After Kittel's ghost departed, Roos burrowed into Daphne's body along with it. It wasn't long before Stein and Daphne woke up.
Strangely, when Daphne touched the corner of her eye, she found it damp, as if she had been crying - though she couldn't remember why or when the tears had come.
Beyond that, looking at the butler lying on the ground, her mind was filled with confusion. Like Stein and the others, she had no idea what had transpired.
At that moment, Mr. Dai waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to carry away the butler's body and return it to his family. Then he approached me and said, "Roger, there's still half of the White Tiger tattoo left. Finish it properly. If it can truly break this Seven Fiends Formation, then the promise my Dai family made will absolutely be honored."
Though Kittel might be gone, the Seven Fiends Formation he left behind remained unbroken. I still needed to complete the tattoo, with only half of the White Tiger remaining.
I took up the tattoo needle and descended into the coffin pit. This time, no one interfered, and there were no further surprises. I completed the remaining White Tiger tattoo without any issues.
After coming back up, the subordinates fully restored the grave. Immediately, I sensed a refreshing energy overflowing through the burial mound. The cadaveric aura and stench of decay had significantly diminished. The four yang-themed tattoos seemed to be gradually pushing the deathly energy outward.
"Mr. Dai! Mr. Dai!" An underling rushed in with joyful excitement to report. "The river below the mountain has returned to normal - it's no longer flowing backward!"
The tattoo's effect was even faster and more powerful than I'd anticipated. Perhaps the burial mound itself occupied excellent feng shui with a strong dragon vein - I had merely helped restore it slightly.
"Haha, Roger truly has remarkable skill. Your Gods and Ghosts Tattoos are genuinely effective. It appears my Dai family's feng shui has been revived," Mr. Dai laughed heartily.
With the evil spirits and enemies gone and the feng shui gradually recovering, how could he not be happy?
But I wasn't concerned with that. I coughed twice and rubbed my fingers together repeatedly in front of Mr. Dai - a clear signal for payment, you stingy old man.
"Haha, Roger is truly true to his nature. I'll have someone transfer the money immediately," Mr. Dai said, giving a look to the person behind him. I provided my account number, and before long, an extra two million dollars appeared in my account.
"This kid - just like Rhett, so money-hungry."
"Well, I'd say the student has surpassed the master."
Webster and Raul Master were muttering in the back, as if they were gossiping about me behind my back. But I had just collected two million dollars—I was too happy to care about those two old men.
"Roger, together with the one million Daphne promised earlier, I've given you a total of two million. Consider this matter settled. As for Daphne…" Mr. Dai turned to Webster and said, "Webster, pick a good day for them to marry."
Webster didn't hesitate—in fact, he seemed delighted. He quickly counted on his fingers, and after a moment, he announced that three days later would be an auspicious day for marriage.
"Good. In three days, I will marry Daphne to you. My Dai family keeps its word. Go home and prepare," Mr. Dai declared.
But at that moment, I hesitated. Mr. Dai thought I had some difficult request and told me to speak freely.
"It's not hard to say, just… I don't want to marry. I only want the two million," I admitted truthfully.
The moment those words left my mouth, everyone in the room was stunned—including Raul Master and Webster.
Vervecity's famous Iceberg Beauty, the eldest granddaughter of the prestigious Dai family, had just been rejected by an ordinary tattoo artist—and outright, at that.
"Kid, are you out of your mind? This is the deal of a lifetime, and you're throwing it away? Are you stupid?" Webster scolded.
I waved my hand dismissively. "I don't want it, plain and simple. No matter how beautiful she is, no matter if she's the Dai family's prized granddaughter—I'm not interested."
It wasn't that I didn't want to—I couldn't. I had a marriage contract with that pair of twins. If they came looking for me later and found out I already had a wife, my grandfather would be the one breaking his word. I couldn't ruin his credibility.
Of course, this might just be my own delusion. That Jennings might not even remember our family. But until I got a clear answer from them, I couldn't marry anyone else.
Unless I never found them—unless I gave up entirely. After all, I still had fantasies about the twins. Having two wives was way more cost-effective than one! I wasn't stupid.
"You—you—you idiot! I give you the chance to taste swan meat, and you refuse? You humiliate me in front of everyone? You—just you wait! Hmph!" Daphne had never felt so insulted in her life. Cursing, she stormed off before Mr. Dai or anyone else could stop her.
Seeing the situation turn sour, I quickly fled with Stein while some of the Dai family members glared at me as if they wanted to tear me apart.
It was understandable. The Dai family's treasured beauty had been rejected by a mere tattoo artist—where did that leave their pride? Even if I were a master, I couldn't compare to the Dai family's status. And let's be honest—I wasn't even in the running.
A woman like Daphne—anyone else would be fighting for her. Yet I refused. Even Stein looked down on me for it.
After returning to the tattoo parlor, Stein started nagging at me, saying I was truly stupid to refuse such a good family opportunity - turning down a beautiful woman while dreaming about impossible fantasies. Besides, if I didn't want her, I could have married her and then given her to him. He'd do anything for me - he's that loyal to our Tang family!
"You're too short to even reach Daphne's ass. What could you possibly do for me? Use a ladder?"
Forget it, I'll be the fool this time. I'm satisfied with the two million dollars. You can't be too greedy - it's easy to lose everything.
With these two million, I'm one step closer to seeing Grandpa again. As long as I work hard, I'll be able to save Grandpa.
When we got back to the tattoo parlor, it was already past 1 a.m. I was about to wash up and sleep when someone walked in. Who else could it be but Moreira?
What was he doing here so late? I wondered if the Five-way God of Wealth Talisman tattoo I'd given him earlier was working.
Moreira walked in and wordlessly dumped ten thousand dollars on my desk.
"Tattoo fee - ten thousand dollars. Count it. I, Moreira, might owe others money, but I'd never owe you, Roger. Got money, paid you immediately," Moreira declared boldly.
"Hey, not bad! In such short time, you've completely changed. Where'd this money come from?" I pocketed the ten thousand.
Moreira immediately became animated, saying my tattoo was truly magical - his luck today had been unbelievably good. His stocks went up, and he won some at gambling too. So he was paying this tattoo fee in advance, confident he'd win enough in the coming days to repay all his debts.
I told him with this tattoo, there'd be no problem. Maybe not huge fortunes, but small wins for sure. The money would come gradually. But he shouldn't gamble anymore after this - when luck runs out, he might lose everything again.
This time Moreira didn't respond to my advice. He stammered some excuses and quickly slipped away.
I shook my head. Maybe Stein was right - you can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's harder for a gambler to quit than to reach heaven.
After Moreira left, I suddenly got a phone call from an unfamiliar number. When I answered, it was Mr. Lam.
What did this old man want calling me so late at night? He already got his tattoo - what more could he need? Shouldn't he be busy with Nuwa's Forsaken Shade trying to conceive? Why's he calling me?