratched his cheek, his gaze falling on the final sentence: “can also suppress or seal Ghost Tenants who already possess physical forms.”

He remembered the lottery function he had unlocked not long ago, which allowed him to draw Ghost Tenants and items from the Apartment Rear Building. The system had even given him a Guaranteed Lottery Ticket that ensured a Ghost Tenant.

He had originally been worried that he might not be able to suppress a drawn Ghost Tenant, but now those worries were gone.

He would give this bell to the Zombie Taoist Master in a moment. A Ghost Tenant moving in would directly grant two thousand Ghost Coins. In the future, if he was short on coins, he could take Zhang Zhiwu with him and use the Guaranteed Lottery Ticket to pull a Ghost Tenant.

If the drawn Ghost Tenant was murderous and disobedient, he could simply have Zhang Zhiwu use the Three Purities Bell to seal them in their room.

That way, he would get the Ghost Coins without worrying about the Ghost Tenant leaving the apartment to go on a killing spree. Perfect.

With that thought, Zhou Fangdong stored the Three Purities Bell in his Inventory, opened the rental preview interface, and teleported directly to Chuyun Temple.

Just as Zhou Fangdong left Liwan Apartments, Miao Zheng returned, looking listless.

Because of the sudden incident, she had to redeem an investigator from the Factory Manager. She hadn’t even finished having her fun at the Slaughterhouse before the manager kicked her out.

After leaving the Slaughterhouse, she happened to run into Hong Zhong, who was wandering nearby.

Hong Zhong had just driven back to the Bureau with the unconscious investigator named Li Zhe, and since Miao Zheng didn’t know where else to go, she simply took the Ghost Bus back to the apartment.

“So boring…”

Just then, as Miao Zheng was preparing to head back to her room, she suddenly noticed a small figure standing in the dim corridor.

It was a little girl with two braided pigtails, wearing a blue doll-collared short-sleeved shirt with white lace trim. Her hollow, lifeless eyes were staring straight in her direction.

Miao Zheng frowned slightly.

A ghost? She didn’t recall seeing this child ghost in the hallway before. Was she a newcomer?

As she drew closer, Miao Zheng’s frown deepened.

…This wasn’t a ghost; it seemed to be a living person!

Miao Zheng walked quickly to the little girl and took her hand, her tone somewhat anxious. “Little sister, it’s very dangerous here. This isn’t a place for a child like you! Where is your home? I’ll take you back.”

She had assumed this was a child who had wandered into Liwan Apartments by mistake, but to her surprise, the little girl spoke very calmly upon hearing her question. In the tone of an adult, she said, “I am a new tenant of Liwan Apartments, Xiao Xiaoyu. I moved in this morning and currently live in Room 105.”

Miao Zheng was shocked as she looked the little girl—who only reached her waist—up and down.

No way. The Landlord actually rented a room to such a young child?

…No, she shouldn’t question the Landlord’s decision. The Landlord must have his reasons for doing this.

Besides, if the Landlord could protect even such a small child, didn’t that further prove the greatness of his strength?

Almost instantly, Miao Zheng accepted the fact that this little girl was also a tenant of the apartment.

Looking at Xiao Xiaoyu’s sightless eyes, Miao Zheng pursed her lips. She didn’t ask about the eyes but instead said, “Xiaoyu, are you heading somewhere? I’ll go with you.”

“Then I’ll trouble you.” Xiao Xiaoyu did not refuse. After all, her eyes were inconvenient; she didn’t know where this apartment was located, nor did she know how to get to the city center.

“I want to go to Penghu Gardens in Jinxi District. Is that place far from the apartment?”

Xiao Xiaoyu left Room 105 because she wanted to go home and see her parents.

After being taken by the Main God, she had struggled to survive for ten years across various supernatural instances. Her psychological resilience was formidable; although she had been startled by that unfathomably powerful landlord just moments ago, she recovered quickly.

The reason she was so desperate to see her parents was that she had discovered something.

While the skills she had exchanged from the Main God were still intact, her storage space had vanished along with the disappearance of the points system.

All the supernatural items she had collected over the years—such as her most frequently used Life-Gambling Dice, Scapegoat Doll, and Voodoo Doll—had disappeared with the storage space. Even the gold bars she had exchanged with points were gone, leaving only the two she had originally given to Duan Wenyu, which he had stuffed back into her hands.

The loss of these items left Xiao Xiaoyu feeling very insecure, so she wanted to hurry home and check on her parents.

Once she fulfilled this wish, she could die without regrets, even if she were to fall to a ghost one day due to her lack of items.

Hearing that Xiao Xiaoyu wanted to go to Jinxi District, Miao Zheng was somewhat surprised. “Jinxi District? That’s in the city center, quite far from here… However, even though our apartment is in a remote location, the tenants have the Ghost Bus for transport. You don’t have to worry about not finding a ride.”

With those words, Miao Zheng took Xiao Xiaoyu’s hand and led her out of the apartment.

Upon noticing that Xiao Xiaoyu had difficulty walking, she simply picked her up and carried her.

Zhou Fangdong had just teleported to Chuyun Temple when he noticed several tenant movement alerts popping up on his special tenant watch list.

The notifications stated that Miao Zheng was taking Xiao Xiaoyu away from the apartment.

Zhou Fangdong thought about it for a moment but didn’t intend to stop them.

Miao Zheng was highly skilled, carried Ghost Expelling Talismans, and possessed a camera item capable of trapping ghosts. Xiao Xiaoyu was a seasoned Infinite Flow Player with Yin-Yang Eyes and a Soul-Tripping Lock. The two of them shouldn’t run into any major problems.

As for the buff where a tenant taking Xiao Xiaoyu out might trigger a Main God supernatural instance… such a special buff shouldn’t be that easy to activate.

Xiao Xiaoyu had just finished an instance, and the two were heading toward the city center. The city center was the most crowded area with the strictest security; it was unlikely they would be so unlucky as to stumble into another Main God instance.

Zhou Fangdong closed the Linjiang City Map and pushed open the doors to the main hall.

Zhang Zhiwu was sitting in the shade of a tree meditating, just as he always did.

Zhang Qingyang, who was leading several children in reciting texts in the courtyard, noticed Zhou Fangdong’s appearance. He was about to greet him when he heard his master let out a light cough.

The young Taoist was so startled that he immediately sat up straight, focusing all his attention back on the children.

Seeing Zhou Fangdong walk into the shade, Zhang Zhiwu spoke up. “Did you come to the temple to find me because something went wrong with the Cat Ghost in 106, my young friend?”

“It’s not the Cat Ghost. I found a bell and wanted to give it to you.” With that, Zhou Fangdong took the upgraded Three Purities Bell out of his inventory.

Upon seeing the bell, Zhang Zhiwu abruptly stood up from the ground.

…The way he stood up involved his knees going directly from a cross-legged position to a vertical one without any leaning motion—a stiff, upright rise that completely defied human anatomy.

It was only when this inhuman, eerie quality manifested in Zhang Zhiwu that one truly realized this old Taoist master was no longer a living person.

“This… this is mine… the Three Purities Bell I lost when I was alive?” Zhang Zhiwu took the bell with trembling hands, his voice shaking slightly. “It still works. I never imagined that in my current state, I could still use it…”

That deep, raspy voice held a touch of heartache and disbelief, like someone who had weathered a thousand storms only to look back and find an old friend still waiting where they had left them.

He fell silent for a moment, his dark, branch-like fingers repeatedly stroking the small green sprout on the bell’s handle. Finally, he said to Zhou Fangdong with gratitude, “Young friend, you are most thoughtful. If you ever have need of me in the future, this old man will go through fire and water without hesitation.”

[Ding—Favorability of Ghost Tenant (Zombie Taoist Master · Zhang Zhiwu) has reached 100.]

[Reward for 100 Favorability has been unlocked. Please claim it in a timely manner.]

After delivering the Three Purities Bell, Zhou Fangdong didn’t return to the apartment immediately. Instead, he stood in the courtyard for a while, watching Zhang Qingyang teach the children.

He didn’t know what kind of magic this small courtyard possessed, but simply standing there made his tense nerves feel much more relaxed.

The scent of sandalwood in the air, the perfectly soft sunlight, the mottled shadows of the trees scattered on the ground, and the white-noise-like sound of children reciting texts nearby… it gave him an urge to lie down and take a nap.

Moreover, watching the interaction between Zhang Qingyang and the children was quite amusing.

Sometimes Zhang Qingyang was driven to his wit’s end by the kids, but because his master was present, he didn’t dare lay a hand on the little brats. He could only endure with patience, coaxing them in a soft voice while his handsome face turned beet red and the veins on his temples throbbed.

Around noon, while he was still at Chuyun Temple, a system prompt suddenly jumped out. His future tenant for Room 106, Hong Zhong, had arrived at the apartment entrance.

Zhou Fangdong was instantly jolted awake from his drowsy state and decisively teleported back to the apartment.

After dropping Li Zhe off at the hospital, Hong Zhong had driven to Liwan Apartments without pause, not even stopping to pack his bags.

He had too many questions. He was desperate to become a tenant of the apartment and wanted the landlord to clear his doubts.

The strange Peddler who kidnapped children at night, and Li Zhe, who had been investigating the Peddler and the Ghost Market only to mysteriously appear at the Delicious Slaughterhouse…

Since the landlord had the foresight to have Miao Zheng save Li Zhe, he must know something. Perhaps he could even help him reach the Ghost Market to rescue the missing children.

Just as Hong Zhong stepped out of his car, he looked up and saw the elusive landlord already standing at the apartment entrance.

He stood there as he always did. The automatically opened doors of the apartment seemed to form the frame of a divine shrine, and the daylight pouring in from outside fell squarely upon him, draping his figure in a hazy glow.

Those phoenix eyes with their upturned corners were habitually downcast. His obsidian-cold eyes held no emotion, only an indifference that seemed to see through all things.

He seemed to have long expected his arrival, like an omniscient deity. Every person’s thoughts and every final choice made were within his control.

An inexplicable sense of awe rose in Hong Zhong’s heart. He lowered his head slightly, no longer daring to look the landlord in the eye.

Zhou Fangdong tilted his head in confusion.

What was Hong Zhong doing standing out there like an idiot with his head down? Why wasn’t he coming in? He was anxious for him to move into Room 106 so he could complete the main quest.

Seeing Hong Zhong stand at the entrance for a long time without moving, Zhou Fangdong lost his patience and asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”

Zhou Fangdong’s voice snapped Hong Zhong out of his inexplicable trance. He gave Zhou Fangdong an apologetic smile and walked quickly into the dark apartment, as if voluntarily plunging into the shadows.

Zhou Fangdong led Hong Zhong to Room 106.

Likely having seen Hong Zhong, a stranger, the Cat Ghosts in the room had all gone into hiding.

Zhou Fangdong took out the polished tenant contract for Room 106 and handed it to Hong Zhong.

Hong Zhong read through it quickly.

Although the residency rules were somewhat tedious, they weren’t too harsh for him.

The most important things to note were not to touch the talismans in the four corners of the room, and that if he smelled a milky, fishy scent in the room on the first or fifteenth of the lunar month, he needed to go next door to find the young Taoist to chant sutras in the room.

As for waking up at four in the morning to prick his finger and draw blood… his usual time for morning exercise was around four or five o’clock anyway, so he would be able to get up.

The phone volume wasn’t an issue either; he just had to remember to mute it before entering his room.

He had a buzz cut and didn’t care for grooming, so he had no real need for a mirror. As for whether he slept on a mattress or a straw mat, it didn’t matter to him—he had slept in far harsher environments than this.

Hong Zhong decisively signed his name at the bottom of the Tenant Rules, then pulled out thirty yuan in cash, handing the money and the rental contract back to Zhou Fangdong.

Suppressing his inner excitement, Zhou Fangdong handed him the key to Room 106. “This is the key to Room 106. Remember to keep it on you at all times; do not lose it. The room key allows you to enter and exit the apartment freely and protects you from the ghosts and monsters within the building. If the key is lost, the rental contract will be considered automatically terminated.”

Hong Zhong nodded solemnly and took the key with both hands.

The moment Hong Zhong received the key to Room 106, a system pop-up suddenly appeared:

[Congratulations, Host! Main Quest 1 has been successfully completed! All rooms on the first floor of Liwan Apartments have been successfully rented out!]

After a few digital fireworks went off, a large window of rewards popped up.

Upon seeing the first two rewards for the main quest, Zhou Fangdong could barely keep a straight face. The upward curve of his lips was harder to suppress than the recoil of an AK-47.

[Main Quest 1 Rewards: ① All of the Host’s unlocked upgradeable skills have been increased by one level.]

[② Reward: One canister of Kerosene Lamp oil, valued at thirty thousand Ghost Coins, with a burn time of 12 hours.]

[③…]

Translator’s Notes