Tattoos for pregnant women aren't unheard of. Some mothers want to protect their babies or ensure good fortune after childbirth, so they choose tattoos of Wenqu Xingjun or Wuqu Xingjun. I've even seen pregnant women get tattoos of Einstein, hoping their child will be intelligent.
However, this isn't recommended. The mild pain from tattooing isn't good for pregnant women.
When Emma saw me, she gave a polite greeting before immediately asking for my grandfather. I explained he'd gone to the city and wasn't home, so she could discuss anything with me.
Hearing this, Emma's eyebrows furrowed deeply, her face turning pale and unattractive. She looked visibly frightened.
Noticing her distress, I pressed her about what was wrong. After pursing her lips for a long time, she finally whispered, "Ror, do you know Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts?"
(People call me Ror - short for Roger - and those close to me use this nickname.)
I nodded, saying of course I knew, then asked if something had happened to her.
Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts work like medicine - I need to understand the situation before choosing the appropriate tattoo for the desired effect.
When Emma heard I knew the craft, she grabbed my hand like a lifeline, pleading, "Ror, save me, please save me..." Her eyes reddened as tears streamed down uncontrollably.
I told her to calm down and explain properly - just crying wouldn't help.
After composing herself, Emma lifted her clothes to reveal her huge belly - and what I saw stunned me.
It wasn't her action that shocked me, but her stomach.
Emma's swollen belly showed several bruise-like protrusions... shaped unmistakably like snakes!
A horrifying realization struck me immediately.
"What happened to you?" I asked.
"I went to the hospital for scans... The doctors were shocked, thought it was wrong. I didn't dare scan again - I ran away." Emma's voice trembled with terror.
The situation was too demonic, more evil than anything imaginable. She hadn't even dared tell her husband.
She'd consulted Taoist priests and monks, but nothing helped.
Terrified, Emma remembered my grandfather Rhett. Village rumors said his Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts could expel evil, so she came here.
Emma's situation was indeed sinister, but nothing happens without reason.
She frowned in thought before suddenly exclaiming, "Oh!" as if remembering something. "There was one thing!"
Emma explained that when she was about three months pregnant, a snake had entered her house. Like many country folk, Emma wasn't afraid of snakes.
At the time, the snake had slithered into the chicken coop. With no one else home, Emma feared it might kill the chickens, so she took a bamboo pole and beat the snake to death.
After killing it, she didn't bury the snake - just tossed it outside with the pole. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, and soon forgot about the incident.
"That was bad," I told her. "Snakes are mystical creatures - we call them 'wild immortals' in the north. Pregnant women must never kill snakes, or it will harm the baby. My grandfather always said when a snake enters a home with a pregnant woman, it's actually an auspicious sign - all the more reason not to kill it."
I recalled a true story: a woman pregnant with twins had two small green snakes enter her home. Her husband killed one while the other escaped. Later, one of the twins was stillborn.
"Snakes are inherently mystical creatures. If you're afraid they'll harm you, just chase them away - no need to kill them."
Emma grew even more frightened, as if she'd offended some deity. Her legs trembled so badly she collapsed to her knees, kowtowing while begging forgiveness from the snake spirit. She pleaded for any retribution to fall on her alone, not her unborn child.
I quickly helped her up, telling her not to panic. "This is indeed an evil matter, but if I give you a proper Tattoo of Gods and Ghosts, we should be able to resolve it."
Grandfather had said before leaving that I could perform these tattoos for human visitors. After consideration, I decided to give her a Blood-Devouring Mi Rakshasa tattoo - perfect for suppressing evil spirits and controlling snakes.
In Buddhist tradition, Rakshasas belong to The Eight Classes of Supernatural Beings - malevolent spirits that feast on human flesh and blood, serving as hell's jailers who torment sinners.
This particular Blood-Devouring Mi Rakshasa had a unique history: As a human, he'd been hideously deformed. Later, he was sacrificed to mountain serpents.
But instead of being eaten, he developed an obsession with snake flesh and blood. He began devouring the mountain's snakes alive, eventually clearing the area of serpents for miles around. However, years of consuming snakes made his appearance even more grotesque. When he finally descended the mountain, villagers burned him alive as a monster.
When Emma heard there was a solution, she immediately kowtowed in gratitude. I helped her up, saying, "No need for such formalities - we're familiar with each other."
But familiarity aside, business was business. I had to quote her the proper price - Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts were different from ordinary tattoos. I asked for ten thousand dollars.
Emma fell silent for a moment before finally gritting her teeth and agreeing. For rural folk, 10,000 yuan was no small sum. But Emma's situation was desperate - she'd pay even if it meant cutting into her savings. Better that than giving birth to a nest of snakes and terrifying her whole family.
With Emma's consent, I led her into the tattoo room. From a black box in the corner, I retrieved three rectangular bamboo tubes containing the special pigments: cadaver blood, cremains, and corpse oil - all prepared by my grandfather, though he never revealed their origins.
After preparing the pigments and tools, I was ready to begin. Initially, I planned to tattoo her stomach, but Emma objected when she saw my sketch of Blood-Devouring Mi Rakshasa - the design was too grotesque. She worried about explaining it to doctors during delivery and to her husband (who still didn't know about her condition).
This posed a dilemma. Without tattooing her stomach, the snakes might not be subdued - other locations wouldn't be as effective. Then I remembered a solution that finally made Emma nod in agreement.
I explained that Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts could be placed in two types of locations: visible (hands, face, neck) or hidden (stomach, armpits). For hidden tattoos, we could use a special solution to gradually fade the visible ink while maintaining its spiritual effects.
Having found this compromise, I prepared for my first real Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts session. As I opened the bamboo tubes, a revolting odor emerged - the cadaver blood and corpse oil emitted a ghastly pungency, while the cremains resembled chalk dust.
I dared not tell Emma about the pigments' origins. The shock might cause a miscarriage - or make her refuse the tattoo altogether.
Reminding myself I was a professional Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts master, I forced myself to focus and began the procedure.
The Blood-Devouring Mi Rakshasa tattoo wasn't particularly difficult - just an upper body design that took a couple hours to complete. After finishing, I applied the invisibility potion, though it would take a few days to fully fade.
This being my first Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts, I was amazed at how perfectly the pigments worked - who would have thought cadaver blood, cremains, and corpse oil could create such an effect? The art truly was remarkable.
When Emma examined her stomach afterward, she suddenly frowned and blurted out, "It's ugly!"
Indeed, the tattoo was grotesque - the Blood-Devouring Mi Rakshasa had twisted limbs, a bizarre body, snake-like scaly skin, and disgusting textured particles.
But no matter how ugly it appeared, Emma shouldn't have said so. Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts harness the power of these spirits - showing disrespect could have unimaginable consequences. Reverence was essential.
Once inked, a bond forms between spirit and host. Offending it might lead to who-knows-what.
After I explained this, Emma immediately sealed her lips in fear. Just then, something strange occurred that left us both too terrified to speak.