After Violet and Amelia left, I hurried into the room. Stein lay on the bed huffing and puffing, with used tissues scattered everywhere under the bed. This lucky bastard - with his short stature, he'd actually managed to sleep with Amelia. What a steal for him.
No wonder he'd turned off his phone - he was afraid I'd ruin his little adventure.
I quickly shook Stein awake and demanded, "How's the investigation going? Did you find anything?"
Stein woke with a drained expression, looking completely exhausted, yet somehow satisfied in his fatigue.
"Investigate my ass. How can I investigate anything when my legs feel like jelly?" Stein grumbled as he came to.
"What?" I snapped.
"Ahem, well... I checked last night. There's no problem - not with the people, not with the house," Stein hastily corrected himself.
"So is it a haunting, or is it the Grudge of the Fetus?" I pressed.
Stein stammered for a long moment before finally saying stiffly, "Ghosts... ghosts, I guess. Violet must be telling the truth. What would she gain by lying to us?"
If it's ghosts, then we should give her a Yaksha Yang-themed Exorcism Tattoo to ward off evil spirits!
I considered tattooing a Ghost-Begging Yaksha, but that creature is too fierce - it devours ghosts. That fetal ghost isn't so terrible; it's just haunting Violet without taking her life. It's just a small ghost. If it couldn't escape fast enough and got caught by the Ghost-Begging Yaksha, it wouldn't even get a chance at reincarnation.
That would be too cruel - already aborted before birth, and now it might lose even its spectral form.
So I decided against the Ghost-Begging Yaksha and chose the Red Lotus Yaksha instead.
The red lotus represents Buddhism and has exorcism properties. This Red Lotus Yaksha is special - it's essentially the Ghost Police, feared by all spirits.
While not as terrifyingly cruel as the ghost-eating Yaksha, the Red Lotus Yaksha's effects are still potent. After all, its status as Ghost Police speaks for itself.
Stein had no opinions at this point. "Tattoo whatever you want," he said, then lay there moaning dramatically. I kicked him. "You're not staying here, are you?" He reluctantly got up and followed me downstairs.
I don't know if it's bad kidneys or weak legs, but Stein could barely manage the stairs - his legs wobbling, breathing heavily, making Violet and Amelia cover their mouths to hide their laughter.
When I approached Violet, I told her to come with me to the tattoo parlor. I'd decided to give her a Red Lotus Yaksha tattoo to exorcise ghosts and ward off evil spirits - price: 20,000 yuan.
Violet said money wasn't a problem - as long as it worked. After all, 20,000 yuan was like pocket change to her.
As I was leaving, I saw that man again. He still wore the same white shirt, standing in the second-floor hallway. He stared at me with those strange eyes, just like last time - his mouth moving as if speaking, but no sound came out.
"Don't trust her!"
Reading his lips, I deciphered the words again. But when Violet followed my gaze down the hallway, the man suddenly turned and ran.
This time I noticed his white shirt collar was stained red, as if with blood.
A growing unease took hold of me. This couldn't possibly be the man Violet kept - his behavior was far too bizarre.
"Don't run!"
I roared, determined to chase him this time.
"Roger, what are you doing? What's wrong?" Violet shouted after me, but I didn't stop. I sprinted up to the second floor at full speed, determined to catch him.
But when I reached the upper floor, the man had vanished. I searched every room - nothing.
Impossible. Where could he have gone? I'd scoured the entire second floor - how could he just disappear?
"Roger, what's gotten into you?" Violet sounded genuinely angry now. As a guest, I'd just ransacked her private space. Only her need for my Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts kept her from losing her temper completely.
"But... I clearly saw a man up here. Where did he go? Where could he be hiding?" I scratched my head in confusion.
Violet said impatiently, "I'll say this one last time - there are no other men in this villa. You're imagining things, aren't you?"
With no evidence, I had no choice. Had I caught the man, I could've confronted Violet. But empty-handed, I could only laugh awkwardly to diffuse the tension before leaving the villa with Violet and the others.
That mysterious man still haunted my thoughts, but for now I had to focus on Violet's tattoo.
The Red Lotus Yaksha design was large - a giant lotus flower framing a long-toothed ghostly face that would cover her entire back.
Violet showed no modesty during the session. She didn't even request a covering cloth, letting me work freely. Her figure was impressive - from certain angles while working on her back, I caught some tantalizing glimpses.
For a top-tier actress worshipped by millions to be so exposed before me... I suppose I should consider myself lucky.
The tattoo took about five hours. The Red Lotus Yaksha looked more striking than the Ghost-Begging Yaksha would have - especially the crimson lotus blossoms that seemed to bloom across Violet's beautiful back.
After finishing the tattoo, Violet thanked me profusely and left after making payment, while Stein snored like a pig on the sofa.
I shook my head helplessly, then opened my phone and ordered him ten servings of large cashews - my way of showing concern for employees.
Just then, Stella returned. She walked in and asked, "Who was that who just left?"
I said it was Violet, a first-tier actress. "Haven't you seen her movies? What about her?"
Stella covered her nose with a disgusted expression, saying Violet's mouth had a foul odor that was revolting.
"No way," I said. "Violet's a huge star - would she have bad breath? Besides, I didn't smell anything earlier."
Stella said she didn't know why, but the stench was particularly strong and unusual - not like normal bad breath.
I quickly told Stella to stop. Discussing someone's breath was both pointless and disgusting - I wanted no part of this conversation.
"By the way, what about that 'Big Brother' you mentioned? Did you invite him? Please don't tell me it's Philip," I asked urgently. This was critical - having another Celestial Master would improve our odds against Nuwa's Forsaken Shade. That vicious woman was so despicable that even without Chloe's situation, I'd still want to fight her to the end.
Stella said of course not Philip - he was only third in line. There was a second sister and the eldest brother. "But big brother said he'll come in fifteen days. Normally he practices in the mountains and rarely comes out. Getting him to agree at all was difficult enough."
Fifteen days? That would be the day for collecting morning dew. If successful, we could eliminate the Corpse-Fetus - which would surely draw Nuwa's Forsaken Shade out to stop us. The real problem was Chloe's current situation...
I told Stella everything that happened last night. The girl grew so furious her eyes nearly bulged out as she cursed Nuwa's Forsaken Shade as despicable and sinister, then proceeded to insult eighteen generations of her ancestors. When Stella cursed, she went all out - I could only cover my ears.
Just then, someone knocked at the door - a woman in a lacy dress.
Judging by her figure and attire, I expected a beauty. But when I looked up, it nearly scared me to death - I thought I'd seen a ghost in broad daylight.
"Holy shit!" Stella had the same reaction.
The woman's face was extraordinarily ugly - her features seemed to rebel against each other in grotesque disharmony. Her nose and mouth corners were crooked, making her unbearably unattractive. Did her face hit the ground during birth?
When the woman entered, she asked if I was Roger, the Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts artist.
I confirmed I was Roger, then asked why she sought the Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts.
The woman introduced herself as Freya, referred by a friend who claimed Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts had magical, unexpected effects. She came hoping to try it.
Her purpose was simple - she pointed directly at her face.
When it comes to looks determined at birth, one has little choice. Freya seemed born to the wrong womb - an ugly girl since childhood, sometimes even disliked by her own parents.
In this appearance-obsessed era, Freya faced scorn everywhere, even provoking unnecessary trouble.
After saving money as an adult, she mustered courage for plastic surgery - only for it to fail disastrously.
Freya indicated her crooked mouth and nose: "These are the aftereffects." Though the cosmetic clinic compensated her handsomely, the botched surgery made her already unfortunate face worse.
Previously ugly, she now became grotesque. Even her longtime employer planned to fire her after coworkers complained her appearance made them nauseous and unable to work.
Freya didn't blame them - even she felt sick seeing her reflection. Her boyfriend preferred watching movies and masturbating to touching her, only staying because he was lazy and relied on her financially.
She didn't aspire to beauty - just normality. Living ugly was too painful; she no longer wanted to live.
Finishing her story, Freya looked at me hopefully, begging for salvation.
Stella told Freya not to wallow: "Look at me - I'm ugly too yet live happily. People must have confidence - some don't care about appearances. Besides, nothing can drastically change looks. If such things existed, everyone would know. Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts are magical, but have limits. You're being delusional."
I glared at Stella - calling me ugly? She must be blind.
However, there truly exists a beauty-granting Tattoo of Gods and Ghosts called "Painted Skin" - another of the craft's darker arts.