Stein said this kind of formation required sacrificing a living person to be effective. If Violet had set up this formation, she likely killed someone - probably an enemy or someone she hated.
I disagreed. "A big star like her wouldn't risk something like this. Besides, Violet doesn't seem the type to be so cruel."
Stein countered, "Appearances deceive. When dealing with the underworld, what you should fear most isn't ghosts - it's people. As the old saying goes: 'Men fear ghosts, but ghosts fear the poison in men's hearts.' Last night I fell right into someone's trap."
I gave him a look. "Really? Wasn't it just that you couldn't resist temptation?"
Stein turned his attention to the villa's rooftop. "If we check up there, we can confirm. The remaining organ - the spleen - should be buried on the roof since it represents the central position."
Getting to the roof through the front door wasn't an option with people inside. Our only choice was climbing the water pipes.
For a country boy like me, the second floor was easy - I'd climbed taller trees before. But Stein struggled with his short arms barely reaching the pipes.
He joined me on the roof about ten minutes later, panting heavily. "Almost fell halfway. That was dangerous!"
I scoffed. "Dangerous? At this height, worst case you'd break a bone. Now let's find that spleen."
Actually, we didn't need to search. Moonlight shone directly on some bricks beside the rooftop water tank. Removing them revealed a spleen with another talisman attached.
"No doubt now - it's definitely the Five Elements Feng Shui Formation!" Stein declared.
Seemed his analysis was correct. So Violet really killed someone? I began suspecting she'd lied about everything - that the Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts had nothing to do with any blood-covered fetus haunting her.
"Let's confront her," Stein fumed. "This bitch set up an evil Five Elements Formation - clearly up to no good. Who knows why she really wanted those tattoos? That story about the bloody fetus's vengeful spirit was probably all lies."
I stopped him. "Wait." Something had caught my eye - a nearly invisible bloodstain in an obscure corner of the water tank. Only my sharp eyes spotted it at night.
"Open the tank," I told Stein. "There might be something inside."
Too short to reach alone, we worked together - though it was mostly me lifting the heavy tank lid.
When we opened it and I shone my phone light inside, we found a dead man.
He wore a white shirt, his face bloodless, his body slightly bloated from the water. His eyes were wide open, larger than copper bells, and his face bore an eerie, deathly resentment.
"It's him?" I exclaimed, my hand trembling so badly I nearly dropped my phone.
Stein asked if I recognized him. I shook my head and said I'd seen him—just two days ago, at Violet's villa.
Stein said that couldn't be. This body had been preserved; its time of death could be measured in years. He pointed out the corpse's lividity and the grayish tint to its skin, evidence of some special embalming method that kept it from rotting in the water.
Measured in years? Then how long ago had this man died?
Stein shook his head, uncertain, but said it must have been many years.
Years? But I'd just seen him in the building this morning—before he vanished the moment he ran away. So, then...
Wait. Run away and disappear? Did that mean... he'd fled up to the roof?
Then he was...
Terror seized me. I stumbled back several steps, putting as much distance as I could between myself and that water tank.
Was he a ghost?
Just at this time, I saw the man in the water tank with a weird smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Oops, Mama, a trick!" Stein saw it too and exclaimed, hurriedly hugging me.
"Run!" I hoisted Stein onto my back, turned, and climbed down while holding the water pipe.
After getting down, I deliberately glanced upward, fearing the man had chased after us.
No wonder he seemed so eerie when I saw him—he was actually a ghost. What on earth was Violet doing, keeping a ghost in the water tank?
"Let's go find her and demand answers. How many secrets does this bitch have, and what has she lied to us about?" I said to Stein before the two of us marched straight to the doorbell.
Amelia answered the door. She looked surprised and asked why we were there in the middle of the night.
I didn't respond, just tried to go inside, but she blocked my way. I pushed past her anyway; she threatened to call security.
I told her to go ahead—not just security, better call the police too. Then I'd tell them there was a corpse on the building's roof and viscera buried around the area. Once the news reported it, Violet would be famous again.
As soon as I said that, Amelia was too distracted to stop me. When I went in, I saw Violet sitting on the couch, with a glass jar full of blood sitting on the table in front of her.
"Know what this is? It's the fetal blood of eternal youth!" Violet poured a little onto the glass.
Violet was so gross—what did she even want?
That's when Stein said, "There's a kind of evil witchcraft in Southeast Asia that claims fetal blood can preserve youth and keep skin smooth. Violet, you don't actually believe in this dark magic, do you?"
"That's right, I'm in my thirties—can you tell?" Violet said proudly.
I couldn't tell at all. Violet looked like a youthful twenty-year-old, her skin fair and tender like a baby's. I always assumed celebrities had special skincare routines to maintain their youth, but I never imagined Violet was resorting to such dark witchcraft.
It was horrifying. Inhumane.
No wonder Stella said Violet had bad breath. That thing carried ghostly resentment. By doing this, the resentment gathered in her mouth, creating a foul odor ordinary people couldn't detect. But Stella, being a Celestial Master, could easily sense it.
"Violet, did you lie to me?" I demanded.
Violet gave a wry smile, then said quietly, "Of course. There are no blood-covered fetal spirits haunting me—that was just a story I made up. But getting Gods and Ghosts tattoos really is meant to exorcise evil spirits and repel ghosts. Did you see the man in the white shirt on the second-floor landing? Did you think I didn't know?"
I froze. So the bitch already knew. Was that man a ghost? And who was he to Violet?
"He's the boyfriend I told you about. I killed him, hid his body in a water tank, removed his organs, and sacrificed them in a Five Elements Feng Shui formation. That's why my career skyrocketed, and I became so famous so quickly."
Violet picked up the cup beside her and took a sip, the corner of her lips curling slightly. Her angelic face twisted into a devilish smile.
This woman—so ruthless! To think she'd use such methods to boost her career. It was terrifying.
Southeast Asian dark magic to preserve her youth, a sinister Five Elements Feng Shui array to fuel her fame—what the hell had happened to this woman?
No one could imagine what kind of demon lurked behind the screen's beloved goddess.
Violet didn't bother hiding it. In fact, she seemed delighted to share her story with me.
The entertainment industry had never been pure, and the filth behind the scenes made it even harder for Violet to survive in such a cutthroat world.
She was growing older, yet her career remained stagnant. She refused to give up, but showbiz was a realm that fed on youth.
In an era where popularity was everything, without the advantage of youth and beauty, even modest fame was hard to sustain.
Later, through the introduction of her girlfriends, she learned about a South-East Asian evil witchcraft.