Chapter 120: Preparing to cleanse the lingering evil spirit in room 303...
Before heading to the mirror world, Zhou Fangdong opened his character attribute panel and glanced at his spirit bar.
He just spent half a day in the hospital maintaining [Dead Zone Invasion], and his mental bar only dropped by a third... However, it could also be because his mental bar is much longer than before, so it looks like he consumed less.
After spending 500 ghost coins to replenish his spirit bar, Zhou Fangdong looked at his stamina bar, which was only half full of spirit, and his health bar, which was only one-third full of spirit.
...The three attribute bars form a perfect inverted triangle shape, indicating a rather severe imbalance.
He did add to the stamina bar a few times, but he never added to the health bar at all.
Zhou Fangdong looked at his experience bar again.
Since unlocking the [Shadow Soul Contract] skill, the numbers after his experience points have disappeared, as if it were a bottomless pit. No matter how many tasks he does or how many experience points he gains, he cannot level up.
Because I haven't leveled up in a long time, I can't unlock new skills, and all the ways to obtain attribute points have disappeared. I can't even add points to my health bar or stamina.
He could unlock new skills using skill points, but his current skills are sufficient, and he needs to save skill points for upgrades. He doesn't want to waste them on unnecessary new skills for now.
Zhou Fangdong didn't waste any more time on this and directly closed the character attribute panel.
We can ask the system about the experience bar later; right now, we need to deal with the evil god as soon as possible.
The supervisory bureau's hospital has just slipped out of its control, and it must already know that.
If it chickens out and escapes from the mirror world, it will be difficult to find it later.
This time, Zhou Fangdong did not use the slime body, but directly teleported to the [Slime Street] in the mirror world using his original body.
As soon as he left the apartment complex and entered the mirror world, a familiar figure appeared directly in front of him.
Wearing a melon-shaped hat, a gray mandarin jacket, and with his face covered in countless faces... the evil god actually showed himself.
All the faces on his face were looking at Zhou Fangdong, who was frowning and deep in thought, as if trying to figure out what this young man in front of him was.
"Which Outer God's spiritual projection are you? I can't see through you." The evil god said in a deep voice, "You can actually devour and assimilate my power... Could that self-aware clone that took away the remains of the ancient god yesterday also be your creation?"
It's probably because the evil god's true form has a natural deterrent effect on its clones. Last time, when Zhou Fangdong used his slime body to face the evil god, he felt a great sense of pressure and seemed powerless to fight back.
But this time, facing the evil god in his true form, he had only one thought...
So weak.
How can it be so weak?
This evil god now feels to him like a huge balloon, seemingly enormous, but actually so fragile that it could burst at the slightest touch.
It's unclear whether the evil god's power was weakened by being trapped in a human body, or whether it was due to the backlash from the hospital being robbed.
However, Zhou Fangdong would not have any pity for such a thing.
If we don't strike while the iron is hot, when will we ever get another chance?
Zhou Fangdong started with zero frames, not bothering with any words, and directly used [Shadow Soul Contract] on the evil god.
This skill is exclusive to the landlord of Liwan Apartments. After use, the target's soul and body will become his property.
Faced with the power of the apartment, the evil god was utterly powerless. To be precise, it seemed it didn't even intend to fight back; as it was struck, those countless faces all looked at Zhou Fangdong and laughed.
"Ah, I know what you are now... So that's how it is... So that's how it is... Hahaha, prepare for my revenge..." As soon as the words fell, its human body turned into ashes and disappeared into the mirror world.
The priest's body had lived for over a hundred years, far exceeding the human lifespan limit. After losing the support of the evil god's power, it could no longer exist.
[Erosion of authority progress reaches 80%]
[Too many memory fragments; the system has assisted in cleaning and filtering them.]
The evil god was easily eliminated, and the progress of eroding authority increased significantly, but Zhou Fangdong showed no joy on his face.
He was examining the fragmented memories he had just obtained from the evil god.
One of the most important pieces of information is that every member of the Bone Society has the mark of an evil god within them, which can be possessed by the resurrected evil god. The more blessings they receive from the evil god, the more marks they have within them, and the more compatible they become with the evil god.
...In other words, every cult member is a preparatory body for an evil god.
No wonder the system's main quest 2 specifically states 'Kill all cultists'; it turns out that as long as there is even one cultist, that evil god could potentially be resurrected.
It's like stepping on a cockroach and releasing a bunch of eggs—it's disgusting.
The situation is getting worse now; the positions have reversed, and the evil god is now in the shadows while he is in the open... We must speed up the process of eliminating those cultists.
*
While Zhou Fangdong was dealing with the evil spirit in the mirror world, Liwan Hospital was steadily resuming operations.
Xiao Chen was a patient being treated in the mild observation area on the third floor of Liwan Hospital.
He was caught up in a paranormal event two days ago, which is why he was forced to be hospitalized... The reason I use the word 'forced' is because if the inspectors hadn't come to his door, he wouldn't have known he was affected by a paranormal event.
Xiao Chen felt that the investigators from the supervisory bureau seemed to be making a mountain out of a molehill. He had no injuries and no mental problems, so there was no need for him to be hospitalized at Liwan Hospital.
But today, Xiao Chen suddenly began to doubt his belief that he was not injured.
What struck him as odd first was the name "Liwan Hospital".
He felt something was off... How come this hospital shares the same name as Liwan Apartments? By the way, was this the hospital's original name?
However, whether it's the large golden lettering on the hospital's exterior wall, the notices inside the hospital, or past news newspapers, they all tell him that the hospital's name has never been changed and has always been called "Liwan Hospital".
Since the hospital is fine, then the problem must be with him... Perhaps the damage from the paranormal event was delayed, causing him to only realize today that he has some mental issues.
Xiao Chen sat on the hospital bed and sighed heavily.
Speaking of paranormal events, what he didn't expect was that today, Liwan Hospital, a security facility under the key protection of the Supervisory Bureau, was also involved in a paranormal event.
The incident occurred at noon. First, there were inexplicable flashes of red light, as if someone was flashing a large warning light outside. Then, the hospital's alarm suddenly went off.
After the alarm sounded, the ward turned completely red, and the view outside the window was quickly enveloped in a thick fog.
Just as Xiao Chen was wondering what had happened, investigators stationed at the hospital quickly arrived, collected the patients in the mild isolation zone, and placed them in a ward for unified protection.
Xiao Chen didn't know what happened after that, but from the snippets of conversation among the investigators coming and going, he learned that the first and second floors of the hospital were the weakest in terms of protection and had been overrun. It seemed that they had been taken over by some monster from a mirror world, and they had to spare some manpower to rescue the survivors on the first and second floors.
The second floor... that's very close to where they are.
Just as Xiao Chen was filled with anxiety, not long afterward, the hospital building suddenly began to shake violently. Then he vaguely heard something like, "The sky is cracking," and "Beware of those vengeful ghosts!"
Afterwards, Xiao Chen noticed that the thick fog outside the window had dissipated, and although the red light was still there, it was much dimmer and deeper... It seemed as if they had returned to the real world, but Xiao Chen couldn't be happy no matter what.
As the dark, blood-red light appeared, hordes of vengeful ghosts also appeared in the ward that the investigators had tightly protected with instruments.
The only saving grace was that the vengeful spirits did not attack humans; they simply knelt in the river of blood-red light, heads bowed, like bizarre and grotesque human sculptures.
Even so, Xiao Chen was still so frightened that he fainted.
This was the first time he had ever come so close to a vengeful ghost... He, who usually didn't even dare to face the corpses of small animals that had been hit and killed on the street, had absolutely no courage to face a bunch of bloody ghosts with their bellies ripped open and their deaths horribly gruesome.
Fortunately, when I woke up, everything in the hospital had returned to normal.
Perhaps because of the stimulation just now, Xiao Chen felt that there was something wrong with his mind, and his head started to hurt.
He sighed again, feeling he couldn't tough it out on his own any longer, and decided to see a doctor for some medication to relieve his anxiety.
After leaving the ward, Xiao Chen noticed that although the doctors, nurses, and investigators in the corridor all looked serious and hurried, the doctor's office that treated him was also empty, which left him feeling somewhat lost.
As he stood in the doctor's office in a daze, he suddenly heard arguing coming from the corridor not far away.
He peeked over and saw a thin 'investigator' arguing with a curly-haired doctor, while a tall investigator was trying to break up the fight.
It was called an argument, but it was entirely the skinny 'investigator' who was unilaterally dominating the curly-haired doctor, unleashing a torrent of abuse. The curly-haired doctor cowered, looking like a wronged fool, groaning as he was being scolded, not daring to utter a word back.
You could vaguely hear the skinny investigator cursing the curly-haired guy for "defecting," "being heartless, stubborn, and having a peculiar way of thinking," and so on...
You could still hear the tall, imposing investigator trying to mediate saying something like, "Minister Feng, let it go, he's already... dead and his debt is gone..."
Then it went from one person being scolded to two people being scolded.
Was that skinny investigator actually a minister? This Minister Feng has quite a temper.
With something interesting to watch, Xiao Chen felt his headache disappear. His desire to watch the drama unfold took over, so he leaned closer to hear it more clearly.
However, he was spotted by the curly-haired doctor as soon as he got close.
Xiao Chen suspected that not only was he having a mental problem, but his eyes seemed to be having a problem as well... Otherwise, how could he have seen the doctor's head turn 180 degrees just now?
My eyes are playing tricks on me; it must be my eyes playing tricks on me.
"Ah~ A patient needs me! I can't talk to you anymore!" The curly-haired doctor looked at Xiao Chen with bright eyes, rushed to Xiao Chen, grabbed his arm and walked towards the empty examination room next door.
This doctor looked thin, but he was incredibly strong; Xiao Chen felt like his legs were off the ground.
Minister Feng and the tall investigator clearly had no intention of leaving, and followed them into the examination room.
"Patient, where do you feel unwell?" The curly-haired doctor took out a notebook, looking quite reliable.
Xiao Chen scratched his head: "Doctor, I feel a bit of a headache, and my mental state seems a little confused..."
"Don't call me doctor. I'm the director of Liwan Hospital now. Please call me Director Ke." Director Ke waved his hand. "Headache? Simple! Just cut off your head and let me replace it with a new one. I personally developed this head. I guarantee it will work well and come with lifetime free after-sales service."
Xiao Chen was stunned.
...Can a head be cut off and replaced at will?
Before Xiao Chen could even ask, he saw Minister Feng slap Dean Ke on the back of the head.
Xiao Chen's face showed even greater horror.
Good heavens, when my left hand touched the back of my head, it produced a crisp metallic clang—Minister Feng's left hand and Dean Ke's head were both made of metal!
What's wrong with this hospital? What kind of tradition is this? Is this the legendary practice of sawing off a hand when it hurts and cutting off a head when it hurts?
Xiao Chen took a shaky step back, his mind racing, trying to figure out how to escape from this terrifying room without leaving a trace.
This is terrifying. Is Liwan Hospital really a legitimate hospital?
Liwan Hospital has no negative reviews yet. Could it be because all the people who could give it a bad review are dead?
*
When Zhou Fangdong returned from the world in the mirror, he received a message from Hong Zhong.
The message stated that, due to the negative energy emanating from the apartment, the hospital facilities had experienced varying degrees of corrosion and aging in a short period of time, and asked Zhou Fangdong if he had any solutions.
After reading the message, Zhou Fangdong opened the furniture purchasing app and took a look.
Coincidentally, the furniture store updated its secondhand furniture recycling page and highlighted that the furniture could be used to renovate hospital facilities.
Zhou Fangdong sent a message directly to Hong Zhong, telling him that he could send someone to Guijia Furniture Store to discuss the renovation with the store manager.
After putting his phone away, Zhou Fangdong took out a map and looked at the current location of his tenant.
Yin Xi and Su Wan are still at Liwan Hospital.
To prevent the lingering evil spirit from harming the tenants, the props and amulets should be given to the two girls when they return.
Other tenants also need to prepare self-defense tools, and they need to continue to improve their reputation, enhance apartment security, and increase renovation value.
...It feels like it's gone from a haunted house management game to a haunted house defense game.
Although the evil god had already had 80% of his authority corrupted, he had no chance of resisting him in a direct confrontation.
But this guy is really insidious, especially now that he's gone into hiding. His existence is a huge problem for ordinary people; he's personally witnessed the vicious methods of those cultists from the Bone Inheritance Society.
Zhou Fangdong sighed and went up to the third floor.
He also needs to max out his skills as soon as possible; apartment renovations can wait until tomorrow. He's only two skill points away from reaching 15 to upgrade his skills, so he needs to clean out two more rooms…
It's only afternoon now, I feel like I can clean up another room before dark.
Zhou Fangdong arrived at the door of room 303 and pushed it open.
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