After the man in the suit burned to ashes, I breathed a small sigh of relief, while Chloe beside me covered her mouth to stifle a scream, her face filled with horror.
That scene had indeed been terrifying—watching a living person turn into paper ash. The sheer eeriness of it was enough to give anyone nightmares.
But it wasn't over yet. At that moment, the Human Lanterns floated up from the balcony. Like ghosts, the fire inside the lanterns oozed a green glow, flickering between bright and dim.
Aside from the Human Lanterns, there was also that strange sound of footsteps from earlier, now coming from the balcony—neat, rhythmic steps that grew closer and closer to us.
"What… is this?" Chloe asked fearfully. The footsteps were so loud—how many people had stepped onto the balcony?
But strangely, I couldn't see anything. The balcony was pitch-dark, and aside from the Human Lanterns, there wasn't a single person in sight.
"Go!" I shouted, grabbing Chloe's hand as I flung open the door and bolted outside.
Luckily, nothing blocked our path. We raced down the stairs and sprinted out of the neighborhood like madmen.
From a distance, we glanced back up at the fifteenth floor, just barely making out the balcony of Chloe's apartment.
It was too far, and with the darkness of night, we couldn't see clearly. But we could tell the balcony was crowded with figures. Our scalps prickled in dread, and we didn't dare look any longer—just turned and ran.
Chloe didn't dare return to the parking lot for her car, so we had no choice but to hail a cab. There was nowhere else to go but back to my tattoo shop.
When we arrived, I had just opened the door when I saw the Human Lanterns again. This time, someone was holding them—but I couldn't make out who. The entire room was shrouded in darkness, and the eerie green glow from the lanterns seemed incapable of piercing it.
"Who's there? Stop playing games!" I stepped in front of Chloe, shielding her.
"Heh, heh… Having fun?"
The voice of Nuwa's Forsaken Shade echoed through the room. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, my vision improved slightly.
Someone sat on the couch, while another figure stood beside her, holding a lantern. But no matter how wide I opened my eyes, their faces remained indistinct.
"Not bad, actually. You destroyed my Paper Person. Not ideal… but clever enough." Nuwa's Forsaken Shade continued.
"Hmph, don't try any tricks here. Those Paper People of yours don't scare me," I retorted coldly, gripping Chloe's hand tightly, ready to flee at any moment.
This Nuwa's Forsaken Shade is truly powerful. Since I can't fight her, I can only run. Hopefully, Stella will bring back whatever "big brother" she mentioned.
"Haha, don't worry. I'm just playing with you. If I were serious, you'd have died long ago." Nuwa's Forsaken Shade laughed contemptuously. This damned old woman—how arrogant.
"No need to be nervous. I only came tonight to deliver some discs for you to watch. See for yourself, then decide whether you still want the Corpse-Fetus or not! Well, that's enough fun for tonight!"
As soon as Nuwa's Forsaken Shade finished speaking, there was a sudden poof—the Human Lanterns went out, and the room plunged back into deathly silence.
Are they… gone? What the hell is she, human or ghost? I finally understood why she was called Nuwa's Forsaken Shade.
I turned on the lights. The couch was empty now, with only a disc left behind. Fortunately, my computer had a disc drive, so Chloe and I went upstairs to play it.
When she saw the disc's contents, Chloe's face instantly turned pale, while I averted my eyes in discomfort.
The disc contained hidden recordings—footage of Chloe with clients in her room, seemingly filmed without her knowledge. And there wasn't just one video.
If these were leaked online, how could Chloe ever show her face again? Even in her line of work, such exposure would ruin her!
Furious, I slammed my fist on the keyboard. How could Nuwa's Forsaken Shade sink so low? Was she even human, resorting to such despicable means?
Chloe was terrified. She collapsed onto the floor, tears welling in her eyes.
"Who the hell are they? Who are they?! Why are they doing this to me?" she screamed, breaking down. I had no choice but to explain everything—about the Lam family, their conspiracy, how they were just using her to bear the Corpse-Fetus and continue their bloodline.
Hearing this, Chloe grew even more frightened. She looked at me and asked, "Can we even fight them? Why not just give in? I'll carry the child. I'm already worthless anyway. If I can survive, I'll take my chances. We'll deal with the rest later."
Chloe was surrendering. She felt insignificant, powerless against the wealth and influence of a man like Mr. Lam.
I held her tightly, saying nothing as she cried herself to sleep in my arms.
The next morning, when I woke up, Chloe was gone. A small note lay on the table:
"Stay out of this. I've decided to carry the Corpse-Fetus. After all, Mr. Lam won't treat me badly. Maybe I won't have to worry about my future—so why not?"
There were traces of tears on the note, showing how distressed she must have been when writing it.
Carrying the Corpse-Fetus was dangerous. Even if Mr. Lam promised more money in case of death, it would be meaningless - Chloe knew this perfectly well. Yet she had no choice but to surrender. She wrote this note to push me away, afraid of dragging me into her troubles.
Damn it! I couldn't just let this go. This kind of bullying was unacceptable. I refused to tolerate people like this. But if I wanted to confront them, I needed to be smart about it.
First, I needed to find Stein. I'd been worried about him since his phone was turned off all night - something might have happened.
When I arrived at Violet's villa, I rang the doorbell. Violet answered and said, "Oh, you're here. Is it time for my Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts today?"
I told her the tattoo could wait and asked if Stein was there.
Violet gave me a meaningful smile and nodded, then led me to the second floor.
At one of the rooms, Violet knocked - but instead of calling for Stein, she called for Amelia.
Amelia was Violet's assistant. I'd seen her in the car yesterday - not bad-looking, with an exceptionally good figure.
I found this strange. Weren't we here for Stein? Why call for Amelia?
A few seconds later, Amelia emerged in a nightgown, her hair draped over one shoulder. The nightgown clung to her figure, making her look especially attractive.
"Well? Did you take good care of Stein?" Violet laughed.
Amelia clasped her hands to her chest, glanced back into the room at Stein, and returned Violet's smile with equal suggestiveness.
"I think I'll be getting out of bed with weak legs today!"
With that, Amelia went downstairs, followed by Violet who said she'd meet us downstairs later.
Damn it! Now I understood Violet's knowing smile. This Stein was completely unreliable! I'd asked him to investigate the villa and Violet, and here he was fooling around instead!