Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

The interior of the walled city was as complex as an anthill, with narrow, steep staircases and dim lighting.

The environment on the fifth floor was even worse than below, with a mixture of old dust and a faint, indescribable smell of burning in the air.

The doors on both sides of the corridor were tightly closed, creating a deathly atmosphere.

Following the homeless man's directions, Lin Yu quickly arrived at the easternmost end of the fifth floor.

Sure enough, at the end of the corridor, a door that was completely different from the other dilapidated wooden doors came into view.

The door itself was unremarkable, but a large, antique-looking brass lock, covered in verdigris yet still heavy, hung prominently on it.

The lock body also appears to have some kind of pattern faintly engraved on it. Even more striking is the rune depicted on the door panel in bright cinnabar.

The red was so bright it was almost blinding, as if it had just been painted on, and it clashed terribly with the dim and dirty environment.

The ground in front of the door was much cleaner than the rest of the place, which clearly indicated, as the homeless man had said, that people often came to "pay their respects".

Lin Yu's gaze sharpened as he focused his attention on the bronze lock and the runes.

【Ghost-Suppressing Lock】

Category: Apartment Decoration

Grade: Silver

Durability: 1/100

effect:

Seal: A powerful sealing force that can forcibly seal the spirit target and its source of power within a space connected by a lock.

Suppression: Continuously apply a suppressive effect to the sealed-off target, weakening its strength and mobility.

(This item is protected by the current scene rules and cannot be picked up, destroyed, or moved by the player.)

[Ghost-Suppressing Talisman]

Category: Skill Effect

effect:

Seal Enhancement: Continuously provides energy to the [Ghost-Suppressing Lock], enhancing its sealing effect.

Isolate Aura: Effectively isolates any aura from the sealed target.

(This rune's effect depends on the existence of the [Ghost-Suppressing Lock].)

"A silver-grade item! Apartment decoration?" Lin Yu was shocked, then suddenly realized.

The sorcerer was lying. He had no ability to "eliminate" these vengeful spirits and evil ghosts. He could only rely on the silver-grade locks and runes to forcibly suppress and seal them in this room.

The so-called "time will eventually cleanse it" is nothing more than a pretext to appease landlords and residents.

"Really..." Lin Yu looked at the remaining 1 point of durability and didn't know what to say.

That mage was clearly skilled, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to produce such silver-grade equipment. But Lin Yu didn't understand why, if he could suppress this evil spirit for so long, he didn't try to kill it.

Even if the mage can't handle it alone, he can call for help. It's been almost twenty years; the lock obviously won't last much longer.

Could it be that something happened to the sorcerer? Or perhaps he never intended to deal with this evil spirit in the first place?

That's unrealistic. After all, this lock is a silver-grade item. Is that mage really going to give up like that?

Lin Yu couldn't understand it. To be honest, if the game system hadn't indicated that the lock couldn't be taken, he probably would have just taken it away first.

He circled the sealed door several times, trying to find other clues, but the door was tightly closed and the walls showed no abnormalities.

Apart from the lingering, extremely faint smell of burning, nothing else was found.

Just as he was about to leave and try his luck elsewhere, he caught a glimpse of a small figure standing at the corner of the corridor.

Lin Yu immediately looked over warily.

There stood a little girl, about seven or eight years old, all alone in the dim shadows of the corner.

She was wearing faded, patched old clothes, and clutching a tattered tiger doll that was almost unrecognizable in her arms.

Her hair was dry, yellow, and sparse, and her face was dirty, but her eyes were unusually bright and black, staring straight at Lin Yu—no, more accurately, at the locked door behind Lin Yu.

Her eyes were vacant, lacking the vitality of a child, giving Lin Yu a very strange feeling.

A chill instantly ran from the soles of Lin Yu's feet up his spine.

Something was wrong with this little girl, very wrong. He instinctively gripped the hilt of the butcher's knife at his waist and tentatively asked, "Little sister? What are you doing here all alone?"

The little girl ignored him completely, as if he didn't exist.

She continued to stare intently at the door.

Lin Yu frowned and cautiously took a step forward, trying to get a better look.

Just then—

"Lin Yu?"

A cool female voice rang out from not far behind Lin Yu.

Lin Yu turned around abruptly and saw that it was the female player named Wang Junyue walking towards him from the direction of the stairs, looking at him with a hint of doubt on her face.

"You're here... Ah!" Wang Junyue had just opened her mouth when she was startled by the extremely ugly, even horrified, expression on Lin Yu's face.

"What's wrong?" She looked around warily, her hand resting on her waist, where a small dagger seemed to be tucked.

Lin Yu didn't answer her, but instead turned around abruptly again to look at the corner.

But what happened next left him even more confused.

There was no one around the corner!

The little girl who was hugging the tattered tiger doll disappeared.

The moment he turned his head, he vanished without a sound, as if he had never existed.

Lin Yu's pupils suddenly contracted. He had clearly seen it just now; it was definitely not an illusion.

"Are you... alright?" Wang Junyue walked to Lin Yu's side, followed his gaze to the empty corner, then looked at the locked door and the runes, her eyes filled with even more doubt.

"Is something wrong here?"

Lin Yu forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart and quickly adjusted his expression, but his voice still carried a barely perceptible dryness: "When you came over just now, did you see a little girl? About seven or eight years old, dressed in very shabby clothes, holding a tattered cloth tiger doll, standing at that corner?"

He pointed to the spot where the little girl had disappeared.

Wang Junyue looked in the direction he pointed, then looked carefully at both sides of the corridor, and shook her head blankly: "Little girl? No, I only saw you standing here in a daze when I came up the stairs."

"You...you didn't encounter a ghost, did you?"

Her expression was somewhat terrified.

Lin Yu's heart sank.

Wang Junyue couldn't see it, only he could?

Why would this happen? Could that girl really be a ghost?

Then how could he see them? I clearly don't have that kind of talent as a ghost.

In that instant, he suddenly remembered his status bar.

Immediately check the icon for the "True Lord's Protection" buff; it has disappeared sometime ago, and its duration has long since expired.

Could it be... that I was able to see that... ghost because I had the buff of being protected by the True Lord before?

After all, Erlang Shen has a third eye on his forehead, which can see through illusions and dispel falsehoods, and he is the only one who can defeat evil spirits.

Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable for the buff He bestows to include the effect of "opening the eyes of the dead".

Lin Yu instantly understood the key point, and a chill mixed with lingering fear swept through his entire body.

That little girl really is a ghost. What is she doing here, and why is she staring at that door?