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

Grandma Wang remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"The Tian Shu position is sealed with the murderous atrocities of a warlord during the Republic of China era. He massacred a city for three days, staining half the city with blood. After his death, his resentment soared to the sky and was sealed by the first generation of tomb guardians."

"Tianxuan position is a vengeful fetus that was not completely burned in the crematorium furnace in the 1950s. The child was abandoned by its parents and screamed in the furnace fire for three days before it finally died. Its resentment took form."

"Tianji position was a geomancer who was buried alive in the 1970s. He discovered the secret of the formation and tried to break it, but was silenced by the Longevity Society and his soul was thrown into the ground."

"The Jade Balance position is now occupied by Zhao Xiaolian."

"Kaiyang position is the temple keeper buried under the earth god temple. He guarded Kaiyang position for sixty years. In the end, he was devoured by the formation and sealed his obsession inside before his soul was scattered. That obsession was that he could not guard it."

"The Yao Guang position, which was originally Liu Fengchun's tear anchor, is now empty."

"And the Tianquan position..." Grandma Wang looked at the ground beneath her feet, "is this old house of yours. There is no coffin under the old house, but the old house itself is the core of the formation. It suppresses the other six anchor points and connects to them."

She paused, lowering her voice even further, "But before your third great-uncle died, he tampered with the Tianquan position. He buried something under the old house, a key. He said that if the formation ever went out of control, he would use that key to open the bronze door and release what was behind it."

Chen Mo felt his breath catch for half a second.

What's behind the door?

"I don't know," Grandma Wang shook her head. "Chen Banshan didn't tell me. He said the fewer people who know, the better. But he mentioned that the thing behind the door is related to the god worshipped by the Longevity Society, and it might even be... part of that god."

The main room was deathly silent, with only the suppressed breathing of the crowd.

The spirit weakly added, "Landlord, I sensed something under the old house, about nine meters below the bronze door, but it's sealed and I can't get in."

Chen Mo rubbed his temples.

There was too much information, and each piece was worse than the last.

The Yao Guang position is empty, the Yu Heng position is leaking, other anchor points may be contaminated, the bronze door requires a living sacrifice, and a key is buried under the old house. Meanwhile, infighting between the Changsheng Society and the tomb keeper is imminent.

At this moment, Liu Xiaoyu suddenly spoke up, "Grandma Wang, you said Zhao Xiaolian kept saying 'I didn't steal it'... What did she steal?"

Grandma Wang paused for a moment, then recalled, "It seems to be... a jade pendant. Zhao Shouyi mentioned before that the day before Zhao Xiaolian died, she took an ancestral jade pendant from home, saying she was going to return it to her classmate. But later she died in the Yuhengwei pool, and the jade pendant disappeared. Zhao Shouyi always believed that his granddaughter was murdered because of that jade pendant... which is said to be related to the Longevity Society."

"What does the jade pendant look like?"

"It's a bluish-white jade pendant, carved with a coiled dragon pattern, and the character '祭' (sacrifice) is engraved on the back," Grandma Wang said. "That's something that came from the palace from the Zhao family ancestors. It's said to be a token of a certain sacrificial ceremony. Zhao Shouyi once wanted to use that jade pendant to make a deal with the Longevity Society in exchange for a way to resurrect his granddaughter, but the jade pendant was lost, and the deal fell through."

Chen Mo recalled the black jade thumb ring in Zhou Wenyuan's hand, which also had the character "祭" (sacrifice) engraved on the inside.

It seems that the character "祭" was a mark of a certain level or ritual of the Longevity Society.

"Could the jade pendant be in the coffin at the Jade Balance position?" Liu Xiaoyu speculated. "Zhao Xiaolian wore it when she died, and when her soul was sealed, the jade pendant was sealed in with her?"

Grandma Wang's eyes lit up. "That's possible! If the jade pendant is really in the coffin, then it might be being nourished by Zhao Xiaolian's soul right now... If the Longevity Society knew, they would definitely try to snatch it at any cost."

No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock on the door of the old house.

It wasn't done by hand, but by striking something—heavy, rhythmic, stopping every three strikes.

Boom, boom, boom.

pause.

Boom, boom, boom.

Chen Mo and Grandma Wang exchanged a glance, signaling Liu Xiaoyu to hide behind the screen. Chen Mo then went behind the door and peered out through the crack.

There were two people standing outside the door.

One was Zhao Shouyi, a gaunt old man with bloodshot eyes, holding a white lantern with a black character for "mourning" written on it.

The other was someone Chen Mo had never seen before—around thirty years old, wearing a black Tang suit, with a sinister face, and holding a pair of iron walnuts in his hand. He had a mole on the corner of his left eye, with a strange shape, like the Mizar star in the Big Dipper.

Zhao Shouyi's voice was terribly hoarse.

"Chen Mo, open the door. I know you're in there. Is Granny Wang here too? Come out, we need to talk."

Chen Mo didn't open the door. "Grandpa Zhao, what's the matter? Just say it outside the door."

"This concerns the survival of the formation. Are you sure you want to talk about it through a door?" Zhao Shouyi sneered. "You saw the unusual activity at the bronze gate, didn't you? The Yao Guang position is empty, the Yu Heng position is unstable, and the other five anchor points can only hold out until tomorrow evening at most. By then, the formation will collapse, and everything in the seven coffins will run out. This city will be finished."

Chen Mo remained silent for a moment, then opened the door.

Zhao Shouyi and the man in the Tang suit walked in. As soon as he entered, the man in the Tang suit looked around, and his gaze finally landed on the staircase leading to the basement, revealing a faint smile.

"Who is this?" Chen Mo asked.

"The guardian of the Kaiyang position is Wu Tieshou," Zhao Shouyi introduced. "The earth god temple he guards is right next to the Yuheng position. When Xiaolian's soul was leaked, the first place affected was his Kaiyang position."

Wu Tieshou clasped his hands in a fist salute to Chen Mo without saying a word, but his eyes held a strong sense of scrutiny.

"Speak, what is it?" Grandma Wang said coldly.

Zhao Shouyi placed the white lantern on the Eight Immortals table. The candlelight inside the lantern suddenly turned green. "I just returned from the Jade Balance position. Xiaolian's coffin... cracked."

Grandma Wang's expression changed. "How big is the crack?"

"It's a crack a finger wide, running from the head of the coffin to the tail," Zhao Shouyi's voice trembled. "The cold jade inside the coffin is starting to melt, and Xiaolian's soul is seeping out. I used three soul-suppressing talismans to barely seal the crack, but it won't last until midnight tonight."

Wu Tieshou then spoke up, "Not only the Yuheng position, but my coffin in the Kaiyang position has also started to leak water~ The well in the Earth Temple is overflowing with water, and there are traces of blood in the water. This is a sign that the Kaiyang position is being polluted."

He looked at Chen Mo, "Landlord Chen, things have come to this point, we must replace the lighting fixtures as soon as possible. Zhou Wenyuan said you have a solution?"

Chen Mo remained calm. "What else did Zhou Wenyuan say?"

"He said you have three things from Liu Fengchun. As long as you complete the ceremony on the fifteenth of July, you can temporarily stabilize the Yao Guang position," Zhao Shouyi said anxiously. "But we can't wait until the fifteenth of July! By noon tomorrow at the latest, the crack in the Yu Heng position will widen to the point where it can't be sealed anymore. At that time, Xiao Lian's soul will be completely exposed, and the other anchor points will collapse in a chain reaction."

"So you want me to hold the ceremony earlier than planned?"

"Yes!" Zhao Shouyi stepped forward. "It'll be midnight tonight! Use Liu Fengchun's belongings to forcibly open a temporary anchor point at the old site of Qingyun Theater, fill the vacancy of the spotlight position first, and strive for three months. Within three months, we'll find another way to completely solve the problem."

Chen Mo looked at Grandma Wang.

Grandma Wang shook her head slightly, signaling him not to agree so easily.

"How do we open a temporary anchor point?" Chen Mo asked.

"Use Liu Fengchun's mirror, rouge, and tears as a guide to draw a seven-star array on the ground, and then~" Zhao Shou paused, "then you need someone to be the array pillar, standing at the array eye, and connecting the seven points with their own yin energy. This person must be alive and have the mark of the old house on their body—that is, you."

Wu Tieshou added, "Don't worry, it's just borrowing your yin energy for three hours. It won't harm your life. After it's done, the seven of us tomb keepers will owe you a favor. If you need help in the future, we will never refuse."

The words sounded nice, but Chen Mo understood the subtext: if he didn't agree, he would be making enemies of all the tomb guardians.

Furthermore, did he notice Wu Tieshou's mention of the seven tomb keepers—including Zhou Wenyuan? Did Zhou Wenyuan know about this plan?

"Where is Zhou Wenyuan?" Chen Mo asked directly.

"He went to find tears," Zhao Shouyi said. "Liu Fengchun's tears, although the last tear anchor disappeared with him, there is a substitute - Su Jingwan's descendant, Su Wenjuan. Su Jingwan's obsession remains in her blood. Taking a drop of her heart's blood can simulate the effect of the tear anchor."

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat. "You're going to target Su Wenjuan?"

"It's just taking a drop of blood; it won't kill her," Wu Tieshou said calmly. "Zhou Wenyuan has already gone; they should be close to succeeding now."

Damn.

Chen Mo finally understood Zhou Wenyuan's true intentions. The so-called cooperation and helping Liu Fengchun fulfill his obsession were all ultimately for the temporary anchor point plan tonight.

Tears, rouge, and a mirror—once gathered, they weren't used to bring peace to Liu Fengchun, but rather to mend the formation.

And he himself was the pillar of the plan.

"What if I refuse?" Chen Mo asked calmly.

Zhao Shouyi and Wu Tieshou's expressions both darkened.

The air in the main room seemed to freeze, and the green flame in the white lantern flickered violently, casting eerie shadows on the faces of the three people.

After about half a minute of silence, Zhao Shouyi slowly spoke, "Chen Mo, you know that I would do anything for Xiao Lian. If you refuse, I can only use the second option—forcibly extracting the Yin energy from the old house and injecting it into the coffin in the Jade Balance position to temporarily seal the crack. But if we do that, the old house will be damaged, and your status as the landlord may also be revoked."

He paused, his voice laced with threat, "And once you're no longer the landlord, I don't know how the tenants in this house will treat you."

Chen Mo clenched his fist.

The rouge marks on the back of his hand started to burn again, this time so hot that he almost cried out.

Deep within that scorching heat, he vaguely sensed something else, something older and more indistinct, emanating from the depths of the old house.

It's like... some kind of response.

Just then, a heavy, muffled thud came from the basement, a sound that seemed to come from deep underground.

Everyone looked towards the stairwell.

The spirit screamed, "Underground! That thing underground has awakened!"

Chen Mo rushed into the basement, and Zhao Shouyi and Wu Tieshou exchanged a glance and followed him down.

The bronze door still stands in the space beneath the stairs.

The seven-star pattern on the door panel underwent a strange change at this moment. The previously darkened light spot suddenly lit up again, emitting a soft, pale golden light.

Meanwhile, the red light from the other six star positions is slowly flowing towards the position of Yao Guang, as if filling something.

"What's going on?" Zhao Shouyi asked, puzzled.

Chen Mo stared at the door.

Through the resonance of the tenants, he clearly felt that the key nine meters underground in the old house was awakening.

It released a gentle yet powerful force, forcibly stabilizing the energy flow of the Seven Star Array.

The lettering reappeared on the door panel, this time in gold.

"Anyone who forcibly reinforces the formation before the appointed time will die."

The writing remained for five seconds before fading away.

Then a clear, gentle, but undeniable voice came from inside the door.

"On the fifteenth of July, at the third quarter of midnight, at the former site of Qingyun Theater, all three items were complete, the array pillars were returned to their positions, and a quarter of an hour earlier than planned, they all became offerings."

Everyone heard the sound this time.

Zhao Shouyi's face instantly turned pale, and Wu Tieshou forgot to play with the iron walnut in his hand.

The things inside the door are setting the rules.

And the time it set was exactly the same as the time in Su Jingwan's last words - July 15th, 3:45 AM.

Chen Mo looked at the door and suddenly understood something.

Perhaps from the very beginning, everything was following a predetermined script. Liu Fengchun's obsession, the three items, the time of the fifteenth of July—these were all steps arranged long ago by the one behind the door. This undead landlord was not only the guardian of the formation, but also the last protagonist to take the stage in this grand drama that had lasted for over seventy years.