Chapter 81: The Warning Formation

The Stone River Caravan left Blackstone shortly after breakfast, carrying Lin Yuan’s sealed message east toward Green River City.

After that, there was nothing to do but wait.

Blackstone did not make waiting especially peaceful.

Before noon, two caravans had already stopped at Wandering Cloud Tavern. The first came for food, water, and a place to rest their Ironhoof Beasts. The second had apparently heard enough rumors to believe that simply reaching Blackstone would let them see whatever ancient structure lay beneath the ground.

Lin Yuan pointed them toward the Association marker beside the restricted excavation.

They stared from a distance for a while, found nothing particularly interesting, and eventually returned to the tavern.

At least they had respected the warning.

The seven stone posts along Blackstone’s western boundary were helping too. Most arriving caravans followed the marked road, and curious travelers generally stopped wandering once they noticed the posts.

It was hardly a proper defense, but Lin Yuan no longer had to personally chase every visitor away from the restricted area.

That afternoon, he found Xiao Lan beside two thick lengths of timber near the western approach.

"What are you doing?"

"Building the sign frame."

Lin Yuan examined the timber.

"I haven’t ordered the sign."

"We already know the measurements. The craftsman said we could build the frame ourselves."

"He didn’t say we had to start today."

Xiao Lan picked up a length of rope and began measuring one of the posts.

Nearby, Qiao Ren sat beneath a patch of shade, watching from a stool that Lin Yuan was fairly certain had not been there earlier.

"Why are you here?"

"Moral support."

"You used that excuse during the excavation."

"It worked."

"You didn’t help."

"That was part of the strategy."

Lin Yuan decided not to argue with a man who had brought his own chair to watch someone else work.

The timber itself made sense. Master Han’s crew had left several usable pieces of lumber after the last expansion, and Lin Yuan had stored them rather than waste good material in the middle of Blackstone.

Xiao Lan tapped one of the posts.

"This one is straight."

Lin Yuan sighted along its length.

"Mostly."

"For what we need, it’s straight."

Qiao Ren leaned to one side.

"For Blackstone, definitely."

Xiao Lan turned toward him.

"What does that mean?"

"I meant it positively."

"You didn’t sound positive."

Lin Yuan left them to settle the argument.

He still had the formation to consider.

Clear Pattern Formation Shop had agreed to send an apprentice once his message reached Green River City and a suitable westbound caravan became available.

The quotation was valid for three weeks. Depending on caravan schedules, the installer might arrive in a few days or considerably later.

By evening, Xiao Lan had recruited two travelers to help with the timber.

Su Mei explained the arrangement while preparing dinner.

"Two free meals each."

Lin Yuan paused.

"Did she ask first?"

"No."

"Of course not."

"They’ve already moved the posts."

He sighed.

Su Mei continued cutting vegetables.

"And dug the holes."

Lin Yuan turned toward the door.

"Holes?"

A few moments later, he was standing beside the western approach.

Two holes had appeared beside the road. Xiao Lan was directing the travelers as though the construction had been officially approved days ago.

"We don’t even have the board yet."

"We know where it’s going."

"That doesn’t mean the frame needs to be finished today."

Xiao Lan gestured toward the holes.

"We’ve already started."

Lin Yuan looked at the two travelers, who were working for the meals they had been promised.

Arguing now would probably take longer than letting them finish.

"Make sure the posts are straight."

Xiao Lan smiled.

"I knew you’d agree."

"I didn’t."

She had already turned back to the workers.

Over the next few days, the entrance frame slowly took shape.

Two thick posts stood beside the main approach, supporting a horizontal beam wide enough for the treated board Lin Yuan had discussed in Green River City. There was also room below it for smaller plaques if Blackstone ever needed directions or additional rules.

Without the actual sign, however, the structure looked unfinished.

Xiao Lan disagreed.

"It looks official."

"It looks empty."

"It’s waiting."

"For the sign?"

"For you to buy the sign."

Lin Yuan walked away.

More than a week after his message had left Blackstone, Qiao Ren stepped outside his shop and shaded his eyes.

"Green River merchants."

Lin Yuan was checking the tavern ledger near the entrance. He looked toward the eastern road, where several distant wagons were approaching.

"How can you tell from here?"

"The lead wagon has green cloth."

"That identifies the merchants?"

"No. I know the man driving it."

Lin Yuan lowered his ledger.

"You could have started with that."

Four wagons eventually came into view, accompanied by several guards and merchants.

Walking beside the second wagon was a young man carrying a long wooden case over one shoulder.

The caravan followed the trade road into Blackstone and stopped near the Travelers’ Market.

After speaking briefly with one of the merchants, the young man headed toward Wandering Cloud Tavern.

He studied the boundary posts, the market, and the unfinished entrance frame before approaching Lin Yuan.

"Owner Lin?"

"That’s me."

"I’m from Clear Pattern Formation Shop."

Lin Yuan put aside his ledger.

"My message reached you?"

"A few days ago. We were fortunate. This caravan was leaving west the following morning."

The apprentice produced a folded document bearing the shop’s seal.

"One modular detection formation covering the western boundary and one restricted location. Thirty-two low-grade spirit stones for the formation, six for installation."

"Thirty-eight total."

"Correct."

Lin Yuan had spent enough time thinking about the price that hearing it again hurt slightly less.

The apprentice returned the document to his sleeve.

"I’ll need to inspect the area before starting."

Lin Yuan remembered Shen Yao’s advice.

"We should begin with the perimeter."

"Agreed."

They started at the western boundary.

The apprentice stopped at each of the seven stone posts, measuring the distances between them with a marked cord. Occasionally, he pressed a small metal disk against the ground and waited for a response.

At the third post, he studied the line of the boundary.

"This section curves."

"The developed area isn’t square."

"That’s fine. The formation should follow the land."

Lin Yuan asked whether covering only the developed area would cause problems.

"Quite the opposite," the apprentice explained. "Trying to cover everything you own with this formation would spread it too thin. You would spend more and receive worse detection." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Then we’ll keep it around the developed area."

Most of the western section could use the existing stone posts as reference points. The formation nodes would be reinforced and partially buried to reduce the chance of accidental damage.

Someone determined to destroy them still could. Lin Yuan accepted that limitation.

When they reached the main road, the apprentice stopped beneath the unfinished entrance frame.

"Is that staying?"

"Yes," Xiao Lan answered from behind them.

Lin Yuan glanced back.

He hadn’t heard her approach.

"The frame is staying," he confirmed.

"Good. I’ll designate this as the permitted entrance. Travelers using the road normally won’t trigger the warning."

Xiao Lan pointed toward a gap farther along the boundary.

"What if someone crosses there?"

"The receiving plate will alert you."

Her expression brightened.

"I like this formation."

Lin Yuan wondered how long that enthusiasm would last once a careless traveler triggered the warning during dinner.

The apprentice opened his wooden case.

Inside were narrow metal stakes, formation plates, treated wire, carved stones, brushes, ink containers, and several tools Lin Yuan couldn’t identify.

After marking the permitted road entrance, he continued toward the restricted excavation.

One of the Association investigators was already checking the site.

He noticed the equipment.

"Installing the formation?"

"That’s the plan," Lin Yuan replied.

"Good."

The apprentice walked around the marked area without crossing its restricted boundary.

After checking the Association marker and the remaining exposed section, he asked how early Lin Yuan wanted the warning to trigger.

"Before anyone reaches the excavation."

"That won’t be difficult."

Lin Yuan also asked about night crossings and animals.

The apprentice explained that the formation would operate regardless of the time. Larger animals could occasionally trigger it, though smaller creatures generally wouldn’t.

Large animals rarely approached the road, but after his encounter with the Stonehide Wolf, Lin Yuan knew the formation might occasionally warn him about something other than an intruder.

The apprentice recommended placing the main receiving plate inside the tavern and a secondary plate near the excavation.

The investigator approved of the arrangement.

"We can watch the second plate while we remain here."

By the time they returned to the tavern, the apprentice had filled half a page with measurements.

He spread the rough diagram across an empty table.

"The original quotation will cover everything."

Lin Yuan leaned forward.

"No additional cost?"

"No."

That was welcome news.

The apprentice pointed to the diagram.

Seven primary nodes would follow the western boundary. Two additional nodes would control the permitted road entrance, while three would protect the restricted excavation.

Lin Yuan studied the layout.

"Why does the entrance need separate nodes?"

"Without them, every caravan arriving from the road would trigger the warning. These will allow normal traffic through while keeping the rest of the boundary monitored."

Lin Yuan imagined the receiving plate chiming through breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"Make sure those work properly."

"I intend to."

They discussed where to place the main receiving plate.

Lin Yuan chose a position behind the tavern counter, high enough that curious customers couldn’t reach it.

The apprentice marked the location on his diagram.

Installation began the following morning.

Lin Yuan paid the thirty-eight low-grade spirit stones before the work started.

He had already checked the accounts and accepted the expense, but watching that many stones disappear into someone else’s storage bag still hurt.

The apprentice counted the payment, secured it, and began preparing his equipment.

Most of the day was spent along the western boundary.

Narrow stakes disappeared into the ground beside the stone posts, while fine formation lines were carved into the soil and covered again after each node was completed.

Two flat plates were buried near the road entrance.

Once the western nodes were connected, the apprentice mounted the main receiving plate behind the tavern counter and linked it to the formation.

The secondary receiving plate and the nodes around the excavation would be installed the following day.

From the road, only small markings near the posts showed that anything had changed.

Travelers occasionally slowed to watch the work.

Qiao Ren eventually arrived carrying his stool.

Xiao Lan took one look at him and handed him a bucket.

"If you’re going to supervise, carry water."

Qiao Ren opened his mouth, reconsidered, and accepted the bucket.

Lin Yuan decided that was enough punishment.

By sunset, the western section was complete.

The apprentice dusted off his hands.

"Let’s test it."

Lin Yuan looked along the boundary.

"How?"

"Cross somewhere you shouldn’t."

Simple enough.

He walked outside the permitted entrance and approached the gap between two stone posts.

Nothing happened until he stepped across the invisible boundary.

A faint pulse of spiritual Qi passed beneath his feet.

A clear metallic chime sounded from the tavern.

Lin Yuan stopped.

Xiao Lan leaned through the doorway.

"It worked!"

He stepped back across the boundary, and the sound stopped.

When he crossed again, the warning rang a second time.

Su Mei appeared behind Xiao Lan.

"That could become annoying."

"Only if people keep entering through the wrong place," the apprentice said.

Su Mei looked toward the road.

"In Blackstone?"

The apprentice paused.

Lin Yuan answered before he could.

"We bought the formation for a reason."

He returned to the road and entered between the designated posts.

Silence.

He stepped outside again, then came back through the proper entrance.

Still nothing.

Customers could enter normally, while anyone trying to avoid the marked road would be much harder to miss.

Satisfied, the apprentice began gathering his equipment.

"I’ll finish the restricted site tomorrow."

Lin Yuan looked along the western boundary.

The same stone posts stood in the same dry ground. Apart from a few markings, there was almost nothing to suggest that a formation had been installed.

That suited him.

His attention shifted toward the entrance.

Two wooden posts stood beside the road with an empty beam between them.

Xiao Lan was already staring at it.

Lin Yuan knew that expression.

"No."

She turned toward him.

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

"We have the formation now."

"Yes."

"And the entrance is finished."

"The frame is finished."

"Which means we only need the sign."

Lin Yuan looked up at the empty beam.

There was another problem.

The craftsman in Green River City had promised to hold his estimate for ten days. Between the journey back to Blackstone and the time spent waiting for the formation apprentice, that deadline had almost certainly passed.

"Fine."

Xiao Lan blinked.

"Fine?"

"The next time someone reliable heads east, I’ll send the signmaker a message."

Her face brightened.

"To order it?"

"To ask what it costs now."

"That’s almost the same thing."

"It really isn’t."

Xiao Lan looked up at the empty frame again.

"We’re still getting the sign."

Lin Yuan followed her gaze.

After spending thirty-eight spirit stones on something most travelers could barely see, paying for one thing they definitely could see no longer seemed quite as unreasonable.

He would check the new price first.