Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting
"I don't want much." "Ding Ling" smiled with pursed lips, but her smile held the sinister, treacherous look of a wolf about to eat a sheep. "I want the method for letting opera take possession of you and commune with the divine.
"Other than that, I don't want anything."
When Chang Dafeng heard this, a look of "just as I thought" appeared on his face.
Without hesitation, he nodded and said, "These people have followed me around performing wherever we could. Half of it was to make a living, and half was for this method of letting opera take possession of them and commune with the divine.
"Now that we've run into a ghost, under these circumstances, I would have taught you the method even if you hadn't asked."
Zhou Yang didn't believe a word of it.
Ever since Chang Dafeng had chosen Ding Ling to comb her hair at midnight and encounter the ghost, he had intended to use her as a disposable pawn.
That was also recorded in the Knife Credit Ledger.
Troupe Leader Chang was only saying this now to imply to Ding Ling that they were still grasshoppers on the same rope, and that for the sake of the important business ahead, he, Chang Dafeng, would never favor one person over another.
He was using this to gain Ding Ling's trust.
Unfortunately for him, Zhou Yang wasn't Ding Ling.
He naturally wouldn't trust anyone here.
Still, judging by Chang Dafeng's expression, the method for letting opera take possession of one and commune with the divine definitely existed, which came as a relief to Zhou Yang.
"Take care of the matter first. Once it's done, I'll teach you the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting." In just a few words, Chang Dafeng showed his true colors. "These people have studied it for half a year, and none of them have gotten anywhere.
"With your disposition, I'm sure you can master the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting."
Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting?
Zhou Yang committed the name to memory. Facing Chang Dafeng's exceptionally kindly expression, he shook his head. "Even a condemned prisoner gets a full meal before being sent to the execution ground.
"This time, I'm going to meet a ghost. I might end up being sent on my way too.
"Before I go, you'll have to teach me the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting.
"Otherwise, I might come back after I'm gone and pester you every day, asking you for it."
Chang Dafeng frowned deeply.
He could no longer maintain his feigned kindness.
A trace of ferocity showed through his expression.
He had watched everything this odd-job worker in his troupe had done in the past.
She was just a woman with a little cunning, a little ruthlessness, and some tenacity. No matter how you looked at her, she was a woman who could neither upset the rules nor amount to anything!
But what had gotten into her today?
What had gotten into her?!
She was actually making things difficult even for him!
Even his Ghost Eye-Dotting couldn't cow her!
The Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting was his heart and soul, his blood. He had never truly passed it on to any of his disciples here. Was he supposed to teach it to this odd-job worker just like that?
At that moment, Ding Ling, possessed by Zhou Yang, seemed to remember something and added, "Don't think you can fool me with a fake.
"And don't try to put me off by saying I have to spend years on basic training before I can start practicing the method properly.
"The true teaching takes a single sentence; false teachings fill ten thousand scrolls.
"I have a way to tell whether the method you give me is real or fake."
As he spoke, Zhou Yang had already opened the Knife Credit Ledger he carried with him.
The second page recorded Ding Ling's personal history.
Once she learned the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting, it was bound to show up on the page.
"You're just a woman-" Zhou Yang's words provoked Chang Dafeng until his eyes slowly reddened. As they did, a sinister, terrifying aura emanated from him.
As he shrieked at Zhou Yang, the aura became almost tangible. "Are you trying to rebel?!"
For an instant, Zhou Yang seemed to see that Chang Dafeng, standing opposite him, no longer looked human, but like a ghost wearing bloody makeup!
His heart involuntarily tightened.
Yet apart from his tension, he didn't feel particularly afraid.
He had initially assumed that the troupe leader had trained his skills into his body, which was why his eyes were exceptionally bright and he could overwhelm people with his presence.
But Zhou Yang had never seen anyone train their eyes to the point where a glare could make someone hallucinate!
This had to be an ability the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting had given Chang Dafeng!
Looking at the others, he saw that every one of them had gone deathly pale and was sweating. Little Stone, the youngest, had already wet his pants. They hadn't even been directly subjected to Chang Dafeng's piercing stare, yet they had been frightened to that extent. Zhou Yang himself, by contrast, felt nothing beyond the tightening in his chest.
After a moment's thought, Zhou Yang understood the key to it.
His Mindfulness was strong.
He had originally thought that a Mindfulness of only 5 was very low among ordinary people.
But compared with the seasoned travelers around him, he found that a Mindfulness of 5 already put him among the best.
Seen in that light, a Mindfulness of 9 marked the limit for a normal person.
Breaking past 9 might mean crossing a dividing line.
That was where normal and "abnormal" people parted ways.
Now, his ability to withstand the pressure of Chang Dafeng's gaze alone came not only from the endowment granted by his own Mindfulness of 5, but also from Ding Ling's 2 points of Mindfulness.
Even with a Mindfulness of 7, he still felt pressure when facing a secret technique used by a seasoned veteran.
I have to get my hands on the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting!
Chang Dafeng stood up at that moment and swept his gaze over the group.
Everyone fell silent, too frightened to meet his eyes.
Some of them had even begun to entertain other thoughts after hearing what "Ding Ling" had said, suspecting that the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting they had learned was not the true teaching.
Now, under Chang Dafeng's gaze, none of them dared step forward and voice a single doubt.
The troupe leader said, "All of you, get out!"
They all obediently left the room.
In the blink of an eye, only Chang Dafeng and Ding Ling, the "two of them," remained in the room.
Staring at Ding Ling, whose expression hadn't changed, Chang Dafeng gave a sinister smile. He turned and went to the corner, took the ring of keys from his waist, and opened a locked wooden chest. From a pile of armor and opera costumes, he pulled out a smaller box.
He walked up to Ding Ling and opened the box.
Inside was a smooth, rounded object that looked like wax.
Zhou Yang examined it closely and discovered that the palm-length object in the box, which looked like a white candle in both shape and color, was actually a piece of bone.
Zhou Yang had no way of knowing where the piece of bone had come from.
Chang Dafeng took the bone, which had been deliberately fashioned to look like a candle, complete with a wick protruding from one end, and planted it heavily on the wooden chest between himself and Ding Ling.
He turned and blew out the oil lamp.
In the darkness, Troupe Leader Chang's dry, chilling voice rang out. "Apply divine makeup to ward off evil, paint ghosts to walk in the yin-my art isn't an orthodox path. Though mastering it can indeed protect you and frighten ghosts, it's also very difficult to learn.
"Plenty of people meet with disaster and lose their lives halfway through learning it.
"Besides, countless people fight tooth and nail and still can't learn even the slightest bit of a true teaching like this. Why would I willingly teach someone something so valuable for free?
"Give it a try. Let's see whether you have the opportunity.
"Let's see whether there's 'divinity' in your soul.
"If there is 'divinity' in your soul, then stare at this Ghost Candle and light it!
"And don't think I'm fooling you. My eyes can light this candle."
As he spoke, Chang Dafeng fixed his gaze on the bone fashioned into a candle. A ghostly green flame instantly sprang to life on the Ghost Candle's wick!
Chang Dafeng cherished the Ghost Candle. He let it burn for only one breath before inhaling toward the ghastly green ghost fire-
A stream of "smoke," invisible and intangible yet perceptible to Zhou Yang, entered Chang Dafeng's throat, and the Ghost Candle went out.
"If your eyes can light this Ghost Candle, I'll teach you the Draft of Divine Makeup and Ghost Painting exactly as it is, without another word.
"I'll take you as my adopted son!
"When I die, there'll be no need for a son to smash the mourning basin and bowls. You alone will conduct my funeral and escort my coffin, and the whole troupe will take your surname from then on!
"But if you can't light this candle... heh heh, go find yourself a cool place to stay.
"You'll have to comb your hair at midnight, and you'll have to deal with the ghost. If we run into ghosts again, you'll still be the first one sent to your death... You're unwilling?
"That won't be up to you!"