Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The door opened.

A deep blue light, like a tidal wave, surged out from the crack in the door, engulfing everyone standing there.

The light wasn't dazzling, but it was so dense it seemed impenetrable, making everything appear as if viewed through a layer of shimmering, deep blue water. An ancient, indescribable aura washed over me, carrying the dust of time and the pressure of the deep sea, pressing heavily on my chest.

Zhang Qiling stood at the front, the blue light casting a cold, hard outline on his profile. He reached into the groove in the door and retrieved the jade eye. The jade eye's light had dimmed slightly, and it was warm to the touch.

"Go in," he said, becoming the first to step into that rich blue expanse.

"Zhang Qiling" followed closely behind, his figure disappearing into the light.

The people behind looked at each other, took a deep breath, and followed them inside.

The moment I stepped through the door, it felt like passing through a layer of cool, soft water. The buzzing in my ears and the sound of my heartbeat vanished abruptly, replaced by an absolute silence, as if even time itself had stopped.

The blue light receded behind them, and the door closed silently. They were now inside the tower.

Before me lay a vast, circular hall. The high dome was shrouded in gloom. The floor was a warm, black jade, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the dappled, cold blue light hanging from above. That light came from countless luminous beads, each the size of a pigeon's egg, embedded in the walls and dome, arranged in a vast star map.

Most striking are the walls surrounding the circular hall. They are not made of bronze, nor stone, but of a rare, translucent, deep blue-green jade, smooth and lustrous. At this moment, the entire circular jade wall is slowly lighting up from the bottom up, displaying a series of flowing, enormous images. It's like an epic painted with light, or an ancient memory sealed within the jade, being awakened by their intrusion.

The visuals are continuous, telling a long and obscure story.

First image: A chaotic nebula, at the center of a swirling vortex, cracks open. Countless distorted shadows struggle to emerge from the crack, while some faintly glowing human figures, hand in hand, form chains, blocking the entrance to the crack.

The second image shows the gap being temporarily sealed, but not disappearing. Glowing human figures have erected a massive, ancient-style bronze gate before the gap. They kneel and worship before the gate, offering sacrifices and throwing luminous objects into it.

The third image: As time flows by, the figures before the bronze gate have changed generation after generation. Some figures are exceptionally tall, standing silently to the side of the gate like sculptures. Some figures linger before the gate, seemingly recording something. And some figures attempt to communicate, influence, or even… open that gate using all sorts of unbelievable methods—feng shui formations, celestial manipulation, flesh and blood sacrifices.

Fourth image: War. A split has occurred within the glowing humanoid figure. One part resolutely defends it, while the other yearns for the power behind the door. The battle erupts beneath the stars, on the land, and in the deep sea. The scene is horrific; stars fall, and the earth sinks.

Fifth image: A cloaked figure, whose face is obscured, stands in the center of a ravaged battlefield. In his hand he holds a complex, multi-layered bronze compass, facing his divided kin and the silent bronze gate in the distance, seemingly making some kind of choice.

The sixth image: The cloaked figure arrives at the bottom of the sea. Using his remaining power and astonishing feng shui skills, he guides the earth's veins to build this colossal bronze tower. He connects the tower's core to the faint projection of that "rift," using the tower as a new "observation post" and "blockade point." His own coffin hangs in the tower's heart, guarding it for eternity.

The image then begins to blur and jump around, finally fading slowly. The jade disc returns to its translucent deep blue, leaving only the cold light of the star map shimmering silently.

The entire hall was completely silent. Everyone was awestruck by this grand, ancient, and incomprehensible "memory."

"Is this... a movie shoot?" Fatty Wang murmured, his voice echoing in the empty hall.

"It's not a movie," Xie Yuchen's voice was a little dry as he stared intently at the jade wall. "It's a record. A record of real history in a way we can't understand. Those luminous figures... might have been the earliest 'gatekeepers.' That crack... the bronze door..."

"The thing behind the door wants to get out," Black Bear concluded, his expression obscured by his sunglasses. "The gatekeepers wouldn't let them. Later, the gatekeepers fought amongst themselves. Wang Zanghai... you mean the one in the cloak? He went to the bottom of the sea to build this tower and continue watching over that door?"

"It might not just be watching," Huo Xiuxiu pointed to the last blurry image on the jade wall, "He connected the tower to the 'Gap Projection.' This tower might be a... simulation of a passage, or a control node. He wanted to study, or even... control it?"

Wu Xie's mind was buzzing. The amount of information was overwhelming. The bronze gate, the gatekeeper, the ancient war, Wang Zanghai... These fragments seemed to piece together something, but they were shrouded in a thick fog. He subconsciously looked at Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling".

The two stood in the center of the hall, heads tilted back, silently gazing at the jade wall that had returned to its calm state. The blue light flickered in their eyes.

Their profiles subtly overlapped with the exceptionally tall, silent human figures standing beside the door in the jade painting.

Wu Xie was startled by his own thought.

"Young man," he walked over, his voice unconsciously softening, "the people in those paintings..."

Zhang Qiling lowered his head and looked at him. His eyes were deep, like two ancient wells, reflecting the star map and Wu Xie's somewhat bewildered face. "It's the past," he said.

Zhang Qiling turned his head and added, "Now too."

These words seemed nonsensical, and Wu Xie didn't understand. But before he could ask again, Zhang Qiling had already stepped forward, heading towards the depths of the main hall. There, a spiraling bronze staircase led to the upper levels of the tower.

"Let's go up and take a look."

The group followed. The bronze staircase was wide enough for four or five people to walk side by side, its surface textured with fine, non-slip grooves. Ascending the spiral staircase, each level had a circular platform connecting to different rooms or small halls. Some rooms were filled with rusted bronze instruments; others were libraries, but the books had long since turned to ashes, leaving only barely discernible engravings on jade slips or metal plates. Some rooms were completely empty.

Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu were like they'd entered a treasure trove, carefully examining each room, but unfortunately, they found very little valuable information. A Ning and Jiang Xun Gu warily observed their surroundings. Fatty Wang was very interested in the bronze instruments, but unfortunately, he couldn't move them.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" walked slowly, but with a clear goal, seemingly familiar with the tower's structure. Occasionally, they would stop in front of a door, Zhang Qiling would reach out and press a certain spot next to the door, or "Zhang Qiling" would turn a certain inconspicuous protrusion, and the tightly closed door would silently slide open.

Until we reached the seventh floor.

The platform on this floor is exceptionally spacious, with only a single double bronze door. The door has no intricate carvings, only two simple ancient seal characters: "观墟" (Guanxu).

Zhang Qiling stopped in front of the door, not immediately pushing it open. He glanced at the sign that read "Zhang Qiling".

Zhang Qiling nodded, stepped forward, placed his hands on the door, and slowly exerted force.

The heavy bronze door opened inward. Behind it was an octagonal room, not very large, but unusually tall. The room had no windows, and the eight walls were inlaid with eight huge, smooth, mirror-like black stone slabs. In the center of the room was a white jade platform about half a person's height, on which lay an open jade scroll, and beside it was a jade pen.

On the black stone wall directly opposite the entrance, what is reflected is not the room's image, but a clear, moving picture.

The scene is viewed from above. It is an endless, profound darkness. In the darkness, there is a faint light. Zooming in, the light is a huge, ancient-style bronze door, standing silently in the dark void. In front of the door, there seems to be a very small black figure, with its back to the viewer, sitting cross-legged, motionless, as if it has been guarding for thousands of years.

Despite the blurry image and the tiny, insignificant shadow, the moment they saw the bronze door and the shadow in front of it, Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" tensed up almost imperceptibly at the same time.

Wu Xie recognized it too. The style of the bronze door was exactly the same as the one drawn on the map of the King of Xian, and the one that appeared in the story of the jade disc. It was just bigger, older, and more...real.

"This is..." Xie Yuchen held his breath, "Live-time video? This tower... is observing the real 'door'?"

"Observation," Zhang Qiling said softly, looking at the screen, "is also isolation."

"Wang Zanghai, sit here," Zhang Qiling walked to the white jade platform, looked at the scroll of jade slip, and said, "watch over the door."

The jade slip was covered with writing. Xie Yuchen immediately stepped forward to decipher it. The handwriting was Wang Zanghai's, but the content was no longer about feng shui and astrology; it was more like a monologue mixed with fervor, fear, despair, and eventual relief.

"...Having spent my entire life, I've only glimpsed a narrow path. I know it's both a lock and a window. It locks away the terror on the other side, and also severs our very origins."

"...The gatekeeper clan, through bloodline replacement, is gradually becoming dwindling. The fault lies with the delusions of our ancestors. Now, I use my remaining body to guard this tower, using feng shui as my eyes, to continue the responsibility of observing the ruins. However, human strength is finite, and the will of Heaven is unpredictable."

"...If any descendants of the same lineage come here in the future, seeing these words will be like meeting you in person. This door must not be opened, and this thought must not arise. What lies outside this door? It is the beginning of all things, and also the end of all things. It is where we came from, and also where we will return. It is great terror, and also great temptation. If you see it, you will be forever lost."

"...I will sleep in the heart of the tower, my soul residing in the star map. Those who come after, if they wish to bear this responsibility, may remain. If not, take the 'key,' seal this tower, and forever prevent future troubles. The key is..."

The text ends abruptly here. The last few words seem to have been deliberately erased, or perhaps they weren't finished being carved.

"A key?" Fatty Wang's eyes lit up. "And more treasure?"

"The key he mentioned might not refer to a specific object," Huo Xiuxiu pondered, "but rather... a kind of qualification or authority. The authority to 'close this tower'."

"Same bloodline..." Wu Xie seized on this phrase and looked sharply at Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling". Wang Zanghai said, "If there are people of the same bloodline in future generations, they will come here." Could it be that he had already foreseen that someone with the same bloodline as him—that is, the "Gatekeeper" bloodline—would come here?

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" seemed unsurprised by the contents of the jade slip. Their gaze shifted from the jade slip to the other seven black stone walls of the room.

Zhang Qiling walked to the first stone slab on the left, stretched out his finger, and gently touched a spot on the cool stone surface.

Ripples spread across the stone slab. Then, a clear image appeared. It wasn't a view of the "door," but rather a scene deep within a snow-capped mountain, where the outline of a massive bronze door was faintly visible in a snow-covered valley. Before the door lay several dark figures.

"Changbai Mountain," Zhang Qiling said.

He walked to the second stone slab, to the same spot. This time, a desert appeared, with ruins amidst the yellow sand, and traces of bronze deep within the ruins.

"Tamutuo," said Zhang Qiling.

The third side: a dark underground rift valley, a gloomy ghost town.

"The Bronze Tree." Zhang Qiling.

The fourth side: a deep-sea trench, a colossal shadow.

"The Eye of the Ruins." "Zhang Qiling."

The fifth, sixth, and seventh sides... each reveal a different landscape, but all exude an ancient and ominous aura. Each one seems to be related to the bronze gate or its derivatives.

In every single one of these images, near the bronze traces, there is a small, almost blend-into-the-environment, seated or standing shadow. The posture of these shadows is exactly the same as that of the one guarding the huge bronze gate in the observed images.

"These are..." Xie Yuchen's voice was filled with shock, "Other 'observation points'? Or... fragments of other sealed 'doors'? Those dark figures... are they the people guarding those places?"

Zhang Qiling silently gazed at the seven images, finally returning his gaze to the central image of the enormous, silent bronze door. He slowly raised his hand, pointing to the tiny, dark figure sitting cross-legged before the door.

Then, he turned back and calmly swept his gaze over Wu Xie, Fatty, Xie Yuchen... and everyone present.

Finally, his gaze met that of "Zhang Qiling".

Neither of them spoke.

But a silent, heavy realization permeated the observation room.

The floating live-streaming sphere silently recorded everything, the silent images on the eight walls, the unfinished last words on the jade slip, and the destiny reflected in the eyes of the two silent figures, a destiny that spanned a long period of time.

The barrage of comments was empty, as if even the distant viewers were holding their breath at that moment.