Changbai Mountain is a potential active volcano. According to historical records, the last small-scale eruption occurred about 1,000 years ago. Although the volcano is currently dormant, the geothermal activity in the area is extremely rich. Many geological fissures and lava vents from the volcanic period maintain very high temperatures. Behind the massive “Panlong” sealing stone, there might be a fissure emitting steam, which explains the smell of sulfur.

This is undoubtedly good news for us. In such an environment, having a stable heat source is certainly more economical and practical than lighting a bonfire. However, the large black “Panlong” sealing stone weighs at least several tons, and we have no equipment to move it, making the task quite challenging.

The plump man is a doer. He rolled up his sleeves and urged us to help move the stone. A few of us tried to lift it a couple of times, but after sweating profusely and turning red in the face, the stone remained completely still.

Out of breath, the plump man cursed, “This isn’t going to work, old man. You should have mentioned earlier that our equipment is inadequate. Look at this situation; it would be great to have some explosives.”

The monk Huasheng replied, “If you don’t understand, don’t speak carelessly. Our old man has crossed more bridges than you have walked roads. Not bringing explosives was the right decision. You see, we are at the bottom of the valley, and above you is a snow-covered peak. If you casually set off a blast, the snow could come crashing down and bury us alive.”

The plump man had no retort. At that moment, I noticed that the lower edge of the “Panlong” stone was wedged with many stones of varying sizes. An idea struck me, and I said to them, “We might not need explosives; let me try.”

With that, I took a stone hammer from my backpack, walked to one side of the “Panlong” sealing stone, and carefully examined the larger stones beneath it. I then struck one of them sideways with the hammer. The stone was under the pressure of several tons and received my lateral blow, causing a crack to appear immediately. Following that, there was a series of grinding sounds as the “Panlong” sealing stone began to slide down the slope due to the sudden change in support.

We quickly stepped back as the “Panlong” stone slid down a few inches and started to tilt. However, it was simply too heavy; it stopped after shifting just a little. Nevertheless, we could see a fissure in the mountain behind the sealing stone.

The fissure was wide enough for a person to squeeze through. The edges of the cave entrance showed signs of natural rock layer tearing, with no traces of human excavation. A strong sulfur smell wafted out from within.

The plump man brightened his flashlight, reached inside to take a look, and turned back to say, “It’s warm inside, but the angle is really uncomfortable, and I can’t see much. Also, it seems like there are some characters on the stone walls inside.”

“What does it say?” I asked.

The plump man squinted and examined closely, saying, “I can’t understand it. Damn it, I don’t know what it says.”

He then attempted to crouch and squeeze in, but he was indeed too plump for the space. After several unsuccessful attempts to get in, he finally took off his outer coat and managed to squeeze through.

Chen Pi, Ah Si asked Ye Cheng, Lang Feng, and Pan Zi to stay outside to keep watch in case anything happened. We followed the plump man into the fissure.

Inside, it was entirely a rock fissure created by the movement of the mountain. Once we entered, we discovered that the gap sloped steeply downward, and it was extremely dark. It seemed to be very deep, likely leading into the interior of the mountain.

The space at the opening of the crevice was small, making it impossible for two people to walk side by side. Inside the crevice, it was very difficult to move; the ground was covered with large, jagged stones, and the smell of sulfur was very strong. The temperature was at least thirty degrees Celsius, and even the stones felt hot to the touch.

We used our hands and feet to move forward a few steps. The fat man shone his flashlight to one side and said, “Look, what are these characters?”

I turned my head to look. The characters were not carved into the walls of the crevice but on a piece of rubble lying horizontally at the bottom. They were a few unfamiliar characters that looked somewhat like Chinese and somewhat like Korean, carved in a messy manner.

Hua the monk leaned in to take a look and confirmed, “These are Jurchen characters.”

“What do they say?” the fat man asked.

Hua the monk replied, “Wait, I’m not that skilled. I need to take a look first; let me copy them down.”

We waited for a moment while Hua the monk transcribed the characters into his notebook. The fat man took the lead, and we lined up in a row to continue deeper into the cave.

Although we called it walking, we actually used our hands more than our feet. The entire crevice sloped downwards at nearly thirty degrees, with no stairs, and we had to crawl down almost entirely. The space varied in width and height, and in some places, we had to sit to pass through.

The only comfort was that it was much warmer inside. As we crawled, we started to sweat and had to unbutton our clothes. At this point, the fat man asked, “Old man, do you think that the stone sealing this crevice isn’t just a coincidence?”

Chen Pi A Si remarked, “Building the tombs with local materials, there are so many loose stones outside here. This should be a quarry used when constructing the tombs. Perhaps this crevice was discovered during the quarrying, but for some reason, they eventually had to seal it with stone.”

After descending less than a hundred meters, the smell of sulfur grew stronger, and the rocks became darker, starting to shine with a glassy luster. This was a sign of the high-temperature melting of mica. I gasped, already thinking that this must be a volcanic lava vent. Changbai Mountain is a potentially active volcano; if it suddenly erupted and magma burst out from within the mountain, we would be doomed.

Lost in such thoughts, suddenly the two people at the front stopped. The flashlight revealed that the crevice ahead had suddenly narrowed, with overlapping rubble, leaving only a very small gap to pass through.

I crouched down and shone my flashlight inside. The collapse of the crevice had created a very small opening, and it looked like we would have to crawl to get in.

Chen Pi A Si looked at this opening and knew he didn’t have the stamina to crawl in. After some discussion, I had Hua the monk stay with him while the fat man, the closed bottle, and I went in to see what was inside.

We took off our outer clothes to minimize our size. This time, the closed bottle took the lead, and the three of us squeezed into the crevice one after another.

I thought this section of the collapse was only temporary and that if we crawled a few steps forward, we would surely find an exit. If it turned out to be solid, we could turn back in time. However, I didn’t expect this section to be quite long; we crawled for a long time, and there was still room to pass, which was unexpectedly deep.

The stones inside were very sharp. After crawling a few steps, my clothes were already torn in several places. The rocks pressed against my chest, and as the temperature continued to rise, I gradually began to feel short of breath.

The fat guy behind me felt the same way and grabbed my foot, saying, “No way, the air quality here might be an issue. We rushed in without even checking, it’s too reckless.”

I wanted to turn around to look, but the space was too small, making it impossible. I thought about how I had just crawled a long distance to get here, and I was reluctant to go back. Besides, given the current situation, crawling backward would probably be even more painful than coming here. So I said, “Let’s move a few steps forward. If we still don’t feel right, we can back out.”

The fat guy agreed. Just then, suddenly, the muffled voice in front called out, “Huh?”

I turned to look ahead, but it was empty. The muffled voice that had been blocking my way just moments ago was gone, leaving only a dark, narrow stone passage that I had no idea where it led.