The Ghost Calls a Name
A bone-chilling coldness traveled from the hand resting on Ding Ling's shoulder, spreading throughout her entire body!
"Sizzle!"
Inside the gauze ball, the Ghost Candle burned even more intensely, emitting an even dimmer flame!
The firelight, upon landing on Ding Ling, amplified her aura of Averting God.
It clung to Ding Ling's back, becoming one with her, together portraying the Averting God of Zhong Kui, and screamed shrilly!
Only Zhou Yang heard this series of needle-like, piercing screams.
The sound spread outwards, and even Zhong Kui Chang Dafeng, who was walking ahead, heard it as Grandpa Zhong Kui's authoritative and fierce rebuke:
"Hey!"
"You wicked thief, look closely!"
"I am Zhong Kui, the great god who devours demons Zhong Kui!"
Under the stern rebuke, the thin woman behind Ding Ling's hair became disheveled and scattered, burning like the dim flame of Ghost Candle, and wrapped around the hand that was resting on Ding Ling's shoulder!
"Laugh!"
In a short while, that withered and rotten hand looked like it was about to be burned to charcoal!
But the next moment, a sinister, half-male, half-female voice rang out behind Ding Ling!
The voice reciting the lines sounded equally majestic and powerful.
Yet it evokes a feeling that's hard to describe.
The voice was clearly speaking a language that Ding Ling and Zhou Yang could understand, and it was human speech, but there was no human warmth in the voice at all!
Just like the sound of a tree, a long-dead corpse, or a patch of mold in the corner of a wall!
"Hey!"
"You wicked thief, look closely!"
"I am Zhong Kui, the great god who devours demons Zhong Kui!"
The moment the voice sounded from behind, no matter how much fire the Ghost Candle emitted, it could no longer help Ding Ling's Averting God to burn that hand!
The will-o'-the-wisp originally acted like a tent, shielding Ding Ling and her companions from outside disturbances.
Now, the tent has been torn open by that arm that reached in!
The eerie and psychedelic Ghost Rhyme of the Opera Ghost poured in through the crack, making the costumes on Ding Ling, Chang Dafeng, Da Le Averting look like they were made of paper, and the makeup on their faces looked like ink and oil paints drawn on a piece of paper!
A terrifying pulling force came from the hand that was resting on Ding Ling's shoulder, threatening to rip her, this "Zhong Kui," out of the convoy and drag her into a pile of corpses!
Zhou Yang felt a heavy weight in his heart!
Nowadays, Zhong Kui's wedding procession only leaves his home and travels a mile or two!
It's still seven or eight miles to the riverbank outside the village.
But right now, Ding Ling and Chang Dafeng have already used most of their methods!
How can they possibly hold out until the convoy reaches the bridge?!
But regardless of whether the opera troupe can hold on or not, they have to grit their teeth and persevere for now!
Zhou Yang steeled his resolve—a series of intense heartbeats erupted in his consciousness, and Mindfulness, like sparks in the night, surged forth from his soul along with the intense heartbeats, seeking to resonate with Ding Ling's heart!
Don't look back!
Keep your head down and keep moving forward!
Just then, Chang Dafeng, who was dressed as Zhong Mei and swaying as if he were sitting in a carriage, suddenly shouted!
Following closely behind, Da Le Averting the way at the very front of the convoy, held up a gauze ball lantern and leaped two zhang high from the ground like a zombie!
When it landed again, it was embedded in Ding Ling's back like a stake!
The straw man, holding a gauze ball lantern in both hands, smashed it down on the corpse that was pressing down on Ding Ling's shoulder!
The exposed skin of the corpse was mostly swollen and purplish-black, but its face was as white as if it had been powdered, and two patches of rouge around its eyes added to its beauty.
Its body structure and frame clearly indicate that it is male!
The gauze lantern shone down on the corpse with a male body and a female appearance, and the will-o'-the-wisp inside poured out, instantly setting the corpse ablaze like a torch!
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ding Ling finally escaped!
Despite the layers of Ghost Rhyme surging around her, her mind remained undisturbed.
He still maintained the gait of Zhong Kui, seemingly swaying as if riding a donkey, but in reality Mount Tai.
"Sir, you need to be careful!"
Even at this moment, she still had time to make a sarcastic remark to Zhou Yang in her heart.
Zhou Yang remained silent.
His Mindfulness flowed, though it remained hidden, but through the flow of Mindfulness, he saw the scene behind Ding Ling:
The male-bodied, female-looking corpse was set ablaze by will-o'-the-wisps and remained motionless in place.
The will-o'-the-wisps burned fiercely, instantly blackening its corpse.
Da Le Averting with the lantern, was about to escape, a corpse suddenly jumped out from the pile of dead bodies gathered around him and placed its hand on the shoulder of the burning corpse!
"Buzz!"
The fire, which was raging ever since, was extinguished somewhat by this single hand!
Immediately afterwards, another dead man placed his hand on the shoulder of the second dead man!
The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...
The numerous dead villagers, as if playing a word game, placed their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, forming a long dragon on the dirt road of the village!
The will-o'-the-wisps on the first dead body were completely extinguished!
Its entire body was charred black, except for its face, which was fair with a rosy tint, as if powdered.
A smile suddenly bloomed on that exceptionally pretty face.
Behind it, the dead men who had placed their hands on its shoulders also revealed their faces, identical to its own, in the darkness, and they all chuckled together!
Laughter suddenly erupted, then abruptly ceased!
Each face was turned directly towards Ding Ling and his group as they walked away, spinning like the blades of a table fan.
Amidst this spinning and swirling motion, mournful cries mingled with theatrical chants emanated from their mouths.
Neither male nor female, eerie and bizarre:
"The severed liver and intestines were cut off inch by inch;"
There's nowhere to settle my elderly mother.
Thinking of the fact that I have no relatives or friends left, and that even the summoning of souls has its limits...
"My dear Ding Niang'er!"
"Living a wretched life on the edge of the world, my heart is torn apart piece by piece..."
It sounded like a mother calling out to her dead daughter, and in an instant, it filled the void.
The sound of mourning filled the air from Ding Ling sides!
"Ding Niang'er, Ding Niang'er, Ding Niang'er..."
Every cry was filled with sorrow, a desperate plea for a deceased daughter surnamed Ding!
The Opera Ghost seemed to be calling out to Ding Ling!
Fear seeped from the very marrow of Zhou Yang's bones, assailing his mind!
Why would the Opera Ghost call out to a woman named "Ding Niang"?
Was there originally a woman surnamed Ding in the play?
Or is it specifically targeting Ding Ling this time?
If it's the latter—why would it target Ding Ling?!
"In the ancestral hall of that dilapidated house... that Opera Lady, I think her name is Ding Jiu..." Ding Ling resisted the influence of the Ghost Rhyme, communicating with Zhou Yang in her heart.
Her words also calmed Zhou Yang's mind.
Could this "Ding Niang'er" refer to the Opera Lady Ding Jiu, the "Actress"?
The mournful cries, carried by the wind, swirled around Ding Ling. In an instant, Ding Ling seemed to be blinded by a ghost, unable to see the way forward, and found itself in a place where everything was pitch black!
In the darkness, the wind, like two hands, kept pushing her toward the source of the mournful cries!
"Don't let the ghosts' cries drive you away!"
Zhou Yang suddenly shouted!
Mindfulness suddenly transformed into Supernatural Ripple, slowly spreading out around Ding Ling!