Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 295 Giant Bronze Gate
At this moment, Hu Ming stared into deep thought as he looked at the enormous door in front of him.

This is undoubtedly the main entrance to Wang Zanghai's tomb.

But the problem is... this door is made of bronze!
Yes, a colossal bronze gate!
Wang Zanghai was once kidnapped by the King of Wannu and forced to build his mausoleum.

Deep underground in Changbai Mountain, Wang Zanghai once saw with his own eyes a bronze door with a crack open!
But now, Hu Ming has discovered that Wang Zanghai actually built a bronze door for his tomb.

That's interesting.

What exactly did Wang Zanghai see through the crack back then?
What, then, is the ultimate truth?
What kind of scenery could have captivated such an extraordinary person as Wang Zanghai, to the point that he wanted to build such a gate for himself even after his death?
If the secret behind the bronze door is immortality, then that's the only thing Hu Ming absolutely refuses to believe.

What lies behind the bronze door?
That's just my third uncle's wild imagination!
Such an unfathomable imagination!
Uncle San's imagination couldn't possibly stray from something as superficial as immortality.
Do not make jokes.

Coming to his senses, Hu Ming shook his head to clear his mind of distractions.

He knew that there was no point in making guesses here.

There are still a few people in this world who know what lies behind the bronze door.

Unfortunately, these people would never tell this secret to anyone else.

Want to know?
It's simple. Once you've collected all the keys, just go inside and take a look.

The worst outcome would be being forced to abide by the Zhang family's ancient precepts and spending ten years inside.

Hu Ming didn't care about this level of cost.

Besides, does it really mean that once someone goes in, they'll never be able to get out before the ten-year term is up?
Hu Ming didn't believe in this superstition.

"..."

"what happened?"

"I'm fine. I just thought of some interesting things without realizing it and got a little distracted."

He gave Yin Nanfeng, who was waiting quietly to the side, an apologetic smile.

"fine."

Yin Nanfeng shook his head, indicating that he didn't care.

She knew that Hu Ming must have discovered some secrets about this door.

However, if Hu Ming didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't bother to pry and ask for an answer.

"But Uncle Ming, what should we do now?"

"This door doesn't look like it'll be easy to open, does it?"

"Look here, this square notch, it's probably a keyhole or something, but we don't have a key."

Yin Nanfeng pointed to a spot on the door and said softly.

"That's right, Nanfeng, you're right, that's the keyhole. You have good observation skills."

Hu Ming nodded and exclaimed in admiration.

"As for the key. Who said we don't have one?"

Hu Ming inserted two fingers into the gap, carefully examining its intricate structure, a strange smile appearing on his face.

He really did have the key!
It is the Ghost Seal.

Wang Zanghai had been to the underground palace of King Mu of Zhou, or rather, King Shang of Lu.

He placed a snake-browed bronze fish that he had crafted himself into the Seven Star Lu Palace, so whether it was intentional or unintentional, he must have seen the Ghost Seal with his own eyes.

Does a bronze door come with a ghost seal?
That's a bit interesting.

It must be said that Wang Zanghai spent most of his life obsessed with the pursuit of immortality. But in his later years, after seeing the bronze gate and interacting with the Khampa people, what interested Wang Zanghai most at that time was probably the ultimate truth behind the bronze gate.
They've symbolically transformed their tombs into the world behind the bronze doors.

After taking off his backpack, Hu Ming lowered his head and reached his right hand inside, as if he were looking for something.

In fact, out of Yin Nanfeng's sight, Hu Ming's eyes transformed into dragon pupils once more, and wisps of white mist appeared in the palm of his right hand inside his backpack.

In about three to five seconds, a brand new Ghost Seal was freshly made.

Standing up, Hu Ming casually weighed the seal in his hand a couple of times, then, without further hesitation, pressed the Ghost Seal into the notch.

Sure enough, the sound of a large mechanism starting up rang out the next moment.

Click click click.
For a moment, the sounds of mechanisms operating echoed throughout the enormous bronze gate.

It is clear that this bronze door is hollow, with intricate mechanical structures inside.

The bronze door slowly opened.

The moment the door opened, air began to circulate, and a slight muffled sound was heard.

That was the sound of an ever-burning lamp being lit.

In an instant, the dim underground palace was illuminated by the flickering flames.

This tomb chamber is not large, about the same size as the side chambers and side halls encountered before.

The dome was densely covered with burning eternal lamps, and in the very center, a huge brazier was suspended halfway down.

Underground, the walls around the tomb chamber were covered with colorful paintings.

Unlike typical tombs, the murals here do not depict the life or achievements of the tomb's occupant.

The murals on both sides are covered with images of a forbidden woman, a black-haired snake, and the white-haired little rice dumpling that Jiangnan and the others had encountered before.

These are the research findings of Wang Zanghai.

This shows that this person's character was completely different from ordinary people. Even after he was buried, he wanted to tell his colleagues who might come here later about his great achievements!
This person is extremely arrogant. But he happens to have the right to be arrogant.

On the wall directly opposite the gate, there is a depiction of a majestic snow-capped mountain.

That is the Three Sacred Mountains.

At the foot of the mountain, an abstract painting depicts the secrets buried deep underground: a magnificent, half-open bronze gate surrounded by countless iron chains in the vast underground canyon.

On the iron chain is a bronze door that resembles a centipede half-open.

That's a centipede... or rather, the King of Ten Thousand Slaves of Dongxia.

At the point where the mountain peak meets the sky, a magnificent and spectacular celestial palace, beyond the imagination of the world, stretches across the mountaintop, connecting the sky and the clouds, linking heaven and earth.

At first glance, one would think that the palace should only exist in heaven, and could not have been built by ordinary people.

That's the Cloud Peak...

Anyone who sees this breathtaking mural would likely attribute its content to the tomb owner's wild speculation.

But Hu Ming knew that what was depicted in the mural was true.

The heavenly palace atop the mountain was built by his own hands.

The bronze door deep underground was something he had seen with his own eyes.

On the high platform in the very center of the Mingming Palace, a magnificent coffin made of golden nanmu wood lay quietly...

(End of this chapter)