Adventure Behind the Bronze Door Episode 22 Recap
> Adventure Behind the Bronze Door Recap
Wu Xie rescued Zhang Haixing and Zhang Haike from the frozen lake. After they regained consciousness and were still shaken, Wu Xie explained they had experienced hallucinations caused by powder from a hexagonal bell. He had seen a jar containing the powder buried under the ice, which had cracked, allowing the powder to seep out through ice fissures and into the air as they passed. Zhang Haixing identified the powder as not typical hexagonal bell powder but a special variant.
She deduced that the Zhang family had likely set up this defense mechanism for the Yinshaluo people to deter outsiders, indicating a deep connection between the two groups, especially as such a concentrated amount of the powder was only documented in core Zhang family texts. They arrived near the purported Yinshaluo temple, finding it deserted and in ruins, with no signs of life. Nearby lay several dead bodies identified as Denaxi personnel.
Wu Xie discovered a notebook on one of them. The notebook recorded a special scientific expedition by the Denaxi to the snowy mountain a year prior. It detailed an attack by a fast, spherical creature. The creature moved faster than the naked eye could follow, killing many before they understood what was happening. Survivors later hypothesized that the creature attacked indiscriminately unless one maintained constant eye contact with it, with death occurring the moment one blinked.
The diary entry ended abruptly, covered in bloodstains. They concluded that some of the previous Denaxi expedition members were victims of this creature deeper in the mountains, while the Denaxi bodies found here had died from the cold after succumbing to the hexagonal bell hallucinations on the frozen lake. Recognizing the potential danger from the spherical creature, Wu Xie decided to split the group into two teams for safety and mutual support. Wu Xie and Fatty formed one team.
Zhang Haike insisted on joining Wu Xie's team, stating he needed to protect Wu Xie due to his status as a friend of the patriarch, though Wu Xie was skeptical given past events where he had to rescue Zhang Haike. Members of Feng's team identified the deceased Denaxi as part of a previous expedition from a different department of their company a year ago.
Feng explained that the failure of that mission and the significant losses prompted their company to consider acquiring assets from Qiu Dekao. They also noted that the trap under the ice lake must predate this Denaxi expedition, and the apparent long-term abandonment of the Yinshaluo temple suggested something more had happened than just the Denaxi tragedy. They decided to postpone the journey to the Yinshaluo settlement until daybreak due to the hazardous terrain and approaching darkness.
During the night, Fatty and Wu Xie discussed the spherical creature. Fatty referenced Feng's video, pointing out that the spheres weren't present when the Denaxi first entered the cave shown in the video. He also mentioned Qiling's scrolls, which documented the decaying remnants of similar spheres found buried under the snow.
Wu Xie speculated that the Golden Spheres might not be independent entities but rather sensory organs belonging to the Night King, suggesting the Night King's main body might be hidden beneath the snow, deploying the spheres to locate prey. The next day, Wu Xie's team, including Zhang Haike, moved towards a mountain valley where Qiling's scrolls indicated the Yinshaluo settlement might be located. They found the valley warmer with no snow, indicating volcanic activity.
Upon reaching the valley, they discovered evidence of a massive, recent avalanche that had buried the area. They reasoned that an avalanche alone wouldn't extinguish the Yinshaluo population, who were familiar with the terrain and had lived there for centuries, suggesting other catastrophic events must have occurred after they sent out their distress signal.
They used a modified geological detector, developed based on analyzing the remnants of the Golden Spheres which contained a special metal element, capable of detecting the Night King's presence. The detector suddenly alerted, indicating the Night King might be nearby. They took defensive positions, but the alarm turned out to be false, prompting frustration from Fatty. Wu Xie's team then decided to head towards the opposite mountain described in Qiling's scrolls, which mentioned human bones.
They found significantly more bones than expected, theorizing these could be the remains of the Yinshaluo people, exposed by thawing snow. As they advanced, the detector sounded again, confirming something was present. Meanwhile, Feng's team, exploring the area, discovered a large monument partially buried in the snow. They cleared the snow from the monument, revealing inscriptions in ancient Yinshaluo script. Feng began translating, explaining it contained records about the Night King.
The text described how, during the "season where the dew withers," the slumbering Night King awakens, opening "a thousand pairs of eyes" (referred to as messengers) to survey the world. Any living being seen by these messengers would be sacrificed. The monument was a warning marker, stating that those who entered this place would never return alive. Another challenging word to translate roughly meant "absolute silence," signifying the moment the Night King would descend, transforming the world into hell.
They also noticed unusual behavior from animals, such as an eagle flying away, interpreting it as a sign that the Night King's arrival was imminent, as animals' instincts are sharper than humans'. Wu Xie attempted to warn Fatty via walkie-talkie, urging him to return and stay alert. Fatty replied that they had found something, saying it was directly beneath his feet. Just as he spoke, a Golden Sphere erupted from the ground near him.
Simultaneously, the Denaxi soldiers with Feng's team, alerted by the monument's prophecies and the animal's reaction, prepared for an attack. The Night King entity, manifested by the spheres, appeared, and chaos ensued. Soldiers panicked, firing their weapons and deploying a drone, but the Golden Spheres were relentless, consuming soldiers. Wu Xie's team retreated towards a cave for shelter.
Wu Xie instructed Zhang Haixing to deploy smoke bombs, and someone commented on their effectiveness in slowing the Golden Spheres by impeding their vision, noting it seemed like a technique inspired by the Zhang family. Wu Xie went back to find Fatty and Zhang Haike. He encountered a Golden Sphere, but it surprisingly bypassed him, seemingly sensing something or reacting to his presence, sniffing the air before diving into the snow.
He found Fatty and Haike and led them towards the cave. Inside the cave, the Denaxi commander decided they must blow up the entrance to prevent the Night King from entering, arguing they couldn't risk everyone's lives for Wu Xie's sake, whom he felt Feng was overestimating. Feng objected, wanting to wait for Wu Xie's return. Zhang Haixing declared she would go with Feng to help find Wu Xie. Despite the dissent, the commander ordered the detonation.
Just as the explosive was triggered, Zhang Haike quickly conveyed the detonator codes to Wu Xie, who was likely just outside or at the entrance. Wu Xie shouted for them to wait, as people were still outside, but the entrance was blown shut, trapping those inside and leaving those outside to face the Night King and the Golden Spheres, resulting in a bloodbath.
Now trapped inside, Feng suggested the Golden Spheres were actually a type of bug, although Wu Xie found this improbable given the extreme cold, arguing any bug would have frozen long ago.
