The massage parlor was not large, located in a relatively secluded spot on the entire street. The condition of the furnishings, the quality of service from the reception staff, and various other signs indicated that the prices here could only be considered mid-range to low-end.
Lu Qingjia had seen ghost messengers acting violently and robbing others, rarely paying for food and drink when out. So if this decayed and depraved group of ghost messengers had truly reached a point where everything was free, why not go to more upscale places for enjoyment?
It was evident that, like in the human world, there must be considerable protection behind this black market industry.
Ghost messengers could casually seize small businesses from ordinary ghost citizens, but they could not provoke the industries under powerful figures; rules still had to be followed in different places.
As Lu Qingjia stepped into the shop, two ghost ladies dressed in form-fitting qipaos that only reached the upper thigh bowed and greeted him.
He directly said, “The ghost messenger who just came in, I have an urgent matter to discuss with him, but he hasn’t been very responsive.”
“Today, I will cover all his expenses at your establishment. Whatever service package he chose, upgrade it to the highest tier.”
As she spoke, she placed a stack of tips in front of the two receptionists: “If the ghost messenger is well taken care of, there will be a reward afterward.”
The two receptionists exchanged glances; they were not surprised at all. After all, ghost messengers held significant authority over ordinary ghost citizens, and there were many ways to curry favor and bribe them.
Thus, places like these, along with casinos, became excellent venues for backdoor dealings, and the two were naturally happy to earn this extra cash.
One of them used a walkie-talkie to notify the back office: “Change the package for room 3032 to first class.”
Then, at Lu Qingjia’s suggestion, they ordered a considerable amount of high-end cigarettes and alcohol to be brought in.
Having deposited a sum in advance, Lu Qingjia then asked, “Which rooms on the third floor are available? Open one close by for me.”
“Get me a full-body massage package, and no female therapists; they don’t have enough strength.”
The two receptionists understood; it seemed this gentleman wanted to wait until the ghost messenger had enjoyed himself before saying anything nice, and he would definitely remain sober, so they only arranged for a simple massage therapist.
The room was next to the ghost messenger’s, and the soundproofing was decent enough that Lu Qingjia couldn’t hear any noise from next door.
Interestingly, while the underworld frequently employed paper figures, he didn’t see any paper figure workers in such a lively setting, not even at the front desk.
Before long, a handsome male ghost pushed a service cart into the room. The first layer held various bottles of essential oils, the second layer contained guasha boards and muscle rollers, and the third layer was a wooden foot basin filled with warm water.
The handsome male ghost smiled shyly: “Hello, customer, technician 069 is here to serve you.”
Seeing that it was still early, Lu Qingjia decided to relax and enjoy the moment. To be honest, this young technician had good skills and spoke little, only responding when Lu Qingjia asked questions.
After one or two hours of massage, Lu Qingjia indeed felt refreshed.
Noticing that it was about time, Lu Qingjia called the front desk to inquire how the ghost messenger was enjoying himself.
The response was that he had already stopped requesting services, and the cigarettes, alcohol, and entertainment items sent in were being enjoyed well.
Feeling it was about time, Lu Qingjia signaled the male ghost technician to stop and gave him a meaningful look.
To the male ghost technician, he said, “Take off your clothes!”
Upon hearing this, the handsome male ghost immediately covered his chest: “Customer, I—I sell my skills, not my body.”
Lu Qingjia raised an eyebrow: “Not taking it off?”
The handsome male ghost showed a stubborn look, unafraid of authority: “Not taking it off. If you want me to, you can call our manager; I won’t do it. I made it clear when I joined.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Qingjia pulled out a stack of money and slapped it on the small table beside him—
“Will you take it off?”
Another stack followed—
“Can you take it off?”
Then came yet another stack—
“I’m just asking you, will you take it off or not?”
The male ghost glanced at the thick stack of cash on the table, haphazardly piled there, and swallowed hard.
Then he looked at the customer’s face! Well, it seemed—he wouldn’t be at a loss?
So, hesitantly, he took off his clothes, blushing as he said, “Customer, this is my first time; please be gentle.”
What awaited him was a punch to the face, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Lu Qingjia placed the technician on the bed, tied his hands and feet with the bed sheets, and stuffed his mouth to silence him. Then he changed into the technician’s work clothes and pushed the service cart out of the room.
He himself was in the hotel business; although it was fundamentally different from this place, he understood how to utilize space effectively.
Moreover, after observing the surroundings and casually chatting with the technician, he had a rough understanding of the back office layout of this massage parlor, the monitoring intensity, and the rough duty situation for the day.
Lu Qingjia made his way back to the back office, where the technicians and special workers were busy with their own tasks, while those with no work gathered to smoke, apply makeup, and play cards, creating a chaotic atmosphere.
He kept a low profile, and no one paid him much attention, allowing him to easily slip into the monitoring room, which only had two security guards on duty.
With a couple of swift strikes using a brick, he took out the guards, pulled up the night’s surveillance footage, deleted it, and shut down the monitoring system.
Although a subsequent investigation might pinpoint him through the street cameras outside, the time he had bought was already sufficient.
After leaving the monitoring room, Lu Qingjia went to the cleaning area, pretended to clumsily spill some cleaning liquid on the main thoroughfare.
Then, under the pretense of looking for tools to clean up, he returned to the third floor, lighting the curtains as he walked. Before long, the entire massage parlor was filled with thick smoke.
To create an ambiguous atmosphere, the place had many complex curtains, making it incredibly easy to set ablaze.
After igniting the fire, Lu Qingjia kicked the door to the third floor, shouting to drive the customers inside out.
Some of the patrons, who weren’t having as much fun, had already noticed the smoke seeping in through the door cracks, so when Lu Qingjia shouted about the fire, the ladies barely had time to grab a bed sheet to cover themselves before rushing outside.
Lu Qingjia put on a show, and the entire outside quickly fell into a state of panic. Only then did he kick open the door to the room where the ghost messenger was.
At that moment, there were no indecent scenes playing out inside, but the large amounts of alcohol and cigarettes had clearly muddled the ghost messenger’s senses.
Hearing the loud commotion, a staff member rushed in, pulling the two from the bed and pushing them toward the door.
“Fire! Get out quickly!”
While ghosts wouldn’t easily be burned to death, severe injuries could still damage their appearance, and the high costs of hospital repairs were burdensome for ordinary ghosts.
If they ended up with dismembered limbs or a charred, disfigured face, they would be out of work, so a fire was not something to be taken lightly, even in the underworld.
Upon hearing the panic and chaos outside, the ghost messenger and the ladies naturally followed suit and fled.
The ghost messenger wanted to grab his scattered clothes, but the staff member had already wrapped them in a bed sheet and shoved it into his hands: “Run! What are you doing thinking about getting dressed at a time like this?”
Seeing the smoke thickening and faint flames flickering, the ghost messenger didn’t dare to delay any longer, clutching his pile of clothes and running out in the nude.
As the staff member pushed them out, he hurriedly kicked open the door to the next room to evacuate more people, leaving no room for hesitation.
Lu Qingjia finally returned to the room he had been in earlier, and surprisingly, the technician was still unconscious, much longer than he had anticipated. After all, the old man had only taken a few hits from him and had woken up in no time.
Lu Qingjia quickly stripped off the technician’s work clothes, as he hadn’t taken off his own clothes earlier, so he wasted no time.
Then he slapped the technician twice, and the latter groggily woke up, seeing himself tied to the bed, his eyes filled with accusations of “how could you enjoy this?”
Lu Qingjia cut the sheets binding him: “There’s a fire; we need to escape.”
The technician, sensing the thick smoke, didn’t hesitate and immediately dashed out the door.
By this time, the smoke had filled the third floor, and Lu Qingjia wasted no time. He pulled out a bundle of rope from his bag.
He hooked the rope onto the railing at the edge of the bed and wrapped a towel around his hand before sliding down the window.
From the lobby on the first floor, he could see the customers and staff who had escaped from upstairs piled up at the exit, slipping and sliding on a large puddle of cleaning liquid, making it impossible for anyone to stand. The entire parlor was in chaos.
Lu Qingjia didn’t linger, quickly leaving the street, hailing a taxi, and giving an address before driving away.
After the car had traveled quite a distance, he pulled something out from his body.
It was a black baton-like object with a switch and a mode toggle button.
According to the information Lu Qingjia had gathered from the fragmented souls, this device had at least three functions: soul whip, soul binding rope, and electric shock.
It was the modern version of the soul binding rope, a tool that made ghosts tremble in fear, equipped for every ghost messenger.
The car drove for over half an hour before arriving at the place Lu Qingjia had mentioned.
As expected, although it was in a remote area, the quality of the house was surprisingly good, a standalone residence with decent conditions.
However, the house number had a countdown, indicating that this was not a permanent luxury home purchased with soul coins; according to the remaining time displayed, it would disappear in just over a month.
Lu Qingjia paid the fare and got out of the car, strolling toward the brightly lit house—
The fat man was terrified by the sudden appearance of the old lady, his soul nearly leaving his body. He wanted to wake Lu Qingjia but remembered that in such a dream, it was hard to wake up with external force.
Now isolated and helpless, the fat man was filled with despair, while the old lady advanced step by step.
This haggard old woman was already frightening in appearance, and now she stared at him with a sinister, vengeful gaze, occasionally letting out a twisted, chilling laugh.
As she slowly approached him, the skin on her face seemed to visibly wither and rot, creating an unparalleled visual shock for the fat man.
He squealed and scrambled from the bed to the floor, trying to open the door to escape, only to find the entire bedroom had turned into a sealed space.
Seeing the ghostly old lady slowly closing in, the fat man immediately dove into the wardrobe, desperately pulling the door shut.
The dark, enclosed space gave him a slight sense of security, but before long, he noticed the footsteps outside had vanished.
Just when he thought the ghostly old lady might have left, he suddenly felt a breath beside him.
The exhaled air carried a familiar stench of decaying rat meat.
The fat man stiffly turned his head, and the ghostly old lady was right beside him, grinning eerily.
“Ah————”
The fat man tumbled out, pissing himself, tears and snot covering his face.
The ghostly old lady seemed to have the upper hand, slowly cornering the fat man against the wall.
Suddenly, the television in the bedroom turned on without anyone controlling it.
This unexpected noise caught both their attention, and the screen first showed static before slowly revealing the image of a dark house.
The fat man was sure he hadn’t stepped on the remote, thinking it was another trick of the ghostly old lady, lamenting that her frightening tactics were truly numerous.
Then, in the next moment, the image that appeared left both the fat man and the ghostly old lady dumbfounded.
The scene shifted to the interior of the dark house—
It was a room, dimly lit, but it didn’t hinder the clarity of the images inside.
Several men, women, and children were kneeling in a row, bound with ropes, their faces pale and haggard.
The fat man noticed that one of the men was the scammer who had tried to trick him out of money the night before.
Then, a more familiar figure appeared on the television, still sleeping on the bed.
Lu Qingjia stood behind the row of kneeling ghosts, wearing a villainous smile—
“Good evening, kind old lady who offered me a cigarette.”
At this moment, the ghostly old lady’s face had turned as pale as the fat man’s, her ghostly eyes nearly bursting with rage.
The author has something to say:
The nameless attacker (grabbing A Yin by the neck): “A massage parlor, huh? Taking off clothes, huh? Binding, huh?”
