Chapter 56 Room 203 Ghostly Murder Conditions Investigator Visits Apartment...
Zhou Fangdong squatted in front of the bathtub and poked the puff-like ghost.
Aside from shivering, it didn't react at all. If he hadn't been holding onto the metal hose, the ghost would probably have squeezed back into the bathtub crevice and continued its reclusive state.
That's too cowardly. Is this really a ghost from the second-floor room?
After its death, this ghost's memories were almost entirely of the dark corner in the crack of the bathtub. Like an ostrich, it remained withdrawn until today, making it impossible to determine whether it had killed anyone or how.
Zhou Fangdong sighed softly, left room 203, and bought a substitute doll in the system shop.
Let's try using a surrogate doll instead.
He manipulated the substitute doll into room 203. Just after he left the room, the ghost in the bathroom indeed hid in the gap again.
Zhou Fangdong didn't let the substitute doll into the bathroom. Instead, he let it walk around the living room, actively touching the water droplets and moldy human face on the wall to see if there would be any negative effects.
Those looked like ordinary moisture and mold; the doll wasn't harmed at all after touching them.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was about to send the substitute doll to check the bathroom, the doll suddenly broke free of his control.
The scapegoat suddenly looked very depressed, walked into the bathroom in frustration, knelt in the bathtub, and strangled itself with the metal hose of the showerhead.
Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong frowned.
The surrogate doll died in the exact same way as the ghost in room 203. How could that be possible? Could the ghost in the bathroom kill people using water droplets and mold spots in the room?
Just as he thought of this, a severed hand suddenly flew in front of Zhou Fangdong.
For some reason, the two ghosts at the door of room 203 started fighting, and the fight was extremely fierce, just like the bloody battle before the flesh spirit mushroom was cleaned up.
Zhou Fangdong was already annoyed by the inexplicable death of the scapegoat, and these two troublemakers suddenly found themselves in his line of fire.
He used [Ghost Eye] and [Soul Absorption] directly on the two ghosts. After a smooth combo, he earned 400 ghost coins, grabbed the two terrified troublemakers, and threw them into room 203.
After throwing it away, Zhou Fangdong opened the rental preview interface.
Since the scapegoat is gone, let's use an outsider ghost to test the abilities of the ghost in room 203 and see if it has the power to protect this room.
In the rental interface, the two ghosts he threw into room 203 both seemed eager to leave the room, but for some reason their movements were unusually slow, and they only moved one step after several seconds.
Within minutes, one of the ghosts transformed into a human-shaped water stain on the ceiling, and the other into a moldy face on the wall.
Zhou Fangdong frowned even more deeply.
I thought the moldy faces on the wall and the human-shaped water stains on the ceiling were all manifestations of the ghost's obsession in room 203, but I never expected them to be specimens of its spoils—these marks in the room were actually proof that it had devoured foreign ghosts.
The ghost in room 203 looks cowardly, but its attack power is not weak at all; what a contrast!
Zhou Fangdong raised his head, wanting to grab another fighting ghost and throw it into room 203 to test the waters.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the second-floor corridor was unusually quiet.
All the ghosts stayed put, some standing and some lying down; there wasn't a single one fighting.
They dared not fight, nor dared to flee; they all hung their heads, standing there stiffly like well-trained greeters.
Zhou Fangdong felt somewhat helpless.
Honestly, when it's their turn to play a role, they stop fighting.
Just as he was about to buy another substitute doll, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't yet claimed Xiao Xiaoyu's 80 favorability points reward.
Most of the items rewarded for increasing favorability are related to the tenant himself. Zhou Fangdong suspected that the system would give Xiao Xiaoyu's items to him again... It was very likely that she would be a scapegoat doll. After all, judging from Xiao Xiaoyu's tone just now, she seemed to have made a lot of dolls when she was still an infinite flow player.
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong immediately opened the favorability interface.
Sure enough, Xiao Xiaoyu's 80% favorability rating made her a scapegoat.
This is truly a system designed to exploit its tenants to enrich the prize pool.
After using the substitute doll, Zhou Fangdong followed the doll inside.
He controlled the surrogate doll, preventing it from touching the water droplets on the wall or the mold, and simply had it stand in the living room.
Just three minutes later, the substitute doll's expression turned gloomy again. It broke free from Zhou Fangdong's control and staggered into the bathroom. Just like the previous doll, it knelt in the bathtub and strangled itself.
He seemed to understand the conditions under which the ghosts in this room killed him.
—It's the pervasive moisture in the room.
If a person enters a room and directly touches water droplets, or stands within the steamy area for more than three minutes, they will be affected by a certain negative emotion and may enter the bathroom to commit suicide.
The ghost in room 203 may seem timid, but it's actually the most terrifying one... It's hopelessly consumed by regret and wants everyone or everything that enters the room, whether human or ghost, to atone for their sins.
Whether it kills people or ghosts, it does so silently.
The room is constantly filled with moisture, which will infect everyone who enters. Ordinary people simply cannot live in room 203. No matter how many tenant rules are set up, the tenants in this room are doomed to die.
Zhou Fangdong went into the bathroom again, grabbed the metal hose of the showerhead, and dragged the withdrawn Puff Pastry Ghost out once more:
"Could you please retract some of the moisture? At least keep it within a small area."
Puff Ghost nodded sheepishly, still not daring to look Zhou Fangdong in the eye, but took a deep breath.
The visible moisture began to rapidly converge towards the bathroom, and the dampness that had filled the living room was all drawn into the bathroom. The mold on the walls and the water stains on the ceiling were also slowly disappearing.
However, the humidity in the bathroom became increasingly heavy, to the point that breathing felt like drowning.
After doing all this, Puff Ghost's body swelled up considerably, and its skin was stretched to the point of being almost transparent, making it look like a giant corpse floating on a river, as if it might explode at any moment.
Meanwhile, the moldy faces and water stains that had disappeared in the living room began to reappear on the walls and ceiling of the bathroom.
Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong sighed softly.
Living in room 203 means you won't be able to use the bathroom, right? That would be so inconvenient, there are no public toilets or bathhouses near Liwan Apartments.
He decided to leave the room for a while to see how long the ghost could maintain its state of concealing the moisture. If it could only conceal it for a short time before the moisture spread throughout the room again, then it would be certain that the room was unsuitable for renting to ordinary people.
Even so, Zhou Fangdong never considered getting rid of that puff pastry ghost.
This guy had a miserable life, living like a doormat in his twenties due to his father's favoritism. The only time he rebelled and tried to fight for his own interests, he went from one extreme to the other, killed someone while controlled by his emotions, caused his father's accidental death, and finally committed suicide due to emotional breakdown... In this situation, it seems that his soul was scattered after his death, which makes me feel that he did not deserve such a fate.
Moreover, with furniture vendor Hou San around, room 203 will most likely still be able to be rented out.
Hou San is very likely a half-ghost. He not only has four hands, but he can also go out at night and calmly set up a stall in the ghost market to sell things.
He should be able to coexist harmoniously with the ghosts in the room without needing tenant rules, just like Xiao Xiaoyu or He Yansheng.
After leaving room 203, Zhou Fangdong intended to find the five cleaning staff who had disappeared, make a duty roster, and continue with side quest 4.
But as soon as he stepped out the door, he received a message on his phone from Duan Wenyu. It said that Hong Zhong had already selected the team members who would be staying there, and they would be arriving soon.
Zhou Fangdong immediately changed his mind.
...I should go to the apartment entrance to pick up my four tenants and finish the side quest in room 201 first.
*
B-level investigator Li Zhe was ambushed by cult members while investigating a peddler's child abduction case and was only discharged from the hospital today.
He intended to continue investigating the peddler's case, but his captain informed him that the matter had been resolved in just one day—not only were the missing children found, but the cultists who manipulated the peddler to abduct children were also brought to justice.
Hong Zhong is currently leading a team to finish up the work on the abandoned hospital in the northern suburbs. The cultists of the Bone Inheritance Society have imprisoned many ordinary people there, and they need to rescue these people and transfer them to the hospital for treatment.
...Moreover, Hong Zhong single-handedly dealt with the cultists and ghosts in this abandoned hospital this morning.
Before Li Zhe could even marvel at how brave his captain had become, Hong Zhong informed him that his luggage had been packed up and thrown out of the staff dormitory, and that he should take his luggage and thirty yuan in cash to stay at the Liwan Apartment.
He couldn't help but start to think carefully about where he had offended the captain recently, or whether he had said something wrong just now, otherwise why would he have been sent to such a terrible place.
Along with Li Zhe, there were three other fellow sufferers who were forced to rent apartments in Liwan. They were all investigators under Hong Zhong.
Hong Zhong led a team of twenty people, divided into groups of four.
The three people who went to Liwan Apartment with Li Zhe were all investigators in his team. They had worked side by side for several years, trained together, and investigated paranormal locations together. They had a great understanding of each other and could basically understand what the other wanted to do with just a glance.
After receiving Hong Zhong's order to move to Liwan Apartment, Li Zhe and the other three gathered together for a small meeting to discuss the deeper meaning behind their captain's decision to have them move to Liwan Apartment.
The fact that Captain Hong let them get the apartment room key—first of all, getting the key certainly wasn't just a simple matter of taking it directly.
This key must be some important clue. Surrounded by ghosts, they need to defeat the ghosts guarding the key in order to obtain the apartment key.
Secondly, regarding becoming a tenant of Liwan Apartments—Li Zhe had vaguely heard that his captain seemed to be investigating the strange changes at Liwan Apartments recently.
The captain asked them to rent apartments and obtain tenant identities, which was definitely because he wanted them to help verify something... So they had to carefully investigate the records and not let the captain down.
So Li Zhe and his three companions decided to treat this 'renting operation' as an S-level investigation mission. After donning all their equipment and applying for the highest-level attack tools they could get, they drove off to Liwan Apartments in a grand procession.
Upon arriving at Liwan Apartments and seeing the legendary haunted building with their own eyes, Li Zhe and his companions realized that the nationally renowned haunted building truly lived up to its reputation... They already felt the pressure even before getting out of the car.
The eerie building shrouded in black mist stood silently, like a giant tombstone suppressing countless evil spirits, devouring all light and sound without a sound.
Facing this building was like facing the most primal fear deep within the human soul; the group almost instinctively held their breath.
Although the Liwan Apartment was even more terrifying than they had imagined, remembering the captain's expectations and the responsibilities on their shoulders, the group still got out of the car without hesitation.
At the same time, the apartment door suddenly opened automatically, as if it knew they were coming and was welcoming them.
The open gate was like the gaping maw of a ferocious beast, waiting for its prey to walk into its trap.
Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the apartment building, Li Zhe and his group were astonished to find a person standing in the entrance hall.
He was a pale-faced young man who seemed to possess some kind of magic. The moment you noticed his presence, you could see nothing else.
No matter how terrifying the environment, it could not suppress his presence. It was as if everything was created for him. He was the owner of Liwan Apartments... or rather, he was the embodiment of these two haunted buildings.
He stood there quietly and peacefully, like a statue of a god seated on a high platform, awaiting worshippers. His dark eyes, devoid of joy or sorrow, seemed like a projection from thousands of years ago, traversing the river of time, piercing through the dust floating in the beams of light, watching over these uninvited guests who had stumbled in bewildered and devoid of reverence.
Li Zhe and the other three lowered their heads almost instinctively, not daring to meet his gaze again.
But the next moment, they heard a cold voice, devoid of any emotion and sounding like a demon's whisper, drift out from inside the door:
"Weren't you here to rent a room? Come on in."
He knew why they had come!
Li Zhe and his teammates exchanged horrified glances.
Ultimately, their sense of responsibility to complete the mission prevailed, and they steeled themselves and entered the terrifying building that resembled the entrance to hell.
Like any other haunted area, the building felt somewhat cold and eerie due to the heavy yin energy inside.
To their surprise, this long-abandoned building was completely free of dust... and it seemed almost too clean.
Apart from some facilities appearing somewhat dilapidated due to years of neglect, and the windows being boarded up, making the interior somewhat dimly lit, there was no litter in sight. The marble floor was spotless, gleaming as if it had just been thoroughly mopped and swept several times by diligent cleaners.
After the four of them entered, the mysterious young man introduced himself: "I am the landlord of Liwan Apartments. Please come with me, and I will show you your room."
Li Zhe's expression was solemn, and he remained on guard. He and his teammates formed a back-to-back formation and cautiously followed the young man deeper into the apartment building.
However, after they formed a formation, the young man who claimed to be the apartment landlord seemed to glance back at them.
Li Zhe wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he seemed to see a hint of doubt in that look.
What was he wondering? Was he wondering why they, so weak, still refused to give up the fight?
...That's right, even though everyone knows about the killer at Liwan Apartments, they won't give up easily. That's the professional ethics of investigators! Once they accept a mission, they absolutely must find useful clues and report them back to the Bureau of Investigation!
Li Zhe and his group followed the strange landlord into an unusually dark stairwell. The stairwell had no windows, so no light from the outside could enter, severely obstructing their view.
The four of them simultaneously turned on the searchlights on their helmets.
As the lights came on, the figure walking ahead paused, as if just remembering something, and said softly, "Ah, I forgot you can't see in the dark... It seems we should add a few lights to this corridor."
Now, Li Zhe can no longer tell whether the landlord is a human or a ghost.
If you call him a ghost, the detection device doesn't give any warning; if you call him a human, his behavior is rather abnormal.
I initially suspected that there was something wrong with my detection device, but when several headless little devils carrying heads and laughing ran past in the corridor, the detection device did indeed issue a warning.
Faced with the kids running around in the hallway, Li Zhe forcibly suppressed the urge to draw his gun.
Liwan Apartments was indeed a haunted place, but under the leadership of that eerie landlord, not a single ghost attacked them. This made them hesitant to act rashly, for fear of angering the landlord, who was neither human nor ghost.
The group was led to a staircase, where the landlord spoke again:
"Whether you're going upstairs or downstairs, you can only step on the steps with the mummified corpse pattern. Be careful, or if you step on a blank step, you might be eaten by the stairs and turn into the mummified corpse pattern on the steps."
Li Zhe felt his palms getting sweaty.
...This person casually uttered some terrifying words. Although it was meant to warn them of danger, it felt more like a threat.
The group made it to the second floor of the apartment building without any major incident.
Upon arriving on the second floor, the investigators were astonished to discover that while the ghosts on the first floor were living in harmony and playing together, the ghosts on the second floor of the apartment were actually fighting.
Before they could even draw their guns in preparation, something even more terrifying happened—
The mysterious landlord walking ahead glanced at them, and the two fighting ghosts immediately stopped fighting, trembling and prostrating themselves on the ground, showing a completely submissive posture.
The four of them gasped in unison.
What terrifying power! Is this the landlord of Liwan Apartments?!
While I was shocked, a deep sense of powerlessness also welled up in my heart.
The group exchanged a desperate glance, a sense of pessimism rising within them.
How do we fight this?
Did the captain send them here just to steal the keys from the landlord?
These B-level investigators fighting this terrifying landlord... it's practically suicide.
Li Zhe and the other three moved mechanically, their hearts heavy as they followed the landlord to the door of room 201.
The landlord opened the door and introduced the room to the group, saying, "This is your room."
Although the indoor lighting was somewhat dim, the room was surprisingly clean.
The house is quite large, roughly two bedrooms and two living rooms, enough for four people. The furniture in the room is all in the style of the last century, including mahogany Chinese furniture, an eight-immortal table, and a pinkish-green refrigerator covered with a lace-trimmed dust cover... Although the furniture styles are not very consistent, they are strangely matched to create a mixed retro style.
The moment the four stepped into the room, a piece of paper appeared out of thin air in their hands.
【Room 201 Rental Rules】
① Pay close attention to coughing sounds in the room. The appearance of a cough indicates the presence of a "sick ghost." Be mindful of the ghost's location and keep it within two meters of you, otherwise you may contract a disease.
②If you are accidentally infected by a disease demon, you must put the medicine that appears out of thin air into the kitchen medicine pot within five minutes and drink the medicine produced by the pot.
③ If you bring injuries or illnesses into the room, you will smell medicine in the room. Drink the medicine produced by the medicine pot, and your injuries or illnesses will be cured immediately.
④ It is normal to randomly lose your five senses after taking the medicine. This state will disappear after the illness ghosts are refreshed.
⑤ If one drinks five bowls of medicine in a row, he will surely die.
⑥ In room 201, if even one person violates the tenant rules, all tenants will share the consequences with that person.
⑦ Tenants must carry the key to room 201 with them at all times. Losing the key will be considered an automatic termination of the tenancy agreement.
⑧ A monthly rent of 30 yuan must be paid in cash. If the tenant breaches the contract, it will be considered an automatic termination of the rental agreement.
9. If you discover that an outsider or ghost has invaded your private space, please do not panic. If you follow the above rules, the landlord will come to solve the problem for you as soon as possible.
Just as the group finished reading the contents of the paper, the mysterious landlord said again, "There might be ghosts emerging from the furniture, but don't worry, they are all very weak. If the sick ghosts don't eat them in time, you can deal with them yourselves."
"What you have here is the rental agreement. If you have no objections, you can sign your name at the bottom."
Li Zhe looked at the paper in his hand.
It's called a rental agreement, but it's actually more like a survival guide.
Adhering to these rules wasn't a strict requirement for these investigators, each equipped with a detection device. With their devices, they could determine the approximate location of the "disease spirit" by detecting unusual paranormal fluctuations before it fully revealed itself.
Does the captain mean signing this rental contract when he says "obtaining tenant status at Liwan Apartment"? No wonder he specifically told them to bring thirty yuan in cash.
The group exchanged glances again.
Trusting their captain, they didn't hesitate any longer, took out thirty yuan in cash, and signed their names directly on the paper.
With the final stroke of the pen, the signed contract and the cash in their hands vanished simultaneously.
Before they could even express their surprise, the landlord said, "Here are your keys. Keep them safe. If you carry the key with you, the ghosts in the building won't attack you. If you forget the rules of the tenancy, you can find a copy on the table."
Four identical keys appeared in the hands of the landlord of the Liwan Apartments.
Li Zhe and the other three hesitated for a moment before taking the keys.
Looking at the faintly glowing key to room 201 in their hands, they simultaneously raised their heads, their faces showing the same bewilderment.
Is it... really that simple?
Just by signing a name, one can easily obtain the keys and become a tenant of the Liwan Apartments... Is that right?
The captain probably wanted them to investigate the Liwan Apartments and gather clues, but they seem to have just followed the landlord around to tour the apartment and then completed their mission.
So, does this count as completing the mission?
*
After confirming that the four tenants had put away their keys, Zhou Fangdong left room 201.
He was originally wondering how to distribute the room key since there was only one, but unexpectedly, the landlord's key was very thoughtful and automatically made four copies based on the number of tenants.
Room 201 was successfully rented out, and at the same time, a pop-up window indicating task completion appeared:
Side Quest 8 Completed. Rewards: 500 Ghost Coins, 2000 Experience Points, 1 Random Skill Point.
[Tenant Profile: [Intermediate Tenant - Rank B Investigator] has been unlocked. Please claim the profile unlock reward in time.]
[The core of the evil god's clone has been successfully digested ahead of schedule; system security upgrade complete; apartment security upgrade complete.]
[A new device capable of detecting and eliminating evil spirit contamination has been installed in the corridors of each floor, and the host can check it at any time.]
[Beep—Important feature: [Evil God Disguise Interface] unlocked]
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Author's Note: There will be an extra chapter at midnight tonight.
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