Chapter 46 Main Quest 2: The Ghost Bus in Special Status, Night...
[The host has been detected to have unlocked the apartment's surrounding beautification features; the ghost bus can directly teleport tenants to nearby facilities.]
Currently, the Ghost Bus can teleport you to [Izumo Temple] and [Home Furniture Store]. Would you like to enable the Ghost Bus teleportation function?
"Activate".
*
As Miao Zheng carried Xiao Xiaoyu out of the apartment building, his cell phone suddenly rang.
It wasn't the heavy metal rock music she had set; it was just a basic, ordinary electronic ringtone.
Suddenly hearing an unfamiliar cell phone ringtone, Miao Zheng was startled. Then, belatedly realizing something, he took his phone out of his pocket.
The phone screen displays "[Landlord Boss]", but the caller ID is unknown.
She quickly pressed the answer button.
This unknown number appeared out of nowhere in her contacts yesterday after her landlord modified her phone. To prevent herself from hanging up on this caller ID as a spam call, she specially added a note to it.
As soon as the call connected, that reassuringly cold voice came from the other end:
"Miao Zheng, take Xiao Xiaoyu to the nearest bus stop as fast as you can and wait for the ghost bus to arrive. Don't come into contact with anyone along the way."
Upon hearing the instruction, Miao Zheng didn't ask why and jogged directly to the bus stop near Penghu Home.
It's rush hour, and there are only the two of them at the bus stop.
Just as they appeared at the station, a bus wobbled along and stopped in front of them.
Looking at the bus, Miao Zheng rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
The bus in front of us is in terrible condition, as if it had just been towed from a car accident scene.
The swaying doors as the vehicle moved forward, the severely deformed body, the spiderweb-like shattered windows, and the paint almost completely stained red with blood... it's a miracle that this car can still move.
"Get in the car." The landlord's voice came through the phone again.
Upon hearing this instruction, Miao Zheng no longer hesitated and boarded the strange bus with Xiao Xiaoyu in his arms.
Although he knew this might be another form of ghost bus, Miao Zheng was still startled by the chaotic state of the carriage when he actually stepped inside.
Just like the exterior of the bus, the interior was also covered in blood.
The partition around the driver's seat disappeared, revealing the decaying corpse that had become one with the seat.
The corpse's head was drooping, and even though it was dead, its hands were still gripping the steering wheel tightly.
The flesh on its face wasn't completely rotten yet; occasionally, bits of flesh and blood would fall off its face, land on the steering wheel, and slide down to the ground.
Dark red blood and murky liquid from the rotting corpse dripped incessantly onto the ground, the sound of the dripping liquid resembling the ticking of a clock's second hand.
Besides the bloodstains, dozens of mannequins were scattered on the floor of the carriage. The mannequins had no faces, their heads were smooth, as if they were not yet finished. They looked like dismembered body parts, with limbs, torsos, and heads all separated and scattered haphazardly on the ground.
As Miao Zheng examined the mannequins on the ground, the landlord's voice came through the phone again, which hadn't been disconnected:
"Don't touch the mannequins on the ground. Go to the back seat and find the passenger with the yellow talisman on their face."
Miao Zheng, carrying Xiao Xiaoyu, carefully avoided the mannequin remains and made his way to the back of the bus.
A row of people with yellow talismans pasted on their faces sat on the last row of seats on the bus.
These stiff-bodied passengers looked as if they had just been dug out of the ground, wearing clothes of indistinct colors, with their exposed skin appearing eerily bluish-black.
“Now, you and Xiao Xiaoyu each choose a passenger whose face is covered with a yellow talisman and hold their hand.”
Because Miao Zheng had the phone on speakerphone, Xiao Xiaoyu also heard the instructions from the other end of the phone.
The two exchanged a glance and ultimately chose to listen to Zhou Fangdong.
If it weren't for the landlord's request, they would never have approached these passengers who looked so suspicious.
Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu each chose a passenger whose face was covered with a yellow talisman and carefully held the passenger's stiff hand.
These passengers' hands were not only unusually cold, but the backs of their hands were also covered in black down, and their fingernails were extremely sharp, almost as sharp as a freshly sharpened knife blade.
The moment the two people's hands were completely clasped with the passenger's, they felt dizzy and the scenery in front of them distorted rapidly, as if they had been stuffed into a washing machine.
Fortunately, this dizzying sensation only lasted a few seconds. Just as the urge to vomit arose, Miao Zheng found himself moved to a small courtyard.
The ghost bus disappeared, and the passenger with the yellow talisman on his face also vanished. Everything that had just happened seemed to be just an illusion.
The courtyard was small and square. Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu appeared out of nowhere at the entrance, where they could see the entire courtyard at a glance.
This place seems to be a small Taoist temple. Facing them is the main hall of the temple with gray walls and green tiles, and next to the main hall is a large ancient tree.
On the ground covered by the shade of the trees, several statues with red cloth covering their heads stood guard around the tree trunks, and in front of these statues stood an old Taoist priest with yellow talismans pasted on his face, and... the landlord holding a mobile phone.
The landlord stood under the tree, the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves swaying gently in the breeze, dancing silently on his body and face, giving his already pale skin a strange, translucent quality... He seemed like a phantom that did not exist in this world, as if he could disappear at any moment in the shifting light and shadow.
In stark contrast to the somewhat unreal, almost divine atmosphere of the environment was his expression.
His dark, lifeless eyes held an uncontrollable rage. His face was ashen, his thin lips were tightly pressed together, and his jawline was like a taut bowstring, radiating an indescribable chilling aura.
The flickering light and shadow were like scattered gold dust. Against this backdrop, he seemed like a ghost or deity whose gold paint had been forcibly stripped off, revealing his cold true form and descending to earth with resentment.
Miao Zheng was so frightened that he took a step back.
This was the first time she had ever seen such an obvious emotional fluctuation on her landlord's face... Was he angry?
Miao Zheng's mind began to race through everything he had done that day, trying to find the reason why the landlord was so angry.
...She hasn't caused any trouble lately. Could it be because she bought someone from the Delicious Slaughterhouse?
Seeing Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu safely appear at Chuyun Temple, Zhou Fangdong breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
He was terrified, but thankfully nothing happened. The bright red pop-ups from the system made him think he was about to lose two tenants.
If those two tenants die, the side quest rewards will definitely be taken back, and the main quest rewards might disappear as well. That would truly mean going back to square one.
He couldn't handle such dramatic ups and downs.
Compared to Miao Zheng's fear, the blind Xiao Xiaoyu seemed to have thought of something and habitually looked at the triangular talisman in her hand.
Everything was pitch black.
The moment she was teleported to the Taoist temple, the instant the terrifying blood-red light representing the landlord appeared, she reflexively shut down her Yin-Yang Eyes.
Xiao Xiaoyu said to Miao Zheng, "Miao Zheng, let's hurry over. The landlord asked us to come here, probably because of this talisman."
Miao Zheng snapped out of his daze and quickly carried Xiao Xiaoyu to the shade of a tree.
Xiao Xiaoyu handed the triangular talisman in her hand to Zhou Fangdong, but he did not take it. Instead, he turned his head slightly to look at Zhang Zhiwu.
Upon seeing this, the zombie Taoist priest standing next to him stepped forward and picked up the triangular talisman with his black, withered fingers.
Zhou Fangdong asked, "Daoist Master, how is it? Can it be purified?"
He didn't touch the talisman because the system had already warned him before Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu arrived, telling him not to touch unpurified talismans.
“Sure, no problem.” Zhang Zhiwu said as he tore a yellow talisman off his face and wrapped it around the outside of the triangular talisman.
The moment it was wrapped, the yellow talisman spontaneously combusted without any flame.
Although the yellow talisman wrapped around the outside spontaneously combusted, the triangular talisman inside remained intact. Only a wisp of black mist rose from the triangular talisman and disappeared along with the burning flames and the yellow talisman.
“Young friend, it’s all clean now.” Zhang Zhiwu handed the triangular talisman to Zhou Fangdong.
Zhou Fangdong put it into his inventory, then looked at Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu: "Where did you get this talisman?"
Miao Zheng recounted what had just happened to him.
Zhou Fangdong frowned and asked, "Did that girl tell you what the person who gave her this talisman looked like?"
Miao Zheng shook his head: "She said she couldn't remember. Although she had just received the talisman this morning, she couldn't recall what the person looked like. She only remembered that he was a middle-aged man with a pleasant voice, wearing a black melon-shaped hat and a gray long coat, and had a very ordinary appearance."
Upon hearing this description, Zhou Fangdong seemed to have thought of something.
The middle-aged man wearing a melon-shaped hat... I can't recall his face...
A sudden thought flashed through Zhou Fangdong's mind, and he suddenly remembered that when he checked the memories of the ghost in the wedding dress in room 104, he seemed to have seen someone similar.
The master that the Ghost in the Wedding Dress sought out before her death was exactly like this. He took twenty years of her lifespan and fortune and placed a curse on her and her sister that would cause them to live and die together.
Zhou Fangdong suspected that what this guy wanted was probably not twenty years of lifespan, otherwise the wedding dress ghost wouldn't have died so quickly, especially on the wedding day.
Just as I thought of this, a task pop-up window suddenly appeared in the system:
[Ding—Detected that the host has had contact with cultists of the Bone Inheritance Society, possesses an ancient book from the Bone Inheritance Society that summons evil gods, and possesses a talisman made by the evil god. Main Quest 2 is now active.]
[Main Quest 2: Find the evil god of the Bone Heir Society, expel the evil god from this world, destroy all of the Bone Heir Society's bases in Linjiang City, and kill all cult members.]
[Rewards for Main Quest 2 will not be announced at this time]
Upon seeing this main quest, Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly.
So the evil god that triggered the system alarm is the same evil god worshipped by the Bone Descendants Society?
The deaths of the sisters, the Long-Tongued Ghost and the Wedding Dress Ghost, were also related to the Bone Inheritance Society.
Cults deserve to die; this is already the umpteenth person they've killed.
However, to Zhou Fangdong's surprise, destroying the Heirs of the Bone Society and expelling the evil god were also part of the main quest.
He thought the system's main quest was simply to rent out all the rooms on each floor.
After all, his system was a real estate management system, and renting out all the rooms in Liwan Apartment was the system's primary goal. He never expected that eliminating the Sigu would be so important to the system.
However, relying solely on him to go find cult members every night would not only be slow, but also difficult to completely eradicate them.
When we get back, let's tell Hong Zhong about this cult; he hasn't resigned yet anyway. We can relay the cult information to the Bureau of Abnormal Supervision through Hong Zhong and get their help to clean it up; that will be more efficient.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Fangdong said to Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu, "I roughly know who did it. Let the Taoist priest purify you first."
Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwu gently shook the Sanqing Bell in his hand. The bell emitted a melodious chime, its sound lingering and echoing throughout the small courtyard.
Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu felt as if an invisible rope was wrapped around them. As the bell rang, the rope came off and took something away from them.
Zhang Zhiwu circled around Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu, then spoke again, "Just in case, let these two stay at Chuyun Temple tonight."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Qingyang strode over and led Xiao Xiaoyu and Miao Zheng into the main hall.
All the adults in the main hall of Chuyun Temple are men. Zhang Qingyang needs to figure out a way to create a separate space for the two women on the communal bed, based on their body size.
Zhou Fangdong had no objections. It was indeed safer to let them observe from the Taoist temple for one night, and the night at Chuyun Temple was not as dangerous as the apartment.
Izumo-kan is a facility near the apartment, so even if there's no sleeping space in the main hall, the two of them won't encounter any danger if they sleep in the courtyard for one night.
Zhou Fangdong's silence led Zhang Zhiwu to mistakenly believe that he was worried about the two tenants, so he added, "Don't worry, young friend. Although I will leave the Taoist temple tonight, my disciple will not go back to the apartment today. He will stay in the Taoist temple to watch over them."
Hearing Zhang Zhiwu say this, Zhou Fangdong remembered something and asked, "Daoist Master, you return to your apartment every day... I've noticed that you leave your room every night. What are you doing going out after dark?"
Zhang Zhiwu was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Zhou Fangdong to find out about this.
But he quickly realized something and shook his head with a smile: "I finally understand why you became the owner of Liwan Apartments. Your strength is truly unfathomable, and nothing can escape your perception."
“These are the rules I set for myself before I died,” Zhang Zhiwu said, gently stroking the purple talisman stuck to his forehead.
"When I was still alive, the apartment was in a state of extreme chaos, and the building's power had not fully awakened, so it was unable to completely trap the ghosts inside. In order to prevent those ghosts with excessively high danger levels from leaving the apartment and harming people, I kept wandering between the front and back buildings of the apartment, killing the fierce ghosts that ran out of the building, until I finally died from exhaustion."
"At the time, I didn't know that the Liwan Apartments would be able to completely trap ghosts, so after preparing to become a zombie before I died, I drew a talisman for myself..."
At this point, Zhang Zhiwu changed the subject: "In this apartment, apart from the ghosts in the rooms, the more powerful the ghost, the less rational it is. They have a strong desire to attack and are very malicious towards humans. These irrational ghosts are also extremely sensitive to the difference between day and night, and some even only move at night and are completely dormant during the day."
"So at night I will completely release my seal, indiscriminately kill all the ghosts and monsters that are causing trouble in the corridor, and guard the apartment door to prevent any ghosts and monsters from going out."
“In this state, I have no rationality whatsoever…” At this point, Zhang Zhiwu suddenly gave a bitter smile. “Before I died, I thought I would remain in this insane state until I killed all the ghosts in the apartment. But now, I can actually maintain my rationality during the day and even saw my little apprentice again… This is all thanks to you, my young friend; you awakened my consciousness.”
Zhou Fangdong finally understood why Zhang Qingyang's tenant profile specifically noted that he was not allowed to go out with Zhang Zhiwu at night.
But there aren't any particularly murderous ghosts in the first-floor corridor right now, are there? What does this zombie-fighting Taoist priest kill every night?
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong simply asked the question directly.
Zhang Zhiwu stroked his beard and said, "Although I don't remember what happened last night, based on my previous experience in the apartment building, at night in the Liwan Apartment, some ghosts from the upper floors might take the elevator down from upstairs."
"After all, the yin energy in the first-floor corridor is becoming increasingly calm, almost comparable to that in the upstairs rooms. This is a fatal attraction for those ghosts who have become extremely agitated by absorbing chaotic yin energy."
“If left unchecked, they could very well destroy the stable environment that has finally been restored on the first floor of the apartment building, and might even kill tenants and seize the first-floor rooms.”
Seeing Zhou Fangdong's somber expression, Zhang Zhiwu comforted him, "Although I have no memory of the night, I can sense an unknown force protecting the human tenants in the apartment at night. Don't worry, young friend, as long as the tenants don't go out, they will be fine."
Zhou Fangdong then asked, "Will these ghosts from the high-rise buildings come down the stairs?"
Zhang Zhiwu shook his head: "No, the staircases in the apartment are alive. They actively filter which ghosts and monsters can pass through which floors, and when closed, they prevent all floors from connecting."
"Moreover, once the staircase is opened, it will wander around at night and will not stay in one place. If it encounters a ghost that it cannot defeat, it will continue to extend itself, trapping the ghost on the steps, and then send it back during the day."
Zhou Fangdong breathed a slight sigh of relief.
What a smart staircase!
I suspect the system said the staircase was injured, probably because it was beaten up by a ghost on one of the floors... It's so pitiful. I'll catch a few more cultists and treat it to a good reward when I have time.
“By the way, young friend,” Zhang Zhiwu suddenly said, “would you like to go out for a stroll with me tonight? With your strength, you should be able to easily suppress me at night. If you have any questions then, you can explore them on your own.”
Zhou Fangdong decisively refused: "No, I have other things to do tonight, and I don't have time to wander around the apartment right now."
He must be crazy to go out at night.
Now, wandering around the apartment at night might not only lead to encountering ghosts coming down from the elevator, but also to encountering a crazy, irrational, and murderous version of a Taoist priest who is like a zombie. The danger level has doubled. Is he going out at night to die?
Let's wait until he draws a useful attack skill, or until he maxes out the [Half-Body Shrine] before making any decisions.
When Zhou Fangdong returned to the apartment, it was already afternoon. He first went to the second floor to check on the cleaning situation.
The three cleaning ghosts, Qian Duolai, Ming Duolai, and Quan Duolai, continued to work diligently, collecting flesh and blood from the corridor.
After half a day of work, a small section of the corridor on the second floor of the apartment has been cleared.
Judging from the cleared section of the stairwell, the second floor's structure should be similar to the first floor. This corridor at the stairwell entrance also has no doors or windows; it's simply a passageway for the staircase.
If you walk forward, there's a corner. The elevator should be on the other side of the corner. Based on the layout of the first floor, walk forward along the elevator and then turn another corner. That should be the corridor where the rooms on the second floor are located.
Judging from the cleaning progress of these three ghosts, they should be able to clean the corner by tomorrow... I'll come back and check again tomorrow.
Zhou Fangdong checked the rental page and found that Hong Zhong was still in the room, so he teleported directly to room 106.
He planned to talk to Hong Zhong about the bone-laying association.
Hong Zhong had already gone out once, brought back some changes of clothes and toiletries, and was now tidying them up in the room.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he often heard faint meows in the room, and occasionally he could hear the 'tap tap tap' sound of a cat running on the floor.
It was probably the ghost in the room making that noise...
Having long been on the front lines of dealing with paranormal events, Hong Zhong wasn't too surprised by these anomalies in the room.
From the tenant rules, he vaguely realized that renting a room in the Liwan Apartment meant living with a ghost, and the tenant rules were more like a survival guide for tenants living with ghosts. As long as the rules were followed completely, he would not be attacked by ghosts.
When Hong Zhong closed the wardrobe again and turned around, he found that the elusive landlord had reappeared in the room.
Before he could speak, the landlord asked, "Hong Zhong, does your Department of Extraordinary Investigations know about the cult known as the Bone Inheritance Society?"
Hong Zhong was taken aback, then nodded seriously: "I know. The members of this cult are all S-level wanted persons by our Supervision Bureau. Once confirmed, they can be killed directly without leaving any survivors."
"Because these cultists not only control ghosts to do evil, but also kill ordinary people to use as ritual materials... Although they are human, their destructive power is more terrifying than that of ghosts. When we find these cultists and ghosts together, we will choose to kill them first."
As he said this, Hong Zhong had a vague suspicion in his mind. With the landlord's terrifyingly omniscient and omnipotent abilities, he must have already known about his doubts.
So, why did the landlord suddenly bring up the Bone Reincarnation Society at this time? Is it because the missing children case in the city center is related to the Bone Reincarnation Society? Is that strange peddler also a ghost controlled by the Bone Reincarnation Society?
Just as I was thinking this, I heard the landlord say again, "I have some places where members of the Bone Inheritance Society frequently go. You can report them to the Bureau of Supervision and have them send some people over to clean them up."
Hong Zhong was shocked, and he couldn't hide the joy on his face.
I never expected that the landlord would give me such a big gift as soon as I moved into Liwan Apartment!
"Okay, no problem at all. Our bureau can send someone over tonight!" At this point, Hong Zhong paused, then cautiously asked, "You've given us this important intelligence. Is there anything we can do for you?"
Zhou Fangdong pondered for a moment, "If you can catch any live cult members, leave me a few and bring them to the apartment."
He wanted to feed the stairs with these cultists, but he didn't know how many cultists he would need to feed to heal the stairs's injuries.
Hong Zhong's Adam's apple bobbed, and the joy he felt instantly dissipated.
This statement made him realize how dangerous he was dealing with... Did this landlord want those cultists to eat them?
We must bring back more live ones. It's better to use these cultists to satisfy this mysterious landlord than for him to go out and catch people to eat himself.
“By the way, Mr. Landlord,” Hong Zhong hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered his courage to ask, “Do you know of a ghost that looks like a peddler? The recent child abduction cases in the city center are related to this peddler, if possible…”
At this point, Hong Zhong felt a little embarrassed, and his voice grew softer and softer... He hadn't done anything yet, but he kept asking the landlord for information, which seemed a bit too greedy.
Peddler?
Upon hearing Hong Zhong mention this, Zhou Fangdong took out a worn-out notebook from his inventory.
"If you want to see it, I can call it over right now. You can ask it any questions you may have."
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Author's note: The regular updates at 12 noon every day will continue, but there will be no extra updates at midnight for the time being.
I've been sick these past two days and I have to go to the hospital for an IV drip this afternoon, so I won't have time to write. I'll try my best to make up for it by updating more chapters after I recover.
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