We circled the edge of the valley, climbing almost like rock climbers as we approached the massive black mountain of exposed rock. The mountain was enormous, and from a distance, we could see a huge crack running across it. When the snow covered the mountain, this crack must have been hidden beneath the snow and glaciers. Now, as we got closer, we felt a wave of hot air rushing towards us. The geothermal heat was intense, and soon we had to strip off all our clothes.

The snow on the side of the mountain closest to us had completely melted, and waterfalls were everywhere. We passed through an area with a mix of hot and cold, filled with large ice formations, and finally climbed up to the bare black rock mountain. As we climbed, the temperature of the rock made us instinctively shrink our necks; the rocks were surprisingly warm, as if they had been sprayed by a blowtorch.

“Are we at a volcano?” the fat man asked.
“Even if it’s not a volcano, it’s a mountain rich in geothermal activity. There must be a lava pool beneath it that suddenly heated the mountain due to geological changes,” I replied.

We continued climbing along the mountain’s waist, where the rocks were jagged and black, completely irregular. This actually made it easier to climb. After a while, we saw countless small hot springs bubbling up with hot water. There was a strong smell of sulfur in the air. We crawled sideways for at least two hours, and when it started to get dark, we reached the edge of the crack.

Here, there was a large platform that sank into the rock, and we saw countless skeletal remains.
“These people are all dressed; they died trapped here—villagers from Kongbala,” Zhang Haixing said. “It seems that this tribe, once blessed by the gods, has finally lost their protection.”
“Why be so dramatic? They were just refugees escaping from an avalanche. When they sought shelter here, the snow melted, and they might have been poisoned by the toxic gases that erupted,” I replied.

We put on gas masks, and the fat man was the first to crawl into the crack. The crack was three or four people wide, leading down into darkness.
“God must have cut a hole in this mountain with a pirated CD,” the fat man joked.
We crawled in one by one, and the fat man asked, “Boss, should we crawl forward or downward?”
“Why go inside?” Zhang Haixing asked the fat man. “What could be down there?”
The fat man turned on his flashlight and shone it below, saying, “Naive, doesn’t this place look familiar to you?”
I looked down and saw that the crack in the mountain gradually widened, revealing countless bronze chains running deep into the mountain.

“Changbai Mountain,” I said.
“What?” Zhang Haixing asked.
I turned to look at the surrounding mountains and said, “Miss, from now on, everything here is under my control. I will take you to see what your Zhang family calls the ‘ultimate’.”

We returned to the platform and rested for an hour. It was completely dark; in the highlands, it gets dark quite late. I estimated that it was at least close to nine o’clock. We distributed ammunition, food, and gear. The fat man found several high-quality Tibetan knives among the remains of the corpses and began sharpening them on the rocks. There were many corrosive gases here, and the knives had oxidized significantly, but after sharpening, they became as sharp as new.

I chose the lightest one, and when I saw the one selected by Zhang Haixing, I realized that I might not even have as much strength as her. But I have learned not to underestimate myself anymore; I’ve got plenty of experience.

Once we were ready, we slept on the warm rocks for a night. In the morning, we put on our gas masks and began to enter the crevice, moving downward.

It took us a total of five days to reach the bottom of the crevice. The deeper we went, the wider the crevice became; at the top, it was only wide enough for three or four people, but at the bottom, it was at least as wide as a bridge. Countless iron chains spanned across, and the entire crevice resembled a spider’s web.

At the bottom lay countless fallen stones of various sizes, uneven and jagged, all of which must have crumbled down when the crevice was formed. Some longer stones got stuck between two massive rock walls during their descent, forming stone arch bridges.

We sat on the gravel for a long time before we had the strength to stand up; the feeling of solid ground beneath our feet was wonderful. As we walked along the rocky beach, Zhang Haixing suddenly exclaimed.

I looked up and saw that at the end of the crevice, beyond the chaotic stones, stood a massive bronze door, almost identical to the one I had seen in Changbai Mountain. It towered at the end of my line of sight, and the beam from my flashlight couldn’t illuminate its entirety; I could only see the intricate patterns on the door, with details so rich that it was almost overwhelming.

When we reached the bronze door, everyone fell silent. Feng was trembling and suddenly sat down on the sharp, jagged stones.

How long has it been?

I couldn’t remember how I felt the last time I saw this giant door—overwhelmed, feeling that everything in the world was unreliable. But now, although my heart raced, my feelings were completely different.

We meet again, I thought. I never expected that in my lifetime, I would see such a giant door again.

Changbai Mountain, the Himalayas—at the base of these colossal mountains, there are such enormous doors. Who built them, and what was their purpose?

“Do we have the Ghost Seal? We don’t know the mechanism; will this door open?” the fat guy was the first to ask.

I shook my head and walked forward, continuing until I stood in front of the giant door. I placed my hand on it.

It was cold; in this extremely hot crevice, the giant door felt icy.

I traced the patterns on it; the lines were so exquisite. I wondered if modern technology could even create such intricate lines for a door of this size.

As I thought about it, I pushed the giant door with all my strength; it was an instinctive action.

I imagined the door slowly opening with the movement of my hand, but contrary to my expectations, it didn’t budge at all.

Indeed, the one destined to open this door was not me.

I stepped back and sat on a stone in front of the door. Zhang Haixing asked me, “Do you think the ‘ultimate’ that our Zhang family talks about is behind this bronze door?”

“It’s not me who said it; it was your clan leader,” I replied.

“Are there any more clues?”

“Ask your clan leader,” I said, looking at the giant door. From this distance, it seemed to be the entire world before my eyes.

Could it be a magic door? When I opened it, I saw a disheveled man with a big beard inside, munching on mushrooms. I couldn’t even muster a laugh.

Zhang Haixing also approached the door and examined the patterns on it closely. After looking for a while with no results, she suddenly leaped up, jumped onto the bronze door, and began to climb.

The patterns were very small, making it impossible to grip them for climbing, but I noticed that Zhang Haixing was wearing something that looked like claws on her hands. She was very agile, climbing high up to the top of the door, but it seemed she found nothing and came back down.

“The top is sealed very tightly; it’s strange,” she said.

The fat man and I looked at her, and she continued, “This kind of door is very heavy, constantly pressing down on the rock. Over time, it would sink into the rock, creating gaps above, but this door doesn’t have any.”

“What does that indicate?” I asked her.

She replied, “Either this door is not as heavy as imagined, or the foundation here has been specially treated.”

“If the door isn’t as heavy as we think, then it could also be hollow, right?” the fat man pulled out his grenade pouch. “Come on, let’s see if this door is solid.”

(End of Part One)

Note: The second part of the physical book begins with Chapter 14, “The Mystery of the Bronze Door,” from the online version’s second part. Please keep this in mind!