In our world, how many unknown mysteries exist?

Alleys that cannot be exited once entered, white-clothed ghosts wandering in abandoned buildings, eerie footsteps in deserted schools late at night, bizarre fluorescent lights glowing in the sewers—Indonesia's Naraku no Ana (Hell Hole) where misfortune may strike just by passing by, Russia's Far East Valley of Death, and various strange phenomena appearing on the seas.

Whether it's the mysterious ghost ships, the underwater caves leading to unknown depths, or the doldrums in the ocean, existing technology cannot explain any of this. It's like an illusion, but there are always people who assert confidently, firmly believing that all of this actually exists.

Gods, immortals, magic, cultivation, souls, the underworld or heaven—ancient people described these things that we now believe 'do not exist' in detail. The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* records various exotic beasts, not only their specific forms but also the effects of eating them in great detail. The secret methods recorded in alchemy books are closely related to modern medicine, botany, and even materials science.

Moreover, the Great Flood and the creation myths that appear almost simultaneously in various mythologies seem to vaguely confirm something, as if there really is an invisible thread connecting various parts of the world that we now consider unrelated.

If that's the case, are martial arts, magic, cultivation, alchemy... are these all fabricated by the ancients? Are those yearnings and admiration for transcendence, ascension to immortality, and even enlightenment and attaining the Dao all lies?

If they really are lies, why have these false things been passed down for thousands of years? To the point that even now, there are people, even many people, many in high positions, and even those who have received a good education, who believe that these are facts?

So, these mysterious, strange things, maybe they just changed their names, changed their appearance, and quietly lurk among you and me?

In today's society, science is the method and tool for exploring the truth behind the universe and everything in it; it is the bridge to the 'Dao' and 'Truth'.

When generations of scientific researchers perceive the laws of how things work, when Newton discovers the interaction of forces, when Faraday perceives the connection between electricity and magnetism, when Franklin draws down heavenly lightning—when these events pass a thousand years, will they not become modern myths and legends?

And science, perhaps, represents the names of truth and Dao, enlightenment and god.

Whether it's magic or Daoist arts, you need to prepare materials, chant incantations, meditate on gods or runes, and carefully perform rituals. Chemical experiments also require preparing materials, memorizing experimental rules, recalling experimental steps, and then starting the experiment.

Humans imagine that magic can create carriages and flying carpets that move by themselves without horses, but humans can now create cars and airplanes… What is this? This is the miracle of science, and this miracle does not require luck or anyone's pity; it only requires learning knowledge and then joining the huge machine called human civilization, and then it can be born from your and my hands… Isn't this magic, Daoist arts, alchemy?

In fact, there are too many of these examples. For example, the Philosopher's Stone, the undying Yang Spirit, the eternal body, the eternally happy heavenly realm, cultivating immortality and ascending… these ancient concepts actually exist now.

It's just that they changed their names and changed their forms in a new environment: for example, cybernetic mechanical bodies that can carry human will, 'servers' that upload consciousness and souls, immortal bodies obtained through genetic research, electronic worlds like the Matrix but incredibly happy, and super-human bodies that can freely enter and exit the 'Qingming', enter and exit the 'Cosmos' through various means of modification and training.

These ancient things existed in the past, still exist now, were difficult to obtain in the past, and are still difficult to obtain now, but no one can deny these possibilities, no one can deny their 'existence.'

It has always been here, right beside us, right next to us, quietly watching and accompanying us. It's just that humans are no longer the humans they once were, and magic is no longer the magic it once was, so they hide, slumber, and no longer appear.

Until one day, those who have passed away return, those who have been silent revive, and those who were once far away approach our world once again.

Su Zhou, a seventeen-year-old high school student, an 'ordinary' person who loves strange news and bizarre tales, is currently holding his mobile phone, in the July holiday sunshine, intently replying to messages sent by friends on the forum.

The tour bus drove through the forest road, and the vibrant and lush scenery of the Southeast Asian jungle could not attract his attention. What he cared about was never these 'ordinary' things. Amid the tour guide's rather flamboyant introduction and the rather loud snoring of the old man in the front seat, he clicked the 'send' button, then let out a long sigh of relief, and placed the phone on his lap.

[Do paranormal events really exist in this world? Magic or cultivating immortality, do they really exist?]

He, who earnestly replied to this post and talked eloquently online, would never have imagined that what he said would come true, and that what would happen next would tear apart all peaceful reality and gentle fantasy.

All the ordinary things, the boring but warm daily life, everything he took for granted would resolutely leave him, never to return.

On his lap, the mobile phone that had not yet turned off still displayed the beginning of a short reply.

[Of course.]

[They definitely exist.]