Chapter 47 The Source of World Chaos: The Peddler, the Failed Substitute...

Hearing Zhou Fangdong casually mention calling out the peddler, Hong Zhong was stunned once again.

Is this something you can just call out casually?!

This landlord's abilities are truly unfathomable. The ghosts that create B+ level paranormal events are just there for him to summon at any time... it's like calling a errand boy.

Zhou Fangdong opened the tattered notebook and tore off a yellowed page.

This notebook is one of the rewards from his main quest [The Peddler's Purchase Order]. Tear off a page, write down the name of the goods, and you can summon the peddler to pick up the goods.

He originally wanted the peddler to help him sell [the collection in Room 103] to the ghost market, and since Hong Zhong happened to have a need for the peddler, he simply summoned him here.

Looking at the page in his hand, Zhou Fangdong realized that he didn't seem to have brought a pen.

Just as he was wondering whether he should teleport back to his room to get a pen, words automatically appeared on the yellowed paper, which was exactly what he had in mind: [Collection in Room 103].

As the handwriting appeared, the collection that had taken up one slot in his inventory disappeared.

At the same time, strange things began to happen in room 106.

A thick, inky black fog spread out silently, followed by several shrill cat cries, and then a thud sound like a wooden stick striking the ground suddenly appeared in the fog.

An unusually tall and thin figure emerged from the end of the black mist. He carried an old carrying pole with two heavy bamboo baskets hanging from both ends, bending the pole into a dangerous arc.

As the figure drew closer, the cat's meows grew increasingly shrill.

Amidst the swirling black mist, a small black cat, resembling a leopard, darted out from beneath the floor. Its eyes gleamed with a sinister green light, its teeth bared, its back arched, as it warily watched the approaching figure.

The figure's legs were very thin, almost like bamboo poles. Two stick-like objects could be vaguely seen from the worn-out trouser legs, making a sound like canes tapping the ground with every step he took.

He wore a huge conical hat, the faded paper attached to its edge swaying gently with his movements. The hat obscured the upper half of the figure's face, revealing only his deathly pale chin.

The peddler stopped in front of Zhou Fangdong, his head bowed and his thin back slightly hunched, as if he were bowing to him.

The large black cat paced anxiously around Zhou Fangdong and Hong Zhong, seemingly wanting to drive the peddler away, but also appearing to be wary of something and hesitant to launch an attack.

Zhou Fangdong didn't hand the paper to the peddler, but instead looked at Hong Zhong, who was still in a daze: "What did you want to ask him?"

Hong Zhong then snapped out of his shock.

He had known for a long time that this mysterious landlord was incredibly powerful, but knowing it was one thing, seeing it with his own eyes was another...

It's like a dream. This terrifying ghost is so obsequious and respectful in front of the landlord. He can summon and dismiss such a ghost at will... No wonder he's the landlord of Liwan Apartments.

Hong Zhong composed himself and, taking advantage of the landlord's presence, went straight to the point: "Did you take all those children who went missing in the city center? Where did you take them? Why did you take these children?"

The peddler did not respond to Hong Zhong's words.

Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong waved the page in his hand: "Answer his question."

“Yes…” came an extremely hoarse and unpleasant voice from the peddler’s mouth, as if he hadn’t used his vocal cords to speak in a long time.

“It was me… who brought it to the Ghost Market… It was a deal made by the Bone Inheritance Society…”

He spoke almost word by word, and after saying all that, he fell silent again.

Hong Zhong's face was extremely grim.

It was indeed the work of those cultists from the Bone Inheritance Society. However, Li Zhe still hasn't woken up. He doesn't know where this so-called 'Ghost Market' is, nor does he know how to rescue the children in the Ghost Market.

Hong Zhong looked at Zhou Fangdong again, then mustered his courage and asked, "What will it take for you to send those children back?"

This time, the peddler didn't speak, but slowly extended two fingers.

Zhou Fangdong strangely understood his meaning.

...It would take two pages to get him to send the children back.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the thick notebook in his hand, and without much hesitation, tore off two sheets of paper and handed them over along with the one he had in his hand that read "[Collection of Room 103]".

The peddler accepted the three pieces of paper, and spoke again in a hoarse voice: "Tonight... at 1:15 AM... child... Jinxi Square..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the 'thump thump thump' sound rang out again, and the peddler staggered back into the darkness.

The black mist in the room dissipated as he left.

Only after the fog completely dissipated did the big black cat return to the floor.

At 1:15 AM... Hong Zhongzhen wished he could rush out right now and tell the people in the bureau to wait at Jinxi Square to pick up the children.

Hong Zhong tried to calm his excited emotions, looked at Zhou Fangdong, and bowed deeply: "Landlord, thank you for saving these children."

He knew that if it weren't for this landlord, the peddler wouldn't have paid any attention to him, much less agreed to send the children back.

All of this is because of the landlord.

Hong Zhong hadn't understood why the young man named Duan Wenyu acted so enthusiastically whenever he mentioned the landlord of Liwan Apartments, but now he understood everything.

The sense of security you feel when an omniscient and omnipotent person stands beside you, unconditionally granting all your requests, is simply indescribable...

You will get a response as long as you make a request.

This is so...

Thinking of this, Hong Zhong suddenly snapped out of his daze, forcing himself to pull himself out of this increasingly fervent feeling of gratitude.

However, the landlord of Liwan Apartments needs their help to capture the cult members alive—if the cult members are all eaten, what will the landlord eat?

Even if this mysterious landlord is currently on the side of ordinary people, what if he...

No, the landlord only said he wanted the cult members; he never said he would eat them. The landlord's claim that he would eat people is just his guess. Maybe he wants to use these cult members to find out something behind them...

But……

Seeing Hong Zhong deep in thought, Zhou Fangdong hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

While Hong Zhong's left and right brains were engaged in a battle of wits, Zhou Fangdong's favorability indicator screen also flashed.

A pop-up window appears briefly: "Hong Zhong's favorability has reached 80. Please claim your reward promptly." Then, the favorability pop-up disappears.

Then, a few seconds later, the pop-up window appeared again.

This reminded Zhou Fangdong of the first time he unlocked the skill [Eyes That See Through the Essence], when Hong Zhong's favorability rating also flashed around in the same way.

It must be a bug.

Zhou Fangdong let out a long sigh and mentally invoked the system:

"System, can you block Hong Zhong's favorability notifications?"

[Notification regarding the favorability rating of room 106 tenant Hong Zhong has been blocked. If you wish to view this tenant's favorability rating, please open the favorability rating interface yourself.]

Seeing that Hong Zhong was still deep in thought, his expression changing constantly, Zhou Fangdong didn't want to stand there like an idiot and watch him stare blankly.

I originally wanted to discuss the garbage station manager issue with Hong Zhong, but after thinking about it, I realized that it wasn't urgent.

He still hasn't found two cleaners, and he hasn't dealt with the cultists from the Bone Inheritance Society. There's no need to make Hong Zhong resign from the Investigation Department for now; let's wait a couple of days.

Just then, Zhang Qingyang's activity track was updated on the special tenant watchlist, showing that he had taken the ghost bus back to Liwan Apartment.

Zhou Fangdong remembered that he had asked Zhang Qingyang to buy a video recorder, melodramatic DVDs, and audio tapes of short stories about gratitude yesterday. Zhang Qingyang was going to stay at the Taoist temple tonight to watch over Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu, and he was probably going back to his apartment now to take some time to deliver these things over.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Fangdong left room 106 and went to the apartment entrance.

After reimbursing Zhang Qingyang for his expenses, he casually delivered all these items to Room 103.

Teleporting back to his room, Zhou Fangdong checked the newly unlocked tenant profiles that he hadn't had time to look at before.

[Intermediate Tenant, Team Leader of the Anomaly Investigation Department]

Illustration Description: A dedicated and beloved captain. He devotes himself entirely to protecting ordinary people, and his greatest wish is to eradicate paranormal events, for which he is prepared to sacrifice himself at any time.

Characteristics: Strong sense of justice, responsible, mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a bit overly cautious. His professional habits lead to divergent thinking and a tendency to overthink. He will not terminate his lease until he understands the cause of the anomalies at Liwan Apartment.

[Illustrated Guide Unlock Reward: 300 Ghost Coins]

After turning off Hong Zhong's information, Zhou Fangdong turned on the reward for Zhang Zhiwu's favorability rating reaching 100.

The old man has already given him quite a few useful tools, including an exorcism tool that ordinary people can use [ancestral magic weapon - iron hoe], and a [medicine master gourd] that can trap ghosts. I wonder what other good things he will get this time.

Rewards for reaching 100% favorability with [Zombie Master Zhang Zhiwu]:

【Cursed Item: Blood Compass】

Item Description: Before his death, the Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwu sprayed his last drop of blood onto the compass, transforming it from a tool for predicting good and bad fortune into a malevolent object filled with resentment.

Using this compass to locate an auspicious burial site will turn it into a malevolent place where corpses never decompose.

The Blood Compass can curse others, but the curse will backfire on the user many times over.

The Blood Compass can dispel curses, but the curses will backfire on the user many times over.

No matter how you use the compass, you will always get the [directionally challenged debuff] after using it.

After reading the prop's description, Zhou Fangdong fell silent.

This person clearly doesn't want anyone else to use this compass... No matter how it's used, it will backfire on the user, making it even more exaggerated than the curse of that human skin mask. It's a completely useless tool that harms both the user and others.

Zhou Fangdong didn't even dare to take this thing out of the favorability interface, for fear that touching this compass would bring a curse.

After closing the favorability interface, Zhou Fangdong did not leave the room again, but waited until dark before opening the substitute interface.

He plans to use his avatar ability to go out again tonight and see if he can capture a few cult members alive.

But to Zhou Fangdong's surprise, when he clicked on the pixelated female character on the stand-in interface, it suddenly turned away from his touch, and then a huge dialog box appeared above the pixelated character's head, containing a bright red cross.

Zhou Fangdong was taken aback, and then a system pop-up window appeared:

[The ghost tenant in room 103 is currently experiencing extreme emotions and is too actively conscious to be suppressed. The Stand function cannot be used at this time.]

Unexpectedly, he was rejected... Zhou Fangdong clicked on the favorability rating in confusion.

It's still 90, the favorability rating hasn't dropped.

But Mu Yuechan didn't refuse his use of her substitute even with 70% favorability, so why did she refuse when he had 90% favorability?

With that in mind, Zhou Fangdong opened the rental preview interface and checked the status of room 103.

Inside the room, a pixelated character dressed as a female lead was sitting in front of a video recorder, crying his heart out. Large pixelated tears slid down his face, and he looked as if he were about to melt away.

In stark contrast to this whining, frail pixelated figure are the speech bubbles that keep popping up above his head.

The dialog box has a large, thick, distorted border, and the text inside is also distorted, with an eerie scarlet color, as if it were some kind of vengeful curse or incantation.

[Aaaaaah, I want to kill this guy!!!]

[The female lead waited for him her whole life, taking care of his elderly mother and his younger siblings, working hard her entire life. I thought the male lead was dead, but it turns out this bastard was out there living a carefree life?!]

[This scoundrel not only got married, he even has a grandson! How despicable! And in the end, the female lead even forgave him! Why?!]

[Why are there so many unfaithful people in this world?! I'm going to kill them all, kill them all! Kill, kill, kill—]

In the end, the dialogue box that almost filled the entire room was filled with the blood-soaked word "kill". The originally antique pixelated actor's house seemed to have turned into a haunted house again. The heavy resentment almost burst out of the screen, making Zhou Fangdong numb.

Why does it seem like watching melodramatic DVDs is having the opposite effect?

Zhou Fangdong remembers that in his past world, some older women especially liked melodramas and would habitually empathize with the female lead.

Mu Yuechan is a ghost from the Republican era. I originally thought that someone like him, an old-fashioned person, would be more relatable than those aunties, and would be influenced and have his personality reshaped by the saintly heroines in melodramas...

But to his surprise, all Mu Yuechan was thinking about was how to kill the male lead.

Zhou Fangdong closed the rental preview interface with a heavy expression.

He was wrong. He shouldn't have bought Mu Yuechan those melodramatic DVDs... Is it too late to pick out other DVDs for her now?

Because Mu Yuechan refused, Zhou Fangdong could only use the substitute 24 hours later. He could only sit on the bed staring at the system interface, passing the long night.

"System, do you think I should also ask Zhang Qingyang to buy a VCR? I feel like I need to watch TV series to pass the time."

[Host needs 1000 experience points to level up. Would you like to start a role-playing quest?]

"No, no, I'm not at that point yet. I'm not in a hurry to level up, and I don't want to experience fancy ways to die." Zhou Fangdong resolutely refused. "I can level up by completing another side quest, and I can clean up the second-floor rooms tomorrow."

The rooms on the second floor are somewhat difficult to clean; please be prepared, host.

After a brief pause, the system's cold, electronic voice sounded again:

[The host currently has 8470 Ghost Coins, which can be used to purchase more advanced items in the shop to clean the room.]

The system phrased it very tactfully, but it was practically saying, "Stop accumulating ghost coins, spend them!"

Zhou Fangdong hesitated for a moment: "But what about the night attack by a hundred ghosts..."

[The host has already obtained the [Half-Body Shrine] skill, so there's no need to be so anxious about this dynamic event.]

"Let's talk about it after we actually see the condition of the rooms on the second floor." Zhou Fangdong opened the shop interface and browsed through it. Perhaps because he had completed the first main quest, he had unlocked quite a few good items in the shop.

"System, I've noticed that you're sometimes very intelligent, and sometimes you're like a bot. Is someone often using your account behind your back?"

[The system does not understand what the host is saying. Please issue more detailed instructions.]

"Alright, here we go again."

Zhou Fangdong closed the interface and lay on the bed for a while, bored. Suddenly, another pop-up window appeared:

[Beep—An invitation has been detected from the owner of the funeral shroud shop in the Ghost Market. Do you wish to go to the Ghost Market?]

"Huh? I can go directly to the Ghost Market in my current state?" Zhou Fangdong was shocked. "System, so I can use the map-finding function even without controlling the Ghost Tenant's body?"

No, teleportation during exploration is a feature exclusive to Ghost Tenants. It can only be used when using a Stand or when the Ghost Tenant is exploring on their own.

[This is an invitation. The host can treat it as a holographic video call. The video call fee and other expenses will be borne by the inviter. The host's physical body is actually still in the apartment.]

“Then I’ll accept the invitation.” Zhou Fangdong got off the bed and patted the wrinkles on his clothes. “Anyway, I’m free tonight, so I’ll see what this funeral shop owner wants from me.”

[I have accepted the invitation from the owner of the funeral clothing shop in the ghost market...]

[Loading the Ghost Market scene... Please wait...]

The scene inside the room suddenly collapsed without warning, and then a dark, endless street suddenly appeared before them.

The only light source on this long street was the eerie, burning will-o'-the-wisps suspended in the sky, which dyed the entire street a strange, ghastly green.

Scattered stalls lined both sides of the street, and the 'people' sitting behind them all wore the same gray robes. Where their faces should have been, there was only a smooth blank space, like unfinished clay sculptures.

These 'people' had all sorts of nonsensical goods on their stalls. Some were plastic bottles rummaged through trash cans, others were broken bricks and tiles that looked like they'd been salvaged from a construction site, and Zhou Fangdong even saw some stalls selling toilets...

Do ghosts even need to use toilets? Did this vendor even consider whether there would be any audience for this stuff in the ghost market?

Zhou Fangdong continued walking along the long street, where the scattered stalls were gradually replaced by various shops.

In front of the coffin shop stood several unpainted wooden coffins, with faint traces of blood seeping from the lids; outside the paper effigies shop were brightly colored paper figures of boys and girls, the two little paper figures, one a boy and the other a girl, with rosy, round faces painted on, their lips curving into stiff smiles; in front of the butcher shop hung several huge iron hooks, empty of flesh and blood, only the dull sound of chopping bones echoing from the dark shop…

Along this road, Zhou Fangdong also saw the peddler who had come to the apartment not long ago. He silently carried his shoulder pole, walking on the stone path, making a 'thump, thump' sound. There were also some passersby, some human, some ghost, carrying white paper lanterns, wandering among the shops ahead.

Neither the peddler nor the passersby carrying lanterns seemed to notice Zhou Fangdong, showing no reaction to his appearance.

Zhou Fangdong walked all the way to the end of the street before finding a funeral clothing shop.

Upon entering, a strange smell, a mixture of stale fabric and cheap sandalwood, hits you.

Seemingly hearing the sound of someone entering, an elderly woman wearing a black cloth jacket and a blue floral headscarf slowly raised her head from behind the counter.

She smiled at Zhou Fangdong and said, "You've come." Her smile was kind and her voice was gentle, as if she were welcoming a relative's child who had come to visit.

Zhou Fangdong didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point: "Did you need something from me?"

The old lady slowly walked out from behind the counter.

It wasn't until she walked right up to him that Zhou Fangdong realized, to his surprise, that the old woman, though she looked hunched over, was actually quite tall, almost as tall as him.

If she stands up straight... this old lady must be over 1.9 meters tall, right?

Zhou Fangdong took a step back in awe, distancing himself slightly.

"Haha, don't worry, I don't eat people..." The old lady was amused by Zhou Fangdong's reaction. "I've been in the ghost market for too long, and my body has become half-ghostly."

Before Zhou Fangdong could ask any questions, the funeral shop owner continued, "I received goods with the scent of Liwan Apartments from the peddler, and that's how I found out that the apartments now have a new owner."

She looked Zhou Fangdong up and down: "I can't fathom your abilities, young friend. No wonder the apartment chose you..."

"Time is short, so let's not chat. I called you here because I heard from the peddler that you seem to be at odds with those guys from the Bone Inheritance Society, so I wanted to ask you to help me get some Bone Inheritance Society human skins." After saying that, the old woman licked her lips, and a hint of blackness flashed across her kind face.

Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly: "You want the skin that was peeled off by those cultists?"

“No.” The old man shook his head. “What I want is the skin of those cult members themselves… It’s the skin that’s soaked in karmic burdens that makes the burial shrouds so sturdy. The effect… tsk tsk tsk…”

Zhou Fangdong's gaze shifted downwards, noticing the human face pattern on the old woman's black cloth jacket.

It's truly a case of cause and effect, and retribution is inevitable. These cult members, while coveting the skin of others, probably had no idea that their own skin was also being targeted.

After a pause, the old woman continued, "Of course, if you can find the skin of those victims, I can also help to transfer the evil karma that the cultists transferred to the victims back to them."

She looked at Zhou Fangdong as if she were looking at someone else through him. "This is my way of thanking you. Thank you for keeping this ghost market alive and giving us old folks a way to survive."

"Ever since that crack appeared on the top floor of the Liwan Apartments, we old guys are too afraid to even die... We can only eke out a living in the ghost market, neither human nor ghost."

She seemed to have not spoken to anyone for a long time; once she started talking, she couldn't stop, and she would often veer off-topic.

Noticing Zhou Fangdong's somewhat bewildered look, the old man snapped out of his daze and held up three fingers: "The skin of a cultist, I'll give you three hundred ghost coins, how about it?"

“Okay, deal.” Zhou Fangdong agreed immediately.

Zhao Dawei stayed in room 101 for a month, and the ghost in the mirror in his room would pay 300 ghost coins. Now a cultist can sell for that much, which is a good deal.

Hearing Zhou Fangdong agree so readily, the old lady smiled again, revealing her toothless gums.

Realizing the old man was quite talkative, Zhou Fangdong asked curiously, "Speaking of the Ghost Market, it's located in the space between Yin and Yang, right? Since this place is a space between Yin and Yang, connecting to the Yang world, can one reach the Yin world from here?"

After reading the detailed description of the ghost market, he became somewhat curious. The name 'Gap Between Yin and Yang' reminded him that since there were so many ghosts in this world, there must be an underworld too, right? He wondered what had happened to the underworld that allowed so many ghosts to escape, and whether the underworld's ghost officials were doing anything about it.

Upon hearing his question, the old man sighed deeply, as if he had aged more than ten years in an instant:

"The underworld? The netherworld? It's been closed for a long time. There's no such thing as reincarnation now. Otherwise, why do you think those ghosts would wander around the mortal world? The world is in turmoil, yin and yang are reversed, and the world is getting more and more chaotic. But it's fortunate that the netherworld was closed in time. If it had been left unchecked, the ghosts in hell would have all come to the apartment."

After saying that, the old man waved his hand, looking very tired and unwilling to say anything more.

The next moment, Zhou Fangdong found himself back in his apartment room.

He sat on the bed, his brow furrowed, his mind replaying the information-packed words from the funeral shop owner.

Zhou Fangdong felt as if he had already discovered the source of the chaos in this world.

The funeral shop owner mentioned a crack in the top floor of the apartment building, which made those of them living between the living and the dead afraid to die...

Both Mu Yuechan and Zhang Zhiwu, the two ghost tenants, had said that the apartment had a special kind of yin energy, with a unique attraction that drew all sorts of ghosts and monsters into it, like a vortex...

The old man at the funeral shop also said that if the underworld hadn't closed in time, all the ghosts from hell would have ended up in the apartment building...

Therefore, the reason why ghosts and monsters roam this world, and why supernatural events occur, and why the Liwan Apartment is filled with yin energy and attracts ghosts, is all because of that gap on the top floor of the apartment.

Zhou Fangdong recalled the scene he witnessed in front of the elevator when he left his room that night.

Back then, the elevator floor display numbers jumped from 18 to 1 in one go.

The Liwan Apartments only has eighteen floors in total.

...The things that came down from the elevator that night came from the top floor of the apartment building.

Zhou Fangdong let out a heavy sigh.

I can hardly imagine what kind of monster is on the top floor of the apartment building; even the bursting of the kerosene lamp could only stop it for a moment.

As Zhou Fangdong sat on the bed lost in thought, dawn broke.

The system pop-up window appears again:

[Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Demons (Countdown: 13 days)]

Upon seeing this pop-up window, Zhou Fangdong perked up.

There's no need to worry too much about the top floor now; he hasn't even figured out the second floor yet.

The blood and gore in the second-floor corridor should be cleaned up today; it's time to clean the rooms on the second floor.