Adventure Behind the Bronze Door Episode 24 Recap
> Adventure Behind the Bronze Door Recap
Wu Xie, Fatty, and Zhang Haixing cautiously entered the vast, empty palace. Wu Xie examined the walls covered in incredibly intricate and dense bronze engravings, appearing both orderly and complex. Fatty was amazed by the craftsmanship on the walls, which soared tens of meters high, wondering how such patterns were created.
He searched for seams but found none along the extensive surface, speculating the entire structure might be cast from a single piece of bronze, something he had never encountered before. An unsettling feeling of being watched permeated the air. In the center of the chamber, Zhang Haixing discovered a figure encased in mud, appearing petrified. She carefully peeled back the mud layer, revealing a jade statue.
The statue's clothing had decayed, but a silver accessory suggested a connection to the Yinshaluo tribe. However, its overall style was distinctly from the Central Plains. The statue's grim expression and deliberate openings at the mouth and nose, seemingly for mud infusion, created the unsettling image of someone being suffocated and drowned in mud. Located centrally and treated with reverence, they considered this a sacrificial site.
They theorized it might have been created after a severe natural disaster involving mass drowning by mud, with the ancients believing a deity desired such offerings and used jade to create the effigy due to the lack of traditional materials like grass figures in the stone environment.
Upon examining the jade statue's chest, which was broken open and empty, they found black cotton inside the cavity and wondered if it was a ceremonial item or if something had been contained within the statue and had since escaped.
They also discussed a theory, proposed by Fatty and supported by Wu Xie, that the mud itself was a result of a natural geological phenomenon involving snowmelt and minerals, rather than a deliberate human or divine act of filling the space. Suddenly, the statue moved upward, indicating a mechanism had been triggered, possibly by their presence or weight. Pillars surrounding the statue, also intricately engraved, appeared to be part of this system.
They noted the mechanism's easy activation suggested a deliberate design. They later theorized that the chains attaching the statue to the floor/pillars were not symbolic but real restraints, meant to contain whatever entity was believed to be inside the statue. Wu Xie then attempted to understand the wall engravings, recalling a past experience with a bronze tree. He poured water on the wall, observing how it flowed along the patterns, forming a clear design resembling an alpaca.
He believed this liquid guidance method could reveal hidden meanings. Fatty tried pouring water next, but it scattered randomly, leading them to suspect the patterns were designed for a specific liquid, not necessarily water. Wu Xie realized the engravings might be intended to guide blood. He cut his hand and dripped blood onto the wall. His blood flowed smoothly upwards along the patterns, causing them to shift and expand into a structured shape. Wu Xie felt dizzy and fainted.
Fatty immediately supported Wu Xie. Determined not to let Wu Xie face the danger alone, Fatty cut his own hand to continue the experiment, joking about his "rich blood." However, his blood did not follow the patterns like Wu Xie's, simply flowing downwards. They hypothesized that Wu Xie's blood was unique, potentially due to his consumption of Qilin Blood, which allowed it to interact with the patterns.
Fatty speculated that the bronze engravings served as an identity recognition system specifically designed to react to Qilin Blood. While Fatty was preoccupied, Zhang Haixing tricked him into leaving by claiming she was going to check on her brother, Zhang Haike, and deal with the pursuing Hans. Believing her moment had come, she turned on the unconscious Wu Xie, wounding him further and mocking him as "naive" for trusting a supposed Zhang Family member.
She revealed she was no longer affiliated with the Zhang Family and had manipulated the situation to trap him, stating the explosions they heard earlier were her doing and Hans and his men were not pursuing them. She admitted her goal was to use Wu Xie's blood, claiming his initial bleeding wasn't enough, to locate the Night King.
Fatty, having been misled by Zhang Haixing into a dangerous situation that nearly resulted in him falling off a cliff while attempting to trigger an explosion, realized he had been deceived and rushed back. He found Wu Xie injured and bound by Zhang Haixing. Wu Xie warned Fatty that the Night King had appeared, although he couldn't clearly see it, and that Zhang Haixing had stolen their only effective weapon against it, the Heavenly Staff.
Fatty quickly freed and bandaged Wu Xie, who then directed him to retrieve his backpack containing essential supplies. Knowing the Night King was invisible, Fatty activated a glow stick and threw it towards the backpack's location to illuminate the area. As Fatty went to get the backpack, the unseen Night King attacked, seizing his neck and lifting him into the air. Wu Xie quickly threw several bombs at the invisible entity.
The explosions caused the Night King to recoil and roughly drop Fatty some distance away. Fatty then grabbed a smoke bomb from the backpack. They used the smoke as cover to retreat and escape the area through the exit. Upon exiting the immediate area, they paused, relieved the Night King seemed not to have followed. Finding themselves in darkness, they searched for light. They located a lighter and a sticky, petroleum-like substance.
Attempting to ignite the substance for illumination, they morbidly joked it might be their "final flame." The resulting light revealed the Night King was not immediately upon them. Suddenly, Zhang Haixing reappeared. Fatty confronted her, preparing for a fight and humorously trying to distract her by claiming a long-standing, secret crush and calling her "Granny Haixing."
Using his distraction and coordinating their movements, Wu Xie and Fatty were able to evade or counter Zhang Haixing's attack, preventing her from harming them further. Fatty explained his tactic was necessary because they couldn't match her strength in a direct confrontation. He recounted how she had deliberately put him in mortal danger by lying about Hans's pursuit and instructing him to blow up the path, which had led to his near-fatal fall.
