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

Jinxiu Garden, Building 7, Unit 902

Thump, thump, thump,

The sound of knuckles knocking on the wooden door echoed in the empty corridor, each knock making Chen Mo's heart tighten.

A food delivery that was three months late, a delivery rider who died suddenly, a task that could have cost him a year of his life.

The balance on his bank card was only 31.2 yuan, not even enough to order a decent spicy hot pot.

"Who is it?"

Inside the door, a girl's voice sounded wary.

Click,

The door opened a crack, revealing a face in her early twenties, looking sleepy. She was wearing loungewear, and her gaze swept over Chen Mo's empty hands before her brows furrowed.

"A sales pitch? I don't need it."

The door was about to close.

"etc!",

Without a second thought, Chen Mo slammed his hand down on the door with a loud "smack," bracing it firmly.

He spoke very quickly:

"Three months ago, did you order a Mala Xiang Guo (spicy stir-fry)? Extra spicy, with iced cola and rice?!"

The girl paused in her slamming of the door.

Chen Mo stared at the pair of eyes peeking through the crack in the door, lowered his voice, and recited the sentence from the Book of Obsessions, word by word.

"Order notes: Extra spicy, extra spicy, extra spicy! I really want to cry today!"

The pair of eyes behind the crack in the door suddenly widened, the weariness within them completely washed away by shock.

The girl's hand involuntarily loosened its grip on the doorknob, causing her to stumble backward and bump into the shoe cabinet in the entryway.

She stared intently at Chen Mo, her voice soft and trembling.

"How...how did you know?!"

This secret, which belonged only to her and was typed out on that night of collapse, was never told to a second person.

Chen Mo steadied his breathing; his throat was dry and his voice was hoarse.

"The delivery guy who brought that food died suddenly three months ago."

"His obsession was simply to deliver this order."

He paused for a moment, then added.

"I'm not a food delivery person, I'm... here to fulfill his wish."

The hallway was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat. The exaggerated laughter coming from the television in the next room sounded sharp and jarring at that moment.

The girl bit her lower lip so hard that her lips turned white, and her eyes quickly reddened.

She stepped aside and silently made way for her.

"...Come in."

The room was very tidy, and a plush bear sat quietly on the sofa, completely out of place with the room's oppressive atmosphere.

Chen Mo didn't go in; he just stood at the door.

He got straight to the point: "I came here to tell you that even though the food delivery wasn't made, he did his best."

The girl suddenly looked up and asked.

"What's his name?"

Chen Mo was stumped by the question.

The only cold code name in the Record of Obsessions is "Hungry Ghost" (癸亥三二).

"……I have no idea."

The girl nodded and didn't ask any more questions. She turned and walked to the window, where the afterglow of the setting sun outlined her small, thin figure.

"I was in a particularly bad mood that day."

Her voice was soft, with a slight tremor, "I'm on the company's layoff list, my boyfriend of three years broke up with me, all the bad luck just happened in one day."

"I just wanted to eat something spicy, so spicy that I cried, like that would make me feel better, but I waited for two hours and my food still hadn't arrived... I completely lost it, so I called the platform's customer service and yelled at them, saying really nasty things..."

She turned around abruptly, tears already silently streaming down her cheeks.

"If I hadn't rushed that order, would he... have avoided this incident?"

"It's not your fault."

Chen Mo blurted out,

The girl's breakdown and self-blame reminded Chen Mo of himself being suffocated by a 300,000 yuan high-interest loan, that kind of despair where he could cry out to heaven and earth in vain. He understood that feeling.

He added, "Life and death are predestined; no one can escape it."

The girl forcefully wiped away her tears, forced a smile that looked even uglier than crying.

"Thank you... for making the special trip."

"Wait for me a moment."

She turned and went into the kitchen.

Soon, the sound of water boiling could be heard from inside.

A short while later, she came out carrying a steaming bowl of instant noodles, topped with a poached egg.

She looked at Chen Mo with a pleading expression on her face.

"I haven't eaten either. If you don't mind... let's eat something together?"

"Just consider it... that spicy hot pot that never arrived."

Chen Mo stared at the bowl of noodles, the steam rising slowly, and remained silent for a few seconds.

"it is good."

The two didn't speak again, and sat on either side of the coffee table, the only sound in the room being the slurping of noodles.

After finishing the bowl of noodles, Chen Mo felt his stomach warm up.

The girl walked him to the door.

She kept her head down and spoke very softly.

"Hey delivery guy... if there really is a soul, please tell him that I received that takeout, even though it's three months late."

Chen Mo looked at her and nodded solemnly.

"I will."

Stepping out of the building, the night breeze brushed against my face, carrying a chill.

My phone vibrated softly and continuously in my pocket.

The screen automatically lit up, and a line of black text appeared on the white light:

【Obsession No. Guihai 32 - Completed】

[Landlord's Reward: Insight (Beginner)]

[Ability Description: Visible spirits and traces of obsessions; continuously active and cannot be manually deactivated.]

[Side effect: Risk of sensory overload.]

The writing slowly faded and disappeared.

Chen Mo stood frozen in place, his limbs and bones completely stiff.

Vision?

Cannot be closed?

He looked up and glanced around.

The moment he focused his attention, the world before him suddenly blurred—no, it didn't just blur; the entire world was overlaid with countless layers of illusory images.

In the open space of the residential area, wisps of grayish-white smoke rose from the ground, from the corners of walls, and from every shadowy spot. The source of the smoke was a series of semi-transparent human figures.

Not far away, a figure in a yellow delivery uniform was pushing a similarly semi-transparent electric scooter. He stopped, turned around, and looked towards the 9th floor of building 7. A relieved smile appeared on his illusory face.

Then, his body began to turn transparent, then transformed into countless tiny specks of light, gradually dissipating into the night.

A whisper, so faint it was almost inaudible, drifted on the wind into Chen Mo's ears:

"Thanks."

The world is still the same world.

But beside the bus stop, the ghostly figure of an old woman was repeatedly flipping through a non-existent photo album, muttering to herself.

Across the street, the spirit of a middle-aged man in a suit was pacing anxiously back and forth, repeatedly looking at a non-existent watch on his wrist.

In the gaps between the skyscrapers, more blurry, twisted, and writhing spots of light and shadow float!

Stay open!

Unable to close!

How the hell are we supposed to live like this?!

In a panic, he jumped onto a bus that had just arrived at the station, found a corner to sit down, and immediately closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

Even with my eyes closed, the whispers and faint sobs still buzzed in my ears, impossible to shake off.

Around 10 PM, at the entrance of Qing Shi Alley,

As soon as I stepped into the alley, the temperature around me dropped several degrees.

From all directions—behind the tightly closed windows, from the mottled walls and rooftops, from every dark corner—a sharp, pricking pain, carrying a chilling malice, coursed through my skin.

He turned around abruptly!

The alley was deserted, with only the evening wind blowing and making a whistling sound.

Chen Mo felt a chill run down his spine. Without thinking, he sprinted toward the old house, rushed through the gate, and locked it with all his might with a loud "bang!"

He leaned against the door, panting heavily, and slumped down beside the eight-immortal table, grabbing the book of obsession.

On the first page, the ink about the starving ghost had completely disappeared, leaving only a blank page.

His trembling hands flipped to the landlord's diary at the end of the booklet, where the contents had been updated:

[Accumulated Ability Acquired: Insight (Beginner)]

[Old House Status: Stable (Energy Reserves: Low)]

[Warning: 29 days remaining this month.]

Chen Mo rubbed his throbbing temples and dragged himself upstairs.

Lying on the wooden bed, the chill seeped into his bones from the bed frame; he couldn't move, his limbs and bones stiffened.

Countless whispers poured in from all directions, a hundred times clearer than on the bus.

A woman's voice, filled with endless sorrow.

"...My ring..."

An old man's voice, filled with weariness.

"...I've been waiting for so long...so long..."

A child's voice, thin and weak, almost inaudible.

"…cold…"

Just then, a clear sound, with the texture of earth rubbing together, rang directly in his ear, drowning out all the noise:

"You did a good job on your first obsession."

It's a spiritual place!

"But in this house, there are still many whose wishes are waiting to be fulfilled."

"Go to sleep, new landlord."

The earth spirit's voice faded, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him, instantly engulfing him. He lost consciousness in an instant.

Downstairs in the main room, the "Book of Obsessions" on the octagonal table moved on its own without any wind, unattended.

wow~

The book turned to a new page.

Lines of dark red ink slowly emerged on the paper, constantly wriggling until they finally took shape:

The next obsession will be triggered in three days.

[Client: Suicide victim (No. Renxu 15)]

[The obsession: To find the lost wedding ring.]

Difficulty: Medium

[Suggested preparation: Patience, and a heart that isn't afraid of breaking.]