After leaving the crematorium, there were no cabs outside, so I had to walk an extra kilometer before finally flagging one down to take me back.
When I returned to the tattoo parlor, Moreira wasn't there. Stein said he couldn't wait that long, so he got restless and went off to gamble first.
I didn't know what to say. If I sat around waiting, it'd be tomorrow by the time he showed up.
Whatever. Anyway, I'd already gotten my money. He could come get his tattoo whenever he pleased.
Thinking it best to pour this ghost into the ink first—lest the night grow long and it somehow escaped—I decided to get it done quickly. That would be a huge loss otherwise.
But just then, the thing inside the bamboo tube suddenly spoke. Unlike other ghosts, it gently tapped the tube and asked me in a polite, almost negotiating tone if I could let it go—of course, it promised to give me something in return.
Before I could respond, Stein perked up with interest.
"You're a ghost," he said. "What could you possibly offer? If you were a female ghost, maybe, but a male ghost? What else you got?"
This was the same Stein who'd nearly pissed himself in fear of ghosts earlier. Yet now, he wasn't scared at all. I figured after seeing my grandfather's tattoos over the years, he'd gotten used to this kind of thing.
To him, the ghost in the bamboo tube was like a caged tiger—nothing to be afraid of.
The ghost fell silent for a moment before saying, *"I can teach you card-sharping skills."*
Card-sharping skills? Wasn't that the legendary cheating technique in gambling? For someone who loved to gamble, that was a pretty good deal.
I was instantly curious. "So after learning this, can we become the God of Gamblers or something?"
The ghost inside the bamboo tube let out a bitter laugh. *"Those God of Gamblers from TV? All fake. Real card-sharping skills aren't that magical. If they were, I wouldn't have gotten caught cheating and thrown off a building to end up like this."*
I shrugged. "So you're not even that good. What's the point of learning from you?" I made a move to pour him into the ink again.
"Wait! Don't—just hear me out, don't be impulsive…" The ghost panicked, shouting frantically to stop me.
I was getting impatient. "Well? Spit it out. If you've got any last words, say them quick. If your wife and kids are pretty, I might take care of them for you."
The ghost in the bamboo tube said, *"I can teach you quick card-sharping techniques. They might not be miraculous, but they're enough to fool ordinary people. We're not professional gamblers—we don't need perfection. If you think what I teach you is useful, then let me go… and I'll teach you even more powerful tricks."*
Saying that, he gave us a couple more exaggerated slurps, then added in a lewd voice: *"If you guys don't care about winning money, you can use the card-sharping skills I teach you to win over girls instead. As for the stakes… well, you know."*
That got Stein excited. His eyes practically lit up when he heard it could help him pick up girls. He nudged me and whispered that since the tattoo hadn't started yet anyway, maybe we should humor this ghost—who knows, we might actually learn something useful.
He's dead anyway, so it's not like he'll be learning anything. We'd worry about the rest later.
Stein had no problem with this. If we didn't learn from a dead man now, the opportunity would vanish for good. Besides, Moreira hadn't shown up yet—the tattoo wasn't urgent. Might as well let this ghost stick around a little longer.
After some discussion, we started following the ghost's instructions and practicing. These quick card-sharping skills could supposedly be learned in one night—mostly just shuffling and switching cards. We were still clumsy, nowhere near perfect, but if Stein and I worked together, fooling ordinary people wouldn't be a problem.
The next morning, the two sisters, Stella and Luna, showed up again. They said Master Raul had asked them to deliver a box to me, but they didn't know what was inside—they needed me to open it to find out.
As soon as I saw them, an idea struck me. The card-sharping tricks I'd just learned last night were perfect to test on them. The box could wait.
I suggested we play mahjong, but Luna refused, saying she didn't gamble. I waved it off. "If you're not betting money, it's not gambling. How about this—we'll bet clothes instead. Lose once, take off one piece."
Luna's face flushed red, and she objected even more firmly. Stella, though, smirked, crossing her arms and saying, "Hmph, wishful thinking. Fine—if you lose, you pay up. If we lose, we'll remove clothes."
After saying that, Stella shot Luna a look—like she was signaling something—and Luna reluctantly agreed.
As weird as it was that they went along with it, who cared? I just needed them as test subjects to see how well I'd mastered last night's card-sharping practice.
Without wasting time, we started a four-player mahjong game. Stein and I teamed up, and at first, everything went smoothly. Using our card-sharping skills, we dominated—the first two rounds left the sisters down two pieces of clothing.
Watching their outfits shrink, Stein and I swallowed hard. This kind of benefit didn't come around often. If we pushed a little harder, maybe we'd get even more benefits.
But then Stella excused herself to the bathroom. When she came back, everything changed—weird things started happening.
First, Stein kept playing the wrong tiles. As for me, I kept feeling like something was covering my eyes at the worst moments, making me miss my moves. Even my cheating kept backfiring, though thankfully, they didn't notice.
After playing for about an hour, we'd only won the first two games. Ever since Stella went to the toilet, we'd been losing continuously - not a single hand won. Not only were our hopes dashed, but we'd also lost over 10,000 in one go. I nearly vomited blood in frustration.
I sensed something was wrong and accused them: "Are you cheating? Maybe your card-sharping skills are better than ours."
Stella sneered, "Damn Ror, you're the ones cheating, aren't you?"
Stein and I were dumbfounded. So they had already noticed our cheating - but how were they beating us if they weren't cheating themselves?
Stella pointed to the restroom. "Go see for yourselves."
Stein opened the toilet door to find three incense sticks burning and a yellow Taoist talisman wrapped around two mahjong tiles.
Stein backed out muttering, "Could it be... you invited a Mahjong Ghost?"
Stella smiled sinisterly, then raked both fingers across our foreheads while shouting, "Open!"
My eyes stung painfully. After blinking several times, when I opened them again I saw a green ghost sprawled across the mahjong table. Its head was square like a mahjong tile, with eyes and nose all squeezed together in an awkward face. Its stubby arms and legs somewhat resembled Stein's.
The ghost seemed extremely timid - the moment Stein and I saw it, we instinctively recoiled in fear, causing it to disappear with a "poof."
"Little Boss, we're finished! These girls summoned a mahjong ghost - no wonder we lost," Stein lamented, pounding his chest in regret.
"Hmph, but you had ill intentions first," Stella retorted while happily collecting the money. "We summoned the mahjong ghost to teach you cheaters a lesson. We're keeping this 10,000-plus."
Damn it! Turns out cheating really does bring retribution. Now I truly believe in that ghost's evil power.
In a fit of rage, I poured the ghost directly into the tattoo ink, ignoring its desperate pleas for mercy.