Chapter 32: Xu Yuan's Hometown

Xia Ta didn't elaborate on who the "she" she had mentioned actually was. Jiang Yang had clearly worked with the woman before, and the experience had left him with deep psychological trauma.

Zhao Zhenjia seemed to know of her as well, but not well enough to care.

If it was "her," she must have completed at least four Green Text Missions. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared flee straight to the United States. In those early Green Text Missions, failing to return to the Living Apartment within the time limit carried the risk of total obliteration.

Gao Tian knew absolutely nothing about this woman's background, what Supernatural Items she used, or exactly how many Green Text Missions she had completed.

He had only gleaned fragments from Jiang Yang: she went by the single character "Lan," she was mentally unstable due to nerve damage to her brain's fear center, and she had once caused the death of a vital teammate during a Green Text Mission.

The matter was settled just like that. The final team heading up to the fourth floor would consist of four or five people, all depending on whether Gao Tian survived his third Green Text Mission or died outright.

Additionally, the group discussed whether they should change floors in response to the fourth floor's recent intrusions onto the Third Floor.

However, the lower floors were already packed. Every ordinary resident was acting like a madman trying to move to the second floor, even if it meant sharing a single room with someone else.

Furthermore, the ghosts from the fourth floor had yet to actually kill anyone on the Third Floor. This indicated they were still bound by some unknown positional power. Otherwise, given their bloodthirsty nature, there was no way they would have held back this long.

In the end, they reached a temporary decision: Jiang Yang and Zhao Zhenjia would move into the rooms immediately to Gao Tian's left and right. This way, if any further accidents occurred in his room, he only needed to knock on his bedroom wall, and Jiang Yang could rush over immediately.

Similarly, if he walked over to the TV in his living room and knocked on the wall there, Zhao Zhenjia would be able to hear him.

Truth be told, Gao Tian was rather moved. As the newest resident of the Third Floor, Zhao Zhenjia and the others treated him as the weakest link, but they were genuinely protecting him, afraid he would become a breaching point for the ghosts.

Xia Ta's room didn't need to be changed. As the current administrator of the Apartment, if even she died, everyone else would probably fall into absolute despair.

Yusheng's room also required no changes. No one had ever stepped foot inside that strange monk's room; who knew what he was tinkering with in there.

The meeting concluded, and it was getting late. Zhao Zhenjia and Jiang Yang left the room one after another.

Only Gao Tian remained, showing no intention of leaving. Xia Ta walked over to the coffee machine, poured in some beans, and glanced back at him.

"What is it? Do you need something else?"

Gao Tian watched her skillfully grind the beans.

"Did you learn how to do this before?"

Xia Ta's expression barely changed.

"Before entering the Living Apartment, my dream was always to become a barista.

"But after arriving here, all my plans were thrown into chaos. When my mother passed away the year before last, I didn't even have time to go back for her funeral because I was busy helping new residents analyze their Green Text Missions."

Her tone was incredibly calm, as if she were discussing someone else's life.

Gao Tian couldn't tell if Xia Ta had always been this cold, or if she had slowly become this way after witnessing too much death and separation in the Living Apartment.

He remained silent for a moment. Although he hadn't known Xia Ta for very long, Gao Tian felt she was someone he could rely on.

"Is there a high-level programmer in this Apartment?

"I have a very important forum post that was deleted. If I want to restore it, I might need some professional expertise."

Xia Ta paused her movements, her jewel-like eyes turning in his direction.

"Is this post related to supernatural events?"

What an observant woman.

He really couldn't hide a single thing from her.

Gao Tian said,

"It's on a website I stumbled upon by accident, written by a ghost hunter with the ID 'Living Apartment'.

"I suspect this person is actually Xu Yuan. He once published a post related to the Living Apartment. Unfortunately, by the time I found it, the post had already been deleted.

"So I wanted to ask, if you know of any network experts living on the second floor of the Apartment, perhaps we could use their skills right here inside to help restore the post and see what it was about."

Gao Tian glossed over exactly how he had found the post.

He had been prepared to brush it off with an excuse if Xia Ta pressed him. But she didn't get caught up in trivial details, locking firmly onto the main point instead.

Without warning, she suddenly asked, "Have you already found a relevant expert on the outside to help you open that post once?

"Except, some supernatural power emerged from the post and directly killed the expert you brought in. So you thought of finding me, hoping to use the Living Apartment's power to suppress the Fierce Ghost while viewing the post's contents?"

Gao Tian's expression was a sight to behold.

It was true; because of his ignorance, Cao Hua was dead. Cao Hua's death rested entirely on his shoulders.

This was the mistake Gao Tian was least willing to remember. Yet, Xia Ta had poked right at the sore spot.

Seeing the change in Gao Tian's expression, Xia Ta didn't need to ask further to guess the whole story. She simply said lightly, "All experiments involving Supernatural Items and anything related to the supernatural must be conducted inside the Living Apartment. It's still safe here for now.

"I'm to blame as well. I've been too busy lately; I should have warned you long ago about the rules new residents need to pay attention to."

She had already prepared a steaming cup of pour-over coffee, continuously stirring it with a swizzle stick.

"There really is a programmer from a major tech firm on the second floor. But his department recently took on a massive project, and he works overtime at the company until the early hours of the morning every day.

"If you want to find him, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while. In about a month, he might be able to take a day off and return to the Apartment to help you with your problem."

Hearing that there was actually a resident of the Living Apartment who worked overtime every day left Gao Tian just as shocked as when he first learned ghosts existed.

"Sister Ta, are you kidding me?

"He lives in the Living Apartment now! He doesn't even know if he'll survive until the end of his next mission. Instead of enjoying life, he actually volunteers for overtime at his company?

"What is wrong with this guy? Is he short on money? But all food and accommodation in the Living Apartment are free..."

Xia Ta took a small sip and cast a glance in Gao Tian's direction.

"In a major tech firm, the probability of an employee dropping dead from overwork is actually about the same as dying in a Green Text Mission.

"If he's not afraid of overtime, why would he be afraid of carrying out Green Text Missions?"

Well.

That made perfect sense.

Gao Tian was momentarily speechless, completely unsure of how to retort.

...

...

"Hello, is this Gao Tian?"

A gloomy voice rang out from the mobile phone.

At three in the morning on the Third Floor of the Living Apartment, a groggy Gao Tian was jolted awake by the urgent ringing of his mobile phone. Squinting, he fumbled around in the dark until he finally grasped his phone and pressed the answer button, immediately hearing the familiar voice of an old friend on the other end.

Zhao Qiang.

"I've tracked down the guy you're looking for.

"His name is Xu Yuan, and his hometown is Hengzhou City. He went to Honglong Primary School for elementary, Mingde Middle School, and a first-tier university in Shanghai City, but suddenly dropped out during his sophomore year.

"His parents passed away very early in a car crash. He was later adopted by a middle-aged man named Lin Nan'an. Xu Yuan arrived in Shanghai City in his twenties. His occupation was unknown, and his income was unknown. He stayed in Shanghai City until he was about thirty-five, when he suddenly and inexplicably went missing.

"The last time he was seen was at Sapphire Mall. The police opened an investigation, but the missing person had very weak social ties and no obvious enemies. The case has dragged on until now and remains unsolved."

It matched. Everything matched.

The "teacher" that young Xu Yuan spoke of was really named Lin Nan'an.

He was able to come to Shanghai City and survive without a job because he had been dragged into the Living Apartment.

He later vanished at Sapphire Mall because he was killed by that ghost who liked to collect human heads. Before he died, his corpse was preserved in such a bizarre manner.

It seemed Zhao Qiang and his people had genuinely searched for him, rather than just tossing out some random info to placate him.

The Zhao family truly lived up to their background in loan sharking; they were exceptionally good at tracking people down. Someone this difficult to find, and he had dug up the details so clearly in less than three days.

However, this wasn't enough.

This information was only meant for ordinary people to see. It was just the tip of the iceberg.

Who the real Xu Yuan was, what kind of relationship he had with his teacher Lin Nan'an, how he arrived at the Living Apartment, and how he managed to complete ten missions and leave. Why he later became the owner of the Galan Society, and why everyone in the Galan Society had died.

Most crucially: what exactly did Xu Yuan want after becoming a ghost? What was he after?

There were far too many mysteries surrounding this man. He was one of the keys to the entire Chat Group.

Zhao Qiang's gloomy voice echoed through the mobile phone once again.

"Are you still there, Gao Tian?"

Gao Tian snapped back to reality.

"I'm here, Xiao Qiang."

Zhao Qiang scoffed coldly.

"Right now, we're in a small county town in Xu Yuan's hometown, and we've found the old house his parents left behind.

"After his parents died in the crash, Xu Yuan lived in an orphanage for a while before leaving with that Lin Nan'an. The house has been sitting empty for over twenty years, and no one has touched it.

"Xu Yuan came back a few times later on. There's bound to be more of his belongings and information inside.

"Do you want to come take a look? If not, my brothers and I are going to pry the house open and go in."

Gao Tian replied, "I'm coming.

"Give me the address, I'll take a cab over."