Chapter 37: The Educational Methods of Ghost Tenants in the Corrupted Main God's Supernatural Dungeon...
Since he didn't have much luggage, Zhang Qingyang quickly tidied up the room and prepared to go out to the 104 convenience store to buy some things.
He noticed the convenience store as soon as he entered because the store's rules were very eye-catching, and he immediately saw the words "No payment is required to purchase items at the convenience store".
Being a tenant at Liwan Apartments must be incredibly lucky; the rent is practically free, and you don't even have to spend money on food.
If possible, he wanted to take some food back to the Taoist temple so that the people there wouldn't have to suffer from hunger by eating only one meal a day to save food, and the children could also taste what snacks were like.
Just as Zhang Qingyang reached the entrance of the 104 convenience store, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.
Looking to the side, I saw that the door to room 103 was open.
"Little Taoist priest, come here~" Mu Yuechan leaned against the door frame, without leaving room 103, and faced Zhang Qingyang with her half-intact face.
Upon seeing that familiar face, Zhang Qingyang paused for a moment, then instinctively walked over: "Landlord? What are you doing in this room? Do you need something?"
Zhang Qingyang thought that it was probably because it was getting dark, and the landlord's terrifying power could not be suppressed at night, which was why he turned into this state.
Mu Yuechan covered her lips with her water sleeve and let out a soft laugh.
A sly glint flashed in his eyes, and he didn't deny that he wasn't the landlord: "Yes, I need to talk to you. Do you know that general store next door? Could you get me some face cream and hair oil from there? Something with a nice scent."
“Ah, the convenience store in room 104…” Zhang Qingyang scratched his head. “Isn’t it right next to yours? Why would you bother me with such a small thing? Just go by yourself. I don’t even know what brand of cosmetics you use.”
I felt that the 'landlord' in the apartment tonight was really strange. He was a bit pretentious and cloying, completely lacking the decisive and ruthless demeanor I had when we first met last night.
"I can't get out... Please, please~" Mu Yuechan blinked gently, her bright eyes teasing like little hooks.
But to Zhang Qingyang, this flirtatious glance was completely wasted. He frowned in confusion: "Landlord, why is your eye twitching?"
"What's wrong with my eyes?" Zhou Fangdong's voice suddenly rang out behind Zhang Qingyang.
Zhou Fangdong came out to find Zhang Qingyang. He wanted to tell Zhang Qingyang not to leave his room that night and wander around the apartment with his master.
He originally planned to teleport directly to room 107, but when he looked at the rental preview interface, he saw that Zhang Qingyang seemed to be talking to Mu Yuechan, which scared him so much that he quickly teleported to the entrance of convenience store 104.
Upon hearing Zhou Fangdong's voice, Zhang Qingyang froze and turned around to see that the landlord had appeared at the convenience store entrance at some point.
Since the landlord is in the convenience store, then who is in room 103...?
Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Zhou Fangdong explained, "I'm not the tenant of room 103 in the apartment. I just occasionally need to borrow his body to go out. You don't need to pay attention to him; let him stay in the room."
Upon hearing this answer, Zhang Qingyang gasped.
I've heard of ghosts possessing people's bodies, but I've never heard of a person possessing a ghost's body... Wait, maybe the landlord isn't human either. Anyway, this is terrifying! How could this be done?!
While Zhang Qingyang was still reeling from the shock, Mu Yuechan was doing everything she could to get Zhou Fangdong to relent: "Landlord, please let me leave the room. I promise I won't leave the apartment." She made sure to say it in a roundabout way.
Path dependence works like this: when Mu Yuechan was performing, she only needed to act cute and beckon to have plenty of people give her money and flowers, but she never expected to encounter such an unyielding person after her death.
Zhou Fangdong remained completely unmoved and replied expressionlessly, "I will only consider letting you go out after you can thoroughly read and recite 'Common Sense of Ideological and Moral Knowledge' and 'Common Sense of Law'."
Seeing that her goal had not been achieved, Mu Yuechan's expression changed instantly: "Who can memorize such boring stuff! Since you won't let me go out, you can forget about using my body to go out tonight either!" After saying that, she rolled her eyes and slammed the door of room 103 shut.
Zhou Fangdong sighed wearily.
Talking to Mu Yuechan made him inexplicably hallucinate the unruly child he encountered when he was a tutor in college to earn living expenses. That unruly child was just as disobedient, and to make excuses for not wanting to study, he even lied to his parents that he physically punished him during tutoring.
It's really a headache.
Reshaping a child's personality X is a very difficult task.
Standing nearby and witnessing the entire exchange between the two, Zhang Qingyang asked curiously, "Landlord, so you asked me to download those audios for this ghost to listen to... Is there something wrong with this ghost's personality? Is it too bloodthirsty? Or does it lack human morality?"
Zhou Fangdong sighed heavily and said wearily, "Yes, we have both."
Zhang Qingyang stroked his chin: "Master said that education should be combined with entertainment. Mr. Landlord, you asked me to find literacy textbooks. This kid must be illiterate. It's useless to let him listen to these textbooks. They might even cause him to rebel."
Do you have any good ideas?
"Let me think... I'll go out and download a few more audio collections of tear-jerking stories tomorrow, like 'Stories of Motherly Love' or 'Education of Love.' These kinds of educational audio stories are easier to understand."
Hearing him say that, Zhou Fangdong suddenly understood.
It seems we still need to brainstorm; Zhang Qingyang's method seems to be more effective than my own.
Zhou Fangdong thought for a moment and said to Zhang Qingyang, "In addition to that, I'd also like to trouble you to buy a media player and a few DVDs of highly rated tearjerker dramas, the kind that are particularly heart-wrenching and tear-jerking."
There probably weren't any video players that allowed for close-up viewing in Mu Yuechan's time, so he would definitely be very interested and able to watch it.
Let him watch more of these melodramas; it should cultivate his good character... I don't expect him to become a saint who sacrifices himself like the heroines in melodramas, but at least he should have some normal human sense of right and wrong.
“Okay.” Zhang Qingyang nodded. “By the way, Mr. Landlord, why don’t you just buy him a computer? It would be much more convenient for him to download videos and record audio.”
Zhou Fangdong shook his head. "The online atmosphere isn't good right now. We can't let him access the internet."
In this parallel world, ordinary people live a very hard life in reality, struggling to survive every day under the oppression of ghosts and monsters.
The more repressed one is in reality, the more unrestrained one becomes online. There might be many people who, in order to vent their negative emotions, start hurling insults without considering the consequences. Zhou Fangdong is genuinely afraid that Mu Yuechan will develop even more hatred towards ordinary people after being exposed to the internet.
If Mu Yuechan gets into an online argument with someone and he, being illiterate, can't win the argument, he might come up with some kind of curse to kill the other person across the internet... He thinks that given this guy's personality, he's very likely to do it.
“Yes, we really can’t let him go online.” Zhang Qingyang seemed to have thought of something as well and nodded in agreement. “I’ll go find some DVDs for you tomorrow, Mr. Landlord. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go to the convenience store to buy something first.”
“There’s one more thing,” Zhou Fangdong called out to him. “Don’t leave your apartment room after dark, and don’t follow your master around the apartment.”
Zhang Qingyang was taken aback. He was about to say that his master was very powerful and that he wouldn't encounter any danger if he followed him when the landlord added softly, "This is an order, not a suggestion. If you want to die, you don't have to listen to me."
Although the voice remained gentle, Zhang Qingyang sensed an indescribable sense of intimidation from it.
Cold sweat instantly trickled down Zhang Qingyang's forehead. He nodded quickly and said solemnly and seriously, "Don't worry, I swear I will never wander around the apartment at night, nor will I follow Master around."
The landlord in the apartment was so easygoing and acted like a normal person that he almost forgot how terrifying he was.
We must not be careless, and we absolutely must not disobey the landlord's orders. The landlord revived our master, the landlord repaired the temple, and the ordinary people in the temple are also under the landlord's protection. If we take a wrong step, it won't just be ourselves who die, but everyone we care about.
"Go back to your room after you buy your things at the convenience store, it's getting dark..." After giving this last instruction, Zhou Fangdong teleported back to his room.
Zhou Fangdong originally planned to go check out room 106, but talking to Mu Yuechan took up a little time... Oh well, I'll go tomorrow.
Back in his room, Zhou Fangdong opened the stand-in interface that evening.
Looking at the two pixelated figures above, he pondered for a moment, and finally chose Mu Yuechan.
The special tenant watchlist just sent him Zhang Zhiwu's movements; this zombie Taoist priest left room 108 as soon as it got dark.
It is currently unknown what Zhang Zhiwu does every night when he leaves his room, but if he were to use Zhang Zhiwu's body to perform the substitution function, he would most likely be rejected.
This isn't a matter of favorability; rather, the Taoist priest likely has something to attend to that night, and he probably won't agree to lend his body to someone else.
Recalling the state of the Taoist priest who was afflicted with zombies when they first met, and recalling his information in the encyclopedia, Zhou Fangdong felt that Zhang Zhiwu must have many secrets, and perhaps he could obtain important information about Liwan Apartments from him.
However, these matters will have to be investigated later, since he dares not leave his room at night. If he encounters any danger again, the system won't have the power to save him once more.
Zhou Fangdong clicked on the pixelated female character and used the stand-in function.
The scene shifts, and room 103 reappears before our eyes.
Although the use of the stand-in went smoothly this time, Mu Yuechan seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder. Before falling into a deep sleep, she only hummed and didn't say a word, which made Zhou Fangdong breathe a slight sigh of relief.
He was genuinely a little afraid that this person might say something strange again.
Mu Yuechan is really hard to get along with...
Scolding him will increase his favorability, giving him the cold shoulder will also increase his favorability, but if you speak to him gently and kindly, Zhou Fangdong can't swallow his anger. He always remembers his arrogant attitude when they first met, when he didn't take anyone seriously...
Sigh, I hope that the touching stories and melodramas collected by Zhang Qingyang can have an effect and correct his bad character.
Zhou Fangdong shook his head, no longer thinking about Mu Yuechan, and opened the map exploration interface.
A map of Linjiang City unfolded before him. Looking at the flashing red dots on the map, he pondered for a moment and decided to choose the one furthest from the city.
Zhou Fangdong felt that harmful cults like the Sigu Society were like rats that only lived in the gutter. They dared not go to crowded places, and the more remote the place, the more likely it was to be their stronghold.
Hopefully, we can successfully select their stronghold. We don't expect to wipe them out on the first try, but it would be good if we could kill a few high-ranking members.
The field of vision accelerated again, and this time Zhou Fangdong could clearly feel that the time it took for the images to pass was longer than before.
When the scene finally stopped and stabilized, Zhou Fangdong found himself in a quaint, old-fashioned town.
This looks like an abandoned tourist town. It's not very big, just one street long, and you can see the end of it at a glance.
The town was built along the river, and weeds grew in the cracks between the stone slabs. On one side of the river were traditional houses and streets, and some stalls that had not yet been cleared away were still placed on the streets.
More than a dozen masks were scattered around the mask shop. After a long period of wind and rain, the patterns on the masks had all faded, turning them into white mask molds, like pale white faces hanging on the shelf.
The food vendors' carts were also eroded by the wind and rain, and the remaining food inside had all turned into a dark, unrecognizable mess.
There were also some souvenir stalls, all looking like they'd been through a hurricane; not a single item was intact, and some even had their metal shelves overturned.
In the middle of the stone-paved road is a stone bridge that leads to the other side of the river. There are no houses on the other side, only a huge, modern stage, which was probably used for song and dance performances in the town in the past. Although it looks relatively intact overall, the stage floor is rusted beyond recognition, with large patches of dark rust, as if anyone standing on it would collapse and sink into the ground beneath the stage.
wrong……
Zhou Fangdong squinted and carefully examined the stage floor.
What appeared to be rust on the floor was dried blood. Layers upon layers of dark red blood piled together made it look like black rust.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was observing the stage, a system pop-up window suddenly appeared.
[A supernatural instance created by the Main God System has been detected. The instance erosion function is automatically activated.]
[Detected that the host's stand-in is [Mu Yuechan, a famous actress from the Republican era]... The ghost tenant's power is automatically spreading and eroding...]
Upon seeing these two pop-up windows, Zhou Fangdong paused for a moment.
Wait a minute, wasn't he teleported here to find the base of that Bone Inheritance Cult? How did it become an Invasion Supernatural Dungeon? Where did this dungeon come from? Could it be that the system deliberately used his teleportation as an excuse to bring him here, in order to target the Main God?
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong began to call upon the system in his mind:
"System? Wasn't the last thing I recorded about the eerie energy fluctuations of the Bone Inheritance Cult ritual? Why did you send me this map? Is this still the Bone Inheritance Cult?"
This area is a frequent activity zone for members of the Bone Inheritance Cult and a key location for its followers to obtain human remains.
"So it's just that the supernatural instance created by the Main God System happened to coincide with the location of the Bone Inheritance Society members?"
Why doesn't he believe it? This is too much of a coincidence.
[This is not a coincidence; this instance has always existed. After the instance ends, followers of the Bones Society come here to collect the remains of players who failed to clear it, using them as materials for the X ritual.]
Upon hearing what the system said, Zhou Fangdong's face darkened.
It turns out those cultists used this place as a spawn point for ritual materials... The supernatural dungeons created by the God System are murderous beasts, and those cultists are jackals scavenging carrion. Not only will they not stop the dungeon from appearing, they probably hope even more people die in it.
Zhou Fangdong thought of something and asked, "System, something's not right. How could ordinary people keep coming here and getting caught up in dungeons in such a remote place? Even if someone is desperate and looking for work, they wouldn't choose this town that looks like it's been abandoned for a long time, would they?"
This instance is a player-selected instance. The God System will automatically select ordinary players who meet the player's criteria and teleport them to this instance.
Wow... That's too insidious. If that's really the case, then it's impossible to guard against.
Zhou Fangdong felt a chill run down his spine when he recalled seeing the bloodstains on stage.
How many people must have died... If you win, you get taken away by the main god; if you die, your body is taken away by cultists. Once you're caught up in this instance, you're never seen again.
Zhou Fangdong gets angry just thinking about those vulture-like cultists.
"System, are those cultists lurking outside the instance? Can the instance erosion function expand the instance's area? Can it pull those guys in too?"
[Don't worry, host, it's all covered. We guarantee everyone will get involved.]
Zhou Fangdong was now completely relieved.
That's good. Let's take care of this dungeon and the cultists together tonight.
While Zhou Fangdong was chatting with the system, the ancient-style town had completely transformed into something else entirely.
It was as if time had been pushed back ten years in the whole town. The already decaying wooden buildings became even more dilapidated, and white lanterns emitting a faint blue light hung under the eaves of every house.
The street vendors were still in the same place, just as before, but somehow, shadowy figures appeared in front of those dilapidated stalls... Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be paper figures carrying lanterns.
Round paper money with square holes, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, fell like snowflakes, covering the stone path overgrown with weeds.
A faint, eerie green glow floated on the river's surface. The modern stage that once stood on the opposite bank had vanished, replaced by a massive stage draped with white banners.
Several people were sitting on the long row of wooden benches under the stage.
Sitting in the front row were two men and two women, all of whom were young people around twenty years old. They seemed to know each other.
The four young people were still wearing their pajamas and looked completely bewildered, as if they didn't know why they were in this place.
Sitting in the back row were six bald men, all in their thirties or forties, their faces bearing the same look of terror. If they weren't trapped in their seats and unable to move, judging by their tense muscles, they would have run away immediately.
Zhou Fangdong stood on the stage, opposite these 'audience members,' but they seemed not to see him at all, only looking around in fear.
After using Mu Yuechan's power to erode the instance, perhaps stimulated by the appearance of the six cultists, although Mu Yuechan's consciousness was still dormant, Zhou Fangdong's mind was filled with many fragmented memories related to opera.
There are certain taboos associated with performing opera, procedures for breaking the curse at the start of the performance, and other prohibitions that must be observed when performing in special plays...
According to the system, the memory fragments of a Stand are usually obtained after the Stand's proficiency reaches 50, but his current proficiency is only 10.
Although I don't know why they appeared now, it's the perfect time to use these memories to formulate the rules for the copy.
Because the instance hadn't officially opened when Zhou Fangdong teleported to this town, the rules of the instance would be entirely determined by him after using the Erosion Instance skill.
The erosion process will only end when the dungeon is cleared, the system has stolen enough power from the main god system, the dungeon completely disappears, and the dungeon is completely destroyed.
"By the way, System, what rewards will there be after the Corruption God instance ends?"
The fixed reward is that the instance will be transformed into facilities surrounding the apartment; the remaining rewards will be calculated based on the amount of God System energy stolen during the erosion process.
How do I tell how much energy has been stolen?
The lower the participation rate of the reserve players chosen by the main god, the more energy they can steal.
"Understood. Then let those four young men remain motionless and watch those six cult members put on a show."
Looking at the six bald men sitting below the stage, their faces filled with panic and helplessness, Zhou Fangdong laughed.
"Now, let the show begin."
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Author's Note: There will be no extra chapter at midnight tonight, so don't wait.
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