Chapter 34 'Leaving the Apartment' (Bonus Chapter for 6,000 Nutrient Solution) The apartment...

Just as Zhou Fangdong was at his wit's end, several system electronic voices suddenly sounded in succession:

[Beep—The ghost bus is detected to be operating normally]

[Host detected to possess the item [Linjiang City Map]]

[At least one tenant in the apartment building was detected to have visited the Delicious Slaughterhouse]

[The home improvement store has been successfully reopened, and one tenant is working there.]

[Important prerequisite [Special Tenant - Zombie Taoist Priest] has been detected and unlocked in the character guide. Zhang Zhiwu's favorability has reached 50.]

[Beep—Front-end camera complete, new features officially launched!]

[Apartment surrounding beautification feature successfully activated!!]

To increase the chances of successfully renting out your apartment, excellent surrounding amenities are essential! Please work hard to unlock, upgrade, and beautify the facilities around your apartment to enhance tenant happiness!

① Surrounding area that can provide jobs for tenants: Home Furnishings Store

② Surrounding areas that can improve tenants' mood: None

③ Surrounding areas that can boost a tenant's morale: An area that meets the criteria has been detected (expand).

④ Surrounding area where tenants can increase their combat power: Delicious Slaughterhouse

Zhou Fangdong paused for a moment when he saw an unfamiliar location in one of these pop-up windows.

Delicious slaughterhouse? Has any of his tenants ever been to this place?

Although he didn't know how this prerequisite was completed, Zhou Fangdong had a hunch that the newly unlocked "Apartment Surroundings Beautification" feature might be able to solve his immediate problem.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the third item, "A region that meets the conditions has been detected," and clicked on the (expand) button next to it.

Izumo-kan

[Location Description: A dilapidated Taoist temple, rebuilt brick by brick by [Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwu]]

[Special Feature: Locations with high spiritual energy and incense offerings allow apartment tenants to slowly replenish their depleted spirit bar while exploring these areas]

[Prerequisites: 1 ghost tenant with a 60% connection to the location; the Taoist temple owner actively requests shelter from the apartment landlord]

(Note: After Izumo-kan is designated as an apartment complex, it will become part of the apartment complex, and wild spirits will not be able to enter freely.)

(Note: The host can teleport to the surrounding facilities of the apartment at any time through the rental interface, and can directly use the items in the system store to renovate the surrounding facilities.)

After reading these descriptions, Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.

That's great. Now we don't need to move all the people from those Taoist temples over. We can just include Izumo Temple in the apartment complex to provide shelter for the ordinary people inside.

Zhou Fangdong quickly activated the beautification function around the apartment, directly unlocking the Izumo Temple.

[Izumo Temple is now unlocked. The zombie Taoist priest Zhang Zhiwu will be working at the temple from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day.]

If tenants wish to request talismans from the Taoist priest who is believed to be a zombie, they must make an appointment with the abbot of Chuyun Temple in advance; otherwise, Zhang Zhiwu will not respond to their requests.

[Zombie Master Zhang Zhiwu does not offer services such as taking photos or signing autographs. Please restrain your tenants from harassing the Master.]

[The Taoist temple has been detected to be in a partially damaged state. Do you wish to spend Ghost Coins to activate automatic repair?]

"How many ghost coins are needed for the repairs?"

[300 Ghost Coins]

Zhou Fangdong did not hesitate and directly chose to repair it.

After Zhang Zhiwu checked in, he was given two thousand ghost coins. It was only right that he spend three hundred to help repair the Taoist temple.

The repairs will be completed in half an hour...

All of the above operations were completed by Zhou Fangdong in his mind at lightning speed; in reality, less than two minutes had passed.

Zhang Qingyang only saw the mysterious landlord in front of him lower his eyes and ponder for a moment before saying in a cold voice, "There are too many people in your Taoist temple, which is beyond my expectations... Not just anyone can become a tenant of Liwan Apartment."

Zhang Qingyang's heart jumped.

He thought his request was too much and had angered the landlord, but to his surprise, the landlord immediately changed the subject: "But since you have chosen to become an apartment tenant, and the Taoist temple is your property, I can include your Taoist temple within the apartment's protection area."

“Go back and take a look. There’s no need to worry about Izumo-kan collapsing or being invaded by ghosts. You can let those ordinary people live there with peace of mind. Consider this a benefit that the apartment is giving to its tenants in advance.”

Zhou Fangdong said this without batting an eye, displaying great confidence.

The distance between Chuyun Temple and Liwan Apartment is more than half a city. Even if you take the ghost bus, it will take more than half an hour. By the time Zhang Qingyang arrives, the temple will definitely have been renovated.

Zhou Fangdong wasn't worried that Zhang Qingyang wouldn't come to rent the apartment after achieving his goal, because he could not only designate Chuyun Temple as a facility surrounding Liwan Apartment, but also remove it at any time.

After listening to Zhou Fangdong's explanation, Zhang Qingyang stared blankly at the mysterious landlord in the apartment, his shock beyond words.

What terrifying power this is! Just by standing here, it can span the entire city and envelop the power of Liwan Apartments above Chuyun Temple.

Zhang Qingyang had no doubt that Zhou Fangdong was faking it, after all, the landlord's performance last night had completely impressed him.

"Thank you for your help, landlord." Zhang Qingyang bowed respectfully. "I will come back to rent an apartment after I have settled things at the temple."

Zhou Fangdong nodded and watched Zhang Qingyang leave.

Zhang Qingyang boarded the ghost bus, nervously watching the city scenery flash by outside the window.

He was a little expectant and a little fearful, and he couldn't wait to see what Izumo-kan looked like now.

However, upon actually arriving at Chuyun Temple, Zhang Qingyang was still stunned, even though he was mentally prepared.

This time, the ghost bus didn't stop at the foot of the mountain, but directly in front of the Taoist temple. As soon as he got off the bus, he saw the familiar gray-walled, blue-tiled Taoist temple.

—It was exactly the same as the Taoist temple he remembered from his childhood, as if the shadow of an old photograph had been projected into reality.

The marks of wind and rain erosion on the walls have disappeared, the tiles are neatly arranged, and the plaque that was originally so rotten that the characters were illegible is now intact.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, the rusted hinges slid smoothly across the wooden door, revealing the small courtyard inside.

A familiar figure stood in the courtyard with his back to the gate. The soft morning light followed the green tiled eaves, passed through the big tree next to the main hall, and fell on the person's shoulders.

That figure seemed to have been standing there for a long time; it was as if he had always been there, never leaving...

People from the old era and objects from bygone times are swept up by the torrent of time and brought back to reality. It's as if the time in the Taoist temple has been rewound to a certain point in time.

Zhang Qingyang choked up, tears streaming down his face.

The figure that I used to have to look up to when I was a child now appears so thin and frail, as if a gust of wind would cause it to vanish from the spot.

...He seemed to be waiting for his little apprentice to push open the door and call him 'Master' in that clear, childlike voice.

"Master!!!" Zhang Qingyang could no longer hold back and rushed over, crying like a little kid.

Then the skinny figure nimbly dodged Zhang Qingyang's lunge and kicked him in the butt: "How old are you to still pull this trick? If you pounced on me, you could break my old bones."

Zhang Qingyang lay on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

—That familiar force, that familiar voice, it's definitely his master!

"Hmph, brat!" Zhang Zhiwu's tone was somewhat irritable, with a sense of exhaustion, like someone who was finally about to retire only to be told the day before that their retirement period had been extended.

"I'm already dead, but because of you brat, I still have to come to the Taoist temple to work every day! Working at the temple during the day and going back to my apartment to work at night, my old bones are killing me—can't you just give me a break?"

It's really worrying; it feels like being dead is busier than being alive.

"Snacks, what snacks?" Zhang Qingyang, clutching his bottom, rushed to Zhang Zhiwu with tears in his eyes and hugged the thin old man tightly. "Master! I can't believe I saw you again! I missed you so much!"

"Just like when he was a kid, all he does is cry." Although he complained, the old man didn't push Zhang Qingyang away this time. "Alright, that's enough for now. This big boy is so clingy, let go of him."

"hey-hey."

"After all these years, your cultivation level has remained stagnant. If I had come any later, you would have destroyed our ancestral Taoist temple."

"Hehe, Master, Cai Cai, let's make some."

Zhang Zhiwu couldn't hold back any longer and kicked him again: "Stop grinning like an idiot and get to work! Go draw some talismans! Get the Taoist temple properly decorated!"

"Alright!" Zhang Qingyang rubbed his bottom and rushed into the main hall happily like a husky running wild.

At that moment, he was truly grateful to the landlord.

Although he already knew that the landlord of Liwan Apartments was very powerful, he did not expect that the landlord was so powerful that he could turn back time and even bring people who had died many years ago back to life.

Although this feeling of being resurrected from the dead is a bit like being a zombie... as long as he's back, that's enough. He's certain that this is his master himself.

Zhang Qingyang was really glad that he had made up his mind last night to become a tenant of Liwan Apartment.

The landlord was right. The Taoist temple no longer needs to worry about ghosts and monsters. The master has returned, and now it's the ghosts' turn to worry about being disturbed by humans.

*

After Zhang Qingyang left, Zhou Fangdong returned to room 107 and continued cleaning.

The system once again displayed the familiar side quest pop-up window:

Side Quest 6: Clean and rent out Room 107

[① Clean up the bloodstains in the room]

[②Paint the walls and purchase new furniture]

[③Find the ghost hidden in the room and figure out the ghost's killing pattern]

[④ Draft a rental agreement and find tenants to move in]

Side Quest 6 Rewards: 300 Ghost Coins, 1000 Experience Points, 1 Random Skill Point

After quickly scanning it and closing the window, Zhou Fangdong felt he had practically memorized the entire task text.

Room 107 is a very ordinary and standard haunted house.

Upon entering, one is greeted by blood splattered across most of the room, staining half the furniture and floor red, resembling a slaughterhouse.

Strangely, it didn't have the stench of blood; instead, it smelled like rotten fruit and wine, with a sweet, fishy odor.

From the case files of the Liwan Apartment murders that Duan Wenyu brought back to him, it can be learned that room 107 was the room with the fewest deaths on the entire first floor, with only four people dying.

Unlike the other tenants who died in the other rooms, these four people knew each other and died on the same day.

The four of them were poor college graduates who couldn't afford to rent a place and were roommates in the same dormitory.

After graduation, they planned to rent a house together to get through their low-paying probationary period. However, even with all four of them combined, they didn't have enough money to rent an apartment in the city center.

So they thought of Liwan Apartments.

At that time, the Liwan Apartments had already caused some trouble, but the apartment rent was just too cheap.

Moreover, even though the apartment rent is already very cheap, if a murder or haunting occurs in the rented room, the rent will be reduced even further—and the four of them saw this as an opportunity.

When they were ready to rent, only room 107 remained vacant. Room 107 had no history of murders, so its rent was considered high among the apartments in Liwan.

The four of them could barely afford the rent with their combined money, but after that, they could only eat steamed buns with plain water every day.

So these four little geniuses came up with a plan—they decided to summon a ghost in room 107.

If it's haunted, won't the rent come down?

The four of them pooled their money and rented room 107. They planned to refund the rent after they summoned the ghost and it started to haunt the place.

Fortunately, not long after the four of them moved in, they met a kind bald uncle while they were chatting quietly about how to summon ghosts.

The middle-aged man, who lived in room 103, had a hobby of collecting folk-related artifacts. After hearing their request to summon a ghost, he offered them an ancient ghost-summoning ritual, supposedly unearthed from some old object, free of charge.

So on a dark and stormy night, the four college students tried out this ghost-summoning ritual.

They tried it and died... The news of their deaths spread throughout the entire apartment building the next day.

The first to discover their deaths were the tenants of room 106 next door. That tenant found blood seeping from under the door of room 107 when he took out the trash that morning.

Because incidents frequently occur at Liwan Apartments, this tenant had become accustomed to it and immediately called the property management and the inspection bureau, asking them to come and handle the situation.

The reason no ambulance was called was that most people who had accidents in the apartment were already dead.

Sure enough, when the property management opened the door to room 107, all four college students had disappeared. Inside, there was only a large amount of blood, which stained the ceiling, floor, and half of the furniture.

This blood is strange; it can't be brushed off at all. Every time I scrape off the white paint and replace the new furniture, it keeps oozing out from the same spot, like there's a fixed spring.

Not only was room 107 haunted, but someone also died. Because the bloodstains were so widespread and difficult to clean, the scene in the room was so shocking that no one dared to rent it, even after the rent was lowered again and again, and it remained vacant until the apartment was sealed off.

It's hard to judge; Zhou Fangdong doesn't quite understand the behavior of these four college students.

The four of them could have easily rented the room, so why did they do something so dangerous just to reduce the rent a little?

Is it possible that living in the Liwan Apartments not only makes one more likely to die, but also causes one's intelligence to be drained by some mysterious force?

I feel that the value of that statement is still increasing: "Many people actually have mild intellectual disabilities, but because they can take care of themselves, they are treated as normal people."

Modern techniques for preventing miscarriage are truly amazing.

Zhou Fangdong sighed and tried to clean room 107 with the two cleaning tools he had saved from room 108.

However, the item failed to be used, and a warning pop-up appeared:

Basic fully automatic cleaning tools can only clean ordinary stains and trash, and cannot clean stains caused by ghosts or monsters.

The case file says that the blood will reappear even after it is cleaned up, because the blood is a ghost?

Even fully automatic cleaning tools can't clean it...

Just as Zhou Fangdong was pondering how to get into room 107, a pop-up window for his favorability rating suddenly appeared:

[Zombie Master Zhang Zhiwu's favorability has reached 80. Favorability reward has been unlocked. Please claim it in time.]

Zhou Fangdong was stunned for a moment.

Why did this ghost tenant suddenly increase his favorability by 30 points? He remembered that this zombie Taoist priest went to work at the Taoist temple. Did he really like this job?

It must be. After all, Chuyun Temple was a Taoist temple he built himself. Returning to his old haunts must have been very emotional and nostalgic.

Zhou Fangdong casually clicked on Zhang Zhiwu's 80 favorability points reward.

He hadn't had high hopes, but to his surprise, Zhang Zhiwu's 80% favorability unlocked another item for him.

[Special Item: Pharmacist's Gourd]

[Item Description: Made by Zhang Zhiwu from a gourd he grew himself. He's cherished it for half his life. It can be used to hold water or to impersonate a ghost.]

The old man was so generous that Zhou Fangdong felt a little embarrassed, as if he had emptied the old man's pockets after unlocking the items several times.

Oh right, he almost forgot that Mu Yuechan's favorability rating had reached 80 yesterday if he hadn't checked it.

Mu Yuechan unlocks an item when her favorability reaches 80.

[Cursed Item: Human Skin Mask]

[Item Description: This item is cursed by ghosts. Using it will inflict a random debuff. It can be used by both humans and ghosts. While wearing this item, no one, whether human or ghost, can see your face. It is your ticket to the Ghost Market.]

A cursed item that produces random negative effects... Oh well, it's useless, I won't claim it for now.

Zhou Fangdong closed the favorability interface and took out the [Pharmacist's Gourd].

Room 107 happens to have both "water" and a ghost, so let's try using this gourd. The room won't be easy to clean until we get rid of the ghost.

The Medicine Master's Gourd is an ordinary-looking brownish-yellow gourd, warm to the touch, with a glossy, oily surface from being polished. Red ropes are wrapped around the middle and spout of the gourd, allowing it to be held in the hand or tied to the waist.

If you look closely, you can see that the red ropes seem to have runes or scripture-like characters woven with very small black threads, making the color of the red ropes appear somewhat dark.

Zhou Fangdong squatted on the ground, holding a gourd and gesturing at the large pool of blood that occupied half the room, unsure of how to proceed.

The gourd's spout was a bit small, about the thickness of a regular faucet, while the bloodstains on the ground covered a huge area, making it feel like there was nowhere to start.

Just as Zhou Fangdong was thinking about how to put the blood into the gourd, he suddenly felt the gourd in his hand vibrate. Then he saw a suction force coming from the spout, and the blood on the ground, like dust sucked up by a vacuum cleaner, detached from the ground and flew into the gourd.

In no time, the powerful vacuum cleaner had completely sucked up all the blood in the room.

Zhou Fangdong stared in shock at the small gourd, which was only slightly larger than his palm. He couldn't help but shake it gently, and the sound of liquid sloshing inside the gourd could be heard.

Wow, this little thing can hold quite a bit.

After the blood was removed from room 107, Zhou Fangdong was able to use the cleaning tools smoothly this time.

The two fully automatic cleaning tools would take an hour to finish cleaning. While the tools were cleaning the room, Zhou Fangdong prepared to go out and find the garbage station.

He hasn't completed his [Side Quest 4: Repair the Apartment Garbage Disposal Station] yet, and he doesn't even know where the garbage station is.

This task requires him to find five dead cleaners, and he has only found one so far... the one with the afro named Qian Duolai who was standing in front of the apartment building stairs and triggered the task.

Zhou Fangdong suspected that these cleaners were likely not on the first floor of the apartment building. He often frequented the first floor and had never seen a ghost wearing a cleaner's uniform similar to Qian Duolai's since he received the assignment.

In addition, when we first met Qian Duolai, he was standing in the stairwell of the apartment building... Is it possible that the cleaner actually came down from the second floor, but when he wanted to go back, he found that the stairs were closed and he couldn't go back, so he could only wander in the stairwell?

If that's the case, then to complete this side quest, we'll have to go check out the second floor of the apartment...

Forget about thinking about it now, I should go find a garbage disposal place first.

Before leaving room 107, Zhou Fangdong casually opened the rental interface.

He originally wanted to see the room preview to see what his tenants were doing, but unexpectedly the rental interface changed. In addition to previewing the rented rooms, there was also a pixelated map centered on Liwan Apartment.

There are three icons on this map: a small Taoist temple to the north, a shop to the west, and a factory to the east. The factory is closest to Liwan Apartments, located just below the apartments.

Looking at these three icons, Zhou Fangdong recalled that when the apartment's surrounding beautification feature first appeared, the system told him that he could now access the apartment's surrounding facilities through the rental interface.

These icons probably represent Izumo-kan, the Home Furnishings Store, and the Delicious Slaughterhouse... Just like teleporting to a tenant's room, clicking the icon should teleport you there directly.

However, he is currently busy with his work at the garbage station and doesn't need to go out for the time being.

On the room preview page, you can see a short-haired pixelated character representing Miao Zheng hopping out of the 104 Convenience Store, carrying many bags in her hands, and entering room 101.

He casually clicked into room 101 and saw a chubby pixelated figure lying on the bed. Miao Zheng placed the bag he was carrying on the pixelated figure's bedside table...

It looks like Miao Zheng bought something from the convenience store to visit Zhao Dawei.

Zhao Dawei was attacked by those two cult members yesterday. Although the wounds have healed, the blood he lost hasn't been replenished. Being older, his physical condition isn't as good as a younger person's; he spent the whole day in bed yesterday and hasn't recovered yet, still lying weakly in bed.

Fortunately, he has the day off today and doesn't have to go to the furniture store, so he can have a good rest.

After exiting the rental page, Zhou Fangdong walked out of room 107 and ran into Duan Wenyu, who was about to leave, when he reached the vicinity of room 102.

"Good morning, Mr. Landlord!" Duan Wenyu greeted Zhou Fangdong with great enthusiasm.

Seeing him wearing a sun hat and carrying a backpack, looking like he was about to go on a long trip, Zhou Fangdong asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

Duan Wenyu obediently replied, "I'm going to work today. I'm currently an intern investigator in the Paranormal Investigation Department. I just received a mission yesterday to help investigate a place with abnormal fluctuations in paranormal energy."

It sounds a bit dangerous... Zhou Fangdong pondered for a moment, then opened the system store and bought another phone.

Duan Wenyu discovered that his phone, which had been in his pocket, had suddenly appeared in Zhou Fangdong's hand. He didn't know what the landlord had done, but the phone's model and appearance had completely changed, making it look entirely different.

Zhou Fangdong returned the phone to Duan Wenyu and said to him, "If you encounter any danger, you can use this phone to contact me. No matter where you are trapped, this phone will have a signal."

Duan Wenyu put his phone away, his eyes filled with emotion.

The landlord was so considerate; the feeling of security he had made instantly dispelled his initial nervousness about his first job. With the landlord around, he felt fearless.

After saying goodbye to Zhou Fangdong, Duan Wenyu left Liwan Apartment.

Watching Duan Wenyu's departing figure with his backpack, Zhou Fangdong imagined a game he used to play called Travel Frog... The frog in the game also often went on long trips with its backpack.

Zhou Fangdong didn't need Duan Wenyu to bring him back any souvenirs like a little frog; he just hoped that Duan Wenyu would return safely.

After seeing Duan Wenyu off, Zhou Fangdong walked around the first floor but did not find any place that resembled a garbage disposal station.

Finally, he stood in the apartment entrance, looking at the narrow door next to the elevator that he had gone through yesterday.

The only place I didn't check was this place... Yesterday, due to the negative effects of losing his mind after using an attack skill, he was dizzy and followed the long-tongued ghost inside, without paying attention to whether there were any side paths or anything like that in this tunnel.

Maybe the fork in this tunnel leads to the garbage disposal station?

Zhou Fangdong hesitated for a moment, but still went inside.

I didn't encounter any danger yesterday, and I should be fine today too.

He successfully walked through the tunnel to the exit. Fortunately, he didn't encounter any danger; unfortunately, the tunnel had no forks in the road, it was just a straight line.

Zhou Fangdong stood at the tunnel exit, looking at the dilapidated garden and the dried-up fountain between the two buildings of Liwan Apartments. He hesitated for a moment, then mustered his courage and slowly stepped out of the tunnel, one foot entering the garden.

Half of his body was exposed to the sunlight, but his body did not change at all; it did not turn into the state of death as the system had said.

Zhou Fangdong was stunned. He walked out of the tunnel in disbelief and stood completely outside.

Nothing has changed.

The enormous surprise was like a giant wave crashing over his head; Zhou Fangdong felt as if he had been knocked unconscious, and he was completely dazed.

Can he leave the apartment now?!