The bamboo forest was quiet, with only the cries of Er Gou's mother echoing in the air.

We didn't know how to comfort her, so we just let her vent her emotions.

Someone had dug up her son's grave, and her son had turned into a monster resembling a zombie. The pain that Er Gou's mother was enduring was unimaginable for us.

Everyone split up to search for any trace of Er Gou on Hook Mountain, but even after searching until noon, there were no findings.

We had stayed up all night, and our physical energy was depleted. We were not mentally prepared to continue searching, so we had to return to the village to rest.

As everyone descended the mountain, Xie Qiang asked why I wasn't planning to leave yet. I told him that I had an idea that might help find Er Gou.

Xie Qiang asked in amazement what my plan was. I took out the Soul-summoning Gourd from my pocket.

Xie Qiang looked at me curiously and said, "The Calabash Brothers?"

"This is the art of summoning spirits!" I said as I took out a talisman and shouted forcefully, "Urgent as military orders!"

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up from the ground, causing Xie Qiang to take two steps back.

I opened the mouth of the gourd, and Xie Qiang exclaimed, "I think I saw something coming out of the gourd!"

I nodded and told Xie Qiang that those were the five ghosts I had collected, equivalent to my five little brothers.

Xie Qiang looked envious and said, "That's so cool, to have five ghosts as little brothers!"

Previously, the ghosts had scared Heizi away, so Kuzuzi punished me by sealing the Soul-summoning Gourd for a whole year.

This was the first time I had used the art of summoning spirits after lifting the seal on the gourd. As long as Er Gou was still on Hook Mountain, I believed that the five ghosts could bring him back.

Xie Qiang asked how long we had to wait, and I said I didn't know either. I told him to sit down and rest while leaving the task of capturing Er Gou to the five ghosts.

Xie Qiang and I found a large tree and sat down, leaning against the trunk, ready to take a nap.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches and fell warm on our faces, quickly making us feel drowsy.

Just as I was about to doze off, I heard Long Yi's rough voice ringing in my ears, "Boss, we're back!"

I opened my eyes and saw all five ghosts standing in front of me. Er Gou's limbs were tightly restrained, with Long Er and Long San holding down his arms, and Long Si and Long Wu holding down his legs, rendering him completely immobilized.

Er Gou struggled but couldn't move, only making hoarse roars from his throat.

Xie Qiang also woke up and was amazed, saying, "Yang Cheng, you... you're amazing!"

I smiled and humbly said, "Just a small trick."

I praised the five ghosts for doing a great job. Long Yi complained to me, saying that they had been sealed in the gourd for a year and hadn't eaten anything. Now they had to help with this task on an empty stomach. It occurred to me that since the Soul-summoning Gourd was sealed, I hadn't taken care of the ghosts at all.

Kuzuzi had taught me the art of ghost-taming, and I still remembered it. In the early stages, blood was needed for nourishment. Every seven days, I had to drip a drop of fresh blood into the gourd, repeating this process seven times. After that, I would switch to feeding them with raw rice, once every seven days, half a measure each time, just enough to fill the gourd. If it happened to be a full moon night, I could release them and let them absorb some moonlight to promote their growth and cultivation.

Listening to Long Yi's complaints, I also felt a little guilty. It seemed like I wasn't fulfilling my duties as their master. During the Mid-Autumn Festival a few days ago, with such a big moon, I forgot to release the ghosts for cultivation. I was truly ashamed.

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I expressed my apologies to the five ghosts, then carefully observed Er Gou in front of me.

Based on Er Gou's external features, there were no signs of corpse transformation. But how did Er Gou run back here?

I rubbed my chin and paced back and forth in front of Er Gou. The stench of a corpse wafted into my nose, indicating that Er Gou had been dead for a long time.

What was going on?

Just as I was puzzled, a glimmer of cold light appeared on the top of Er Gou's head.

Xie Qiang also noticed the glimmer of light and quickly asked me what it was.

Er Gou didn't have much hair, with only a thin layer of stubble on his head. I reached out and pushed aside his hair, only to find a silver needle sticking out of the top of Er Gou's head. The needle was almost completely embedded in his skull, with only a small portion sticking out. The sunlight reflected off the needle, revealing its presence and allowing us to discover this secret.

Xie Qiang and I exchanged glances, both feeling puzzled. Why was there a silver needle sticking out of Er Gou's head? It was clearly done by someone, right?

Xie Qiang rolled up his sleeves and volunteered to grab the needle. He carefully pulled it out from Er Gou's head.

The silver needle was about half an inch long and bone-chillingly cold.

To our surprise, as the needle was pulled out, a wisp of black smoke drifted out from the top of Er Gou's head.

Er Gou, who had been struggling and roaring, gradually stopped moving, like a deflated balloon.

I gently twirled the silver needle in my hand, feeling uneasy. Could this silver needle be controlling Er Gou? Who was behind all this, and how did they possess such evil magic?

I carefully stored the silver needle close to me, planning to consult Kuzuzi later. As someone well-versed in dark magic, he might know what kind of evil magic this was.

I recalled the five ghosts into the gourd and then, together with Xie Qiang, reburied Er Gou's corpse. We quickly filled in the grave and made it look presentable. Both of us were exhausted and panting.

Wiping the sweat off his face, Xie Qiang asked if Er Gou would crawl out again.

I said he shouldn't because we had the silver needle that controlled him in our hands.

Xie Qiang said, "It's really bizarre, to be able to control a corpse with a silver needle. It's unbelievable!"

I nodded, a shadow cast over my heart. It wasn't a good thing to have someone who knew dark magic appear by our side.

No, things could be very serious. I had to go find Kuzuzi immediately.

We descended from Hook Mountain, and I asked Xie Qiang to go back first while I went to the neighboring village to find Kuzuzi.

When I arrived at Kuzuzi's house, it was already dark outside.

Kuzuzi was cooking over a fire, and my visit surprised him. He asked if something had happened; otherwise, I wouldn't have come to find him in such a hurry.

I briefly told Kuzuzi about the incident of the dead returning to the village. When I mentioned the silver needle, Kuzuzi's expression became grave, and he furrowed his brows.

Kuzuzi asked me to show him the silver needle, so I took out the needle from my pocket and handed it to him, saying, "Here, this is the silver needle that was stuck in Er Gou's head. I suspect someone used this silver needle to control his corpse!"

In the dim light, Kuzuzi held up the silver needle and examined it carefully for a moment. His face turned extremely ugly.

After a while, Kuzuzi put down the silver needle and said to me, "Your guess is correct, this is... the art of corpse control!"