The Lost Tomb 2 : Explore with the Note Episode 21 Recap
> The Lost Tomb 2 : Explore with the Note Recap
Wu Xie, desperate to find a way out of the burning coffin array, carefully examined the numerous coffins. When Liang Shiye urged him to stop playing with them and find a solution before the fire consumed them, Wu Xie, with a kick, opened a distinctive coffin, revealing an unexpected exit. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "It's opened! We're saved!" Liang Shiye, calling Wu Xie his "little lifesaver," praised him as their great savior.
The three men quickly ran through the newly found passage, but their escape was short-lived as they all fell into a deep hole. Upon regaining consciousness, Wu Xie found his bag and flashlight. Soon, Liang Shiye and Lao Yang also woke up. Liang Shiye, after dramatically complaining about being left alone, lit a torch, illuminating their surroundings. They looked up to see a colossal bronze tree.
Liang Shiye marveled at its size, noting how it explained why they couldn't reach the top despite digging for so long. He described the tree as "a truly extraordinary craftsmanship" and "a heavenly creation." Wu Xie asked Lao Yang if this was the same bronze tree he and Mr. Ma had discovered years ago. Lao Yang speculated it grew from "hell."
Liang Shiye then called out to them, having spotted excavation traces down below, suggesting the Serpents had discovered the tree during the tomb's construction. Wu Xie noticed Lao Yang standing in a daze. Liang Shiye, sensing something amiss, warned them that the tree felt "not right" and urged caution. Lao Yang then suggested they climb the tree, but Liang Shiye dismissed the idea, questioning if Lao Yang thought he was a monkey.
Meanwhile, Wang Pangzi, A Ning, Zhang Qiling, and Guo Guo found their path blocked by a dead end. A Ning proposed using explosives, but Wang Pangzi stopped her, chastising her as an "amateur" for even considering such a dangerous method inside a tomb. He then challenged Zhang Qiling to find a way. After a moment of observation, Zhang Qiling located and activated a mechanism, causing the ground beneath them to give way.
They plummeted into a chamber adorned with countless bronze bells and scattered skulls. Guo Guo immediately felt the place was "evil" and "chilling." A Ning, observing the scene, asked Zhang Qiling if he had ever encountered such a sight, but he remained silent. She then theorized it might be a Serpents' ritual sacrifice site, though Wang Pangzi likened it more to a "museum of dead bodies."
Guo Guo, noticing the bells, wanted to collect them, but Wang Pangzi warned him that touching them could induce hallucinations and even lead to self-inflicted death. Zhang Qiling, looking at the bells, was reminded of similar ones found on a large zombie creature, recalling Wu Xie's explanation that these bells, dating back to before the Warring States period, were notorious for causing numerous deaths.
Guo Guo then spotted what looked like a treasure chest in the hand of a skeletal priest. Wang Pangzi, eager to inspect it himself, took the box despite Zhang Qiling's sharp command to "Don't touch it." Upon opening the box and finding nothing, Guo Guo complained about Wang Pangzi's hypocrisy. Immediately, all the bells in the chamber began to ring, and everyone except Zhang Qiling succumbed to powerful hallucinations. Wang Pangzi, disoriented, made strange movements and sounds.
In his delusion, he fired his gun. A Ning was knocked to the ground by unseen forces. Wang Pangzi, holding his pistol, bizarrely bowed towards a monstrous apparition, then, in a terrifying moment, pushed the gun barrel into his own mouth, ready to pull the trigger. Just as he was about to fire, Zhang Qiling, alerted to the danger, intervened with a swift projectile, breaking Wang Pangzi's trance. As Wang Pangzi regained his senses, he frantically looked for A Ning.
Guo Guo then fell to his death. Wang Pangzi, distraught, mourned the apparent deaths of A Ning and Guo Guo, lamenting that he never got to explain his true feelings to A Ning. He then asked Zhang Qiling if he, too, had experienced any hallucinations. Zhang Qiling, claiming he had just remembered, then turned a large cauldron, revealing a new entrance.
Wang Pangzi angrily questioned why he hadn't revealed it earlier, believing it could have saved A Ning and Guo Guo, but Zhang Qiling simply reiterated that he had "just recalled it." They then descended into the newly opened passage. Back with Wu Xie's group, Liang Shiye discovered a double-bodied snake totem engraved on the bronze tree.
He identified it as the Serpents' totem, surmising that they revered the tree as a "miracle being" and etched their symbol as a form of worship. Wu Xie asked Liang Shiye to pinpoint the tree's era. After some deliberation and examining the tree's blackish-grey color, Liang Shiye estimated it to be tin bronze, possibly dating back to the Western Zhou dynasty, though he admitted only 50% certainty.
Wu Xie then questioned if the technological capabilities of the Western Zhou period could have allowed for the construction of such a massive bronze tree. Liang Shiye explained that while they used pottery molds for bronze vessels, theoretically, if they could create such a mold, building a huge bronze tree wasn't impossible, especially during the "Age of Wonders" from 1000 BC to the Common Era, a time when many seemingly impossible structures were built.
Lao Yang, however, strongly doubted this, citing the Qin Dynasty's limited capacity to cast only Twelve Metal Colossi even after collecting all weapons. The two began a heated debate about the feasibility and the source of such a vast amount of bronze. Ignoring the ongoing debate between Liang Shiye and Lao Yang, Wu Xie mused about Mr. Li's claim that this tomb held treasures more precious than the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, yet they had found nothing.
Liang Shiye believed the bronze tree itself was the treasure, a notion Wu Xie and Lao Yang quickly dismissed, pointing out its impracticality for them. Wu Xie was convinced that the true treasure was not the tree. As Wu Xie continued forward with the torch, Lao Yang caught up, and Wu Xie pressed him, convinced that Lao Yang knew the secret of the bronze tree.
Their conversation was interrupted by a startled cry from Liang Shiye, who had discovered a body hanging from the tree. They realized the body belonged to Guo Guo, though they did not know him personally. Wu Xie, noting that the body was still soft and warm, deduced that Guo Guo had died recently, and wondered if there were other people in the tomb.
He then theorized that since they were deep within the tomb and had found nothing else, the tomb owner might have placed his coffin and treasures on the tree, close to what the Serpents considered divine. They decided to climb the tree. Lao Yang handed out gloves, enigmatically warning them not to let any exposed skin touch the tree, comparing it to "high voltage electricity," and promising to explain later.
As they began their ascent, Lao Yang again cautioned Wu Xie to be careful and not touch the branches. Liang Shiye, being an older man and scared of heights, struggled to climb, so Wu Xie and Lao Yang pulled him up with a rope, with Lao Yang reiterating the warning about exposed skin. Inside the newly opened passage, Wang Pangzi saw Zhang Qiling staring intently at a stone door.
Wang Pangzi recognized the spot, pointing out a signature mark he leaves in every tomb he visits, indicating he had been there before the underwater tomb of Paracel Islands. He then pressed Zhang Qiling for information about any valuables. Zhang Qiling observed that the Serpents' tomb differed from those in Zhongyuan and had been reconstructed with intricate traps, possibly the work of the Mute Riders.
Zhang Qiling then quickly opened the door by stabbing it with his knife, and they proceeded inside. Meanwhile, Wu Xie, Lao Yang, and Liang Shiye continued their arduous climb up the bronze tree. Liang Shiye, exhausted, requested a break, and Lao Yang offered them some food he had. Liang Shiye again inquired about Lao Yang's persistent warning not to touch the tree with bare skin. Lao Yang responded vaguely, "Just listen to my advice if you want to live."
Liang Shiye further probed Lao Yang's familiarity with the tomb, noting that Mr. Li's "Tombs Collection" didn't mention such a tree. Wu Xie, however, suddenly felt an unsettling presence, as if "something is looking at us," and wondered if other living beings inhabited the tree. Lao Yang tried to dismiss it as imagination, but the group then heard disturbing sounds from above.
Wu Xie and Liang Shiye speculated it couldn't be Uncle Tai's group, and more likely the companions of the recently discovered corpse. Fearing a disadvantageous conflict, they decided to hasten their climb, hoping to avoid an encounter, with Wu Xie suggesting they should attempt collaboration if they did meet anyone.
