There were about a dozen people, all of middle age. Two escorts were easily identifiable, dressed alike in the attire of Jianghu, one carrying a pointed eyebrow knife and the other with a chain flail at his waist. The rest were dressed as merchants, adhering to the predominant black and white attire as per the customs of Danyan.

The group entered another pavilion, unloaded their goods, and piled them in a place sheltered from the rain. Only then did they remove their cloaks, shaking off the water that had collected.

The pavilion was not large, but it was sturdy enough to withstand the elements. The horses and mules were left outside to endure the rain.

The dozen or so people conversed quietly with accents flavored with dialects, dampened by the rain and chilled by the night wind. Some couldn't help but glance at Song You facing the fire and the dry firewood in the corner of the pavilion, exchanging meaningful looks and nudges.

Finally, one person approached Song You and bowed.

"Sir, you're quite courteous. Did you gather this firewood? We might need it for the night, and I'm afraid it won't last. Could we buy some from you? Our clothes are damp, and we'd like to warm ourselves by the fire."

In Danyan, Daoists were commonly addressed as "sir."

Song You was still wearing his Daoist robe.

"It wasn't me who gathered it. It was here when I arrived. Feel free to use it if you need it."

"Thank you kindly."

The middle-aged merchants took a small bundle of firewood and started their own fire. They then took out their provisions, warming them by the fire and eating quietly while conversing in low voices, occasionally glancing around.

The wind carried their voices over.

They were discussing their decision to seek shelter from the rain earlier, with some slight disagreement. Song You roughly understood the reason they had come this way during the night.

This group were all tea merchants, originally intending to reach the inn thirty miles ahead, a convenient stop for merchants. However, due to the heavy rain halfway through their journey, some of their cargo had waterproofing issues for unknown reasons, risking damage to the tea leaves. They sought shelter, but the stretch of road they were on was known to be haunted by spirits in the fog, causing many to avoid traveling it at night. So as soon as the rain subsided and they resolved their waterproofing issues, they hastily set off again.

Passing through this area, night had already fallen, and continuing their journey in the dark was not a wise choice, so they had to rest here.

Some said they had already passed the haunted section, while others claimed that the tea peddlers had all moved away, indicating the presence of spirits. Some regretted seeking shelter from the rain earlier, while others felt they should not have stopped just now and should have continued forward. There was also discussion about Song You.

Although Song You was dressed as a Daoist, being young, he was not taken seriously as a Taoist exorcist. Nowadays, only one out of ten Taoist exorcists were genuine, so no one paid much attention to him after a brief conversation.

"Spirits in the fog..."

Song You stared at the fire pit, lost in thought.

This was a common kind of ghost in the mountains, known to lurk in the fog. The weaker ones relied on the fog to conceal their forms and often resorted to intimidation to harm people. Those with higher cultivation could envelop an area in fog and attack travelers within it.

However, these ghosts were usually not formidable opponents. Ordinary martial artists or even brave men were not afraid of them.

The fire dwindled, and Song You added more wood.

Unbeknownst to them, the rain had stopped.

When mountain rain ceased, it often led to fog, mostly in clusters or collected in mountain hollows. This time was no exception.

But the fog seemed unusually dense.

Previously, although it was late, there was still some light, and the silhouette of distant mountains could be vaguely seen. With the firelight, the ancient cypresses by the roadside and the weeds under the trees could also be seen. But now, in the blink of an eye, the whole world seemed to be filled with dense fog.

In the thick fog, neither mountains nor trees could be seen. Even the two nearby pavilions, where fires were burning, could only be seen as vague glows in the fog.

Even the firelight was compressed to its limit by the fog.

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It seemed eerie all of a sudden.

The merchants were suddenly alarmed. They all knew they had encountered a spirit.

"Don't be afraid, everyone! The more afraid we are, the fiercer it becomes!"

"That's right! Even ghosts fear humans!"

"Add more wood! Make the fire bigger!"

"We're out of wood..."

The crowd looked at each other and glanced in the direction of the other pavilion, where they saw orange flames.

Though only a few dozen yards away, the dense fog made it seem much farther. Given the current situation, it seemed that only the area illuminated by the firelight was safe. Who dared to go through the thick fog to get wood over there? Or should they all go together to the other side?

Suddenly, a cold wind blew outside.

The crowd turned their gaze to the two escorts they had hired.

The escort with the chain flail felt nervous, his gaze slightly evasive. The one with the pointed eyebrow knife, however, met everyone's eyes head-on, then spat on the ground, a hint of aggression in his expression. Even the spirits might have been frightened by him.

"I'll go get some wood!"

"I'll go with you, brother!"

"It's okay, brother. You stay here and guard the guests. If we encounter a ghost on the way, I'll kill it with one stroke!"

"Be careful, Chen Gong!"

"A mere little ghost, I'll be back in no time!"

The escort named Chen, holding his pointed eyebrow knife, strode into the thick fog, heading straight for the firelight on the opposite side. Despite his relatively small stature, he exuded a certain aura.

Seeing this, the merchants felt a bit relieved.

As the saying goes, fear makes ghosts three times more terrifying, but ghosts also fear humans seven times more. With such a brave warrior whose blood and energy were vigorous, even ordinary ghosts wouldn't be feared.

So the merchants watched as his figure quickly blurred in the fog. They could faintly see him swinging his knife a few times and shouting something in a Guanxi accent. However, due to the fog's distortion of both sight and sound, after taking a few steps, they could no longer hear him clearly.

The merchants became nervous again, sometimes staring in that direction and sometimes looking around.

Before long, a figure emerged from the fog.

It was Chen, the escort.

Chen, still holding his pointed eyebrow knife, had an empty hand this time. He stood outside the pavilion, his face showing a hint of panic. "Not good! The young Daoist in the other pavilion has fainted. Someone come and help me lift him up!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd was shocked, their pupils dilating.

The other escort had already drawn the chain flail from his body, holding it in his hand and swaying it, but he kept licking his lips, trying to

conceal his nervousness.

In the end, it was the merchant who had gone to the other pavilion to fetch wood who stood up, pretending to be calm and even bowing: "We're just passing through here to make a little money and haven't disturbed anyone. If you're willing to leave, we'll come back this way later. When we return, we'll bring you some pork, mutton, and incense candles as a token of gratitude."

"What did you say? Hurry up and come over here to help lift him!"

"Your voice doesn't sound right."

"..."

Chen, the escort, froze, his eyes wide as he stared at them. In the next moment, he seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, dissolving into the surrounding fog, disappearing without a trace.

The ghost had disappeared so abruptly, making it even more frightening.

Everything was just as rumored...

But dealing with this ghost was not easy.

After about the time it takes to snap one's fingers, another figure emerged from the fog, holding a pointed eyebrow knife in one hand and a bundle of firewood in the other. In a hurry, he took three or four steps through the fog and quickly crossed over into the area illuminated by the fire, where he relaxed.

As he glanced at the others, he saw their wide-eyed, frightened expressions fixed on him.

Chen, the escort, was taken aback, his gaze becoming serious.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Just now, that ghost disguised itself as you to try to trick us into going out."

"Did anyone go out?"

"It didn't sound like you..."

"Humph, a little trick!"

Chen, the escort, loosened his grip on his left hand, and the firewood he was carrying tumbled to the ground. Glancing sideways, he saw shadows moving in the fog and became alert.

"Chen Gong, what about over there?"

"Over where?"

"Naturally, it's over where the young Daoist is! Did he notice anything unusual? Was he scared? Did he refuse to come over when you went to fetch wood?"

"Well..."

Chen, the escort, hesitated for a moment.

He had been tense when he went to fetch wood in a hurry, said a few words, and then hurried back with the firewood, which had fallen several times, but he hadn't paid much attention. Now that he thought about it carefully, he realized that the pavilion over there and the young Daoist inside seemed unusually calm. At this moment, upon reflection, he could only recall the crackling sound of flames and nothing else.

Thinking about it, Chen, the escort, said, "I didn't pay much attention to anything else, but when I went to ask for firewood, the young Daoist immediately agreed and even asked me to take it all away."

"Did you explain the situation to him? Did you invite the young Daoist over?"

"Mr. Li, you're joking. How could I forget that? I told him there was a ghost here and that we had a lot of cargo, making it inconvenient to move to the other side with him. I asked him to come over, but he just told me to take all the firewood away."

"This..."

The merchants looked at each other.

Before they could say anything, a mournful wind blew, colder and more urgent than before, as if it were blowing from the skin into the organs, straight into the soul, making people shiver. The fire, as if stimulated by something, suddenly contracted to its extreme, and even the red-hot charcoal could only be seen briefly.

Before they could react to cover the fire...

The fire was extinguished in an instant.

Only the charcoal remained, emitting a crimson light, reflecting the faces of the panic-stricken people, making them almost indistinguishable from ghosts.

The charcoal quickly turned black and gray.

In their panic, the merchants saw shadows moving in the fog and another faint firelight not far away, glowing dimly in the thick fog.

The fire over there hadn't been extinguished!?

"Go over there!"

Someone shouted, and the crowd immediately scrambled to run toward the firelight.

The fine rain soaked them, chilling them to the bone.

Mr. Li, the merchant, was short and the oldest. Even though he ran for his life, he was the slowest. Seeing the firelight representing safety getting closer and closer, he suddenly felt a hand grabbing his clothes, then grabbing his arm and neck. The icy fingertips seemed to pierce his flesh. At that moment, he was terrified to the extreme, stretching his arm to try to grab the clothes of the person in front of him, but he couldn't reach them.

This is it...

Facing death, he couldn't remember the elegant words he had learned as a merchant. All he knew was that he was probably going to die here today, and he would probably be eaten by the ghost, leaving nothing behind.

At this critical moment, a hand with calluses grabbed him, hard as wood, scraping his skin painfully.

Mr. Li widened his eyes and saw that it was the escort he had paid a hefty price for. He was holding onto Mr. Li's

wrist, dragging him forward with all his strength.

It seemed like they were struggling against each other.

"Swoosh!"

Mr. Li was pulled into the pavilion.

As he was pulled inside, he heard the sound of wood cracking and exploding, and the cold touch disappeared from his body. The force pulling him from behind also disappeared, replaced by an irresistible force pulling him forward.

"Thud!"

Mr. Li was dragged into the pavilion.

As he looked around, he found it surprisingly quiet inside—

Not because there was no sound of the wind, but because the sound was so faint that it was almost inaudible. Compared to the howling wind and crying ghosts just now, it was incredibly calm. In the pavilion, the fire burned brightly, crackling and warm. The chilly wind seemed unable to blow in.

It was as peaceful as it had been when they first arrived.

In the glow of the fire, a young man in Daoist robes sat cross-legged on the ground. He had a handsome face, a calm expression, and his head was bowed, his eyes reflecting the light of the fire.

This pavilion was truly peaceful.

Looking back outside, the thick fog still enveloped everything, with shadows moving and hesitating, seeming unwilling to leave but also afraid to come closer.

"Everyone..."

It was the voice of the young Daoist.

The people were startled and quickly turned to look, their eyes respectful.

"Let's rest here tonight."

The young Daoist said, pursing his lips, then turned to look outside the pavilion, where the mist was falling gently. He added softly, "Don't worry, when the rain stops, I'll come find you."