Adventure Behind the Bronze Door Episode 3 Recap
> Adventure Behind the Bronze Door Recap
Wu Xie searched through a vast collection of scrolls, finding many drawings and notes that were difficult to understand. After a long search, he finally unearthed details about Zhang Qiling's childhood and the Zhang family within some of the old texts. The scrolls depicted the Zhang family as a mysterious clan with extraordinary skills and extremely strict rules, resembling legendary martial arts families found in novels.
A significant rite of passage for young Zhang family members approaching adulthood was a test called 'Wilding'. This involved traveling outwards to confront evildoers and, crucially, to acquire a powerful weapon. The rarer the weapon obtained, the higher the individual's future standing within the family would be. The scrolls also indicated Zhang family members historically carried a mission to oppose evil and uphold justice.
During Zhang Qiling's 'Wilding' period, he was part of a group that included Zhang Haike and Zhang Haixing. They encountered some bandits who had little of value besides a few firearms. The bandits attempted to kill them. The Zhang family members quickly fought back and defeated the bandits. After searching the bandits, finding only a few guns, they continued their journey. Zhang Qiling, who remained largely silent and reserved, found a hidden treasure map among the bandits' belongings.
His companions were overjoyed and eager to follow the map. Zhang Qiling did not recommend going to such a dangerous place, but others, including Zhang Haixing, felt that the more dangerous the place, the better the treasure. Seeing their eagerness, Zhang Qiling frowned slightly. Tensions were evident regarding Zhang Qiling.
Some in the group called him a 'lousy brat' and a 'jinx', suggesting they leave him behind to die as he was delaying their progress and was an outcast with no parents. Zhang Haike suggested letting the others (implied to include Zhang Haixing, referred to as "old maid", and Zhang Qiling, the "jinx") handle the immediate mess while they focused on their main goal: finding weapons.
Zhang Qiling revealed that the map indicated a place he had learned about from a secret family scroll. This place, known as the Zhang Family Castle, was buried deep beneath Ma'an Village. He explained it was an ancient Zhang family site containing many famous weapons and secret scrolls, but these items were protected by extremely powerful traps that even ancient martial arts masters could not overcome.
He warned his companions that going there would be extremely perilous, likely leading to death. Despite his warning, the others were undeterred, eager to complete their 'Wilding' and secure their status, believing the greater the danger, the better the treasure. Zhang Haike was determined to go, seeing it as their only chance to stand out in the clan. They agreed to go, deciding to treat Zhang Qiling merely as labor, leaving his fate to chance once they were inside.
They promised not to blame him if things went wrong and to take responsibility themselves. Following Zhang Qiling's guidance based on the scroll information, they traveled to Ma'an Village. Using external landmarks, such as West Mountain's strange rocks eight hundred feet south, they located the approximate spot and found a hidden passageway. The passage appeared old, leading them to speculate it was dug long ago, perhaps by rescuers or looters.
Descending into the passage, they reached a room and were astonished to find it was completely upside down. Objects and even corpses were hanging from what should have been the ceiling, defying gravity. They initially wondered if a mudslide had flipped the entire room, but reasoned that hanging objects would have fallen if that were the case. Zhang Qiling quietly mentioned the concept of 'Heaven as Earth, Earth as Heaven'.
Zhang Haixing quickly dismissed any connection to the Heaven and Earth Society as a joke, reminding others of the strict family rules about mentioning such things if they wanted to survive. Zhang Qiling proposed that the strange setup was a deliberate decoy, a bizarre armory with ordinary weapons meant to distract potential intruders from finding the true treasures deeper within the Zhang Family Castle.
They observed dead bodies in the room, noting wounds that suggested they had triggered hidden mechanisms and died from subsequent infection. They began searching for a passage leading further in, being cautious to avoid activating any traps. While searching, they discovered an upright bronze horse in the room, unlike everything else which was inverted. There was a mottled opening in its body.
Observing the dead bodies nearby, they noticed they were all precisely two meters away from the horse, suggesting this distance was the lethal range. They concluded the bronze horse was the room's primary defense mechanism. Zhang Qiling identified the mechanism inside as a complex variant of the 'Eighteen Strings' trap, even more complicated than versions their elders knew and potentially beyond their ability to handle. He explained that dismantling it required carefully removing tiny beads from a disc deep inside.
Even a slight vibration would cause beads to roll off, hitting wires that triggered multiple, unpredictable traps simultaneously. There were hundreds of wires. He knew of this mechanism from having seen it in the main family house and understanding it somewhat. Despite the immense danger, Zhang Qiling decided to attempt to disarm it manually.
He instructed the others to use ropes to lift or support him and be ready, as touching a wire and triggering one trap was inevitable during the process. As he reached into the horse, arrows shot out, which they dodged with quick reflexes. Zhang Qiling successfully removed eighteen beads, dismantling the mechanism.
Having witnessed him accomplish something even the elders found difficult, the others began to see Zhang Qiling in a new light, though some attributed his success merely to luck. Confirming Zhang Qiling's theory about the decoy room, they found another passageway behind the bronze horse mechanism, leading deeper into the structure. They were now certain they had reached the core area of Zhang Family Castle, where the most valuable items and dangerous traps were expected to be located.
However, they soon reached a dead end—a wall. They found that this wall had been previously smashed open, but then deliberately rebuilt to block the space behind it. They recognized the technique of pulling bricks outwards as a method used by the Zhang family, indicating that someone from their own clan had attempted to access this area but failed, perhaps being trapped or sealed inside. This suggested that something significant had happened concurrently with the mudslide.
Deciding to investigate further, they planned to break through the wall. Before fully breaking through, one of them put a hand through an existing opening in the wall to feel what was inside. They felt something inside and identified it as a dried corpse leaning against the other side of the wall. Upon closer inspection, they found a wound on the corpse, confirming he had been killed.
They also discovered the Zhang family's Qilin emblem on the body, solidifying the chilling realization that a member of their own family had been sealed inside this place. Despite this discovery, they resolved to break down the wall to uncover the truth behind what had happened. Breaking through, they immediately noted that whatever was inside was incomplete—only "half" of something remained, along with the number "four".
Back in the present, Wu Xie continued studying the scrolls, finding the details fascinating but frustrated that the most crucial parts were missing, including cryptic drawings he couldn't decipher. Eager for understanding, he immediately sought out the Teacher, who held the scrolls. Wu Xie asked if there were more records and if the Teacher could explain the drawings.
The Teacher calmly replied that the rest of the data was inaccessible and for the meaning of the drawings, he simply stated that understanding would come when the time was right.
