The first thing Han Xuhan did after getting out of the grove was to run straight for Elder Daheng's mansion. In the dissipating fog, running uphill wasn't easy. But he still ran faster than he had ever run in his life.

He was so scared that he didn't even dare to look back. The fear only subsided once he managed to burst through the entrance of the mansion, making a ruckus that attracted every servant working there.

Elder Daheng was, as usual, sleeping soundly in his bedroom, having given the servants an order to turn away whoever came to visit. But seeing Han Xuhan's distraught countenance, they got the hint that refusing him wasn't an option.

Eventually, a bleary-eyed Elder Daheng came downstairs and plopped down on a recliner, waving at Han Xuhan to speak. By this time, Han Xuhan had calmed down and gathered his thoughts. He opened the conversation from an indirect angle.

"Elder, are there ghosts in this world in this world?"

Elder Daheng groggily stared at him for a good moment. "Ghosts? If you mean the folktales you heard in your childhood, about green-skinned, blood-draining, semi-spiritual, nocturnal monsters... They aren't real."

Han Xuhan silently cursed the man. If they weren't real, why did he have to make the description so detailed?

"But outside the knowledge of mortal societies, ghosts do exist. It's just a policy of the orthodoxies to keep matters related to ghosts suppressed."

The chill in Han Xuhan's spine returned with twice the intensity. So the possibility couldn't entirely be waved off!

"Why is the information about ghosts suppressed?"

Elder Daheng looked troubled. After much deliberation, he said, "To be honest, even I don't know why. The tradition has existed for numerous generations.

"Back in my youth, when I was attracted to every unusual and novel thing under the sky, I looked into it and learned that even before our world saw officially established sects, when cultivators at the Soul Reformation realm could be counted on one hand, such a policy existed in every royal court.

"Perhaps they did it to avoid spreading panic and superstitions among the common people. Perhaps there are other reasons involved. No one can say for sure."

Han Xuhan wasn't satisfied with the answer. He probed deeper.

"Since you do know that ghosts exist, you must have unearthed some information about them, right? Can this disciple learn about them as well, Elder?"

"Let me think about what I'm allowed to say...." Elder Daheng thought for a long time before speaking again.

"Mm, I can tell you what ghosts are by nature. Just don't go around discussing these things. In fact, ghosts can be called a separate lifeform. They are born when a human soul fails to enter the heavenly cycle of life and death.

"Some aspects of the soul dissipate into pure energy, some get lost to unknown sources of corruption, and the fragmented remains can amass themselves into a sentient existence.

"Formed this way, a ghost has to survive on the spirituality of heaven and earth. And if they want to get stronger, they have to turn on living humans, exploiting them in some ways beyond my knowledge.

"But I do know that ghosts can grow strong enough through such methods, even becoming capable of contending with cultivators. If you have enough connections to big sects and search hard enough, you'll definitely find some ancient texts that record encounters and battles with ghosts."

"Our sect is a big sect too," Han Xuhan said. "Is there anything about them in the Archives?"

"Seems like you haven't realized it yet, disciple Xuhan. Our Sect is a little different from the big names you'll hear in the world outside. We don't focus on collecting old records, maintaining heritage, learning history, or abiding by traditions."

Elder Daheng looked a little frustrated as he said this. Clearly he would've preferred otherwise.

"You haven't been to other big sects. So I'll have to teach you the difference with an analogy. Take the educational institutions in the mortal world. Which ones are known to be the best?"

"In a region ruled by a king, the royal academies should be the best, right?" Han Xuhan answered tentatively, recalling Xuanyuan Zhou's stories about her hometown.

"Exactly! Every royal family ensures that their own people get the highest standard of education. But what do they typically teach there? How to fight? How to kill people? How to cultivate?"

"...I wouldn't know."

"They don't," Elder Daheng said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "They focus on scholarly achievements. They pass down heritage, etiquette, history, and theoretical knowledge.

"The practical skills like cultivation, martial arts, and forging political connections—these are up to the disciples' personal choices and capabilities.

"Those with resources can make use of these teachings, but the ordinary son of a low-level aristocrat, or a talented son of a poor family is just wasting his time there.

"So what other options remain open to him? He can't just go mingle with the commoners' academies to memorize old books in hopes of making a living as a poor scholar. He has to go somewhere that'll teach him what his affluent peers are learning. He needs to cultivate practical ability without the expensive baggage.

"Now imagine the same plight in the cultivation world. It's not easy to enter big sects. Aside from wealth and talent, luck and connections play a big role in each recruitment. That's where sects like ours come in.

"Instead of following the traditional path of a powerful sect's gradual growth, we concentrate our resources and efforts on versatile and extreme practical skills. Since the Mystic is the easiest to cultivate, we guide our disciples most heavily in that direction."

"In the same vein, our investment into the impractical aspects of sect management is very low. The archives pavilion doesn't contain much aside from manuals for Mystic Arts and Martial Arts. You'd be hard-pressed to even find a good book on Monasticism because it's hard to cultivate. So looking for information about ghosts here is a pipe dream."

Han Xuhan didn't doubt the Elder's claim. Although he himself hadn't gotten to visit all the floors of the Archives, his experience in the lower two floors was enough to verify it.

"Anyway, why are you so interested in ghosts all of a sudden? You didn't wake me up just to ask this, did you?" Elder Daheng's voice took on a threatening tone.

"Elder, I thought I had an encounter with a ghost," Han Xuhan said defensively. "But it seems like my lack of understanding misguided the assumption. The encounter was just too strange!"

Elder Daheng snorted. "Are you sure you didn't get pranked by someone practicing a Mystic Art?"

"There wasn't anything related to Mystic techniques involved..." Han Xuhan quickly recounted the whole story, showing the map as well.

When he pointed out the location of that hut, Elder Daheng's countenance turned strange.

"The map isn't wrong. There really is no hut in that spot. As the master of this mountain, I know that much at least," he muttered, bringing back the cloud of fear in Han Xuhan's heart.

"...Then who did I meet?!"

"That's... difficult to say. Let's go there and check, shall we?"

Han Xuhan jumped to his feet, ready to head back with a powerhouse in toe. Whoever or whatever that woman might be, he didn't have to fear her as long as an Elder was protecting him!

It didn't take more than a few minutes to return to the grove. Han Xuhan stuck uncomfortably close to the Elder as he guided the way through the dense trees and shrubs.

"There! I remember those vines! The hut is on the other side of that big tree!"

Whispering excitedly, he pushed his way through, only to come to a sudden halt, face turning stiff.

In the spot of the hut, a large rock stuck out from the soil, appearing as old as the mountain itself. In several of its cracks, anthills and thick moss could be seen.

"This can't be right. I definitely saw a hut here. I sat on the patio. I had a conversation with the occupant of the hut, who said things that would never occur in my imagination!"

Elder Daheng slowly came to his side and observed the area with a profound gaze. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"Disciple Xuhan, the fog that passed through this area... Do you think it might have affected your mind and given birth to hallucinations?"

"The warning label for this fog was Lungs Rotting Cough, not realistic hallucinations!" Han Xuhan retorted, almost losing control of his temper.

"These predictions might not always be accurate. Those pill masters of our sect are too damn unreliable. The fog itself is the proof of their shitty skill," Elder Daheng said with a helpless shrug.

"Besides, spiritual pollution is an inherent attribute of the fog. It'll be present even if there are other dominant attributes in some parts of its volume."

"Even if the warning is faulty, my mask isn't! If the entire thing was a hallucination, it has to mean that this mask's filtration array doesn't work."

"Let me see the mask." Elder Daheng grabbed it from his face before he could agree to it, scrutinizing the tiny arrays inscribed on its surface.

"I do know a little about arrays," he said offhandedly, noticing Han Xuhan's befuddled look.

"And it seems like the qi signature in this mask doesn't match the refined qi inside your meridians. Did someone else activate the mask?"

Han Xuhan was stunned. That's right. He hadn't considered this possibility. Zhanxian had charged the mask, hadn't he?

Could that be the reason for his mind to be polluted by the fog?