Chapter 38

We returned to the neighborhood a bit late, and Yu Xiaoxue was still watching TV, waiting for us to come back.

I turned on the lights in the courtyard, moved a pile of pottery-making tools to the open space, put on gloves, and started to dilute and sift the clay.

Yu Xiaoxue and Zhao Qian both gathered around, curious about what I was doing.

"I'm making a teapot," I told them. If I said I was making an urn for ashes, they would probably run away.

The soul jar for raising ghosts doesn't need to be very large, just a palm-sized flat round object. It could even be shaped like a warm water bottle, but the key is that the patterns drawn on it must be precise, and it must have the core of a talisman.

Without the core of the talisman, the soul jar would be useless and unable to attract ghosts.

It took me an hour to select the clay, and Yu Xiaoxue was already bored. Only Zhao Qian knew that I had risked my life to get these things, and it definitely wasn't just to make a teapot.

I turned on the pottery wheel, put on plastic gloves, and started to shape the clay, but I didn't control the speed of the wheel well, and the shape collapsed into a lump when I applied too much force.

"This mud smells bad. Is it from a fish pond?" Yu Xiaoxue pinched her nose and asked me.

"Hehe." I didn't say anything, continuing to follow the pottery-making methods I saw on TV. If I told her it contained blood or pieces of a corpse, she might faint.

Zhao Qian knew the origin of this yin soil. The smell of salted fish came from where I took the soil. I didn't know it at the time, which was understandable, but now, if she still didn't understand, she would be a fool. There must have been a dead body buried there.

I continued to make a round pot, but unfortunately, I failed several times in a row. Even when I lowered my standards, just wanting to make something, no matter how crooked, it still couldn't hold its shape.

My hands were already cold and trembling. The yin soil contained resentment, as if it had a will of its own, which was why I kept failing.

"Brother Tian, let me try. My hands are more skillful." Yu Xiaoxue said, moving closer to me and staring at the red, smelly mud.

Before I could stop her, she reached into the bucket of clay!

"Don't touch it!" I immediately shouted, trying to pull her back, but it was too late. Yu Xiaoxue had already put her hand in the mud, and her skin immediately turned white.

"It's so fun!" Yu Xiaoxue happily kneaded the mud, which made me panic.

She took the clay, pushed me aside, and took over the pottery wheel.

"Be good, and turn into a teapot!" Yu Xiaoxue said, using her soft, delicate fingers to shape the clay. In just a few moments, the pot that I couldn't shape at all came to life in her hands!

I slapped my forehead. It seemed I definitely didn't have a talent for pottery!

"Xue, don't you feel cold?" I asked, seeing that Yu Xiaoxue didn't seem to have any issues touching the clay, and she even seemed to enjoy it. I was curious because I felt very uncomfortable even with gloves on.

"No, it's just a bit cool, and it's quite fun." Yu Xiaoxue said, taking more clay and sawdust, applying them as she worked. This was to prevent the finished product from cracking during firing, showing her skill.

"Have you played with this before?" I asked, realizing that the heavy yin energy might be why I couldn't touch the clay, while Yu Xiaoxue and Zhao Qian had no problems.

"Yes, our teacher taught us some, and we used to play with it. When adults built houses and fired bricks, we would put our creations inside. It's just not as convenient as this." Yu Xiaoxue said.

"Oh, I see." I understood. It seemed that people indeed had their strengths and weaknesses.

My grandmother's yin energy was also quite strong, which is why she couldn't inherit the ghost-raising tradition. So, if she needed to make a clay pot, she would have to get someone else to do it.

"Alright, make a few more like that for me, and remember to make the lids too. I was being too stubborn trying to do everything myself. Since Yu Xiaoxue is so clever, I'll let her handle it."

"I still need to dry and bake them, and then carve some things on them." I plugged in the electric oven, put the two clay pots I had made inside, and set it to a low temperature to dry them.

While they were baking, I picked up the white gypsum figurines I had bought from the street and tried to carve some advanced talismans on them.

However, the talismans I carved were all crooked and messy, often slipping or breaking through the surface. Even when I managed to finish one, it looked like it had been bitten by a dog. Could this work?

My heart felt like it had been doused with cold water. Was it different from drawing talismans? How clumsy could my hands be?

I was about to smash the figurines in frustration when Zhao Qian took one and, with a few graceful strokes, perfectly copied the talisman I had sweated to draw!

Tears welled up in my eyes. "Brother, are my hands really that clumsy?"

With a few more strokes, Zhao Qian completed another talisman and held the gypsum figurine in front of me. "Is this okay, Qian?"

"Yes, it's pretty good, very neat. Although it lacks the fluidity of mine, since Xue has taken over the pottery, I can't favor one over the other, right? The task of drawing talismans will be yours. By the way, I need to teach you a few talisman core incantations. You need to burn incense, paper, and recite them while carving." I nodded, praising her in a mature manner.

"Okay." Zhao Qian looked up at me with a beautiful smile.

I didn't blush or feel nervous, took out my grandmother's book, pointed to a few incantations, and showed her where to draw them, teaching her the talisman core incantations.

Zhao Qian recorded them carefully and started practicing on the gypsum figurines. To my dismay, she was quite good after just a few minutes.

If it was just one or two talismans, it would be fine, but when a bunch of them were together, the complexity and difficulty were evident. Although I had practiced before, I definitely couldn't do it as easily as she could. It seemed I was no match for her in carving.

I wondered how good her talisman-making skills were. Maybe I should test her with some advanced talismans. Who knows, she might be able to do it too?

Companions are a crucial part of the "Wealth, Dharma, Companion, and Place" principle. If they were interested, I wanted to train both of them to be experts. This way, I would give up on making things myself and become a coordinator and supporter behind the scenes, while they would excel in practical skills, leaving me in the dust.

The complete soul jars soon appeared in their hands, even better in quality than those made by my grandmother. With the talismans I had chosen, they would definitely be suitable for raising Xijun.

Although the talismans and methods described in my grandmother's book were considered basic, capable of containing slightly powerful ghosts, I was very satisfied with the quality. If conditions were right in the future, they might even be able to make soul jars for ghost kings, though that was impossible now.

When the sixth soul jar was made, the clay was completely used up. The six prototypes were identical, and I carefully placed them in the electric oven.

I turned on the switch, set the temperature and the time to turn off, and breathed a sigh of relief. If we were lucky, one or two might succeed by morning. The success rate of soul jars with talismans was not high, as there were many factors involved.

I checked my phone; it was 12:30 AM. I prepared to take Zhao Qian to Zhao Family Village.

"It's about time. Get ready, and bring everything you can use. We're going to the village. Tonight is the last night of the vigil, and tomorrow we'll send the old man up the mountain." I felt a twitch in my brow. Something was bound to happen tonight; otherwise, Zhao Qian's uncle wouldn't give up, as he hadn't gotten what he wanted.

"Okay, I understand." Zhao Qian's face was a bit somber, unsure of what to do.

"Zhao Qian, don't worry. If those old bastards behave tonight, Brother Tian will let them live a bit longer. If they dare to make a move, I'll kill them immediately!" I thought of how Zhao Qian almost died in the hospital last night, and I clenched my teeth in anger.

"Wow, Brother Tian, you're so fierce!" Yu Xiaoxue grabbed my hand, her eyes shining with admiration.

"Hmph, of course." I raised my hand and looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.

"Thank you, Brother Tian." Zhao Qian's face turned red, and she looked at me with a very moved expression, feeling that a man should be like this. Her somber mood vanished.

I felt I had put on a good show, so I quickly got into the car and instructed Yu Xiaoxue to sleep well at home, not to sleep on the sofa, and to call Han Shanshan if she was scared, asking her to come over and stay with her.

Zhao Qian's house had good feng shui, with a fixed star compass in the safe, so ordinary ghosts wouldn't dare to approach.

I had my own considerations. While the compass was good for assessing the terrain and intimidating ghosts, in a real fight, it was Xijun who would be needed, not the compass.

This time, Zhao Qian brought her money sword, peach wood sword, and bell, a whole suitcase of things. Although she wasn't the main vigil keeper, she wouldn't sit idly by like last night.

After starting the car, Zhao Qian got into the passenger seat.

Seeing Zhao Qian's mood stabilize, I felt much better and thought that even if we encountered problems tonight, we could handle them step by step.

However, just as we drove out of the gate, Zhao Qian's phone rang, and she frowned slightly. "It's Dad."

"Answer it. He's probably asking when you'll arrive at the village." I tried to reassure her, seeing her worry.

"Dad, it's me." Zhao Qian nodded.

But then, Zhao Qian fell silent. After a while, her face gradually turned pale.

Trouble was coming. From Zhao Qian's expression, I knew it. Zhao Xi wouldn't call his daughter unless it was something serious, and if he did, it was undoubtedly a big deal, something that might be hard for ordinary people to accept.