Chapter 157 The Ghostly Abandoned School in Room 307: Current Status and Development...
The ghost in room 306 has a protective ability that makes Professor Sun's existence forgotten by others. During this time, Professor Sun himself will also forget his own existence, so time is frozen for him.
Although Bai Mingdan and the other two appeared at the elementary school later than him, in Professor Sun's view, he met the three of them right after he was brought to the school by the recruitment flyer... He had forgotten the time difference in between.
After the abandoned primary school was transformed into facilities surrounding the apartment building, the ghost in room 306 ceased protecting Professor Sun, and only then was Xiao Song able to perceive his presence.
Bai Mingdan and the other two stared blankly at their teacher, who seemed completely out of sorts, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.
...This person who suddenly appeared is probably not a ghost, but most likely a living person who was also caught up in this supernatural area like them.
After all, I've never seen a ghost that needs to apply for a job, nor have I ever seen a ghost as polite as him.
Bai Mingdan felt that this teacher was very likely drawn into the situation while looking for a job.
Although he was already inclined to believe that Professor Sun was human, he still scanned Professor Sun with the old detection device in his hand to prevent any accidents.
However, when the instrument scanned the key hanging on Professor Sun's belt, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded.
Bai Mingdan was taken aback, and without saying a word, he grabbed Da Song and Xiao Song and turned to run.
Neither Da Song nor Xiao Song were fools; they knew the purpose of the instrument in Bai Mingdan's hand. They were only initially pulled back by Bai Mingdan, then quickly sped up, pulling Bai Mingdan along with them as they ran.
These three individuals—an investigative journalist who constantly teeters on the brink of death, a physical education student who makes a living through exercise, and a magazine model who needs to maintain her physique—were all in excellent physical condition, far surpassing Professor Sun's abilities. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Professor Sun watched as one of the 'interviewers' scanned him with a strange instrument, which then sounded an alarm. The three of them ran away as if they had seen a ghost.
Did I fail the interview?
Professor Sun mobilized all his brain cells, trying to understand what had just happened.
Thinking about it carefully, the three men's attire didn't seem like that of interviewers. Only the man in his thirties who looked rather composed resembled a teacher; the other two looked like college students.
Judging from their running speed, they must be a physical education teacher and two students.
Professor Sun glanced at the recruitment flyer in his hand.
...I don't even know where the real interviewer is.
Moreover, Professor Sun didn't realize what was happening when he was first teleported here. Now, after looking around, he realized that this place seemed to be an elementary school.
He felt he wasn't suited to teaching elementary school students. His hiatus had been quite long, and it would be difficult for him to get a university teaching position again. He preferred teaching high school students, though middle school students were also acceptable… after all, communicating with very young students might be difficult.
After a moment's thought, Professor Sun decided to give up the interview and return to his apartment first.
But now, a new problem has arisen regarding returning to the apartment.
—How do you hail a taxi in this supernatural age? Are there still human drivers who can drive? If ghosts and spirits are the ones driving hearses, do they accept human currency or ghost money?
Professor Sun recalled that when he first signed the rental agreement, the landlord, who could clean the room with a single click and conjure furniture out of thin air, charged rent in the form of human currency.
Although it's unclear whether the landlord was human or a ghost, human currency should still be usable—there must be some way to exchange human currency for the currency used by ghosts.
Just as Professor Sun's mind was racing, a voice suddenly sounded from above him: "I don't mind... a five-year gap in my teaching. Professor Sun... could you... please continue teaching me...?"
Upon hearing the somewhat familiar voice, Professor Sun subconsciously looked up and followed the sound.
There was a ghost hanging from the ceiling.
Only its upper body was visible, its body bent at a right angle from the waist, pressed tightly against the ceiling. Its skin was deathly pale, its neck stretched out and coiled around its body like a mosquito coil, and its head drooped down like a light bulb.
The drooping head kept extending downwards, so its voice seemed to grow closer as it spoke, eventually reaching Professor Sun, who was looking up, within a fist's distance.
Professor Sun was startled when he saw the pale, ghostly face so close to him.
But he quickly recovered and recognized the face as belonging to a student from Linjiang University.
"You're Xiao Zhuang? How could you—"
The long-necked ghost didn't speak, but continued to extend its head downwards, biting the leaflet in Professor Sun's hand and eating it bit by bit.
After swallowing the flyer, the ghost continued, "Yes... it was me... who hired you here... I want you to continue teaching me..."
Professor Sun sighed and habitually touched the child's head, but his hand passed right through the pale head.
He paused, his expression growing even more melancholy. "Xiao Zhuang, you're only twenty years old, how did you end up like this..."
Xiao Zhuang also sighed, "If only you, Teacher Sun, had been here back then... that would have been so much better..."
Xiao Zhuang was once a student at Linjiang University, and he never took Professor Sun's classes during his lifetime.
Because his family was relatively poor, although he applied for student loans and received subsidies for students in need, and also worked part-time, Xiao Zhuang was still very frugal.
While his classmates were all dressed smartly, he wore shoes with detached soles and transparent, pilling clothes full of holes. To save on water bills, he would only shower once in a long while, his socks were so loose they could stand upright on the ground, and he only changed his underwear once a year... His slovenly appearance and body odor made his classmates and roommates dislike him.
But his classmates were all respectable people. Although they disliked him, they didn't say much on the surface. Sometimes, his classmates and roommates would even give Xiao Zhuang clothes and food.
But Xiao Zhuang is a sensitive and insecure person. He noticed the disdainful looks from his classmates and the whispers they made behind his back as he passed by.
Therefore, he viewed his classmates' help as ridicule and insult. Xiao Zhuang refused to accept it and was even more unwilling to change his image, feeling like he had given up entirely.
Later, during a large lecture where students could audit classes, the teacher couldn't stand the odor emanating from Xiao Zhuang because he was sitting in the front row. In front of the entire classroom, the teacher directly pointed out his hygiene issues and told him to change his clothes and take a shower.
The overwhelming feeling of shame triggered Xiao Zhuang's long-suppressed emotions, and he rushed out of the classroom and ran to the rooftop of the teaching building, ready to jump.
Professor Sun also taught classes in this teaching building at the time, and these were large lectures that other departments could audit.
Later, Professor Sun helped persuade Xiao Zhuang to come down from the rooftop, which was the only time the two of them had contact before their deaths.
But from then on, Xiao Zhuang became even more self-conscious.
He felt that everyone was laughing at him, that everyone was talking about him behind his back, calling him a clown who had failed in his suicide attempt and was just trying to get attention.
Under increasing emotional pressure, Xiao Zhuang hanged himself in his dormitory before leaving school one summer vacation.
When his roommate discovered his body, it was already liquefied from decomposition, the soft tissues solidified on the floor along with his excrement. Because the indoor environment was extremely damp, parts of the flesh had peeled off like gloves, hanging limply on the ground. At first glance, the hanged corpse resembled a short, stout man with an extremely long neck.
After Xiao Zhuang died, he became a vengeful ghost. His greatest obsession was not the teacher he hated in life who pointed out that he had an odor, nor the classmates he thought were bullying him, but Professor Sun.
—Professor Sun had already helped him once before, preventing him from committing suicide. Why didn't he continue to help him?
If Professor Sun had been watching him the whole time, he probably wouldn't have hanged himself in his dorm... That's what the ghost thought.
Ghosts have strange obsessions. After he died, he didn't hate the classmates who bullied him, nor did he hate the teacher who caused him to commit suicide. Instead, he only hated Professor Sun.
Ghosts wandering in the city cannot retain the rationality they had when they were alive, like ghosts in apartments. They exist entirely based on their obsessions or hatred from their previous lives, and their behavior is entirely based on this.
After transforming into a vengeful ghost, all Xiao Zhuang wanted to find was Professor Sun.
If Professor Sun had been his teacher from the beginning, that would have been great. If he had chosen Professor Sun's class, he certainly wouldn't have looked down on him or pointed out his body odor. If he had chosen Professor Sun's class, he wouldn't be in this state now…
So it's all Professor Sun's fault.
Why isn't Professor Sun here?
Where was Professor Sun when he committed suicide?
So this ghost cursed Professor Sun, wanting him to come to its side and to become a ghost so that it could teach him after death.
However, because the old man in room 306 sensed the curse on Professor Sun and protected him in his ghost realm, Xiao Zhuang lost his target.
It drifted through the city, and to avoid being swept away by the inspection bureau, it settled in an abandoned primary school in the eastern suburbs.
Then Zhou Fangdong cleaned room 306, and Professor Sun's presence became perceptible again.
So Xiao Zhuang used a curse to send Professor Sun a recruitment flyer.
However, because Zhou Fangdong forcibly requisitioned the abandoned primary school and turned it into facilities around the apartment, and even set rules there, Xiao Zhuang, as a ghost among the facilities around the apartment, was unable to harm Professor Sun in the slightest, even though he brought him to his side.
The first rule of the abandoned primary school in the eastern suburbs:
Regardless of whether a teacher works at the school, students should never harm their teachers.
Rule Two:
When humans first enter a haunted school, they are given a one-day visit period during which they cannot leave the school, and all the ghosts and monsters within the school cannot harm them.
Rule Three:
[The principal must adhere to the above two rules before taking office; once in office, the principal's instructions have the highest priority.]
The principal is a ghost tenant who will be placed in an abandoned elementary school in the future.
The reason Zhou Fangdong didn't directly set it so that all ghosts and monsters in the elementary school were prohibited from harming humans was because he was afraid that bad people or wanted criminals might escape to the suburbs and hide in the school.
If such a situation were to occur, he would need the ghosts in the school to deal with these people.
Allowing a day for observation is enough to determine whether the people who have infiltrated the primary school are good or bad.
Furthermore, there is a third rule that restricts the principal: he is a ghost tenant who is completely obedient to Zhou Fangdong. The principal's orders have the highest priority, and any subsequent changes to the rules are simply a matter of a word from him.
Professor Sun looked at Xiao Zhuang. Although he didn't know what had happened to make Xiao Zhuang like this, teaching was his forte, so he didn't refuse.
In this era where humans and ghosts coexist, teaching and nurturing people are the same as teaching and nurturing ghosts; education should be provided to all without discrimination, and everyone has the right to learn.
Moreover, this ghost was a student he had known before, so he couldn't refuse even more.
...This child would never give up learning even if he died; he is truly a good child.
Moreover, everything made sense after Xiao Zhuang appeared. Professor Sun finally understood why the school looked so dilapidated—it was a ghost school that taught ghosts to read.
Thinking of this, Professor Sun said earnestly, "Good child, although you gave up your studies while you were alive, it's not too late for us to study hard after you're gone. However, I still have some questions for you..."
"Can I work at a ghost school with my teaching certificate? How much is the salary? Are there social insurance and housing fund benefits? Do I need to take continuing education courses? Are the holidays the same as the living's winter and summer vacations? How is the diploma from our ghost school calculated? Has the education system in society developed to the point where it can provide education after death? If the diploma from this kind of continuing education after death is at the same level as the diploma from continuing education for adults, then you'll probably have a very tough time. You might even have to take an exam to upgrade your degree after death... But where are the ghost exams held? In the underworld? Can the teachers accompany you? Are the proctors ghosts from the underworld or living souls?"
As Professor Sun questioned him, Xiao Zhuang's eyes gradually became dull and unfocused. Finally, it shook its head blankly: "These...you need to discuss with...the principal...the principal hasn't arrived yet...no, he's already here...in the classroom..."
“Alright, in that case, let’s have a diagnostic test first.” Professor Sun rolled up his sleeves. “I need to see how much your learning level has dropped since you died, so I can create a targeted teaching plan. Does your school have printers and computers? I’ll give you the questions, and you can do them as I give them.”
Xiao Zhuang nodded, stretched his neck, and wrapped it around Professor Sun several times.
"I'll take you there..."
*
Bai Mingdan, Da Song, and Xiao Song ran for an unknown amount of time before realizing with despair that no matter what they did, they could not escape the teaching building.
After the initial panic subsided, the three gradually calmed down and decided that they could no longer run around like headless flies.
Since the exit isn't the main entrance to the teaching building, it's very likely hidden inside one of the classrooms.
They definitely couldn't go back to the classroom they first came out of; there was a teacher there who was most likely a vengeful ghost.
After discussing it, the three decided to first search the classrooms near the main gate of the teaching building.
However, to their surprise, when they pushed open the door, they found the classroom filled with ghosts!
Most of the ghosts looked like children. Some had red chairs on their heads, some had no heads, and some had no bodies. One of them had a pen in its mouth and was writing something.
In addition, there were many little devils wearing the same tattered elementary school uniforms, covered in sores and rashes, as if they had died from infectious diseases.
These little devils, who filled the entire classroom, all wore the same despair and pain. The hideous wounds and glaring bloodstains on their bodies and faces made them appear even more terrifying.
Next to the podium sat an adult ghost with an exceptionally long neck. His body hung from the ceiling, his head drooping upside down, and he was also writing with a pen in his mouth.
The only two normal people in the classroom were a junior high school student sitting on the other side of the podium.
This junior high school student was also diligently writing the test paper. Apart from his skin being a little too pale, there was nothing unusual about him.
The other one is the teacher on the podium, who is intently printing exam papers.
This teacher is the same one who recently handed out flyers and asked them if they minded if applicants had a gap in their employment history.
At this moment, the refined-looking middle-aged man was staring intently at the static-filled computer screen with a furrowed brow. While typing with one hand, he deftly pulled hair from the printer, then, seizing the moment when the hair was least visible, he stuffed a blank sheet of paper inside to complete the exam paper printing. Then he continued pulling hair and printing...
Everything in the classroom was so peaceful; no one... no one cared about the three people who suddenly barged in through the door.
Both the Song emperors were dumbfounded.
This scene is truly surreal; the ghosts in the classroom are actually there!
...Taking an exam?
Even if you die, you still have to go to school? That doesn't seem right.
*
When Zhou Fangdong was preparing to clean room 307, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to place the ghost tenant in the abandoned primary school in the eastern suburbs.
So he chose Xiao Di, the ghost tenant living in room 108 of the back building, as the principal of the elementary school.
From then on, Xiao Di, a junior high school student, began a life of attending school while also working part-time managing the school.
Zhou Fangdong believed that with Xiao Di's thirst for knowledge, he could definitely help him take good care of the primary school and urge all the kids in the apartment to study hard.
Xiao Di seemed to sense the landlord's expectations, and before leaving, he took with him the headless imps and furniture imps that he hadn't had time to hide in the activity room.
This made Zhou Fangdong very gratified.
After detecting a large number of ghosts traveling between the apartment and the abandoned elementary school, the Apartment Ghost Bus has unlocked a new school bus skin with yellow paint.
Xiao Di, accompanied by a string of little ghosts, took the ghost bus to the abandoned primary school in the eastern suburbs.
Since unlocking the City God Temple interface, the surrounding facilities of the apartment have also gained a preview function similar to the apartment floor plan.
By examining the elementary school floor plan, Zhou Fangdong discovered that shortly after Xiao Di brought the little devils from the apartment to the school, a long-necked devil also brought Professor Sun to the classroom where the little devils were.
Professor Sun was very adaptable; the moment he arrived at the classroom, he started giving the kids practice tests to assess their abilities.
Meanwhile, the other three tenants in the abandoned elementary school were also running and exercising energetically in the school building, creating a thriving atmosphere.
Zhou Fangdong was completely relieved and began to formally clean room 307.
As soon as he entered, the familiar side quest pop-up appeared:
Side Quest 20: Clean and rent out Room 307
① Find the ghost hidden in the room
② Eliminate the ghostly aura in the room and help the ghosts break free from their cycle of obsession.
③ Clean the room and tidy up the house.
④ Discard the damaged furniture and buy new furniture.
⑤ Figure out the patterns of the ghosts' killings, draft a rental agreement, and find tenants to move in.
[Side Quest Rewards: 1600 Ghost Coins, 4000 Experience Points, 2 Random Skill Points]
Zhou Fangdong paused, startled, as his gaze swept over the bottom row of task rewards.
The reward has actually doubled... He remembered that each room on the third floor cost 800 ghost coins.
Could there be two ghosts in the room?
Zhou Fangdong closed the task panel and observed the ghostly situation in the room.
Compared to the other rooms, the ghost realm in room 307 looked too normal; it was just like an ordinary room.
If Zhou Fangdong hadn't kept the [Heavenly Eye] skill active the whole time, he would have doubted that there was any ghost realm in this room at all.
The room in the Ghost Domain scene is a loft-style room. Upon entering, there is a bathroom and an open kitchen, followed by a cozy living room. The room's overall color scheme is cream, with a fluffy long-haired rug covering the floor. Several pieces of clothing are draped over the sofa armrests, and there is a half-open photo album on the coffee table. On the felt panel opposite the sofa, there are travel photos of two boys.
Behind the sofa was a staircase leading to the second-floor bedroom. A chandelier adorned with feathers and crystal chains hung from the high ceiling. The light, refracted through the crystal chains, cast iridescent halos that fell perfectly on the photo wall.
Judging from the interior area and room height, it doesn't seem like a room in the Liwan Apartment. This scene is probably related to the obsession of the ghost in room 307.
Zhou Fangdong glanced at the photo wall and realized that the two men looked exactly alike... They were very likely the ghosts in the room.
There just happened to be a pair of twin brothers who were preparing to become tenants in the abandoned elementary school. Let them stay in this room for a while, and then let the rest of the tenants stay in room 401.
Looking left and right but unable to find the ghost in the room, Zhou Fangdong simply took out a kerosene lamp.
After the ghostly aura was dispelled, the once warm and cozy room instantly transformed into a completely different scene.
A typical haunted house in Liwan Apartment, a standard two-bedroom, one-living room family room. Ignoring the dust, cobwebs, and broken furniture typical of haunted houses, the most obvious thing is the two human-shaped outlines on the floor, which show strong resentment.
After Zhou Fangdong put away the kerosene lamp, the room still looked like a haunted house.
Unlike the ghosts in other rooms, the ghost in room 307 did not restore the ghost realm after it was dispelled.
They seemed to know that Zhou Fangdong was in danger, and went into hiding immediately after the ghost domain was eliminated.
However, for Zhou Fangdong, who possesses the [Heavenly Eye] skill, finding the ghost in the room is incredibly simple; it just requires taking a few more steps.
Zhou Fangdong glanced at the traces of resentment left on the ground and followed the gloomy energy to the bathroom.
He pulled a ghost with blood flowing from its seven orifices and its body covered in bruises from the bathroom ceiling, and then pulled another ghost with the same dead state from the toilet.
These two brothers not only died in the same way, but also chose the same hiding place, showing a remarkable connection.
After stealing eight hundred ghost coins from each ghost, Zhou Fangdong learned the cause of their deaths.
The twin ghosts died before they had finished their senior year of high school.
When they were in junior high school, their parents died in an accident and they were taken in and raised by their uncle's family.
The brothers' parents were business people. Although they weren't particularly wealthy, they left the brothers a large sum of money in savings and a house.
After their parents died, their estate was kept in trust by their uncle, and the house could not be transferred to their names until the two brothers came of age.
Compared to his parents, who were in business, his uncle's family lived in poverty. They lived in the chaotic Liwan Apartments, which had become the site of numerous murders and paranormal events, but they had no intention of moving out.
After bringing the two brothers back, the uncle's family continued to live in the Liwan Apartment.
Although the uncle said he wouldn't touch the savings left to the two brothers by their parents, he bought a car, new appliances, and every family member except the two brothers got a new cell phone.
Because they still wanted the house for the two brothers, their uncle's family became increasingly displeased with them.
They didn't physically assault the two brothers, but they subjected them to long-term verbal abuse and suppression, and occasionally subjected them to emotional abuse.
Once, the uncle even brought the younger brother's diary to school. At that time, the twins had just entered their first year of high school and were going through puberty. The younger brother had developed a crush on the girl sitting next to him and secretly wrote it in his diary.
However, according to his uncle, the girl was a vixen who seduced his younger brother. During the flag-raising ceremony, he took the microphone and made a scene in front of the entire school, accusing the girl of being shameless and accusing his younger brother of not studying properly and thinking about that kind of thing, betraying his deceased parents and his upbringing.
Eventually, the girl transferred to another school, and the younger brother suffered a social death throughout the school. Not only were the girls afraid to approach him, but the boys also despised him and didn't want to play with him.
Because the older and younger brothers look exactly alike, the older brother was also implicated.
Moreover, during their school years, whether it was the final exam, monthly exam, or midterm exam, the two brothers would have cheat notes slipped into their pencil cases or clothing pockets by their aunt every time they took an exam... They were caught every time, sometimes by the teacher during the exam, and sometimes by their uncle reporting them after the exam.
My uncle's family knows exactly how to destroy the mental health of teenagers.
Under prolonged oppression, the two brothers eventually suffered a mental breakdown and committed suicide by drinking pesticide together.
The two brothers' bodies were left in the Liwan Apartment, and their uncle's family didn't even bother to collect them.
After their deaths, the uncle smoothly inherited the property that rightfully belonged to them.
However, after the resentful souls of the two brothers were nurtured into vengeful ghosts by the yin energy of the Liwan Apartment, the nightmare began for the uncle's family.
My uncle's family was trapped in room 307 of the Liwan Apartment. After a year of repeated terror, they suffered cardiac arrest and died.
After their uncle's family died, the two brothers transformed the ghost realm into the house their parents had left them, decorating it with the spirits of their uncle's family members. They stayed in the ghost realm, pretending to be alive, to fulfill their dreams of going to university and traveling the world.
After reading the memories of the two ghosts before their deaths, Zhou Fangdong sighed heavily.
This uncle's family is so vicious. They treated two children so cruelly for money.
Let alone children, even adults would find it unbearable to endure such long-term suppression, humiliation, and emotional abuse.
Zhou Fangdong bought a high-end cleaning tool, cleaned the room with one click, and then placed an order for two sets of furniture with Guijia Furniture Store.
The furniture store manager has returned from his training, and the store is currently operating normally.
Since it will take some time for the furniture to be delivered, Zhou Fangdong plans to use this time to write out the rental rules for rooms 307 and 401.
These three tenants are all ordinary people, so the rental contracts can't be as casual as before; they need to think about them carefully.
Before being teleported back to the room, Zhou Fangdong glanced at the decoration interface... The 5th floor was still in a state where decoration was not possible.
The air purification and protection equipment on the fifth floor has not yet been installed. If it is not installed by the time the rental contract is signed, Zhou Fangdong has decided to directly renovate the fourth floor.
He has nothing but ghost coins right now. He can waste a little bit of ghost coins to make the apartment look better.
Zhou Fangdong teleported back to his room and began writing the rental contract.
After you finish writing, you can have Xiao Di call the ghost bus to bring back those three tenants who are in reserve.
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Author's Note: Bonus chapter at 9 PM tonight.
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