Chapter 149 The Strange Idol: Linjiang City Faces a Huge Crisis
Zhou Fangdong projected his consciousness into the nightmare clone inside the City God statue.
The person kneeling and praying under the statue right now is a worshipper who is hoping to buy tickets to a fan meeting.
Zhou Fangdong directly controlled the Nightmare clone to use the [Heavenly Eye] skill to assess the condition of the worshipper.
I have cavities, several nodules on my thyroid, high body fat, high blood pressure, and am in a somewhat sub-healthy state. I'm not possessed by any supernatural forces... no, I have a [bewitched] debuff.
The abnormal energy fluctuations of this negative state are very weak, even weaker than the supernatural power of a Class D ghost. It's like a minor ailment that you carry with you, and even the sophisticated security screening equipment at the entrance of the Bureau of Surveillance can't detect it.
After this negative status was identified, a heart-shaped icon indicating "[Charmed]" appeared above the heads of most of the pixelated figures queuing at the entrance of the main hall on the City God's page.
Zhou Fangdong checked the effect of this debuff.
[A mental debuff that does not affect daily life; it does not alter the user's mindset; the charm effect is only triggered when the user comes into contact with something related to a specific person; its main ability is to make the charmed person willingly spend money for that specific person.]
...What a terrifying debuff! It actually targets other people's savings.
Zhou Fangdong felt that this negative state was probably not caused by ghosts or monsters.
Those who come to the Inspection Bureau to offer incense on the very first day the City God Temple opens are mostly residents of the city center.
Now, the Jinxi District and Zhongcheng District in the city center are protected by the City God Temple, with day and night patrols by day and night gods. The city center is much safer than before, and there are no dangerous ghosts or monsters.
The vengeful spirits that emerged from the crack in the top floor left behind negative status effects that were all curses, and all of them were countdowns that directly endangered lives, not this kind of painless allure.
Therefore, it is highly unlikely that it is a vengeful spirit from the crevice.
This way of doing things doesn't seem like that of a deity...
After eliminating those possibilities, only the evil god who is hiding and preparing to cause trouble remains.
...Could it be that those bald guys from the Bone Inheritance Society have chosen to debut as idols in order to save the Society?
Suddenly, Zhou Fangdong pictured a group of bald, middle-aged men wearing puffy dresses and stage costumes singing and dancing on stage.
Just thinking about it makes my eyes water.
If that's the case, then these seduced citizens seem even worse off. Unwittingly, they've given their money to some bald cult member on stage with a beer belly and a frilly skirt...
It was truly heartbreaking to hear and brought tears to the eyes of all who heard it.
Zhou Fangdong was preparing to get up close and personal with the idol who was holding a fan meeting.
Whether that idol is a cult member in disguise, or has acquired charm for some other reason, we can find out by seeing it for ourselves.
However, figuring out how to leave the apartment is the problem...
His shadow puppet is with Hou San, who is busy helping him stock up on furniture and can't spare the time to attend the fan meeting. This tenant is very mobile and efficient, and Zhou Fangdong doesn't want to take the shadow puppet away from him.
The true form of the corrupting authority can only appear around the tenant for a short time, making it unsuitable for this type of investigation.
Although the Nightmare clone can move freely, its mental energy will decrease when it moves in the real world... Its mental energy has already decreased significantly, and if the burden is increased further, even if it consumes Ghost Coins, it will not be able to replenish it.
After thinking about it, Zhou Fangdong decided to ask Li Ou if she had any dolls in stock.
Since the statues Li Ou made can accommodate Nightmare clones and eliminate the negative status effect of Nightmare clones losing mental points when they are active, the dolls he made should have a similar effect.
When Zhou Fangdong teleported to room 303, Li Ou was cleaning the room.
He had already brought all the sculpture materials back and placed them in the corner of the living room. He was now sweeping up the dirt and dust left on the floor from dragging the materials. Behind him followed a BJD doll about the size of a calf, dressed in a gorgeous Lolita dress, carrying a miniature piece of furniture, and also cleaning like Li Ou... This was the child ghost from the room, possessing the doll Li Ou had made.
Noticing Zhou Fangdong's sudden appearance in the room, Li Ou showed no sign of panic. He straightened up, tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear, and greeted him softly, "Landlord."
With these actions and tone of voice, Li Ou's gloomy and deep-set eyes actually had a very gentle feel to them.
"Is there something you need from Li Ou? I am Li Ou's wife. He was too tired from moving things and has already gone to sleep."
Zhou Fangdong didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point, asking, "Does Li Ou have any spare dolls? I'd like to borrow them."
The investigator who just delivered the package not only brought the materials for making the statue, but also all of Li Ou's personal belongings that had been sealed by the Supervisory Bureau.
“Yes, Mr. Landlord, I’ll get it for you right away.” ’Li Ou’ put down the cleaning tools in his hand, turned around and walked to an open suitcase, and took out a rectangular box from it.
Inside the box was a slightly smaller humanoid doll body. Li Ou handed the doll to Zhou Fangdong: "However, his inventory consists of doll bodies without makeup on the body or head, and without suitable wigs or clothes. Mr. Landlord, do you think this is usable? If not, I'll wake Li Ou up and have him put some makeup on the doll."
Zhou Fangdong took the doll, created a nightmare clone to test it, and the clone easily merged into the doll.
"Thanks, it works. No need to call Li Ou, let him get some rest."
Zhou Fangdong left room 303 with the doll, opened the rental preview interface, and began looking for a tenant who could take his clone out.
Lu Mingbian in Room 301 works at a law firm; Xiong Lei in Room 302 works at a nursing home; Li Ou in Room 303 is sleeping; Grandpa Chen in Room 304 works at Jingmiao, next to the nursing home in Linjiang District; and the gardener in Room 305 is busy planting lawn in the apartment garden.
All the tenants on the third floor are vacant, so what about the tenants on the other floors...?
Zhou Fangdong switched to other floors and took a look.
In Room 201, four investigators are patrolling the city center; in Room 202, He Yansheng is farming in his garden; in Room 203, Hou San is buying supplies; and in Room 204, Tang Huili is busy drawing comics about Liwan Apartments. In Room 205, Yin Xi is severely malnourished and is recuperating under the care of Granny Gui. In Room 206, Zhu Di and Su Wan are out and not in their rooms; judging from their locations on the map, they seem to be doing part-time jobs in the city.
Hu Feng lives in room 207… Zhou Fangdong is hesitant to let this mentally unstable investigator out. The paper craftsman in room 208 is studying new paper doll designs, and the ghost postman in room 209 works at the first-floor courier station.
Although Zhao Dawei, who lives in room 101 on the first floor, is on vacation, this unlucky uncle has just experienced a 'garden horror', so it's best not to let him go out.
Duan Wenyu from Room 102 is busy interning at the Supervision Bureau; Mu Yuechan from Room 103 works as a security guard around the apartment; Room 104 is a convenience store; Xiao Xiaoyu, who lives in Room 105, works at the courier station on the first floor; Hong Zhong from Room 106 also works at the Supervision Bureau; Zhang Qingyang from Room 107 and the zombie Taoist priest from Room 108 went to Chuyun Temple; Miao Zheng from Room 109 is just idly picking his toes in his room…
Okay, you're the one I choose.
Zhou Fangdong planned to arrange for Miao Zheng to go out and run an errand for him, since this tenant seemed to be the only one with plenty of free time.
Miao Zheng has a talisman, a substitute doll, and a paranormal camera. These are enough to save her life, but the camera is a low-level paranormal tool, barely effective against high-level ghosts. She needs a tool specifically designed to counter ghosts.
Zhou Fangdong rummaged through his inventory and found two unused [Intermediate Ghost-Slaying Talismans].
He bought these items when he first unlocked the back building dungeon, but because his own skills were very useful, these external items had never been put to use.
The system's recycling price is outrageous, and it's a waste to leave it idle. I'll give it to Miao Zheng later.
However, upon checking, I found my inventory was full again, so I had to throw out these supernatural items with negative side effects.
Zhou Fangdong returned to the hidden room on the fourth floor and casually tossed the props under the table.
As he was about to leave, he remembered something and asked, "System, the face blindness negative status of the [Human Skin Mask] can be removed with the [Low-Level Curse Removal Potion]. Can the negative status of these items with negative side effects also be removed with the potion?"
The items grown in the garden planting area are [strange items], not [cursed items]. The negative effects caused by these items cannot be removed with [curse removal potions].
These props are truly unusable now; we might as well just throw them into the ghost market auction sometime when we have time.
Zhou Fangdong teleported to Room 109 and handed over the [Intermediate Ghost-Slaying Talisman] and the doll that housed his Nightmare clone to Miao Zheng, asking her to make a trip to the city and find the idol who was preparing to hold a fan meeting in the next two days.
Feeling restless and bored, Miao Zheng snatched the talisman and doll from him as if afraid he would change his mind, and readily agreed.
"The idols who're holding fan meetings recently..." Miao Zheng thought for a moment, "The only one I know of who's going to hold a fan meeting recently is the one who suddenly became popular these past couple of days. I even heard Captain Hong mention it this morning. These kinds of events with large gatherings of people all need to be approved by the Supervision Bureau, and then the Supervision Bureau needs to arrange paranormal protection devices and investigators based on the number of people gathered..."
As she spoke, she opened a social media app, clicked on the top trending topic, and handed it to Zhou Fangdong to see, "This is the person. The day before yesterday, a stunning photo of him was suddenly captured, and he went viral instantly."
Zhou Fangdong took a look and realized that the person in the photo was not the bald cultist he had imagined, but a sweet-looking girl.
Although she is very beautiful, she lacks distinctiveness and will likely find it difficult to stand out in the entertainment industry, which is full of handsome men and beautiful women.
This viral "divine photo" is no different from her usual selfies, but for some reason it has sparked a huge amount of discussion.
Moreover, the timing of "the day before yesterday" is very subtle, as it coincides with the time when the evil god disappeared, making it hard not to speculate whether this sudden surge in popularity was aided by the power of the Heirs of the Bone Society.
However, you can't tell much from the photos alone; you have to see the person up close.
Zhou Fangdong handed the phone back to Miao Zheng: "It should be her. Try to find her, just a glimpse from afar will do. I'll reimburse you for any expenses, such as train tickets or fan meeting tickets, when you get back."
"How could I let you, the landlord, spend more money on tickets? It's so easy for me to see this person." Miao Zheng quickly scrolled through the group chats on his social media. "Someone posted a part-time job posting in one of my photography work groups a couple of days ago. They said that this person's fan meeting needs a photographer to help take pictures, and they haven't stopped recruiting yet. I'll go apply right away."
Miao Zheng was quite talkative and had a strong desire to confide in others. Although Zhou Fangdong didn't ask, she still explained while typing: "Because the job application requires a test shoot, photographers like us can get in touch with the main character in advance. These idols who are born for the stage are basically a bit anxious about their appearance. They are very particular about things like lighting angles, such as whether the left side of their face is prettier than the right side, so we should shoot from the left side, and use a slightly downward angle to make them look better... So we need to work with the photographer in advance. Even if I don't buy a ticket to the fan meeting, you, Boss Zhou, will still be able to see her."
That's a good coincidence; I don't need to figure out how to buy tickets to the fan meeting anymore.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was looking at Miao Zheng's trending topics on his phone, someone was promoting the fan meeting under that amazing picture.
This fan meeting is mainly for selling albums. It starts with a one-hour performance of the new song, followed by album signings. After the signings, there will be a five-minute one-on-one interaction and photo opportunity.
You need to buy an admission ticket before you can watch the stage and buy an album.
If you want to have a one-on-one interaction with your idol, you need to buy a different, more expensive ticket.
Moreover, the ticket price is quite high; the entrance ticket alone costs several hundred yuan, and the interactive ticket is double that.
Even at such a high price, tickets are still very difficult to buy. Fueled by the allure, fans are incredibly enthusiastic, and tickets are basically sold out as soon as they go on sale.
"OK, all done. They want me to come for an interview this afternoon. Boss, I'm off now!" Miao Zheng put away his phone, placed the doll in his camera bag, and left.
After Miao Zheng left the apartment, Zhou Fangdong contacted the director of the Supervision Bureau. He planned to ask the director to send him a list of people who would be attending large gatherings such as fan meetings and concerts in the near future.
The worshippers at the City God Temple seemed to be deliberately avoiding each other, and none of them mentioned the idol's name during the process of praying for tickets. Zhou Fangdong also couldn't be sure whether the person who cast the charm negative status on them was the girl who suddenly became popular, as Miao Zheng had mentioned.
While Miao Zheng was on his way, Zhou Fangdong checked on the situation of the pilgrims at the border temple near the nursing home in Linjiang District.
The number of worshippers at that temple was significantly less than at the City God Temple, with only about 600 incense points. Judging from the worshipper activity records, most of them were old neighbors and people from nursing homes who came to visit Grandpa Chen, who had been brought back from the dead, and to offer incense.
Some people were just passing by; since they were already there, and the temple was open, they decided to stop by, light incense, and offer their prayers.
By checking historical activity records, Zhou Fangdong found the worshippers who were praying for the same thing... They were also praying to get tickets to the fan meeting.
Strange, it seems like this city has suddenly been cursed by some kind of celebrity worship.
Zhou Fangdong closed the City God interface. Judging from the time, he felt that Miao Zheng had almost arrived in the city center, so he directly focused his consciousness on the doll she was carrying.
Miao Zheng had just left the bus stop and was walking towards the hotel where that idol was staying.
There was a subway station right next to the bus stop where she got off, and many people were walking out of the subway entrance.
Miao Zheng's camera bag zipper wasn't fully closed, leaving a gap. Zhou Fangdong manipulated his clone to sit up inside the bag, pry open the gap, and observe the outside world.
Something's not right...
Since Zhou Fangdong projected his consciousness onto the Nightmare clone, he has been using his [Heavenly Eye] to observe the passing crowds.
Many of the people walking out of the subway station had alluring icons above their heads, but the color of those heart-shaped icons was different from that of the people at the City God Temple.
The hearts at the City God Temple were pink, while the people emerging from the subway entrance had pink or blue heart-shaped icons above their heads. Zhou Fangdong also keenly spotted a few green hearts in the distance.
—Is it not just one person using charm abilities?
Although puzzled, Zhou Fangdong did not let Miao Zheng stop. As planned, Miao Zheng took him to the hotel where the suddenly popular idol was staying.
After Miao Zheng arrived at the agreed location, the staff did not make him wait any longer and took her directly to a presidential suite on the top floor.
Here, both Miao Zheng and Zhou Fangdong saw that sweet-looking little idol.
Zhou Fangdong's gaze sharpened, settling on the girl's hair.
The [Heavenly Eye] skill's appraisal effect indicates that this woman's hair is a supernatural item.
It's a wig, a wig made of human skin.
The reason why the cultists of the Bone Society shave their heads is so that they can wear these human skin hats that can transfer evil karma.
Those who possess this supernatural item can be considered core members of the Bone Inheritance Society. Moreover, because the effect of this supernatural item is very important to these wicked cultists, owning a human skin hat is the goal of every cult member.
However, although this girl was wearing a human skin hat and wig, the causal lines on her body showed that she had never harmed anyone, nor had she shown any signs of shifting karma; she was just an ordinary person.
But how can an ordinary person wear such a core supernatural prop of a cult?
Does she really know what that thing on her head is?
Because the Nightmare clone has no facial features and is just a dark shadow, it is very difficult for it to speak. So Zhou Fangdong directly pulled Miao Zheng into the dream and asked her to find out some information and test the relationship between this little idol and the Heir Bone Society. If possible, she should tear the human skin hat and wig off the little idol's head.
Zhou Fangdong adjusted the flow of time in the dream. Although he said a lot in the dream, in the eyes of the others in the real room, Miao Zheng was only slightly dazed, his pupils trembled a little, as if he was shocked by her beauty.
The sweet-looking idol covered her mouth and chuckled, seemingly pleased with Miao Zheng's reaction: "Come and take some photos for me. If you want an autograph, I'll give you one after the test shoot."
"Oh, okay, thank you so much. Besides the autographed photos, can I ask you a few questions?" Miao Zheng said as he took out his camera and began to take pictures very professionally, snapping more than ten photos in a row.
Hearing her say that, the staff member next to her was displeased: "What questions are you asking? Are you a photographer or a paparazzi? Just take your pictures."
"Oh dear, Sister Zhang, don't be so harsh on my fan." The young idol regarded Miao Zheng as his ardent fan.
She didn't seem nervous like other idols when they encountered sasaeng fans; instead, she seemed quite pleased with herself.
This feeling is like suddenly winning the lottery and being eager to show off, accepting all admiration and praise, good or bad.
She raised her chin and held out her hand to Miao Zheng: "Let me see the photos you took. If I'm in a good mood, you can ask me anything you want."
Miao Zheng smiled and handed the camera to her.
"Wow, these photos are so beautiful!" The young idol exclaimed with delight as she flipped through the pictures. It was astonishing that every single one was taken so quickly and perfectly.
The trial shoot for this job application mainly assesses whether the photographer can take good photos in a short amount of time. Because there are so many people at the fan meeting, the photo shoot time is very short.
When an artist suddenly becomes popular, the company is eager to make money from this popularity and organizes a fan meeting as quickly as possible. They didn't have time to prepare the filming staff, so they started recruiting in various photography work groups.
Having been a paranormal anchor for so many years, Miao Zheng still managed to keep her hand steady while moving at high speeds amidst numerous ghosts chasing her, capturing clear and terrifying images. Her photography professionalism is beyond question.
The idol immediately decided to hire Miao Zheng: "You're hired! You'll be taking photos for me at the fan meeting tomorrow!"
She handed the camera back to Miao Zheng. "What were you trying to ask me?"
Miao Zheng asked directly, "Where did you get that human skin wig you're wearing?"
The idol froze, then mechanically repeated the question like a broken record: "Human skin wig?"
She didn't react in time, but her manager and bodyguards all changed their expressions. Without needing any orders from her manager, the bodyguards drew their batons and started hitting Miao Zheng.
They looked at Miao Zheng with fierce and cold eyes, as if they were looking at a dead man.
Miao Zheng casually tossed his camera bag aside, rolled up his sleeves, and headed straight for the camera.
...Then she single-handedly beat up the whole group of them.
The agent looked at the bodyguards lying on the ground and, without Miao Zheng lifting a finger, obediently lay down as well.
"Do you think we've misunderstood something? How about we settle this privately? You name a price, and I'll decide..."
Miao Zheng waved his fist, interrupting the agent: "There's no misunderstanding, and no need for mediation. Your sister is here."
Upon seeing the fist, as big as a sandbag and stained with blood, the manager immediately fell silent.
Miao Zheng casually pulled off the wig of the terrified idol and patted her cheek with his other hand.
"Little sister, tell me where this thing came from, try to tell the truth, or your big sister won't hold back her slap."
Watching Miao Zheng's actions, Zhou Fangdong, who was in the camera bag, fell silent.
My eyes have been opened; so this is what they call a test...
He really went all out, punching the Nanshan Nursing Home and kicking the Beihai Kindergarten. He's so ruthless! No wonder he's Miao Zheng; he's tough and talkative.
Under Miao Zheng's threat, the idol finally came to his senses and said in a tearful voice, "It was given by the company... Everyone in our group has one."
"Your group..." Miao Zheng took out his phone and quickly checked, "It's a five-member girl group that disbanded a year ago. Are you going to hold a fan meeting together at the same venue?"
"Yes, we all had fan meetings in the same place, but at different times. Because I have the most followers, I had my first one. I really didn't know that the wig was made of human skin..."
Miao Zheng continued, "What is your relationship with the Heirs of the Bone Society?"
The young idol seemed to be hearing the name for the first time, shaking his head blankly: "I've never heard of this organization."
Seeing this, Miao Zheng turned around and looked at his agent who was slumped on the ground.
The agent was startled and immediately handed over his phone: "I...I don't know either, it's all the boss's arrangement. You should contact our boss directly."
The agent, who had expected Miao Zheng to take the phone, suddenly noticed that the tall woman's camera bag, which was placed next to her, had moved.
Without anyone operating it, the zipper opened by itself, and then a white humanoid doll crawled out of the bag.
The doll had deathly pale skin, and its empty eye sockets were pitch black. Faint black mist kept drifting out from its eye sockets and joints... It looked like a ghost doll possessed by an evil spirit.
As the ghost doll approached and reached out to grab him, the manager's eyes rolled back and he fainted.
Fortunately, Zhou Fangdong caught the phone in time.
He unlocked the phone with his agent's finger and discovered that before the screen went black, the agent was looking at a schedule and timetable, followed by a list of staff.
Among the stage staff list in one of the venues, Zhou Fangdong was surprised to find two familiar names.
[Zhu Di], [Su Wan]
If it's a coincidence that one person has the same name, but two people have the same name, then they must be his two tenants.
Although he hadn't looked closely at their profiles, Zhou Fangdong vaguely remembered that they were both college students majoring in stage design.
If the part-time jobs they found during the summer were also related to stage design... then the two staff members who assisted the stage lighting technician at the fan meeting were most likely them.
Zhou Fangdong wanted to open the [Linjiang City Map] to confirm the location of the two people again.
But at that moment, pop-up windows for the special tenant watchlist appeared one after another.
[WARNING! The two tenants in room 206 have triggered the medium, and the debuff on them has evolved into a curse.]
[Warning! The curse on the two tenants in room 206 has been detonated, and they are about to die.]
[The two tenants in room 206 used the [Red Thread of Fate] at the same time, and the curse and the fatal wound disappeared.]
The curse effect of [Red Thread of Fate] has taken effect. Please urge the two tenants to hold a wedding and sign a marriage certificate within one week. [Red Thread of Fate] can be used freely before the marriage certificate is dissolved, without any negative effects.
Zhou Fangdong's heart was pounding like it was on a rollercoaster.
...Luckily, he had prepared some supernatural props for the two tenants in advance, otherwise his room 206 would have been empty.
After the room is no longer rented, the ghost who works as customer service for his online store might also quit. Then he would lose a source of reputation, which is really scary to think about.
Zhou Fangdong composed himself, closed the pop-up window, and began using his Nightmare clone to check the information on his manager's phone. Meanwhile, at the apartment, his main phone also received a message from the bureau chief regarding the location of a large-scale gathering.
As Zhou Fangdong compared the intelligence from both sides, his expression grew increasingly grim.
He vaguely guessed what the evil god was planning to do.
...That's insane, wanting to destroy what you can't have.
This incident was not orchestrated by an evil god to extract faith; if left unchecked, many people will likely die.
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