Chapter 74

Yin Xi felt as if she were dreaming, or perhaps experiencing her life flashing before her eyes in her final moments.

If that wasn’t the case, there was no way to explain why she had been at the cultist base just a moment ago, only to find herself now in the room she used to rent.

Even less explainable was how she was still alive after being swallowed by that terrifying Evil God.

Yin Xi sat on the sofa, running her hand over the faded blue-and-white floral fabric. She then touched the familiar crocheted dust cover draped over the armrest.

This was Room 205 of the Liwan Apartments.

Years had passed, yet the room seemed completely unchanged, looking exactly as it did the day she left.

The interior was spotless. The old furniture bore the heavy marks of time, and the air was thick with the familiar scent of osmanthus hair oil.

She hadn’t moved out of this place by choice.

Back then, a terrifying supernatural event had suddenly erupted on the second floor of the Liwan Apartments. Since it was her day off, the noise and the sounds of people fleeing outside made Yin Xi think there was a fire or an earthquake, so she opened her door to check.

However, she had barely leaned half her body out when she was knocked into the hallway by someone running at full speed.

After struggling to find her footing, Yin Xi discovered that a mass of ever-growing, monstrous flesh had blocked the door to Room 205 and was surging toward her at an incredible speed.

Almost every room on the second floor was shared by four or five people. There were too many tenants trying to escape, and it seemed a lot of strange bald men had mixed into the crowd. This turned the already narrow corridor into something like a subway car during the morning rush hour. Yin Xi was practically swept toward the stairwell by the sheer force of the crowd.

Once the human tide carried her near the stairs, the number of fleeing tenants mysteriously thinned out. With the pressure gone, her own momentum caused her to trip and fall.

Just as Yin Xi was about to be consumed by the encroaching flesh, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

It was a middle-aged man wearing a skullcap, holding a sword that was still dripping with blood.

After being taken by that man, Yin Xi was imprisoned at a Sigu Society base. Those cultists kept her like livestock, never treating her as a human being, and frequently drained her blood.

During those years of captivity, Yin Xi had completely lost her sense of time. The only thing that kept her going was the drive to escape those cultists.

Now that she had escaped them and gained her freedom, she felt a sense of unreality.

Yin Xi leaned back against the sofa. Looking at the familiar surroundings of Room 205, her frantic, fearful heart suddenly found peace.

Actually, this was fine. Being able to come back here for one last look before she died was enough.

It was somewhat ironic. As an abandoned child who had never felt the warmth of a family, Yin Xi had experienced the care of a family member from a ghost while living in this haunted house.

She knew there was a ghost in the room, and she knew something was very wrong with the Liwan Apartments, but because she craved that sliver of warmth, she was unwilling to leave. It was like drinking poison to quench a thirst.

Over the years, whenever Yin Xi was on the verge of collapse due to her dark imprisonment, the image of Ghost Granny would surface in her mind.

…Just like now.

Ghost Granny’s figure stood not far from her, her silver-white hair neatly combed into a bun at the back of her head. She wore a grey shirt faded from many washes with a pilled red wool cardigan over it. Her black-and-white eyes stared at Yin Xi without blinking, her face wearing that eternal, kindly smile.

“You’re back?” Ghost Granny’s voice was as gentle as ever, as if Yin Xi had simply come home thirty minutes late from a normal day of overtime, showing none of the distance one would expect after years apart.

Ghost Granny walked over to Yin Xi. “The food was just reheated. You must be exhausted from the overtime, right? Wash your hands and come eat.”

It was just like countless days and nights in the past – the warm greeting, the steaming food waiting no matter how late she worked, and the meticulous care when she was tired… but it was all a trap. If this were the Yin Xi of the past, she would have deliberately maintained a subtle distance to keep living with Ghost Granny without becoming fully immersed in the illusion.

But at this moment, Yin Xi was too tired, exhausted in both body and soul.

The years of imprisonment had drained almost all her mental strength. She no longer cared about emotional traps. She only wanted to see the person she had missed so much before she died, to hold onto this final bit of warmth, even if it would be followed by an endless void.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Yin Xi didn’t wail; she simply wept in silence.

The mechanical, kindly smile on Ghost Granny’s face stiffened for a moment when she saw Yin Xi’s tears.

As a ghost who fed on emotions, Ghost Granny clearly perceived Yin Xi’s current agony and that blunt, undisguised [need]. She knew this was the perfect time to hunt. With just a little comfort, all the emotions of this girl who had eluded her for so long would be drained away, and she would experience an unprecedented sense of satiety.

An eerie silence spread through the room.

Finally, Ghost Granny moved.

She appeared out of thin air on the sofa, her hand pressing gently onto Yin Xi’s shoulder.

“Don’t cry…” Ghost Granny’s voice remained soft. “It’s good you’re back… it’s good you’re back…”

As Ghost Granny touched her, a faint but warm stream of emotion was clumsily transferred to Yin Xi through that cold hand, like a form of force-feeding.

Her original depression vanished instantly. It was as if she had been falling down a cliff, only for someone to kick her back up so she landed on a soft bed.

Yin Xi was stunned.

This familiar warmth had appeared in her heart out of nowhere many times when she was at her breaking point during her captivity.

A ghostly creature that fed on human emotions was actually using its accumulated emotions to sustain a human.

These were the “scrap” emotions Ghost Granny had once taken from Yin Xi. Because they were too fragmented to fill Ghost Granny’s own void, she had stored them without digesting them.

She was using the most fundamental and direct method to alleviate Yin Xi’s pain – giving her everything she had, everything she believed to be good.

Yin Xi lifted her head in disbelief.

“Granny…” Her voice was incredibly hoarse, thick with a sob, as she buried herself into the Malicious Ghost’s cold embrace.

Ghost Granny didn’t respond, only patting Yin Xi’s back with mechanical movements. She didn’t actually know what she was doing. She probably just wanted this ‘food’ to last a little longer, so she could eat for a bit more… even if the food only produced scraps and leftovers of emotions every day.

One human and one ghost sat on the sofa, huddled together in tears in a posture that was as eerie as it was heartwarming.

Watching this tender scene unfold, Zhou Fangdong, holding the Rental Contract, felt like a real estate agent who didn’t know how to read the room.

But for the tenant’s safety, the Tenant Contract still had to be signed.

“Sorry, excuse me,” Zhou Fangdong cleared his throat softly. “Let’s get the Rental Contract signed first.”

Hearing that familiar voice, Yin Xi’s entire body stiffened. She tremulously raised her head from Ghost Granny’s embrace.

…That face. It was the Evil God.

As expected, now that her life had flashed before her eyes, had the time for her death finally arrived?

Seeing Yin Xi’s terrified expression, Zhou Fangdong could roughly guess what she was thinking.

He didn’t actually remember much of what happened back at that stronghold. He only remembered that he seemed to have killed a lot of Cultists and then fished out a tenant.

Looking at how scared she was, he figured his appearance while disguised as the Evil God probably wasn’t very pleasant.

Zhou Fangdong was about to offer a few words of comfort, but to his surprise, Ghost Granny took the initiative to explain: “This is the apartment’s current landlord… He won’t hurt you. It’s very safe to live in the apartment now…”

Yin Xi looked at Ghost Granny, then at the seemingly normal ‘landlord’ standing not far away. A bitter smile forced its way onto her lips.

This so-called Rental Contract was likely some kind of pact she had to sign with the Evil God.

With this Evil God’s protection, the apartment would certainly be extremely safe. She had witnessed with her own eyes how this Evil God slaughtered those Cultists as easily as slicing through vegetables.

This Evil God… this deity had not killed her. He had rescued her from the hands of those Cultists and even wanted to sign a contract with her. This meant she was useful to this deity.

At least more useful than those Cultists.

…If she signed the contract with him, perhaps she could even plead for this deity to kill all the Cultists.

At that thought, Yin Xi no longer hesitated. The desire for revenge against those Cultists supported her as she stood up unsteadily.

The girl was so thin she was practically nothing but a bag of bones, even more frail than He Yansheng.

【Tenant Illustrated Guide [Special Tenant: Sigu Society’s Blood Sacrifice] has been lit up. Host, please claim your guide reward in a timely manner.】

Looking at this side quest reward, Zhou Fangdong realized in hindsight that when he first entered Room 205, the system hadn’t popped up a side quest for him like it had for the other rooms.

While getting a reward without a task was a win for him, something still felt slightly off.

“System? Is there a bug? I don’t remember you ever giving me Side Quest 11.”

【Room 205 does not require renovation, and the previous tenant did not terminate their lease or leave the circle^[1]. You only needed to sign a supplementary rental contract, so the system did not issue a side quest.】

Leave the circle… as in the biological circle? Even at a time like this, it doesn’t forget to crack a cold joke. Who did System-bro learn this from?

“Get some good rest. I’m heading back now,” Zhou Fangdong told Yin Xi, then teleported directly back to his own room.

After returning to his room, Zhou Fangdong checked the newly unlocked entry in the Tenant Illustrated Guide.

[Special Tenant: Sigu Society’s Blood Sacrifice]

Guide Description: Yin Xi, a former tenant of Room 205 in the apartment. Unlike He Yansheng, whose blood only possesses special effects after modification, she was born with a unique constitution. Her blood is highly attractive to ghosts and monsters, making her like a walking stick of Offering Incense. The members of the Sigu Society used her blood to capture many ghosts and frequently sold it in the Ghost Market. However, as she aged, the effectiveness of her blood diminished significantly. The Sigu Society decided to use her as a sacrifice for one final, special ritual.

(Note: You can try chatting with this tenant. The ritual that was interrupted by the “Evil God’s Arrival” seems to hold important clues.)

Traits: Strong, kind, highly empathetic. She was formerly a nurse at the city hospital. Having grown up in an orphanage, she often spends her free time volunteering at orphanages and nursing homes. If this tenant is coerced into doing something that harms others, she may terminate her lease.

Regarding Yin Xi’s special constitution… Zhou Fangdong felt she might be very prone to ghost attacks. Ghost Granny in Room 205 didn’t seem to have much combat power either, so he wasn’t sure if she could protect this tenant.

As for the chat, he decided to wait until the tenant had rested. After going through such a traumatic ordeal and barely surviving, he should let her recover before talking to her about the Sigu Society.

Recalling the scenes he had just witnessed at the abandoned amusement park, where cultists slaughtered ordinary people like livestock, a nameless fire still burned in Zhou Fangdong’s heart.

He felt he was still being too passive. He should take the initiative to clear out those cultists; every day they existed, they were persecuting ordinary people.

The Supervisory Bureau was short-staffed and couldn’t clear out all the cultist strongholds he had reported at once. Often, just as they finished clearing a few, the cultists at other locations would get word and flee overnight to new spots.

Zhou Fangdong actually had an idea: he could have He Yansheng and Xiao Xiaoyu go out together to a deserted area in the suburbs.

Then, one of them would attract the cultists while the other attracted a Main God Instance.

He would let the Main God use the instance to clear out the cultists. Once they were dealt with, he could use Instance Erosion to harvest a wave of Main God coins, achieving a perfect cycle of resources.

The only issue was that the timing might be hard to manage. If He Yansheng attracted the cultists, the time it would take for them to arrive was uncertain, and it wasn’t a hundred percent guarantee that Xiao Xiaoyu could trigger a Main God Instance.

He needed to think this over carefully to see if there was a more reliable way to bait the trap.

While he was pondering, a familiar system window appeared again:

【Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts (Countdown: 10 days)】

It looked like dawn had broken… Zhou Fangdong stood up, planning to head over to the garbage station to collect some Ghost Coins before continuing to clear the rooms on the second floor.

However, just as he stepped out of his door, he suddenly noticed Zhang Zhiwu standing at the entrance of Room 108.

At this time of day, the Zombie Taoist Master was usually meditating in his room. Could he be looking for him for something?

Just as the thought occurred to him, he heard Zhang Zhiwu say, “Little friend, you’ve finally appeared. I have a matter I’d like to ask your help with.” At this point, he hesitated, seemingly unsure of how to broach the subject.

Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong said, “Taoist Master, please speak freely. You’ve helped me so much; it’s only right that I help you in return.”

Zhang Zhiwu sighed softly. “It is like this. Three pilgrims who were staying at Chuyun Temple went missing yesterday.”

Zhou Fangdong’s expression turned solemn, and he reflexively summoned the system panel in his mind.

Chuyun Temple was a peripheral facility of the apartment. If something happened at the temple, he should have known immediately.

He initially thought he might have missed it while using the Evil God Disguise function last night, but the status of the peripheral facilities showed that Chuyun Temple was normal.

Zhang Zhiwu didn’t notice Zhou Fangdong’s distraction and continued, “The three of them didn’t go missing within the temple grounds. Rather, they failed to return to the temple after finishing work. Their workplaces aren’t dangerous areas, and they were all carrying the mother-child talismans I drew. Logically, even if they were attacked by ghosts, I should have been able to sense their condition through the talismans.”

As he spoke, he pulled three talismans from his robe. “But these talismans seem to have failed… I can’t even sense whether they are alive or dead. This situation doesn’t seem like an encounter with ghosts, but more like some kind of power has isolated them from this world.”

Hearing this description, Zhou Fangdong immediately thought of the Main God.

Zhou Fangdong followed up with a question, “Were these three people working at the same place?”

Zhang Zhiwu shook his head. “They were at different locations. One was working at a clearance supermarket near the station on the south side of the city. Although that supermarket is far from the city center, it’s not quite in the suburbs yet, so it’s not deserted. Furthermore, I had my young disciple go check it out; the supermarket is perfectly normal and still operating as usual.”

“As for the other two, one was hauling cement at a construction site on the south side of the city, and the other was also a porter, moving construction waste at an old residential area to the east… There was nothing unusual at those two locations either.”

Hearing this, Zhou Fangdong became quite puzzled.

He had originally assumed the three were trapped in a Main God Instance, but they had disappeared from different locations, and no Main God Instances had appeared in those places. This situation meant either the Main God had given up on manifesting instances and chosen to snatch people directly into the Main God space, or there was a high-level ghost involved that was so skilled at disguise that even Zhang Qingyang couldn’t detect it.

Zhou Fangdong felt the probability of the Main God being involved was low. Judging from Duan Wenyu’s experiences, the Main God required screening instances to abduct people from this world. If too many prospective players cleared the first round, there would even be a second round of screening.

So, was it the work of some other ghost or monster?

While Zhou Fangdong was lost in thought, the door to Room 106 suddenly swung open. Hong Zhong rushed out of the room, his footsteps faltering when he spotted Zhou Fangdong and Zhang Zhiwu in the corridor.

Seeing the expression on his face, Zhou Fangdong knew something had happened.

Sure enough, Hong Zhong spoke a moment later.

“Mr. Landlord, many citizens vanished into thin air yesterday… The Supervisory Bureau has developed instruments capable of detecting the supernatural fluctuations of a Main God Instance, but we didn’t detect any power related to one. Therefore, I suspect this might be retaliation from the Sigu Society. The Bureau cleared out two of their strongholds in the city center yesterday, so they likely summoned something eerie to get back at us.”

Based on the landlord’s attitude toward the Sigu Society, Hong Zhong knew he loathed those cultists. If he could get the landlord involved, this matter would likely be resolved much faster.

“First, send me the list of missing persons and their addresses…” Zhou Fangdong paused mid-sentence. “Actually, give me your phone for a second.”

Hong Zhong didn’t hesitate and handed the phone over immediately.

Zhou Fangdong spent a hundred Ghost Coins to modify Hong Zhong’s phone before handing it back. “Now you can contact me directly. Go to the Supervisory Bureau for now, and just use the phone to relay any further intelligence regarding this matter to me.”

He had finally found an opportunity to modify Hong Zhong’s phone. Constantly relying on Duan Wenyu and Miao Zheng to pass messages back and forth had been quite a hassle.

Hong Zhong took the phone back, feeling a slight sense of relief.

He had finally earned Mr. Landlord’s trust. It seemed the landlord wasn’t angry about what had happened at Penghu Gardens yesterday.

After Hong Zhong left, Zhang Zhiwu handed three talismans to Zhou Fangdong. “Little friend, I’ll leave the talismans of these three missing pilgrims to you. I’ll have to trouble you with the rest.”

Zhou Fangdong nodded, accepting the task, and continued walking toward the Trash Disposal Station.

Since he couldn’t leave the apartment, there was no use in being anxious. He would wait for Hong Zhong to send over the follow-up intelligence.

After he collected the Ghost Coins from the trash station, he planned to head to the second floor to clear out Room 206.

Only ten days remained until the Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts. Although the system claimed he needn’t worry since he had the [Half-Body Shrine] skill, he still felt a lingering sense of anxiety.

He had to work hard to complete more missions during this time, hoarding Skill Points to upgrade his offensive abilities. It was better to be over-prepared than sorry.