The Northern Slope of Ghost City — Chapter Four: The Gate of Hell

At this moment, Old Zhang suddenly dropped to the ground, pressing his ear tightly against the stone tiles as if eavesdropping on something.

After a short while, he said, "We might be inside an array chamber. It is not inherently lethal, but without finding the exact path, we will only be trapped in an endless cycle of transformations."

Kaizi asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhang, what do you mean?"

Old Zhang replied, "Precisely, we are inside a large, moving mechanical structure, and this is definitely not the Gate of Life of the tomb. There is only one gate in this tomb that leads to the underground burial chamber, and that is the Gate of Life. Entering any other gate will yield different consequences depending on the chamber. Step through the Gate of Life and there is a sliver of survival; step through the other gates, and one might face death or injury."

"The gate we entered earlier was not the Gate of Death, but the Gate of Harm. Did you happen to notice the soul-suppressing beasts in front of the gate when you came in?"

Kaizi said anxiously, "I saw them when I arrived, but those two soul-suppressing beasts looked very different from the ones we saw when we first entered the ancient tomb. They were trampling skulls underfoot, wearing soul-locking chains around their necks, and their stone pedestals were inscribed with 'Rebirth' and 'Samsara' respectively!"

Suddenly, Old Zhang stood up and made to walk out. I asked, "What is going on here?"

Old Zhang's brow furrowed tightly as he said, "If you don't want to die, do as I say. If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

With that, Old Zhang swiftly turned a hidden compartment latch, and with a low rumble, the heavy door of the burial chamber slowly swung open. Our group hurried to escape that room.

Behind us, we heard the sound of the burial chamber's floor sinking inward, revealing an opening resembling a volcanic vent. In what felt like a single instant, boiling magma spewed forth, prompting everyone to run for their lives.

Reaching an exit, everyone quickly scrambled upward. During the escape, the injured man in black lost his footing due to sheer exhaustion and plunged directly into the molten lava, instantly burned beyond recognition.

Old Zhang and Kaizi had already escaped the tunnel. Han Xin was just above me, and she was also nearing exhaustion. I immediately called out to Old Zhang and Kaizi. Kaizi pulled a climbing rope from his military rucksack and threw it down. I helped Han Xin secure it around her waist, tested the tension of the rope, and signaled to Old Zhang. Old Zhang and Kaizi then pulled her up to safety.

At the most critical split second, the ladder grew scorching hot from the searing magma. My hand slipped, and I plunged forward, falling downward. As I dropped, I felt a sudden restriction around my waist. Opening my eyes and looking up, I saw Old Zhang and Kaizi pulling me upward.

For a moment, I could hear my own heart beating frantically. Just as we neared the tunnel opening, the climbing rope suddenly let out a creaking sound. With just a single step remaining, the rope snapped in half, and I began to fall again.

Kaizi lunged forward and grabbed my hand, while Old Zhang simultaneously caught my left arm, the two of them heaving me up in one coordinated motion.

With a sharp click, the hidden compartment began to close shut. The three of us all turned to look at the young man in black who had saved us. Because Han Xin was lying on the floor, and Old Zhang and Kaizi had been pinned beneath me when they pulled me up, only the young man in black had the spare moment to press the mechanism.

I slid off Kaizi and Old Zhang, helped them to their feet, and walked over to the designated fire source, preparing to strike a spark. However, the young man in black beat me to it, tossing a fire-starter directly into the fire trough.

Instantly, the burial chamber grew somewhat brighter. The young man in black said, "Let's move!"

Everyone felt a surge of renewed energy and followed the footsteps of the young man in black into a tunnel.

Passing through the tunnel, our group emerged into an unfamiliar environment.

Ahead of us stood a stone tablet inscribed with several lines of cuneiform script.

To an ordinary person, it was utterly incomprehensible. I watched as the lips of the young man in black parted slightly, and he recited, "The formless arts of Yin-Yang and Feng Shui, nine revolutions of Qiankun determine samsara, the Taiji and Eight Trigrams comprehend past and present. Yet only the gate allows a moment of leisure, while ancient and modern treasure hunters struggle amidst the strife."

I asked in confusion, "Brother, what does this mean?"

The young man in black replied, "In ancient times, an emperor reached the twilight of his life, terrified that he might once again be plotted against by others even after death. Thus, he composed this historical masterpiece, known to very few."

"Could the master of this tomb be Cao Zhi, the youngest son of Cao Cao?"

Old Zhang said impatiently, "Maple, it's a wonder your brother-in-law calls you a genius when you don't even know this. Didn't the young brother just explain it? This is the mausoleum of Cao Zhi."

The young man in black nodded toward me. In truth, we had fallen into the tomb designer's trap from the very beginning; the gate we entered was not the Gate of Death, but the Gate of Harm, after which we arrived at the so-called Gate of Life.

As a result, our group had mistakenly blundered into the Gate of Death and nearly lost our lives to the underworld. The Gate of Life and the Gate of Death are integral parts of a single whole, and the same applies to the other gates—opposing gates can transform into one another. The reason we almost failed to escape from the Gate of Death was that when the mechanism for the Gate of Harm was triggered once more, the Gate of Harm shifted into the Gate of Rest, while the Gate of Death transformed into the Gate of Life. When the mechanism of the Gate of Life was activated again, it reverted into the Gate of Death.

Because the Gate of Death was opened at that moment, the Gate of Life shifted to the opposite side of the Gate of Death. As the destructive mechanism of the Gate of Death initiated, the Gate of Life would rise, and along with its rise, the other gates would ascend as well.

Ultimately, the lower burial chamber would be buried beneath dust and soil.

I asked, "Brother, where is the Gate of Life then?"

The young man in black pointed to the stone tablet behind me and said, "Right behind you!"

The young man in black walked over to my position and gestured for me to step back. I retreated to the side, while he revealed fair, slender fingers and began groping along the surface of the stone tablet.

With a muffled thud, before anyone could react, the young man in black had already thrust his hand into a hidden button behind the stone tablet and pressed it.

Immediately, the stone tablet slowly slid to the left, revealing an ancient doorway three meters high and two meters wide.

The young man in black said, "Behind this door should be the burial chamber of the Gate of Life!"

With that, he began searching the door for hidden mechanisms. Another series of creaking sounds followed as the door slowly began to open. The young man in black announced, "We have arrived. Let's go in and take a look!"

Led by the young man in black, the group entered an entirely new burial chamber.

The young man in black pulled a packet of foreign candy from his pocket, unwrapped a piece, and popped it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully as he looked at our bewildered faces.

Then, he tossed the candy toward me and said, "Everything you saw was an illusion. Chew a piece first; what happens from this moment on will be the reality."

The young man in black retrieved a carved iron bead from his pocket. Tossing the bead into the air, he closed his eyes and gestured with his hand for everyone to remain silent.

He listened intently with his ears to the sound of the iron bead bouncing off the walls of the chamber. Then, raising his hand in a flash, he fired a shot. The bullet streaked forward trailing sparks and struck precisely the four corners of the four walls.

In an instant, the grand burial chamber normalized completely, its layout bearing a striking resemblance to the nameless master's tomb we had encountered in the Qinling Mountains.

The burial chamber behind the Gate of Life on the northern slope of this ghost city was also supported by four carved stone pillars, except that the carvings on the pillars were not dragons amidst the clouds, but ancient giant Jiao dragons.

Because they bore a striking resemblance to Eastern divine dragons, they were simultaneously revered as dragon deities.

Such imagery typically appeared in places with exceptionally heavy Yin energy; in order to ward off evil, the decorative motifs on the pillars were replaced with ancient giant Jiao dragons.

The young man in black explained, "After Cao Cao's son was driven to his death by his elder brother Cao Zhi, his resentment was immense..."

Old Zhang continued, "So when Cao Zhi was buried, he vented his grievance onto the accompanying guards, technicians, and maidservants. Every technician who participated in the encoffining died under mysterious circumstances—each one kneeling on both knees with their heads bowed. Consequently, Cao Cao consulted a Yin-Yang master who was exceptionally famous for grave-robbing at the time. The Yin-Yang master uttered only a single sentence: 'The body harbors grievances; only carved giant Jiao stone pillars can dissolve them.'"

"Following that, Cao Cao had a massive circular mechanical structure built above the burial chamber according to the Yin-Yang master's instructions, known in the trade as the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams, consisting of the Eight Gates. Only the Gate of Life leads to the underground burial chamber."

Kaizi supported Han Xin as they walked over to my side, whispering into my ear, "Is the main burial chamber down below?"

I nodded silently without speaking.

The young man in black said, "The mechanism should be on the four stone pillars!"

We followed the young man in black to the side of the carved stone pillars. Without hesitation, the young man in black extended two fingers and began tracing the body of the carved giant Jiao, finally resting his fingers upon the dragon's eyes.

He pressed downward. With a faint grinding sound, the rest of us followed suit and pressed down as well.

Subsequently, a circular stone staircase with a diameter of about two to three meters appeared in the center of the four carved stone pillars in the burial chamber, leading straight down into the lower tomb.

The young man in black drew his ancient Wujin saber from his back, lit a fire-starter, and took the lead as he descended cautiously. The rest of us followed closely behind him, each lighting our own fire-starters and slowly making our way down step by step.

We arrived at an unfamiliar burial chamber and ignited the designated fire source in the corner, instantly brightening the room considerably.

Before us stood an ancient bronze tomb gate, densely covered in cuneiform inscriptions.

After examining the texts, the young man in black stated, "Those who enter this gate shall suffer eternal damnation!"

At these words, a wave of panic swept through the group. Old Zhang asked in bewilderment, "W-Wait... What... what is the meaning of this?"

The young man in black replied, "The Gates of Hell!"

He glanced back at the group, shook his head, and said, "Those who do not wish to enter need not come."

With that, he pulled two luminous pearl-like spheres from his rucksack and jammed them into the empty eye sockets of the carved giant dragons on the bronze door.

Immediately, the divine dragons seemed to be infused with life, becoming astonishingly lifelike.

Then, the young man in black commanded, "Come and help."

Following his instructions, I stepped up to the bronze tomb gate and exerted all my strength, but the door did not budge an inch.

The young man in black glanced at Old Zhang and Kaizi. They hurried to my side and pushed together with all their might, yet the heavy door still refused to move.

The young man in black shook his head, walked over to Han Xin, and said, "Let me see your injury!"

Han Xin extended her foot with a trace of shyness. The young man in black examined it briefly, then grasped her foot and twisted it gently to the left and right.

With a crisp click, her sprained ankle was set back into place.

Han Xin gritted her teeth against the pain and flexed her delicate ankle a few times. She blinked her mesmerizing, heart-captivating eyes at the young man in black. He slipped her shoe back on, stood up, and uttered, "Done!"

In a fleeting daze, I thought I caught a faint blush rising across Han Xin's youthful face.

The young man in black walked back to our group, extended his fingers, and pressed down upon the dragon's eyes. Then, stepping back a few paces, he watched as the bronze tomb gate slowly swung open.

Old Zhang, Kaizi, and I stared at one another in utter bewilderment, as if we had just lived through something utterly surreal.

The young man in black said, "Let's go!"

Han Xin cast a mocking glance at the three of us and remarked, "A trio of geniuses!"

With a soft, muffled chuckle behind her hand, she followed closely behind the young man in black and stepped into the burial chamber.

We exchanged wry, helpless smiles and resignedly walked into the tomb chamber ahead.