The drive to Sector 7 took twelve minutes.Twelve minutes of engine roar, radio chatter, and escalating fear.
The Siheyuan district unfolded through the vehicle's windows like a preserved memory:blue bricks, gray tiles, red wooden doors faded by decades.Narrow alleys, stone drainage channels, vine-covered walls.
And people—families—rushing out with bags and children, fleeing cracks that spread like lightning veins across the earth.
Director Li leapt from the first vehicle before it fully stopped.
"Get everyone back! Evacuate all courtyards from rows 1 to 6!"
Sirens screeched as teams ran past.
But Lin Wei didn't look at them.
He was standing absolutely still.
Head tilted.
Eyes half-closed.
Listening.
The micro-tremor skill pulsed faintly in his nerves.
The ground was humming.
A low, sickening vibration.
Deep.Wrong.Artificial.
"Lin Wei?" Liu Fang approached carefully."Can you sense something?"
He nodded once, slowly.
"This isn't natural settlement. It's too rhythmic. Too patterned."
Old Zhang blinked.
"Patterned? You mean someone—"
"Interfered," Lin Wei finished."Deliberately."
The Cracked Wall
They reached the courtyard cluster in the heart of the district.
A long retaining wall—more than seventy years old—ran along the hillside.Its blue-gray bricks were spiderwebbed with cracks.
Chunks had fallen onto the walkway.A large fissure ran diagonally from the base to the upper corner like an enormous claw mark.
Liu Fang's voice trembled.
"I've never seen cracking like this…"
Master Yu crouched, touching the mortar.
"It's not weathering. Someone saturated the internal fill layer. Caused differential pressure."
Old Zhang stared in horror.
"That's… insane. And precise."
Director Li gave a hard, grim nod.
"So Trial Three is structural hydrology sabotage."
But Lin Wei stepped closer, scanning the crack.
"No," he said quietly."It's not just hydrology."
He put his palm gently against the wall.
And felt—
thum… thum… thum…
The vibration wasn't constant.
It pulsed.
Like—
"A pump," Lin Wei whispered.
Liu Fang gasped.
Old Zhang paled.
"You're telling me someone installed a pump inside a heritage Siheyuan retaining wall?!"
Master Yu clenched his jaw.
"That's a death trap. If the internal cavity floods, the wall will shear off the foundation and collapse down the slope."
"And bury an entire courtyard cluster," Liu Fang added softly.
Director Li turned to Lin Wei.
"Where is the pump located?"
Lin Wei didn't hesitate.
"The vibration originates behind the central courtyard. Under the oldest house."
The Courtyard
The central courtyard was deserted.Lanterns swayed in the faint breeze.A pomegranate tree leaned heavily to one side, its roots exposed by shifting soil.
The main house stood silent—a dark wooden structure older than any engineer present.
Liu Fang whispered:
"…I grew up playing in courtyards like these."
Lin Wei's gaze softened.
"Then we'll make sure this one doesn't fall."
They stepped inside.
The air was cool and still.The ceiling beams creaked occasionally—old wood complaining.
Master Yu swept his flashlight across the floor.
"There's no access hatch in traditional layouts. The saboteur must've entered from outside or—"
"Or created one," Lin Wei said.
He walked toward the far corner of the main room.
Kneeled.
Pressed his hand to the floor.
Thum… thum… thum…
The vibration was clear here.
He tapped the floor panels.
Hollow.
"Here," he said.
Old Zhang cracked his knuckles."You want me to pry it open?"
"No." Lin Wei shook his head."The saboteur wants us to rush. He expects reckless force."
Liu Fang inhaled sharply.
"Booby traps?"
"Likely."
He traced the panel edges with careful fingers.
"Look here."
A thin metallic glint appeared between the wood seams.
Director Li crouched beside him.
"A pressure sensor?"
Lin Wei nodded.
"If the board rises even three millimeters, the pump will switch to max output."
Master Yu swore softly.
"That would destroy the wall in minutes."
Lin Wei's jaw tightened.
"This whole house is a trap."
And the saboteur had set it for him.
The Hidden Message
Liu Fang pointed to something on the wall.
"Wait—what's that?"
A slip of paper was pinned behind a lantern.
Old Zhang plucked it off and handed it to Lin Wei.
The writing was elegant.
Smooth strokes.Clear ink.
"If you are here, then Trial Two did not kill you."
Liu Fang's breath hitched.
Another line:
"Good. This one will test your mind."
Then:
"Beneath your feet lies more than a pump.""It is the reason the wall must fall.""Remove it, and you will uncover the truth."
Master Yu growled.
"This lunatic is leaving clues like he's writing a textbook!"
Lin Wei read the final line silently.
Then his eyes darkened.
Liu Fang saw it instantly.
"…What does it say?"
Lin Wei exhaled slowly.
"It says:"
"And tell Liu Fang she should not have come."
Liu Fang froze.
Old Zhang cursed so loudly it echoed off the rafters.
Master Yu stepped protectively in front of her.
Director Li's eyes narrowed.
"How does he know she's here? How closely is he watching us?"
Lin Wei folded the paper.
"He's been observing us since before Trial One."
"And using us," Liu Fang whispered.
Lin Wei turned toward her.
His voice was low and steady.
"But he won't touch you. Not while I'm here."
Her cheeks flushed, but fear still lingered in her eyes.
The House Reveals Its Secret
Lin Wei crouched again.
The floor panel was booby-trapped.
But only the top surface.
He tapped the wood lightly, listening carefully.
"There's an empty sublayer beneath. A hidden air gap."
Director Li's eyes widened.
"You think you can access it from the side?"
"Yes."
He pointed.
"There. The wall panel. It's slightly warped."
Old Zhang grinned savagely.
"That, I can deal with."
He slid a chisel into the seam gently, not prying—but slicing through the adhesive.
One quiet, careful movement at a time.
A soft crack.
The panel shifted.
Behind it—a concealed narrow crawlspace leading downward.
Cold air wafted out.
And the steady, rhythmic pulse.
Thum… thum… thum…
Lin Wei grabbed his flashlight.
Director Li grabbed his arm.
"Are you going alone?"
Lin Wei looked at the narrow opening.
Only one person could fit.
"I have to."
But he turned to Liu Fang.
For a second, neither spoke.
Her eyes trembled.
"Come back," she said quietly.
He nodded.
"I will."
Then he lowered himself into the darkness.
Beneath the House
The crawlspace was claustrophobic.
Barely wide enough for shoulders.The wood was old and damp.Dust filled the air.
He crawled forward—
inch by inch—
until the narrow passage widened into a small underground cavity.
There it was.
A steel pump bolted to ancient stone.
Modern tubing fed into the soil layer behind the retaining wall.
And beside the pump—
Lin Wei froze.
There was another object.
Wrapped in old cloth.
Rectangular.Heavy.Dust-covered.
He pulled back the cloth.
And stared.
It was an old notebook.
Yellowed pages.Traditional binding.Ink seeped at the edges.
A name was written on the cover.
Lin Wei's breath caught in his throat.
The name was—
"Lin Cheng."
His father's name.
The chapter ended.