Chapter 16: Gathering Malevolence to Summon Evil

Yang Rui took a sip of his latte, the rich aroma of coffee seeming to sharpen his thoughts. A vivid image flashed through his mind—the violent magnetic field and infrasound waves at the Ji Shan Hall—and he recalled the thick walls torn down and the water pool filled in during Chen Bojun’s renovation of the old family mansion.

“Dr. Su,” he began, “do you think it’s possible that this abnormal increase in the magnetic field and the infrasound waves could, like the old Chen family mansion, be caused by something underground… or perhaps some form of human interference?”

“Human interference?” Su Jin was momentarily taken aback. “You mean…?”

“For example,” Yang Rui lowered his voice, his tone tinged with the instinct of a feng shui master, “someone is conducting some underground project over there? Maybe they’ve disrupted the original geological layers or some large metallic structure buried beneath the surface that affects the magnetic field? Like that iron box in the Chen family mansion, but on a much larger scale? Those infrasound waves could be vibrations from construction machinery transmitted underground.”

Su Jin’s eyes brightened at the suggestion. “Very possible! Large-scale underground projects—especially those involving metal structures or altering underground water systems—can indeed cause localized magnetic field variations and infrasound disturbances! And over at the Cultural Innovation Park…” She swiftly pulled up satellite maps and available public data on her tablet. “Look! The core of this area is that abandoned ‘River Suppressing Tower.’ It’s a brick-and-stone structure reputed to have a very deep foundation. During the park’s renovation, they carried out extensive updates to underground pipelines and landscaping around this tower!”

“The River Suppressing Tower?” Yang Rui felt a stir in his chest; the name seemed to carry an unusual weight. He scrutinized the satellite image of the ancient seven-story tower, surrounded by newly built art galleries and cafés, arranged like stars around the moon. A vague notion began to form in his mind.

“Dr. Su, you mentioned that the magnetic anomaly has been growing steadily over the past five years? When did the renovation work at the Cultural Innovation Park begin?”

“About six years ago, planning started. Construction formally began five years ago, with major works completed three years ago, and ongoing finishing touches ever since,” Su Jin recalled from her records.

“That timing fits perfectly!” Yang Rui’s fingers drummed faster on the table. “Shortly after the project began, the magnetic anomalies appeared and have been increasing ever since! Those infrasound signals might be from intermittent construction activities or some ongoing, covert operations.” He connected this to the Chen family mansion incident, where Chen Bojun’s large-scale renovations had also disturbed something underground. “You mentioned the ‘Hengtai Cultural Foundation’ before? I remember you said their background was somewhat murky during the later stages of the Ji Shan Hall investigation.”

Su Jin immediately searched on her tablet. “Yes! The Hengtai Cultural Foundation! I looked into them—the registration details are very sparse, and the main funding sources are unknown. Publicly, they’re listed as one of the primary investors and operators of the Cultural Innovation Park renovation project! In particular, they’re solely responsible for the ‘protective restoration and environmental monitoring’ of the River Suppressing Tower and its surroundings.”

Hengtai Foundation. Cultural Innovation Park renovation. River Suppressing Tower. Annual magnetic field increase. Infrasound anomalies.

These clues instantly connected in Yang Rui’s mind.

“Dr. Su!” Yang Rui’s voice carried a thrill of discovery, “What if the so-called ‘protective restoration’ by the Hengtai Foundation beneath the tower isn’t protection at all but a covert excavation or alteration? What if they damaged something originally stabilizing the magnetic field beneath the tower—like ancient buried large metallic components or took advantage of special geological formations—causing this growing magnetic anomaly? Those infrasound waves could be proof of ongoing operations. Could the problems at the Chen family’s Ji Shan Hall also be linked to them? Are they orchestrating something major in the city’s west side, inadvertently—or perhaps deliberately—disrupting some critical balance points?”

The hypothesis was bold but logically sound. Su Jin’s heart pounded fiercely. If Yang Rui was right, then the Hengtai Foundation’s so-called “cultural protection” was a mere façade for something far more sinister. What exactly were they doing beneath the tower?

“We need evidence,” Su Jin’s gaze sharpened. “Magnetic field growth and infrasound anomalies alone aren’t enough to prove illicit activity. If we could get hold of their detailed construction blueprints—especially the underground sections—or find physical evidence from on-site inspections indicating abnormalities…”

At that moment, Su Jin’s tablet chimed—a new email notification. She casually opened it; it was from one of her graduate students, titled: “Professor Su, here are the aerial photos of the Cultural Innovation Park before renovation, plus some unusual shots taken near the tower’s foundation during construction.”

Su Jin opened the attachments. The first few were standard aerial shots, but as she scrolled to the last few, her eyes suddenly fixed on one image.

It was a nighttime construction photo, slightly tilted and of average quality. Yet it clearly showed, in the shadow of the River Suppressing Tower’s foundation, a large, deep, square pit had been excavated—partially concealed behind blue construction barriers. The soil around the pit was an unusual dark red. Several heavy excavators and pump trucks were parked nearby. More strikingly, the bottom of the pit was lined with thick black pipes deeply buried in the earth, arranged not in the pattern of typical municipal pipelines but twisted into a bizarre, geometrically intricate design. Under the floodlights, part of this pattern reflected a cold, metallic gleam.

In the corner of the photo stood a figure clad in workwear emblazoned with the “Hengtai” logo, facing away as if directing the operation.

“Yang Rui! Look!” Su Jin thrust the tablet toward him, her voice trembling with a mix of disbelief and excitement. “A deep pit! Underground pipes! Strange geometric patterns! And Hengtai personnel! This is no ordinary ‘protective restoration’!”

Yang Rui’s gaze locked onto the eerie pipe pattern at the bottom of the pit. The twisted geometric lines exuded a sinister aura, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a perilous “accumulated sha and evil-summoning” formation from the feng shui school of terrain analysis he had studied. Coupled with the iron box and violent energy from the Chen Bojun family’s house…

“There’s definitely something wrong!” Yang Rui suddenly looked up, his eyes blazing with sharp brilliance, all previous fatigue vanishing. “Dr. Su, I think our coffee break is over. We need to visit this ‘River Suppressing Tower’ ourselves. What exactly is the Hengtai Foundation hiding beneath it? Or… what are they trying to unleash?”

Under the gentle glow of the café’s lights, the relaxed atmosphere had vanished. Outside, the city’s neon lights flickered on. The abandoned ancient tower in the west of the city stood silently like a giant sentinel. The secrets buried deep beneath it—and the invisible conspiracy surrounding it—awaited the duo who had just set down their coffee cups.

Thus began the urban exploration of a humble feng shui master and a brilliant scientist, a journey from a simple latte to the heart of a deeper, more perilous game.