Chapter 3

It felt like a long time had passed, yet at the same time, it also felt like barely any time at all. They had arrived at their destination, and the sight before Wu Xie left him utterly shocked.

It was the Bronze Door!

After climbing for who knows how long, he had somehow ended up here!

What the hell?! This is insane.

Wu Xie looked down at his legs and silently thought to himself—even if I lost my legs from all that climbing, there’s no way I could have crawled all the way to Changbai Mountain. No wonder I felt like I was freezing to death. That bastard actually brought me here.

This must be an illusion!

Wu Xie simply lay down on the ground, shut his eyes tightly, and refused to acknowledge anything. If he ignored it, the illusion would disappear.

But his mind remained clear, the cold seeped deeper into his bones, and pain started to emerge all over his body. Everything was reminding him—this didn’t feel like an illusion.

The fake Zhang Qiling paced around anxiously when he saw that Wu Xie refused to enter the door. He muttered to himself, as if talking to some unseen presence, or maybe even discussing something with an invisible person.

Wu Xie, who had secretly peeked, broke out in a cold sweat.

What the hell is this thing? A new kind of zombie?!

Then, right before his eyes, the man transformed into a stick figure! No facial features—just a stick figure!

And what was he saying? Wu Xie couldn’t understand a single word.

The figure spoke rapidly to himself, his anxious gaze seemingly about to swallow Wu Xie whole.

“Xiao… San… Ye…”

The figure struggled to utter these three words. Wu Xie froze for a moment. This guy just called me “Xiao San Ye”? Who the hell is he?

“Who are you? Or rather, whose man are you? Why did you bring me here? There’s no way we climbed here just to reach the Bronze Door at Changbai Mountain. Did you put me under an illusion?”

Faced with Wu Xie’s barrage of questions, the stick figure only became more frantic as he stared at the closing Bronze Door.

“Go… inside… time… no…”

What?

Wu Xie glanced at the Bronze Door. Wait, when did it open? He wants me to go in? But why? Zhang Qiling isn’t inside.

Time? What does he mean? There’s no time left?

The figure anxiously tried to speak again but couldn’t get the words out. Instead, he quickly pointed at the door, then at Wu Xie, then at the watch on his wrist.

His hands moved rapidly, forming strange gestures as if performing some kind of seal.

Wu Xie had no idea what the hell he was doing. Is he reenacting something?

Time, himself, the Bronze Door… and among those hand gestures, death… reversal.

Put them together, and what do you get?

Am I about to die?

Well, that much was obvious. In this situation, in his current state, he was definitely going to die.

In that case… the ultimate mystery behind this door… would it really hurt to take a look before I die?

“You want me to go inside?”

The figure nodded so fast Wu Xie was afraid his head would fall off.

“Fine, but since you’re so capable, get my friends out of here.”

If I’m going to die anyway, might as well make use of this guy.

The figure tilted his head, looking a little… cute. Then he muttered to the air again.

After a moment, he nodded—happily.

What the hell? I just saw a zombie-looking stick figure acting cute and happy. This is beyond absurd.

What’s behind the door?

That question had haunted Wu Xie for over a decade.

With the stick figure’s support, Wu Xie stood up in a twisted posture and walked toward the Bronze Door.

He placed his hand on its icy surface, feeling reluctant.

Zhang Qiling, Fatty, my family… In the end, this day still came. I survived Lei Cheng, only to walk into my death now.

[Fatty, you better take care of Zhang Qiling—otherwise, even if I turn into a zombie, I won’t let you off!]