"Gate of Opening"

Before Zhou Yang could lower his eyes to look at the ghostly shadow she had stepped on, a strange sensation suddenly came over him.

He felt as though something, somewhere inside or outside his body, had suddenly been "opened."

It was like a patient whose nose had been blocked by a cold for days suddenly recovering completely, his long-congested nostrils clearing all at once. Breathing freely through one's nose was an ordinary thing, but after an illness, it seemed anything but ordinary.

It was as though the door to a new world had been thrown open!

The moment the sensation arose, Zhou Yang understood that the Gate of Opening among Ding Ling's Eight Gates had finally opened!

Zhou Yang glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a slender, frail ghostly shadow approaching him in tiny steps!

"Gate of Opening Averting God!"

Delighted, he then saw out of the corner of his eye that Chang Dafeng stood a few steps away, holding the Ghost Candle. His expression was strange, and his lips moved as though he were silently reciting some passage. The Bloated Aspect standing beside Chang Dafeng suddenly trembled. Its corpse-like form was grotesquely swollen, and cracks split open across its blue-black skin. Purplish-red corpse fluid streamed down from the ruptured wounds in an instant!

The corpse fluid gathered into a stream on the ground and quickly slithered toward Ding Ling's Gate of Opening Averting God!

Almost in the blink of an eye, the corpse fluid submerged the slender ghostly shadow's ankles.

Zhou Yang saw several purplish-red corpse spots quietly appear on the ankles of Ding Ling's Gate of Opening Averting God.

By then, the corpse fluid that had flowed from the Bloated Aspect had completely vanished.

It was as though it had never appeared.

Zhou Yang's eyes flickered, and he turned to look at Chang Dafeng.

Chang Dafeng had just blown out the Ghost Candle. Beaming, he said to the person he saw as Ding Ling, "I really didn't expect you to step on a ghostly shadow at the critical moment after all!

"No matter how you tried, you couldn't step on any of the ghostly shadows nearby, yet you managed to step on this one when it was so far away.

"It seems you have an affinity with it too..."

As he spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Ding Ling's side.

A ghostly shadow with the same slender, thin build as Ding Ling stood there with its head lowered, utterly silent.

Its bare feet were bluish-white, and several purplish-red corpse spots were faintly visible on its ankles.

"It is a little strange."

Answering Chang Dafeng in Ding Ling's place, Zhou Yang said, "I'd already given up hope of catching this ghostly shadow, but when I walked over, I stepped on it on my first try.

"It was as if everything was meant to happen this way. It felt less like I'd stepped on it and more like it had chosen me...

"Creating a Curse Creation God... could it be that I'm not the only one choosing a ghostly shadow to make into a Curse Creation God? Are those ghostly shadows actually selecting me too?"

As he spoke, Zhou Yang sensed a wisp of cold, sinister energy lingering within Ding Ling's Gate of Opening. Its nature was at odds with her Averting God's, but it was faintly compatible with Chang Dafeng's Bloated Aspect.

This is how Chang Dafeng intends to control you...

The moment your Gate of Opening opened, he used the corpse fluid from his Bloated Aspect Averting God to taint the Averting God that was about to solidify within it.

He may be able to use it to control your Averting God.

It's even very possible that he could turn your Averting God against you and make it attack and hurt you.

Zhou Yang communicated with Ding Ling in his mind.

Mm... Ding Ling acknowledged him, then hesitated to say more.

Are you wondering why, when I noticed Chang Dafeng was about to use his Bloated Aspect to set a trap for you, I didn't avoid it and spare you from being harmed? Zhou Yang asked the subdued Ding Ling with a smile.

Perhaps even you weren't able to avoid the trap he deliberately set, sir, Ding Ling said, offering an explanation for Zhou Yang instead.

It's not that I couldn't have avoided such a little trick.

But if I had avoided the trap just now, Chang Dafeng would certainly have noticed, Zhou Yang said, denying her suggestion.

That would only have made him more wary of you, not less, and he would have kept trying all sorts of tricks against you in secret.

An open spear is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is hard to guard against.

In that case, we might as well let him leave this means of control on your Averting God. What of it? It would actually take me no effort at all to remove it.

He'll think this gives him a firm hold on you and that he can sit back without a worry. We won't have to spend all day worrying about his "hidden arrows," either.

He's happy, you're happy, everyone's happy.

Only when he tries to use the means he left behind will he find out who won't be happy.

Ding Ling burst out laughing. The gloom in her heart vanished.

You've thought of everything, sir.

I already want to see the look on Troupe Leader Chang's face when he tries to use his trick to make us submit, only to find it doesn't work at all.

You and he may be the only living people left in Daliang Village. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I hope you can both save each other a little face, without having to fall out openly, Zhou Yang said with a sigh.

Chang Dafeng naturally knew nothing of the change in Ding Ling's thoughts. He scoffed and said to her, "There's still no agreement on whether ghosts themselves have minds, so what can be said of their shadows?

"If these ghostly shadows have no minds, how could they possibly be selecting you?

"As I see it... you stepped on that ghostly shadow because, with danger closing in, you finally concentrated completely. That let you muster your Mindfulness and step on it. It had nothing to do with anything else.

"When my Bloated Aspect attaches itself to a living person, it makes their qi and blood wither day by day until they die, leaving their body swollen like a corpse.

"When it combines with me, it can make me just like a corpse, allowing me to evade attacks by ghosts and gods.

"What can your Averting God do?

"Now that it has solidified within your Gate of Opening, you should be able to understand it in an instant."

Zhou Yang's mind now withdrew into the background.

He let Ding Ling familiarize herself with the use of her Averting God.

She frowned and sensed it for a while, then said to Chang Dafeng, "My Averting God seems to be able to change my voice."

As she spoke, the Averting God at her side suddenly attached itself behind her. She looked at Chang Dafeng, and her voice changed. "Troupe Leader! Troupe Leader!

"I died such a terrible death! I was so terribly wronged-"

A somewhat youthful boy's voice came from Ding Ling's mouth.

Chang Dafeng recognized the voice at once. It was Shitou's voice!

His heart jolted, and he looked across at her again-but there was no sign of Ding Ling!

Shitou's neck was broken and bent at an angle of more than ninety degrees. "He" tilted his head, the back of his skull pressed against his chest. Blood streamed from the jagged end of the broken bone that had pierced the flesh of his neck, and his face was deathly pale. He looked every bit a corpse.

"Shitouzi" stared fixedly at Chang Dafeng, sending a chill through his heart. He instinctively reached for the weapon he carried.

But when he slipped his hand into his trouser leg, he found nothing!

He had given the dagger to Ding Ling!

"Ding Ling!"

Only then did Chang Dafeng realize what had happened, and he shouted sharply.

A woman's laughter came from across from him. Ding Ling stood there looking lovely, her Averting God beside her.

Smiling, she said, "Troupe Leader, my Averting God is rather fun."

A look of shock and suspicion flashed through Chang Dafeng's eyes. Then he snorted. "It only lets you mimic someone else's voice and makes others perceive you as the person the voice belongs to... Once you achieve Opera Communion with Spirits, those tricks come with it.

"Your Averting God's ability overlaps somewhat with Opera Communion with Spirits.

"Fortunately, you've only just started learning opera, and there are bound to be many times when you won't sing well. With only three days left, it would be hard for you to learn the whole opera Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister. Now that you have this Averting God, it will save us a lot of trouble."

"Mm, mm!" Ding Ling nodded repeatedly. "That's what I thought too."

She familiarized herself with her Averting God, fascinated.

A moment later, she suddenly asked Chang Dafeng, "Troupe Leader, now that I've created an Averting God in the Gate of Opening, can I create another one in the Gate of Life?

"If so, once I've learned all the skills in the draft, could I create Averting Gods in all Eight Gates?"

"I usually go about with only the Bloated Aspect. I keep the Averting Gods of the other gates in reserve."

Ding Ling's eyes glimmered.

She smiled and returned to familiarizing herself with her Averting God.

Zhou Yang said in her mind, Troupe Leader Chang can't have many more tricks in reserve.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in such a sorry state when the ghost came through the door earlier.

I'd guess he's created Averting Gods in three gates at most. He might even have only two Averting Gods with him.

"Bite off more than you can chew, and you won't digest it," Chang Dafeng added. "With your Mindfulness, controlling even one Averting God is already difficult. Improve your Mindfulness first, then we can talk about controlling a second or third Averting God!"

"All right," Ding Ling agreed with a smile.

From an observer's perspective, Zhou Yang studied the ghostly shadow of the Averting God. Its long hair hung loose, and its slender build resembled Ding Ling's. A doubt suddenly arose in his mind.

Why is this Averting God's ability so similar to the opera ghost's?