When I answered the phone, Mr. Lam respectfully apologized to me, leaving me somewhat confused. Had this old man taken the wrong medicine? He was actually apologizing to me? And what exactly was he apologizing for?
Mr. Lam said if he had known there was a master like me, he wouldn't have sought out that Nuwa's Forsaken Shade and gone through the trouble of creating a Corpse-Fetus. It had all been a waste of time and had disturbed his son's ghost. However, he didn't mention a word about Chloe's matter - he seemed terrified that speaking of his son's death might disturb the spirit again.
I laughed to myself. His son died and got to sleep with a beautiful woman - "disturbed" seemed like an understatement. I bet he wouldn't mind being "disturbed" like that every day. But I kept this thought to myself.
It turned out Mr. Lam was apologizing because my Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts had worked. This old man, experiencing a revival of vitality, said the Nuwa's Forsaken Shade had become completely obedient and was expected to conceive a child. This Child-Bestowing Guanyin tattoo proved more effective than all those medicines he'd tried.
Oh please, at your age, you can't even handle medicine properly. How could you compare to my Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts?
However, Mr. Lam also revealed something I hadn't known - it turned out the Nuwa's Forsaken Shade not only hadn't borne any children before, but was actually still a virgin. This genuinely surprised me.
So most of the rumors were false. Although the Nuwa's Forsaken Shade had married the Paper Old Man, she'd never given him her body. The Paper Old Man must have used some sorcery - all that talk about bearing his children was complete bullshit, as Stein would say.
The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. The Nuwa's Forsaken Shade's first time had actually been with this old man Mr. Lam. If she held a grudge against me, wouldn't she want to kill me?
I shuddered. God help me - may Mr. Lam and the Nuwa's Forsaken Shade go to hell together and stop coming out to harm people.
Mr. Lam finally said he had complete confidence in my tattoo now. If everything worked out, he would 100% destroy the videotape and properly thank me.
As the saying goes... well, Mr. Lam told me not to worry about what happened before, and that he would definitely keep me as his personal master from now on.
Little did he know he was already a dead man walking. I suspected he'd meet his end at the hands of the Nuwa's Forsaken Shade sooner or later.
After enduring his nonsense, I hung up. With cunning, insidious people like him, I can only tell humans what they want to hear and ghosts what they want to hear. I certainly wasn't going to tell him to his face that he was going to die.
All this back-and-forth made the night grow later. I yawned and went to bed.
The next day, before I'd even woken up properly, Stein started screaming at me like his parents had just died. Rubbing my eyes, I asked him what all the panic was about.
Stein said when he opened the door this morning, he found an extra large clock placed at our entrance. What terrible luck - clearly someone was trying to cause trouble.
In Chinese culture, giving someone a clock (送钟 sòng zhōng) sounds like "attending a funeral" (送终), meaning someone is cursing me to die. This was obviously a provocation!
I quickly threw on my clothes and went outside to check, but there was no one around - just that conspicuously large clock sitting at our doorstep, so heavy that Stein and I could barely move it.
Damn it! Who would be so shameless as to send funeral gifts first thing in the morning? If I find out who did this, I'll skin them alive.
"Aigoo, what's the matter boss? Why so angry so early in the morning?" A girl appeared at the tattoo parlor's entrance - it was Harper, the girl Stella had brought here before.
This girl has vocal cord problems but dreams of becoming a singer, so Stella pressured me to perform a miracle by asking me to tattoo her with a Yin-inspired "Ghosts Performing Opera" tattoo. She needed to raise 100,000 dollars first, and only then would I do it.
I told her it was nothing serious, just some idiot sending funeral gifts first thing in the morning - really bad luck. Then I asked if she'd gathered enough money.
Harper made an affirmative sound and placed a card on the table, saying she had the 100,000. I took out the POS machine and immediately swiped the full amount.
Another 100,000 - one small step closer to 100 million. The money keeps coming, though unfortunately I'll have to burn it all eventually. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache.
With the payment secured, I could proceed with the tattoo. But first, I needed to acquire the special ghost ink required for the Ghosts Performing Opera tattoo.
I called Christoph and said I needed ghost ink for a Ghosts Performing Opera tattoo.
Christoph sounded hesitant at first, saying he didn't have it in stock, but told me to wait as he'd send over a "fresh" batch soon.
No stock? But he'll send something fresh soon? What does that mean?
Christoph didn't explain and hung up. Left with no choice, I had to make an excuse to stall Harper.
While killing time, I browsed through my phone and happened to see news about a certain singer who had jumped to her death from her apartment this morning due to depression.
I sighed, feeling quite sad - I was actually a fan of this singer and often listened to her songs. Ah, damn depression!
About an hour later, Christoph arrived sweating profusely. Wiping his brow with a towel draped over his shoulder, he handed me a bamboo tube.
"Here, count yourself lucky - freshly caught this morning!" Christoph said. "You're going to be unlucky if you can't even complete this tattoo. The ghost you need for this design isn't easy to catch - it's all up to fate."
This morning? Christoph just caught it now? Is this fucking crab or something?
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't be scared, it's not a real ghost." Christoph thought I was afraid of the contents and tried to reassure me first.
Just then, the entire bamboo tube suddenly shook violently, and a ghostly voice from inside wailed: "I didn't commit suicide, I didn't! This is injustice! Let me out! I want revenge!"
The voice was terrifying, filled with intense ghostly resentment, yet somehow familiar to me. Why did it sound so much like that singer who jumped from her building this morning? Combined with Christoph saying he'd just caught it... could it be...?
"Ghostly resentment? Did you write this song? Stealing others' lyrics, plagiarizing people's talent, and paying them peanuts - if I were you, I'd kill you too. What the hell." Christoph flicked the bamboo tube, and the ghost immediately quieted down.
"Roger, you'll need to pay me an extra 10,000 for this ghost today, otherwise I'm taking a loss," Christoph unexpectedly raised the price.
Normally I wouldn't agree, but seeing him drenched in sweat, I added 5,000 to his price and said take it or leave it.
Christoph slapped his forehead, said "Deal!", collected the money and left.
As soon as Christoph was gone, the ghost inside the bamboo tube started screaming again. She feared Christoph, but not me.
"Let me out! I'll give you money! Bank account numbers, passwords - I have everything! I'll pay you! Please let me go! I didn't kill myself! This is wrongful death! I want revenge!"
Normally I wouldn't pay attention to ghosts' nonsense - just pour them directly into the ink and be done with it. But this ghost's familiar voice made me curious.
I asked quietly if she was the singer who had jumped from the building.
Hearing this, she immediately became excited. She said yes and asked if I was her fan.
Damn, what a coincidence - it really was her! That Christoph is too incredible - she just died this morning and he already caught and prepared her spirit.
"Please let me out! I'll give you money and sing for you, okay?" Seeing my hesitation, she pleaded desperately.
I held the bamboo tube in my hands, genuinely conflicted.