A debt-ridden tycoon inherits a luxury mansion, but the tenants are not human.

Chapter 15: The Formation Master Pleads for Help, and the Dragon-Locking Formation Appears for the F

Inside the main room, the spirit of the earth stood.

"Did you hear that?" the Earth Spirit asked.

"I heard you."

Chen Mo sat down at the octagonal table.

"Seven Mansions, Wish Power, Earth Veins—these people know the details of the old mansion."

"That's normal," Di Ling said. "There are more than one person in the city who knows about this. The antique shop owner, the funeral home family, and the sorceress are all insiders. Since you're guarding the Seven Houses, they'll naturally want a piece of the pie."

Chen Mo pressed his temples.

"What is the power of vows that Zhao Shouyi mentioned?"

"The energy generated by the dissipation of obsessions," the Earth Spirit said. "When you resolve an obsession, the old house absorbs the power of will to sustain itself and upgrade. The power of will is a cultivation resource for them."

"So they want it?"

“Yes,” said the spirit. “But only the landlord can withdraw the power of hope. If they want to cooperate, they’ll just rob the old house.”

Chen Mo looked over.

"How much goodwill does the old house hold now?"

"Not many, only three obsessions have been completed, just enough to keep it running," the Earth Spirit said. "If we complete a few more, the old house can be upgraded for the first time."

"What happens after the upgrade?"

"More rooms will be added, the basement will be expanded, runes will appear on the exterior walls, and most importantly, a bronze door will be revealed."

Chen Mo recalled the document description.

The bronze gate connects to the entrance of the city's dragon vein.

"Zhao Shouyi gave me three days," Chen Mo said. "Within three days, I must fulfill a long-held wish: to upgrade the old house."

"Yes," said the spirit, "new obsessions must wait."

The grandfather clock in the main room rang.

The voice was urgent.

Chen Mo turned his head.

The pendulum swung wildly, and the hands spun erratically.

The clock stopped.

The main room was quiet.

A sound came from the basement.

"Is anyone there...? Please help me..."

Chen Mo walked towards the basement.

Patterns appeared around the edge of the pit.

Dark red lines outline geometric shapes.

There is an eye symbol in the middle.

"What is this?" Chen Mo asked.

"A summoning circle," the earth spirit said. "Someone outside is performing a ritual to forcibly summon the tenants. This is the work of a formation master."

"A formation master?"

"Yes." The spirit squatted by the pit. "He was a formation master in life. After he died, he became a ghost and was trapped somewhere. He drew a formation to ask the old house for help."

"Can you pinpoint the location?"

"Yes." The Earth Spirit pointed to the eye symbol. "This is the array's core and also its coordinates, located in the west of the city."

"The exact location?"

"Near the abandoned textile factory in the old town." Di Ling stood up. "There were air-raid shelters there, but they were sealed off later."

Chen Mo took out his phone to check the map.

Ten kilometers away.

"What is his obsession?" Chen Mo asked.

"I don't know, but the obsession is definitely related to the formation or the earth's veins."

The pattern on the ground faded.

"He won't last long," said the Earth Spirit. "The formation will disappear in a day at most, and he'll be trapped."

"I'm going to find him." Chen Mo turned around.

"Now?"

"Now," Chen Mo said, going upstairs, "Zhao Shouyi gave me three days to resolve this obsession so the old house can be upgraded."

He changed into sportswear and grabbed his phone and wallet.

Downstairs, Di Ling handed over a cloth bag.

"Carry incense ash and buttons for self-defense," the spirit said. "His ability to draw summoning circles means he's offended someone; going to him will only cause trouble."

"We've already gotten ourselves into trouble." Chen Mo took the bag. "One more won't make a difference."

Chen Mo went out and took a taxi to the west of the city.

He sent a WeChat message in the car.

"Grandma Wang, if anyone looks for me, tell them I'm not here. Please keep an eye out for Zhao Shouyi."

Wang the fortune teller replied.

"Don't worry, things aren't safe in the west of the city. Be careful."

Chen Mo put away his phone and looked out the window.

High-rise buildings are decreasing, while old factories are appearing.

At the end of the path, the iron gate of an abandoned textile factory is rusty, with a sign that reads "Danger, Do Not Enter".

Chen Mo paid and got out of the car.

The factory area was dilapidated, overgrown with waist-high weeds.

He walked through the iron gate.

Psychic vision activated.

The factory area has a dark gray halo.

There was a putrid smell in the air.

He began to whisper his obsession.

The sounds were chaotic.

"So tired...the machine is noisy..."

"Wages are in arrears..."

"My lungs hurt..."

Chen Mo walked through the pile of weeds.

Different sounds came from behind the factory building.

"The key to the formation is wrong... the third layer of runes is reversed..."

"They found out...and they want to kill me..."

"We need to hide the array diagram..."

The voice was weak.

Chen Mo walked towards the back of the factory building.

The iron door to the basement entrance was half-closed.

He turned on his phone's flashlight.

The stairs are dusty.

He walked down.

The basement was empty, with piles of abandoned machinery in one corner, covered with tarpaulins.

The smell was a mixture of musty and rusty.

The beam of the flashlight swept across the wall.

There is a pattern on the wall.

Like the summoning circle in the old house, it is larger in size.

A spirit sits in the center of the image.

A man in his forties, wearing a Zhongshan suit and glasses.

He sat on the ground, gesturing with a non-existent pen in his hand.

Its body is translucent.

Chen Mo approached.

The man looked up.

"Finally, someone has arrived."

"Are you a formation master?" Chen Mo asked.

"I used to be," the man said. "My name is Shen Mo. I was silenced and died here in 1987."

Chen Mo squatted down.

Why?

"I've discovered a secret," Shen Mo said. "There's a feng shui formation underground in the city, with seven anchor points connecting to the earth's veins to extract energy. The project I'm involved in is the reconstruction of these anchor points."

"What project?"

"The department store was being expanded," Shen Mo said. "When we were digging the foundation in 1985, I discovered traces of an underground formation. Seven black skeletons were arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper. That was part of an ancient formation used to suppress the earth's energy."

Chen Mo recalled Zhou Ming's words and old posts on the forum.

"I kept digging and found a stone slab engraved with runes," Shen Mo said. "After checking the information, I found that it's called the Seven Star Dragon Locking Formation, used to lock the underground dragon veins."

"Who did you tell?"

"My boss." Shen Mo shook his head. "Later, I was transferred from the project. One night, I was called here for a meeting. Several people held me down, forced me to drink poison, buried me here, and poured cement on me."

Chen Mo remained silent.

"My obsession is to finish drawing the array diagram." Shen Mo pointed to the wall. "I drew 70% of it before I died, but I couldn't calculate the position of the array's core. So I trapped my soul here and calculated it for 39 years."

"What can I do to help you with?" Chen Mo asked.

"Two things," Shen Mo said. "Help me find the correct location of the array's core, and make the complete array diagram public. This array is related to the city's fortune."

"How do we find the core of the formation?" Chen Mo asked.

"Go to the other anchor points," Shen Mo said. "The seven anchor points are connected, and by comparing and referencing them, we can deduce the array's core."

"Where are the other anchor points?"

"I only know three: the old department store site at Wanda Plaza, the underground cemetery of the church in the old town, and No. 17 Qing Shi Lane."

Chen Mo straightened up.

"Is the old house also an anchor point?"

"Yes," Shen Mo said. "Seven buildings, seven houses. The old house is the central anchor point. You're the landlord of that house, right?"

How did you know?

"Only the landlord of the Seven Houses can sense the summoning circle," Shen Mo said. "Your presence here means the old house has accepted you."

Chen Mo sorted out the information.

"Who killed you?"

"An organization that calls itself the Longevity Society," Shen Mo said. "They control the city's formations and extract energy from the earth's veins to cultivate and pursue longevity. When I discovered their secret, they were silenced."

The Longevity Society.

Chen Mo exhaled.

"What will you do after I finish drawing the array diagram for you?" Chen Mo asked.

"Obsession dissipates, and reincarnation begins," Shen Mo said. "Before that, I can teach you the basics of formations and tell you the inside story of the Longevity Society."

Chen Mo nodded.

"Okay, I'll help you."

Shen Mo's expression relaxed.

"Thank you for waiting for thirty-nine years."

His body turned pale.

"Time is running out," Shen Mo said. "Come back tomorrow night, and I'll take you to the church's crypt, which is the second anchor point."

"What time tomorrow night?"

"Midnight, from 11 to 1," Shen Mo said, "that's when the tomb's seal is weakest."

Chen Mo agreed.

Shen Mo's figure was almost transparent.

"Be careful of Zhao Shouyi. He is an outer member of the Longevity Society who specializes in collecting wishes."

The words fell.