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The fangs of the Witch Doll pierced Zhou Yanhui's palm, staining the altar's inscriptions with his blood. The soul-binding spells, etched in corpse oil, suddenly floated into the air, weaving a blood-red net among Wu Sheng's skeletons. Liu Chanyi's Skeleton rose from the Water Surface, its Costume transforming into flesh that enveloped the white bones, while maggots beneath the Jade Mask pieced together Zhou Yanhui's birth chart.
"Do you know the wonders of the Hua Pi Box?" Wang Sihai tore open his chest, revealing a nest of Gu Worms within. The Silver-Winged Centipedes were gnawing at his entrails, and with each inch of flesh consumed, they regurgitated half a bloodied Jade Mask: "Every generation of theater champions must spend ten years as a Bone-Clad Maiden, nurturing these Blood Centipedes with live Human Skin..."
Zhou Yanhui's sword pierced through the altar floor, revealing a roster of the Opera Troupe soaked in medicinal liquor beneath. On the yellowed rice paper were listed twenty-eight names, each crossed out with Cinnabar, and the last line boldly stated: "In the ninth year of the Republic, Liu Chanyi replaced Zhou Yanhui." In the tide-stained ink, Gu Worms swirled to reveal the truth behind the sunken ship incident—he was indeed the chosen sacrifice.
The Sunken Coffin suddenly exploded. Nine hundred ninety-nine Coffin Nails transformed into silver rain, pinning the members of the Opera Troupe to Liang Zhu. Lin Xiu's scream abruptly ceased as her skin shed like a Costume, revealing a body composed of Silver-Winged Centipedes beneath. Zhang Songling's Erhu strings tightened around his neck on their own accord; seven shriveled hearts rolled out from the instrument case, each engraved with lyrics from Peony Pavilion.
"You escaped the river sacrifice back then; today you must complete the formation." Liu Chanyi's Skeleton raised its hand to summon Yin Soldiers. The faceless soldiers' armor fell away piece by piece, exposing the corpses of past leaders of the Opera Troupe. They carried forth the Hundred-Year Stage, which thunderously opened to release countless pieces of Human Skin painted with Zhou Yanhui's visage.
Zhou Yanhui suddenly recalled details from three years ago: when Liu Chanyi had made him drink poison, he had hidden half a Xiangxi Corpse Transport Talisman in the bottom of his makeup box. He tore open the skull of a woman in bridal attire and found a Peach Wood Wedge within her cranial cavity—the very talisman his master had taught him to use against evil.
"I'm sorry, Chan Yi." Zhou Yanhui drove the Peach Wood Wedge into the Witch Doll's Crown of Heaven. The theater trembled violently as Wu Sheng's skeleton in the Water Surface abruptly changed direction, dragging Liu Chanyi's Skeleton into the Wreckage. The Blood Centipedes screamed as they self-immolated, burning out an arrangement of twenty-eight constellations among Liang Zhu.
Wang Sihai's body began to melt away. A swarm of Silver-Winged Centipedes surged forth from beneath his skin, each bearing a human face that repeated a single line from the Singing Lyrics: "It turns out that all colors bloom everywhere..." Zhou Yanhui swung his sword to sever the Bronze Lamp at the altar's center; where lamp oil spilled, Taoist decrees emerged—exactly what Liu Chanyi had written on his collar three years ago as a life-saving talisman using lipstick.
Yuanjiang suddenly surged with massive waves; the Yin Soldier ranks disintegrated into ashes amidst thunder and fire. The Human Skin drifting from the Hundred-Year Stage enveloped members of the Opera Troupe and pulled them into boiling black waters. Zhou Yanhui grasped Liu Chanyi's remaining skull and leaped onto a beam, witnessing his birth announcement twisting into ash within the talisman fire.
"Brother... take care..." The voice of the Silver-Winged Centipede suddenly whispered in Liu Chanyi's tone, and the Jade Mask shattered in response.
The porcelain shards formed a Bagua mirror in the air, revealing the truth behind the theater's construction—Zhou Yanhui's biological mother was the previous generation of Bone-Clad Maiden, and he was chosen to continue this fleshly curse.
At dawn, Yuanjiang rose with the charred corpse of Wu Sheng clad in Costume. Zhou Yanhui knelt at the Ferry Crossing, burning the last piece of Joss Paper, and Liu Chanyi's lingering shadow emerged from the ashes.
As he tossed the Peach Wood Wedge into the heart of the river, the Hundred-Year Stage on the opposite bank collapsed with a thunderous roar. The Costumes hanging in Zaojing transformed into a rain of blood, spelling out eight mottled characters on the mudflat:
"Souls return as the play ends, flesh is reborn."
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