Sun-Shielding Paper
"Buzz..."
A series of handprints spread outwards from Ding Ling as the center.
Under the Handprint Ripple, the darkness that had trapped Ding Ling suddenly began to appear illusory, and in a moment it even took on a texture like a paper curtain!
In an instant, the darkness was shattered by the Handprint Ripple!
Zhou Yang then realized that Ding Ling and the dead man who had been set ablaze by the will-o'-the-wisp were only two or three steps apart!
Behind the charred body of the dead man, whose face was completely undamaged, the dead Daliang Village stood shoulder to shoulder in a long, winding line that then circled back, surrounding Chang Dafeng, Ding Ling, Da Le Averting in layers.
The dead all had that fair, rosy-white woman's face.
Countless faces swirled around, calling out repeatedly, "Ding Niang'er, Ding Niang'er..."
At this moment, they seemed to realize that Ding Ling and the others had broken free of control. Suddenly, they froze, their eyes, black and white as ink dots on white paper, staring straight at Ding Ling and his group!
Zhou Yang suddenly felt a chill pierce his soul!
"Come back, come back--"
The dead all reached out and grabbed at Ding Ling and his group!
The illusory and eerie Ghost Rhyme pressed down on Ding Ling again. The hand seals that Zhou Yang maintained around the outer edge of the ripples outside her body with Mindfulness thoughts were instantly eroded by the Ghost Rhyme, becoming as thin as paper!
"My Mindfulness alone cannot withstand this level of Ghost Rhyme erosion!"
"The only way is to try aligning with Ding Ling's Mindfulness!"
Abilities such as Breathing of the Ghost and Supernatural Ripple are closely linked to Mindfulness.
Zhou Yang now entrusts his consciousness to Ding Ling's body, and uses this ability without any hindrance.
He can even combine with Ding Ling's Mindfulness, using the combined Mindfulness to break through the limits and further amplify these two abilities!
At this moment, Chang Dafeng, who was not far away, suddenly sighed.
Zhou Yang's heart stirred—
Then they heard Chang Dafeng recite in a sweet, theatrical voice, "Give me a hand, senior brother!"
Senior brother?
What senior brother?
"Sir, the troupe leader's ghost is about to come out!" Zhou Yang was still puzzled when Ding Ling said nervously, "He calls that ghost who used to make a living as a ' Da Le ' 'senior brother'!"
Ding Ling's mind suddenly made up!
The yellow paper rippled and shook, and the eyes, ears, mouth and nose drawn on it fell off the paper one after another!
The purplish-black liquid, reeking of corpses, seeped onto the paper, forming blurry lines.
The lines connect, vaguely forming a human face!
As Zhou Yang stared in horror at the blurry face stained with putrid bodily fluids on the yellow paper, a sudden realization struck him: wasn't that yellow paper covering the straw effigy's face the same "sunshade" used when a corpse was laid out at home?
It is said that after a person dies, their face should not be exposed to sunlight and should be kept away from human presence.
If one's face is exposed to sunlight, one's soul becomes restless, or one is unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation.
If it comes into contact with the presence of living people, there is a greater possibility of it turning into a zombie.
That's why a piece of yellow paper needed to be covered on their face.
The yellow paper on the straw doll's face was exactly the same as the sunshade paper on a dead person.
Chang Dafeng had drawn facial features on that piece of paper, and Zhou Yang had overlooked this detail for a moment.
And this ritual of covering the dead with sunshade paper falls within the scope of "Da Le's " work!
The purplish-black bodily fluid continued to spread on the yellow paper, and the blurry human face formed by the bodily fluid traces kept changing.
The blurry face on the paper suddenly changed in an instant, like a slideshow, into another image—a Zhong Kui mask appeared on the paper!
Beside the Zhong Kui mask, traces of bodily fluids are still reassembling, forming a face that resembles Chang Dafeng!
A cold, decaying smell emanated from the straw figure, seeping into the two faces on the yellow paper.
What were originally just two faces drawn on yellow paper suddenly sprouted fleshy buds and grew flesh, instantly transforming into two real human faces!
The cold, decaying smell that lingered around Zhou Yang's nose was actually a Ghost Rhyme.
In an instant, the two faces painted with the corpse fluid became almost realistic!
"Ding Niang'er, Ding Niang'er..."
All the corpses surrounding Ding and Chang suddenly reached out towards the straw man that "Da Le" was attached to!
Reach out to the yellow paper covering the straw figure's head!
They were so close to the straw figure that almost instantly, many of the dead people's hands touched the yellow paper on the straw figure's face!
The next moment!
The dead wailed and cried, one after another kneeling on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to the straw effigy, mourning its passing.
"Father, Mother—you left us too soon!"
"Father, Mother!"
"Take the son with you too!"
The mourner, wailing and begging his deceased parents to take him with him, also had a piece of sun-shading paper on his face.
Beneath the sunshade, her fair and rosy, pretty and charming features began to rot.
"Walk!"
Chang Dafeng called out "Ding Ling" weakly, his voice lacking strength.
He snatched the gauze lantern from the straw figure's hand, then kicked aside a dead man kneeling in the road ahead. The dead man's face was covered with yellow paper, and he lay sprawled on the ground like mud, not hindering Chang Dafeng in the slightest.
The dirt road was littered with the kneeling corpses of people like this.
Chang Dafeng walked in front, his figure still as if he were sitting in a carriage, swaying and bouncing with the carriage driver.
He put the red veil over his face again.
Ding Ling followed behind him, striking the same pose as Zhong Kui walking.
Ding Ling is currently in a state of "Opera Communion with Spirits," and the thin woman is disguised as Judge Zhong Kui, protecting her.
If she loses her Zhong Kui posture, her Opera Communion with Spirits state will immediately dissipate.
Chang Dafeng plays Zhong Mei. Regardless of whether he is in a state of Opera Communion with Spirits or not, he can only hide his Bloated Aspect Averting God and cannot invite any divine protection.
Now that things have come to this, he no longer needs to maintain the same walking style as Zhong Mei, which allows him to walk faster.
The crescent moon hung in the dark sky, cold and desolate.
Under the cover of darkness, Chang Dafeng, dressed as a bride in a wedding dress, tiptoed and swayed as he walked.
He left in a hurry.
Like this bride with a red veil, eager to get married.
Zhou Yang followed Ding Ling in silence.
He watched as the bride in her wedding dress walked a long way ahead, out of the village and nearing the riverbank outside, when he suddenly asked Ding Ling:
Chang Dafeng...
"How often did you play female roles in the opera troupe?"
Ding Ling seemed to realize something at this moment.
She thought for a moment before saying, "I've never seen a female lead singer before."
"Li Yichun is the only female lead in the troupe; the troupe leader specializes in playing the 'Da Jing' roles—those 'Jing' roles that Gao Hongbo can't play, he plays them all."
"Has Chang Dafeng ever married?" Zhou Yang asked again.
"It's always been just him," Ding Ling replied.
Zhou Yang remained silent.
This Chang Dafeng may have some stories to tell.
The gauze lantern could only illuminate an area of about ten feet around the two people; the distance remained completely dark.
In the darkness, the sound of rushing river water could be heard.
Hearing the sound, Zhou Yang seemed to smell the salty, fishy odor of the river.
Suddenly, a cold, rotten smell instantly overwhelmed the faint scent of the river breeze and blew in from behind!
--This smell is truly the Ghost Rhyme of that "Ghost Da Le" place!
The moment Zhou Yang had this thought, he "sensed" a yellowish shadow flash past the corner of his eye. Immediately afterward, he heard Chang Dafeng, who was walking ahead, exclaim, "Senior Brother!"
He followed Ding Ling and looked ahead, where he saw a piece of yellow paper fluttering in the wind in front of Chang Dafeng!
On the sunshade paper, the fluid from the corpse gradually stained a human face.
"Senior brother!"
Chang Dafeng lifted a corner of the red veil and looked up at the face covered with fleshy growths on the yellow paper.
His voice was full of joy.