Chapter 145 Dark History Before Death (Bonus Chapter) The Ghost Bus Driver's Memories...
Zhou Fangdong began to observe the investigator carefully.
Under Zhou Fangdong's watchful gaze, although the man continued moving things, it was clear that his movements were becoming increasingly uncoordinated.
Even Tianmu couldn't see anything wrong with it; the investigator was just an ordinary, healthy adult male.
It wasn't a ghost in disguise, and there were no signs of supernatural items on its body.
But why did that vengeful ghost only curse Li Ou...? Are his tenants just that unlucky?
While Zhou Fangdong was observing the investigator, Mu Yuechan couldn't contain his impatience. This was his first time going out for fresh air during the day, and although he could only wander around the two apartment buildings, he was still looking forward to it.
Zhou Fangdong was also annoyed by Mu Yuechan's swaying water sleeves, so he told him to go out first.
With the landlord's permission, Mu Yuechan seemed to have a zipline hanging over her head, and with a 'whoosh,' she floated straight out of the front door.
His sudden appearance startled the junior investigator at the door.
Although the investigator had no problems, Zhou Fangdong was still worried about letting him go back just like that.
Zhou Fangdong took out three incense sticks for offering and ordered a group of headless little devils to help move the materials on the truck at the door. Then he called a cleaner over and took the investigator to the activity room of Liwan Apartment.
He didn't intend to let the investigator leave until the ghost that cursed Li Ou was dealt with.
The activity room is the territory of the headless imps and furniture imps, and with the cleaner watching over it, the investigator will be fine.
The headless imps were very efficient. After helping Li Ou move the materials, they rushed back to the activity room to find new playmates.
Li Ou took a pile of materials back to the third floor in the elevator and continued his bricklaying work.
...This unfortunate child still has no idea that he has a curse on his head.
With too few clues and unable to understand the curse for the time being, Zhou Fangdong simply contacted Hou San and told him the location of the vengeful spirit's seal on the map, asking him to help him see which one had been unsealed.
As Zhou Fangdong watched Hou San board the ghost bus in the parking lot in front of the apartment, he suddenly remembered something.
When he asked the system if the ghost bus driver Wang Yongshun needed a room, the system said that this ghost tenant lived in the bus.
...Since the bus is equivalent to his room, is the ghost bus considered part of the apartment's surrounding facilities?
Can he also ride around on the ghost bus like a tenant?
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong simply asked the system, "System, can I ride the ghost bus?"
[Theoretically, it's possible, but the ghost bus should only be able to accommodate, not carry, the host.]
If the host forces the driver to drive, the ghost bus may be damaged due to overloading.
Overloading is acceptable...
Zhou Fangdong abandoned his idea of taking the ghost bus to personally visit the vicinity of the ghost's sealing point.
"System, how do I contact the ghost bus driver if I want to talk to him?"
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a bus appeared in the lobby on the first floor.
Zhou Fangdong was stunned.
There was a ghost bus parked in the apartment lobby... Hmm, it was quite a sight, thankfully the ceiling height on the first floor was high enough.
The driver didn't get off the bus, and Zhou Fangdong suspected that he couldn't get off the ghost bus.
Looking at the open car door, he hesitated for a moment before stepping on the pedal.
Nothing happened. It seems that, just as the system said, the ghost bus can accommodate him, but it can't take him with it.
Zhou Fangdong walked into the ghost bus and saw the driver sitting in the driver's seat.
When the middle-aged man saw Zhou Fangdong appear in the carriage, he nodded respectfully to him: "Young Master Zhou." His hands never left the steering wheel.
Zhou Fangdong was somewhat surprised.
The ghost bus driver, Wang Yongshun, didn't call him landlord, but rather "Master Zhou." This seems to be the first ghost tenant who didn't address him as landlord.
Zhou Fangdong, the ghost bus driver, remembers obtaining the [Shadow Soul Contract] skill for the first time after the Penghu Homeland incident.
The system said at the time, "Congratulations, host, you have regained your ghost servant. The ghost bus has officially awakened."
After that, the ghost bus gained the ability to screen passengers, and the system was automatically set to prohibit members of the Bone Society cult from boarding. Then yesterday, this function worked smoothly, and the ghost bus directly refused to carry passengers and ran over and killed ten cult members.
The ghost bus driver continued, "It's so good to see you again. I knew you would succeed."
He knows me, he knows the me from before.
Zhou Fangdong's expression turned serious.
After what happened last night, he is now questioning whether he has actually traveled to a parallel world.
Zhou Fangdong suspected that there was no time travel involved, as all signs indicated that this should be his original world.
He was just agitated and confused last night, but he didn't suffer from amnesia. Although his attention was distracted by the system several times, he remembered all of the system's reactions.
Last night, every time he tried to recall past memories, the system would interrupt him... It was so obvious that it was hard for him not to notice.
The system's overreaction made Zhou Fangdong vaguely realize that recalling past memories might not be a good thing for him now, so he gave up on trying to remember them.
Given that memories of life before death can be altered or blurred, his memories of death before death are probably not very accurate either... The reason he was bound to the system is probably not as simple as he thinks.
Looking back now, driving a large truck against the flow of traffic on the highway is truly outrageous. Driving against the flow of traffic on the highway is punishable by a 12-point deduction and license suspension, right? Unless it's intentional retaliation against society, no truck driver would deliberately do something like that and ruin their livelihood.
Although the system didn't want him to recall the past, the ghost tenant who was connected to his past appeared before him—perhaps he could piece together those forgotten fragments of memory from the other party.
"Can you tell me how we met?" Zhou Fangdong casually found a seat next to the driver's seat and sat down. "I'm currently suffering from amnesia, and I don't remember many things from before."
The ghost bus driver looked nostalgic: "That was probably fifteen years ago. I died in 2010. After I died, it was you, Lord Zhou, who captured my soul. I remember I was at the very front of the procession of the dead. You led us, the dead, toward the underworld, but before we reached the Yellow Springs Road, you suddenly said that the underworld was closed and took us to the ghost market."
Zhou Fangdong was stunned for a moment.
...Was he a ghost messenger before?
The ghost bus driver continued, "Mr. Zhou, after you dropped us off at the coffin shop, you took off your body and became a ghost. We don't know where you went."
Zhou Fangdong became more and more confused as he listened.
Separated from the body? How can a ghost messenger still have a human body?
"When you returned, most of the souls had lost consciousness and were in a dazed state. Although I was rational, I also felt very tired. I only heard you talking to the coffin shop owner about how the world was in chaos."
"After the underworld closed, it completely stopped accepting new souls, and the reincarnation mechanism in the underworld also changed. Evil people who should have gone to hell or been reborn as animals were reincarnated first, while good people were reborn later. Due to their nature, most of the evil people who were not punished will continue to do evil according to their nature in their previous life, which will further aggravate the resentment in the world and make the world more chaotic."
“You told the coffin shop owner that ordinary, weak souls like us, after doing good deeds, should be reincarnated into a good family, instead of staying in the world waiting for our souls to be polluted and never be reborn, or being devoured by other vengeful ghosts.”
"The underworld's closure was too sudden, which is too unfair to ordinary people. You said you wanted to find a stable space between the yin and yang, similar to a ghost market, to store the souls of ordinary people like me."
At this point, the ghost driver's face was full of gratitude: "Lord Zhou, you did it. You found a stable gap between Yin and Yang, and based on the characteristics of the mirror world, and taking into account the fact that the Yin energy of Liwan Apartment would attract ghosts, you created a place that automatically captures, stores, and protects ordinary souls, using Liwan Apartment as a prototype... Once the underworld reopens, these souls can enter the cycle of reincarnation again."
A place resembling a mirror world, modeled after an apartment building, where the souls of the dead are stored...
The more Zhou Fangdong listened, the more familiar the name sounded.
Could this place be the blind box opening space he just came out of?
Did he design the teleportation point in the elevator at the back of the apartment building? Did he also design the teleportation point in the blind box space?
He was just cursing someone for being so stupid as to set the way back to the apartment in the toilet... Turns out it was himself.
But did I already have a connection with the apartment back then? No wonder the system linked him to the apartment and chose him as the landlord.
"Then it was 2015. I remember it very clearly. At that time, you asked me if I was willing to be 'resurrected' and become a stronger being than the vengeful ghost. Then I wouldn't have to worry about being eaten by other ghosts. But I might temporarily lose my freedom and be under your control."
“I am very grateful for your care and wanted to do something for you, so I agreed.”
As he spoke, the ghost driver patted the steering wheel with some emotion, "Then I gained a body, gained great power, and became a ghost that is like a human. You even found me a job in the apartment so I can continue driving the bus every day."
“At that time, my bus could only be ridden by the dead. My main job was to help the furniture store manager transport ghosts out of the apartment. Some ordinary people who died in the apartment could not be captured by the Yin-Yang gap you created, so the store manager and I had to carry them manually.”
"Later, the furniture store manager said he would use the furniture to screen people with the ability to solve paranormal events and let them live in the apartment. But somehow, the ghosts in the ghost furniture, which were clearly placed by the store manager himself and would not harm people, caused many deaths. All the people with paranormal abilities screened out by the ghost furniture also disappeared. Even if you went to look for them yourself, you couldn't find them. They were nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead."
"Later, the furniture incident attracted the attention of the supervisory bureau, and the Guijia Furniture Store was sealed off. No paranormal talent was selected, and the matter was dropped."
Zhou Fangdong frowned.
xx15 years ago, which is ten years ago.
The constant deaths and disappearances are very much like the style of the game "The God of War," and Xiao Xiaoyu, a former player of the "Infinite Flow" game, disappeared from this world ten years ago...
A reasonable guess is that the main deity intervened, using the supernatural events created by the furniture store owner's ghostly furniture to traffic people.
"Then came 2020. The apartment was sealed off, and paranormal events broke out nationwide. You said you were going to save the world, and after you successfully saved the world, then..."
At this point, the ghost driver's smile became somewhat awkward, as if he was unsure whether he should continue.
"What happened next?" Zhou Fangdong asked. "It's nothing. Just tell me the truth. I can accept anything."
The ghost bus driver, forcing himself to speak, continued, "You said that after successfully saving the world, you wouldn't have to wear those stiff, old-fashioned work clothes anymore, you wouldn't have to grow your hair long anymore, you could cut your hair whenever you wanted, and wear whatever clothes you wanted. You even said you'd dye your hair green and jump at the gates of the King of Hell..."
"Alright, stop talking, it's impolite to say any more," Zhou Fangdong quickly interrupted.
I still can't accept this.
He had considered that it might be some grand, ambitious quote from a protagonist, or some kind of ambitious goal, but he never expected it to be such a display of personal aesthetics... Had he completely let loose? Why would he share such private thoughts with others?
I never imagined he used to have such a silly and eccentric personality... Saving the world just for the freedom to dress as he pleases?
While freedom of dress is important, he really hates wearing work clothes, and dyeing his hair green is something he's always wanted to do but never dared to, but saying it out loud is a bit embarrassing.
[...You said you'd dye your hair green and dance the "social dance" and "driving test" at the entrance of the King of Hell's palace, and you even said you'd drag the Black Impermanence (the God of Death) along with you.]
The system suddenly added a sentence, picking up where the ghost driver had left off.
[Rumor has it that Bai Wuchang (White Impermanence) specifically found a phone corrupted by supernatural forces and learned how to use it to record videos, intending to record them for you as a keepsake in the future.]
Zhou Fangdong was speechless.
So, system, you found out now? It's not time for you to pretend to be a bot anymore.
Good heavens, how many dark secrets does he have?
No wonder the system didn't stop the ghost bus driver from speaking; it seems it knew what the driver was about to say.
The harder he tried, the more desperate he became. The system was right not to let him recall his past memories. Now that he knew all this, he already wanted to die.
Zhou Fangdong decided that he would never think about the issue of memories again, and would focus solely on leveling up and completing quests. Once he finished all the main quests and was truly resurrected, he would probably remember everything from his past.
But before that, he had one more very important question to ask the ghost bus driver:
"Have I ever told you before what equipment I left behind... Before I decided to save the world, do you know what I left behind?"
Now that I know I'm starting over with a new account, I have to pick up all my old equipment and resources; I absolutely can't let them go to someone else.
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