Zhou Yang sighed.
With a turn of thought, he readied himself to take over Ding Ling's body at any moment and withdraw the Ghost Breath beneath her skin.
At the same time, he said to Ding Ling, "If you truly cannot control this breath, there is no need to force it. I will simply take it back."
"Is... is Teacher disappointed in me?" Ding Ling asked, both frightened and nervous.
"It is only a pity that after braving so many hardships and finally crafting your warding spirit, you should have found it easier than most to master Ghost Breath with its aid... But mastering this breathing method may indeed be far harder than the Draft of Playing Gods and Painting Ghosts. In any case, we cannot have you risking your life to test it."
As he spoke, Zhou Yang prepared to take over Ding Ling's body.
Just then, Ding Ling blurted out, "I—I want to try again! Teacher, let me see if I can borrow the warding spirit's power—use its power to harness Ghost Breath!"
Ding Ling closed her eyes and drew a long, deep breath.
The warding spirit, slender and frail with disheveled hair just like her own, silently materialized in the corner of her eye.
She had heard Zhou Yang's words. Yet she truly did not know how to use the warding spirit to harness Ghost Breath. She only knew that before trying to control the breath, she had to suppress the terror deep within her heart.
She had to steady her mind and stop the skin-peeling shadow before her from continuing to turn into her likeness.
The only thing capable of suppressing this extreme dread was another undercurrent of emotion surging from the depths of her heart—
Ding Ling suddenly opened her eyes.
A faint smile curved her lips, spring light warmed her almond eyes, and a hint of coquetry touched her brow.
Pointing forward with one hand, she looked timidly at the horrifying apparition before her with lovely eyes. With her other hand held in an orchid gesture beside her cheek, she let out a soft, giggling laugh and suddenly burst into song:
"Look at the two reflections in the well, a youth and a maiden smiling so sweet.
"Green lotus leaves in a clear water pond, mandarin ducks paired two by two.
"Brother Liang, oh... if Yingtai were a maiden fair, would Brother Liang be willing to pair as mandarin ducks?"
This was an aria from *The Butterfly Lovers*.
It recounted Zhu Yingtai escorting Liang Shanbo home, subtly hinting at her identity as a woman along the way to test Liang Shanbo's feelings.
Ding Ling threw herself entirely into the performance. With the aid of her warding spirit, she captured the subtle hints and lingering tenderness of the aria with effortless perfection. The young maiden's spirited subtlety, her wit and charm, all radiated between her brow and eyes.
Watching Ding Ling like this from the perspective of an onlooker, Zhou Yang was momentarily spellbound.
Things of true beauty, no matter when or where they appeared, could always captivate the soul.
Ding Ling must have loved *The Butterfly Lovers* dearly and practiced it in secret many times before. The moment she began, her rich, seamless emotion merged into one with her vocal delivery and stage posture, devoid of the slightest flaw.
Yet what she faced right now was the skin-peeling ghost phantom conjured by Ghost Breath.
Singing this love scene to a ghost—was that not casting flirtatious glances at a fool?
Just as the thought crossed Zhou Yang's mind, he suddenly sensed the chaotic, disordered breathing inside the Ghost's Mouths open across Ding Ling's arms drop low and restrained in an instant!
Before long, the ragged breathing rising and falling in succession subsided entirely.
Replacing those turbulent breaths was a low, mournful wail.
The plaintive ghostly cries proactively matched Ding Ling's breathing rhythm, falling into unison in mere moments!
"*Wuu-wuu-wuu-wuu—*"
With an aria akin to a love ballad, she had actually mastered Ghost Breath!
*That works too?*
Zhou Yang was momentarily astounded!
Following his shock came heartfelt joy!
With Ding Ling mastering Ghost Breath alongside her warding spirit, if she truly encountered the opera ghost later on, she would have a much better chance of escaping!
And later, Zhou Yang could test on the Knife-Credit Ledger whether his Good Deeds could make rubbings of Ding Ling's two abilities: Ghost Breath and crafting a warding spirit.
"Teacher, have I mastered this breath now?" Ding Ling asked Zhou Yang.
She sounded tentative, her thoughts racing with veiled anticipation.
"Indeed you have!" Zhou Yang said enthusiastically. "You are truly clever and bold! To think you would come up with such a way to master Ghost Breath!"
With that, at a flick of his thoughts, the Knife-Credit Ledger flipped open before him to the page bearing Ding Ling's profile:
"Retribution Body: Ding Ling.
"Right Thought: 11 (Self 4 + Knife-Credit Man 7)
"Status: Closed-door disciple of the Dengtai Pear Garden troupe leader.
"Abilities: Skilled Slaughterer, Capable Cook, Self-Taught Performer of Folk Plays, Draft of Playing Gods and Painting Ghosts (Opening Door Warding Spirit), Ghost Breath (First Tier)."
...
Under the abilities column of Ding Ling's profile, the entry for "Ghost Breath" had indeed appeared.
This confirmed beyond doubt that she had thoroughly mastered Ghost Breath.
"Teacher, did I sing well?" Ding Ling asked Zhou Yang with a soft giggle.
"Very well!" Zhou Yang praised sincerely.
"Did I look pretty?" As if possessed, Ding Ling asked once more.
The subtle flirtation hidden within the young woman's thoughts was pure, charming, and bright.
Zhou Yang started, then smiled. "You looked very pretty!"
"Ah..." His straightforward reply made Ding Ling flustered instead.
Ding Ling gave a reflex murmur, stammering after a long pause, "I never expected... never expected singing this kind of opera would work on a ghost... work like this..."
"You harnessed the power of your warding spirit, and you sang the aria from *The Butterfly Lovers* with such genuine feeling that the performance connected with the divine..." Zhou Yang pondered. "That is likely the main reason why it worked on Ghost Breath. But honestly, I never imagined that a play that wasn't a ghost-and-god play—one where you didn't dress as an awesome, mighty deity—could actually work on a ghost. Could it be that plays that connect with the divine actually harbor an aura similar to ghost rhythm that can affect ghosts?"
Ding Ling calmed her fluttering nerves. Following Zhou Yang's words, she thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know."
"We'll pay more attention to this in the future. Ghost Breath is also tied to breathing and the Ghost's Mouths; perhaps that is another reason your singing of *The Butterfly Lovers* worked on it," Zhou Yang said. "Now, let me tell you about when to use this breathing method, as well as its various taboos."
From then on, Zhou Yang taught Ding Ling all the specific knacks and taboos of Ghost Breath.
Ding Ling was currently hiding in an abandoned residence on the outermost edge of Daliang Village.
This location was hardly safe. If one followed the path behind the house outward, it would not be long before they reached the opera troupe's quarters.
Once Chang Dafeng came down the slope, he could easily find Ding Ling in this abandoned dwelling if he looked carefully.
Furthermore, though none of Daliang Village's residents were visible in this abandoned house, the surrounding courtyards bore clear signs of people living there over a long period.
With the slightest carelessness, Ding Ling might run into those 'villagers' of Daliang Village here.
Those villagers had been deeply tainted by the opera ghost's rhythm and had mostly turned into corpses.
Right now, Ding Ling could under no circumstances come face-to-face with them.
Therefore, having learned Ghost Breath, Ding Ling vaulted over the courtyard's rammed-earth wall and took a narrow path out of the village. After circling the outskirts and observing from a distance, she followed the perimeter road and skirted toward a certain location.
Chapter 41