Chapter 7: Digging the Well to Dispel the Evil Energy

The proposal caught Su Jin completely off guard. She could not refuse. Using scientific instruments to verify a feng shui scheme was, in itself, an extremely compelling subject—regardless of the outcome, it held academic value. Moreover, Yang Rui had voluntarily chosen a “pilot site” far from the main residence, keeping risks manageable.

“…Alright!” Su Jin took a deep breath, her gaze behind the lenses still sharp but now tinged with a complex curiosity. “I agree! I will personally oversee the instrument setup and data collection! I hope your ‘pilot’ won’t turn into a farce!”

“Whether it’s a farce or not, the data will decide,” Yang Rui replied with a slight smile, solemnly handing over the iron box to Chen Bojun. “Boss Chen, please keep this ‘array eye’ safe. I need it for analysis. Also, the blueprints and environmental data—the sooner I get them, the better. The longer the delay, the harder it will be to control the energy reaccumulating underground.”

“No problem! I’ll arrange it immediately! Butler! Quickly! Find all the blueprints and materials related to the old residence in the study! And contact the city’s best nondestructive testing laboratory!” Chen Bojun issued orders decisively.

Watching the bustling activity around him, Yang Rui moved to the edge of the newly dug foundation pit in the backyard, crouched down, and scooped up a handful of damp earth. The soil was cold, carrying a faint, indescribable metallic rust scent. He opened his palm, letting the soil slip through his fingers. The compass at his waist vibrated slightly, its needle pointing deep beneath his feet toward an invisible, restless source.

The real challenge was only just beginning. Not only did he have to repair the mess left by a century-old feng shui master, but under the watchful eyes of a scientifically-minded elite doctor, he had to perform a miracle of “energy guidance” witnessed by modern scientific instruments using feng shui methods.

Nearby, Su Jin directed her assistants to set up more monitoring points, her eyes casting a complex, assessing glance at Yang Rui crouched by the pit. This ordinary-looking “folk feng shui master,” speaking with unshakable confidence, seemed shrouded in an impenetrable mist she could not see through. The scientific data had temporarily lost out to that iron box. Now, what would she witness with her own eyes? Another coincidence that would overturn understanding—or some fundamental law of the world she would have to reconsider?

Above the Ji Shan Hall, leaden gray clouds hung low, as if heralding a new storm—not merely physical, but one of cognition.

The Chen household had been enveloped in a busy, tense atmosphere. Chen Bojun had mobilized nearly every available resource. In less than half a day, the most detailed architectural blueprints of the old residence, precise topographical and hydrological maps of the surroundings, and a preliminary nondestructive analysis report on the rusted iron box from the city’s top testing institution were neatly spread across Yang Rui’s desk.

The report revealed the box’s material was indeed special—not ordinary cast iron. The main body was high-carbon steel, interspersed with an unusually high proportion of natural magnetite particles and fine brass wire filaments, forming a composite magnetic material structure. X-ray inspection showed the box was hollow, filled with a hardened mixture due to rust and age, composed of graphite powder, quartz sand, and an unidentified black powder. The inner lid bore faint, intricately engraved spiral and grid patterns linked to external carvings on the box’s surface, creating an apparently chaotic yet geometrically elegant symbolic system.

“Magnetite to guide the magnetic field… the brass wire likely channels induced currents or enhances specific frequency responses… graphite and quartz sand probably absorb or convert certain energies… this symbol pattern…” Yang Rui’s fingers traced the blurred images on the report, his eyes focused and bright. “This is essentially the casing of a sophisticated, multifunctional ‘energy regulator’! Unfortunately, with the filler degraded, casing rusted, and symbols worn, its effectiveness is likely less than ten percent.”

He put down the report and gazed at the unfolded blueprints. His finger followed the lines of demolished old walls and foundation, passed over the newly dug pit, and finally rested on a relatively open area near the northeast corner of the backyard, close to the old outer wall. Sparse bamboo once grew there, far from the main house, with moist soil above a long-abandoned drainage culvert still carrying faint underground water flow.

“This is the spot,” Yang Rui circled a point on the blueprint with a red pen. “Distant from the main house, near an old water vein, moist soil conducive to energy dissipation. Perfect for the ‘Sha dissipation pilot.’”

The plan quickly took shape: dig a vertical shaft about 1.5 meters deep and 80 centimeters in diameter at the designated point. The bottom would be layered with a mixture of refined magnetite powder and fine copper shavings. Rising from this layer would be three purple copper rods, each the thickness of an arm, engraved with simplified guiding symbols. Arranged in an equilateral triangle, their tops flush with the ground. The shaft would be backfilled with gravel and sand, capped with a stone slab leaving only tiny ventilation gaps. Yang Rui called it the “Triangular Copper Flow Well.”

“This… can really draw away those invisible, intangible ‘Sha qi’?” Chen Bojun eyed the simple design skeptically.

“The principle lies in simulation and amplification,” Yang Rui explained. “The copper rods and magnetite powder form a reinforced ‘local field source,’ generating a specific magnetic field pattern that creates an ‘attraction’ or ‘resonance’ effect on the underground chaotic energy core—the original array eye location—providing a new, low-resistance ‘release channel’ for the tangled magnetic lines. Copper, being an excellent conductor, induces currents from the changing magnetic field, dissipating energy as the currents flow. The moist soil and underlying old water vein absorb and transmit infrasonic energy. This well is a miniature, directional ‘energy conversion and release terminal.’”

Su Jin scoffed. She deployed more precise instruments: high-sensitivity magnetometers and infrasonic sensors arranged at the well’s opening, along its walls at various depths, and along the direct line connecting the well to the original energy core. Additional real-time monitoring points were set up in Chen Qiming’s room, the old matriarch’s chamber, the west wing’s anomaly site, and other key locations throughout the residence. All data streamed into her high-performance laptop for real-time spectral analysis and recording.

“I will record precise data at every stage—before, during, and after construction,” Su Jin said coldly, adopting the stance of a judge. “Yang Rui, I hope your ‘Copper Flow Well’ does not become an expensive futility or trigger new energy disturbances.”

Construction began. Under Yang Rui’s direction, the gardener carefully dug the shaft. When they reached about one meter deep, the soil indeed grew wetter and muddier, and a faint chill affirmed the presence of the old underground water vein. Su Jin stared sharply at her screen. The instruments showed no significant changes in magnetic field or infrasonic background levels at the well’s location as the digging progressed. She barely suppressed a slight sneer.