Chapter 54: The Straw Man
The vengeful ghostpossessing Uncle Huzi wasn't afraid of the rooster crowing ringtone.
It was afraid of daybreak.
Even the most vicious ghosts wouldn't dare to appear during the day.
Once the sun rose and shone on the ghost, it would immediately dissipate.
Hearing the rooster crowing, the ghost thought that daybreak was approaching, so it dropped Zhang Yunliang and hastily left.
After it had been away for a while, it would discover that it was still dark and would certainly return.
Although I didn't know why the vengeful ghostpossessing Uncle Huzi was targeting Zhang Yunliang, if it returned, it was definitely going to take Zhang Yunliang away.
Who knew what awaited him.
But the red aura hovering above Uncle Huzi's head looked familiar to me.
It was the same aura as the ghost that possessed Zhang Yucheng before.
This ghost must have had a deep grudge against the Zhang family.
It was relentlessly tormenting them.
After carrying Zhang Yunliang back, I placed him beside a coffin.
My mind was racing, trying to figure out how to deal with the returning ghost.
Within a short time, I had a plan.
The first time I saw Zhang Yunliang, I noticed that he had an ominous aura and an unfavorable appearance.
So, I secretly asked Zhang Yunyao for his birth date and time, and calculated his fortune.
I found that he would face a life-threatening disaster soon.
This wasn't the most important part.
What mattered was that I knew Zhang Yunliang's birth date and time.
Birth date and time are very important for every person.
Never reveal your birth date and time to anyone unless you trust them completely.
If it falls into the hands of someone with malicious intent, you won't even know how you died.
Having Zhang Yunliang's birth date and time made things easier.
I ran to the edge of the grove.
The vegetation there was very lush, unlike the Zhang family's ancestral grave, which was barren and lifeless.
I gathered a pile of weeds and quickly wove them into a straw man.
The workmanship was very crude, looking like a human figure, but that didn't matter.
Because this straw man was just to fool the ghost.
After weaving the straw man, I still didn't feel at ease.
I found a few stones and stuffed them into the straw man's belly.
Then, I took out a blank yellow paper talisman, dipped my finger in the blood on my shoulder, and wrote Zhang Yunliang's birth date and time on the yellow paper talisman.
I also stuffed it into the straw man's belly.
Finally, I took out a substitute talisman and stuck it on the straw man's forehead.
With both hands simultaneously forming seals, I chanted the following incantation:
"Substitute, substitute, white paper as your face, wild grass as your body, unactivated, you are just grass, activated, you have supernatural power, open your left ear to hear the underworld, your right ear to hear both yin and yang, you share the same name, surname, day, month, and year of birth with Zhang Yunliang, open your left hand to hold money, your right hand to hold disaster, punish those who deserve punishment, subdue those who need to be subdued, divine soldiers, hurry as commanded!"
After reciting this incantation in one breath, I extended my finger and pointed it sharply at the straw man's forehead.
The straw man, as if coming to life, suddenly sprang up straight from the ground.
At the same time, Zhang Yunliang, lying beside the coffin, suddenly trembled and sat up.
However, he didn't open his eyes.
But it was only for a moment.
The straw man and Zhang Yunliang both fell back to the ground.
I had made a substitute for Zhang Yunliang using straw.
The vengeful ghost possessing Uncle Huzi was definitely coming for Zhang Yunliang.
Now, I had switched the identities of the straw man and Zhang Yunliang.
The straw man was now Zhang Yunliang.
When the ghost came, it would only take the straw man.
So, this was a trick specifically for fooling ghosts.
After doing all this, I moved the straw man away and placed it on the edge of the Zhang family's ancestral grave.
I hid behind a coffin and waited quietly.
Time passed quickly, and half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, I saw Uncle Huzi again.
He was walking on tiptoes, his body leaning slightly forward, just like before.
He reappeared in the Zhang family's ancestral grave.
This time, his expression was no longer dull, and his eyes had a fierce look.
Perhaps he was angry because I had tricked him before.
After arriving at the Zhang family's ancestral grave, he sniffed with his nose, as if searching for something.
At this point, I had concealed my living aura and crouched behind the coffin, motionless.
Uncle Huzi searched the Zhang family's ancestral grave for a while, then quickly walked towards the straw man.
Without saying a word, he picked up the straw man and walked towards the forest again.
This time, he was in a hurry.
Seeing Uncle Huzi leave with the straw man, I breathed a sigh of relief again.
Tonight had been a real rollercoaster of terrifying events.
But I knew that it wasn't over yet.
The vengeful ghostpossessing Uncle Huzi would definitely return.
I felt that the ghost must be connected to the black shadow I saw in the forest earlier.
Perhaps the black shadow was controlling the ghost to do all this.
The ghost had first gone back to the Zhang family's old house and tormented Zhang Yucheng.
Now, it had come back to torment Zhang Yunliang.
In my current state, I had little hope of defeating Uncle Huzi, who was possessed by the ghost.
After all, I was badly injured, not to mention dealing with the vengeful ghost possessing Uncle Huzi.
If it returned, not only Zhang Yunliang, but I might also lose my life.
I had to come up with another plan.
I sat beside the coffin, searching through the techniques I had learned from my master over the years, each one flashing through my mind.
Those eight years hadn't been wasted.
I quickly came up with a new idea.
From the bag I was carrying, I took out a few triangular, palm-sized flags.
I walked to one side of the Zhang family's ancestral grave, which was the south, the direction of fire.
Fire is yang energy, and it was an excellent spot for the formation.
Later, I would set up a Spirit-Binding Formation on the south side of the Zhang family's ancestral grave.
Once the Spirit-Binding Formation was complete, if the ghost possessing Uncle Huzi came back, it would be trapped in the formation and couldn't escape.
Then, Zhang Yunliang and I would be safe.
Thinking about this, I quickly walked to the south.
According to the five elements, I stepped on the Dou Gang (a formation step), chanted the incantation, and inserted the flags into different positions of the formation.
Soon, the simple Spirit-Binding Formation was complete, and a faint white mist floated out of it.
At that moment, a beam of light suddenly shot towards me.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone