Chapter 182 Extra 5: Zhou Fangdong's Aesthetic Development: Childhood, Two Close Relatives, and One Comrade-in-Arms
Zhou Fangdong knew long ago that he was different from ordinary children.
From the moment he became conscious, he was trapped inside an infant.
He could hear sounds from the outside world, but he couldn't see or speak, and he couldn't even turn over or raise his hand.
From the conversations of those outside, Zhou Fangdong learned that he was currently in the Zhou family ancestral hall, that he was born in a coffin, and that his parents had already passed away when he was born.
Perhaps because he was born from a coffin, his growth period was very, very slow. Even something as simple as fully opening his eyes took more than ten years.
It was painful at first, but Zhou Fangdong gradually got used to it.
Accustomed to the constraints of the body, accustomed to loneliness and darkness, and accustomed to receiving news of the deaths of those who cared for them before even seeing their faces clearly.
When Zhou Fangdong grew old enough to leave the coffin, only an old man remained in the vast Zhou family mansion.
The old man addressed Zhou Fangdong as his great-uncle.
The Zhou family is a family of paper craftsmen and has always had connections with the underworld.
Because of the bloodline of the family's patrons, the paper offerings made by the Zhou family will automatically possess spirituality when their eyes are dotted with blood. The offering incense and offering gold ingots they make are also far more effective than ordinary ones. Therefore, ghost messengers often appear in dreams to order paper offerings from the Zhou family.
People who have too much contact with the underworld will have their physical constitution affected by the yin energy. As a result, all members of the Zhou family, regardless of gender, are pale-faced, thin, and sickly.
In addition, the blood of the Zhou family members has a strong attraction to ghosts and monsters, so they are prone to accidents whenever they make paper effigies... After the family's protective magic was lost, the lifespan of the Zhou family members became even shorter.
Later, due to the small number of family members, in order to continue to take care of Zhou Fangdong, the Zhou family gave up the paper-making business starting from the old man's lineage.
The old man told Zhou Fangdong that now that he could leave the coffin and act independently, he would be the heir of the Zhou family and the face of the Zhou family.
He was born with a mission: to study hard and shoulder the responsibility of revitalizing the Zhou family.
Zhou Fangdong never went to school; he was always taught by his elderly parents at home.
He studied calligraphy, the Book of Burial, Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, paper crafting...
No matter what the old man asked him to do, Zhou Fangdong obediently followed his orders without questioning, rarely spoke, and never showed any extra expression on his face, like a little paper doll that had come to life.
He had long hair and wore a proper Zhongshan suit. He had perfectly absorbed all the knowledge taught by the old man and imitated the old man's daily life and aesthetic preferences.
Days passed, and the old man grew older, but Zhou Fangdong still looked as if he had just left the coffin, never growing up.
One day, the old man looked at Zhou Fangdong, who was diligently practicing calligraphy, and suddenly sighed. He picked up the landline in the old house and made a phone call.
After this phone call, the lifeless old house was infused with new vitality.
That was the first time Zhou Fangdong had heard the roar of an engine in this quiet little courtyard.
A modified motorcycle drove directly into the yard, and a young man jumped off.
He took off his helmet and greeted the old man: "Hey! Old man! You're still alive? What do you want?"
After removing the motorcycle helmet, a head of green-dyed hair was revealed.
At that time, Zhou Fangdong, who was still young, realized for the first time that human hair could grow in such a striking color besides white and black... The impact was so strong that a look of shock appeared on his face for the first time.
The green-haired young man also noticed Zhou Fangdong's presence. He looked at the little kid who was barely up to his waist and chuckled.
"How did you raise him like this? You've turned a perfectly good kid into a little old man." He said, ruffling Zhou Fangdong's hair and turning his neatly combed high ponytail into a bird's nest.
"Don't be rude, this is your elder." The old man tapped his cane and stood up shakily. "Xiao Qi, I need to have knee surgery in a few days and will need to stay in the hospital for a while. Please take care of him for me during this time."
The energetic young man shrugged. "Finally decided to have the surgery? I kept urging you to do it, but you wouldn't listen. Do you need me to come with you?"
The old man snorted coldly, "No need, I'll hire a caregiver myself."
Before leaving, the old man repeatedly told him that all he needed to do each day was bring food to Zhou Fangdong and not let him go out.
No sooner had the old man left than the energetic young man tossed a small motorcycle helmet to Zhou Fangdong: "Come on, bro, I'll take you for a ride on a ghost motorcycle!"
This spirited young man was the most rebellious child in the Zhou family. He had never liked the gloomy old house, had never been involved in the family business, and knew nothing about ghosts, gods, or metaphysics.
For this reason, he is the only remaining member of the younger generation of the Zhou family... Apart from Zhou Fangdong, the only living members of the Zhou family are the old man and this young man.
Zhou Fangdong held the helmet, looking at him expressionlessly without making a move.
The energetic young man scratched his head. "Why isn't anything happening? You don't want to call me 'brother'?"
He started counting on his fingers: "My grandfather calls you great-uncle, my father calls you great-great-uncle, and I think I should call you great-great-uncle... My God, I'm already feeling miserable enough being that old man's grandson, and now I have to be your great-great-nephew."
The energetic young man pinched Zhou Fangdong's face, kneading it round and flat, "You're so small, how come you have such a high seniority?"
Zhou Fangdong remained standing there expressionless, letting him pinch him.
"How about this, you call me 'brother,' and I'll call you 'little ancestor,' and we'll each call each other by our own names, okay?"
Seeing that Zhou Fangdong remained silent, the energetic young man simply picked him up and put him on the motorcycle: "Let's go, my little darling, I'll take you for a ride on the Ghost Fire."
"Today's homework..."
"What homework? Why are you working so hard at such a young age? Don't worry, there's no need to suffer so much. You'll have plenty of hardships to endure when you grow up." The energetic young man twisted the accelerator and drove Zhou Fangdong toward the nearby village. "You've been turned into a little old man by the old man. While he's in the hospital, I'm going to make up for the childhood you missed!"
A missing childhood is like firecrackers exploding in poop.
It was the first time Zhou Fangdong had ever seen firecrackers. He didn't even know what was happening when the fuse was lit, and he was still standing next to dried cow dung when he got blown up and his face was covered in black ash.
The firecrackers caused severe psychological trauma to little Zhou Fangdong, frightening him so much that he burst into tears on the spot.
This was the first time Zhou Fangdong had cried. Later, a young man took him to KFC to get medicine and treatment, and it took two children's meals to heal the psychological trauma caused by the firecrackers.
Junk food is so delicious.
From then on, Zhou Fangdong opened the door to a new world.
My first time playing video games, my first time drinking milk tea, my first time going to an amusement park, my first time playing games at an internet cafe, my first time wearing brightly colored new clothes, my first time dancing and waving my arms...
With the help of the energetic young man, Zhou Fangdong transformed from a paper doll devoid of human emotions into a living, breathing human child who could cry and laugh.
After the elderly man was discharged from the hospital, the energetic young man would still secretly visit Zhou Fangdong at the Zhou family's old house and take him around to play.
Seeing that Zhou Fangdong had become much more lively, the old man originally intended to turn a blind eye.
But later, the young man even wanted to take Zhou Fangdong to get his hair styled and dyed green. The old man finally couldn't bear it anymore and threw Zhou Fangdong into the ghost market, letting the coffin shop owner guide him to the underworld.
Studying at home during the day and going on unseen journeys at night, the elderly man plans to completely isolate Zhou Fangdong from the mentally unstable young man.
At that time, Zhou Fangdong looked to be about fifteen years old, and he entered his belated rebellious phase.
On his first day at the ghost market, under the horrified and desperate gaze of the coffin shop owner, Zhou Fangdong threw a tantrum and rolled around in the pile of coffins: "I don't want to go to work, I want to go with Brother Qi to ride ghost fire and blast through the streets—I want to cut my hair! I don't want to grow my hair long! Brother Qi said a real man should shave his head! I want to dye this thing green!"
His unruly, spoiled behavior infuriated the old man, who called him by his full name: "Zhou Fangdong, you are the face of the Zhou family, and you will be the face of the underworld in the future. Don't be so willful!"
Although Zhou Fangdong was rebellious, he was afraid that the old man would be so angry that he would faint. Therefore, even though he was very unwilling, he obediently became an intern ghost messenger and put on the ghost messenger uniform.
When taking his onboarding photos, Zhou Fangdong still had a grumpy expression: "Is the intern ghost cop uniform a black funeral shroud? So ugly and so monotonous."
After the photos were developed, the old man took out a brass pendant from his pocket, put the photos inside, and put it around Zhou Fangdong's neck: "Work hard, be good. I'm getting old and won't be able to stay with you for much longer." With that, he sighed deeply.
Just two months later, the old man passed away peacefully in his sleep, without illness or pain, a natural death.
Zhou Fangdong personally captured the old man's soul, took him to the underworld, and watched him enter the cycle of reincarnation.
After the old man passed away, Zhou Fangdong's rebellious phase ended abruptly.
He sat in the old house for a long time. Later, the energetic young man realized that Zhou Fangdong hadn't contacted him for a long time, so he came to the old house in person and brought Zhou Fangdong back from his low mood.
However, he shouldn't be called a "spirited young man" anymore. By then, this "Seventh Brother" was already in his thirties. Although he was unmarried and childless, he was no longer "spirited." He settled down, opened his own auto repair shop, and occasionally helped people modify vehicles for free.
The Zhou family has a lot of property, so even if Zhou Fangdong and his seventh brother did nothing, they would never have to worry about money.
But neither of them is someone who can sit still.
At that time, under the guidance of the coffin shop owner, Zhou Fangdong learned about his mission. During the day, he observed the situation of Liwan Apartment, dealt with high-risk ghosts and troublesome cultists, and at night he traveled to collect souls.
Therefore, Zhou Fangdong and Brother Qi met less often and only contacted each other by phone in their spare time.
Zhou Fangdong often complained to him about his work.
"...Black Impermanence ordered a paper figure, saying he needed one for cleaning at his house, and even gave me a picture to make. But when I made the paper figure, it was perfect and very beautiful, and he still asked me for a refund. It's simply outrageous."
"...My internship is over! I can get a haircut and change clothes now!"
"I give up. The uniform is still black, it's a black suit. The underworld is really obsessed with black."
"...Today, when I was exorcising a ghost for someone, I encountered a brat. I helped him for free, but the brat accused me of beating him up."
…“My colleague got married, and I helped her plan the wedding. Sure enough, there are still people who can resonate with my artistic taste.”
...
On Seventh Brother's 35th birthday, Zhou Fangdong bought a very expensive motorcycle, intending to visit him and celebrate his birthday.
However, due to a sudden large order to capture souls, the ghost messengers were short-handed, and Zhou Fangdong was forced to work overtime, so the meeting between the two was postponed to the evening.
This incident occurred due to a major accident on the highway, where the road collapsed, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths.
During the process of capturing the soul, Zhou Fangdong spotted a familiar figure.
Zhou Fangdong looked at the mangled corpse, then at the bewildered souls floating to the side.
Life is so fragile; you never know when it will be the last time you see someone.
Because of a road surface collapse on the highway, a chain-reaction collision occurred, and Brother Qi's car happened to be between two large trucks.
Zhou Fangdong bid farewell to his last relative.
Later, the Zhou family's old house was also demolished, and as the last member of the Zhou family, Zhou Fangdong inherited all of the Zhou family's property.
Including the car accident insurance compensation and the demolition compensation for his old house, his bank account balance exceeded nine figures.
After the old house was gone, Zhou Fangdong packed up the young man's belongings and moved into the Liwan Apartment with his computer.
...
So why not preserve their souls?
“It’s strange that you’re asking this kind of question…” Zhou Fangdong said while mentally adjusting the final effect of the system, “It’s just that our fate has run its course, there’s no need for it anymore.”
"Whether I am a ghost messenger or a deity who has been reborn through tribulations as you say, I have no right to interfere with the karma of others to satisfy my own selfish desires."
"You are a world consciousness derived from the Heavenly Dao, so you should understand this principle very well."
"The heavens cover all without bias, the earth carries all without bias, and the sun and moon shine on all without bias."
“In order to keep the person who is important to me, I directly interfered with cause and effect without him having accumulated great merit, so that he could be freed from the cycle of reincarnation and no longer suffer the pain of reincarnation. This is unfair to him.”
"Just put yourself in someone else's shoes: what if the God of Wealth weakened the fortunes of everyone else in the world to increase the fortunes of that person, all for the sake of someone important to him; or what if the God of Marriage favored one person and tied the perfect marriage thread that originally belonged to someone else to that person..."
"If I want Seventh Brother's spirit to stay with me for a long time, he can only become a ghost messenger. But who knows if doing so will cause any butterfly effect, or if it will take up someone else's spot to become a ghost messenger."
"The world is in a time of crisis, and I don't want to cause any more trouble... Besides, as long as I remember him, he is not truly dead."
[Stop! What horrible thing are you stuffing into the system while reminiscing and feeling sentimental? The Liwan Apartment is practically my face; I absolutely cannot allow such a horrific renovation to appear in the apartment.]
"Don't be so stingy. Think about it, if it really comes to the point where I need to be awakened in advance, for safety reasons, my corrupted consciousness and my conscious consciousness will definitely be separated. To be honest, my human side just likes these things. It's a game system, of course I need some motivation to keep playing."
Is this your excuse for stuffing these eye-watering decorations into the system? Aesthetics can be down-to-earth, but not to the underworld. No, even the underworld is better than the junk you designed.
"Tsk, let me tell you, the underworld is much more vulgar. Not only are the uniforms of the ghost messengers outdated and old-fashioned, but the buildings are all ancient ones, making it look lifeless. If I could renovate the underworld, I would definitely make it more modern."
"By the way, now that I possess the power of the world's origin, I can freely enter and exit the underworld, right? The underworld also has many good things. Since they're just sitting there, I might as well make use of them."
[Sure, you reminded me. I'll have to grab more resources and equipment for you and put them in the system.]
"What nonsense are you talking about? We're not robbing anyone, we're just asking for a donation, and we'll have to pay them back later."
Yes, you're right.
"Sigh, I don't know if this game system is even useful. I'm a little worried."
"I really don't know what I'll become after I wake up halfway through. After all, I'm a human now, and I have all the bad traits that humans have. In the process of assimilating the rooftop crevices, under the influence of the void power and those vengeful ghosts, I might become a madman."
"If one day you do wake me up, don't be soft-hearted. No matter how much I beg or threaten, don't respond. Just pretend you didn't see it."
Don't worry, I don't have human emotions, and I don't have the attribute of being soft-hearted.
"I'm counting on you from now on. You must protect my humanity. Even if splitting my consciousness and memories too much will make me mentally unstable, don't let my humanity be corrupted, otherwise I might never wake up again."
Don't worry, I'll be watching you constantly through the system. Even if you become an idiot, I won't abandon you.
"...Thank you so much."
[End of article]
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July 17, 2025 – December 14, 2025, after five months, it's finally over! [Sprinkling flowers] Thank you all for your support along the way! Love you all!
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