Chapter 16: Tattoo Master
Not long after, a red wooden door suddenly appeared on the walls. Wu Zizhou pushed open the door and bowed to Zhang Qian, “The Tattoo Master is inside. You need to pay him eighteen yuan. I wish you success in achieving your goal.”
He didn’t care what Zhang Qian and his group were here for; he only cared about the ghost money he received.
“Good, goodbye.” Zhang Qian and Xu Shaowen exchanged a glance, then he took the lead and stepped into the darkness.
Watching Zhang Qian and the others disappear from the corridor, Wu Zizhou silently turned around and returned to his post. He touched his pocket and murmured in his heart, “Thirty-seven yuan, plus the three yuan share makes forty yuan. Almost there. I will definitely leave this ghostly place…”
On the other side, after Zhang Qian stepped through the doorway, he felt his vision blur and found himself entering a somewhat antique room.
The decoration and layout here were somewhat similar to the rooms in the post office, mainly wooden furniture, reminiscent of the Republic of China Era style.
A tall figure stood in front of the wooden bed, his hands moving busily, doing something unknown. A young woman was lying on the wooden bed, her skin pale, not like a living person but more like a corpse.
“This is the Tattoo Master?” Zhang Qian didn’t notice anything unusual and then asked Zhang Han, “You’ve also received a tattoo. Do you have any impression of this place?”
Zhang Han still shook his head, “I must have passed out at the time. I don’t remember anything about the Tattoo Master.”
“Then let’s watch first. Don’t act rashly, to avoid triggering the killing pattern.” Zhang Qian walked two steps in the room, changing to a better angle, just able to clearly see the Tattoo Master’s actions.
The Tattoo Master wore a dark blue-black faceless mask with no openings, unclear how he could see.
He held a thin long iron rod in his hand, constantly stirring a large bucket. The liquid in the bucket was dark red and viscous, somewhat like blood.
After a while, it seemed the stirring was sufficient. The Tattoo Master stiffly turned sideways and picked up the portrait from the ground.
The person in painting resembled dry bones, but Zhang Qian saw it trembling all over, a glint flashing in its hollow eyes.
“Like that water ghost just now, all previous Ghost Controllers?” Zhang Qian looked at Feng Quan and softly asked, “According to the waiter, supernatural events have existed for at least sixty years. How could you be among the first Ghost Controllers?”
Feng Quan was also puzzled and explained, “Headquarters told me that. I’m not clear on the details.”
“I see.” Zhang Qian nodded slightly.
Either Headquarters was unaware, or Headquarters concealed the supernatural information.
He leaned toward the second possibility, but what meaning could there be in doing so? Supernatural events should be fully resolved; having previous information would definitely make it much easier.
Moreover, the Ghost Post Office and Fierce Ghost Tattoo Parlor definitely have existed for a long time, even pointing to the Republic of China Era.
He didn’t know what exactly happened during the Republic of China Era, or how much Headquarters knew about Republic of China matters…
“Kakaka—” The dry bones’ upper and lower jaws shook, emitting a dry, unpleasant sound, “Let’s begin.”
Zhang Qian snapped back to attention and continued observing the Tattoo Master’s actions.
The Tattoo Master took the portrait out of the frame and, amid the screams of the dry bones, crumpled the painting paper into a ball.
Under the Tattoo Master’s constant squeezing, dark blue-black ink seeped out from the painting paper and dripped into the bucket until the ink was exhausted. Only then did the Tattoo Master discard the painting paper aside.
“Gurgle gurgle gurgle—”
The liquid in the bucket turned black with constant stirring, viscous like asphalt, even faintly clumping.
Zhang Qian saw the liquid sometimes gathering into a skeleton, sometimes into a rotting corpse. He thought to himself, “These are probably the fierce ghosts controlled by that Ghost Controller. Feng Quan said one person can’t control two fierce ghosts, but he hasn’t seen much of the world and doesn’t know the truth, which is normal.”
“Should we act ahead of time?” Feng Quan’s eyes flickered, “If it finishes, we might have to face two fierce ghosts.”
“Best not to.” Xu Shaowen looked down, playing a game, “Getting close to it will kill you, but staying here is fine.”
“Then we’ll watch till the end. If we’re really attacked, I have a way.” Zhang Qian didn’t plan to charge through recklessly; his strength didn’t yet allow him to dominate in a supernatural land of this level.
The thick liquid was slowly poured onto the female corpse’s smooth back, wriggling strangely like slime.
After a moment, this mucus surprisingly split into three clumps trying to flee in different directions.
The Tattoo Master ignored the mass of rotten flesh and the ferocious giant mouth, grabbing a clump containing bones and stuffing it into the female corpse’s mouth.
The female corpse’s mouth was stretched to an exaggerated arc. That strange thing squeezed past her throat and forcibly drilled inside.
“A bit disgusting.” Zhang Han swallowed some saliva, “I didn’t get fierce ghost ability this way, did I?”
He felt his own throat a bit uncomfortable too.
“It’s fine, not over yet. Maybe you applied externally while she took it internally.” Zhang Qian comforted, continuing to observe the eerie scene.
The Tattoo Master’s actions paused for a moment. Suddenly, the female corpse convulsed violently on the wooden bed, a huge bulge rising on her back.
A ferocious skull roared inside the bulge, using bony claws to prop up the skin as if trying to escape from the female corpse’s body.
The Tattoo Master held down the female corpse, his long needle continuously drawing over her back. Deep wounds visible to the bone soon formed a skull-like pattern on it.
The fierce ghost seemed attracted by this pattern, gradually calming down, turning into ink and merging into the wound, gathering into a terrifying tattoo.
The female corpse suddenly opened her eyes. The all-white eyeballs rolled around twice before finding the correct position.
“Ha—” She opened her mouth and spat out a breath of foul air, propping herself up to sit, immediately spotting the few people standing not far away, “Kid, what era is it now?”
The hoarse, dry male voice stunned Zhang Qian; he hadn’t expected this Ghost Controller to be a man in drag.
But he still kindly reminded her, “It’s the 21st century now. Your family is probably all dead.”
“Hehe.” The Ghost Controller said no more. She had given everything to survive; mere family meant nothing.
She gazed coldly at Zhang Qian, pondering in her heart, “After so long, new Ghost Controllers still appear. It seems those guys failed to end the supernatural. But thanks to them leaving me a tender world. As long as I regain control of three fierce ghosts, I can go out and rule as king or emperor—wouldn’t that be delightful?”
“Hehe, this new body is indeed much healthier.” The Ghost Controller snapped out of her fantasy, chuckling self-mockingly. Then she grabbed a chunk of meat and tried to stuff it into her mouth, but the motionless Tattoo Master suddenly grabbed her hand.
The Ghost Controller stopped, not understanding what the Tattoo Master wanted, but she didn’t dare resist now and could only ask patiently, “What do you mean?”
The Tattoo Master said nothing, spreading his right palm toward the Ghost Controller. His purpose was self-evident.
