“Hey, there’s also a turtle.” The胖子 (fat guy) chuckled, “This is even more nourishing. What do you think, is the old heavens trying to help us three men boost our kidneys or what?”
“It’s not a real turtle,” said the short guy, Feng. I went over to take a look and found that it was a piece that should be referred to as an ornament.
This thing might have some practical use, or it could be purely decorative; just looking at it didn’t reveal much.
I took it and examined it, feeling that the carving wasn’t quite finished yet. But I already knew it wasn’t a turtle; it was a Bixi, a type of mythical beast ornament from Han culture. The craftsmanship was quite exquisite, clearly indicating that the person who carved this turtle was a highly skilled artisan. However, the carving technique was quite free and unrestrained, suggesting it was more of an artistic creation or a pastime rather than mere work.
“This is a piece made by Han artisans,” I glanced at the short guy Feng, and he nodded. I recalled that the jars I had seen earlier were also made in the Han style.
The state of this place didn’t resemble that of the local ethnic group; all the details were clearly similar to those of the Central Plains, including the patterns on the bronze door outside and the custom of corpse fighting.
I dropped the turtle, but the胖子 picked it up again, saying it might be worth something. I quickly walked deeper inside.
After walking in for about ten meters, there were steps leading down, and the water reached my waist. The flame of the fire stick began to dim again. My胖子 and I twisted a ring on top to make the flame smaller. The surroundings darkened, but this way, the fire could last longer.
The water continued to flow forward, and I saw a huge shadow appear at the bottom of the water. At first, I thought it was a stone, so I temporarily brightened the fire stick and saw that what lay beneath the water was a decaying purple bronze plate.
Layer upon layer, the water rust was entirely purple.
“Was the bronze door made here too?” I climbed onto a bronze plate, my knees emerging above the water’s surface. I took out the remaining fire sticks, polished them, and held them high. I immediately saw that this part of the stone chamber was piled with a large amount of bronze materials. At the same time, I also saw some even larger shadows underwater.
Those were giant smelting equipment.
“The copper was sourced locally; the rocks here contain a large amount of copper ore, and perhaps tin ore as well. They smelted bronze on-site and cast these bronze plates,” I said, extinguishing some of the fire to avoid waste. “So the bronze door we saw earlier was hollow. Inside, there were very complex mechanical structures for support.”
I studied architecture, and I recalled all the details I had seen before. The gigantic bronze door I saw at the foot of Changbai Mountain, with its ancient age and massive size, could not be supported by a hollow structure due to its own weight. According to physical logic, that bronze door could not realistically be opened. Furthermore, the complexity of its details was far beyond that of the one I had blown open here.
“This bronze door here is just a replica,” I sighed. “It’s a copy made by Han artisans processed on-site, crafted with great precision using the techniques of that time. They simulated the construction process of the bronze door here.”
“They’re crazy, doing this pointless stuff in this cold, dark place,” the胖子 remarked.

“This must be a trap,” I said softly. There weren’t many stone beds outside, and building this bronze door along with the bronze cave inside would likely take an incredibly long time, perhaps even exceeding a human lifespan. This kind of perseverance, determination, and the need for an extraordinarily long life can pretty much confirm which family these craftsmen came from. They created a bronze door here that could easily be mistaken for real. If this is indeed a trap, I can think of a few possibilities regarding who it might be set for.