Farewell My Concubine
Chang Dafeng's eyes widened as he looked at Ding Ling, his gaze filled with disbelief.
Ding Ling's Ghost Mouth Ghost Da Le again, so Zhou Yang couldn't speak through her either. He could only stare coldly at Chang Dafeng.
A flicker of fear crossed Chang Dafeng's eyes.
He looked at the dark riverbank behind Ding Ling and murmured:
"Who would teach you such a dangerous breathing technique, you little brat? And you actually dared to learn it, keeping it so well hidden within our opera troupe. I underestimated you—"
"Too daring, too crazy..."
"Don't expect that reciting a passage of scripture will change anything."
"Qian Heng killed Shitouzi, and a human life was used as a bridge, but it couldn't help him become a ghost. You think reciting a Health Preservation Scripture will do the trick?"
"Hehe..."
"Just a little bit more!" Zhou Yang thought to Ding Ling, "The incantation in that Health Preservation Scripture might really work!"
"I think I saw something earlier, but Chang Dafeng interrupted me."
"We need to find another opportunity—if we can use Breathing of the Ghost again and recite that scripture once more, we can definitely disrupt the current situation!"
The passage in the * Livestock Raising Scripture * is rumored to be a scripture that turns people into ghosts.
This incantation is part of the ritual for transforming a human into a ghost. To initiate this ritual, the person reciting the incantation must voluntarily sacrifice the lives of others, using their lives to pave the way for their own transformation into a ghost.
Zhou Yang recited this incantation through the Ghost Mouth, not because he wished for himself and Ding Ling to become ghosts.
He genuinely wanted to see if the incantation could have any effect, to shift or even disrupt the current established order.
The situation has become a mess, which may not be without danger for Zhou Yang and Ding Ling, but it is still far better than the current deadlock.
Although the attempt was unsuccessful, Zhou Yang still keenly perceived something.
Whether the incantations in the * Livestock Raising Scripture) can manifest their effects seems to depend not on whether the reciter "kills people to build bridges" (i. e., commit murder to build bridges).
He had not harmed anyone, but after chanting scriptures, he saw some blurry visions.
"Sir, once you become a ghost, you lose all human emotions and reason," Ding Ling whispered. "Would you be willing to befriend a ghost?"
Her words were loaded with hidden meaning.
Zhou Yang, however, thought to himself, "I'm in Guan Village, aren't my parents and brothers all ghosts?"
Making friends with ghosts is nothing special.
So he said, "If the ghosts adhere to principles, they will not indiscriminately kill the innocent or harm human lives."
What is the difference between ghosts and humans?
"Making friends with ghosts is nothing to be ashamed of."
"Adhere to principles, do not kill the innocent, and do not harm human lives..." Ding Ling murmured to himself.
But at that moment, Chang Dafeng on the other side suddenly shouted, "They're here!"
Chang Dafeng had been staring at what was behind Zhou Yang. Now, he clearly saw something, and after letting out a scream, he turned his gaze to Ding Ling —to the "Ghost Da Le" sticker on Ding Ling's face.
He looked at the face that had appeared on the sunshade, feeling somewhat helpless yet full of anticipation.
At this moment, the only one coming from behind Zhou Yang was the Opera Ghost.
The sound of opera singing drifted from afar, ethereal and dreamlike.
As cool as moonlight. "My love resides in my heart, while I am heartbroken; only the moon knows my sorrowful feelings..."
Meeting is difficult, parting is easy; now all regret comes too late.
"I wonder if the phoenix was pleased with itself back then..."
As the opera music played, a cold hand landed on Ding Ling's shoulder once more.
A ghostly, ethereal Ghost Rhyme instantly enveloped Ding Ling's body!
Under the influence of the ghostly atmosphere, Ding Ling's skin became even whiter, her cheeks even redder, and the color of her costume became even brighter, so bright that it didn't look like cloth, but rather like some kind of shiny oiled paper!
Even the creases on her clothes looked like the folds in a book!
The Ghost Rhyme of that Opera Ghost is gradually eroding Ding Ling into a paper doll!
"Sir, sir..."
Ding Ling called out to Zhou Yang again and again.
Zhou Yang responded repeatedly, "I'm here, I'm here."
Mindfulness flowed repeatedly, ripples tried to open up again and again, thoughts turned and twisted a hundred times, desperately trying to find a method worth trying.
But Zhou Yang found nothing.
At this moment, the ghostly figure stuck to Ding Ling's face Ghost Da Le and emitted a cold, decaying Ghost Rhyme.
The ghostly aura also washed over Ding Ling's figure, entangled and fought with the ghostly aura. Ding Ling's eyes were covered by sunshade paper, and Zhou Yang could no longer see what was happening outside.
In the restless darkness, Zhou Yang felt the "Ghost Da Le on his face trembling incessantly, as if some kind of change had occurred.
Chang Dafeng, sitting opposite him, could see everything clearly.
On the yellow paper bearing the inscription "The Ghost Da Le," a second face suddenly appeared.
That pretty face with fair skin and rosy cheeks was placed side by side with that of Senior Brother Chang Dafeng on the sunshade!
Both faces were staring intently at Chang Dafeng.
That pretty face, as delicate as a flower, was none other than the face of the Opera Ghost!
Chang Dafeng had been planning for this moment for who knows how long!
"Since I followed the King on his campaigns, I have endured wind and frost and toil year after year."
"When will we be free from the turmoil of war, and relieve the suffering and misery of the people...?"
Chang Dafeng is singing a segment from "Farewell My Concubine".
As he gradually quieted down, the Opera Ghost on the sunshade paper, its eyes darting about, murmured, "Since I..."
It directly copied the opera sung by Chang Dafeng.
Even the way he sang opera was exactly the same as Chang Dafeng's.
Enticed by the opera singing, the ghostly voice of the opera singer grew even more intense, momentarily overpowering the ghostly voice of "The ghost is too big."
On the sunshade paper, the face of Chang Dafeng, which was placed next to the face of the Opera Ghost, was distorted by the Ghost Rhyme and gradually became similar to the face of the Opera Ghost!
Chang Dafeng stared intently at the changes in the two faces on the yellow paper.
As he watched those two faces transform into the likenesses of Opera Ghost, he couldn't suppress the joy in his eyes!
In his plan, the two ghosts should now fight each other, their Gate of Death colliding, so that the Opera Ghost can suppress the Ghost Da Le.
In this way, an opportunity can be created for my senior brother to be reborn from the dead.
Ghost Da Le was unable to move for a while, Chang Dafeng opened his own "Gate of Life" again, which would allow his senior brother, who was trapped in the Gate of Death, to enter the Gate of Life and be resurrected in Ding Ling's body at this moment of life and death!
For now, Ghost Da Le has been temporarily suppressed by Opera Ghost!
Chang Dafeng turned his head away, turning his face to face the Opera Ghost opposite him.
He then began to sing in a loud, chattering voice. "A row of broken umbrellas and lonely lamps;"
"Facing that peace and good fortune;
"The sword, gleaming brightly, spews forth cold stars..."
He dressed up as a female impersonator, but he was actually singing the lyrics of Zhong Kui!
As he sang, Chang Dafeng turned his head to face the Opera Ghost.
Without making any move, he slowly turned his head, Chang Dafeng's rotten face transformed into Zhong Kui's crocheted ingot mask!
To open the Gate of Life, one must learn "face-changing."
Change brings life!
"Arranged..."
He could effortlessly compose plays from various schools of opera and perform Opera Ghost.
Under the pervasive Ghost Rhyme, it instantly unleashed Chang Dafeng's singing style and aria from its own mouth.
However, although it could sing this play, its face remained unchanged.
We can't just whip our heads around like Chang Dafeng and conjure up a Zhong Kui mask!
Chang Dafeng glanced at the second face on the yellow paper out of the corner of his eye.
The Opera Ghost cannot change its appearance at will. The ghost influenced by its Ghost Rhyme Ghost Da Le. At this moment, while singing opera, its face is distorted, trying to twist its face into a crocheted ingot face.
Its face was torn open, and granulation tissue burst forth from beneath the cracks.
Most of the face pieces gradually came together, forming a blurred, ingot-shaped face with embroidered patterns;
The remaining small portion of skin and flesh gradually formed a third face at the edge of the sunshade paper.
That face vaguely resembled my senior brother's.