Chapter 51: The Method to Resolve the Meat Spirit Mushroom and the Side Effects of Cohabitation with a Cat and a Ghost...
Although the chunks of flesh in the corridor clearly lacked self-awareness, Zhou Fangdong still used [Soul Absorption] on the pile of flesh in front of him, just to give it a try.
The skill didn't work... I am indeed in a state of irrationality.
Zhou Fangdong sighed softly and opened his task panel to take a look.
Although I had already guessed that the flesh and blood on the second floor belonged to the remaining two cleaners, the progress of side quest 4, item 2, which involves getting the dead cleaners back on duty, was still (3/5).
The system shouldn't give him an impossible task, so there must be a way to restore the two cleaners to their sanity.
He needs more information about the summoning ritual recorded by the Heirs' Bone Society, especially information related to the fleshy Ganoderma.
Remembering the two towering bookshelves in the activity room's reading area, and the densely packed books on them, Zhou Fangdong left the second floor and returned to the activity room on the first floor.
The activity room of Liwan Apartment was once the site of the bone-setting society's sacrificial ceremony. There must be many other materials hidden here, and there may be records about the flesh-shaped Ganoderma lucidum.
When Zhou Fangdong came to the bookshelf this time, he took out a stick of incense and waved it in the gap between the bookshelves.
The Gap Ghost appeared, drawn by the scent: "Do you... need me... to find something?"
"Is there any information about Ganoderma lucidum (meat spirit mushroom) on this bookshelf?"
“Some…” As soon as the words left its mouth, the Gap Ghost disappeared into the darkness. This time it was gone for quite a while, and only after a while did it reappear in the gap with a few tattered pieces of paper.
Zhou Fangdong handed over the incense and took the papers.
The paper had many correction marks and was full of wrinkles, suggesting it was taken from a wastepaper basket.
Moreover, the messy handwriting on the paper looked very familiar, almost identical to the handwriting on the piece of paper containing information about the medicine jar that Zhou Fangdong found under the cabinet in the mahjong room.
This feeling... these papers don't seem to have been written by those cultists, but rather as information recorded by some outsider while investigating the Bone Society in the apartment.
These papers do indeed mention the "meat spirit mushroom," and it appears they were written after the anomaly occurred on the second floor.
The method for summoning and cultivating flesh spirit mushrooms was also described above, and it was completely consistent with the information that Hong Zhong found from the high-ranking members of the Bone Inheritance Society.
However, compared to cult materials that only describe the methods of summoning and cultivating but not the methods of resolving them, these papers contain many methods for resolving the mutation of the flesh spirit mushroom.
The first method is to continue nourishing the blood of young boys and girls, bringing the mutated flesh-shaped Ganoderma back on track and allowing it to fully develop.
The second method involves finding the fleshy Ganoderma seeds that were swallowed before they fully matured among the flesh and blood in the second-floor corridor; this is the source of the mutation.
The recorder clearly preferred the second solution, and wrote extensively about many ways to find Ganoderma lucidum seeds from flesh and blood.
The most reliable option, and the one that Zhou Fangdong cared about the most, was to go to the Ghost Market.
I heard that the butcher at the Ghost Market has been buying up Ganoderma lucidum (meat-like fungus), and he seems to have a way to remove the seeds from it.
Although the method written on the paper could deal with the mutated flesh spirit mushroom on the second floor, it was clear that the recorder did not care about the two humans who had merged with the mutated flesh spirit mushroom.
Zhou Fangdong was a little worried that if he dealt with the flesh-eating mushroom seeds according to the recorder's ideas and solved the problem of the rampant flesh and blood in the corridor, would his two cleaners who had merged with the flesh-eating mushrooms also disappear?
By then, let alone helping them regain their sanity, their bodies will cease to exist.
We still need to think about it some more and see if there are any other options... Let's consider the ghost market as a last resort.
Around 5 p.m., Hong Zhong returned to the apartment with five cult members.
The five bald men were neatly stacked on the truck bed like cargo, each of them fast asleep with their eyes closed.
Zhou Fangdong learned of Hong Zhong's movements from the list of special tenants he was watching and waited at the apartment entrance early.
Miao Zheng and Duan Wenyu also came over and helped Hong Zhong unload the cult members from the car at the door.
Xiao Xiaoyu and Miao Zheng returned at noon. After spending the night at Chuyun Temple, the curse marks associated with the evil god were no longer on their bodies.
After receiving Hong Zhongfa's message to "come and help," Miao Zheng, who was idly staying in his room, immediately rushed to the door.
Following Zhou Fangdong's instructions, the three of them let these cult members into the activity room of Liwan Apartment.
Although Miao Zheng was very curious about this room that had appeared out of nowhere, she tried her best to suppress her curiosity and forcibly suppressed her desire to explore because she had suffered a great loss in this corridor before.
...If she stays here too long, another staircase might suddenly appear and trap her. It would be too embarrassing if she ended up in danger again and had to be rescued by her landlord.
After settling the five cult members, Hong Zhong remembered what had happened at noon and asked, "Landlord, I didn't go back to my room last night, nor did I prick my finger to draw blood at four in the morning. Does that count as violating the tenant rules?"
Zhou Fangdong was taken aback by the question.
The tenant rules for Room 106 were not something he figured out himself; they were simply copied from Zhang Zhiwu's words and polished. He didn't even know if there would be any problems if he didn't bleed.
This is different from the tenant rules for room 102, which clearly state that "when tenants are not in the room, they need to leave enough food under the bed in the storage room." The tenant rules for room 106 do not say whether or not tenants need to be bled after leaving the room.
Zhang Zhiwu isn't around right now... so when in doubt, just ask the system.
After receiving a positive response from the system, Zhou Fangdong relaxed: "It's okay. If you're not in the room, you don't need to follow this rule. It doesn't count as a violation of the tenant contract."
Hong Zhong breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the staff, and returned to Room 106. Just as he was about to enter, he ran into Zhang Zhiwu, who was returning from Chuyun Temple.
The zombie Taoist priest scrutinized Hong Zhong for a moment, then instead of returning to his own room, he found Zhou Fangdong, who appeared to be in a daze at the apartment entrance but was actually checking the system interface.
“Young friend, the seedling you’re raising in room 106 only moved in yesterday, right? His connection with the cat ghost is a bit too fast. Make sure he remembers to bleed out every day, otherwise the side effects might be quite noticeable.”
Zhou Fangdong looked puzzled.
What foreigner? Hong Zhong looks exactly like a local man. How did Zhang Zhiwu figure out he was a foreigner from his face?
Thinking this through, Zhou Fangdong simply asked directly, "What are foreigners? What are the side effects of not bleeding them?"
"Young friend, when you left the cat ghost behind and consulted me about how the cat ghost could coexist with humans, wasn't it to raise a seedling?" Zhang Zhiwu was also a little puzzled. "I thought you felt that the tenants in the apartment were too weak and had no ability to resist ghosts, so you wanted to find another way and raise a tenant who could help you."
After a pause, Zhang Zhiwu continued, "People raise cats in life, and cats raise people in death. These 'Yang people' are humans raised by cat ghosts. The stronger their yang energy and the more abundant their qi and blood, the more cat ghost power they can withstand."
“Bleeding at four o’clock every morning is to use one’s own yang energy to feed back to the cat ghost. The purpose is to stabilize the connection between the cat ghost and the yang person, so that the yang person can tell the cat ghost, ‘I am not dead yet.’”
“If we don’t bleed them, there won’t be any major problems, but the cat demon will worry that the human it’s raising will die. Also, because X has an apartment tenant contract, it will use the apartment key to speed up the assimilation process. If the assimilation process is too fast, some cat-like features may appear on the human.”
"Master, you said it would develop some cat-like features..." Zhou Fangdong felt his throat was dry, and it became difficult to speak. "These cat-like features... do they mean it will grow cat ears?"
—A muscular man with cat ears, standing 1.9 meters tall and covered in strong muscles like a bodybuilder.
Just imagining this scene made Zhou Fangdong feel a little guilty towards Hong Zhong.
Zhang Zhiwu nodded: "It is indeed possible that cat ears will grow later, and the hands may change in the direction of cat paws. But the symptoms are very mild now, and they will not change the physical characteristics. They will only show some symptoms such as enhanced night vision, keen sense of smell, agile body, and a liking for eating raw meat."
"But even if cat-like features appear, it's okay. If you continue to bleed steadily, you will gradually recover."
Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief... That's good.
Seeing that Zhang Zhiwu was about to leave, Zhou Fangdong finally realized what was happening and quickly called out to him, "Daoist Master, wait a moment."
He had just checked the system interface to see where Zhang Zhiwu was, because he had just thought of something and wanted to verify it with Zhang Zhiwu, but he didn't expect to be interrupted by this 'troublemaker'.
"Is there anything else, young friend?"
Zhou Fangdong continued, "What I want to ask is, is being parasitized by the flesh-eating Ganoderma lucidum considered a curse?"
Upon hearing the term "Flesh Ganoderma" uttered by Zhou Fangdong, Zhang Zhiwu's voice turned cold: "Flesh Ganoderma? An evil thing created by the Sigu Society? It's a kind of physical flesh and blood curse."
"What do you mean by 'reviving the dead and healing bones'? Ha, I don't know where they got that from. They really dare to touch anything." Zhang Zhiwu shook his head. "If you're asking if there's a way to deal with those fleshy spirit mushrooms on the second floor, I really don't know. Because these fleshy spirit mushrooms aren't from this world. I've never encountered this kind of flesh curse before."
“Young friend, take my advice. You should leave those fleshy lumps on the second floor for now. Those things are already quite ferocious, and they were eaten before they even grew up after being summoned. Their resentment is immeasurable. If you want to rent out the house, you can take a look at the third floor first. With your strength, even the top floor should be no problem for you.”
...This is a huge problem, Master. The thing on the top floor could kill me instantly.
He silently cursed in his heart, then said gratefully, "Thank you, Daoist Master. I know how to handle it now. As long as we confirm that those fleshy Ganoderma lucidum are cursed, that's enough."
After Zhang Zhiwu left, Zhou Fangdong opened the favorability interface, his eyes fixed on the unclaimed rewards from the zombie Taoist priest after his favorability rating reached 100.
【Cursed Item: Blood Compass】
One of the item descriptions states: The Blood Compass can dispel curses, but the curses will backfire on the user many times over.
Zhou Fangdong plans to use [Ghost Eye] to control the cultists to use the Blood Compass, directly transferring the flesh curse of the Flesh Spirit Mushroom onto them.
His [Ghost Eye] skill can be used on humans with weak willpower to briefly control them.
Later, I'll try using [Ghost Eye] on those cult members. If their willpower isn't weak enough, having the ghosts in the apartment scare them a few more times should weaken it.
Thus, the fate of those cult members became a mass of irrational flesh and blood constantly growing in the corridors, an endless cycle of cleaning up the mess.
Then you can deal with those Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms however you like, without any further constraints.
This method requires at least five cult members, and Hong Zhong happened to bring back five for him, which was perfect.
However, before he could control the cultists to use the Blood Compass, he needed to go to the Ghost Market and ask the butcher about the method for removing the flesh-eating Ganoderma lucidum seeds. Only in this way could he solve all the problems on the second floor once and for all.
Otherwise, when the curse of the meat spirit mushroom backfires on those cultists, the situation on the second floor will become even worse.
However, this means that these cult members can no longer sell their products, and they will have to pay for the furniture themselves if they go to the ghost market.
Sigh... I wonder if the yin energy on the second floor will stabilize after the meat-like Ganoderma is eliminated.
Let's not rush to buy furniture tonight. Let's wait until tomorrow after we've cleaned up the Lingzhi mushroom. If the Yin energy on the second floor really stabilizes, he can reorder furniture from the Guijia Furniture Store without having to spend his own ghost coins.
That night, Zhou Fangdong successfully used the substitution function with Mu Yuechan's body and teleported directly to the Ghost Market.
Perhaps it was because Mu Yuechan was filled with too much resentment, but as soon as they entered the ghost market, all the vendors on both sides of the street and the passersby carrying lanterns turned to look at them.
At the same time, a black mist suddenly appeared on the gloomy street, followed by a series of thuds. A slender, tall figure wearing a straw hat appeared out of thin air. He carried a shoulder pole and swayed as he walked up to Zhou Fangdong.
Because Zhou Fangdong used the [purchase order], he had a sales contract with the peddler. Therefore, even though he appeared in the ghost market using Mu Yuechan's body, the peddler recognized him at a glance.
A hoarse voice came from the peddler's mouth: "The goods... are all sold out... Here is... the payment..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a cloud of black mist rose from the bamboo basket and merged into Zhou Fangdong's body.
Immediately afterwards, the system's voice sounded:
[Two thousand ghost coins detected in account]
Zhou Fangdong was shocked.
I never imagined that the pile of junk in room 103 could sell for two thousand ghost coins. What's the difference between that money and finding it for free?
After the payment was made, the peddler disappeared, and all the 'people' on the street also looked away.
Although no one was staring at him with those obvious eyes anymore, Zhou Fangdong could still feel some people secretly watching him.
Zhou Fangdong probably knew what they were looking at, because he was the only one in the entire ghost market who didn't cover his face.
But it doesn't matter. He's using Mu Yuechan's body now, not his own face, so it's no different from wearing a mask.
Following his memory from last night, Zhou Fangdong found the location of the butcher shop and went inside.
The butcher shop was pitch black, filled with a strange, sweet, fishy smell... as if a lot of perfume had been sprayed to cover up the smell of blood, and the smell was a bit pungent.
Noticing a customer enter, the butcher, who was chopping meat with a cleaver behind the counter, said in a deep voice, "What would you like to buy, sir?"
The butcher wore an iron mask embedded in his flesh, obscuring his face. His overly muscular build made his head appear small and disproportionate.
"I heard that you have a method for removing the seeds of Ganoderma lucidum."
Upon hearing Zhou Fangdong's words, the butcher paused in his chopping motion and slowly raised his head.
"This smell...you came from the Liwan Apartments, didn't you? Were you doing something for that landlord?" Although he asked this, he seemed to already have a definite answer in his heart, completely ignoring Zhou Fangdong's reply.
"I have a knife here, you can take it." With that, he took a knife from the wall next to him.
The sound of chains rattling rang out. He carried the knife and walked heavily to Zhou Fangdong.
This is a strangely shaped knife. It has no handle, a huge blade at the front, and a sharp iron hook at the back, connected by an iron chain in the middle.
After Zhou Fangdong took the knife, he was even more surprised to find that he couldn't put it into his inventory.
"The Ganoderma lucidum that has been chopped by this knife cannot be restored. The hooks on the back can help you locate the seeds of the Ganoderma lucidum and pull them out." The butcher patiently explained how to use the knife.
"Take the knife, it's free. If you can bring back the meat spirit mushroom seeds or fragments, that's fine. If not, it's okay too. Consider it a way to thank the person who kept the ghost market alive until now."
Seeing that the butcher was easy to talk to, Zhou Fangdong told him about the situation of Qian Duolai and the other two, and asked if there was any way to remedy the situation after the fleshy Ganoderma disappeared from their heads, so that they could have a head again.
After all, Qian Duolai and the others were cleaning staff at the apartment building and would be working there in the future. To facilitate communication in the future, Zhou Fangdong needed to find their heads.
"What you're describing sounds like it's been parasitized by a corrupted fleshy Ganoderma lucidum. However, the remedy is..." The butcher stopped mid-sentence, silently staring at Zhou Fangdong.
Although he couldn't see the butcher's face clearly, Zhou Fangdong could clearly feel that cold gaze was like a butcher's knife, dissecting him from the outside in.
He snorted coldly, his friendly demeanor vanishing instantly: "The question you asked makes me wonder if you're even a ghost anymore. You've been given a human body thanks to the apartment, and you've forgotten all the basics about ghosts? What are you showing off to me for... If you don't have a head, just go to the paper craft shop next door and buy one. Buy whatever you need. It's such a trivial matter, and you're making fun of me."
After saying that, the butcher waved his hand and turned to walk towards the cutting board, seemingly not wanting to pay any more attention to Zhou Fangdong.
Zhou Fangdong felt a little embarrassed and left the butcher shop with his knife in hand.
He really didn't mean to make fun of the butcher; he was a perfectly normal human being who didn't know that this was common knowledge in the ghost world.
Just as Zhou Fangdong reached the entrance of the paper craft shop next door, before he could even go inside, the pair of paper children at the door bowed to him at a 180-degree angle.
The two little paper figures 'thud' and fell face down on the ground, shouting at the same time, "Hello! Welcome!"
How hospitable… Zhou Fangdong helped the two children up and led them into the paper craft shop.
There is no owner in the paper craft shop; all the paper craftspeople are promoting themselves.
Amidst a flurry of self-promotion, Zhou Fangdong chose three silent heads.
These incomplete paper offerings have no spiritual power and are not expensive; you can buy one for 60 ghost coins. He spent a total of 180 ghost coins on the three heads.
Zhou Fangdong was really startled when he accidentally bumped into a paper effigy in the shop that claimed to be able to do laundry, cook, and give massages. This kind of paper effigy with self-awareness and the ability to move was actually selling for a thousand ghost coins, which is equivalent to half a ghost tenant. It was simply robbery.
This ghost market shopping spree was very fruitful. I have the knife to eliminate the meat-shaped Ganoderma lucidum, and I've also bought all the paper effigies of human heads. I feel like I can go straight back to my apartment now.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was about to teleport back, he suddenly heard someone calling him.
Although the call was faint, it was quite clear in the silent ghost market.
Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a faceless vendor waving at him from the street not far away: "Boss~ Boss~ over here!"
Zhou Fangdong looked at the toilets he was selling at his stall, paused for a moment, and then walked over.
"Oh my, we've been waiting for you to come out!" Although there was no face, one could imagine the vendor's expression from the fawning voice.
"Boss, I actually noticed you a while ago. You went to the butcher's, didn't you? Did he want you to buy some [special] blood or meat?"
Zhou Fangdong did not refute, wanting to see what the vendor would say next.
The vendor lowered his voice, "What he's asking you for, could it be the Flesh Ganoderma? I heard that the Bone Inheritance Society paid a lot of money to have the peddler kidnap a lot of children and leave them in the Ghost Market, just to make the Flesh Ganoderma. Yesterday they even took all the children out of the Ghost Market in one go..."
It seems this person doesn't know where the children went and assumes they were all taken by the Bone Inheritance Society. Zhou Fangdong is indeed interested: "What, do you have a clue? Do you know the location where the Bone Inheritance Society makes the Flesh Ganoderma?"
"Guess what? I actually have some connections! I know a place where the Guigu Society raises flesh and blood medicinal ingredients. I heard they're planning to cultivate flesh Ganoderma lucidum here, but, hehe..." The vendor said, rubbing his hands together.
The combination of "captive breeding" and "blood and flesh as medicinal ingredients" is a bit ominous... Could this cult be imprisoning ordinary people in preparation for slaughter?
After a moment's hesitation, Zhou Fangdong asked, "How much do you want?"
"No money, no money, you're too kind, boss." The faceless vendor paused, and Zhou Fangdong sensed he seemed a little nervous. "Um, I think you came from Liwan Apartments? Could you please recommend me? If there are any vacant rooms in the apartment, hehe, I'd like to..."
"You want to rent a place in the apartment?" Zhou Fangdong sized up the vendor.
I never expected to find a tenant for free while browsing a ghost market.
Whether this guy is human or ghost, the fact that he can set up a stall in the ghost market means he must have the ability to survive in the hands of ghosts and monsters. Maybe he can live normally in the room without any rental rules, just like Xiao Xiaoyu or other ghost tenants.
Moreover, if he moves in, he might get a discount if he needs to buy ghost furniture from him in the future.
Zhou Fangdong agreed: "Okay, it's no big deal. There might be a new room available for rent in a couple of days. I'll mention you to the landlord. Give me your contact information, and I might let you know when to come over."
After dealing with the Ganoderma lucidum, and renting out room 201, we can start tidying up room 202. We'll see if the person there is suitable.
"That would be great! Thank you for your help." The faceless vendor took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Fangdong, then continued, "You know there's an abandoned hospital in the northern suburbs? When I was sneaking around visiting it, I happened to stumble upon it. That's where the Bone Heir Society keeps its flesh and blood progeny."
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Author's Note: There will be an extra chapter at midnight tonight.
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The character of Yangren is adapted from the Qing Dynasty supernatural tale "Zhiwenlu" Volume 11, "Cat's Decline": "A person who lives in the same house as Cat's Decline for three years will have eyes as blue as glass, a tongue with barbs, and a fondness for eating live mice... This is called the succession of unlucky people."
The character “衰” here is pronounced “suō”, which is similar in meaning to “殃”, referring to an ominous monster.
...Because the "loser" looked a bit strange, I changed it to "rice seedling" in the text.
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