Chapter 6: The Body Parts in the Black Plastic Bag at the Initial Liwan Apartment...

A black SUV screeched to a halt in front of the Liwan Apartments.

Hong Zhong sat in the car, looking at the open space next to the apartment building.

Besides his car, there was also a bus parked next to the apartment.

The bus looked brand new, as if it had just rolled off the assembly line. It had no license plate, no route markings on the front, and all the windows were opaque, making it impossible to see inside.

The Liwan Apartments have been completely sealed off, and even the roads leading to the apartments are closed to traffic.

No taxis come here, and no regular buses stop around here.

The only exception is this bus.

This bus with blacked-out windows doesn't belong to any company; nobody knows who the driver is or its route.

But if anyone wants to go to Liwan Apartments, they can find this bus by standing under any bus stop sign... It's like a magic door connecting Liwan Apartments.

Because this ghost bus posed no real threat, and any normal person would know the dangers of the Liwan Apartment complex and wouldn't go there voluntarily, the Investigation Department has never dealt with the bus.

Hong Zhong looked away, checked his equipment, and turned on the long-range light on his tactical helmet. He then hung the spare magazine on the side of his backpack and stuffed some emergency medicines and a thermal blanket into it just in case.

As he was about to get off the bus, he remembered the strange cleaning order on his phone.

After hesitating for a moment, Hong Zhong also packed the body bag he borrowed from the Criminal Investigation Department and the cleaning tools he got from the Logistics Department into a backpack, which he then slung across his body.

For Hong Zhong, who frequently engages in weighted cross-country training, carrying extra equipment does not hinder his movements.

Hong Zhong got out of the car and looked at the eerie, ghostly building in front of him.

The oppressive feeling emanating from this building is like that of a mountain about to collapse. As if real resentment and gloom were intertwined, the entire building seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gray haze.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change. It is estimated that after a while, this building that houses countless ghosts and monsters will come to life and become a man-eating monster.

According to official records, in the very beginning, Liwan Apartments was just an ordinary residential building, constructed under the supervision of a well-known real estate developer.

The Liwan Apartments consist of two buildings, one in front and one in back. The back building has no natural light at all. The two buildings are connected by a skybridge, and the open space between them is a courtyard garden.

At that time, only the front building was actually available for rent. Although the back buildings were also residential buildings, they could only be purchased and not rented out. Moreover, asset verification was required to purchase a property. They were mainly used by wealthy people to store the bodies of their deceased relatives.

The real estate developer didn't build the Liwan Apartments to earn rent; he made money from the money spent by wealthy people buying homes.

The reason for renting out the building in front is twofold: firstly, for feng shui reasons, and secondly, because of the demands of the wealthy individuals who want living people to accompany their deceased relatives.

Later, some incidents occurred, leading to frequent murders and suicides at Liwan Apartments, and the fact that the building behind it was full of dead bodies was finally exposed.

The situation escalated, and both the real estate developer who built the building and the wealthy man who stored the bodies of his relatives all met untimely deaths.

The ownership of Liwan Apartments has changed hands several times, but no matter what, everyone involved with Liwan Apartments has met a bad end.

Finally, paranormal events broke out. The ghosts in the building not only began to harm people without restraint, but also showed a tendency to spread outwards, so the Liwan Apartment was completely sealed off.

Speaking of ghosts and monsters harming people, Hong Zhong recalled the case he had just finished handling that morning—the female homeowner was hacked to death by her eldest son, and her younger and eldest sons fell to their deaths from the nineteenth floor, leaving only the male homeowner as the sole survivor.

Subsequent investigation confirmed that the ghost was brought home by the eldest son. It was a Class D ghost, not particularly dangerous, but extremely adept at manipulating human emotions. It possessed the eldest son, triggering his negative emotions, and simultaneously affected the younger son, leading to the deaths of all three.

Similar horrific cases of ghosts wiping out entire families occur frequently. Most of the supernatural power fluctuations generated by ghosts possessing humans are very weak, and even if the people in the Anomalies Investigation Department work all night, they cannot completely eliminate them.

The paranormal events broke out too quickly, and there were too few people who could handle ghosts and monsters. The people in the Paranormal Investigation Department were doing the work of two people. Hong Zhong had only slept for three hours in the past two days.

He downed a can of energy drink, forcing himself to stay alert, and prepared to enter the Liwan Apartments.

As soon as he pushed open the door of Liwan Apartment, Hong Zhong suddenly noticed something and abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Judging from the footprints at the entrance, someone entered Liwan Apartment recently.

The footprints were very fresh, most likely just a few hours ago.

Judging from the footprints, this person was wearing shoes around size 42, with a slightly shorter left leg. They weighed approximately 85 kilograms and were about 170 centimeters tall. Their stride was short and narrow, with their weight concentrated on their second toe. Their gait appeared unsteady and weak, suggesting they were over 40 years old, likely a middle-aged man who spent most of his time sitting in an office and was not particularly active.

Hong Zhong frowned.

What would an ordinary person like him be doing at Liwan Apartment? Could it be that he placed that cleaning order?

While pondering, Hong Zhong suddenly caught a glimpse of someone hiding in the shadows.

The man, carrying a kerosene lamp, had been standing in the shadows watching him for who knows how long…

Hong Zhong instinctively reached for his weapon at his waist and slowly took a step back.

He was a slender young man, about 180cm tall and weighing around 60kg. He dressed in a trendy style, had a tall and straight figure, fair skin, and a handsome appearance. His profession was most likely a model or actor, which did not match the description on the footprints at the door.

"You've arrived." Zhou Fangdong looked at Hong Zhong and gave him a friendly smile.

He was very satisfied with the cleaning staff member; his robust physique and top-notch equipment made him look extremely professional and reliable.

Zhou Fangdong specially stood at the door to greet his cleaning staff.

Although the hiring panel said that this person had the ability to deal with vengeful ghosts, Zhou Fangdong felt that he should still take care of him just in case and escorted him to room 109.

After all, it's a human life. It would be so tragic if someone died on the job because of hard work...

Zhou Fangdong himself was killed in a car accident while on a business trip. The thought that no one in his original world would help him collect his workers' compensation and insurance payouts made him feel terrible.

Looking at the gentle young man in front of him, Hong Zhong hesitated before speaking: "Are you the one who placed the cleaning order?" As he spoke, his muscles remained tense, and his hands were always on his waist.

Zhou Fangdong nodded: "That's right, it's me. I'm the landlord of Liwan Apartments." After saying that, he turned and walked into the darkness. "Come with me, I'll take you to the room that needs cleaning. There's a lot of trash in room 109, so I'll have to trouble you."

Watching his departing figure, Hong Zhong frowned and slowly lowered his gaze.

With the help of the light from his tactical helmet, he could clearly see that there were no footprints where the young man had walked on the thick layer of dust.

Is this guy, who claims to be the landlord of Liwan Apartments, a human or a ghost?

Seeing that the cleaning staff hadn't followed, Zhou Fangdong stopped and instructed, "Stay close to me and don't stray out of the light, or you'll die."

That cold, emotionless voice was utterly devoid of any emotion, as if it were merely stating a simple fact. It wasn't a threat, yet it was more terrifying than any threat, like issuing a death sentence.

Hong Zhong gritted his teeth.

He knew the young man wasn't joking.

Because he frequently handles cases involving ghosts and monsters, Hong Zhong is extremely sensitive when facing life-or-death crises; he has already sensed what is hidden in the darkness.

There was more than one, and it was definitely not a low-level ghost like a D-class creature.

Those things completely blocked his escape route; countless eyes lurking in the shadows were watching him intently, ready to tear him apart at any moment...

At this moment, he had only one choice: to obey the young man's orders. Disobeying him in this building would mean certain death.

With a serious expression, Hong Zhong quickly walked to Zhou Fangdong's side, carrying cleaning tools.

These ghosts appeared with this young man. Can he really control the ghosts in the Liwan Apartments with words? What a terrifying ability.

Zhou Fangdong, unaware of the complex thoughts swirling in Hong Zhong's mind, continued leading him toward Room 109 with an unperturbed expression.

As they got closer to room 109, Hong Zhong's expression grew increasingly grim.

He didn't see a single ghost along the way; the corridor was as clean as an ordinary abandoned building.

You should know that Liwan Apartment is a haunted house. As the source of paranormal events, there are so many ghosts and monsters in the building that they are like dust that is everywhere in the apartment.

Hong Zhong glanced at the young man beside him out of the corner of his eye, his heart filled with shock.

How did he do that? This is not just about controlling a few ghosts; the scene before us is more like all the ghosts in the building are afraid of him and dare not even block his way... It's absolutely terrifying!

"This is the room you need to clean," Zhou Fangdong said to Hong Zhong, pointing to room 109 with the door wide open. After so much time had passed and the room had been left open to air out, the strong stench of decay had lessened considerably.

"I haven't cleared away the ghosts inside yet. You might encounter ghost attacks while you're cleaning, so please be careful."

Zhou Fangdong couldn't possibly keep Hong Zhong company while he did cleaning with the lamp lit. He hired Hong Zhong because he valued his ability to resist ghosts and monsters. The remaining lamp oil would only last for another ten hours, and he certainly wouldn't waste a few more hours on a cleaner; that would be too much of a loss.

Hong Zhong quickly glanced around and nodded: "I understand." In this situation, he had no choice but to obey the landlord's orders unconditionally.

"Don't leave room 109 during the cleaning process. Just call me when you're done," Zhou Fangdong added.

Room 109 has been occupied by a ghost. The room is now owned, so ghosts in the corridor won't just wander in. Staying in the room means you only need to deal with one ghost; if you go out into the corridor, you never know what you might encounter.

"Okay." Hong Zhong rolled up his sleeves and professionally took out the cleaning tools one by one from his bag.

Seeing that he was about to start cleaning, Zhou Fangdong stopped standing in the way and teleported back to his room.

Seeing Zhou Fangdong leave, Hong Zhong finally breathed a sigh of relief and abandoned his pretentious cleaning act.

This landlord is definitely a ghost, and not just any ordinary ghost.

It's impossible to fathom his thoughts. He clearly has the ability to make all ghosts submit, yet he insists on disguising himself as a normal person and even entrusts him with cleaning the room... Do ghosts also have requirements for their living environment?

For the sake of his own safety, Hong Zhong decided to temporarily obey his orders and obediently clean the room.

He loaded the specially made firearm, and holding the gun, slowly opened the black plastic bag closest to him.

The plastic bag contained a human head with its spine still attached.

It was the head of a woman around 30 years old. The livor mortis on the side of her face was spreading in a purplish-red color, suggesting she had been dead for about 8-10 hours. Judging from the rolled-up flesh around her neck, she had likely been dismembered with a saw.

The skull looks like a normal corpse, but the spine beneath it is strange.

The stark white spine coiled beneath the head like a snake, shaved clean, devoid of any flesh, forming a stark contrast to the blood-soaked head, so neat it resembled a skeletal specimen.

Just as Hong Zhong was observing, the man's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

She looked at Hong Zhong with her dark, hollow eyes, slowly opened her mouth, and revealed a bloody and cruel smile to him.

A note from the author:

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