Chapter 166 Room 308 rented out, wedding, skills training, 3...

Since the rooms on the sixteenth floor were already rented out, Zhou Fangdong, too lazy to take the elevator, teleported directly to room 1601, intending to check rooms 1602 and 1603 from there.

However, to his surprise, the scene inside the room changed after he teleported to room 1601.

Completely different from the wedding room scene I saw this morning, the interior decoration of this room has turned into a funeral hall - the dragon and phoenix candles on the living room table have been replaced by white candles, the marriage certificate under the candlesticks has been replaced by two memorial tablets, and the paper figures standing next to the table are all dressed in mourning clothes.

His colleague's wedding was held after his death; in the case of a ghost marriage, it seems quite normal for the bridal chamber to become a mourning hall.

The switching of scenes within the room is probably based on the same principle as the "Blooming Flowers and Wealth" dynamic wallpaper on the 5th floor; after all, only when it's dynamic can you avoid aesthetic fatigue.

Zhou Fangdong pushed open the bedroom door of room 1601, and as expected, the bedroom scene had changed. The red gauze used for decoration had been replaced with white gauze, and the antique-style canopy bed had been replaced with a coffin.

After lifting the coffin lid and confirming that his ghost messenger was still lying safely inside, Zhou Fangdong felt relieved and helped the other person close the coffin lid again.

As Zhou Fangdong stepped into the corridor after leaving room 1601, the rush of blood mist triggered his headache again... It felt as if a sharp cone was piercing his temples and churning wildly in his brain.

Although he had been having headaches frequently lately, he still found it hard to adjust, and his body stiffened for a moment.

Just then, a reckless and vengeful ghost suddenly rushed over.

Zhou Fangdong was extremely annoyed. After dealing with the vengeful ghost, he simply cleaned the entire corridor from beginning to end.

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he had clearly cleaned it once in the morning, but the ghosts in the corridor seemed to have increased rather than decreased... The ghosts in the 16th-floor corridor seemed endless.

After cleaning up while enduring a headache, Zhou Fangdong forcefully pushed open the door to room 1602.

The room looked very dilapidated, and the overall decoration was somewhat like an ancient inn. All the partitions in the room had been roughly removed, creating a large, open space.

The wooden floor beneath my feet had lost its original color, turning black and covered with a thick layer of dust. The four walls were also made of wood, with gaps between the panels large enough to fit a finger.

Apart from a set of dilapidated wooden table and chairs, the only furniture in the room was a large communal sleeping platform against the wall. More than a dozen men lay stiffly on it, all dressed in the clothes of ancient constables and with long hair. The older ones even had long beards.

Zhou Fangdong approached and carefully counted... There were 13 people in total on the communal bed.

Like the ghost messengers in room 1601, these 13 people all had their eyes closed, but their physical condition seemed more unstable, like constantly flickering holographic projections.

These must all be ghost soldiers, right?

His guesses are being confirmed one by one. The top three floors of the Liwan Apartment should be inhabited by ghost messengers and underworld soldiers. It seems that after the closure of the underworld, the underworld officials who were left in the mortal world were all lured to the apartment.

Liwan Apartments is known as the "Little Underworld".

Zhou Fangdong left room 1602, and in that short time, he discovered that the corridor was full of ghosts again.

...It's so annoying, it grows back after every harvest, it grows even faster than chives.

If clearing out these ghosts earned him ghost coins, Zhou Fangdong wouldn't have said anything. But these crazy ghosts in the corridor only give you ghost coins the first time you clear them out; afterwards, it's just pure disgust.

He had no patience to waste time on these ghosts and rushed into room 1603 as fast as he could.

As soon as he entered, Zhou Fangdong tripped over the clothes on the floor.

He steadied himself against the wall, looked around, and found that the messiness of this room was comparable to that of his old hoarding room, Room 103.

The room was also a large open space with no partitions and no sign of any other tenants.

The entire floor space was occupied by clothes, and rows of clothes were hung on the walls, as if one had accidentally wandered into a clothing wholesale market.

The clothing styles were mostly funeral garments... not the exquisitely crafted funeral garments worn by the owners of funeral garment shops in the ghost market, but more like paper-mache garments, made of very thin material, and looked very cheap.

Zhou Fangdong habitually used his [Heavenly Eye] skill to examine it, and then he was shocked to find that these thin burial clothes actually gave the dead a 10% defense bonus!

If worn by underworld staff, it provides not only a 10% defense bonus but also a 10% attack bonus.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhou Fangdong's hand began to move on its own. When he came to his senses, he found that he had somehow opened the City God's website and equipped his City God Temple's Day Patrol God, Night Patrol God, and six ghost soldiers with burial clothes.

...This room is unoccupied, and these funeral clothes are all thrown on the floor; they're probably unwanted. If nobody wants them, then taking them is just making use of waste, right?

He is the landlord of Liwan Apartments, and it is his obligation to help the tenants dispose of the garbage left behind after they move out... Yes, that's reasonable.

Originally, Zhou Fangdong also wanted to pick out a few items for the ghost nurses and ghost doctors at his Liwan Hospital to prevent them from getting injured due to medical disputes.

But when he picked up another piece of clothing from the ground, a pale, sickly face was revealed.

This is a person buried under clothes, eyes closed, sleeping peacefully... Judging from his appearance, he is the ghost messenger in the corridor last night.

Zhou Fangdong remained silent for a moment, then gave up on continuing to fleece the ghost, and covered the ghost's face with the clothes again, tucking the edges and corners in even more tightly.

Having finished checking all three rooms on the 16th floor, there was no need to linger in the rooms any longer, so Zhou Fangdong teleported directly to the apartment garden.

He was stunned when he saw the garden as it looked now.

He was busy dealing with the evil spirit for the past two days and hadn't been to the garden. He only occasionally saw the ghost tenant, the gardener, in the garden when he checked the rental preview page.

I thought the gardener was just laying turf in the garden, but I didn't expect her to bring out a lot of green plants as well.

The fences on both sides of the garden were completely covered by vibrant vines, their layers of lush green leaves filling the gaps between the fence sections, creating a green wall. Occasionally, a few plump, red, broken tendrils would leisurely crawl along the leaves, looking quite relaxed…

These fingers likely originated from the succulent plants in the red coffin at the bottom of the fence. These succulent plants were growing too well, from the size of a child's palm to that of a teenager's palm. Some couldn't fit in the soil, so they jumped out and climbed up to the fence above.

In addition, the simple marble bases of the fountain and flower beds are covered with a lot of vines, and even the square metal box-shaped garbage disposal station is covered with a thick lawn, which looks like it has a layer of fluffy green hair... The landscaping is so perfect, it is worthy of a professional gardener, and it is very pleasing to the eye.

Zhou Fangdong opened the garden decoration page.

Including the ghost tenants he got as a reward from yesterday's sweep of the back building, he now has a total of 7 ghost tenants he can renovate.

He felt that the garden was still lacking a sense of depth and variation in elevation... Zhou Fangdong browsed through the decoration page and took a liking to a few human-faced trees and a small pond.

After unlocking the Ghost Tenant Gardener, garden renovations will be 50% off, and he's now flush with cash, so he can buy whatever he wants.

The trees with human faces have red leaves and their trunks are covered with human faces, giving them a very artistic feel.

Zhou Fangdong was torn between placing the trees on either sides of the cobblestone path or next to the fountain.

But then he thought about it and realized that only people without money make choices. He was a super-rich man with hundreds of thousands of ghost coins in his pocket—so he placed human-faced trees next to the cobblestone path and the fountain flower bed.

The combination of red and green makes the garden much more colorful and perfect.

Oh, and we also need to upgrade the fountain by installing some small colored lights at the bottom of the fountain pool.

If you're going to have a garden pond, place it next to the planting area for easy access to water.

To Zhou Fangdong's surprise, because the pond was placed close to the fence, several of the hand-shaped succulent plants from the coffins spontaneously separated and jumped into the water to act as water lilies, making the bare water surface look much more beautiful.

However, it's still a bit monotonous. We need to add a few more decorations to the water... preferably decorations that can accommodate the ghost tenants.

Zhou Fangdong noticed that there was a set of seven swan-shaped water decoration sculptures, which was just enough to fit all the ghost tenants inside.

After he finished installing the decorations, a system notification suddenly appeared:

[Garden renovations have reached 1000; garden protection value increased; front building access road expanded; garden main gate and side gate unlocked]

After the electronic sound disappeared, Zhou Fangdong noticed that the narrow tunnel leading from the front building to the garden had changed. It had expanded from being as narrow as one person to being as wide as three people, and a garland-woven archway had appeared at the exit of the simple passage.

The side gates on both sides of the garden fence, which were originally locked, creaked open slightly before closing again.

The apartment facilities are becoming more and more complete, and in the future, tenants of Zhao Dawei's build will be able to easily walk from the front building of the apartment to the garden.

[Garden decoration value has reached 1000, and the garden contains more than 5 types of decorations. Unlock the garden achievement: [Perfect Garden]]

[Perfect Garden]: The planting area has been upgraded, and a fishing function has been added. Various types of water monsters will occasionally appear in the garden's water area. These water monsters are harmless to tenants, and you can use a fishing rod or harpoon to catch them and relax.

Unlock the landlord achievement title: [Legendary Gardener]

Wearing the [Legendary Gardener] title grants you two free decorations daily on the Garden Decorations page.

He can only equip two achievement slots right now, and the [Legendary Gardener] achievement is just a free cosmetic item, so it's not worth switching to.

While Zhou Fangdong was renovating the garden, He Yansheng was working in the planting area.

Although he now has a record player and doesn't need to talk to his works, he still needs to loosen the soil and water them every day.

After the disappearance of the heir bone society, He Yansheng's mental state improved a lot. He didn't look as decadent and negative as before, and he was more energetic in his work.

Zhou Fangdong originally planned to clean the new room after the renovation was finished, but after seeing He Yansheng, he suddenly remembered something, so he came to his side.

He told He Yansheng about the ghost tenant.

Half-ghosts are people who possess ghost-like qualities, while ghost tenants are ghosts with physical forms.

Once the vengeful ghost in the room becomes a ghost tenant, it will have a body and can freely enter and leave the room, which can be considered a kind of resurrection.

However, Zhou Fangdong also told He Yansheng about the side effects of becoming a ghost tenant—the ghost tenant would be completely under his control, and their life and death would be in his hands. Moreover, although the ghost tenant had a physical body, they would forever lose the chance to reincarnate.

He Yansheng remained silent for a long time before finally shaking his head.

His obsession was to bring his wife back to life, but now that the opportunity was right in front of him, he hesitated.

The side effect of being controlled by others frightened He Yansheng.

The matter of the Bone Inheritance Society had already left him with psychological trauma—he no longer wanted to bind his wife, nor did he want her to be controlled by others because of him, even if that person was their landlord who had always taken good care of them.

He Yansheng sighed, "I've been selfish for half my life, always trying to revive my wife like a narcissist, always holding on to her without ever asking her if she wanted it... Now I can no longer make such an important decision for her, this kind of thing needs her consent."

"Sigh, I'm actually quite content with my life now. I can see her every day and live with her. I never dared to imagine this before."

Zhou Fangdong felt somewhat gratified.

He Yansheng has also matured a lot, and he thought he would agree to it without hesitation.

"Yes, this is something that the person making the decision does need to decide. I'm telling you this so you can pass it on to your wife and let her decide for herself whether or not she wants to become a ghost tenant."

He Yansheng nodded, no longer in the mood to continue working hard as a farmer, and prepared to go back to his room immediately to tell his wife about it.

During his conversation with He Yansheng, Zhou Fangdong remembered something else.

— Su Wan and Zhu Di's wedding has not yet taken place.

It's been three days already, hasn't it? If we don't do something soon, the curse of the [Red Thread of Fate] side effects will kick in.

Zhou Fangdong opened the floor plan on the rental preview page and checked the current location of Su Wan and Zhu Di.

He eventually found the two pixelated figures buying lunch at the convenience store.

After the entertainment company was shut down, Zhu Di and Su Wan lost their part-time jobs. In addition, Miao Zheng had told them that it was dangerous outside and they should not go out for the time being, so they have been staying in the apartment for the past few days.

Zhou Fangdong teleported to the convenience store and asked the two of them to go to the garden.

The ghost in the wedding dress happened to be working at the convenience store, so he casually exchanged three sticks of incense for a piece of red silk on the ghost's body.

In ancient times, a red silk ribbon was required during the wedding ceremony. This was recorded in the Book of Rites as the "Hunyi" ritual, symbolizing a lifelong union. It was a very important ceremony, so the red silk ribbon was indispensable.

However, the fact that there were no wedding dresses or wedding attire at the wedding seems a bit unreasonable.

Zhou Fangdong pondered for a moment, then teleported to room 1601 and directly pulled off the hats from the heads of the two paper figures in the living room.

The two paper figures are dressed in mourning clothes, each wearing a white hat. The hats are pointed at the top, and long white cloths are draped over their backs... Apart from looking like they are made of thicker material, these hats seem no different from wedding veils.

Zhou Fangdong returned to the garden, stuffed the veil and red silk into Zhu Di and Su Wan's hands, then pulled the scarecrow from the field and placed it in front of the two as their witness.

I just don't know how to write the marriage certificate.

If room 1601 were a wedding room, he could just go up and copy the marriage certificate under the candles on the living room table. But now room 1601 is like a funeral parlor…

Just as Zhou Fangdong was struggling with his decision, Mu Yuechan drifted unsteadily into the garden.

Since Zhou Fangdong hired him as a security guard next to the apartment, the actor has been free to come and go as he pleases.

He sensed the atmosphere of a wedding and thus came to the apartment garden.

[The Red Thread of Fate] is an item that Mu Yuechan unlocks when her favorability reaches 100, which is why he immediately noticed the curse on these two girls.

The two women were wearing such mismatched wedding attire… it was unclear whether they were holding a ghost marriage or something; perhaps it was just the landlord's unique aesthetic sense when it came to weddings. Mu Yuechan dared not ask or say anything, fearing she would be locked up again and lose the freedom she had finally gained.

Mu Yuechan not only saw the curse on Zhu Di and Su Wan, but also realized what was missing from the ritual.

"Landlord, would you like me to help you write a marriage certificate?"

Hearing this, Zhou Fangdong was stunned.

...Isn't this guy illiterate? How can he write a marriage certificate?

Mu Yuechan seemed to see Zhou Fangdong's doubts and gave a light snort of dissatisfaction: "Although I am illiterate, I have heard others read the script~" He used to do the same when he was a singer. Even if he was illiterate, he could memorize the lyrics by having others read the script to him.

What he wanted most back then was a marriage certificate, and all the tragedies stemmed from that certificate; the contents of the standard marriage certificate were imprinted in his mind.

With Mu Yuechan's help, Zhou Fangdong successfully wrote the marriage certificate and had Su Wan and Zhu Di put their fingerprints on it.

The wedding was simple, held on the garden lawn with a scarecrow as the witness and Mu Yuechan, the best man, announcing the first bow to heaven and earth. The newlyweds wore white veils and held red ribbons, a perfect blend of Chinese and Western weddings, a union of yin and yang.

Su Wan and Zhu Di, the newlyweds, felt nothing at all; instead, they found it quite comical, as if the scene was something like playing house as children.

During their 'couple's bow to each other, they both understood what the other was thinking and couldn't help but laugh.

But at the same time, they thought of their deceased boyfriends, and their smiles turned bitter.

Although many days have passed, I still can't let it go whenever I think about it.

The four of them grew up together and were not only lovers but also family and friends.

When they were little, they played house, and all four of them would fight to be the parents. In the end, the two boys always lost – Zhu Di and Su Wan successfully became the parents, while A Ming and Hao Xichuan became their sons.

After A-Ming and Hao-Chuan left, they would think of the two of them again in every little thing related to each other.

Zhu Di and Su Wan silently clenched the red silk in their hands, their expressions growing increasingly sorrowful.

...If only A-Ming and Hao-Chuan were still here.

Zhou Fangdong noticed that his two tenants were in low spirits and assumed they were worried about the side effects of the [Red Thread of Fate]. So he comforted them, saying that the side effects had disappeared and they didn't need to worry too much. He suggested they take a walk in the garden or go fishing.

Before leaving the garden, Zhou Fangdong saw Mu Yuechan floating around aimlessly in the garden, so he simply threw her into [Yin Yang Town] and told her to go there and clock in for work.

[Yin Yang Town], the first apartment-related facility obtained by Zhou Fangdong after eroding the main god's dungeon, has finally been successfully activated after more than half a month.

With the side effects of [Red Thread of Fate] resolved and his tenants' safety confirmed, Zhou Fangdong teleported to the third floor.

He was preparing to start training ghost tenants, to develop blacksmithing skills, and to open the blacksmith shop in the ghost market.

Zhou Fangdong stood in front of the large glass jar filled with red solution and selected two Taoist priests from the Chuyun Temple who lived in the back building of the apartment for training.

With the bond between these two Taoist priests, they might even create some useful combo skills while training blacksmiths.

...To train blacksmithing skills, you should need a hammer, right? But there are so many hammers on the table.

Zhou Fangdong stood in front of the table and thought for a moment, then finally chose the largest and the smallest ones and threw them into the glass jar.

All the materials have been gathered; everything is ready except for reputation.

Training costs 50 reputation points per session, and 100 reputation points for two ghost tenants.

The incense points from the City God Temple need to be saved up; they can't be touched yet... Zhou Fangdong began to rummage through his reputation inventory.

Liwan Hospital has earned him over 300 reputation points by treating patients these past few days.

The reputation points awarded for forwarding the latest batch of [lamp oil pendants] posts were a bit low, only 150.

It's likely because the Bureau of Supervision recently conducted a major purge of all ghosts in the city, and with the protection of the City God Temple, there are basically no ghosts left in the city center. Without ghosts, the protective effect of the [lamp oil pendant] is naturally less noticeable, and buyers are less interested.

The video the supervisory bureau made to buy the [lamp oil pendant] reached a certain number of views, which earned him over two hundred reputation points.

To Zhou Fangdong's surprise, Bai Mingdan's press release was already finished in just one day, earning him 100 reputation points.

That's great, I wish we had more tenants like this who can help us earn resources.

Zhou Fangdong leveraged the prestige of Bai Mingdan's press releases to train ghost tenants.

A 12-hour countdown appeared in front of the glass jar.

The training is going to be very long; hopefully, I'll master it on the first try.

The remaining four ghost tenants in the back building couldn't be idle either, so Zhou Fangdong casually stuffed them all into the back building's dungeon-clearing interface.

Since only four people were raiding the back building this time, the countdown was longer than last time, requiring 6 hours.

However, it's not a big problem. He doesn't urgently need ghost coins right now and can wait.

After dealing with these trivial matters, Zhou Fangdong was finally ready to start tidying up room 308.

He pushed open the door to room 308, and at the same time, the familiar task panel popped up:

Side Quest 22: Clean and rent out Room 308

① Find the ghost hidden in the room

② Eliminate the ghostly aura in the room and help the ghosts break free from their cycle of obsession.

③ Clean the room and tidy up the house.

④ Discard the damaged furniture and 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 that was obstructing his view and observed the ghostly realm in room 308.

This is a spacious, abandoned theater, with a backdrop made up of more than thirty floor-to-ceiling mirrors behind the huge stage.

With a soft 'thud' as her toes touched the ground, the image of a woman in a white ballet tutu appeared simultaneously in all the mirrors. Unlike typical ballet dancers who tie their hair up, she wore her hair loose and faced away from the stage.

At the same time, cheerful music began to play.

The stage was empty, but you could see in the mirror that the ballerina had begun to spin.

As she spun and leaped, her long, flowing hair flew up, obscuring her face. Blood seeped from her toes, and with each rotation, her clothes became more tattered, her body gradually degenerating into a subhuman state.

In the end, the blood that stained her shoes turned black, and her ankles became twisted and deformed, but she never stopped spinning.

The dancer in the mirror stopped abruptly when the music stopped. Her neck snapped 180 degrees, the back of her head pressed against her back... Her face was like a puppet's, with only two dark holes where her eyes should have been, filled with bloodstained dance shoe ribbons, staring straight at the only audience member below the stage.

Zhou Fangdong clapped his hands instinctively.

He was somewhat moved.

After his ordeal in the ghost realm of Xiahe Village, he realized that the ghost in his own apartment was the most comforting.

If you're going to be a ghost, you should be open and honest, instead of always hiding and wasting everyone's time.

Look at the guy in room 308. He appeared directly without needing to use a kerosene lamp to dispel the ghostly aura, and even gave a talent show.

Upon hearing the applause, the ballerina's mouth stretched to her ears, revealing two rows of tiny, sharp teeth.

Seeing that the ballerina, who was encouraged, was about to jump again, Zhou Fangdong quickly used [Judgment] to interrupt her talent performance.

After obtaining a thousand ghost coins, Zhou Fangdong discovered that the ballerina was actually a combination of a supernatural prop and a vengeful ghost, rather than a simple ghost... Her condition was somewhat similar to the sick ghost and medicine bottle in room 201.

This ballerina was once a contender for principal dancer with a well-known ballet company.

She is extremely strict with herself. When she is not performing, she spends most of her time practicing in front of the mirror in the practice room, refining her movements for more than ten hours at a time.

Because the dance troupe's principal dancer assessment is very rigorous, even though she trained very hard, she was still worried that she wouldn't be able to get promoted.

Later, someone left a note on her locker, saying that there was a magical music box in an abandoned theater, and that if she danced a whole song to the accompaniment of the music box, her wish would come true.

Although it felt absurd, she was so nervous that she went to the theater the day before the assessment, found the music box, and danced a complete dance on the abandoned theater stage.

She eventually passed the audition and became the dance troupe's principal dancer.

However, during her first performance as the principal, the music box appeared out of nowhere at her feet, causing her to twist her ankle, fall off the stage, and break her neck at a right angle.

Later, the ballerina's spirit attached itself to the music box.

This music box was originally a wild paranormal prop, a kind of urban legend among paranormal enthusiasts. It was nurtured into having the power to harm people by the genuine fear it evoked in ordinary people.

However, due to its own structural limitations, it cannot actively harm people, nor can it move its location.

After killing most of the theater's inhabitants and causing it to be abandoned, it fell into silence.

The ballerina's rival heard about this urban legend, wrote down the story of the music box on a sticky note, and stuck it on her locker.

The original intention was to have her dance in an abandoned theater late at night, hoping she would twist her ankle on stage due to the dim lighting or catch a cold from the cold wind and miss the audition. Unexpectedly, the legend of the music box turned out to be true; it granted the dancer's wish, but also killed her.

Because the spirit of the ballerina has attached itself to the music box, the music box can now move around on its own.

In the process of merging with the music box, the ballerina's consciousness and rationality were largely worn away, turning her into a vengeful ghost who acted entirely on obsession.

Driven by her obsession, she found the place where her rival, who had killed her, lived—Room 308, Liwan Apartment.

After killing her rival, the ballerina who was attached to the music box settled in the room because the Liwan Apartment was filled with yin energy, ghosts and monsters, and murders were frequent. Everyone there was talented, whether human or ghost.

After killing the person who harmed her, the ballerina's obsession was to stand on the big stage and gain more attention.

Her conditions for killing were also related to being stared at.

After breaking free from the memory fragments, Zhou Fangdong immediately took out a kerosene lamp and dispelled the ghostly aura.

The theater scene disappeared, revealing the original appearance of Room 308.

The room resembled a dance studio, connecting to the living room and kitchen, with three walls covered in mirrors. All the furniture was broken and worn, but the mirrors remained intact, clean and tidy, as if regularly polished.

Zhou Fangdong walked around the bedroom and study. Unlike the living room, these two rooms did not have mirrors on the walls.

There is only one wash mirror in the bathroom.

It's alright, this house is habitable.

Based on the ballerina's memories before her death, her method of murder was through mirrors. Moreover, because the mirrors in the room were imbued with her supernatural powers, they had become like part of a music box over the years. Once the mirrors were removed, it would directly trigger her murder conditions.

Fortunately, only the living room has so many mirrors.

Zhou Fangdong returned to the living room and looked at the music box on the floor that was still playing music.

It was a red, hexagonal music box with the lid open. In the center of the box was a ballerina with her leg raised. As the ballerina twirled, the music box played cheerful music continuously.

After stealing another thousand ghost coins from it, Zhou Fangdong, holding a kerosene lamp, threatened fiercely, "You're not allowed to release ghost domains anymore, understand? I'll find you a roommate in a bit. If you dare to release ghost domains at will and affect my tenants' living experience, I'll chop you up and burn you for firewood."

Having learned from his experience communicating with the human-legged ball of yarn in Room 305, Zhou Fangdong realized that when talking to this hybrid of spirits and supernatural objects with low intelligence, he had to use simple and clear commands, otherwise they wouldn't understand.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhou Fangdong's threat, the lid of the music box slammed shut, and the music stopped abruptly.

Based on the music box's previous experience of killing a tenant in room 308, Zhou Fangdong quickly wrote a set of rules for renting a place.

After the system reviewed it, it passed on the first try.

After buying a high-end fully automatic cleaning tool from the mall, which could clean the room with a single click, Zhou Fangdong took out a small black cloth bag from his inventory.

Not long ago, when the furniture store manager went to a coffin shop for further training, Zhou Fangdong asked Hou San to help him purchase two sets of furniture.

He used one set in room 306, and when room 307 was being cleaned, the manager had already returned, so there was one set left unused.

Since it would take time for the furniture store to deliver the furniture, Zhou Fangdong didn't want to waste time, so he directly used the furniture from their inventory.

Everything is ready, except for the tenants.

Zhou Fangdong took out his phone and made a call to Hong Zhong.

"Find me an investigator, I think his name is... Cheng Yu, the one who came to Liwan Apartment to deliver the sculpture materials to Li Ou."

"It's nothing serious, I just want him to come over and sign the rental agreement."

“That’s right, he really wanted to rent an apartment, so I cleaned out a spare room for him.”

Recalling the ballerina spinning and leaping in the mirror, Zhou Fangdong asked another question:

"How flexible and agile are the investigators from the Inspection Bureau? Can an average investigator sustain three hours of high-intensity exercise?"

After learning from Hong Zhong that the investigators at the Supervisory Bureau had to undergo at least six hours of physical training every day, he was completely relieved.

The office building of the Disorder Investigation Department.

Cheng Yu was thinking at noon about when he could go on a mission to improve his meals, when he received orders from Captain Hong to give up his mission in the afternoon.

But... why is it Liwan Apartment again?

Cheng Yu wanted to cry but had no tears.

He was just a junior intern who had recently been promoted to a full-time position, yet he was assigned such a difficult task.

Moreover, he had already prayed sincerely at the City God Temple, hoping for better luck in the future. The Minister of Logistics had personally verified that the City God Temple was very effective, so why did it have the opposite effect on him?

Although Captain Hong had explained the advantages of renting an apartment to him beforehand, Cheng Yu was still a little scared. It felt like someone who was afraid of snakes encountering a three-meter-long rat snake; even though it wasn't venomous, he still wouldn't dare touch it.

After all, the Liwan Apartments had a notorious reputation, and there were just too many ghosts in the apartment, so he was a little uneasy.

But the captain's orders must be carried out, especially Hong's orders—Cheng Yu became an investigator because he admired Hong Zhong.

He was saved from a supernatural event by Hong Zhong when he was in his senior year of high school, so even though he was naturally timid, he still applied to a school related to the Supervisory Bureau in college—he also wanted to protect more ordinary people like Captain Hong.

After graduation, he became an intern investigator at the Supervisory Bureau and was assigned to Captain Hong's team.

Therefore, we absolutely cannot let Captain Hong down.

Cheng Yu quickly rallied and, with a triumphant air, dragged his luggage to the Liwan Apartment.

Looking at the haunted building in front of him, Cheng Yu wondered if it was just his imagination, but the black mist hanging over the building seemed much thinner than when he last came here, and it didn't feel as eerie or oppressive.

Even the mysterious landlord didn't seem as scary as before; he was a very gentle and kind young man who seemed easy to talk to.

Cheng Yu scratched his head in confusion.

Indeed, one cannot rely too much on one's own memory; sometimes, due to certain emotional tendencies, one may deliberately exaggerate certain emotions in one's memory.

Since all the rooms had been taken care of, and all that was needed was to welcome his new tenants, Zhou Fangdong naturally didn't activate the [Heavenly Eye] skill like he did last time.

Even without the intimidating effect of his skills, he still seems quite approachable.

Zhou Fangdong led Cheng Yu to room 308 and handed him the rental contract.

Cheng Yu read through the entire book carefully from beginning to end, making quick notes of the rules in his mind as he read.

Just as Captain Hong had said, the accommodations in the apartment weren't particularly harsh; even a junior investigator like him could manage.

【Room 308 Rental Rules】

① It is normal for music to occasionally play in the room. After the music starts, the image of a ballerina will definitely appear on a mirror in the room.

② Do not remove or cover the mirrors on the walls of the room. If you do not want to dance, please do not look at the ballet dancers in the mirror.

③ If you stare at the ballerina in the mirror for more than five seconds, she will invite you to dance together. The practice lasts for about three hours, after which your physical fitness and agility will be greatly improved. The buff lasts for about eight hours.

④ If the dancer in the mirror is wearing blood-stained ballet shoes, never look at her, otherwise she will possess your body and dance with your body... You know, there are some movements that are difficult for the human body to perform.

⑤ If you see the ballerina in every mirror in the room, please stop what you are doing and quietly appreciate it. It is very impolite to refuse to appreciate it.

⑥ The ballet dancers have no ill intentions; they simply crave an audience. Refusing to appreciate them will only result in losing an hour's worth of sight.

⑦ Tenants must carry the key to room 308 with them at all times. Losing the key will be considered an automatic termination of the tenancy agreement.

⑧ A monthly rent of 30 yuan must be paid in cash. If the tenant breaches the contract, it will be considered an automatic termination of the rental agreement.

9. If you discover that an outsider or ghost has invaded your private space, please do not panic. Provided that you follow the above rules, the landlord will come to solve the problem for you as soon as possible.

Cheng Yu signed his name on the contract and handed over the 30 yuan in cash that Hong Zhong had asked him to prepare in advance, along with the rental contract, to the landlord.

As usual, Zhou Fangdong gave a few instructions and then handed the key to his new tenant.

At the same time as the key handover was successful, a mission completion notification popped up:

Side Quest 22 Completed. Rewards: 800 Ghost Coins, 2000 Experience Points, 1 Random Skill Point.

There's only one room left to rent on the third floor... Let's talk about it tomorrow. Zhou Fangdong teleported back to the fifth floor and went up the stairs to the sixth floor.

It will be dark soon, and he plans to make another worker to repair the collapsed area on the sixth floor, so that the repair of the sixth floor can be completed tonight.

Since the collapsed area only appears at night, he plans to stay on the sixth floor until dark, and then go to the seventh floor to use a kerosene lamp to search for the collapsed cracks connecting to the main god's instance.

After the kerosene lamp is repaired, you can use the lit kerosene lamp to enter the main god instance through the collapsed area.

Zhou Fangdong isn't going to look for the key ghost tonight. During the day, the main god used the ghost realm of Xiahe Village to ruin many of his brain cells and wasted a whole morning. Tonight, he's going to take the initiative.

He'll destroy as many main god instances as he can; he wants to show the main god what it means to get revenge.