1: My tenant is a reborn person?

(New author, new book. Please be encouraging, fellow experts.)

(Please deposit your brains here, all you Andy Laus!)

(Please deposit your brains here, all you Crystal Lius!)

(When reading, just don't bring your brain. Bringing it will ruin your mood!)

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is the Chengdong District Bureau. My name is Chen Hao, badge number XX9318. Am I speaking with Mr. Xu Shian?"

"Yes, that's me. Who is this?"

...

"Chen Hao..."

"Oh, sorry. What can I do for you?"

"Is apartment 1005, Building 23, Beiyuan Garden, your property?"

"Oh, yes, it is. I rented that one out. Is there a problem?"

"Do you know the tenant's name?"

"Hold on a moment, I need to check my phone contacts... Uh, I think it's Hu Zhihao? Officer... is there something wrong with him?"

"He's dead..."

"What? I'll be right there!"

Xu Shian hurriedly hung up the phone, cursing inwardly about the trouble!

Even a landlord fears his property turning into a haunted house!

Ever since his parents passed away unexpectedly three years ago, Xu Shian realized he wasn't cut out for business.

So, he sold the company his parents left to the founding partners who started it with them.

He bought thirteen apartments and rented them out along with the three properties his family already owned, contentedly living as a happy little freeloader.

He kept one villa in the city center for himself to live in.

His hobbies were also quite homebody-ish and not very expensive...

Apart from occasionally helping out some poorly-dressed young ladies, he didn't have any thoughts of finding a steady girlfriend to spend his life with.

Magic City could be considered the number one city in Xia Country!

Only the Imperial Capital could rival it.

The fact that Xu Shian could idle away his days in Magic City was already thanks to the blessings of his parents' spirits in heaven!

He never expected to run into such a situation today!

...

At the entrance of Beiyuan Residential Area, two uniformed police officers were already waiting.

"Hello! Officer Chen?"

The slightly older officer opposite walked over and shook hands with Xu Shian.

"That's me. Hello, Mr. Xu! Sorry to trouble you to come all this way!"

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!"

As they entered the elevator, Chen Hao kept asking Xu Shian about Hu Zhihao!

"We found out he recently borrowed a lot of unregulated online loans. Was he short on money lately?"

"Huh?"

Xu Shian looked utterly confused, then gave a bitter smile.

"Officer, I don't even remember what he looks like..."

Chen Hao was speechless and could only shut up!

Xu Shian used a key to open the door to 1005. Seeing the apartment messy as a pigsty, he couldn't help but cover his nose!

Takeout boxes and drink bottles were stuffed everywhere; cigarette butts and dust were all over the place...

"The information shows this Hu Zhihao was a novelist, right? This sloppy?"

Xu Shian couldn't help but admire him. Look, this is what you call professionalism!

This Hu Zhihao had rented his place for two years, and he didn't even know what the guy did for a living!

"Even with someone like this, you were comfortable renting to him?"

"Officer Chen, this guy never missed a rent payment. It hit my card on Time every month. I never even had to text him to remind him..."

But encountering something like this, Xu Shian couldn't stay calm!

"Officer, this apartment won't become a haunted house, will it?"

Officer Chen glanced back at him with some annoyance.

"The guy was wandering dazedly across the road this morning, popped out like a ghost, and got hit by a car! He didn't die in your apartment..."

Of course Xu Shian knew he didn't die in the apartment. If he had, by the Time they found him, he'd definitely have started to smell!

He just wanted to test their attitude towards the matter!

He looked down again at the dirty, messy, subpar rental...

"Officer Chen, these personal belongings of Hu Zhihao are evidence, right? Do you need to take them back?"

The two officers exchanged a look, both quite speechless.

Your abacus beads are practically flying into my face!

"You've watched too many crime dramas, haven't you? This isn't a murder case? It's a traffic accident, understand? It's already closed..."

"How was it closed?"

"Even though Hu Zhihao was fully at fault, the driver just chalked it up to bad luck. After all, the guy was all alone in the world!"

As he spoke, he checked the scene. There were no issues...

Their visit here was just a formality!

After all, this guy's entire movements this morning were crystal clear! No problems.

"This Hu Zhihao had no family. Relatives said they wouldn't get involved. We'll trouble you to sort out his personal belongings. If you have Time later, bring them to the station..."

After giving these instructions, the two officers routinely recorded notes, took photos, finished the procedure, and left without looking back!

Xu Shian was speechless! If you put it that way, then I definitely won't have Time!

He took out his phone and called the cleaning service!

Being a landlord, Xu Shian had the phone numbers for cleaners, electricians, repairmen, and the like memorized!

"Sister Chen, for apartment 1005, Building 23, Beiyuan Garden, arrange at least three people to clean it!"

"When? The sooner, the better!"

"Not until tomorrow? Alright then, I'll leave the key in the usual spot..."

"No need. I'll have to change the lock for this apartment later."

"Hey, this matter has nothing to do with you!"

"Alright, that's it. Hanging up!"

After hanging up, Xu Shian went downstairs and brought up two large bags!

Whenever a tenant moved out, coming to the apartment to hunt for treasure was one of his great joys!

However, today's joy was destined to be doubled. After all, the person left suddenly, and all his stuff was still here...

Arriving at the desk, Xu Shian focused his inspection here!

Since this Hu Zhihao was an online novelist, there might be some draft manuscripts for trashy literature!

There was an old, second-hand computer in the room. Xu Shian tried it; it had a login password...

Xu Shian could only look through paper materials like notebooks!

Trash!

Trash!

The trashiest of trash!

After looking through several in a row, there wasn't a single original idea.

He tried to pull open a hidden drawer on the right side.

Locked?

These desks were all bought in bulk by Xu Shian back then. They didn't have locks here before...

What good stuff does a shut-in writing books at home need to lock up?

Xu Shian's interest was piqued. Without a hammer, he found a kitchen cleaver and started prying the lock.

"Ouch, damn it!"

Prying locks wasn't Xu Shian's specialty. He lost focus for a moment, used too much force, and ended up cutting a gash on his hand!

Unlucky!

He stuck the wound in his mouth, sucked the blood dry, spat it out. His curiosity about the locked drawer outweighed his concern for the injury.

After removing the lock and opening the drawer to look inside.

Inside was a thick diary, and the diary also had a delicate little lock hanging from it!

Underneath the diary, a small box that looked like something bought from a street stall, exuding an aura of cheapness!

"Who keeps a diary if they're a decent person?"

Hardcover or not, it was still paper. Xu Shian simply used the knife to slice off the part connected to the lock!

"Sigh! Can a mere lock protect your secret garden?"

Opening the diary, Xu Shian wanted to admire the caliber of a Tomato web novelist...

He had just looked at one page when Xu Shian abruptly snapped the diary shut!

His eyes widened, as if he had seen something unbelievable!

"No! No! This guy's a novelist. This might just be the plot for his next book..."

"Right! That must be it! A lousy idea, just put it in a folder. Why bother locking it!"

Muttering insincerely under his breath, Xu Shian's mind was a bit unsettled.

After calming down for a moment, Xu Shian looked at the small box beside it.

Leaving the diary aside, Xu Shian opened the box.

A beautifully crafted jade pendant lay quietly inside the box!

Reaching out to pick up the pendant, Xu Shian didn't notice that as his hand touched it, the fresh blood welling up from his wound was being absorbed by the pendant...

The pendant's color was translucent, and a warm, smooth feeling transmitted from his hand as he held it.

Even someone like Xu Shian, who knew nothing about jade, thought it was a good piece!

Suddenly, perhaps having absorbed enough of Xu Shian's blood, the pendant transformed into a beam of white light that shot straight between Xu Shian's eyebrows.

Xu Shian stood there dumbfounded for a long Time before digesting this sudden turn of events.

[ancient jade of reincarnation: A mythic-grade item within myriad realms online, possessing supreme power to transcend the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation.]

[Soulbound]

[Luck +10]

[Charm +10]

[Effect 1: Can Time-travel the player, allowing them to transcend reincarnation upon true death. (Cooldown: 99 years and 323 days)]

[Effect 2: Grants the player a mythic-grade talent upon re-entering myriad realms online.]

[Effect 3: Within myriad realms online, can designate one system item per day to purchase at a 90% discount.]

Xu Shian 'looked' at the information in his mind, called Sister Chen from the cleaning service, and canceled tomorrow's appointment!

He was going to clean this apartment himself...

Xu Shian set up a brazier in the kitchen. He was going to read every single piece of paper in this room and then burn it!

From 1:30 PM, he worked until 7:00 PM!

Xu Shian was exhausted, his back aching and legs cramping, but he finally got apartment 1005 cleaned up!

This is no way for a human to live... Why am I, a big landlord like this, doing it myself?

Before leaving, Xu Shian only took the two diaries with him!

...

[I never thought heaven would give me a second chance!]

[The most important thing now is to figure out a way to get money. I heard that before the mass transmigration in myriad realms online, there's a half-hour window to create accounts and top up!]

[And the opportunities in the Novice Village, those need focused attention too... Unfortunately, it's been so many years. I don't remember much about the Novice Village, can only recall this much!]

...

Xu Shian closed the diary!

Fortunately, back then, Hu Zhihao had just placed the ancient jade of reincarnation in his backpack.

Although he brought it back after reincarnating, he didn't have the system backpack anymore...

If he had performed the blood pact with it, then it would have had nothing to do with me!