Chapter 134 Resisting unscrupulous merchants leads to a successful ghost market auction, with preparations underway to clear out...

Zhou Fangdong left the dream and reappeared in the wooden building of the Ghost Market Auction House.

After devouring the nightmare, he could completely control the dream and actively choose the exit from the dream.

If he weren't here to apply for a job at the auction, he would have simply opened the exit from the dream at Liwan Hospital.

The first floor of the Ghost Market Auction House was still the same as when he left, except that the humanoid silhouette on the auction stage had disappeared.

The first floor is spacious and laid out like a movie theater, with semi-circular wooden tables and chairs neatly arranged on the steps, surrounding the central auction stage.

There is no floor slab separating the two floors. The second floor is an extended circular viewing platform consisting of rows of independent small cubicles. From the cubicles on the second floor, you can see the auction stage on the first floor directly.

There was a dark red curtain separating the auction stage from the backstage area, and the staircase leading to the second floor was right next to the curtain.

Zhou Fangdong looked towards a certain spot on the second floor. His [Heavenly Eye] skill had not been turned off, and he immediately spotted the location of the Ghost Market Auction House owner.

I climbed the steep stairs to the second floor. The second floor felt even more eerie than the first floor; the ceiling was very low, and I had to keep my head slightly down as I walked.

This floor has only one corridor, with the building's exterior wall on one side and the door to the stands on the other.

In a small room at the end of the corridor, Zhou Fangdong found the ghost he was looking for... the owner of the Ghost Market Auction House.

The ghost was like a mountain of flesh, sitting in a huge chair that filled half the room. He was dressed in a high-quality black shroud, the buttons fastened tightly, showing no sign of bursting open under the pressure of his round belly.

Noticing Zhou Fangdong walk in, he raised his eyes and tapped the armrest with his sausage-thick fingers: "Here to apply for a job? Are you applying to be an appraiser or an auctioneer?" He liked to draw out his words, and his triple chin, formed by the fat on his cheeks, perfectly covered his neck, trembling slightly with the frequency of his speech.

"Apply for all positions."

"Oh...that's good, that's good." The auction house owner didn't say much, just waved his hand, and a work contract appeared in his hand. "Put your fingerprint on it."

There was no probationary period, no assessment of the applicant's work ability, and they were asked to sign a contract directly.

Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly.

Although it felt a bit unreliable, the system wouldn't lie to him; this job posting must be real.

Seeing this, he immediately created a Nightmare clone... after all, it was his clone who was going to work at the auction, not him.

The skill activated, and a dark, humanoid silhouette rose from the ground, taking the work contract from Zhou Fangdong.

Controlling the Nightmare clone felt similar to controlling a slime's body. Zhou Fangdong skillfully controlled the Nightmare clone and examined the work contract.

He glanced at it and immediately sensed something was wrong: "Why is there no text on this employment contract?"

The auction house owner laughed, "Of course, the written agreement will only appear after the contract is successfully signed."

Even more suspicious...

However, this job was introduced by the system, so the system shouldn't lie to him.

Thinking this, Zhou Fangdong manipulated his Nightmare clone to leave a dark handprint formed by ghostly energy on the paper.

After the employment contract was successfully signed, the text actually appeared on it.

After reading the employment contract, Zhou Fangdong frowned even more: "Didn't you say that the appraiser and auctioneer would be paid 10,000 and 7,000 ghost coins per month respectively? Why am I only getting 4,000 in total?"

The ghost laughed louder and louder, its fat body trembling: "Didn't you read the job posting carefully? The appraiser's salary is three thousand to ten thousand, and the auctioneer's salary is one thousand to seven thousand. You are a newcomer, so I can only give you three thousand ghost coins and one thousand ghost coins respectively."

Zhou Fangdong was speechless.

A monthly salary of four thousand ghost coins isn't worth him sending out a Nightmare clone to mess around like this.

"Forget it then, I'm not working here anymore."

"That won't do." The pot-bellied ghost revealed a mouthful of gold teeth. "Take a close look at the employment contract. If you breach the contract after signing it, the applicant will have to pay ten times the salary in compensation."

As he spoke, he gently patted the armrest of the chair: "If you want to leave, you can only leave after paying 40,000 ghost coins."

Zhou Fangdong laughed.

Okay, okay, so this is how it works? So the auction house owner got rich by making money from breach of contract fees?

He's always the one exploiting the ghosts, but today the ghosts are the ones exploiting him.

"System, can I transfer ownership of the Ghost Market Auction?"

He was afraid that dispelling the Nightmare clone would cause the contract to fall directly on him... Since dispelling the clone still carried the risk of paying money, he might as well become the boss himself.

"Of course, host. If you want, all the shops in the Ghost Market are yours."

...Well, it's not that serious. He just simply doesn't like the auction house owner.

Zhou Fangdong discovered that whenever he felt his behavior was a bit too extreme, the system would always be more extreme than him, making him seem rather conservative.

After confirming that there were no issues with directly seizing the property rights at the auction, Zhou Fangdong used his [Heavenly Eye] to manipulate the mountain of flesh.

This skill allows you to directly control ghosts or living people, implanting their consciousness into their minds and making them act according to your wishes.

This was Zhou Fangdong's first time using the [Heavenly Eye] ability, and he didn't know how effective it would be.

Sensing the terrifying pressure emanating from the faceless figure opposite him, the auction house owner, who had just been calm and collected, panicked instantly: "You are... the landlord of Liwan Apartments?! Oh dear, why didn't you say so earlier... I... I..."

The funeral shop owner's human skin mask was such a good disguise that he didn't realize until then that he had messed with the wrong person.

“What’s that saying? ‘Arrogant at first, then obsequious, it’s laughable to think about.’ It’s too late to say that now.” Zhou Fangdong manipulated the flesh mountain demon to stand up. “Now, give me the ownership of the auction house.”

The bloated ghost's face was contorted, and he looked extremely unwilling, but his body rose from the seat completely beyond his control.

As he stood up, the entire floor seemed to extend upwards—the wooden auction house seemed to come alive, deliberately leaving enough space for the ghost to move around.

The fleshy mountain demon moved its massive body, pulled out a sheet of straw paper from the stacks of paper in the corner, wrote a few words on it, and then pressed its handprint at the bottom.

At the same time, a loud electronic voice from the system sounded:

[Congratulations, host, on acquiring ownership of the Ghost Market Auction House!]

The host can find the Ghost Market Auction House's management page in the tenant preview interface, where they can adjust the management method or allow it to operate according to the previous model.

Zhou Fangdong has no plans to make any adjustments at the moment.

An auction is simply an appraisal of the items to be auctioned; there's nothing to change. Let it continue operating as before.

Zhou Fangdong continued, "Transfer half of the ghost money on the auction books to me."

The flesh mountain demon's cheeks twitched a few times, looking even more unwilling, as if it was about to cry.

However, his body completely disobeyed his commands, patting himself down, and wisps of black mist dissipated from his body and merged into Zhou Fangdong's body.

[Congratulations, host, you have received 100,000 Ghost Coins!]

Upon hearing about this profit, Zhou Fangdong almost lost his composure.

Wow, this auction is incredibly lavish! No wonder the system encouraged him to participate in the auction as soon as the Ghost Market was unlocked; one successful bid would have made him rich overnight.

...Including what he just stole from the main god, his current ghost coin balance is almost 150,000.

Good heavens, I've never been this rich.

After losing 100,000 ghost coins, the flesh mountain ghost rapidly shrank in size, eventually reducing its three-layered chin to a single-layered chin, and its body size returned to the range of ordinary obesity.

Zhou Fangdong circled the ghost once.

It seems this ghost gets richer the fatter it gets... truly a manifestation of being rolling in wealth.

From now on, there's no need to look at the auction records anymore. Just keep an eye on the ghost's size changes. We can slaughter it again whenever it gets fatter.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the ghost and asked, "As the owner of the auction house, you know how to appraise and auction things, right?"

The ghost nodded with a mournful face.

Zhou Fangdong clapped his hands: "Okay, now you can work for me. Write a work contract. You will be the appraiser and auctioneer for the auction, and at the same time help me run the auction... Monthly salary, well, I think you don't need a salary for the time being."

Upon hearing Zhou Fangdong's words, the ghost's body began to uncontrollably write a work contract again and pressed its palm print.

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired a ghost employee for the auction house. You can check the employee's status in the auction house management interface.]

After the contract was signed, the ghost actually cried.

He was filled with remorse. Why did he have to write a job advertisement when he had nothing better to do? He had attracted such a jinx.

Zhou Fangdong had his nightmare clone sit in the enormous chair to monitor the entire auction, then said to the ghost:

"Work for me obediently, and if you do your job properly, you might get a raise later. But if you dare to try anything funny..."

The ghost repeatedly said, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. From now on, I'll do whatever you say."

Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong didn't linger any longer. He patted the ghost on the shoulder and then teleported directly to Liwan Hospital.

To avoid frightening the patients, Zhou Fangdong specially removed the human skin mask before entering the ward.

Once the mask was removed, Zhou Fangdong knew what the random side effect he had received was... face blindness.

He could see everyone's face clearly, but he couldn't tell who was who at all.

However, face blindness is not a big problem; he only needs to know whether the patient is healthy.

After making a round of the sixth floor and then the third floor, Zhou Fangdong was relieved to confirm that all 119 patients had regained consciousness.

The patients all looked healthy, based on the fact that their screams when they saw the ghost doctor and ghost nurse were loud and clear, sounding very energetic.

Standing in the sixth-floor corridor, Zhou Fangdong listened to the patients' screams and asked hesitantly, "System, do the hospital's ghost doctors and nurses sell their appearances? Their blood-soaked appearance does seem rather unpleasant to look at."

Yes, a set of skins costs 1000 Ghost Coins.

Zhou Fangdong choked for a moment, somewhat doubting his own ears.

That's outrageous! He only paid 1,000 ghost coins to expand the buildings around his apartment.

This skin costs 1,000, and the skins for 100 ghost employees cost 100,000 ghost coins... Goodness, they're trying to squeeze all the ghost coins out of him before he even has a chance to enjoy them.

"Actually, I don't think it's necessary to buy the exterior. After all, people who come to the hospital have experienced paranormal events. Seeing ghost nurses and ghost doctors can help them build up their mental resilience and make them more composed when facing paranormal events in the future."

[The host truly possesses the heart of a healer!]

Zhou Fangdong remained completely unmoved: "No matter how much you praise me, I'm not going to waste money on skins."

He went to the nursing home in the morning, and the hospital and auction in the afternoon. After a busy day, it was almost dark when Zhou Fangdong returned to his apartment.

He felt that in such a short time, he definitely wouldn't be able to clean up a room before dark.

The reason he was in such a hurry was that he only needed one more skill point to upgrade his skill.

Tonight he plans to go find the Key Ghost and, incidentally, test the repaired kerosene lamp.

The Key Ghost is a random floor event, and it's very likely to occur on a higher floor.

Having a powerful attack skill is important before you start looking for them.

Although the [Soul Absorption] skill amplified by the kerosene lamp is very useful, as it can devour high-level ghosts and Outer God projections on the top floor, you still need to take out the kerosene lamp before using it. It would be bad if the ghosts took the opportunity to escape during those few seconds of delay.

Although Shadow Soul Contract can also devour ghosts, this skill is more of a control skill. Devouring requires accepting all the ghost's memories at the same time, and there are no ghost coins left after devouring.

If you encounter a ghost like a nightmare, that's pure torture.

While struggling to replenish your mental energy, you might also be ambushed by other ghosts.

Therefore, the best option is to clean up the room as soon as possible, complete the side quest to get a skill point, and upgrade [Soul Drain].

The upgraded [Soul Absorption] should have a similar amplification effect to the kerosene lamp, most likely adding an attack ability branch in addition to reading memories.

Not only can it directly devour ghosts and monsters to obtain ghost coins, but it also doesn't require reading memories, making it a perfect attack skill.

Zhou Fangdong flipped through his inventory.

He still has one guaranteed lottery ticket left unused, which guarantees he'll draw a ghost tenant from the back building.

Since there's no time to clean the room, let's just find the ghost tenant and let him move in.

Before that, Zhou Fangdong needed to check what kind of ghost was in room 305. If it was a rational and vengeful ghost, he would move to another room to clean it.

After all, ghost tenants have the highest priority. Once a ghost tenant moves in, he will drive all the ghosts and monsters out of the room. He prefers to find a room occupied by spirits and monsters... Spirits and monsters are relatively stupid, so he has no psychological burden in driving them away.

Zhou Fangdong was teleported to the third floor and arrived at the door of room 305.

As he passed by room 304, he looked at the door of room 304 and sighed softly.

If he had triggered the side quest in room 304 before Grandpa Chen moved in, he would have had all the skill points immediately and wouldn't have needed to rush to clean the room.

Unfortunately, he lacked precognitive abilities and couldn't foresee that the system for resolving the nursing home incident would also bring back a ghost tenant for him.

Zhou Fangdong absentmindedly pushed open the door to room 305.

After he saw the interior of room 305, he suddenly fell silent.

Side Quest 18: Clean and rent out Room 305

①Clean up ghost derivatives

②Find a way to suppress the production of derivatives by ghosts.

③ Clean up, clean up! Clean up!!

④ Clean up the trash! Throw away the trash!! Buy new furniture.

⑤ Figure out the patterns of the ghosts' killings, draft a rental agreement, and find tenants to move in.

Side Quest Rewards: 800 Ghost Coins, 2000 Experience Points, 1 Random Skill Point

Zhou Fangdong closed the task panel expressionlessly: "System, will the face blindness debuff from the [Human Skin Mask] affect my eyesight and distort my vision?"

No, it won't.

“Okay, let me confirm with you now whether we are seeing the same thing… First of all, this thing in room 305 has a lot of human legs, right?”

【Yes】

"This thing with legs... uh, a big ball of yarn, is crawling all over the room while also spitting out trash?"

Yes, the host did not misread.

Zhou Fangdong can confirm that there is no ghost in room 305; it's just an ordinary room.

In other words, that clump of human legs could very well be the ghost in this room.

...Leg fetishists are in luck! This thing, whether a vengeful ghost or a spirit, has at least several hundred human legs.

Ignoring the room that looked like a mountain of garbage, Zhou Fangdong was a little curious about why this thing was shaped like that.