Chapter 174: Ghosts Come Out At Night

"...Any particular reason behind this decision, brother?" Shangguang Ce asked, looking caught off guard.

"Yes. I'm racist. I'd very much hate to be a ghost, wandering around this boring grey-ass totality of yours, haunting latrines and all. Quite a disturbing way to live, if you ask me."

"..."

Han Xuhan couldn't see Shangguang Ce's expression, as his current form was merely a collective outline of colored threads. But he could sense the sheer offense taken by the other party at his blatantly racist remarks.

"Are you certain?" Shangguang Ce said in a gloomy tone.

Han Xuhan slapped himself on the chest in the manliest way possible, pulling his chin up and narrowing his eyes which radiated disdain.

"The words that I, Han Xuhan, say, carry with them the weight of ten billion suns. Nobody has the guts to take my words back, not even me."

"Han Xuhan? Southern names are truly odd."

"Mm, trust me, brother Ce. That's my real name."

A tense bout of silence stretched between them. Han Xuhan realized that the sound of the thunderstorm was no longer banging on his eardrums. A glance outside told him that the sky had cleared up at some point, and the moonlight was shining once more.

"Fine. I shall respect your choice," Shangguang Ce said in the end.

"Woo, don't hear that every day." Han Xuhan let out a sniff. Then he recalled the reason Shangguang Ce had come here and asked, "So does this mean we return to our original deal? You know, the one where I receive your Sensing Space Manual while you receive my Skeletal Monarch technique."

"Alright, I can deliver the manual to you right now. Let's exchange." Shangguang Ce said hesitantly.

"Wait for a minute, will you?" Han Xuhan closed his eyes and entered his dao tower.

Hai Yin Zhe could be seen scurrying around the dome above the tower, whistling and hissing happily.

"Caught it! I caught it! Hahaha!"

"What did you catch?" Han Xuhan asked curiously.

"This picture that looks like me!" Hai Yin Zhe shouted, sounding quite proud of the feat.

Han Xuhan took a close look and saw that an intimidating-looking law alphabet on the wall was being headbutted by the skeletal snake.

"When did you return?" he inquired. Little Zhe's sneaky bypassing ability was getting rather threatening. The snake was too young to understand that it couldn't always just jump out and make trouble in its summoner's world.

Little Zhe ignored him, appearing too excited with the new alphabet-chasing game to care about things so trifling as its Papa's inquiry.

Sighing, Han Xuhan canceled Tun Shi Tian and Zhanxian's summons, calling them back to the dao tower.

The avatars of both minions popped into existence immediately, each inside their 'apartments' in the tower.

"Oye, master, where did you go for so long? I told you tonight's conditions are too good to let go of! I have a feeling I can break through to the first layer and consolidate qi armor around one of my bones!" Tun Shi Tian fired off a barrage of complaints as soon as he saw Xuhan.

"Yeah, I've made substantial progress tonight already. But the lightning strikes suddenly started falling on top of the roof and..." Zhanxian did not finish the sentence, inducing a foreboding feeling in Han Xuhan's heart.

"I told you lot not to cultivate right now. You didn't, did you?" He said in a grave tone.

"I uh...well, little Tian was desperate for a breakthrough, and I couldn't stop him. So I thought, why should I sit around doing nothing either?"

"Dammit Zhanxian, you fool!"

"Is my house still intact?" Han Xuhan shouted in alarm.

Tun Shi Tian and Zhanxian exchanged a quick look before looking away and stuttering.

"It's...mostly fine."

"Only about one-sixth was damaged."

"One-sixth of what? The roof?" Han Xuhan growled.

"The house, one-sixth of the house."

"....What does that mean?"

"The four walls around are fine. The floor is fine too. The roof...it is no longer there."

If Han Xuhan had the ability to exude killing intent, he'd be emitting the aura of a genocidal maniac by now. But sadly, all he could do was stare at the minions for a good ten seconds before recalling his purpose for coming here.

"There will be a conversation about this, certainly. For now, I have a business to attend to. Tun Shi Tian!"

"Uh-yes, master?" responded the owl in a sugary tone.

"Go into my bedroom and open the chest where I keep the scrolls. You know the combination lock. Five waves of qi, followed by three drops of water. Bring the Skeletal Monarch manual to me."

"Got it, master." Tun Shi Tian gave a salute with its wings, sounding rather relieved.

Han Xuhan left his dao tower and his consciousness returned to his body. Opening his eyes, he ran a cycle of qi to replenish his reserves while Shangguang Ce quietly observed him. As expected of a creepy ghost.

Tun Shi Tian was summoned soon. The bird sped out of the cave, totally ignoring the fact that there was a human made up of rainbows standing five feet away, as if his existence was completely beyond the owl's perception.

Han Xuhan was impressed, mighty impressed.

All the ghost stories he had heard in his life sort of made sense now. No wonder ghosts are able to bypass all restrictions and perceptions. The only stories where anybody survived the haunting of ghosts were those where a powerful cultivator was involved.

"The bird will be returning with the manual. But where's the manual you promised?" He asked Shangguang Ce.

Since Shangguang Ce's main body was not here, how would he exchange the manuals? With this...illusory body?

"Watch," Shangguang Ce said lightly.

Under Han Xuhan's widening eyes, Shangguang Ce's main body materialized once more, filling up the exact outline of his celestial body.

In his hands, a scroll was clutched tightly.

"Hehehe." Shanggaung Ce seemed to be enjoying Han Xuhan's astonishment.

"So that's how your physical body snuck into my sect the first time! Your celestial body helps your physical body teleport!" He exclaimed, the clues finally clicking together in his mind.

"I'm beginning to miss that dumbass persona of yours," Shangguang Ce remarked with a sigh.

"Here you go. Check it before you take it."

Han Xuhan took the scroll from his hand and gave it a cursory look. It was indeed the same Sensing Space manual written by Han Fei, just as he could recall.

"Oh look, your bird is here."

Han Xuhan looked up at Shangguang Ce's words and saw Tun Shi Tian diving into the cave skillfully, carrying a scroll with him.

"That's your manual. See if it satisfies you; we can close this bargain that way, and everyone goes home happy."

Shangguang Ce opened the scroll and went through the content speedily.

"This is a copy, definitely not the main manual," he mused pointedly.

Tun Shi Tian whipped around, glancing at Han Xuhan in surprise.

"What? Did you assume I would give away the main copy? What am I going to show to the sect if an elder wishes to examine my technique?"

"Fair enough." Shangguang Ce shrugged. "But how do I know you haven't changed any of the details here? It's not like I can check the main source to authenticate this."

"Same goes for this, does it not?" Han Xuhan shook Shangguang Ce's scroll in his face emphatically.

"Indeed. Guess we must simply trust each other's integrity." Shangguang Ce looked troubled.

"You can always put one hundred percent trust in my words, brother Ce," Han Xuhan said with another chest-slap. "It is me who is taking the greater risk, trusting a suspicious, unreliable fellow like you. I still remember the last time when you tricked me into saving your ass from the flood."

"...Alright, I shall choose to trust you...a ghost cultivator to another ghost cultivator."

"Having a suitable constitution for ghost cultivation doesn't make me a ghost cultivator," Han Xuhan said insistently.

"Well, you can always end up changing your mind. My people will accept you with open arms. I hope you understand my position here. We're kind of desperate for new blood."

Han Xuhan snorted. "That makes me even more unwilling to join you people. By the way, when is my sight going to recover? Or am I going to end up seeing these double images for the rest of my life?"

Shangguang Ce scratched his head, suddenly looking awkward.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. The records where situations like yours are discussed are pretty vague about the long-term effects. Why are you complaining though? You've already learned how to ignore the Ghostsight when necessary. It's no different from having your normal vision active all the time right now."

"What's the expiry date of the chemicals?" Han Xuhan asked, trying his best to sound angry. He was not quite successful at that. After all, this ghostsight mode was too fascinating. A whole new world had been opened up all around him via this new mode of vision. Seeing ghosts was not an ability anyone could look down upon. Hell, most mortals didn't fully believe in ghosts unless they had had some first-hand experience.

"Well, the expiry date of the crystal itself has almost ten more years to go. But in a decomposed state inside your body...I don't know. It is likely to be shortened. But I doubt you'd need that long.

The Heavenly tribulation at the end of the Physique Transformation Realm will reconstruct your body. All such external impurities will be expelled completely. That's a much better option than waiting for the crystal's expiry period."

"Makes sense," Han Xuhan agreed. "Then, let us part ways, brother Ce."

Standing up, he put a hand forward.

Shangguang Ce seemed puzzled at first, but he figured it out faster than Han Xuhan expected and shook his hand with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"How would we contact each other again, if ever necessary?" Han Xuhan raised a question as he walked out of the cave.

"Oh don't worry about that. My Celestial body makes rounds around this archipelago every night, checking up on the sects I find interesting. If you need me for something, leave a note in this cave. I'll drop by regularly."

"Damned creeps!"

Han Xuhan's fascination with ghost cultivators was growing with great momentum.