“What are you talking about? Tell me in detail!”

As Chung Myung pressed them for more, Baek Sang elaborated,

“A ghost rose up!”

“Right, and you mean?”

“Those who walked on the sides of the building saw a ghost with a weird look moving about! Actually, not one person, but two!”

“… and so?”

“So? A ghost is there!”

The more Baek Sang talked, the more Chung Myung looked lost.

“Sasuk.”

“Uh?”

“What does Sasuk do?”

“Me? I am… a Taoist.”

“Then go!”

Chung Myung kicked Baek Sang,

“Kuak!”

The man screamed as he rolled on the ground.

“Human! A Taoist does what? Ghost? When one ghost pops up, you guys make a fuss about it, acting all scared by it?”

This is a Taoist sect!

A place where individuals walked on the path of Tao and saved people by following the principles which expel evil.

In other words…

“Shamans go to those who become possessed by spirits and save them to earn money! Some Taoists you all are, making a fuss about seeing some ghosts! If you are afraid of them, then who will catch them? Who!”

Chung Myung began to huff and breathe loudly.

“And do we only have a single Taoist here? Where are the other ones?”

“Monk Hae Yeon?”

“Yes!”

“That… after hearing that a ghost had appeared, he closed his door and began to recite sutras…”

“… ah, this is seriously…”

As if Chung Myung’s head ached, he covered it with his hand.

“There are so many Taoists and monks here, but there is not a single decent one among them. Oh my, my work.”

This was like a cat being afraid of rats. How could a Taoist be scared of ghosts?

“But they have an accumulation of qi? Can we do anything?”

“Then we stomp them…”

“That mouth!”

“Ugh.”

The disciples who had flocked to him as if seeing their savor were now trembling at the look of Chung Myung. And Chung Myung clicked his tongue,

“Where in the world is a ghost… ghost… ah, wait.”

After all, am I not also a ghost?

“Uh?”

In the past, when Chung Myung heard about ghosts, he would snort in their faces; he thought this was all nonsense that didn’t need to occupy any space in his brain.

“Ghost.”

When Baek Cheon mumbled that, Yoon Jong said,

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say that the reason we got this manor place so cheaply was that there was a story about a ghost?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Then it was not nonsense. The fact that a manor in this very busy and crowded place was left abandoned meant that something happened. And didn’t two people see the ghost?”

“…. Then you mean a ghost actually appeared?”

Baek Cheon tilted his head.

No matter how much he thought about it, really, a ghost in a Taoist’s area?

“Samae, what do you think…’

Baek Cheon turned to Yu Yiseol, who was always two steps behind him, but…

“Where did she go to…”

His words wouldn’t even end as he saw her stepping close to the entrance gate of the sub-sect.

“… what are you doing?”

At his question, she mumbled with a blunt face as always,

“Ghost.”

“…”

“Knives won’t work. Scary.”

“…”

Baek Cheon looked at the sky like he had lost all hope.

‘This person isn’t normal either.’

That word could be interpreted in several manners.

On the surface, it could mean that a ghost could not be attacked with a sword, so it was scary. But, in another way, it meant that there was nothing scary about something that was hurt by a stab from a sword as much as humans.

For some reason, it seemed like the times were turning them more severe.

“Baek Sang.”

“Yes, Sahyung”

“Who witnessed this ghost?”

“Ah. A disciple of Huayoung. He was so shocked that we put him to rest.”

“And the other one?”

“It was me.”

“…”

“…”

Baek Cheon covered his face.

‘There really are no normal people here.’

This bastard truly seemed sane back in the day, so how did he become ruined so quickly?

Well.

How many people are there on Mount Hua who haven’t been tainted?

Baek Cheon sighed as he asked,

“Tell me exactly what you saw.”

“Yes, Sahyung! While I was about to move to the side of the building, I felt a bit scared for some reason and raised my head.”

“Okay.”

“And something whitish passed by! I knew as soon as I saw it! It was a ghost! At the same time, I felt goosebumps rise up all over my body!”

“And?’

“That is all.”

“…”

“…”

Baek Cheon, who looked at Baek Sang with eyes filled with disgust, clenched his fists.

“… calm down, Sasuk.”

“I want to do that too.”

I want to be calm, too, you bastard!

Baek Cheon tried hard to calm his breathing and glanced around. Although Chung Myung calmed down and stopped threatening them, the disciples still looked anxious.

“Is there no way that it couldn’t have been a ghost? It was like a warrior who moved so fast your eyes could not follow him.”

“People cannot do that, though. That… it wasn’t fast. It was a haze… it seemed half transparent. More than anything, there was this gloomy aura around it.”

“… Hmm.”

Baek Cheon was silent as he sighed.

He could be in the finance hall now, but Baek Sang was someone who was pretty skilled among the Baek disciples, wasn’t he a rational person?

There was no way he would be scared if it was nothing.

‘A real ghost appeared?’

Baek Cheon looked blankly.

Was it because of the mood?

The hallway of the place looked gloomy for no reason. And this was a new building they had built with their own hands, but it looked old.

“What do we do, Chung Myung?”

“About?”

“The ghost”

“What about it?”

“… no, it was a ghost.”

Chung Myung snorted at the mention.

“What could be the problem with a ghost? If our knife stabs something, we aren’t scared, and if our knife cannot stab anything, then there is more reason not to be afraid of the problems which come from stabbing, right?”

“…”

Weird logic.

Chung Myung waved his hand, looking annoyed.

“If you have time to worry about such useless things, swing your sword one more time. The ghosts will just die.”

When he finally uttered such blunt words, all the other disciples looked at the back with anxious and scared eyes.

“W-what do we do, Sasuk?”

“Huh?”

Jo Gul said with a slightly pale face.

“There is nothing to worry about since Chung Myung is here. Even a ghost cannot catch him.”

If they spoke of the demons floating around the world and one crawling up from hell, then the second was scarier, right?

And if it truly was a Ghost who lurked around, then wouldn’t it look for a way to live? By not touching Chung Myung.

“But not us, right? What if we run into a ghost?”

“… does anyone here know how to perform a spirit technique?”

“Was there something like that in Mount Hua?”

“…”

Uh, well… maybe in the past…

“Shouldn’t we call a Taoist?”

“We are the Taoists. Who can we call, you bastard!”

“No… there might not be swordsmen like us, but there are decent Taoists better suited than us, so…”

“…Jo Gul.”

“Yes, Sasuk.”

“Calm down, if you don’t want to be beaten.”

“Yes.”

Baek Cheon sighed.

The disciples from Mount Hua had now lost their fear when dealing with people because of Chung Myung, but ghosts were a different thing for them.

Baek Cheon cleared his throat and said,

“Well, there is no such thing as ghosts in this world.”

“..”

He spoke calmly, but there was no disciple who looked calm.

‘Wouldn’t it be convincing when I said that calmly…’

But Baek Cheon decided to continue,

“There can be a problem every thousand, or one every ten thousand times, so from now on, do not move alone. Go in pairs. After a few days of that, I will look at the situation again.”

“Yes, Sahyung.”

“I understand, Sasuk.”

Baek Cheon, who finished speaking, looked at the manor and shook his head,

“Ehh, no.”

A subtle expression settled on his face, but contrary to his words and thoughts, the commotion didn’t end.

“Ahhhhh!”

Late at night…

The doors of the manor opened at the same time as a scream echoed around the manor.

“W-What!”

“An intruder!”

Without even having time to understand it, everyone rushed to the place where they thought the scream came from.

“Sahyung!

“Oh my!”

And what they found was Chung Bong, who had collapsed.

“Bong! Get up!”

“Huh… huh! Gh… ghost….”

His eyes were half closed as he pointed in the air, trembling.

“Gh.. ghost! Gh…”

“Try and come to your senses, man!”

“…”

Thud!

But as he was about to lose consciousness, a quick flick hit his forehead with the sound of a walnut being cracked.

“Ack!”

“What kind of Taoist would faint after seeing a ghost? Idiot.”

Chung Bong, who lost consciousness, was up, grabbing his forehead, and Chung Myung was looking down at him.

“Everyone get out!”

“C-Chung Myung.”

“Will you continue to sit on the ground?”

When Chung Myung shouted, Chung Bong jumped up from his seat.

‘Ah. He wakes up a fainted person by hitting them.’

‘Such creative techniques he has.’

While everyone was stuck in admiration, Chung Myung asked Chung Bong,

“What did you see?”

“A ghost!”

“And what did this ghost look like?”

“Ah, it was white… no, it looked red… uh? Maybe transparent…?”

“… why do you have those eyes for? Decoration?”

“It happened so fast…”

“Go. Go now.”

Chung Myung kicked Chung Bong on his butt.

“To trust you people, tch.”

But this time, even he had doubts about this, and he looked troubled.

‘So it wasn’t just one or two people?’

Moreover, people keep saying the same thing. The details were different, but in conclusion, wasn’t it something hazy passing about?

At that time, Yoon Jong asked,

“Couldn’t this… be a joke by a Southern Edge sub-sect?”

“No.”

Chung Myung flatly denied it,

“They do not have the ability to do this. Even pranks like these need skills.”

“Hmm.”

He immediately began to check for qi but could feel nothing, and if this were a member of Southern Edge, Chung Myung would have realized it before they had even crossed the main gate.

‘What happened here?’

He couldn’t come to a conclusion.

“Couldn’t this be a real ghost?”

“If so many people witnessed it, it has to be one.”

“Amitabha! Amitabha!”

“Which bastard is chanting other sect’s words!”

“Say peace, you idiot, peace!”

Unable to hide their anxiousness, all the disciples mumbled anything they could think of.

“Right. The ones chanting should be the monk. So, Monk Hae Yeon?”

“… has locked his door and isn’t come out.”

“Man… he is too timid.”

“He should be out slapping the ghosts.”

As they began to speak more, Chung Myung shouted,

“Everyone be quiet!”

Chung Myung said firmly,

“Ghost! Who said ghost? Where are ghosts in this world? And if it was a ghost, it cannot just vanish and come out suddenly like just now. This is a trick being played by someone.”

“Not Southern Edge, but someone else.”

“We will have to confirm it.”

Chung Myung gnashed his teeth.

“I don’t know who is doing such things, but I will mess them up when I find them.”

“What if it is a real ghost?”

“It doesn’t change a thing. Be it a ghost or something else, I will batter them.”

All the disciples of Mount Hua admired those words. As expected of their Chung Myung.

Be a ghost or something else; it was meaningless to him!

They could trust…

“But…”

“Uh?”

“… does anyone know how to use a talisman?”

“…”

“You know, for safety.”

Baek Cheon and the rest looked at Chung Myung with blank eyes.

…yah.

You are also scared, right?

You bastard?