Lin Yu is now somewhat well-known in the camp.

That unique skill of "Water Method Adhesion" has helped many squads solve urgent problems. Coupled with Zhao Tiji's care, no one is willing to easily offend this "technical expert."

Su Ming brushed the moisture from his sleeve, his gaze sweeping over the two men before finally settling on the Crimson Gold pipe on the ground that had caused the dispute.

"Brothers, if you keep fighting over this pipe, I'm afraid it'll just be confiscated by the enforcement team."

Su Ming's tone was flat as he pointed at a squad of black-armored guards patrolling not far away. "Private brawling over resources, according to regulations, results in confiscation of the gains and three days in confinement. These days, with the demon beasts causing so much trouble, if you miss your duty shift because of confinement, it could cost you your heads."

The two old soldiers' expressions changed.

They weren't afraid of a fight, but they were afraid of missing their duty shift. At Iron Wall Pass, missing a shift meant desertion, a capital offense.

"Then... Assistant Repairer Su, what do you suggest we do?" The old soldier missing an ear thrust his wrench behind his waist, somewhat unwilling to give up. "We can't just let this Pockmarked Zhao have it."

Su Ming didn't answer directly. Instead, he pulled out a thick notebook from his robe that seemed completely out of place here.

It was a set of "makeshift methods" he had been developing over the past half-month, combining his experience from the Repair Hall.

"If you two trust me, why not follow this."

Su Ming opened the notebook, which was densely filled with neatly written tables. "This is a 'Waste Material Duty Roster' I drafted. The waste materials in the camp are divided into three grades: A, B, and C. Our three squads take turns having priority selection rights. For example, this Crimson Gold pipe counts as Grade B. Today's date is an odd number. According to the roster, priority belongs to the Second Squad."

The earless old soldier's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really." Su Ming nodded, then looked at Pockmarked Zhao. "But this isn't a free pass. If you take a Grade B waste material, you have to record it in the roster. Next time something good of the same grade appears, you have to yield to the person next in line. Also, if anyone takes something but doesn't do their job, or intentionally damages public property, it will be announced to the entire camp, and they can forget about entering this backyard gate ever again."

Pockmarked Zhao's expression shifted slightly as he calculated in his mind.

Although this method made him lose out today, it was better in the long run. In the past, everyone fought tooth and nail over scraps, sometimes damaging the good stuff in the struggle, so no one ended up benefiting.

"Assistant Repairer Su is a scholar; your brain is just better than ours." Pockmarked Zhao released his grip on the pipe, grinning, though his smile was uglier than a frown. "Alright, since Assistant Repairer Su vouches for it, I'll give you face today. Mark it down, this pipe belongs to Old Liu."

A potential conflict dissolved into nothingness before Su Ming's few words and a notebook.

The surrounding formation cultivators looked at Su Ming with changed expressions.

If his earlier technical demonstrations had earned their respect, this "establishing rules" now gave them a strange sense of trust.

In this chaotic, disordered meat grinder, order was sometimes more reassuring than spirit stones.

Su Ming put away the roster and was about to leave when he heard Pockmarked Zhao and the earless Old Liu squatting by the wall, starting to smoke their pipe tobacco.

"Hey, Old Liu, that wrench swing of yours earlier was pretty fierce. You even made the ground tremble." Pockmarked Zhao blew out a puff of blue smoke.

"Bullshit!" Old Liu spat. "My hand slipped. But seriously, hasn't the ground in this backyard felt a bit loose lately? When I stomped down earlier, it felt hollow underneath, like stepping on cotton."

Su Ming's departing footsteps abruptly halted.

But he didn't turn around. He just slowed his pace, his ears twitching slightly as he entered a shallow state of Earth Hearing.

"You felt it too?" Pockmarked Zhao lowered his voice. "I thought it was just my imagination. Last night during my night watch, I was dozing against the wall and kept feeling movement under my butt, a buzzing sound, like someone grinding their teeth underground."

"Don't talk nonsense, that's creepy." Old Liu hunched his shoulders. "But this feeling reminds me of three years ago..."

"Shh!" Pockmarked Zhao abruptly cut him off, looking around before lowering his voice even further. "Are you talking about that incident in Sector D?"

"Yeah." Old Liu's voice trembled slightly. "That time was the same. First, the ground felt loose, then the well water turned muddy, and then... boom, half the barracks were gone. The higher-ups said it was a formation backlash, but who among us didn't know privately? It was..."

The voice stopped abruptly.

Because Zhao Tiji's burly figure appeared at the courtyard gate.

The two old soldiers immediately extinguished their tobacco and scattered like frightened birds.

Su Ming stood where he was, his fingers slightly curling inside his sleeves.

Three years ago. Sector D. Loose ground.

These words were like a key, instantly fitting into the scattered clues he had been collecting over the past half-month.

"Master." Su Ming called out in his mind, his voice frighteningly calm.

"I heard." Lin Yu's voice also lacked its usual teasing tone. "This description matches the data you measured with the Wood Demon core."

"I want to check the archives from three years ago."

"Go ahead." Lin Yu said. "But don't make a big show of it. Use your 'organizing the waste material roster' as a pretext to go through old accounts in the archives. No one should suspect a 'bookworm' who wants to establish order."

Su Ming took a deep breath and turned towards the stone building in the most remote corner of the camp.

That was the archives, also the most forgotten place in all of Iron Wall Pass.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a musty smell of old paper assaulted him.

The guard was an old cultivator missing an eye, dozing with his head on the table. Hearing movement, he just lifted an eyelid. Seeing it was Su Ming, who had recently created the "duty roster," he waved his hand, indicating Su Ming could help himself.

Su Ming lit a smokeless lamp he had brought and went straight to the shelf labeled "Sector D."

His fingers traced over the jade slips covered in dust.

Year Bingshen... Year Yiwei...

Found it.

Su Ming pulled out the dull-colored jade slip and extended his divine sense into it.

"Winter of Xuanhe Year 35. Abnormal movement in the earth veins of Sector D. Spiritual pressure reversed flow, causing ground collapse of a hundred zhang. Barracks damaged. Thirty-seven casualties. Conclusion: Formation hub aging triggered spiritual explosion."

Only these few sentences.

Official records were always this clean, concise, covering all the bloodshed and doubts with the two words "aging."

But Su Ming didn't give up. He continued flipping through that year's material consumption records.

This was a habit he had developed in the Repair Hall—account books were often more honest than people. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Third day of the eleventh month, Xuanhe Year 35. Sector D requisitioned three hundred 'Earth Sealing Talismans,' five hundred jin of 'Stone Transforming Powder.'"

"Fifth day of the eleventh month. Requisitioned fifty 'Refined Gold Reinforcement Piles.'"

"Eighth day of the eleventh month. Incident occurred."

Su Ming closed the jade slip. The light in his eyes seemed particularly profound under the dim lamplight.

"Earth Sealing Talismans are used to reinforce soil quality. Stone Transforming Powder is used to fill cavities." Su Ming sneered inwardly. "Five days before the incident, they were already frantically filling holes. This wasn't some sudden spiritual explosion at all. The foundation had already been hollowed out long before."

"And," Lin Yu added, "the scale of those reinforcement materials indicates the underground cavities had already formed at least a network. And now, in Sector C, where you live, the underground vibration frequency is... strikingly similar to the records from that year."

Su Ming returned the jade slip to its place, habitually wiping away his fingerprints.

He walked out of the archives. Outside, the sky had completely darkened.

The cold wind of Iron Wall Pass remained biting, stinging people's cheeks.

Su Ming looked up at the distant city wall. That light curtain was still flickering, like a giant net trapping everyone.

"Pockmarked Zhao was right. The ground really is loose."