Black Card, Monk, and Jialan Society

The Living Person Apartment, also the name of the Jialan Society's group leader.

I didn't expect this cursed place to actually exist.

So, can I dig out the Jialan Society's group leader's real name from this apartment, and even more information about these Ghost Hunters from their lives before they died?

The Lolita, monstrously strong girl, Shata, slowly said:

"It's a little different from the horror novels you've read before. The Living Person Apartment is actually a bit more humane. Every time a mission is completed here, you get a Supernatural Item as a reward.

"Theoretically, as long as you complete ten missions, you can completely escape this apartment. But since I arrived at this apartment, let alone seen anyone achieve this condition, I haven't even seen anyone come close.

"Currently, the three of us have the most completed missions. I've completed five, Squinty Jiangyang has completed five, and this Bald Yusheng has completed six."

Being called bald twice in a row, even the young Grey Monk, no matter how good his temper, couldn't help but sigh "Amitabha" at length, signaling Shata to be more mindful.

Shata pretended not to hear his voice:

"The vending machine on the first floor of the apartment automatically generates new food and water every day at midnight. If you want something to eat, you can also slip a note into the gap below. These are all completely free.

"The first three floors of the Living Person Apartment are the activity spaces for living people. No Vengeful Ghost can enter.

"In other words, as long as you enter the apartment, no matter what you provoke outside, you are absolutely safe here."

Above the fourth floor, those rules no longer apply.

Gao Tian asked:

"What's above the fourth floor?"

Jiangyang glanced at Gao Tian:

"Sister Ta and I were on the first floor, and when we saw you confidently walk in, we thought you knew about the fourth floor."

Shata ignored Jiangyang's interruption and continued to patiently explain to Gao Tian;

"The residents there are ghosts.

"No one knows how those ghosts moved in.

"I found the previous landlord's log in my room. She speculated that in the earliest days of the apartment, every floor was a living person's area. But because of repeated mission failures, too many residents died. Some residents, after dying outside, returned to the apartment with intense hatred. Over time, the upper floors were gradually contaminated.

"Of course, the previous landlord also said that these were just her speculations. And before she could start investigating the mystery of the fourth floor, she died on a certain mission."

"But every year, a very small number of people voluntarily go to the floors above the third floor to explore."

Gao Tian asked curiously:

"Why would someone willingly go to a place where ghosts live? Are they idiots?"

He didn't realize he was including himself in that insult.

Shata looked at him:

"Ah, because if you go to the Fourth Floor or above, and choose a unit and enter it, the apartment will reward you with a Black Card.

"At the time, I thought you went in so boldly in front of the three of us for that Black Card, or perhaps to show off your strength."

This topic is endless, isn't it.

"Black Cards can be considered the most important Supernatural Item in the early stages of the Living Person Apartment. Each Black Card can only be used once, and only by the original owner, and cannot be transferred.

"As long as you use a Black Card outside the Living Person Apartment, no matter where you are, you can instantly teleport to the first-floor lobby of the Living Person Apartment.

"This is also the most welcomed effect by the apartment residents, bar none."

Inside the apartment, it is also absolutely safe.

This means that as long as you have a Black Card, you don't have to worry about any Vengeful Ghosts you provoke outside the apartment. It's equivalent to having an extra life.

Gao Tian hadn't expected that going to the Fourth Floor once would yield such significant gains.

Not only did he use Shattered Face's ability to steal the Memory Ghost's ability, but he also received a reward from the Living Person Apartment.

Shata's gem-like eyes scanned Gao Tian up and down:

"Normally, you can move freely outside. You must spend at least one night here per month. When a Green Text Mission is issued, you must return immediately, no matter where you are.

"Do you have any other questions? You can ask them now."

Gao Tian:

"Among the previous residents of the Living Person Apartment, has there ever been a legend of someone completing ten missions and leaving the apartment?"

But before asking this question, Gao Tian already had a vague answer in his heart.

The group owner of the Jialan Society, that mysterious person with the ID "Living Person Apartment."

If his guess was correct, the name of each person in the Jialan Society was related to a supernatural event they dealt with in their past lives. The group owner named the Living Person Apartment after himself, which meant he had truly completed ten Green Text Missions and left here.

If such a legendary figure truly existed, then the generations of residents in the Living Person Apartment would surely still pass down his legend.

Shata affirmed Gao Tian's thoughts:

"According to the Log left by the previous楼主 I found in the room... she mentioned that a name called 'Xu Yuan' has been passed down among residents throughout the ages. This resident completed ten Green Text Missions ten years ago and left the Living Person Apartment.

"And it is said that before he left, he swore to all the residents in the apartment that he would definitely return. When that time comes, he will also find a way for others to escape and end the nightmare for all the residents here..."

Shata's tone grew somewhat dejected as he spoke:

"There are two versions of what happened afterward.

"One is that after Xu Yuan left the Living Person Apartment, he returned to a normal life. He forgot everything he experienced in the Living Person Apartment and never came back.

"The second version is that Xu Yuan also didn't want to return to the Living Person Apartment. After all, he went through so many terrifying things there. Who would want to come back after finally escaping?

"However, Xu Yuan later died in another supernatural incident. It was a vengeful ghost completely unrelated to the Living Person Apartment.

"In any case, regardless of which version is true, the outcome is the same."

As for which outcome was correct, Shata didn't know, nor did the former landlord who left that log in the room back then.

After all, it had been over twenty years, and the residents of the Living Person Apartment had been updated through countless generations. After each resident died, the notes and traces they left behind were, in most cases, cleaned up by the apartment itself. Only a very few were preserved by chance.

This had led to severe distortions in many past events. The truth remained shrouded in mist.

Gao Tian raised his second question:

"Among the previous residents, was there a family of four, or three, who moved in together? And did they have a little girl with a round face?"

After Shattered Face's body burned, it left behind a torn half of a photograph with the words "Living Person Apartment" written on the back.

At that time, Gao Tian made eye contact with the little girl in the surviving photo, and she actually smiled at him.

Thinking back now, it was from that moment that his memory was tampered with. The correct past was blocked, and he mistook the address of the Living Person Apartment for his home, walking step by step to the Fourth Floor.

Shata frowned:

"There are too many families like the one you described. In big cities, people with families who want to rent an entire apartment but are short on cash are easily tricked by cheap rental ads posted outside into coming here, and then they become new residents.

"Do you have any more clues?"

Gao Tian reached into his pocket and pulled out half a photo. He had never burned the photo.

Even the memory of "Gao Tian burned the photo" was false, implanted into his brain by a ghost without him realizing it.

He handed it to Shata, Jiangyang, and the others:

"I obtained this photo while dealing with another supernatural incident.

"It was probably about ten years ago. The girl in the photo had already become a ghost."

Of course, Gao Tian wasn't worried about the girl in the photo causing trouble here, because the first three floors of the Living Person Apartment were a forbidden zone for ghosts. When the photo was brought here, it was just an ordinary photograph. No matter what kind of ghost entered the Living Person Apartment's premises, they had to behave.

Shata looked at the photo for a long time. When she saw the little girl's face, her expression didn't change much:

"I'm sorry. I only became the landlord three years ago, and I never saw her."

"However, for today's welcome party, I can help you ask the other residents. Some residents entered the Living Person Apartment before me, so they might have some memories."

The photo was temporarily left in Shata's hand, but it couldn't be taken out of the Living Person Apartment. Otherwise, the little girl in the photo would definitely come back to life.

Just then, the monk Yusheng, who had been silent beside them, suddenly spoke:

"I know this little girl.

"Her whole family was killed in a Green Text Mission long ago. The only remaining little girl couldn't bear the blow and developed hallucinations, saying she often heard her family calling her name from the Fourth Floor, asking her to go up and reunite with them.

"Unfortunately, at that time, most residents didn't take the little girl's words to heart, only comforting her a few times. After all, everyone's attention was on how to pass the next Green Text Mission. One night, when the other residents weren't paying attention, the little girl secretly opened the door and went towards the Fourth Floor. From then on, her whereabouts were unknown, and no one ever saw her again.

"These things happened about five years ago."

He walked up to the photo and clasped his hands together again towards the little girl in it:

"Little girl, may you soon escape the sea of suffering and be reborn. May you make a clean break with everything in this life."

The little girl in the photo remained motionless, showing no reaction to Yusheng's deliverance.

Gao Tian couldn't help but ask:

"How do you know these things?"

Yusheng shook his head:

"I have a connection with some people in the apartment.

"There are new residents downstairs. This humble monk will take his leave now."

Watching his cryptic words and abrupt departure, Gao Tian had to exert great effort to suppress the urge to use Shattered Face Ghost on him and directly read his memories.

Shata shrugged helplessly at Gao Tian:

"Yusheng is just like that. He knows many things but refuses to say them.

"If you press him too hard, he'll say his karmic ties haven't ripened yet, and then disappear for days.

"Now we can only wait for him to speak voluntarily."

Within the Living Person Apartment, the abilities of all ghosts were suppressed, and Gao Tian couldn't use Shattered Face Ghost or Memory Ghost.

After leaving the apartment, he could indeed find an opportunity to use Shattered Face Ghost to seize all the monk's memories. Gao Tian had to restrain the dark thought within him.

He was human, not a Vengeful Ghost, and couldn't arbitrarily take the lives of other residents. If he used Shattered Face Ghost on the monk, the other party would surely die.

However, all of this was based on the premise that he was not in danger himself.

If one day, the residents of the Living Person Apartment were pushed into a corner, and this monk knew something but remained mysterious and cryptic, then Gao Tian wouldn't be blamed for breaking through this moral boundary and forcibly extracting the secrets from his mind.