In the early 20th century, after World War I, the United States experienced a period of rapid development, and American explorers and expedition teams could be seen across the globe. In Southeast Asia, the small Himalayan countries of Nepal and Bhutan served as a buffer zone connecting India and China, bustling with trade filled with various aromas, a significant portion of which was conducted by Americans.

A mixed caravan of Indians, Bhutanese, and Chinese was resting at a way station, where a diverse group of people mingled, including French merchants from North Africa, passing along some unverifiable information about nearby border conflicts.

Among the caravan, four individuals appeared to be the core members. Their composition reflected the makeup of the caravan. Among the Indians, there were two leaders: one named Avi and the other Kulipa, who were brothers. The Bhutanese leader was named Nungcai, and there was only one Chinese member, named Dong Can, which was a pseudonym.

Dong Can’s real surname was Zhang, and he was a Chinese border trader, belonging to a large Chinese family. He originally had his own caravan, but the route from Nepal to Western Tibet and Sichuan had been cut off by war. He was now accompanying the Indians and Bhutanese for some small-scale border trade.

Dong Can’s goods were quite special; during wartime, they held little value yet remained hidden from view, with many items having transportation costs exceeding their worth. This trip was merely an opportunity for Dong Can to earn a commission on the goods he carried.

Dong Can had a face that resembled a Tibetan, which greatly facilitated his activities in the region. In the Himalayan area, various powers were at play, making it quite dangerous for a lone trader. Dong Can was a rather shrewd person, excelling in this regard, and he often managed to blend in by speaking Tibetan.

The caravan rested at the way station for twelve days, gathering all necessary supplies, waiting for a rare spell of good weather. They then entered the Himalayan region, setting out toward China.

This was their last known message to their friends. A caravan of seventeen people—seven Indians, nine Bhutanese, and one Chinese—disappeared in the uninhabited area of the Himalayas. This was not unusual; countless trading caravans had perished in that region throughout history. However, their disappearance caused significant alarm among the Indian authorities.

This anxiety was unwarranted; of course, there must have been a reason, but it was too early to discuss it. At that time, the Indian authorities claimed that Avi and Kulipa were actually intelligence agents for the Indian government. They were carrying a significant plan, but suddenly both men had vanished without a trace.

Dong Can and his group had undoubtedly entered the Himalayan region and taken a wrong path. They did not exit through any of the known routes but instead ventured deep into the mountains, seemingly meeting their demise there.

However, the reality was quite different. Ten years later, two Bengali merchants were discovered to be the same two Indians from back then. They died in a brawl in Bengal, where they were killed by the loser with a hoe during a gambling session. By then, they were no longer the poor merchants of the caravan but rather a pair of very wealthy brothers in the local area. At the end of that year, someone recognized a low-profile rich man in Sikkim as the bald Bhutanese leader from back then.

Dong Can did not appear, but the presence of the other three clearly made the authorities realize that things were not so simple. It seemed that the caravan from back then had not perished in the Himalayas; they appeared to be alive, having changed their names and identities. Moreover, they all shared a common trait: they had become quite wealthy.

It was said that when the authorities arrested the bald Bhutanese leader, it took ten truckloads to transport the wealth from his home, and they still hadn’t finished. During the interrogation, the Bhutanese revealed everything that had happened in the Himalayas.

At that time, after they had ventured deep into the Himalayas, they encountered a particularly terrifying landslide at an intersection and had to choose another path. The wind and snow in the mountains were severe, and they didn’t realize that after several detours, they had returned to the landslide area. While climbing, they all fell off the cliff at the edge of the road.

Anyone who has watched documentaries knows that at that time, the only way to traverse that section of the road was on foot. The pack animals used to carry luggage were all tied together with ropes, and the connections were particularly intricate, with the knots being quite different. On very slippery sections, the ropes had to be untied. Dong Can and the others misjudged the road conditions, so when one person fell into the cliff, everyone was pulled down by the ropes.

It was a tragic accident, filled with countless events that could not all be recorded. Because of the ropes, the process of falling from the cliff was very complicated; many people died from crashing into the rock walls due to inertia after the ropes got snagged, while others were directly strangled by the ropes, which was horrifying.

This accident resulted in the loss of half of their people and pack animals. After resting at the bottom of the cliff, they realized it was impossible to climb back up and decided to look for another way to return to the cliff. As a result, they inadvertently entered an area they had never been to before and found a strange place inside.

It was a valley, and strangely, the snow accumulation in the valley was not thick. In the center of the valley stood a massive spherical object, several stories high, with its upper part covered in snow, but the lower part clearly revealed a large black metal sphere.

Next to this large metal sphere, they found countless small metal balls, about the size of eggs, partially buried in the thin layer of snow, numbering in the thousands. The varying sizes of these small balls, combined with the snow cover, made it impossible to count them. If all the snow were removed, the Bhutanese would probably play with them like children do in a ball pit today.

They could no longer remember who first discovered that some of these balls were made of gold. They desperately collected them and exchanged all their goods for these golden balls.

They discovered during the collection process that the balls were made of many different metals—copper, iron, lead—seemingly every type of metal in the world was present there. Everyone went crazy because there were so many balls, and it required patience to find the gold ones among them. Eventually, a scuffle broke out, and someone got injured in the incident.

After much hardship, they managed to leave the valley, and in the end, only six people survived: besides two Indians and one Bhutanese, there were two companions and Dong Can. Dong Can was the only one among them who left empty-handed. At that time, his gaze was fixed on the large ball, as if his soul had been captivated; he showed no interest in the mountains of gold around him.

The Bhutanese man said that the enormous black ball was placed right in the center of the valley, and it was clearly artificial. However, he could not understand what purpose the black ball served or who had placed it there. All the metal balls showed significant wear and oxidation, indicating they had been there for at least thousands of years.

After regaining his freedom, the Bhutanese man recorded all these incredible events. He wrote a book and made many unrealistic assertions in it. Among other claims, he stated that most of his wealth was self-earned and that the gold was merely his starting capital.

The gold balls sold by the two Indians were gradually found all over the world, with some already melted down into other shapes or coins. Only twelve remained in their original form when discovered. At that time, the Indian government paid a high price to acquire these items, and these gold balls became “gold more precious than gold.”