12: Chapter 12 Whispers from the Depths of the Factory

9:00 AM, West City.

The "Yongxin Cultural and Creative Park" sign was brand new and eye-catching, but there were no visitors. Even though it should have been open, all the shop doors and windows were tightly shut, and the parking lot was empty. An incongruous silence filled the air, as if even the early summer cicadas were being kept at bay.

Boss Qian's black car was parked at the entrance. He was dressed in casual clothes and came forward with a beaming smile: "Consultant Lin, morning! This is Chairman Liu."

Chairman Liu was a man in his fifties, plump with heavy bags under his eyes. He wore an expensive Polo shirt but looked exhausted and anxious, his palms damp when they shook hands. "Consultant Lin, Boss Qian highly recommended you, saying you have fresh ideas. I hope you can truly solve the trouble here." His tone was urgent, betraying the frantic worry of someone grasping at straws.

"I will do my best." Lin Yuan nodded, his gaze already moving past them toward the interior of the park. The deliberately aged industrial-style buildings, rusted pipe decorations, and colorful graffiti walls should have looked vibrant under the sun, but now they gave off an inexplicable sense of stiffness and pretense.

"Per your request, the site was cleared last night. There's no one inside now, and the main power has been cut, leaving only a few lights in the emergency passages." Chairman Liu rubbed his hands together. "Consultant Lin, how long do you need? Do you need us to go in with you?"

"No need." Lin Yuan refused bluntly. "I need an absolutely quiet environment for an initial Energy Flow Assessment. You two can wait at the entrance or go nearby for some tea. I will communicate my preliminary findings as soon as I come out."

Chairman Liu glanced at Boss Qian, who nodded slightly. "Alright, alright, we won't disturb you. This is my business card; call me anytime if you need anything." Chairman Liu handed over the card and added, "That... old factory building in the core area, the one currently used for the Escape Room, if... if you feel it's too dangerous, you don't have to go in yet."

This last sentence sounded less like concern and more like a probe, or a disclaimer to shift responsibility in advance.

Lin Yuan said no more. Carrying an inconspicuous black toolkit (containing a Compass, revealing powder, bells, talismans, a notebook, etc.), he walked into the empty park alone.

As soon as he stepped through the gate, the temperature seemed to drop by two degrees instantly. It wasn't a physical coldness but a sinister chill that seeped into his bones. Even with the sun shining on him, it felt as though it were through a layer of frosted glass, most of the warmth filtered out.

First, he took out the spirit aura pointer. Injecting a trace of Power of Faith, the pale blue needle spun aimlessly for a few rotations before suddenly jerking to a halt, then starting a continuous, slow... counter-clockwise rotation.

It wasn't pointing in a fixed direction; was it scanning the entire area? Lin Yuan frowned. He tried moving his position, and the speed and direction of the needle's rotation changed slightly, but it never settled on a specific spot. This indicated that the entire park's energy field was in a state of chaos, diffusion, and potentially dynamic equilibrium or confrontation.

He walked along the main road, past renovated shops, cafes, handmade studios, and small galleries. Behind the glass windows, items were left in disarray, clearly abandoned in a hurry. His spiritual sense could capture wisps of residual emotions: the anxiety of the merchants, the restlessness of the customers, and a faint, lingering, inexplicable sense of palpitations. These were the sediment of recent negative emotions.

Following his "Preliminary Plan," he walked to several preset "Energy Stagnation Points," mostly wind gaps formed by road corners or building angles. He took some revealing powder from his toolkit and gently blew it out.

The grayish-white powder dispersed in the air, most of it falling naturally. But in two of those locations, the powder's descent slowed significantly, and as it neared the ground, it vaguely outlined several pale gray tracks that looked like murky mist, lasting for about two or three seconds before completely dissipating.

"Stray Fragments of Resentment..." Lin Yuan recorded in his notebook. "Low concentration, weak activity, easily disturbed by airflow. Suspected product of long-term diffuse erosion."

This confirmed part of his judgment: the negative energy field was continuously emitting "pollution."

The further in he went, the quieter the environment became. That feeling of being watched gradually intensified. It didn't come from any specific direction but from all sides, as if the entire park itself was a living, malicious observer.

He arrived at the core area—the giant Escape Room venue converted from an old factory building. The building retained its original concrete frame and tall windows, but the exterior walls were covered in exaggerated horror graffiti, and the entrance was shaped like a twisted, rusted "giant mouth."

Standing before the "giant mouth," the spirit aura pointer's rotation suddenly accelerated, emitting a faint humming sound. Lin Yuan felt the bronze bell in his pocket vibrate slightly—not triggered by him, but a spontaneous resonance.

There were no light sources inside the venue; it was pitch black. The green glimmer of emergency lights seeping from the far end of the corridor only added to the eeriness.

Lin Yuan turned on a high-powered flashlight, the beam piercing the darkness. He didn't go deep at first, instead walking around the building's perimeter to observe the foundation, vents, and surrounding environment. The site of the long-gone "Private Clinic" mentioned by Hu Wei was likely behind and to the side of the venue, now a vacant lot piled with construction waste.

When he reached the edge of that vacant lot, the spirit aura pointer stopped abruptly and pointed dead center at the lot, the pale blue crystal needle even faintly glowing with a hint of red.

Simultaneously, he felt a surge of intense sadness, anger, and cold despair hitting him like a tide. This wasn't an external attack; it was more like the land itself was "breathing," exhaling long-accumulated pain.

Earthbound Resentment? And very likely resentment of an Infant Spirit nature—intense, pure, and filled with the indignation of a life stripped away.

Enduring the discomfort, he took out a small bag of Cinnabar he had purchased from a Chinese medicine shop (a non-spiritual material, but commonly used in folklore to ward off evil). Mixing it with a little of his own saliva (containing a trace of personal spirituality), he quickly drew a simple Ideogram representing "isolation" and "soothing" (his own creation based on the concept of Optimization) on the edge of the empty lot.

The moment the symbol took shape, the tidal wave of negative emotions weakened significantly, as if temporarily separated by an invisible membrane. It worked! But it was only a temporary measure, treating the symptoms rather than the cause.

He retreated to the Escape Room entrance. The real challenge lay inside.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yuan gripped the bronze bell in his right hand and pinched an Ancient Battlefield Talisman in his left, stepping into the "rusted giant mouth."

The interior space was exceptionally high and wide, divided into several themed areas: "Bloody Workshop," "Forgotten Ward," "Rusted Labyrinth"... The sets were crude and deliberate, with fake blood, broken plastic limbs, and twisted metal sculptures everywhere. The air was thick with dust, the smell of mold, and a faint, strange scent—a mixture of rust and formalin.

The flashlight beam swept across, casting long, shifting shadows.

He walked carefully through the passage. The spirit aura pointer failed completely here, spinning wildly. Conversely, the bell in his pocket vibrated more and more noticeably.

Suddenly, the flashlight beam swept over a set wall where the words "Safety Operating Procedures" were painted in large, distorted red characters. The moment the beam moved away, Lin Yuan caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye—several blurry figures in old overalls seemed to be crouching in front of that wall!

He jerked the beam back—the wall was empty.

A hallucination? Or a brief image formed by residual energy?

He immediately scattered a small pinch of revealing powder.

The powder floated toward the wall and abruptly suspended half a meter away from the surface, quickly outlining three pale gray human silhouettes that were clear for about a second! They were in a crouching posture, looking up at the "Operating Procedures" that didn't even exist on the wall, and then—all three silhouettes simultaneously clutched their heads!

Immediately following was a dull, muffled explosion that seemed to come from deep underground, accompanied by a violent sense of vibration (not a physical vibration, but one acting directly on his spiritual sense), surging toward him!

"Ring—!"

The bronze bell in his pocket emitted a clear but urgent chime on its own. Lin Yuan felt a soft but firm shockwave ripple out from himself, neutralizing most of the impact of the explosion and the subsequent wave of heat, pain, and despair.

He stumbled back two steps, his heart pounding wildly.

Not a hallucination! It was an "echo" of a past disaster under the influence of the energy field! And this "echo" possessed mental impact!

He looked at the ground. The revealing powder had fallen, but on the floor where the silhouettes had appeared, he could vaguely see some charred marks that weren't part of the set. He crouched down, pinched a bit of dust, and brought it to his nose. Besides dust, there was a very faint... stench of burnt protein.

The boiler explosion in the eighties... The resentment of the souls who died in that industrial accident was firmly bound to this place, merged with the land and the building, and was being constantly stimulated and forced to relive the pain through the "horror games" of the Escape Room.

He continued deeper, arriving at an area set up as an "Abandoned Medical Station." The feeling here was even colder and more viscous. Dark red paint was splashed across hospital beds, IV drips, and surgical cart models.

Here, the spirit aura pointer stopped moving entirely, as if dead. But the vibration of the bronze bell reached its peak, even emitting a continuous low hum.

Lin Yuan felt a greasy gaze filled with hatred and temptation clinging to him from all directions. Faint whispers rang in his ears—not sounds, but fragments flowing directly into his consciousness:

"...Why don't you want me..."

"...So cold... Mommy..."

"...Play together... stay forever..."

The resentment of an Infant Spirit! And it had been doubly reinforced by the environment (the simulated medical station) and the "game" (the horror atmosphere), becoming extremely aggressive and seductive!

The flashlight beam swept over a corner where a tattered doll lay. In the doll's eyes, dark red points of light seemed to flash for an instant.

Without hesitation, Lin Yuan immediately rang the bronze bell in his hand while fully expanding his Optimization intent—not as an attack, but to construct an orderly, stable personal domain that rejected chaos and temptation.

"Pure Heart and Soul-Soothing, let no thoughts disturb!"

The sound of the bell spread with his meager Power of Faith. The whispering weakened slightly, and the greasy gaze retreated a little. But Lin Yuan could feel more things stirring in the darkness. They were temporarily suppressed by the bell and the Optimization domain, but they were far from being dispelled or purified.

This was no place to linger!

He decisively retreated, following his memory to quickly exit the area and move toward the entrance.

Just as he was about to see the daylight outside the "giant mouth" outline of the entrance, a clear sound of metal scraping against the concrete floor came from deep within the passage behind him, approaching rapidly!

Something was chasing him! And it carried a thick "metal baleful qi"!

Lin Yuan's hair stood on end. His left hand instantly gripped the prepared Ancient Battlefield Talisman in his palm, his Power of Faith ready to be unleashed, while his pace quickened.

The moment he burst out of the "giant mouth" entrance and stood in the sunlight again—

Whoosh!

A blurry, giant pincer-shaped phantom, composed of rusted metal fragments and dark red energy, suddenly lunged out from the darkness inside the entrance, grabbing for his back! Before the phantom even reached him, a violent, chaotic aura of malevolence filled with the intent to crush everything rushed at him!

Without looking back, Lin Yuan reached behind and activated the talisman he had prepared!

"Screech—!"

The blood fiendly qi erupted once more, slamming hard into that metal pincer phantom!

There was no loud bang, only an ear-piercing shriek of twisting and snapping metal that exploded on a spiritual level! Most of the pincer phantom was torn apart by the blood fiendly qi, and the remaining part retracted into the depths of the darkness like a startled venomous snake.

Lin Yuan was also thrown forward several steps by the aftershock of the explosion, his blood and qi churning, and a sharp pain returned to the meridians of his right arm, which had only just begun to heal. But he had successfully escaped.

The sunlight hit him again, dispelling the bone-deep chill. He turned back to look at the dark entrance; it was dead silent inside, as if that lethal pursuit had never happened.

But he knew that thing was still inside. Furthermore, it was likely some even more terrifying existence born from the fusion of multiple resentments (industrial accidents, Infant Spirits) catalyzed by the special layout and the "metal baleful qi."

His face was pale, but his eyes remained calm. He quickly straightened his slightly disheveled clothes and toolkit, calmed his breathing, and walked out.

At the gate, Boss Qian and Chairman Liu were already waiting anxiously. Seeing him come out, they immediately rushed over.

"Consultant Lin, how was it? You don't look well..." Chairman Liu asked nervously.

"Initial survey complete." Lin Yuan's voice was slightly hoarse but steady. "The situation is more complex than expected. It's not just a feng shui issue or a simple haunting. Deep beneath the park and within the core buildings, there exists a complex, highly organized malignant energy aggregate. It has fused at least three different types of intense resentments and has been enhanced by the deliberate modification of the layout. My preliminary judgment is that it possesses active aggression and initial territorial control capabilities."

Chairman Liu's face went white as he listened. "Then... then what should we do? Can it be solved? How much money? How much time?"

Boss Qian also stopped smiling, looking at Lin Yuan with a profound gaze.

"Further detailed analysis is required to formulate a specific solution." Lin Yuan took the bound Preliminary Plan from his toolkit. "This contains initial Optimization suggestions for the park's perimeter and general Energy Stagnation Points based on today's survey. You can implement these first; they will help temporarily stabilize the outer environment and reduce the impact on the surrounding areas."

He handed the plan to Chairman Liu, then looked at Boss Qian: "Boss Qian, Chairman Liu, I need some time to conduct an in-depth analysis of today's survey data and prepare some special 'tools.' At the latest, I will provide a detailed solution and quote the day after tomorrow. But before that..."

His gaze turned sharp as he looked at Chairman Liu: "Chairman Liu, I need you to tell me honestly: who exactly decided on the final plan for the park's renovation design? During the renovation process, did anything 'special' happen, or was anything 'special' buried? This concerns the fundamental direction of solving the problem, as well as... the safety of you and future tenants."

Chairman Liu's expression shifted, sweat broke out on his forehead, and his eyes darted around.

Lin Yuan knew that the real trouble of this commission might have only just begun.

And in his system, his faith reserve, which had shrunk again to 0.505 due to the risky survey and the use of the bell and talisman, along with that silent ticking countdown, were all reminding him: time was truly running out.