The Whip

The car stopped at the hotel where Nina was staying.

"Hold on, Royce—" Nina called out to Royce, who was about to enter the hotel. "Don't assume that he will necessarily help you. You should think about what you're dealing with."

Royce had not told Nina what he had seen, just remained silent. Now that they were at the hotel, he seemed eager to see Jason. But Nina felt the need to pour some cold water on him, to sober him up.

"I know!" Royce nodded, limping along with Nina towards the hotel. When they got to Jason's room, Nina stopped Royce's hand that was about to knock on the door.

"Let me do it, Royce—" said Nina, reaching out to knock on the door, "Jason, I know you're in there. Can I come in?"

"Of course, you know how to open the door. Come in!" Jason's voice came from inside. Nina pushed open the door and saw Jason standing in the room in his bathrobe, facing them. "Didn't expect to see you so soon. Is that Royce outside? Come in!"

Royce hurriedly followed her in. As soon as he saw Jason, he suddenly felt weak, as if he was about to collapse. Nina held him up and let him sit on the sofa in the room.

"I should have seen you sooner. You're later than I expected, after all, it's a matter of trust. But I can't blame you. Everyone has such trust issues." Jason sat down, flipping a shiny object in his hand. Royce recognized it; it was the little mirror he had thrown away.

"I'm sorry... I really didn't dare to believe at first because I love her... God, what have I fallen in love with?" Royce suddenly covered his forehead with one hand, speaking a little dazedly, "I don't know... that scene was too terrifying, she... she just took off her skin, like taking off a piece of clothing. And then... she could put it back on after repairing it..."

Nina was stunned by what Royce was saying, she stammered, "Hey, hey, what's going on? What are you talking about?"

"Nina... you've done what you needed to do. Why don't you go back and get some sleep? Oh, I remember, you have the night shift today, it's about that time now..." Jason suddenly stood up, came over to Nina, and put his hand on her shoulder, leading her towards the door as if he was hugging her shoulder.

"Wait, Royce..." Nina looked at Royce. He looked at her expressionlessly, nodded at her, and Nina finally left the room, still looking inside worriedly, "What happened to him?"

"If he's willing, you can ask him yourself." Jason said, patting Nina's shoulder, "Let's go, if he wants to tell you, you'll find out."

Nina had no choice but to go downstairs first.

Once the door was closed again, Jason sat at the edge of the bed, looking at the somewhat dazed Royce: "You've seen something you've never seen before, haven't you?"

"Yes, yes, God, I never thought... Kathy would be like this..." Royce seemed to suddenly wake up, lifting his head to look at Jason, "Mr. Jason, forgive me for being foolish before, I didn't believe you... that's my mistake."

"Tell me, what do you think of her now? Do you want to kill her? Or do you want to run away from her and never see her again?" Jason stood up and stood in front of him, looking down, "Tell me, what do you want to do? You must make your own decision."

"I don't know—" Royce's mind was gradually calming down, "I don't know, but I definitely can't be with her anymore, I want to leave here, oh God, how could it be like this? But... I don't know if I want to kill her, I... I don't know what I'm saying."

He was a little incoherent, finding it very hard to make a decision.

"If you can't give me a clear answer, then you should leave!" Jason shook his head, walked over to the table, spread something on it, and a yellow talisman paper appeared on the table. Jason pulled out a cinnabar brush in his hand and drew a talisman on the yellow paper. It was then folded into a triangle.

"Take this!" said Jason, "If she finds you again, take out this thing. I think she won't approach you so easily. This is your protective charm."

Royce took it, looked at it, and found nothing unusual, but now he didn't dare to lose Jason's things casually, so he carefully put it into his jacket pocket.

"I didn't expect that you still have lingering feelings for her. Even after seeing her true face. It's a pity!" Jason said, walking to the door and opening it, "I'm helping you because you bought me a cup of coffee and two cookies. This is what we Chinese people value most - fate. Don't let me down, make your right decision."

Royce nodded, slowly dragging his injured leg, limping out of Jason's room. After Royce left, Jason shook his head. He was actually quite curious about what kind of monster Kathy was. But everything had to be based on Royce's decision.

It was clear this time that Royce loved Kathy very much. Even after seeing Kathy's true face, he still couldn't bear to kill her. If he couldn't draw his sword to cut off the entanglement, Jason couldn't help him either.

After Royce left in a daze, Jason was about to close the door when suddenly a head peeked through the doorway. Jason spoke irritably, "Stop sneaking around, come in."

"Okay, you caught me, but I let you see me on purpose!" Nina slipped in from the side, entering the room and speaking to Jason, "I saw him leave. What exactly happened? He looked like he had been haunted by a demon, lost and distraught. I just asked him, but he didn't say anything."

"Curiosity can kill, you know!" Jason looked at her lazily, "Maybe he really has encountered a demon, aren't you at the front desk?"

"Does working at the front desk mean I can't come upstairs?" Nina huffed, turning around and leaving. The monster reminded Jason of the young girl from "Painted Skin". Except that the girl in the painting was a demon, while this painting seemed to have feelings and loyalty.

Royce didn't go home, he didn't dare to. After going downstairs, he waited for Nina and booked a room at the hotel. Nina didn't ask him anything, as their relationship wasn't close enough yet.

The nights in Los Angeles were always restless.

With a swish and a crack, a whip mark appeared on the snowy white back. The whip mark was deep, standing out on the pristine skin. But then came the sound of the whip cutting through the air again, followed by another deep, blood-red whip mark on the back. Accompanied by a muffled groan.

"Cathy, Cathy, why do you always do this? Is it so difficult to capture a man for you?" The voice seemed to come from hell, carrying a heavy metallic taste that made one's teeth ache. But for Cathy, this voice was simply a nightmare.

"I... I promise, I won't fail next time..." Cathy felt her teeth grinding.

"Next time?" The voice became colder, and a person wearing a black robe appeared in front of her. The robe covered everything from head to toe, even the head was concealed. "I've given you two chances already. Or maybe you've really developed feelings for him?" The voice turned sharper towards the end.

"I promise... I won't fail next time. I'll find him, I promise I'll find him, please..." Cathy turned her back to the person, but she didn't dare to turn around. Her shoulders trembled slightly, but then another whip struck her back, deeper this time, drawing blood.

"Ah!"

A woman's scream of anguish echoed through the villa, sounding even more desolate and eerie in the darkness of the night. A gust of cold wind swept through the living room. When Cathy slowly regained her senses amidst the pain, the living room was empty, completely empty.