Chapter 74 The Mysterious Disappearance: Yin Xi and the Ghost Granny, Room 205...

Yin Xi felt as if she were dreaming, or experiencing a replay of her death.

If that's not the case, there's no way to explain why she was just in a cult stronghold and now she's in the room she used to rent.

It is even more inexplicable why she is still alive after being devoured by that terrifying evil god.

Yin Xi sat on the sofa, touched the faded blue and white floral fabric, and then touched the familiar crocheted dust cover on the sofa armrest.

This is room 205 of Liwan Apartment.

Years have passed, and the room seems unchanged, remaining exactly as it was when she left.

The room was spotless, the old furniture bore the marks of time, and the air was filled with the familiar scent of osmanthus hair oil.

She didn't move away from here voluntarily.

When a terrifying paranormal event suddenly broke out on the second floor of the Liwan Apartment, Yin Xi thought there was a fire or earthquake because it was a day off and the noise and running outside made her think that there was a fire or earthquake, so she opened the door to take a look.

However, as soon as she opened the door and peeked out, she was knocked into the hallway by a person running at high speed.

After barely managing to stand, Yin Xi discovered that a huge, ever-growing mass of flesh was blocking the door to room 205 and was rushing toward her at an extremely fast speed.

Almost every room on the second floor was shared by four or five people. Too many tenants had run away, and it seemed that a lot of strange bald men had infiltrated the tenants. This turned the already narrow corridor into a subway car during rush hour. Yin Xi was almost swept along by the crowd and ran into the corridor.

After being carried by the crowd to the vicinity of the stairwell, the number of tenants who tried to escape inexplicably decreased, and with the crowd thinning out, she fell down due to inertia.

Just as Yin Xi was about to be engulfed by the surging flesh and blood, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

It was a middle-aged man wearing a melon-shaped hat, and he was holding a sword that was dripping blood.

After being captured by this man, Yin Xi was imprisoned at the Bone Inheritance Society's stronghold. The cultists treated her like livestock, showing her no human dignity and frequently bleeding her dry.

During her years of imprisonment, Yin Xi had completely lost her sense of time. The only motivation that kept her alive was to escape these cultists.

Now that she has escaped those cult members and gained her freedom, she feels a sense of unreality.

Yin Xi leaned back on the sofa, looking at the familiar surroundings of room 205, and her anxious heart suddenly calmed down.

Actually, this is good enough. Being able to come back here for one last look before I die is already a blessing.

Ironically, Yin Xi, an abandoned child who had never experienced the warmth of a family, found herself feeling the care of family through a ghost while living in this haunted house.

She knew the room was haunted and that something was wrong with the Liwan Apartment, but because she clung to this warmth, she refused to leave, like drinking poison to quench her thirst.

Over the years, when Yin Xi was on the verge of collapse due to her dark and hopeless imprisonment, the image of that ghostly old woman would always appear in her mind.

...Just like now.

The ghostly old woman stood not far from her, her silver-white hair neatly styled into a bun at the back of her head. She wore a faded gray shirt with a pilling red wool sweater over it, her clear black and white eyes staring unblinkingly at her, her face bearing the same eternally kind smile.

"You're back?" The old woman's voice was as gentle as ever, as if Yin Xi had just come home half an hour late from working overtime as usual, without any awkwardness from not seeing each other for many years.

The old woman walked up to Yin Xi and said, "The food is freshly heated up. You must be exhausted from working overtime. Wash your hands and come eat."

Just like countless days and nights before—warm calls, hot meals no matter how late you work overtime, and meticulous care when you're tired... But these are all traps. If it were the old Yin Xi, she would have deliberately maintained a subtle distance in order to continue getting along with the ghost granny and not be completely immersed in it.

But Yin Xi was too tired at this moment, both physically and mentally exhausted.

The years of imprisonment had almost drained her of all her energy. At this point, she no longer cared about any emotional traps. She just wanted to see the people she had always wanted to see before she died and have one last moment of warmth, even if that warmth would be followed by endless emptiness.

Tears streamed down Yin Xi's cheeks, but she didn't wail; she simply wept silently.

The old woman's programmed, benevolent smile froze for a moment when she saw Yin Xi's tears.

The old ghost, who feeds on emotions, clearly sensed Yin Xi's pain and her undisguised need. She knew this was the perfect opportunity to prey on her. With just a little comfort, she could drain all the emotions from this little girl who had been toying with her for so long, and she would gain an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

An eerie silence permeated the room.

Finally, the ghost old woman moved.

She appeared out of thin air on the sofa and gently placed her hand on Yin Xi's shoulder.

"Don't cry..." the old woman's voice was still gentle, "It's good that you're back...it's good that you're back..."

With the touch of the ghostly old woman, a faint yet warm emotion flowed through that cold hand, clumsily and forcefully transmitted to Yin Xi.

The low mood vanished instantly, as if someone had kicked me up from a cliff and landed me on a soft bed.

Yin Xi was stunned.

This familiar warmth had appeared out of nowhere in her heart countless times when she couldn't hold on any longer.

The ghosts that feed on human emotions are actually using their accumulated emotions to feed humans.

These were the 'scraps' of emotions that the Ghost Granny had obtained from Yin Xi. Because they were too fragmented to fill the void in the Ghost Granny's own heart, she stored them all away without processing them.

She was using the most essential and straightforward way to alleviate Yin Xi's pain—giving her everything she had and everything she thought was good.

Yin Xi looked up in disbelief.

"Grandma..." Her voice was terribly hoarse, filled with heavy sobs, as she buried her head in the cold embrace of the vengeful ghost.

The old woman didn't respond, but mechanically patted Yin Xi's back. She didn't really know what she was doing; she probably just wanted the 'food' to last a little longer so she could eat it for a little longer... even though this food only produced some scraps of emotions each day.

A human and a ghost, in this eerie yet heartwarming pose, sat on the sofa, embracing each other and weeping.

Looking at this heartwarming scene, Zhou Fangdong, holding the rental contract, felt like a real estate agent who couldn't read the room.

However, for the safety of the tenants, a tenant agreement still needs to be signed.

"Excuse me, let me interrupt you." Zhou Fangdong coughed lightly. "Let's sign the rental agreement first."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Yin Xi froze, trembling as she lifted her head from the old woman's embrace.

...That face belongs to that evil god.

Sure enough, after the revolving lantern light flashed by, was her death day already upon her?

Seeing Yin Xi's terrified expression, Zhou Fangdong roughly guessed what was going on.

He didn't really remember what happened at that stronghold later, only that he seemed to have killed a lot of cultists and then rescued a tenant.

Judging from her frightened appearance, she probably didn't look very good when she was pretending to be an evil god.

Zhou Fangdong was about to say a few words of comfort to her, but to his surprise, the old woman actually offered to explain: "This is the current landlord of the apartment... He won't hurt you, it's very safe to live in the apartment now..."

Yin Xi glanced at the ghostly old woman, then at the seemingly normal 'landlord' standing not far away, and managed a bitter smile.

The so-called rental agreement is probably some kind of contract she has to sign with an evil god.

With this evil god protecting the apartment, it must be very safe. She had just witnessed this evil god killing those cultists as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

This evil god... the god didn't kill her, rescued her from those cultists, and even wanted to sign a contract with her, which means she is useful to this god.

It's at least more useful than those cult members.

...If you sign a contract with him, you might be able to ask this god to kill all the cultists.

Thinking of this, Yin Xi no longer hesitated. The desire to take revenge on those cultists supported her as she stood up unsteadily.

The girl was so thin she was practically skin and bones, even thinner than He Yansheng. The not-so-loose prison uniform looked like a sack on her, and when she stood up, one wondered if her legs could even support her body.

Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong quickly took two steps forward and handed her the rental contract.

Yin Xi had expected the paper to contain some kind of bloody contract, such as requiring the sacrifice of a human every week, but she never expected that the paper contained the rules for getting along with the ghost granny.

【Room 205 Rental Rules】

① In room 205, the old lady will take care of the tenant's daily needs. Never ignore her efforts; always provide timely feedback, whether positive or negative.

② In your spare time, you need to help Grandma with housework. Don't rely on her completely, otherwise she will treat you as an empty shell, and you will become her emotional nourishment. (When Grandma cooks, you need to help wash the vegetables; after meals, you need to help wash the dishes; and you need to take turns cleaning the room with her.)

③ The Ghost Granny is a perfect confidante, but if you become too dependent on her and treat her as an emotional dumping ground, she will absorb your emotions without restraint and see you as her emotional nourishment. (You can confide your painful emotions to the Ghost Granny, but please also share some things that make you happy with her.)

④ In your free time, spend time with the ghost grandma. You can do crafts with her, watch TV together, or chat with her and share some trivial things with her.

⑤ Treat the ghost granny as a real, living person, and she will be your best roommate. If you treat her with sincerity, she will reciprocate with sincerity. If you see the ghost granny as a useful tool, then you will only be a tool for her to provide emotional nourishment.

⑥ Tenants must carry the key to room 205 with them at all times. Losing the key will be considered an automatic termination of the tenancy agreement.

⑦ A monthly rent of 30 yuan must be paid in cash. If this is not done, the rental contract will be considered automatically terminated.

⑧ If you discover any outsiders or unwanted visitors invading your private space, please do not panic. As long as you follow the rules above, the landlord will come to resolve the issue for you as soon as possible.

After reading the contents of the paper, Yin Xi looked up blankly, somewhat confused about what this evil god meant.

Noticing her gaze, Zhou Fangdong, like an ordinary real estate agent, said skillfully, "If there are no problems, you can sign your name at the bottom of the contract."

Yin Xi blushed and said somewhat awkwardly, "Um... I'm sorry, I... I don't have any money."

Although this evil spirit only costs thirty yuan, she has been imprisoned for so many years and has long been out of touch with society. She has no money on her... I wonder if her identity information has been cancelled after she has been missing for so long, and whether her bank account and mobile phone number are still usable.

Just then, the old woman came over and handed a wallet to Yin Xi.

Yin Xi took it in a daze.

...This turned out to be the wallet she had left in the room.

Could it be that the ghost old woman kept all her belongings?

Yin Xi felt like crying again.

She signed her name on the rental agreement, then took out thirty yuan from her wallet and handed it to Zhou Fangdong.

Zhou Fangdong took the contract and handed the key to room 205 to the tenant: "Keep the key safe. Carry this key with you and the ghosts in the building won't attack you."

Yin Xi nodded, and the moment she took the key, a system pop-up appeared:

[Congratulations, host! Side quest completed. Rewards: 500 Ghost Coins, 2000 Experience Points, and 1 Random Skill Point]

[The tenant profile [Special Tenant: Blood Sacrifice of the Heirs' Society] has been unlocked. Please claim your profile reward promptly.]

Looking at the side quest reward, Zhou Fangdong belatedly realized that when he entered room 205, the system didn't seem to have given him any side quests like it did in other rooms.

Even though he still made a profit by receiving a reward without completing any tasks, something still felt off.

"System? Is there a bug? I don't remember you sending me side quest 11."

Room 205 does not require renovation, and the previous tenant has neither moved out nor left the community, so a new lease agreement can be signed directly. Therefore, no side quest has been issued by the system.

Retiring from the biosphere? ... And at a time like this, he still manages to tell lame jokes. Who taught him that?

"You get some rest, I'm going back now," Zhou Fangdong told Yin Xi, then teleported directly to his room.

After returning to his room, Zhou Fangdong checked the newly unlocked tenant profile.

[Special Tenant: Blood Sacrifice of the Bones]

Illustrated Description: Yin Xi, a former tenant of apartment 205. Unlike He Yansheng's blood, which only gained special effects after modification, her blood possessed a unique constitution from birth. It had a strong attraction to ghosts, making her like a walking incense offering. The Bone Inheritance Society used her blood to capture many ghosts and frequently sold it at the ghost market. However, as she aged, the effects of her blood diminished, and the Bone Inheritance Society decided to use her as a sacrifice for a final, special ritual.

(Note: You can chat with the tenant; the ritual that was interrupted by the 'descent of an evil god' seems to hold an important clue.)

Traits: Strong, kind, and empathetic; a former nurse at the city hospital; grew up in an orphanage and frequently volunteers at orphanages and nursing homes in her spare time. If this tenant is coerced into harming others, they may terminate the lease.

Given Yin Xi's unique constitution... Zhou Fangdong felt she might be easily attacked by ghosts. The ghostly old woman in room 205 didn't seem to have much fighting power either, and he wondered if she could protect this tenant.

Let's talk about the matter of chatting with this tenant after she has rested a bit. She has gone through a lot and barely survived. Let her calm down first before talking to her about the Bone Inheritance Association.

Recalling the scene he had just witnessed at the abandoned amusement park where cult members were slaughtering ordinary people like livestock, Zhou Fangdong still felt a nameless anger rising within him.

He seems to be too passive. He should take the initiative to clean up those cult members, who persecute ordinary people every day they exist.

The supervisory bureau was understaffed and couldn't eliminate all the cult strongholds he provided at once. Often, just as they finished eliminating a few, the cult members in the other strongholds would get the news and flee overnight to find new locations.

Zhou Fangdong actually had an idea: to have He Yansheng and Xiao Xiaoyu go out together to a secluded place in the suburbs.

Then one of them attracted cultists, and the other attracted the arrival of the supreme god in the instance.

The main god uses dungeons to clean up cultists, and after the cleanup, he can erode the dungeons and get a wave of main god gold coins, achieving a perfect resource cycle.

The timing is a bit tricky to manage. He Yansheng attracts cultists, and the time it takes for them to arrive is uncertain. Moreover, Xiao Xiaoyu isn't guaranteed to bring down the main god instance.

This needs to be carefully considered; let's see if there's a more reliable method for baiting.

As he pondered, the familiar system pop-up appeared again:

[Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Demons (Countdown: 10 days)]

It seems it's dawn... Zhou Fangdong stood up, preparing to go to the garbage dump to collect some ghost coins, and then continue cleaning the room on the second floor.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the room, he suddenly found Zhang Zhiwu standing at the door of room 108.

At this time, the Taoist priest who kills zombies is usually meditating in his room. Could it be that he has something to ask him?

Just as Zhou Fangdong was thinking this, he heard Zhang Zhiwu say, "Young friend, you've finally appeared. I have something I'd like to ask for your help with." He hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure how to begin.

Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong said, "Daoist, you can just say it. You've helped me so much, so it's only right that I help you too."

Zhang Zhiwu sighed softly: "It's like this, the three pilgrims who were staying at Chuyun Temple went missing yesterday."

Zhou Fangdong's expression turned serious, and he reflexively summoned the system panel in his mind.

Izumo-kan is a facility near the apartment; if something happened at the temple, he should have known about it immediately.

He initially thought he hadn't noticed while using the evil god disguise function last night, but the facilities around the apartment showed that Yun Guan was not abnormal.

Zhang Zhiwu, oblivious to Zhou Fangdong's absent-mindedness, continued, "The three of them didn't disappear from the Taoist temple; they simply didn't return after get off work. Their workplaces aren't dangerous places, and they all carried the mother-child talismans I drew. Logically, even if they were attacked by ghosts, I should be able to sense their condition using the talismans."

As he spoke, he pulled out three talismans from his pocket: "But these talismans seem to have failed... I can't even sense whether they are alive or dead. This situation doesn't seem like encountering ghosts or monsters, but more like some kind of force has isolated them from this world."

Upon hearing his description, Zhou Fangdong immediately thought of the main god.

Zhou Fangdong pressed further, "Are these three people working in the same place?"

Zhang Zhiwu shook his head: "They are different locations. One of them works at a supermarket near the train station in the south of the city. Although this supermarket is far from the city center, it is not in the suburbs, so it is not deserted. Moreover, I had my apprentice check it out, and there was nothing wrong with the supermarket. It is still operating normally."

"The other two, one was carrying cement at a construction site in the south of the city, and the other was also a porter, carrying construction waste in an old residential area in the east... There was nothing unusual about either of these places."

Hearing him say that, Zhou Fangdong was somewhat puzzled.

He initially thought the three were trapped in the God's instance, but they disappeared in different locations, and no God's instance appeared in those locations... This situation could mean either the God abandoned the descent instance and chose to capture people directly in the God's space, or there was a high-level ghost that was extremely good at disguising itself and that even Zhang Qingyang couldn't detect, capturing people.

Zhou Fangdong felt that the probability of the main god was very low, because based on Duan Wenyu's experience, the main god needed to screen people in the dungeon before recruiting them in this world. If there were too many players who had completed the dungeon, there would be a second round of screening.

So it's the work of ghosts and monsters?

Just as Zhou Fangdong was deep in thought, the door to room 106, which was not far away, suddenly opened. Hong Zhong hurriedly walked out of the room, and paused when he saw Zhou Fangdong and Zhang Zhiwu in the corridor.

Seeing his expression, Zhou Fangdong knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, the next moment Hong Zhong spoke:

“Landlord, many citizens disappeared into thin air yesterday… The Bureau of Inspection has created an instrument that can detect supernatural fluctuations in the God's Dungeon. We haven’t detected any supernatural power related to the God's Dungeon, so I suspect this might be retaliation from the Bone Heir Society. Yesterday, the Bureau of Inspection dealt with two of their strongholds in the city center. They must have summoned some strange thing to retaliate against the Bureau of Inspection’s actions.”

Judging from the landlord's attitude towards the Bone Society, he strongly dislikes the cult members. If he were involved, the matter could be resolved more quickly.

“Send me the list of missing persons and their addresses first…” Zhou Fangdong paused here, “Give me your phone.”

Hong Zhong handed over his phone without hesitation.

Zhou Fangdong spent 100 ghost coins to modify Hong Zhong's phone, then returned it: "Now you can contact me directly. Go to the Supervision Bureau first, and just transfer all subsequent information about this matter to me via your phone."

Finally, an opportunity was found to modify Hong Zhong's phone. It had been quite a hassle to rely on Duan Wenyu and Miao Zheng to relay messages.

Hong Zhong took the phone and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

I have finally gained the landlord's trust. It seems he is not angry about what happened at Penghu Garden yesterday.

After Hong Zhong left, Zhang Zhiwu handed the three talismans to Zhou Fangdong: "Young friend, I'm entrusting these talismans for the three missing pilgrims to you. I'll leave the rest to you."

Zhou Fangdong nodded in agreement and continued walking towards the garbage disposal station.

Since he couldn't leave the apartment, there was no use in being anxious. He would wait for Hong Zhong to send over the follow-up information.

After I collect the ghost coins from the garbage dump, I'll go to the second floor and clean up room 206.

There are only 10 days left until the Night of a Hundred Demons. Although the system said that he didn't need to worry because of the [Half-Body Shrine] skill, he was still a little anxious.

We should take advantage of this time to complete more tasks and accumulate skill points to upgrade our attack skills, just in case.

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Author's Note: Currently unlocked tenant profiles:

Room 101, Zhao Dawei (the Ghost in the Mirror), a middle-aged man who is down on his luck, is currently working as a deliveryman at Guijia Furniture Store.

Room 102, Duan Wenyu (the child ghost and four ghost infants), an unlucky graduate of the Agricultural College, leads to the main god instance, the former tenant of the apartment convenience store, and is currently an intern investigator in the Abnormal Investigation Department, still in his probationary period.

Room 103, Mu Yuechan, a Republic-era actress, is a previous tenant of the Bone Inheritance Society and the first ghost tenant.

At 104 Convenience Store, the clerks, a long-tongued ghost and a wedding dress ghost, were locked in a life-or-death struggle, dying due to a ritual performed by the Bone Descendants Association. They weren't ghost tenants, just ghosts living in the rooms. They worked at the convenience store without pay, but they didn't have to pay rent.

(Ghost coins can be seen as the ghost energy on ghosts. They can be used for trading or to enhance strength. The apartment has a special yin energy, and ghosts living in the apartment enhance their strength very quickly. They can automatically produce ghost coins every month without trading with the outside world. The stronger the ghost, the more ghost coins it has.)

Room 105, Xiao Xiaoyu (the Ripper), an infinite flow player being hunted by the main god. Leaving the apartment greatly increases the likelihood of attracting the main god's instance. She first appears at the South Suburb Funeral Home and is brought back by Duan Wenyu. She is a prerequisite tenant for unlocking the apartment's activity room.

Room 106, Hong Zhong (Cat Ghost), Captain of the Investigation Division of the Supervisory Bureau, King of Cleaning, Garbage Station Manager of Liwan Apartment.

Room 107, Zhang Qingyang (Blood Shadow Bag), a young Taoist priest in his growth stage, is a pre-tenant who unlocks the facilities around the apartment.

Room 108, Zhang Zhiwu, the ghost tenant, the zombie Taoist priest, the walking encyclopedia, Master Zhang Qingyang.

Room 109, Miao Zheng (the Dismemberment Ghost), is a paranormal livestreamer certified by the Bureau of Supervision. She is very strong in fighting and is paid by the Paranormal Investigation Department. Hong Zhong is her superior.

Room 201, Li Zhe and three other investigators (sick ghosts). All four are members of Hong Zhong's team. Li Zhe was sold to the Ghost Market by the Bone Inheritance Society while investigating a peddler, and was then bought from the Ghost Market by Sun Dali, the director of the Delicious Slaughterhouse. Miao Zheng then bought him out of the slaughterhouse for 300 ghost coins during a visit.

Room 202, He Yansheng (Bandaged Ghost), a pessimistic philosopher-doctor, is a half-ghost transformed by the Bone Inheritance Society. His blood can remove ghosthood and suppress curses. He first appeared in the main god instance of the abandoned hospital in the northern suburbs, and was brought back to the apartment by Xiao Xiaoyu and Hong Zhong. He was once a tenant of Room 202, but was captured by the Bone Inheritance Society in order to revive his wife. He is a prerequisite tenant for opening the apartment's basement.

Room 203, Hou San (Puff Ghost), a half-ghost, whose body and soul are parasitized by his younger brother. He likes to steal things, is a furniture vendor selling toilets in the ghost market, and an emotional supplier to the ghost market paper offering shop.

Room 204, Tang Huili (Zan Hun), a highly inspired otaku comic artist, enters the apartment bringing clues about Penghu Homeland, and becomes a pre-tenant who unlocks the landlord's exclusive skills.

Room 205, Yin Xi (Ghost Granny), a blood sacrifice of the Bone Inheritance Society, the only surviving tenant on the second floor during the Flesh Ganoderma incident, was once a tenant of Room 205 and lived with Ghost Granny for a long time. A prerequisite tenant used to unlock a certain important event.

Apartment Basement: Ghost Tenant - Shadow Phantom, a prerequisite for becoming a lamp oil worker, an irrational spirit, and a pet.

Ghost Bus Driver: Ghost Tenant Wang Yongshun, who lives in the bus.

Hidden room on the first floor of the back building of the apartment: Ghost tenant Ke Yan, a paranoid researcher who is obsessed with researching death and resurrection. He is a legendary investigator. The information about the meat lingzhi and medicine jar in the apartment was left by him. Hou San once stole one of his hands. He is the prerequisite tenant for unlocking the back building of the apartment.