When Eastern people encounter ghosts, they might think about going to a temple or Taoist shrine to pray for protection from the all-encompassing deities. Alternatively, they might resort to some folk remedies and begin to exorcise ghosts. This might seem unreliable, but what many people don’t realize is that this approach actually embodies a strong spirit of resistance.

This, in turn, reflects the revolutionary nature of Eastern people. When faced with something threatening, they will find ways to deal with it, either by killing it or driving it away. Regardless of right or wrong, they think, "I’ll eliminate you first."

But the Western logic isn’t like this. Their logic is, I see a ghost, but I don’t confront the ghost; I confront people.

This inevitably leads to the question of what "Divine Authority Thinking" really is. Some may think it’s about worshiping God, while others believe it’s about original sin, but the true underlying logic of divine authority is "fatalism."

Simply put, whether a person lives well or not is not determined by their own efforts but by the deity’s decision.

If you are chosen, you live well. If you are rejected, you live poorly. Conversely, if you live well, it proves you are chosen by God; if you live poorly, it proves you are abandoned by God.

At first glance, it seems like it’s still about worshiping God, but it actually isn’t. This type of fatalism is a method the Western ruling class has used for thousands of years through the Church to completely disintegrate the rebellious spirit and revolutionary nature of the lower classes. Because it destroys the innate "empathy" between humans.

When people see their fellow humans starving, bullied, or struggling to survive, they have an instinctive sympathy.

This sympathy has nothing to do with blood ties, identity, profession, or situation; it’s just that when a person sees another person suffering, they feel uncomfortable. This is an instinct that the Human race has had since the day it was born—an innate, irresistible urge.

And this way of thinking, "you are doing poorly because God doesn’t love you," teaches people to suppress this innate empathy. People who remain immersed in this thinking don’t feel compassion when they see others’ suffering but fear.

They might think: This person must have done something displeasing to God, which is why they are doing so poorly. If I offend God, I could become like this too, so I must serve God well and absolutely not end up like them.

It is evident that this innate empathy, when it arises for a moment, is immediately suppressed by the fear of God. Because God is omnipotent, everything He does makes sense. So if He has made this person so miserable, it must be because they have done something bad. If I sympathize with them, I will also become miserable.

The inherent empathy for fellow humans, and the motivation to help one’s fellow man provided by this empathy, will be disintegrated. Without the motivation for empathy, there is no foundation for unity, and it is absolutely impossible to unite and rebel.

On the contrary, when they see someone doing poorly, they will regard them as enemies. Even if both sides are poor, one poor person might consider another, even poorer one, as "abandoned by God" and an enemy of Jesus Christ. Not only will they not save them, but they will bully them more intensely because this is "the Lord’s will," and they are merely punishing an outcast according to His will.

Over a thousand years of evolution, this mindset has become deeply ingrained. Many people won’t talk about being chosen or cast out, might even outwardly oppose religion, claiming they are not conservative Believers. But in reality, this underlying logic of divine authority has already been engraved in their minds. This is why the means of vertically slicing society can succeed so easily on this land, as they have long been divided into individuals without realizing it.

For these wealthy people who "saw ghosts," when they first see a ghost, they won’t think about how to deal with the ghost. They will think, "Have I been abandoned by God?"

Because ghosts are naturally associated with Demons and Satan. If God isn’t helping me anymore, how could I see such filthy things?

They feel guilty and fearful, lacking a sense of security, and thus desperately want to prove that they have not been abandoned, that they are still worthy of God’s love. So, what do they do?

That’s right, they have to bully and kill those outcasts. Because as long as they can still harm these "enemies of God," it proves they are still superior to them, and it proves they have not been abandoned by God, it is merely God’s temporary test for them.

To gain a sense of security and control, they will strictly control the weak groups around them—not necessarily those hired hands and workers but possibly their own families, even their own children. This is the only way to prove they are still above others, proving they will never be abandoned.

Initially, there wouldn’t be so many ghosts in Hampton; there might just be some paranormal phenomena, like restless spirit and such. However, this creates significant pressure on the residents, and their ingrained mindset makes them vent this pressure on the weak, resulting in more deaths.

It is not difficult to see that some of the deceased were not poor. For instance, the child composing music in the estate. Poor families could not afford to let their children learn composition and make records. Therefore, it’s highly likely these were the children of the residents here.

If the pressure has been vented on their own children, it proves that those poor people they could hire, and the outcasts they most want, are no longer available, so they must pick someone from those around them to persecute. This proves the situation is already severe to a certain extent.

Thus, a vicious cycle forms. The more they vent pressure on the people around them, the more murder cases they create, and then there are more ghosts. Over hundreds of years, this snowballed into the situation today.

What greed and arrogance want to figure out isn’t the reason behind the paranormal phenomena in the Hampton Region, but rather what measures they took after discovering such things, and how it dragged on to today.

After Arrogant pointed out that they had already been abandoned by God, this group of people finally gave up completely. Because, if God still cared about them even a little, He would never let them see that Monster in the lake. The impact was so strong, Satan’s true form must be no more terrible than that.

Finally, an old man tremblingly stood up. He hung his head dispiritedly and asked Natasha, "What do you want to know?"

Natasha glanced at Greed, who whispered a few words to him. Natasha sighed and asked, "What’s going on with that manor halfway up the mountain? What kind of deal did you make with Dracula?"

"That was long ago," the old man said with a pursing of his lips, "Decades ago, residents of this place would vaguely see some Ghosts, and there were unusual noises in the houses, but it wasn’t too serious. Some spoke of it, but they were only thought of as mentally ill, and most people didn’t believe it."

"However, once, in the drinking water of a certain resort—seemed to be called Violet Resort Village—unknown carnivorous bacteria were discovered. Many people who drank the water there displayed severe symptoms. The bacteria gnawed on their bodies from within, causing irreparable damage, and many people died."

"At that time, tourism in Hampton was booming, and all the business owners didn’t want this incident to go public and affect their income. The local government took their bribe and tried to bury the issue, and in the end, it was left unresolved."

"No one expected that the dozens who died would become the last straw to break Hampton’s back. Since then, many people could see Ghosts—the real Ghosts, not some restless spirit."

"Initially, everyone just concealed it; you know, not to show any weakness in this matter, otherwise you’d be seen as easy prey. But soon, many more people died, and their causes of death were identical to those attacked by the carnivorous bacteria back then, with skin and internal organs rotting."

"At that time, everyone thought the bacteria had made a comeback. They spent a large fortune on sterilization and disinfection, even dug up the soil in Hampton, but the deaths did not stop—in fact, they escalated."

"Then the deaths became more varied. There were hangings, wrist slashing, and sudden deaths from falls in the Forest. These people weren’t that prone to suicide, and everyone realized something was wrong."

"Until, for the first time, a Ghost demon-strated its Strength in front of people, directly grabbing someone into the air and dropping them to their Death. We had to admit that this place was cursed."

"Many tried to escape, but running was useless. Ghosts followed them like shadows, and even prioritized attacks on those who left Hampton. Thus, those harassed by Ghosts united, seeking solutions."

"Did you find Dracula?"

Shaking his head, the old man replied, "No, he came later. We found a very powerful Witch named Huckness. She came from Massachusetts, where there is a large Witch family, referred to by us as ’Salem Hermit’, she offered us viable solutions."

"Like what?"

"After conducting many experiments, she discovered Ghosts don’t only exist in the real world but also within our minds. Upon discovering the sins here, she almost left but stayed for some reason and built this manor to suppress the Ghosts."

"I’m asking how the manor represses them," Greed said, "What principle does it use? Magic? Or some other force?"

"No, it’s a mental detection device," the old man said after pausing, "You can think of it as a Mind Reading Technique Magic Array. If anyone experiences Illusions and cannot control them, this device will trigger an alarm and resolve the issue by bringing the person over in advance."

"Dracula was not the creator of the Array, he was merely the Hangman we hired. Because he could deal with both the human body and the entangled Ghosts, whereas ordinary human killers could not. They often could defeat the flesh but couldn’t kill the accompanying Illusion. Only Dracula could transform people into vampires afraid of sunlight via blood-sucking, allowing the sun to destroy both their bodies and souls."

"Where is the detection device?" Greed pursued further.

"It’s the house itself," the old man replied, "The Witch integrated the Curse Pattern into the manor, and the manor is the detection device."

"Then how does it trigger an alarm?" Greed asked, puzzled.

"The manor makes some noise near its contract owner’s ear," said the old man, frowning, "It should be easy to notice."

Greed was completely speechless.