Chapter 58

Zhou Fangdong began to search his memories for anything he had done recently that might have caused the Apartment Rear Building to turn out like this.

The only thing he had done related to the Rear Building lately was this morning. After eroding the Main God Instance of the abandoned hospital, he had obtained a Guaranteed Lottery Ticket, which he then used to pull three items from the Rear Building.

…It couldn’t be because of that, could it?

The lottery system designed by the system was far too treacherous. Not only did it fleece the tenants to fill the prize pool, but it actually had side effects after use.

Had he known, he wouldn’t have used the ticket. He hadn’t even pulled any particularly useful items, and instead, he had brought this trouble upon himself.

Looking at the wide-open, pitch-black entrance of the Rear Building, Zhou Fangdong let out a heavy sigh.

He didn’t dare imagine what kind of tragedy would have unfolded on the first floor if he had used the lottery function before unlocking the Cleaners.

“You two continue dealing with the corpses. I’m going to the Rear Building to take a look.”

Although he said he was going to take a look, Zhou Fangdong stopped in his tracks as soon as he reached the entrance.

He had leveled up several skills by now, but he still felt a bit apprehensive facing the Apartment Rear Building.

The system had specifically warned him that the Ghost Tenants inside the Rear Building were exceptionally dangerous entities. Without powerful offensive suppression methods, one should not extract items lightly.

Standing at the doorway and looking in, the layout of the Rear Building was similar to the front building. Directly facing the door were the elevators, except the indicator lights for the Rear Building’s elevators were extinguished.

He had to find a way to reseal this door to intercept the ghost that was transporting corpses to the front building.

If only he had an offensive skill that allowed him to maintain his clarity; he could take a stroll through the Rear Building and clear out this anomaly.

Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong suddenly remembered that he had just completed the side quest for Room 201, which rewarded him with two thousand experience points. He was now eligible to level up.

Character leveling would unlock a new skill… Zhou Fangdong opened his character attribute panel.

He hoped to unlock a useful offensive skill. If not, a sealing skill would suffice.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Fangdong clicked on the newly unlocked skill.

[Talent Skill: Death Realm Invasion]

Skill Description: Open a rift to the Death Realm and banish ghosts and monsters into it.

(This skill cannot be unequipped or upgraded.)

(Note: During skill activation, the Spirit Bar will be continuously consumed.)

(Highlight: This skill will cause Yin Energy disturbances. Usage inside the apartment building is prohibited.)

The skill description this time was very concise, and the method of use was clear and straightforward.

He just didn’t know whether it counted as an offensive skill or a sealing skill… though regardless of which it was, the skill couldn’t be used inside the apartment.

However, this spot wasn’t exactly inside the apartment.

Zhou Fangdong mentally measured the width of the Rear Building’s entrance.

Ghosts had no physical form, but corpses did. If that ghost wanted to move more corpses out, it would definitely have to pass through the door.

If he used the [Death Realm Invasion] skill to open a rift at this entrance and maintained it, he could simply use Ghost Coins to replenish his Spirit Bar whenever it ran low. If he kept it up long enough, he was bound to catch that ghost that had nothing better to do than move corpses around.

Three hundred Ghost Coins could replenish half a Spirit Bar. While it was a bit of a waste of Ghost Coins, it was a viable solution.

The only question was how long his current Spirit Bar could maintain the skill… Should he give it a try?

The system’s electronic voice rang out immediately:

[If the Spirit Bar remains in a state of continuous consumption, it will severely affect the host’s cognitive state, causing sluggish reactions and emotional fluctuations. The host may become irritable, controlled by negative emotions, and lose all rationality.]

[If this state is maintained for too long, all negative statuses will become permanent and will not disappear.]

Zhou Fangdong decisively gave up on the idea. “Never mind then. I’ll go to Chuyun Temple and consult the Taoist Master.”

That Zombie Taoist Master spent his years wandering between the front and rear buildings killing ghosts; he ought to have a solution.

Zhou Fangdong directly opened the apartment’s surrounding facilities menu and teleported to Chuyun Temple.

As before, he first appeared in the main hall of the temple.

Several children were lying on the large communal bed in the hall, taking a nap.

Zhou Fangdong stepped lightly as he pushed open the hall doors and walked into the courtyard.

To his surprise, he found that Duan Wenyu and Miao Zheng were both in the small courtyard.

The two of them were each in a small rattan reclining chair with cattail fans¹ over their heads, lounging comfortably in the shade of a tree, seemingly asleep as well.

Zhang Zhiwu, who had been robbed of his shady spot, stood behind a stone table in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, watching Zhang Qingyang draw talismans².

Zhang Qingyang had changed into a white Tai Chi suit³ today. His sleeves were covered in ink stains, and there were many smudges on his face as well. The temperature in the courtyard was pleasant, yet he looked as if he were in a steamer, drenched in sweat.

His frantic, anxious expression was the spitting image of a college student who hadn’t written the first draft of a thesis due the next day, desperately pounding on a keyboard under the death-stare of his supervisor.

Zhang Qingyang was the first to notice Zhou Fangdong’s presence. The young Taoist let out a visible sigh of relief and waved his brush at Zhang Zhiwu, saying, “Master! The Landlord is here!”

“I don’t care who’s here, you can’t slack off. Keep drawing,” Zhang Zhiwu said sternly. “Calm your mind, steady your spiritual energy output. Strive to produce a mid-grade talisman today.”

When he turned to look at Zhou Fangdong, the Zombie Taoist Master’s tone underwent a hundred-and-eighty-degree shift, becoming gentle and soft-spoken. “Young friend, is there something you need at the temple today?”

Zhou Fangdong got straight to the point. “The door to the Apartment Rear Building has opened. Master, do you know how to close it again?”

“The seal on the Rear Building has been broken? How could it be so soon?” Although Zhang Zhiwu’s expression couldn’t be seen, the surprise was evident in his voice.

Zhang Zhiwu pondered for a moment before shaking his head helplessly. “Resealing the Rear Building door… that is something this old man truly cannot do.”

Pausing, he continued, “However, young friend, you need not worry too much. With your strength, you only need to cast aside a bit of mercy and use brute force to suppress them. Once you’ve slaughtered the foul things in the Rear Building until they are terrified, they naturally won’t dare to come to the apartment to cause trouble.”

Zhou Fangdong was feeling a bit troubled.

…If only he truly possessed that kind of power.

Forget it; if martial prowess wasn’t enough, he would make up for it with items. If he couldn’t deal with those strange corpses himself, he would at least arm his tenants to the teeth.

In case the Cleaners failed to clear the corpses in time, the tenants needed at least some means of survival if they encountered those bizarre bodies on the first floor.

Zhou Fangdong browsed the mall and purchased several newly unlocked Intermediate Talismans.

Whatever was crawling out of the back building—be it corpses or ghosts—was undoubtedly dangerous and high-level. The life-saving charms he prepared for his tenants had to be upgraded accordingly.

[Intermediate Amulet] Price: 150 Ghost Coins

Item Description: Guarantees the user immunity to attacks from entities below A-rank for 30 minutes.

[Intermediate Ghost Expelling Talisman] Price: 90 Ghost Coins

Item Description: Can repel entities below A-rank. Repelled entities will not attack the talisman user again for 12 hours.

Zhou Fangdong bought three of each. He then woke Duan Wenyu and Miao Zheng, who were dozing under the shade of a tree, and gave each of them one Intermediate Amulet and one Intermediate Ghost Expelling Talisman. At the same time, he informed them that the first floor was currently unsafe due to potential corpse sightings. He instructed them to use the talismans immediately if they encountered any walking corpses and warned them not to try to be heroes, as their lives were the top priority.

Zhang Qingyang gasped when he saw the two types of talismans in Zhou Fangdong’s hands.

Sure enough, a second later, he heard his master say coldly, “Today’s homework is increased by another twenty talismans.”

Zhang Qingyang’s face fell into utter despair.

Master, even if you add a hundred more, I can’t draw talismans like the landlord’s… the perfection of those charms is almost on par with your own work.

However, Zhang Qingyang only dared to grumble silently in his heart.

He wiped the sweat from his face and began grinding ink to draw, continuing his homework in a state of painful bliss under his master’s supervision.

After leaving Chuyun Temple, Zhou Fangdong teleported to the Guijia Furniture Store. He handed the remaining two talismans to Zhao Dawei, gave him the same warnings, and finally returned to the Liwan Apartments.

He stood once more before the Trash Disposal Station.

The side quest to repair the apartment’s Trash Disposal Station had already seen the completion of the second requirement: hiring five deceased Cleaners.

All that remained was appointing a station manager, establishing the station’s rules of conduct, and creating a duty roster for the Cleaners.

The chosen candidate for the manager was Hong Zhong. Since he was human, a set of station rules was necessary.

These rules would likely be similar to the Tenant Rules, primarily aimed at ensuring the manager’s safety.

Zhou Fangdong walked up to the repaired Trash Disposal Station, carefully observing the large, iron-box-like structure.

If it required rules of conduct, did that mean the station was dangerous? Did ghosts live inside it, just like in the apartment rooms?

Zhou Fangdong tried to use [Soul Siphon] on the square, corrugated iron shed.

The skill didn’t take effect, but the entire Trash Disposal Station shuddered slightly. Something seemed to churn simultaneously within the [Human Trash] and [Ghost Trash] windows. Then, a piece of paper was spat out from the [Ghost Trash] window.

[Trash Disposal Station Operating Manual]

① Starting or switching the station’s mode requires manual activation by the manager.

② Press the start button before nightfall every day. The station will grind the internal trash and spit out a varying amount of Ghost Coins the following morning.

③ The station must be switched to Night Mode before dark. Failure to switch modes over a long period will cause the station to undergo an aberration, likely resulting in a hunger strike.

④ If an aberration occurs, the manager must stay in the security booth next to the station to accompany it to sleep and soothe its emotions.

⑤ The manager must maintain boundaries when interacting with the apartment Cleaners. The time the manager spends with Cleaners must not exceed the time spent with the station.

⑥ Do not change managers frequently, as this will affect the station’s efficiency.

After reading it, Zhou Fangdong tucked the manual away.

Although [Soul Siphon] hadn’t worked, the manual suggested that the Trash Disposal Station was indeed alive.

By tweaking a few words from this manual, he would have a perfect set of Manager Rules.

Next, he just had to wait for Hong Zhong to return, appoint him as the manager, and then set up the duty roster for Qian Duolai and the others.

Just as he thought of Hong Zhong, the Special Tenant Watchlist showed Hong Zhong’s movement—he was currently at the apartment entrance.

At the entrance, Hong Zhong was leading the four investigators from Room 201 in unloading corpses from a vehicle.

When Li Zhe and the other three investigators had left the apartment to contact Hong Zhong, the latter had just finished the cleanup at the abandoned hospital and was heading back with the bodies of the cultists.

This time, he had brought back twelve cultist corpses in one go.

Of the cultists who died on the hospital’s top floor, two were on the wanted list and needed to be taken back to the Supervisory Bureau; the rest were brought back to the apartment by Hong Zhong.

When he received Li Zhe’s call, Hong Zhong explained his purpose for having them rent rooms in the apartment. He told them not to be too nervous and to wait for him at the entrance. Once they helped him move the cultist corpses, they would return to the Supervisory Bureau together.

But just as Hong Zhong moved one of the cultist’s bodies into the apartment foyer, two identical adult men wearing Cleaner uniforms suddenly lunged out from nowhere.

The two Cleaners looked at the cultist’s corpse as if facing a great enemy. Their previously normal human faces were suddenly covered in dense, hideous scars.

One of them reached out and unzipped his own chest like a fastener. Vine-like red tentacles erupted from his body, wrapping around the corpse before it even hit the ground and dragging it toward them.

Hong Zhong and the others were stunned by this sudden development. Just as they were about to move to reclaim the body from these two freaks, a familiar voice rang out:

“Those corpses are for feeding the stairs. Don’t throw them into the Trash Disposal Station. Help me place them on the empty steps of the staircase instead.”

As the words fell, the landlord of Liwan Apartments slowly stepped out from the shadows.

Hearing Zhou Fangdong’s command, the two identical Cleaners nodded in unison. “Understood, Mr. Landlord.”

Seeing Zhou Fangdong appear, the few people at the entrance finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Thus, a small transport chain formed at the apartment’s foyer—the four investigators lined up to help move the corpses down from the truck bed, while Quan Wuming and Ming Wuqian took their positions. One stood at the door to receive the bodies, while the other ran into the hallway.

The bodies of these two Cleaners shared a mysterious connection, functioning like a miniature portal. When the one standing at the door “swallowed” a corpse, the one standing by the stairs would “spit” it back out.

While they were moving the bodies, Zhou Fangdong called Hong Zhong to the side. “I want to talk to you about the position of manager for the Apartment Trash Disposal Station.”

Hong Zhong’s expression turned solemn, his heart fluttering with apprehension.

Was it finally happening? It seemed the landlord had finally placed some trust in him. However, once he took on the job of managing the apartment’s trash station, his work for the Supervisory Bureau would have to be carried out in secret.

Hong Zhong said in a low voice, “Mr. Landlord, I would be happy to serve you. But if I am to resign, I need to go to the Bureau to handle the handover. I’ll take care of it this afternoon and can start at the trash station tomorrow.”

“There’s no need for you to resign from the Supervisory Bureau. Being the trash station administrator doesn’t require long shifts; you just need to remember to start the station at regular intervals.”

As he spoke, Zhou Fangdong took out a set of work regulations he had modified from the trash station’s instruction manual from his Inventory and handed them to Hong Zhong.

After the past few days of interaction, Zhou Fangdong felt it was better if Hong Zhong didn’t resign.

If Hong Zhong continued working at the Supervisory Bureau, he could not only use the Bureau’s resources to help clear out cultists and gather intelligence on the Sigu Society, but he could also bring back “cultist takeout” for him.

Hearing that he didn’t need to resign, Hong Zhong was somewhat surprised.

This landlord acted with such openness, completely unconcerned by his status as a Supervisory Bureau investigator, even proactively suggesting he keep his job. Furthermore, the landlord had previously mentioned accepting his team members and providing them with dormitories.

All signs indicated that the landlord of Liwan Apartments was not afraid of their investigation at all, nor did he fear members of the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight entering the premises.

Had he been overthinking things? Was the anomaly at Liwan Apartments actually nothing to worry about? Moreover, he couldn’t help but feel that while the landlord was terrifying at times, it was likely only because the power he wielded was so horrific that it triggered an instinctive fear. In essence, he seemed to be a good person.

Thinking of this, Hong Zhong shook his head and took the work regulations from Zhou Fangdong, focusing his attention on the paper in front of him.

He couldn’t judge a supernatural site capable of affecting the entire city based on subjective emotions. Whether the anomaly at Liwan Apartments was good or bad for humanity had to be judged based on actual evidence. He needed to continue his deep investigation and collect more information regarding the apartment’s changes; that was the only way to be responsible to the public.

After a quick scan, Hong Zhong did not hesitate. Just as he had signed the Tenant Contract, he signed his name on the work regulations.

[Manager for Liwan Apartments Trash Disposal Station has been selected.]

As the system pop-up appeared before Zhou Fangdong’s eyes, a badge manifested out of thin air on Hong Zhong’s chest.

The badge featured a sturdy pixel-art figure holding a trophy high with a look of immense pride. Four large characters were inscribed on the trophy: [King of Cleaning].

Hong Zhong looked down at the badge that had appeared out of nowhere on his chest. He remained silent for a long time before asking in a strained voice, “Can… can this badge be taken off?”

Zhou Fangdong consulted the system. Upon receiving a reply, he comforted him, saying, “Don’t worry, this badge doesn’t actually have a physical form. Even if you forget to take it off when changing clothes, it won’t be lost. It will automatically appear on your new outfit.”

Hong Zhong did not feel comforted in the slightest.

He would have preferred it to be physical; that way, he could at least cover it with a piece of cloth. For a grown man to walk around with a toy-like badge was more than a little embarrassing.

While Zhou Fangdong and Hong Zhong were talking, the four investigators at the door had already handed the last cultist’s corpse to the Cleaners.

In the next instant, the apartment building suddenly shuddered, the ground shaking violently.

Hong Zhong immediately went on high alert.

Zhou Fangdong initially thought something had gone wrong at the trash station, but to his surprise, the anomaly was related to the stairs.

A system pop-up appeared once more:

[Staircase injuries fully repaired. Hidden space [Apartment Basement] has been unlocked.]

Translator’s Notes