Look Ahead at That Dark Opening

The opera passage held not the slightest trace of eeriness to the ear.

Instead, it was mournful and lingering.

But Zhou Yang and Ding Ling both heard it, and their hair stood on end!

At this critical moment, the singing that had suddenly risen from the left side room was unmistakably coming from Li Yichun!

Li Yichun had become a ghost!

At this crucial moment, Chang Dafeng was still locked in a standoff with the ghost Gao Hongbo had become, while Li Yichun in the left side room was stirring as well, sure to come out and make trouble. No sooner was one gourd pushed under than another popped up!

Two ghosts were knocking at the door!

In particular, ever since Chang Dafeng's first attempt to use Opera Communion with Spirits had failed to suppress the ghost possessing Gao Hongbo, Zhou Yang had begun to doubt his method.

He was even more worried that Chang Dafeng would be unable to push down the gourd on this side at all.

The good never came true, but the bad always did.

Zhou Yang's doubts had only just surfaced when the situation on Chang Dafeng's side changed abruptly!

Gao Hongbo had already taken on the appearance of a rotting corpse. Corpse fluid dripped constantly from his face, washing away the filthy, ruined face paint entirely.

Yet beneath the corpse fluid, a second painted face was gradually growing amid Gao Hongbo's rotting skin and flesh.

The sweeping lines and patterns on it bore a faint resemblance to the face paint of Zhao Gongming of the Dark Altar on Chang Dafeng's own face, with its symmetrical features and black painted face!

Even with the Ghost Candle's help, Chang Dafeng's Opera Communion with Spirits seemed to have no effect on this ghost!

Chang Dafeng stared fixedly at the second painted face gradually growing amid the rotten flesh covering "Gao Hongbo's" face. His heart tightened and his body trembled slightly, but his stance remained perfectly steady. He simply swept his right hand over his face again, producing a second painted face!

It was a nuo mask of the Lord of Thunder, with a green face, golden eyes, a bird's beak, and flame-shaped eyebrows!

The Ghost Candle cast the Lord of Thunder's silhouette on the wall beside him, a pair of wings on his back!

The Lord of Thunder held a hammer and chisel, poised to strike down thunderbolts!

Opposite the Lord of Thunder's shadow, strands of zither strings suddenly descended upon the half of the wall that had been empty. The threads interwove and, in an instant, became the shadow of Zhao Gongming of the Dark Altar!

The two shadows faced off, just like Chang Dafeng and Gao Hongbo's ghost-possessed corpse!

"Shake the five-thunder command flag three times, let the thunder god and Lord of Heaven hear my command-"

Chang Dafeng shouted!

Creak-

Just then, the door to the right side room slowly opened.

A chill that seeped into the marrow poured from the pitch-black doorway and swept across Chang Dafeng's back. He went rigid, and cold sweat instantly covered his back!

The mournful singing continued to drift out from inside the room.

In the darkness, footsteps tapped softly.

A face emerged from the pitch-black doorway.

On the deathly pale face, black pigment outlined delicate brows and eyes, rouge adorned the lovely cheeks, and powder brought out vivid color...

Unexpectedly, the face was charming and beautiful, full of allure.

It was not Li Yichun's face.

As the face emerged from the darkness, its body and the clothes it wore gradually appeared as well-the tall, thin body was Li Yichun's, and the gaudy huadan costume was Li Yichun's.

Those lovely features had unmistakably grown on Li Yichun's face!

"My lord dwells in my heart, while I am left heartbroken; the moon knows the sorrow I endure..." Crimson lips parted, chanting the words aloud.

At the doorway, Gao Hongbo's corpse joined in, singing shrilly:

"Thunder crashes, lightning flashes bright!

"Above the clouds sits the Dark Altar upon his black tiger!

"He parts the clouds with his Sea-Coiling Whip and looks down below-"

Gongs, drums, and all manner of strings and wind instruments suddenly rang out on every side!

Yet inside and outside the main hall, a deathly stillness still hung heavy!

Chang Dafeng's face was deathly pale, his gaze defeated!

Then another burst of opera singing rang out!

Behind the door to the left side room.

Zhou Yang and Ding Ling watched the changes in the main hall closely. When they saw the door opposite swing open and "Li Yichun," wearing a charming woman's face, walk gracefully out from behind it, they understood all the more that the situation had become extremely unfavorable.

One ghost outside the door and one inside the house. With ghosts attacking from both sides, Chang Dafeng can't hold out!

Behind the door, Zhou Yang raised his head slightly and saw Chang Dafeng's shoulders sag. His heart went cold.

When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold!

Chang Dafeng is holding them off in front of us right now. Even if the two ghosts have set their sights on him first, once he dies, it'll be our turn!

When the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact?

We can't escape!

"What do you intend to do, sir?" Ding Ling asked.

There was not a trace of fear in the thoughts she conveyed now. She seemed to understand the idea Zhou Yang had yet to reveal and only wanted to go with him.

"I have a method. It's worth a try..."

Zhou Yang answered Ding Ling. He lowered his eyes to the Ghost Mouths in her palms and continued:

"The two ghosts are hard to fathom. Opera Communion with Spirits can't be fully effective against them, but it can still affect them.

"Let's sing an opera too, one with death but no chance of survival!

"If this method works, we'll break through their encirclement. If it doesn't, we'll simply die!"

"All right!" Ding Ling agreed readily. She giggled, but after a moment she suddenly said, "I'll risk my life with you, but if it doesn't work, I hope you can survive."

She already understood that the soul Zhou Yang had left in her body was not incapable of leaving it.

Zhou Yang did not respond to those words. He merely said calmly, "Let me tell you about the opera we're going to sing..."

He and Ding Ling exchanged thoughts, communicating everything in an instant.

After he explained the opera's verses, singing style, and various details of its background, Ding Ling said, "Sir, I'd like to take control of my body."

Zhou Yang hesitated for a moment, then solemnly agreed.

He returned control of Ding Ling's body to her.

Ding Ling slowly rose and stood in the doorway, then asked Zhou Yang, "Shall we begin, sir?"

Now that she had regained control of her fleshly body, she could not avoid being affected by the various eerie auras.

As those auras seeped into her, distracting thoughts sprang up in Ding Ling's mind, and fear followed her like a shadow.

Yet amid that surging tide of fear, one thought in her heart grew ever brighter, like a star in the night sky.

That star steadied her wavering emotions, allowing her at last to walk alongside fear without being affected by it.

"Let's begin."

Zhou Yang's words ended.

Ding Ling reached out and pulled the door open!

The sound of the hinges turning was insignificant amid the clamor in the main hall.

But the woman who strode out of the left side room changed the situation in the hall!

Through Ding Ling's eyes, Zhou Yang looked at the ghost approaching from the opposite side.

Every feature of its figure showed that it was Li Yichun!

Yet Li Yichun's face bore those charming, alluring features!

The chill penetrated to the marrow.

Even though Ding Ling was the one facing the ghost directly, Zhou Yang, watching from the sidelines, still felt a trace of fear.

Hiss-

Zhou Yang heard Ding Ling draw a long breath. His thoughts linked with her mind, sensing an aura coursing beneath her skin before finally gathering in the Ghost Mouths in her palms.

Ghost Mouths could do more than breathe.

They could also make sounds.

But most of the sounds they made were ghostly wails, eerie and terrifying enough to make those who heard them tremble.

Even the Ghost Mouths on A Fu constantly let out ghostly wails. Zhou Yang had never heard these Ghost Mouths speak words like people, or sing opera like people.

But now he was going to control the Ghost Mouths in Ding Ling's palms and make them sing that opera passage with Ding Ling and himself!

He sensed Ding Ling's mind becoming fully immersed in the opera passage he had told her about. His own mind steadied in turn, and he threw himself into the passage just as completely as she did-

He still remembered that the passage came from a scene in The Complete Story of Yue Fei, a picture book he had read as a child.

It told of Gao Chong, a renowned general under Yue Pengju, who encountered an Iron Hua chariot blockade set up by the Jin Army. Knowing full well that he could not defeat them alone, Gao Chong nevertheless fought to the death without retreating. He overturned eleven enemy Iron Hua war chariots with his spear before finally exhausting his strength. The enemy's twelfth Iron Hua chariot knocked him down and crushed him to death, and he gave his life for his country.

The twelve Iron Hua chariots also echoed the twelve gold tablets used to recall Yue Fei.

Though the hero had reached the end of his road, his spirit remained fierce and resolute.

Zhou Yang had heard the opera in a television drama. Afterwards, he occasionally looked up information about it and committed a few of its lines to memory.

By now, he had forgotten all the steps the character should take, the gestures to use, how to perform the opening martial pose, and everything else. He remembered only those few lines, and so he stepped stiffly through the doorway with Ding Ling. Joining with her suddenly impassioned thoughts, he connected in an instant to the Ghost Mouths in both palms!

The air howling through the Ghost Mouths subsided for a moment.

The faint sound of ghostly wailing fell silent.

The next instant, following Ding Ling's breathing, they exhaled and sang out at once, full of fierce resolve!

The Mindfulness of the two of them combined, already approaching the limit of an ordinary person, forced the Ghost Mouths to change their tune!

And so a single voice rang through the hall, pressing ever onward:

"Look ahead at that dark opening; it must be the bandits' lair-

"I'll have to charge in and slaughter every last one of them!"