Aunt Diao lifted the lid of the pot and used chopsticks to poke at the meat inside. Steam filled the air, making it difficult for her to see, but she could hear the sound.

As Aunt Diao was about to close the lid, she bent down to look inside the stove and seemed to have spotted a bottle of pesticide. She tried to remove it with the poker.

Just as the poker went in, there was a loud boom—

The stove exploded.

Aunt Diao fell to the ground, screaming like a slaughtered pig.

But as soon as the sound came out of her throat, she was immediately frightened.

From above Aunt Diao.

Several steaming pig heads, sheep heads, and cow heads were falling from the sky.

Along with them were large iron pots and a pot of boiling water.

To create more smoke, I had put sulfur, sawdust, and flour in the pesticide bottle.

Aunt Diao's pig-like screams erupted once again.

"Oh, it's so hot! It's scalding!"

Amidst the thick black smoke, voices were heard, but no one could be seen.

I took out a small bottle containing a solution of methanol and borax that I had bought from the clinic. After dipping a rag in it, I lit it with a lighter, and immediately a green flame burst forth.

The rag was tied to a small iron chain, which I swung around on the roof.

People inside the house heard Aunt Diao's screams and rushed out.

They saw a large ball of ghostly fire flickering across the courtyard, causing panic.

I tied a mud whistle to the iron chain and as I spun it around, I heard sharp and eerie howling from the sky.

Diao Laiyin quickly asked,

"What's happening? Did our hungry ghosts come out?"

Diao Laijin quickly waved his hand.

"Sida, fetch the sword quickly!"

The Diao family members started bustling in the courtyard.

I flipped over and jumped down from the eaves, sneaking into the main room.

Inside, there was a large ancestral altar filled with rows of memorial tablets. The room was not lit, but there were many candles in front of the altar.

I picked up a candle to illuminate the room and quickly found Qiu Ge's name inside.

Her memorial tablet was special.

The ancestral tablets of the Diao family had red wooden bases with gold characters, but Qiu Ge's had green characters.

I grabbed Qiu Ge's memorial tablet and discovered that the base was sticky. I sniffed it and it smelled like blood. There were strange symbols drawn on the back and a black braid hanging from it.

I whispered to the memorial tablet,

"Sister, you've suffered. Brother will take you home."

I put Qiu Ge's memorial tablet in my backpack and noticed that there were several other women's tablets on it as well. They had red bases with green characters, symbols drawn in blood, and braids hanging from them. I knew they were the other women from the Diao family who had been turned into hungry ghosts. I stole them as well.

The five sons of the Diao family were carrying Aunt Diao into the house, and I, carrying the memorial tablet, stepped on the window sill and quietly slipped away.

The five tablets behind me clinked and clanked.