I took out the soul-calling gourd and shouted, "Hurry up and execute the order!" and put the five ghosts into the gourd.

Feeling overjoyed, I carried the gourd close to my body and ran back to the village singing a folk song.

Just as I reached the entrance of the village, I saw a familiar figure standing under the big locust tree.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Ku Quezi.

I went up and asked Ku Quezi what he was doing here. Ku Quezi smiled at me and said, "Waiting for you!"

Ku Quezi said that he was going to the neighboring village to preside over a happy event and happened to pass by our village, so he specially waited for me here to explain a few things to me.

Ku Quezi said, "Listen, I will explain the ghost-raising technique to you briefly. I won't explain it a second time, so you must remember it well!"

I nodded; my memory has always been good.

Ku Quezi told me that after catching the five ghosts, I should first nourish them with my essence blood. I only needed to prick my right index finger with a needle and squeeze a drop of blood into the gourd. Then, after seven days, feed them for the second time. Repeat this process for seven times, and after forty-nine days, the five ghosts should be in sync with their master's intentions.

After that, I can start feeding them with raw rice, also once every seven days, a small amount like half a dou. It should be enough to fill the gourd. On the night of the full moon, I can let them out to absorb some moonlight, which will benefit their future growth and cultivation.

After finishing his instructions, Ku Quezi hurriedly set off on his way.

Watching Ku Quezi's back, I thought to myself, huh, this so-called ghost-raising technique is just like raising pets, taking them out for a walk when there's nothing else to do. It's interesting.

When I returned home, I saw my parents sitting at the doorstep with red eyes, clearly having stayed up all night.

I looked at them with some pity and asked why they didn't sleep.

My father said, "You went to Gui Kugou alone. We were worried. How could we sleep!"

My mother patted the dust off me and asked me to take a bath first while she made a fried egg to replenish me.

My father asked about last night's situation, and I said everything went smoothly. I talked about the five Eighth Route Army ghosts that came to eat half-cooked rice and took the opportunity to capture them. As for the part about Gang Ben Taro, I omitted it completely because I didn't want my father to worry. If my father knew that I had almost been by a ghost, he probably wouldn't let me continue learning this line of work.

After taking a bath and eating the fried egg, I returned to my bedroom, ready to get a good night's sleep.

Before sleeping, I suddenly remembered Ku Quezi's instructions, so I got up and found a needle, pricking my own index finger.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A round droplet of blood overflowed. I opened the soul-calling gourd and dropped the droplet into the gourd's mouth. Then, I placed the soul-calling gourd next to my pillow and fell asleep feeling relieved.

When I woke up, it was already dark outside. My family left me a note saying that there was hot food in the pot and they went to visit relatives. They might not come back tonight.

Alone, I casually ate two bowls of rice, rested for a day, and felt like going out for some fresh air. I took out the red packet that Xie Qiang gave me last time, intending to buy some fireworks and firecrackers.

There were several hundred yuan in that red packet, which made me ecstatic. For a little kid, it was a huge sum of money that felt like it could never be spent.

Carrying the money, I naturally also carried the soul-calling gourd. Ever since last night, I regarded this soul-calling gourd as my talisman, not feeling at ease without it on me.

Arriving at the village shop near the entrance, I saw Fatty squatting in the corner crying.

I walked over and called out to Fatty, asking him why he was crying.

Fatty looked up, and I noticed that his face was bruised, covered in dust, as if someone had beaten him up.

Fatty said he came out with his New Year's money to buy firecrackers to play with, but he was bullied by Heizi. Heizi asked him to hand over the firecrackers, but he refused, so Heizi beat him up and took away all his firecrackers.

Seeing Fatty with a swollen pig-like face and being bullied like this, I couldn't help feeling angry. Heizi was notorious in the village, always stealing and causing trouble. At the age of sixteen or seventeen, he dropped out of school early and wandered around in society, disliked by everyone.

Once, he even stole things so boldly that he ended up stealing from Village Chief Yu's house, taking away an old laying hen that was still laying eggs. This made Village Chief Yu furious. When he rushed to Heizi's house, he found that the old laying hen had already been stewed in a pot by Heizi. Heizi even shamelessly retorted against Village Chief Yu, "Who says it's your chicken? You call it and see if it responds!"

I scratched my chin; it was time to teach Heizi a lesson.

Fatty was considered a friend to me, and seeing a friend being bullied like this, it didn't seem right if I didn't do something to help.

I thought for a moment and said to Fatty, "If you buy me a bottle of Wahaha, I will help you get your firecrackers back from Heizi!"

Fatty looked at me in surprise, with a somewhat disbelieving expression. "You dare ask Heizi for the firecrackers? Aren't you afraid he'll beat you?"

I crossed my arms and said, "Don't worry about how I do it. Just know that I will help you get your firecrackers back!"

"Deal!" Fatty stood up happily. "I'll buy you a Wahaha, and you help me get my firecrackers back!"

Fatty turned and went to the store to buy me a bottle of Wahaha. For kids in that era, drinking Wahaha was a luxury. Especially for us mountain kids, we only had the chance to have a taste of Wahaha during festivals.

After drinking the Wahaha, I told Fatty to go home and wait for me. I would make sure to help him vent his anger and get the firecrackers back.

Taking people's money to help resolve their troubles, after drinking Fatty's Wahaha, I naturally had to help him out.

After parting ways with Fatty, I returned home and took out the soul-calling gourd, placing it on the table.

I spoke to the soul-calling gourd, "Brothers, that Heizi snatched my friend's firecrackers. Which one of you will help me get the firecrackers back?"

After shouting for a while, there was no response from the soul-calling gourd. It was then that I remembered, in order to perform the Five Ghosts Move Mountains technique, I must first use a talisman to command them, which would then compel the ghosts to do things.

I scratched my head; Ku Quezi didn't give me any yellow talismans, so how could I use one?

Thinking about it, there was no other way but to make one myself.

There were yellow talismans and cinnabar at home, so I quickly found them and placed them on the table.

The wisdom of the working people is infinite. I opened the "Three Clearings Book" and, copying the talisman patterns from the book, I clumsily drew a ghost-expelling talisman.

Drawing talismans is a skilled craft. Although the ghost-expelling talisman is not complicated, it was my first time drawing a talisman, so my hand was rough. It took me more than half an hour, leaving me drenched in sweat.

I picked up the ghost-expelling talisman; the lines were a bit crooked, like many earthworms, very ugly with no sense of beauty.

It may be ugly, but as long as it works, it's fine. Let's give it a try!