A debt-ridden tycoon inherits a luxury mansion, but the tenants are not human.

But he couldn't run away. Behind him was a loan of 300,000 yuan at exorbitant interest rates, which could kill his mother at any moment. In front of him was a haunted house worth 3 million yuan. He couldn't sell it or mortgage it. The tenants weren't even human. Either way, he was doomed. He might as well go in and take a gamble!

Chen Mo bit his tongue hard, using the pain to force himself to calm down, and stepped directly across the threshold.

The moment I stepped into the old house, all the sounds outside disappeared, and the whole world lost its color, leaving only a deathly gray, cold and piercing.

He swallowed hard and reached out to push open the door to the main room.

There were no cobwebs or thick dust in the room, and the blue brick floor was spotless, unusually clean, as if it had been cleaned by something not long ago.

On the octagonal table directly opposite the door, there was no Guanyin or God of Wealth, only a lonely black and white portrait. The old man in the photo was skin and bones, with sunken eyes and a sinister smile on his lips. The memorial tablet was inscribed with five characters: Chen Banshan Memorial Tablet, the very man who left this deadly house to his third great-uncle.

Chen Mo clasped his hands together and hurriedly bowed three times to the portrait.

"Third Uncle, I've come to inherit the estate and urgently need money. May your spirit in heaven bless me to find some valuable items..."

The house can't be sold, but what if it contains gold bars or antiques? If he can get a few tens of thousands of yuan, he can keep those debt collectors at bay! This thought made his eyes light up instantly.

He stormed into the main room and roughly pulled open every drawer, only to find them empty. He slammed open the door to the side room and lifted all the cabinet doors, but they were still empty; not even a single coin was left!

Chen Mo's breathing grew heavier and heavier. He rushed into the innermost kitchen, where there was still nothing—an earthen stove, a broken water vat.

Then I ran up to the second floor and searched through each room, but they were still empty.

He returned to the kitchen on the first floor, exhausted, and collapsed onto the floor. Just as he was about to give up, a dull, hollow echo came from beneath his feet, thud... thud.

He looked down at the floor following the sound. A dark-colored square wooden board was perfectly embedded in the blue bricks, and on the edge of the board was a thick copper ring covered with green rust.

basement?

Chen Mo's heart started pounding. The older generation loved to hide silver dollars and gold bars in their cellars!

He lunged forward, gripping the cold copper ring tightly with both hands, veins bulging on his forehead, and pulled upwards with all his might!

Squeak~ Bang!

The heavy wooden planks were blown away and crashed to the ground.

A strong, earthy smell wafted out, making him nauseous. He stumbled back two steps, coughing violently, but his desire for money overwhelmed everything, and he still peered inside.

He turned on his phone's flashlight, the beam shining down on a steep wooden ladder covered in black spots.

He explored step by step.

It was very deep, a full five meters down before my shoes finally touched solid ground.

The space was ridiculously large, almost hollowing out the entire foundation of the old house. The beam of light swept around, but there were no gold bars or antiques.

In the very center of the empty basement was a circular pit two meters in diameter. The soil in the pit was a pure, dead black. The black soil was slightly raised, forming a solitary grave without a tombstone. At the edge of the grave, seven sticks of incense that had long since burned out were neatly inserted.

Chen Mo felt a chill run down his spine.

He had only one thought in his mind: run! But his legs wouldn't obey him and he was rooted to the spot.

In the direction the flashlight shone, the black grave mound stirred.

Thud... Thud...

The dry, cracked mud rolled down the grave mound, and then, a half-meter-long crack appeared in the black soil on top of the grave!

A hand bursts forth from the earth!

It was a mutilated hand made entirely of black mud, without skin or flesh, only five cracked mud fingers, from which gray-black yin energy was emanating.

Holy crap!

Chen Mo let out a scream that distorted his voice, and scrambled backward, his back slamming heavily against the cold blue brick wall.

The muddy hand gripped the edge of the grave mound tightly, its fingernails scratching the dry soil with a harsh, screeching sound. Then, a shriveled body, about 1.7 meters tall, was slowly pulled out of the dark grave.

A clay figure.

It has no eyes, no nose, and its flat face has only a slit that barely serves as a mouth.

Even though he had no eyeballs, Chen Mo felt a cold gaze fixed on him.

A strange voice resounded deep within his mind.

"New landlord?"

"Younger than the last one..."

The clay figure turned its faceless head, spitting out dry mud bits from its cracked mouth.

Chen Mo's Adam's apple bobbed as he gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. His throat was dry and painful, and he couldn't utter a single word.

"Don't be afraid."

"I am the Earth Spirit, number 79 of the Jiazi year."

"Your... tenant."

The clay figure took a step forward, its withered mud feet landing on the blue bricks without making a sound.

It stopped three meters away, and the rough, grinding sound echoed in my mind again:

"According to the contract, you need to help me fulfill one obsession every month. Today is the first, and it's time to pay the rent."

Chen Mo pressed himself against the wall, his voice trembling as he asked.

"What...what obsession?"

The earth spirit raised its muddy hand, which emanated a sinister aura, and pointed to a corner. On a dilapidated wooden shelf, there sat a lonely thread-bound ancient book with three large characters written on the cover: "The Record of Obsessions." There was also a document with words written in a dark red liquid, the nature of which was unknown.

"Open it."

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and dragged his heavy legs step by step over there.

The moment my fingertips touched the cover, a chilling coldness spread from my fingertips throughout my body. The book cover had a rough texture, with a kind of old-fashioned resilience.

He turned to the first page; the dark red ink was not yet completely dry, and was even slightly wriggling on the paper.

[Jiazi No. 79 Earth Spirit - This Month's Obsession]

[Client: Starving Ghost (ID: Guihai 32)]

[The obsession: Waiting for a takeout order that will never arrive.]

[Time limit: Seven days.]

[Reward: Insight.]

[Note: Room 902, Building 7, Jinxiu Garden. Spicy Hot Pot (Extra Spicy), with iced cola and rice. Customer's comment: Extra spicy, extra spicy, extra spicy! I really want to cry today.]

The moment Chen Mo saw those lines, his mind went blank. He turned his head sharply, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the faceless clay figure.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"You want me... to deliver takeout for a dead person?!"

The spirit's voice remained calm.

"To be precise, it was to fulfill his unfulfilled wish before his death."

"I won't do it!"

"Fine, I'll just abandon this dilapidated house! The contract is void!"

After saying that, he turned around and rushed towards the stairs!

The spirit of the earth did not stop them.

But the moment Chen Mo stepped onto the wooden ladder with his right foot, his heart was suddenly gripped tightly by a force!

"what……"

A short, muffled groan caught in his throat, and his body stiffened as he fell straight down the stairs to the ground.

A sharp pain exploded from the depths of his soul!

He felt icy cold all over, curled up in a ball, and gripped his neck tightly with both hands, trying to breathe. He watched helplessly as the veins on the back of his hands rapidly withered, his skin instantly turning a deathly bluish-gray, and black livid spots quickly seeped from under his fingernails.

Vitality is rapidly fading!

The voice of the earth spirit echoed in his hazy consciousness.

"The lease agreement will have consequences if breached, resulting in a deduction of one year of one's lifespan."

You have ten seconds to consider.

"Nine……"

"six."

Chen Mo used his last bit of strength to roar.

"Stop...I'll do it...I'll do it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the gripping force on his heart vanished instantly. Chen Mo opened his mouth wide and gasped for breath. The excruciating pain subsided, and he collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

The earth spirit, with its faceless features, nodded slightly. Then, its withered body slowly sank, completely merging into the black soil along with its muddy hand, and the basement returned to deathly silence.

He looked at his hands, which had just lost their lividity, and then touched the broken cell phone in his pocket that could kill him at any moment. Suddenly, his shoulders began to tremble.

"Hahaha……"

A hoarse, unpleasant laugh escaped from his throat.

He inherited a three-million-dollar mansion but can't sell it. There's also a monster tenant living in the basement who won't leave and even demands to pay rent with his lifespan. He's completely trapped now!

Chen Mo leaned against the wall and stood up unsteadily. He grabbed the book "The Record of Obsession" and held it tightly in his hand.

"Fine, so you're delivering takeout for ghosts, huh...?"

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

A poor wretch like you, yet you're afraid of death?

"As long as I can save my life."

"Don't even mention delivering takeout to ghosts; even if I had to go to the underworld to steal takeout, it'd be better than being forced to my death like this!"