Chapter 22 The Staircase Leading to the Second Floor of the Apartment: The Function of Incense Offering, the Staircase...
Zhou Fangdong didn't even bother to rest and forced himself to stand up.
He tossed the bundle of incense into his inventory and, in a hurry, teleported directly to Room 101.
After leaving room 101, Zhou Fangdong walked quickly toward the elevator.
Miao Zheng's personality trait is that she loves adventure. After seeing her tenant profile, Zhou Fangdong was already mentally prepared.
There was nothing I could do; I chose this tenant myself. Although she was prone to problems, I couldn't just stand by and watch her die in the hallway.
Moreover, once Miao Zheng dies, not only will the dismembered ghost who shares the apartment with her not pay the 1,000 ghost coins rent for this month, but the reward for side quest 1 will also be taken back by the system, and room 109 will need to remain vacant for another month before it can be rented out again.
Simply put, Zhou Fangdong will lose 2,300 ghost coins directly or indirectly... His entire net worth is less than 2,300, so losing that much money is practically the death of him.
*
Miao Zheng didn't know how long she had been trapped on this staircase. She sat wearily on the steps and glanced at her phone, which had no signal.
The phone screen was still distorted; I couldn't contact the outside world for help, let alone check the time.
It was only then that Miao Zheng truly realized how terrifying the Liwan Apartment was... She had underestimated this infamous haunted building.
Miao Zheng deeply regretted his reckless actions last night.
Yesterday, thanks to the protection of the key to room 109, she was spared from the ghosts in the building and managed to capture a lot of interesting horror footage in the apartment.
In addition, her two videos, "[Liwan Apartment Check-in Vlog]" and "[Daily Life Living with a Ghost Sister]", were uploaded in the morning and went viral by noon.
Miao Zheng, who had never seen such an overwhelming amount of traffic, was so happy that he lost his mind and even forgot about the training content of the Anomaly Investigation Department.
Relying on the fact that she had the key to 109 and could move freely within the apartment, she actually walked out of the door of room 109 at night, during the peak of ghost activity, without conducting any prior investigation.
Before leaving the room, the ghostly hand in the black plastic bag at the door even tried to stop Miao Zheng, but she was too excited to care and ran out excitedly with the camera in her arms.
After all, the rules for room 109 do not prohibit tenants from going out at night, and the flow of people will only be in the hands of those who dare to try.
He died as a result of trying it.
As soon as Miao Zheng stepped out of the room, he sensed something was wrong—the Liwan Apartment at night was a completely different place from the Liwan Apartment during the day.
The once dilapidated and dark corridor was transformed into a brightly lit space at night, with the air even filled with the delicate and pleasant fragrance of gardenias.
The ubiquitous dust on the ground has vanished, replaced by gleaming marble tiles. Thick, sound-absorbing red carpets have even been laid in areas frequented by tenants.
The windows in the corridor, which were originally boarded up, now have the boards gone, the glass is clear and clean, and the red velvet curtains are neatly tied to both sides of the window frame with wheat-ear-shaped ties.
The ceiling, which originally had exposed metal water pipes, now looks like it has been fitted with a suspended ceiling, and there are even painted patterns on the ceiling.
Two European-style floral wall lamps emit a soft and warm light, hanging in front of each door.
—This is nothing like the dilapidated apartment from earlier in the day; it's practically a lavishly decorated five-star hotel.
Miao Zheng was terrified by the scene before him; the hot blood in his body turned into cold sweat, which seeped from his forehead.
Having worked as a paranormal anchor in the Paranormal Investigation Department for many years, she has come to know all too well how terrifying this kind of paranormal power that can change the real environment can be, because she often goes deep into various haunted areas to broadcast live.
A-rank... no, at least an S-rank ghost could do that.
Miao Zheng's trembling hand touched the realistic velvet curtains, his heart beating faster and faster.
A-class ghosts can create illusions, while only S-class ghosts can alter reality.
Even a B-rank ghost could kill her easily, let alone an S-rank ghost.
Miao Zheng turned to go back to her room, but the door to room 109 was locked. Just as she was about to take out the key hanging around her neck to open the door, the door simply vanished.
Miao Zheng's hand holding the key froze in place, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on the key, the teeth of the key digging deeply into her palm.
The stinging sensation brought Miao Zheng back to her senses. She decisively threw aside the camera she used to cherish, discarded all her burdens, and ran towards the apartment entrance as fast as she could.
Since we can't go back to our room, we have no choice but to leave this apartment as soon as possible. If we can leave successfully, there's still a chance of survival.
However, the corridor seemed to have no end, and Miao Zheng didn't know how long she had been running, but the room number next to her was always 108—it seemed like she was just standing still.
The unseen ghost has its eyes on her.
The moment Miao Zheng realized this, the corridor in front of him suddenly disappeared and turned into a staircase platform.
Directly opposite her was a staircase leading upwards.
The staircase has no railings and is completely in a raw, unfinished concrete state.
Apart from this staircase, the surroundings were completely shrouded in a white mist, eerily quiet.
The brightly lit corridor had vanished, leaving her surrounded only by darkness and white mist, with only this staircase leading to an unknown destination.
Seeing this bizarre scene with no way out, Miao Zheng gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and inserted the key to room 109 vertically into his palm. He then used the rope at the end of the key to tie it tightly to his hand.
—Unless her hand is cut off, the key will never be lost.
The key to room 109 is her only lifeline now. As long as she doesn't lose it, she will always be the tenant of room 109. When the landlord finds out she's missing, he will definitely come looking for her.
After doing all this, Miao Zheng noticed that the white mist around her was approaching her at a visible speed.
She dared not gamble on what the consequences would be if she were touched by the white mist, and before the mist got closer, she resolutely walked up the stairs in front of her.
The stairs seemed to have no end; no matter which way she went, all she saw were these concrete steps.
The white mist, like a rising flood, was gradually swallowing up the path Miao Zheng had walked.
After nearly slipping and falling, Miao Zheng dared not continue climbing and, exhausted, sat down on the steps.
Miao Zheng didn't know how long she had been there. Although she was exhausted, she didn't feel thirsty or hungry.
What kind of hell is this place...?
Now all we can do is pray that this endless staircase will disappear after dawn.
Miao Zheng had originally planned to sit on the steps to rest for a while and recover her strength. But for some reason, the moment she sat down, a strong sense of drowsiness washed over her.
She closed her eyes groggily and lay down on the steps.
The moment she lay down, the white mist below suddenly accelerated its spread, quickly reaching Miao Zheng's side and enveloping her.
Although he was lying on the cold cement steps, Miao Zheng felt as if he were lying in his mother's arms.
She felt as if she had become a baby again, nestled in her mother's soft arms, with a gentle lullaby playing in her ears and the scent of gardenias filling her nostrils... Her consciousness was sinking deeper and deeper, falling into a deep, sweet dream from which she would never wake up.
The white mist gradually swallowed the endless staircase, turning this dark space into a vast sea of clouds, with only the step where Miao Zheng was lying remaining.
Miao Zheng's body was slowly sinking, seemingly about to merge with the steps. Just then, the key in her hand began to flash a faint red light.
*
This was Zhou Fangdong's first time entering the corridor to the left of the elevator.
Unlike the corridor where the tenants' rooms were located, this corridor was just a narrow, ordinary stairwell, about three people side by side, with no windows and no lights.
The [dark vision] talent granted by the embedded kerosene lamp allowed Zhou Fangdong to clearly see everything happening in the dark environment.
—A group of children are playing in the hallway.
The most eye-catching were the five little boys in junior high school uniforms. These kids, who came from the furniture store, had completely blended in with the kids who loved playing soccer. They even used their red chairs to make a goal.
Meanwhile, two little girls in red chairs were playing jump rope with two long-haired women.
If you ignore the overly dark environment, the scene before you is warm and harmonious.
A few steps past the group of children is the stairwell. There's an ordinary-looking staircase there. If you walk up the stairs, you should be able to reach the second floor of the apartment building.
The red dot representing Miao Zheng was right there, but Zhou Fangdong couldn't see it at all.
He suspected that the built-in "live person filter" of [Skill 3] might have caused him to miss some important information.
Zhou Fangdong took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, and turned off the skill.
The scene before my eyes suddenly changed.
The heartwarming scene of children playing vanished instantly, replaced by headless little boys and boys in school uniforms with their bodies smashed, playing soccer.
The boys in school uniforms ran around, their heads covered in blood, chunks of flesh falling to the ground. Five or six round, chubby little heads rolled around at their feet, emitting cheerful giggles.
On the girls' side, the little girl whose body had been smashed connected her intestines with her friend's intestines and looped them around the feet of two black-haired women in white, where they were happily playing jump rope.
The two women, whose intestines were being held together by rubber bands, looked exactly alike. They were dressed in white, with black hair covering their faces, and their exposed skin was bluish-purple, covered with dense, raised suture scars.
As the girls jumped around happily, the scars on the woman's body began to open and close repeatedly, as if helping the girls count their numbers. The sutures on the scars were stretched open and closed, revealing the pale, bloodless flesh inside, much like the constantly opening and closing mouth of a fish.
Even though he was mentally prepared, Zhou Fangdong was still terrified by the bizarre scene before him.
He tried to maintain his composure and quickly searched for Miao Zheng's whereabouts among the ghosts.
But it still hasn't been found.
Zhou Fangdong looked at the steps not far away.
Since he's not among these ghosts, he must be on the stairs... Could Miao Zheng have gone up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment?
But these ghosts completely blocked his way. Just looking at them made Zhou Fangdong almost lose his nerve. Asking him to pass through these ghosts would be a real test of his mental fortitude.
Zhou Fangdong thought for a moment and took out three sticks of incense from his inventory.
After silently reciting the instructions, the three incense sticks spontaneously combusted without a flame, emitting a very pleasant sandalwood fragrance.
All the ghosts and monsters present paused, turning their heads in unison to look at Zhou Fangdong's location.
The ghosts in the corridor stared greedily at the incense offerings in Zhou Fangdong's hand.
But because of the landlord's key, they didn't dare to go forward and just stood there, constantly twitching their noses.
Zhou Fangdong stuck the three incense sticks into the gap in the metal water pipe on the wall next to him, then took two steps to the side and said softly, "Come and eat, everyone."
All the ghosts and monsters immediately rushed towards him.
The first to arrive were those soccer kids, who kicked their own heads right under the water pipe.
As the sandalwood incense wafted through the air, the children's heads immediately showed expressions of intoxication, like cats that had inhaled too much catnip, rolling around under the water pipes.
Next came the two adult female ghosts covered in scars. They were agile and climbed the wall like two giant spiders, then up to the top of the water pipe. Their dense scars were fully exposed, greedily absorbing the fragrance produced by the burning incense.
Then came the group of little devils in red chairs. They came running over, picking up their own blood and flesh while carrying their intestines. Like stray animals begging for food, they obediently squatted under the water pipe, their bloodied faces filled with happiness as they ate and whispered among themselves.
"I told you that living in an apartment is much happier than being bought by someone else. How could you possibly eat such delicious incense among humans?"
"That's right, that's right. Not only can I get off the chair and move around freely, but I can also play with so many friends. I can't be happier."
"Move over a bit, you're crowding me."
"Don't fight, don't fight! That gentleman is watching. We need to be polite in front of him."
Zhou Fangdong tried his best to adapt to the scene before him, silently comforting himself that these were all NPCs in a haunted house, and that it was all special effects makeup.
Actually, after watching it for a while, you get used to it. It's true that mental resilience is developed through training.
After spending a long time with these little ghosts, Zhou Fangdong discovered something else: he felt that the little ghosts from the furniture store seemed to be more human-like than the ghosts in the apartment—they were more rational, more talkative, and still maintained their personalities from when they were alive. If you ignored their overly bloody appearance, they looked just like humans.
Zhou Fangdong is still unsure of the state of the ghost in the apartment room, since he has only had brief contact with the ghost in room 102 so far.
However, these ghosts that roam the apartment corridors are very aggressive and have real malice towards humans. Zhao Dawei, who initially came to see the apartment, almost lost his life because of them. They are completely controlled by their obsessions before they died and act on instinct, just like wild beasts driven by their appetites.
I don't know how that furniture store owner managed to do it. If possible, Zhou Fangdong would like to learn from him... After all, it would be easier to communicate with ghosts who are more human.
Seeing that the three incense sticks were almost gone, Zhou Fangdong took out three more from his inventory: "Has anyone seen a short-haired girl about my height coming to this side of the stairs? These three incense sticks are a deposit. If you help me find her, I will pay you three more."
As soon as the words were spoken, all the ghosts and monsters in the hallway whose faces could be clearly seen became visibly excited.
Just as they were about to approach, they suddenly seemed to see something and stopped in their tracks. Then, some climbed the wall, some rolled on the ground, and they scattered like birds and beasts with a whoosh.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was in a daze, a purplish-red rope suddenly hung down from above him and wrapped around the three incense sticks in his hand.
Looking up along the purplish-red 'rope,' Zhou Fangdong saw a ghostly face that had been skinned.
Its temporomandibular joint was open at an incredible angle, its scarlet mouth took up almost half of its face, and the purplish-red 'rope' wrapped around the incense sticks was its tongue sticking out of its mouth.
Upon seeing such a face up close, Zhou Fangdong was so frightened that he immediately released the incense.
Then he saw the three incense sticks being stuffed into that exaggerated mouth as if they were being put into a pocket, rolled up by that tongue.
"We meet again..." Zhou Fangdong suddenly felt a headache coming on.
This ghost is the same one that was clinging to the chandelier and almost hanged Zhao Dawei.
It was also the ghost that hanged the couple in Room 102 when Zhou Fangdong first took on the role of Room 102.
It was the same one that appeared on the chandelier in the apartment entrance when Duan Wenyu first came to view the apartment, the one fighting with the wedding dress ghost.
Zhou Fangdong remembered that he hadn't seen it when he passed by the apartment entrance earlier, and he had no idea where it had come from.
Now we can only hope that it will accept the incense and leave obediently.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was silently confronting the ghost, the ghost lowered its tongue again.
Seeing that Zhou Fangdong did not react, the tongue turned and pointed towards the stairs.
Zhou Fangdong seemed to understand what it meant in a daze: "You mean, you saw that tall girl with short hair? You're going to take me to her?"
The long-tongued demon tapped its tongue, waved its deformed limbs with their joints turned upside down, and climbed up the ceiling toward the stairs.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was about to follow, he suddenly felt a chilling coldness behind him.
He subconsciously turned his head and saw a bride, more than three meters tall, dressed in a red wedding gown, who had appeared behind him at some point.
The face of the wedding dress ghost was completely hidden under the red veil; even looking up from below, its face was not visible. Instead, its eyes were replaced by layers upon layers of human faces on the wedding dress—those faces with their dark, hollow eyes all staring at Zhou Fangdong.
A strange telepathic connection suddenly occurred to Zhou Fangdong, who sighed softly and understood what the ghost in the wedding dress wanted to do.
To prevent the wedding dress ghost from fighting with the long-tongued ghost in front of him again and delaying his search for Miao Zheng, Zhou Fangdong simply handed it three sticks of incense as an offering.
A withered right hand, painted with bright red nail polish, reached out and took three sticks of incense as offerings, tucking them into its wide sleeve. Immediately afterward, the bright red veil seemed to move on its own, revealing the pale lower half of her face. Then, her lips, painted with scarlet lipstick, curled upward forcefully, revealing an exaggerated smile that almost tore half her face apart.
It's probably an expression of gratitude...
Seeing that the wedding dress ghost made no further moves, Zhou Fangdong didn't delay any longer and walked in the direction the long-tongued ghost had left.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but although the chilling feeling behind him had subsided considerably, it seemed to still linger, like a shadow.
Zhou Fangdong looked back again to confirm that the ghost in the wedding dress had disappeared.
He shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking about it... The most important thing now is to find the missing Miao Zheng as soon as possible.
Unbeknownst to him, his shadow on the stairwell floor had somehow turned an eerie dark red.
When Zhou Fangdong reached the stairs, the Long-Tongued Ghost climbed down from the ceiling and lay on the stairs like a giant gecko.
Seeing Zhou Fangdong arrive at the bottom of the stairs, it pointed to a step with its tongue and then climbed up it. Next, it pointed to the step one step away, and then its long, strange body leaped over the middle step and lay down on the step one step away.
Zhou Fangdong understood—if you want to go upstairs, some steps you can step on, and some you can't.
The incense offering was well worth it. If it weren't for the ghost's guidance, although he wouldn't be trapped by these steps due to his teleportation skill, it would have been difficult for him to find Miao Zheng.
As he went upstairs, Zhou Fangdong noticed that the steps the long-tongued ghost pointed out to him were all patterned.
The patterns on those steps... looked just like mummies curled up in the stones.
*
Miao Zheng, lost in a sweet dream, seemed to hear heavy footsteps.
She gradually regained consciousness and groggily woke up from her sleep.
When she woke up, she was shocked to find that half of her body was stuck in the steps and was slowly sinking, as if she were in a swamp.
The only part that was completely exposed was her right hand, which was holding the key.
In this situation, Miao Zheng had no time to think about anything else. She endured the pain and used her right hand to support herself on the ground, trying to pull her upper body out of the steps.
However, no matter how hard she tried, it was to no avail. Not only could she not sit up, but she sank even faster.
The heavy footsteps grew closer, and Miao Zheng gradually despaired.
She was still shrouded in white mist, unable to see anything clearly or tell whether the approaching footsteps were from a human or a ghost.
Under this combined physical and psychological torment, Miao Zheng felt that his spirit had been stretched to its limit and could break at any moment.
She vowed that if she could be rescued this time, she would never act so impulsively again.
As the footsteps drew closer, there seemed to be a rustling or crawling sound as well.
Miao Zheng's expression grew increasingly grim.
Finally, the footsteps stopped on the steps below her.
The chilly fog suddenly parted neatly to both sides like a curtain, and a figure slowly emerged from the fog.
He held a golden incense stick in his hand. The smoke from the burning incense rose straight up, unaffected by the outside world, like a sharp blade that sliced through the swirling white mist.
As the fog cleared, Miao Zheng saw a familiar face.
That face, which looked like it was carved from white jade, looked very tired at this moment, with a sickly pale color and no blood, as if it had just recovered from a serious illness.
Yet it was precisely this somewhat frail and sickly appearance that gave off an indescribable sense of awe.
He simply stood there in silence, enough to stop the surrounding fog from rising. The invisible pressure emanating from him was almost suffocating, and even the air seemed to freeze.
Those captivating eyes were slightly lowered, gazing at Miao Zheng without the slightest emotional fluctuation. There was no scrutiny, no accusation; it was as if a deity seated on a high platform, looking down upon the kneeling believers below through the rising incense smoke, with an unchanging compassion.
In stark contrast to this godlike sense of redemption were the terrifying ghosts lurking around him.
A skinned demon, covered in blood and made of scarlet flesh, lay prostrate at his feet, its long, purplish-red tongue coiled around his ankle like a venomous snake.
Not only that, but a tall, wedding-dress-clad ghost was also lying behind him.
A pair of withered hands with scarlet fingernails gently rested on his shoulders, and a wide red wedding gown hung down behind him like a cloak, completely enveloping his body. Countless human faces were sewn onto the bright red gown, and those faces were writhing and twitching wildly, as if they were still alive, their empty mouths gaping open, emitting silent screams.
Compared to the gentle young man he had presented when they first met, the landlord now displayed an extremely eerie and inhuman quality.
It's hard to say whether it brings salvation or terror, but the terrifying power that makes all ghosts and monsters unconditionally submit to him gives people an indescribable sense of security.
Just seeing him appear made all of Miao Zheng's tension disappear.
Miao Zheng breathed a heavy sigh of relief and secretly made up his mind.
Although the landlord just stared at her silently without saying a word, Miao Zheng could tell what he wanted to say.
The ghosts and monsters in Liwan Apartments are not to be treated casually like a game. If she continues to recklessly adventure, she will be abandoned sooner or later.
I must never act so recklessly again.
...Actually, Zhou Fangdong was thinking about how to pull Miao Zheng out of the steps.
He originally intended to place the incense stick he was holding directly next to Miao Zheng, but he was afraid that the incense stick he was holding, which had burned down to almost nothing, wouldn't be effective enough, so he took another one out of his inventory and stuck it in the ground.
He discovered the method of using incense by accident.
Not long after Zhou Fangdong stepped onto the stairs, an unexpected incident occurred. It was as if he had fallen into a maze, and the seemingly short staircase seemed to have no end.
Although the long-tongued ghost's instructions could help avoid the traps on the stairs, they would eventually run out of energy if they continued to delay like this.
In addition, a strange white mist began to rise around them at some unknown time. In this critical moment, Zhou Fangdong remembered a saying he had heard before.
The saying goes that when you encounter a ghost wall, you can light three incense sticks and bow to the four directions, which is equivalent to giving the ghost that caused the ghost wall some "toll money" in exchange for safe passage.
Incense itself is also said to have purifying and exorcising effects, and can dispel negative energy.
Although he didn't know what created this ghostly staircase, nor whether the white mist was actually yin energy, Zhou Fangdong decided to light incense first.
However, he only had offering incense, which he had obtained by expending half his health. Without knowing whether lighting incense would be effective, lighting three sticks of offering incense directly seemed like a waste.
So Zhou Fangdong lit only one incense stick, wanting to test the effect first.
Fortunately, it really worked. After he lit the incense, not only did the white mist recede, but he also saw Miao Zheng after only a few steps.
When Zhou Fangdong found Miao Zheng, she was in very bad condition. The left half of her face and the left half of her body had completely sunk into the steps, and her posture at this moment looked just like those mummified corpses curled up in the steps.
If she had arrived any later, she probably would have sunk into the steps like those mummies, becoming an inconspicuous mummy pattern on the stairs.
Because the incense offering had proven very effective, Zhou Fangdong, after finding Miao Zheng, decided to give it a try and placed a stick of incense next to her.
While burning incense, Zhou Fangdong felt a heaviness and a chill on his back, as if something was lying behind him.
I encountered so many ghosts today, I must have gotten stuck with something... Sigh, it'll be fine once I get back to my room. Anyway, neither ghosts nor humans can get into his room.
Despite his thoughts, Zhou Fangdong still felt a little scared, which made his expression increasingly serious and his face increasingly pale.
The incense worked very well; as the incense on the ground burned out, the cement encasing Miao Zheng slowly crumbled away. In the end, not only did Miao Zheng successfully escape, but after the incense had completely burned out, a memorial tablet emerged from the staircase.
The memorial tablet appeared to be made of dark purple sandalwood, with intricate carvings, and the side with the inscription was placed face down on the ground.
Zhou Fangdong ignored the memorial tablet and helped Miao Zheng up first.
At the same time, the system's electronic voice also sounded:
[Beep—Tenant Miao Zheng's favorability rating has reached 100 (109)]
[Tenant favorability rating reaches the target; rewards can be claimed on the favorability rating interface.]
When Zhou Fangdong helped Miao Zheng up, he noticed that there was still a key stuck in the palm of her right hand, and the wound was still dripping blood... Just looking at it made his own palm feel a phantom pain. She was too ruthless. With such courage, no wonder she was able to hold on until he came looking for her.
After confirming that Miao Zheng could stand on his own, Zhou Fangdong picked up the sandalwood memorial tablet.
Before I could even make out the writing on the memorial tablet, the system's electronic voice sounded again:
[Congratulations, host, you have found the control key to the apartment building's staircase]
[The staircase in Liwan Apartment is now officially unlocked. The host can choose to fully open the staircase or close it.]
[Hint: The sandalwood memorial tablet has other hidden functions; please continue to explore. You can try to start a conversation with Miao Zheng, the tenant of room 109; she seems to have discovered an important clue last night.]
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