Chapter 72 The Disguised Evil God Descends: Slime Farm, Tenant...

Just now, Zhou Fangdong was collecting materials to repair the kerosene lamp in the hidden room on the second floor. When he opened the door of the last cell and was about to step on the black slime in the middle of the ritual rune, the slime suddenly grew to be more than a person tall and almost swallowed him.

Following the method described by the system, Zhou Fangdong captured the gigantic slime, only to find that it had unexpectedly evolved into a man.

Chains formed from ancient texts bound the man's body, while the ritual runes below exerted their power, completely imprisoning him in place.

Zhou Fangdong was stunned as he watched the slime transform into a living person.

The man who suddenly appeared in the cell was stunned after taking in his surroundings, especially after seeing Zhou Fangdong.

While the two stared at each other in bewilderment, only the system maintained a strangely excited state, its electronic voice becoming noticeably louder:

[Host! Shadow Soul Contract! Quickly devour this guy!]

It's a replacement, isn't it... As soon as Zhou Fangdong heard the system say "eat," his psychological trauma returned.

Despite his inner grumbling, Zhou Fangdong didn't hesitate at all. Before the man could react, he directly used [Shadow Soul Contract].

The runes in these cells were clearly left here by members of the Bones Society. What good could something be summoned by a cultist's ritual?

[Shadow Soul Contract] takes effect immediately.

The effect of this skill is not as exaggerated as [Dead Zone Invasion]. Only the shadow changes. After use, Zhou Fangdong's shadow instantly covers the entire floor of the room, covering the crimson ritual rune in the middle of the floor and enveloping the man standing in the middle of the rune.

The man had absolutely no chance to resist; he was like a drop of clear water falling into ink, instantly swallowed up by the boundless darkness.

In the instant that person was swallowed by the shadow, scattered fragments of memory also flooded into Zhou Fangdong's mind.

However, because he frequently used [Soul Absorption], and because for some reason, this person's memories were even fewer than some vengeful ghosts, there were no side effects after using the Shadow Soul Contract's perfect replacement function. He didn't even experience slight dizziness or discomfort, and Zhou Fangdong found that he had an extra body.

The chains binding him dissipated, and Zhou Fangdong moved around a little uncomfortably... This body and his original form could move at the same time, just like he could wave his left and right hands at the same time.

This feeling of having an extra body is strange. There's an extra perspective, extra senses, and I can even see my own body from a third-person perspective.

[Congratulations, host! You have successfully devoured the evil god's clone! The [Disguised Evil God Descends] function in the Evil God Disguise interface has been unlocked.]

The Evil God Disguise interface has unlocked a new function... Zhou Fangdong remembered that the system said that unlocking a new function requires two Evil God clone cores.

I never expected that this body would be worth two cores. I've really hit the jackpot.

After sorting through the memories in his mind, Zhou Fangdong learned the identity of this body—it was a corpse that had been brought back to life by the middle-aged man wearing a melon-shaped hat.

This guy is really ruthless; he's ruthless not only to others but also to himself.

This body appears to be an avatar of an evil god, but the consciousness controlling it is actually a combination of a portion of the evil god's consciousness and a portion of the man in the melon-shaped hat's consciousness, which ultimately created this thing that can move independently.

The evil god's power and consciousness dominate, reviving and manipulating corpses, while the human aspect of consciousness is supplemented by the man in the melon-hat.

Humans have three souls and seven spirits. The soul carries a person's consciousness, while the spirits control a person's bodily functions and carry a person's various desires.

The three souls are Tai Guang, Shuang Ling, and You Jing, which are commonly known as the three souls of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

No one knows how that middle-aged man in the melon-shaped hat managed to do it, but he actually separated the ghostly human soul from his own body and merged it with the wisp of the evil god's spirit, using it as the soul of this corpse, creating a person who could act and think independently.

Because of the power of the evil god, this fragment of the soul, mixed with the evil god's consciousness, can be transferred between various corpses through a blessing ritual, and the corpses can be disguised as they looked in life.

Before this fragment of soul returns to its original body, each resurrected corpse exists independently and cannot transmit the information it sees back in real time.

However, now, this fragment of soul has completely become Zhou Fangdong's property, utterly assimilated by him, and has no chance of returning.

Zhou Fangdong controlled the body and sat in the corner of the cell.

After going through those memory fragments, he finally understood how this person had been teleported here.

These cells hidden on the second floor were not only torture chambers used by cult members to torment people, but also places where they performed various rituals.

The red runes on the ground of the last cell where Zhou Fangdong is now are blessing ritual runes left by the cultists of the Bone Inheritance Society.

The blessing ceremony of the Bone Descendants Society is mainly used to offer sacrifices to communicate with evil gods and obtain supernatural items, methods for making talismans, or temporary buffs that enhance the power of believers from the evil gods.

The evil god accepts the offerings and bestows blessings, creating a brief teleportation effect in the process.

So these cultists began to try to launch two blessing ceremonies simultaneously in different places, using the power of evil gods to help teleport items in order to achieve a real-time teleportation effect.

Zhou Fangdong thought it was a coincidence that this guy came to his door. He guessed that even the system didn't expect that when it was catching those slimes, it could get a live person for free.

The slime in this cell accidentally activated the blessing rune on the ground, and then a blessing ritual somewhere in the Bone Society was activated at the same time, connecting with the one in the cell and teleporting this person here.

The reason this slime can activate the runes is because it is itself part of the power of the evil god.

After the Bone Inheritance Ritual is successfully completed, some byproducts will be left behind, namely slimes. These slimes are the product of the fusion of the power that escaped from the evil god and the ghostly souls or resentments left in the prison.

The evil gods worshipped by cultists possess extremely corrupting power, capable of eroding the souls of ghosts and monsters, assimilating them into part of the evil god.

To the monsters, this slime, which is derived from the power of the evil god, is a disgusting contaminant... to put it simply, a pile of shit.

Previously, when Zhou Fangdong used a broken kerosene lamp to drive away ghosts, he only consumed the lamp oil—the lamp oil played the main role in driving away ghosts, while the kerosene lamp was merely a carrier for the lamp oil.

After absorbing slimes, the kerosene lamp now has the ability to ward off ghosts, so the rate at which it consumes oil will be slower when lit.

Although the kerosene lamp's ability to ward off evil spirits was enhanced after being repaired, Zhou Fangdong still felt that his kerosene lamp seemed dirty after using this slime to repair it...

Because if you're carrying around poop, people are afraid you'll smear it on their face, so they'll all walk around you...

No wonder there were no ghosts in the hidden room on the second floor. To those ghosts, this hidden room must have been a cesspool.

Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong suddenly fell silent.

So what was he doing, wandering around the hidden room for half a day, in the eyes of those ghosts on the second floor... swimming in a cesspool?

I can't think about it anymore, it's making me feel nauseous.

Zhou Fangdong sighed, "System, the [Disguised Evil God Descends] function in the Evil God Disguise interface has been unlocked. This body is useless to me now, right?"

[The host can transform this body into a ghost servant and then place it in a cell in the hidden room on the second floor.]

[Under the influence of the prison ritual runes, it produces varying quantities of derivatives every few days, which the host can collect periodically to repair the kerosene lamp.]

"Simply put, it's a slime farm?"

【Yes】

Zhou Fangdong looked at the corpse leaning against the wall, somewhat hesitant: "After being transformed into a ghost tenant, won't it suddenly develop self-awareness and betray me?"

After all, this thing was created by cultists of the Bone Inheritance Society. Although it had become his property and could be controlled at any time by Shadow Soul Contract after being transformed into a ghost tenant, Zhou Fangdong was still a little uneasy.

This is already part of the host's body; it will not develop independent consciousness.

With the system's guarantee, Zhou Fangdong no longer hesitated and used the Shadow Soul Contract on this X body again, transforming it into a ghost servant.

The body that was originally sitting against the wall was just an ordinary human body. After being modified a second time, it turned into a black slime that was half the height of a person.

[The ghost tenant has automatically signed a rental agreement. The [Ghost Tenant - An Evil God Disguised as a Human] character has been unlocked in the character encyclopedia. Please claim the unlock reward in time.]

Zhou Fangdong opened the tenant profile interface.

Perhaps because this Ghost Tenant is a Frankenstein's monster—he was originally a corpse that had been brought back to life, with even his soul pieced together, and then his consciousness and body were stripped away, and he was transformed into a mindless slime—this resulted in the Ghost Tenant having only a name in the Pokédex, without any Pokédex description or traits.

Fortunately, the rewards for unlocking the encyclopedia are normal, although they don't give anything good, just a lump of slime.

After absorbing the slime, the kerosene lamp's repair progress became 40%.

While browsing through the tenant profiles, Zhou Fangdong noticed that a new profile for [Ghost Bus Driver - Wang Yongshun] had appeared in the list.

Unlike that slime god, the Ghost Bus Driver's encyclopedia entry only includes a description and no rewards.

[Wang Yongshun, the Ghost Bus Driver]

Illustration Description: In life, he was a bus driver who died of a heart attack. Before his death, he used his incredible willpower to bring the bus to a safe stop on the side of the road. Even after death, his hands remained gripping the steering wheel tightly. He was formerly a tenant of Liwan Apartments, but was rehired by the apartment complex after his death to become the driver of the ghost bus.

Traits: Responsible, taciturn, only knows how to drive, and has done his best at driving both in life and after death.

After reviewing the tenant profiles, Zhou Fangdong opened the tenant affinity interface.

When dealing with the Penghu Home incident, many new tenants had a goodwill rating of 80, and he forgot to collect his loot while he was counting it in his room.

The four investigators renting room 201 all had a favorability rating of 80, and the favorability rewards they gave were as follows:

Anonymous survey questionnaire on the food in the canteen of the Supervision Bureau x4, canteen meal card x4, half-written self-criticism letter x2, blank self-criticism letter x2, 10% discount coupon for shopping at the ghost market x1, "Comprehensive Review of Takeout Shops Near the Supervision Bureau", and two months of takeout APP membership.

After seeing all the rewards, Zhou Fangdong was speechless for a moment.

—System, what did you take as a reward? Give them back the half-written self-criticism and meal card!

Of all that stuff, only the [ghost market shopping 10% off coupon] was somewhat useful to him.

Zhou Fangdong checked the instructions for the ghost market coupons.

[Ghost Market 10% Off Coupon]: You were once a commodity in the Ghost Market, bought and sold twice, yet you're still alive! To reward your luck, hold this coupon and enjoy a 10% discount on any purchase at any store in the Ghost Market.

You can use this coupon when you go to the ghost market to buy lamp oil worker uniforms... Zhou Fangdong didn't claim it immediately, planning to wait until he got back to his room.

Because to claim this coupon, he would have to collect the self-criticism letter and the cafeteria meal card, and his current inventory space was not enough.

Before closing the favorability rating interface for the four people, Zhou Fangdong, out of curiosity, took another look at the two half-finished self-criticisms.

[A half-written self-criticism, Part 1]: I shouldn't have secretly ordered takeout in the dorm, and I especially shouldn't have sneaked out of the dorm to get takeout during my rest time in the middle of the night. Although the food in the supervisory bureau's cafeteria is terrible, and the late-night snacks are even worse, ordering takeout is wrong, I... (followed by a lot of corrections, vaguely showing that I'm cursing the cafeteria)

[Half-written self-criticism, Part Two]: I shouldn't have used unauthorized electrical appliances to cook hot pot in the dormitory. Although I think the voltage in the dormitory of the Supervision Bureau wouldn't cause a fire even if I used unauthorized appliances, it's still wrong to eat hot pot secretly. I should have shared half of the hot pot with the team leader; I shouldn't have eaten it all by myself... (The rest of the paper has a lot of correction marks, probably because I was beaten up, and there were a few drops of blood from my nose... or hot pot oil?)

After reading the two self-criticisms, Zhou Fangdong had only one thought—how terrible must the food be in the supervisory bureau's cafeteria to drive the kids to such a state?

Fortunately, the four of them have moved out of the supervisory bureau's dormitory and can now order takeout freely...

It doesn't seem very free, since there probably aren't many food delivery drivers coming to Liwan Apartment to deliver food.

I feel sorry for these four investigators.

As Zhou Fangdong continued scrolling down the favorability rating screen, he discovered that Hong Zhong's favorability rating had also reached 80.

Initially, Zhou Fangdong blocked Hong Zhong's favorability rating notifications because the number kept fluctuating, but now it has stabilized.

Hong Zhong's 80 favorability points reward is a rather useful item: a portable paranormal power detection device (alternative).

Portable paranormal detection device (alternative): An outdated paranormal detection device, but for ordinary people, it is a very useful danger warning device that can be used simply by charging.

If there are any ordinary tenants in the future, this detection device can be given to them. Although it is not as effective as Zhao Dawei's amulet, it can help tenants avoid some dangers.

Following Hong Zhong's favorability rating screen, He Yansheng's rating also lit up at 80. This pessimistic philosopher-doctor's rating had also lit up at some point.

Zhou Fangdong glanced at the time when the favorability rating was reached and realized that it was shortly after he handed the [Blood and Tears Last Will] to the bandaged ghost in room 202.

He was in the basement at the time, and his sanity was dropping like crazy because he was seeing his own corpse for the first time, so he didn't notice the affection pop-up.

Zhou Fangdong opened the reward page without much hope, then fell silent.

The reward for gaining 80 points of favorability with He Yansheng is a bottle of blood.

[A Bottle of Blood]: A bottle of blood collected from He Yansheng's body. It has the effect of eliminating curses and suppressing mutations. It is a life-saving medicine for ordinary people whose degree of demonization is not deep.

Zhou Fangdong sighed softly: "System, if there's really no reward, then let's not give one."

He felt he wasn't as heartless as those bald men from the Bone Inheritance Society; he wasn't so desperate that he needed to exploit his tenants like props.

After that, I only didn't check Hou San's favorability rating.

During that short time at Penghu Home, this furniture vendor immediately won me over.

Hou San's reward for gaining 80 points of favorability is an item: [Cursed Item - Ghost Mirror].

[Cursed Item - Ghost Mirror]: A mirror stolen by Hou San from the Bone Heir Society's stronghold. Using this Ghost Mirror to perform the Mirror Fairy Ritual will allow one to see the future, but will also bring misfortune.

(Note: Ghosts will occasionally appear in the mirror; it seems to be the entrance to some gathering place for ghosts.)

Zhou Fangdong felt that there was nothing he needed to foresee. There were already enough ghosts in the two apartment buildings combined, so there was no need to go to some gathering place of ghosts through this mirror.

Let's not claim this item for now; we'll wait until we need it.

Hou San's reward for reaching 100 favorability points is also an item: [Cursed Item - Urn].

[Cursed Item - Urn]: An urn stolen by Hou San from the Bone Society's stronghold. It's a urn that can produce its own ashes. Consuming the ashes will randomly grant the user the powerful strength of a vengeful spirit. The duration of this power depends on the user's physical condition. After the effect ends, there is a risk of becoming a ghost—if lucky, one becomes a half-ghost; if unlucky, one is possessed by a ghost.

Good heavens, this prop and He Yansheng's blood are a perfect match. He Yansheng's blood can eliminate the demonization, so using this urn has no side effects.

No wonder He Yansheng was so anxious after losing those cult members...

Now, not only is He Yansheng gone, but the urn is gone too, and the Sigu Society has become a source of system rewards.

Seriously, don't those cult members care about losing things? That's incredibly generous. Or is this urn mass-produced, so they don't care?

The urn was currently of no use to Zhou Fangdong, so he didn't claim it. Instead, he closed the favorability interface and teleported back to his room.

He'd finished exploring the hidden rooms on the second floor, and now he was going to start writing the rental rules for room 205. Then, he'd find a new tenant for that ghostly old woman tomorrow during the day.

Zhou Fangdong sat down at his desk and began to write furiously.

After the system finally approved his room 205 rental rules, it got dark.

Zhou Fangdong stretched his wrists and quickly scanned the rental preview interface. After confirming that all his tenants were safely inside, he decided to pack up and go to the ghost market to buy lamp oil worker uniforms and shackles.

On the stand-in interface, in addition to the pixelated figures of the female lead and the Taoist priest, there is now a pixelated figure with curly hair.

The curly-haired pixelated figure's face kept changing, like constantly putting on and taking off a mask. Around his feet were many black pixelated dwarfs, only as tall as his knees, hunched over, circling around him in sync with the frequency of his face changes.

It seems that using Conan's body allows one to freely change their appearance...

Zhou Fangdong stroked his chin and pondered for a moment.

Although Ke Yan's combat ability is not as good as Mu Yuechan's, his disguise ability is very strong.

Yesterday, he caused a huge disturbance in the Ghost Market using Mu Yuechan's body and then left. If he were to use Mu Yuechan's body again in the Ghost Market, he might be fined or even kicked out for disturbing the city's appearance...

In that case, it would be safer to use Ke Yan's body to go to the Ghost Market.

Zhou Fangdong tapped the pixelated curly-haired figure.

Ke Yan's current favorability rating for him is 60, so she should be able to use him smoothly.

But just as he was about to use the substitute function, Zhou Fangdong paused and his gaze shifted to the evil god disguise interface.

...There doesn't seem to be any rush to make lamp oil.

Why not try the newly unlocked [Disguised Evil God Descends] feature? He was curious to see what the interior of the Bone Society's stronghold was like.