??¨¨¨¨¨By the time we returned to the residential compound, it was already getting late. Yu Xiaoxue was still watching TV and waiting for us to come back.
I turned on the lights in the courtyard, carried a pile of pottery-making tools to an empty space, put on my gloves, and began diluting and sifting the clay.
Yu Xiaoxue and Zhao Qian both came over, turning into a pair of curious little cats as they watched what I was doing. Diao Yixie.
"I'm making a teapot." That was the answer I gave them. If I said I was making an urn, they'd probably run away.
The Soul Urn for raising ghosts didn't need to be very large. A flat, round object about the size of a palm would do, and making it in the shape of a thermos flask wouldn't be a problem either. The key was that the pattern had to be drawn precisely, and it also needed a talisman core.
Without a talisman core, the Soul Urn would be useless. It wouldn't be able to summon ghosts or deities.
It took another hour to select and prepare the clay. Yu Xiaoxue found watching it dreadfully boring, but Zhao Qian knew that I had obtained these things at the risk of my life. Surely I wasn't simply making a teapot.
I switched on the pottery wheel, put on plastic gloves, and began shaping the form. Unfortunately, I failed to control the wheel's speed. The moment I applied force with my hand, the shape collapsed into a lump.
"This mud smells kind of awful. Is it from a fishpond?" Yu Xiaoxue asked, pinching her nose.
"Heh-heh." I didn't answer and continued fiddling with it according to the pottery-making method I'd seen on TV. If I told her it contained the blood