Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

"Don't be shy. It's your first time here, it's really not right not to have a sip of tea."

The old man advised.

"Okay, this tea looks moldy, I can't drink it."

Unable to politely refuse, he had no choice but to tell the truth.

"You're showing me no respect, and you still expect to be my dutiful son and grandson?"

The old man's face darkened, and his semi-transparent body quickly solidified, his once lifelike appearance beginning to rot and stink.

“This isn’t to be disrespectful, it’s just to tell the truth. And I never said I would be your dutiful son or grandson, I’m just willing to mourn for you.”

Liu Zheng shook his head.

"You won't even drink my tea, how can I expect you to handle my funeral?"

The old man sneered.

"That depends on what you want to do. Respect for the dead is paramount, but things must always be done by the living."

"If you want me to do everything you want, that's impossible. Even if you were my biological father, you wouldn't force me to do things my way."

"However, I can guarantee that I will make your funeral grand and glorious, so that everyone in the neighborhood will be envious. And when I mourn for you, I will not be cursing you in my heart while I am kowtowing."

he said calmly.

"Don't do as I want? Wait until I keep you with me for a while, and you'll be my dutiful grandson."

Countless rays of light emerged from all parts of the house and flowed into the old man's body, causing his form to suddenly swell and transform into a gigantic, decaying corpse.

Having been a bound spirit for so long, he had long since become one with this house.

"Then you probably won't be able to stay."

Liu Zheng took out the express delivery slip.

“I may not be able to beat you, but you can’t stop me either. When I come back, you’ll be kneeling in front of me begging me to be your grandson.”

he said coldly.

We'll fry the old man until he only has one finger left, then grab that finger and write the recommendation letter.

"Young people, don't be too arrogant!"

The old man's voice became even more terrifying in his rage, and the nauseating stench of the corpse and the noise tormented Liu Zheng's senses.

"If you're not hot-blooded, are you even a young person?!"

Liu Zheng yelled back at the top of his lungs.

"Why are you yelling so loudly?"

The old man, not to be outdone, roared back.

"Go find the property management!"

"Didn't the property management send you to find me?!"

"Then speak properly! I haven't even hired a mortician yet. Who are you trying to impress by making yourself look like this?"

"You! You're going to be the death of me!"

The old man's body swelled to its limit with rage, and then exploded with a bang.

The raging wind, carrying rotting flesh, dry bones, and internal organs, slammed Liu Zheng against the wall.

"Pooh!"

He spat out the bone fragments in his mouth and stood up.

Looking again, the room was spotless, with nothing messy or cluttered. Even the furniture and decorations hadn't been moved, as if it had all been an illusion.

The old man reverted to his original form and was staring at him with a displeased expression.

"You look somewhat human. To be honest, you're a fairly handsome old man. If you went to the cemetery, you could probably hook up with a few old ladies with their hair in a bun and have them do square dancing or something."

Liu Zheng commented.

"Really? Are there really old ladies with their hair in a bun at the cemetery?"

The old man's expression changed, and he suddenly became hesitant.

"Such a big cemetery, surely there must be a few old ladies with their hair in a bun? Even if there aren't, I'll bury a few for you. Just tell me what kind you want."

He said it generously.

Ordinary people in the metropolis who die definitely want to be buried in a cemetery. As long as they are willing to pay, there are as many old ladies as they want, whether they are human or not is not a problem.

Let alone the dead, there are plenty of living people who would be willing to send themselves to their coffins early.

There are many such examples in reality: people would rather commit suicide by poison in order to seize a prime piece of land.

Of course, sending someone in to keep the old man company is fine, but whether it works out or not is none of Liu Zheng's business; he's not a pimp.

"Are you kidding me? You're just a food delivery guy, how could you possibly have that kind of skill?"

The old man said he didn't believe it.

"hehe."

Liu Zheng sneered, then pulled out a bright yellow object and casually tossed it on the ground.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Three gold bars crashed to the floor, creating three small dents in the wooden floor.

"Should we keep smashing it?"

His tentacles reached into the legendary delivery box, eager to try.

"No need, no need. It's not like it's your floor, don't you care?"

The old man said with a pained expression.

“You agreed to recognize me as your son, so this is my floor. And what are you pretending for, Lao Deng? This floor is clearly unbreakable.”

Liu Zheng looked at the floor, where the small pits were healing at a visible speed.

"Nonsense, you didn't smash the floor, you smashed me!"

The old man muttered curses.

"Speaking of which, why are you so eager to act like a grandson to me? You seem to be quite agreeable to me, so I'll tell you straight up: I have no savings, no treasures, and this house isn't even mine. What are you after?"

"I don't want anything else, I just want you to recommend me to become an honorary homeowner."

he replied.

"Honorary homeowner?"

The old man thought for a long time before he remembered what that thing was.

"No, what's the use of that piece of junk?"

He was puzzled.

"Just because something is useless to you doesn't mean it's useless to me. It's like how other people might not understand why you want someone to mourn for you, but it's very easy for you to understand."

Liu Zheng said.

"Hmm, that makes sense. It's not difficult. As long as you cry a good mourning for me, I'll definitely write you a letter of recommendation, even a hundred."

The old man assured him.

"One letter is enough. If you write a hundred letters, I won't get a hundred honorary homeowner medals."

He glanced at his phone as he spoke.

"Then we've reached a preliminary agreement. I don't have enough time to deliver the food. If you want to discuss it further, just order some takeout and call me."

Liu Zheng said.

"Why should I? I'd be at a huge disadvantage."

The old man refused to continue.

"It's like this is my own business. I'll pay the money, you pay the price, it's up to you whether you order or not."

He rolled his eyes.

"You son of a bitch, if I really had a son like you, I would have been driven crazy by you long ago."

The old man roared in fury.

“If you had a son like me, you wouldn’t have died without a widow, and I wouldn’t have bought you such cheap tea.”

Liu Zheng walked to the coffee table, picked up the teacup, and drank it all in one gulp.

"yue!"

The stale smell combined with the bitterness of the tea made him almost nauseous.

But he still managed to swallow it down with his strong will.

"My friend has some good tea, I'll bring it over for you next time. Also, buy some fruits and snacks that keep well, so you won't have nothing to serve when you want to invite guests over."

"By the way, is your air conditioner broken?"

Liu Zheng looked at the unplugged air conditioner and asked.

"No, I can't afford the electricity bill."

The old man said somewhat awkwardly.

"Take it first, pay the fees you owe, and fix the things that need fixing. Don't let it become a laughing stock when you need to do something and find that this thing doesn't work and that thing can't be opened."

He took out a wad of cash and placed it on the coffee table.

"They dare! I've lived all these years and no one has ever dared to laugh at me."

The old man was about to get cocky again.

"It's not that they're afraid to laugh at you, it's that they're afraid to laugh at the city hall. Now that you're dead, the city hall can't do anything about you. Why don't you at least have some dignity? Are you going to suffer this humiliation even after you're dead?"

Liu Zheng admonished.

"Hmph, if anyone dares to make me suffer, I'll haunt their dreams every day, and if I can't kill them with my singing, I'll make them suffer to death."

The old man said defiantly.

"So you know you sing terribly?"

He said speechlessly.

"Alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore, I'm going to deliver food."

Liu Zheng waved his tentacle.

"Wait, which company are you delivering to?"

The old man called out to him.

"Building 17, Building 501."

Just in case, Liu Zheng did not mention the name of the person who placed the order.

"That family? Hmph, it's a good thing you met your grandpa, or you would have suffered a great loss."

The old man said this in a pretentious manner.

"How to say?"

“I went into that homeowner’s dream last time, and it was full of bloody and terrifying things. It’s clear that the person is a complete psychopath. If you go there, he will definitely try to torture you.”

The old man said.

"So how strong is he?"

he asked.

"I don't know about that, but judging from the speed at which he kicked me out of the dream, his mental strength must be quite strong."

The old man said.