Chapter 33: The So-Called Rent, Building Materials

The eerie father dashed into the corridor and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Ji Yan turned his head and saw only the torn body of the eerie mother lying on the ground; the eerie daughter had disappeared without a trace...

“What kind of eerie daughter is this? So vicious?”

A chill ran down Ji Yan’s spine.

For a moment just now, he felt as if his head had been split open.

His sister, Zhong Yi, held their unconscious younger sister in her arms, her face drained of much of its color. “Is this... your idea?”

Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

This was utterly insane.

Absolutely reckless!

Ji Yan caught her gaze and stood up, forcing himself to appear calm as he wiped the slime off his shoulder. “Yes.”

“Though it’s a bit flawed, everything is still under control.”

Zhong Yi glanced downward. “You’d better pat your legs first; they’re shaking so badly.”

“It’s just numb from sitting too long.”

Ji Yan coughed twice.

He then turned and leapt onto the water reservoir, switched on his flashlight, and peered through the stone slab into the interior.

After a moment, he covered the slab back.

Jumping down, he clapped his hands together. “With this, the problem of the water reservoir should be resolved.”

“By dawn, the households affected by the contaminated water should settle down.”

“The family in Room 804…”

Zhong Yi hesitated.

“Their family of three will handle their own problems. Why should we outsiders meddle?”

“I’m merely helping a pair of parents find their long-lost daughter.”

Zhong Yi could no longer tolerate Ji Yan’s slick words and fell silent. If the eerie mother hadn’t lost her control and turned violent a moment earlier, tearing him apart, yet he still had the nerve to say such things—she was somewhat impressed.

“The task is done. If nothing else, I’ll report to the landlord now.”

Ji Yan exhaled deeply.

Tonight had been quite a ordeal.

The only thing he regretted was losing a machete.

Footsteps sounded near the entrance. Ji Yan halted just as he was about to step forward, his heart skipping a beat.

Could it be that the eerie father had circled back to confront him?

Then, the eerie woman in the white dress from Room 801 appeared. Her delicate face still bore that unsettling smile: “So, what do you think of my method?”

“Effective, right?”

Ji Yan was stunned because the crazed eerie girl was now cradled in her arms, either unconscious or asleep.

“What about her father and that brat?” Ji Yan asked.

The white-dressed eerie woman replied, “That little girl tore them apart. What else could happen?”

Ji Yan looked at the sleeping Xi Xi. Although the fate of that eerie girl was none of his business, he asked anyway, “What will happen to her?”

“That girl and I get along well,” the woman said softly.

“She’s pitiful. I’ll take her in from now on.”

“Though the rent might go up, I’m just kind-hearted and can’t stand to see such a miserable child.”

The white-dressed woman gently stroked Xi Xi’s smooth hair, her smile faint.

Yet Ji Yan sensed something fake in both her words and smile.

Without pressing further, Ji Yan nodded, briefly said goodbye to the twin sisters, and prepared to descend.

“Don’t forget—you still owe me a favor.”

The white-dressed woman’s voice was low and clear, her smile radiant.

“My name is Xu Xin, and I live in Room 801.”

“When I decide, I’ll come find you.”

Ji Yan’s head ached.

This was truly endless...

Climbing out of one pit, only to fall into another.

Thinking it over, he felt he had been played by this woman.

Though it was his own idea to delay the eerie couple, it was still he who had to execute it and fight desperately.

If he died, she lost nothing.

If he survived, he owed her a favor.

The worst part was, he had no choice, no way to back out, not even to argue.

Seeing Ji Yan hesitate and leave the rooftop, Xu Xin turned, her beautiful eyes settling on the twin sisters.

Her red lips curved: “Well done.”

Zhong Yi met her gaze and, after a moment, understood: “You’ve set your sights on him.”

“You involved us in the ‘water reservoir contamination’ just to use us as a way to get close to him.”

Xu Xin smiled. “Quite clever. I’m starting to wonder if the sister gave all her intelligence to the elder.”

Zhong Yi said nothing. The mission was complete; her only concern was her sister.

But she knew very well.

Once this Room 801 tenant had marked her “prey,” it would be hard to escape...

She just didn’t understand what exactly Xu Xin wanted from Ji Yan.

“Such an unlucky man,” Zhong Yi murmured, holding her sister close.

...

Elsewhere.

Ji Yan descended to the first floor of the apartment.

In the lobby, the landlord old man lay in a rattan chair, gently rocking. Nearby hung a birdcage, inside which a white and yellow-feathered parrot stared at Ji Yan, imitating human speech: “Big sucker! Big sucker! The big sucker has arrived!”

Ji Yan’s face darkened.

He said to the landlord, “Old man, the task with the water reservoir is done.”

The landlord kept his eyes closed, lightly waving his old palm fan. “I told you, I didn’t misjudge you. You’re diligent and efficient.”

“Whether it’s the gutter outside the apartment or the rooftop reservoir, your cleaning speed exceeded my expectations.”

Ji Yan forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

He thought: Do I get an award for model cleaner now?

“But your methods are still terrible,”

The landlord shook his head, praising and then criticizing.

Ji Yan’s face darkened further.

Silently he grumbled: I barely survived something that dangerous, and you still complain about how I did it?

“You shouldn’t have gotten involved with that woman from Room 801.”

“That woman is pure trouble. Once you get involved, it’s hard to shake her off.” The landlord shook his leg leisurely as he spoke.

Ji Yan knew he meant the favor owed; he opened his mouth but ended up saying, “I’ll take it one step at a time.”

“Do you really think she’s so kind, cleaning up those messes for you?”

“The one who actually killed that family of three in Room 804 wasn’t their daughter, but that woman. They’re probably in her Room 801 now, nearly eaten.”

Ji Yan was stunned.

“Eaten?”

“Room 801 is the most dangerous in the apartment. You think she’s the only tenant there? Ha, you naive kid.”

“That woman often uses others’ knives to kill apartment tenants, then reaps the rewards herself by feeding the original tenants of her room.”

“That’s how she pays her ‘rent.’”

Hearing this, Ji Yan finally asked what had long puzzled him: “What exactly is the apartment’s rent?”

All the eerie tenants in the Scarlet Apartment tried every means to pay rent so they wouldn’t be expelled.

But to Ji Yan, a player, this rent remained a huge mystery.

The landlord was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “When you broke through the wall, didn’t you see those blood-seeping walls?”

“I did.”

“That’s the rent.”

Ji Yan was even more puzzled.

The landlord opened his eyes, his cloudy gaze slanting toward Ji Yan. “Paying rent is what allows this apartment to stand firm in this world.”

“The blood and flesh of ‘them’ make the best building materials for the walls.”

“Tenants who want to live here must pay rent. The more tenants there are, the stronger the apartment becomes, and the cycle continues.”