The moment Chen Xuan stepped into the formation, his phone screen suddenly flickered several times, and the flashlight went out.
A woman’s muffled sobs echoed through the darkness. Moments later, the intermittent cries of two babies rang out as well.
A pale figure gradually emerged in the corner of the room.
The woman stood barefoot at the edge of the formation, her long hair hanging loose. Large patches of blood stained her white dress, and in her arms she held two babies whose faces could not be seen clearly.
Black energy extending from the formation’s markings coiled tightly around her feet.
Every time the children cried, the iron nails surrounding the clay jar trembled, and the black energy wrapped around her grew heavier.
She raised her head. Her eyes were already shrouded in resentment, yet she did not attack Chen Xuan immediately.
With great difficulty, the woman lifted one hand and pointed toward the formation marking beneath the clay jar—the one channeling energy outward.
That single movement caused all four soul-sealing nails to vibrate at once.
Even more black energy surged out of the clay jar, forcibly suppressing the small amount of consciousness she had just regained. Her body began to struggle, and the resentment in her eyes grew increasingly intense.
Chen Xuan understood now. The white-clad woman those former residents had seen had not been acting entirely of her own will.
The formation had tormented her to the brink of losing her sanity, yet she had still used the last remnants of her consciousness to drive away anyone who moved into the house afterward. Otherwise, the residents’ yang energy would also have become nourishment for maintaining the formation if they stayed in House No. 17 for too long.
The formation was the true cause of those people’s nightmares and madness.
The person who had set up the formation had killed her and her two unborn children, then made everyone blame everything that happened in House No. 17 on her.
The black energy in the white-clad woman’s eyes finally broke free of all restraint, and her body lunged toward Chen Xuan.
Chen Xuan raised his right hand, and a strand of spiritual light fell onto the black clay jar.
The woman, who was about to break through the formation’s markings, was pinned in place once more.
Chen Xuan did not destroy the clay jar outright. Instead, he used his spiritual power to seal several crucial nodes through which the formation siphoned away soul force.
The four soul-sealing nails gradually stopped vibrating.
The black energy around the woman slowly receded as well.
“Three days.”
Chen Xuan looked at her.
“For now, I’ve cut off the formation’s extraction of your soul force. Within three days, I’ll come back and dismantle this place, then send you both on your way.”
The woman tightened her arms around the two children. The resentment in her eyes faded slightly, allowing a trace of clarity to return. Unable to speak, she slowly lowered her head toward Chen Xuan.
Chen Xuan did not break the formation immediately.
This secondary formation was connected to the main formation hidden elsewhere. If he destroyed it directly, the person behind it might notice the changes at House No. 17.
More importantly, once the formation stopped operating, the earth-vein energy that had accumulated underground would return to the villa. The aura of the plants in the courtyard and the entire house would change within a short period of time.
By then, if the seller sent someone over to inspect the property, the price of 8.88 million might no longer hold.
The most prudent course of action was to purchase House No. 17 first, then sever the connection between the secondary formation and the main formation, allowing the stolen earth-vein energy to remain here.
As long as he set up a spirit-gathering formation, this haunted house—one that ordinary people avoided at all costs—would become his first ideal cultivation site on Earth.
Chen Xuan left the hidden room.
The wooden door behind him was concealed once more. To the naked eye, the basement had become nothing more than an ordinary wooden wall.
By the time he returned to the first floor, his phone, which had shut down automatically, lit up again.
Song Yuqing was still standing outside the villa.
When she saw Chen Xuan emerge safely, she first let out a sigh of relief. Then she noticed that he did not appear flustered in the slightest and could not help asking, “Mr. Chen, what was in the basement?”
“There are a few things that need to be dealt with.”
“Then, about this house…”
Song Yuqing had originally assumed that after seeing the basement, he would leave immediately.
Chen Xuan stepped out of the living room and looked back at House No. 17.
“Contact the seller.”
“I’ll take the house.”
Song Yuqing froze for several seconds, wondering if she had misheard him.
“Mr. Chen, are you sure?”
“Yes. At the listed price.”
Song Yuqing glanced at the living room behind Chen Xuan, then at his calm expression.
It wasn’t as if no clients had said something similar while viewing the property before. Some people, desperate to save face, would still pretend not to care after being frightened pale. But once she actually brought out the contract, they would start looking for all kinds of excuses to leave.
Chen Xuan was clearly not that sort of person.
He had spent so long in the basement, yet after coming out, not even his clothes were disheveled, and his breathing remained perfectly steady.
“Mr. Chen, are you certain you don’t need more time to consider this? The unusual circumstances surrounding this property will be written into the contract. Once the sale is officially completed, you won’t be able to request a refund on the grounds that an accident occurred at the property or that your living experience was abnormal.”
“That’s fine.”
Chen Xuan continued, “I’ll pay three million as the down payment today and settle the remaining 5.88 million within three days. Contact the seller. As long as the title isn’t mortgaged, seized, or involved in any other disputes, we’ll sign the contract today.”
Song Yuqing had been about to offer a few more words of caution when a faint burning pain suddenly spread across her neck.
She lowered her head and saw that the red cord holding her protective talisman had already turned gray-black. Before she could reach out to touch it, the cord snapped in the middle, and the talisman fell to the ground.
Song Yuqing’s expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly took a step back.
She had specifically gone to a temple near Jiangzhou to pray for this protective talisman after taking over the listing for House No. 17. She had worn it for the past two years, and nothing like this had ever happened before.
Chen Xuan bent down and picked up the talisman.
A faint trace of incense power remained within it. Though it had been unable to block the formation beneath the ground, it had shielded Song Yuqing from a considerable amount of the diffuse yin energy. Now that the incense power had been completely exhausted, the red cord had also been corroded beyond further use.
“Wrap it in a clean piece of red cloth and send it back to the temple where you got it.”
“How did you know this talisman came from a temple?” Song Yuqing asked in surprise as she accepted it.
“If I didn’t have some ability, do you think I’d dare buy this house?” Chen Xuan replied with a mysterious smile.
That answer immediately convinced Song Yuqing. She asked timidly, “So I can’t wear it anymore?”
“No.”
“Why did it turn out like this?”
“It blocked something for you.”
Song Yuqing looked toward House No. 17, her face turning even paler.
“Mr. Chen, did you really see something unclean in the basement?”
“You ask too many questions. It won’t do you any good. Some things may come looking for you simply because you heard about them.”
At those words, Song Yuqing hurriedly clamped her mouth shut. She even wished she could cover both ears with her hands, lest hearing something she shouldn’t would cause her to be harmed as well.
Seeing that he had frightened her, Chen Xuan smiled, took out his phone, and glanced at the time.
“Prepare the contract.”
Song Yuqing immediately nodded like a pecking chick. She took out her phone, walked to the roadside, and reported Chen Xuan’s payment arrangement to the company manager.