Chapter 18: The Gluttonous Wolf Devours the Heavens

The air was thick with the sharp scent of rust, the fresh metallic tang of welding, and a faint, unsettling fishy odor of rusty water. A low, humming drone emanated from the bottom of the pit—the source of the infrasound waves and magnetic pulses.

“What are they doing?!” Su Jin was shocked by the brutal destruction of the ancient site, recording everything with her camcorder. “This isn’t restoration! This is outright vandalism!”

Yang Rui’s gaze fixed tightly on the twisted, jagged metal framework forming a three-dimensional web. His face turned ashen in an instant, his eyes burning with fury and profound disgust.

“Greedy Wolf Devouring the Heavenly Doom!” he spat through clenched teeth, his voice cold as ice. “Those bastards! They’re setting up a cursed formation designed to cut off all heirs!”

“Greedy Wolf Devouring the Heavenly Doom?” Su Jin looked puzzled.

“It’s an extremely tyrannical and selfish Feng Shui formation!” Yang Rui suppressed his anger to explain. “Look at the direction and shape of these metal components—sharp as wolf’s teeth, twisted like poisonous snakes! They’re forcibly embedded into the earth’s energy nodes and the tower itself, not to protect but to distort, seize, and concentrate the earth’s energy in this area! Like inserting straws into blood vessels! ‘Greedy Wolf’ symbolizes plunder, ‘Devouring Heaven’ signifies insatiable greed! Those who set this formation hope to sacrifice the entire region’s fortune and vitality, forcibly gathering all ‘life energy’ and ‘wealth energy’ into one point to nourish themselves and attain instant riches! It’s the vilest trick despised by Feng Shui masters!”

He pointed to the pipes drilled into the tower. “See that? They’re forcibly pumping the gathered ‘energy’ into the tower through these pipes! I bet they’ve modified the inside of the tower, placing some kind of energy reservoir—like a specially-made treasure basin, an idol of an evil god, or directly connected it to a ‘formation eye’ they control! The magnetic burst at the Ji Shan Hall was likely caused by their frantic suction of earth energy here in the west of the city, disrupting the balance of the earth’s energy veins in the region. This caused a fragile key node’s energy to stagnate and spiral out of control—probably the Chen family’s old mansion—resulting in a backlash explosion! Mr. Chen’s home took the brunt of the disaster for them, suffering undeserved calamity!”

Yang Rui’s analysis sent chills down Su Jin’s spine. From a scientific perspective, this was artificially creating a powerful, distorted environmental energy vortex. Through destructive methods, they forcibly extracted the stability and vitality of the surrounding energy fields, potentially causing human discomfort, flawed decision-making, and subtle ecological degradation. They concentrated this energy into a single point, attempting to create an “energy highland” or “fortune hotspot” for selfish gain!

“Madmen! They’ll stop at nothing for money!” Su Jin felt sickened as she eyed the grotesque metal structures. It was everything she stood against—scientific integrity and environmental protection.

“We must get evidence!” Yang Rui’s eyes swept over the pit. The humming continued unabated. “There’s still something working down there, maintaining this cursed formation!” He signaled Su Jin to keep watch and record at the pit’s edge, then carefully climbed down the metal ladder fixed to the pit’s side.

The pit was seven or eight meters deep. The lower he went, the stronger the rust smell and the unsettling fishy stench became, along with the increasing hum. Reaching the bottom, Yang Rui lifted a corner of the waterproof tarp.

The floor was leveled, and prominently installed in the center were two industrial-grade large low-frequency sound wave generators, paired with powerful electromagnetic field excitation devices! Nameplates on the machines indicated their power and frequency range; the manufacturer was an obscure small company. The equipment was running continuously, emitting a low drone with blinking indicator lights. Their outputs connected via pipes buried deep in the pit’s surrounding soil and extending upward, linking to the metal network on the tower!

The truth was laid bare!

Hengtai was not preserving culture at all! They were using modern technology to simulate and amplify the energy disturbances required by the “Greedy Wolf Devouring the Heavenly Doom” cursed formation! These devices pumped artificially generated infrasound and strong magnetic fields into the earth’s veins and the tower through the buried piping network, forcibly distorting, activating, and directing the earth’s energy, assisting the ugly metal web in more efficiently plundering the regional energy! They were “plugging in” ancient dark magic with scientific instruments!

“Amplifying evil with scientific equipment… that’s decadence at its worst!” Yang Rui’s fury blazed. Suddenly—

“Who’s there?! Who’s down there?!” A man’s sharp shout echoed from above the pit, followed by a flashlight beam!

Su Jin’s urgent whisper came from the top: “Yang Rui! Someone’s coming! Get out of there!”

Startled, Yang Rui immediately dropped the tarp and tried to climb the ladder. But the pit bottom was muddy and slippery from equipment vibrations and moisture! His foot slipped; he lost balance and fell heavily into the muddy water with a splash! The powerful flashlight in his hand slipped free and flew, crashing against the metal equipment’s casing with a loud clang!

“Someone’s down there! Grab him!” Furious shouts rang out at the pit’s edge, and several flashlight beams locked onto Yang Rui instantly! Rapid footsteps rushed toward the ladder!

Cold muddy water soaked his clothes; the glaring beams enveloped him. Yang Rui’s heart sank. He was trapped! The Hengtai people would never let someone who uncovered their secret escape easily!

The biting chill and intense rusty fishy smell flooded his nostrils.

Coughing, Yang Rui struggled to get up from the slippery mud. The sharp flashlights above played like searchlights, firmly fixed on him, dazzling his eyes.

“Don’t move! Move again and we shoot!” a gruff male voice barked fiercely, with unmasked menace. Heavy leather boots clanged urgently on the metal ladder as more men rapidly descended!

“Yang Rui!” Su Jin’s anxious cry came from above, trembling with fear.

He couldn’t just wait to be captured! Thinking quickly, Yang Rui fought dizziness and the hindrance of the mud, then suddenly rolled sideways! His body slammed hard against the cold, solid equipment casing, pain shooting through him—but it moved him out of the center of the light beams.

“Bang!” A muffled thud—not a gunshot—followed by a fist-sized rock skimming past his scalp and landing in the muddy water where he had fallen. Mud splattered all over his face. The men above didn’t intend to finish him immediately but made their warning clear.

“Kid, you’ve got some nerve coming here!” The first man down was a burly fellow in Hengtai security’s black uniform, clutching a heavy rubber baton, his face rough and eyes fierce. He blocked the ladder’s base while two others jumped down behind him, forming a triangle that cornered Yang Rui at the pit’s corner. The pit was cramped, with the two humming machines occupying most of the space; Yang Rui had nowhere to retreat.

“What are you doing? This is damaging cultural relics! Setting up a cursed formation to harm people!” Yang Rui pressed his back against the cold equipment, wiping mud from his face, demanding in a harsh voice, trying to buy time as his eyes rapidly searched for escape routes.

“Harming people? Looks to me like you just can’t wait to die!” The burly man sneered, weighing his baton in his palm. “Mind your own business! If you know what’s good for you, come quietly and you might avoid some bruises!” He stepped closer as the other two moved to encircle him.

Yang Rui’s heart pounded in his throat. Fighting was hopeless! Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flashing red emergency stop button on the nearby equipment…