Above the Great Dao
Chapter 218 - 118 None Survived

Chapter 218: Chapter 118 None Survived

Dingding followed a few girls up the stairs and quickly arrived on the second floor, where she walked forward with her head lowered, only to be pulled aside by the Housekeeper, who pointed to one side.

She then saw a band under the curtain, with an empty seat beside it.

Dingding had just sat down when she nearly stepped on a foot on the ground, and looking down, she saw a headless corpse behind the seat, presumably the previous pipa player who had been beheaded.

Her heart pounded chaotically; at this moment, a cold breeze blew, and the curtain was swept aside, revealing several corpses lying messily behind it.

A girl beside her whispered, "Hurry and tune the strings. The last pipa girl was beheaded because the tone was not right; she’s there, watching us!"

Following the direction the girl pointed, Dingding looked below the stage to see shadowy figures, dimly lit, and could only make out a crowd of play-watchers with heads like large dates, unable to distinguish who was who.

Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, she adjusted the strings, tuning the pitch.

She did this often.

The pipa was not hers but belonged to Lady Hualí. It was named ’Impending Rain,’ after the phrase "the thick strings buzzed like torrential rain."

Lady Huali was world-renowned because of her pipa. Dingding was just a Maid who served her, often helping to adjust the strings and correct the tone, learning a bit of fingering in the process.

She had just finished tuning when she heard whispers from below—many heads were putting their heads together, discussing which play to watch.

After a while, many voices from below shouted, "Visiting Mother as the Fourth Son! Perform one about the Yang family generals, Visiting Mother as the Fourth Son!"

"At your command!"

With that call, a theatrical voice rose, and all kinds of music suddenly played, while Dingding’s palms sweated coldly, for the play about Visiting Mother as the Fourth Son was one she had never learned.

Fortunately, there was another pipa girl in the ensemble. Dingding focused on the other girl’s fingers and, as soon as she began to play, Dingding also immediately played the ’Impending Rain’ pipa to follow the music, planning to muddle through.

Unexpectedly, as soon as her fingers fell, there were two clear sounds, and a killing intent arose, as if cavalry was charging towards her, overpowering all other sounds and silencing all other instruments!

The other instruments could not keep up and suddenly fell quiet.

The musicians were stunned, their faces ashen, and the lead actor who had just come on stage was also frozen, at a loss for what to do, thinking to himself, "I’m doomed!"

Dingding’s heart skipped a beat, realizing the reason: "’Impending Rain’ is the lady’s treasure; how could it be compared to an ordinary instrument? Its tone is too good and has overpowered the other sounds; it’s ruined the play!"

At this time, the many ’big-date’ heads below all turned to look, shouting, "The play is not good, stop everything! You, the little girl, continue playing!"

Everyone, feeling relieved, hurriedly walked off the stage.

Only Dingding was left on stage, becoming frantic as pair after pair of eyes from below settled on her, silently waiting for her to play.

Dingding steeled herself, fingers not stopping as she continued to play.

She didn’t know many tunes and could only play a few, so she started with "Melody of the Frontier."

The ’big-date’ heads swayed appreciatively to the tune, exclaiming, "Mournful, lamenting, homesick—good music, good music!"

One ’big-date’ head commented, "It’s just that this girl seems somewhat distracted, thinking about other things."

"If she continues to daydream, we’ll twist her head off!"

Hearing this, Dingding hastily banished her distracting thoughts and continued to play.

Chen Shi quickly finished drawing over a dozen talismans. The actors rushed down from upstairs, not bothering to remove their makeup or take various props, rushing outside, saying, "I’ll never come back to Sanhe Village again!"

Chen Shi noticed the hats on the heads of these actors, pausing slightly in surprise. The hats they wore on their heads were not the crowns for performing but were identical to the black hats worn by the villagers.

The actors ran off, disappearing quickly.

Chen Shi hastened to the door, lifted a gap in the black curtain, and peered outside.

The Green-robed Scholar said anxiously, "Talisman Master Chen, what are you waiting for? Why not hurry to kill the Evil Spirit?"

Chen Shi surveyed his surroundings, saying, "I’m looking for the divine effigy of our dry nurse."

The Green-robed Scholar was slightly taken aback: "What is the divine effigy?"

"The divine effigy is formed by remarkable forces, bearing our dry nurse’s Mana and spirit."

Chen Shi continued his search for the hiding place of the divine effigy, nonchalantly adding, "The dry nurse of Sanhe Village has become a demon, and its power is immense. If I can find her divine effigy, disposing of her will be extremely simple."

His eyes were extraordinary, able to see ghosts and deities, as well as a world invisible to ordinary people.

He searched all around but could not find the effigy of the date tree, only seeing dark energy swirling more heavily around the tree, its Demonic Nature growing stronger, leaving him somewhat puzzled.

His small temple could only house spirits without a corporeal body; divine effigies, not a physical body, thus finding the divine effigy of this tree demon would be the simplest way to deal with this demon.

Chen Shi observed for a moment. Dingding was the only one left on stage, and "Melody of the Frontier" was coming to an end. She dared not stop and immediately began to play "Ambush on All Sides."

However, this piece proved to be much more difficult, and she played it awkwardly.

Boos and hisses came from below the stage.

A ’big-date’ head shouted, "Bad playing! Get down! Get down!"

Dingding’s heart churned with even greater panic as she made more mistakes, provoking more jeers from below. She feared it wouldn’t be long before the little Maid would be beheaded by the date tree, and then her head would become one of the ’big-date’ heads below watching the play!

"I can’t wait any longer!"

Chen Shi gathered the dried talismans and was ready to go upstairs to rescue Dingding when another thought flashed through his mind, "The sharp decline in Incense Fire Qi led to the dry nurse of Sanhe Village being unable to contain the moonlight’s evil properties, turning into a demon. Yet the Incense Fire Qi of Sanhe Village is obviously thriving, so why can’t the dry nurse contain its evil properties?"