106: The First Secret of Wind and Snow

At the first light of dawn, Li Xin stood at the entrance of the canyon.

At this moment, looking into the canyon, it appeared like a beautiful ink wash painting, with thin, veil-like morning mist flowing slowly along the ground—truly magnificent.

He leaned in closer to take a look; the morning mist wasn't drifting in from outside the canyon at all, but rather seeping out bit by bit from the cracks in the rocks, feeling cool and carrying a strange scent.

"AI System, is this the place? It doesn't look that special here."

[Who knows? However, the locals call this Calgary Canyon 'Anarhan's Tears'. Legend has it that two thousand years ago, a Scythian priestess died here, and her people crafted a crown, a divine bird, and sacrificial vessels out of pure gold, sealing them deep within the rock wall. It is rumored that among the burial items is a 'Spirit-Calling Gold Sheet', said to be able to summon wind and snow. But to this day, no one has verified this.]

"That legend is quite interesting; I really hope we have a chance to see it this time!"

[AI System: Zhuzi, although it's not that exaggerated, the magnetic field here is indeed abnormal, several times higher than the surrounding area.]

"Hahaha... that means we won't have made this trip for nothing today." Li Xin immediately perked up, quickly shouldered his bag, and walked into the canyon.

The rock walls on both sides of the canyon grew taller, grayish-white in color, with surfaces covered in chaotic, disorderly cracks, somewhat resembling the face of an old man filled with the traces of time.

The morning light slanted in from the east, landing on the rock walls, and those cracks cast long, thin shadows, one by one, like fingers.

Li Xin walked amidst these fingers, his footsteps landing on the gravel, making a "crunch... crunch..." sound.

Gradually, Li Xin noticed something unusual; in such a nice place, there was surprisingly no birdsong, nor any insect chirping. He couldn't even feel the wind.

It was too quiet here, quiet to the point of being frightening.

[AI System: Zhu... Zhuzi. We'll reach the Treasure of Wind and Snow in about two hundred meters. The treasure is in the middle of the cliff, thirty-two meters above the ground. Back in 1939, three hunters came here to take shelter from the snow and accidentally discovered this cave entrance; it's said they were just about to go inside. However, they heard a woman's low moaning from within the cave at that time, which scared them away immediately. Later, a Soviet Union archaeological team came here once, but they only took the things on the surface; the treasures hidden deep inside have never been touched.]

"Why didn't they dig to the bottom?"

[AI System: There's a rumor that the lead professor fell from the cliff on the third day of excavation and broke his leg. Later, people in the team kept coming down with strange illnesses, which was quite eerie, so they didn't dare to continue digging. In the end, they sealed the cave entrance with explosives, wrote only "Excavation terminated due to unstable geological structure" in the report, and then wrapped it up, leaving it like that until now.]

Li Xin stopped and looked up.

He saw a dark gap on the grayish-white rock wall; the gap wasn't large, with smooth edges, like a mouth opened by the mountain.

On the surface of the rock wall below the cave entrance, there were traces of water stains spreading out from the opening, like tear stains that had dried for who knows how many years.

Li Xin found a flat rock to sit on, leaned his back against the cliff, and placed his hand on the rock.

"System, Scan and Extraction!"

[Scan complete, Extraction in progress... Priestess's Secret Vault. 16 tons of gold, including a gold crown, divine bird gold ornaments, sacrificial gold vessels, Spirit-Calling Gold Sheets, and other artifacts. Load 21%. Estimated time: one hour.]

A pale blue light seeped from his palm into the rock wall, like water seeping into sand.

The progress jumped to 6%.

Gradually, the wind came.

It wasn't the wind blowing in from the canyon entrance, but rather blowing out from the cave.

It was as if something inside had suddenly exhaled, and a blast of air carrying gravel exploded out from the cave entrance, "clatter... clatter..." slamming against the rock wall.

Li Xin's hair was blown up; he squinted his eyes but didn't let go.

The temperature began to drop. It dropped very quickly, falling three or five degrees in just an instant, and the breath Li Xin exhaled instantly turned into white mist.

[Geomagnetic fluctuation. Load increased to 34%.]

"Hmm? What's the reason?" Li Xin immediately became nervous.

[I don't know. The geomagnetism in this area has always been very abnormal. There is a local legend: "It is said that there is a 'Curse of Wind and Snow' here—those who disturb the gold artifacts will be frozen forever."]

The progress jumped to 18%.

Suddenly, Li Xin seemed to hear a sound, as if it were a human voice.

It was a low, humming tone, as if singing, or perhaps reciting some incantation, emanating from deep within the cave, drifting vaguely through the thick rock wall.

Li Xin's hair stood on end instantly; the calm and indifferent expression on his face vanished completely, cold sweat broke out uncontrollably on his forehead, and his heart was gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand.

"He struggled desperately, twitching constantly, wanting to breathe one more breath of fresh air; the pressure, the extreme pressure—'ho... hu... ho... hu...'—each breath was halting, tight, and suffocating, oppressive, stifling, and heavy."

Time ticked away... bit by bit, Li Xin was still struggling; he felt as if he were truly about to pass out.

[Ding~ Host life danger detected, System automatic protection activated.]

One minute, or perhaps three or five minutes later, Li Xin suddenly regained his breath; at this moment, the surroundings returned to silence, and his T-shirt was soaked with cold sweat.

"Sys... System, le... let's go; there really is a curse here." Li Xin's expression was fearful, his tongue tied as he spoke.

[AI System: Zhuzi, you noob, do you know that you almost scared yourself to death just now!] AI System rolled its eyes, feeling very helpless.

"How is that possible? I heard it just now; there was a woman humming, and then I was cursed, I couldn't even breathe."

[AI System: That's why I say you're a noob! I just checked, there was no ghost woman humming at all!]

"Then tell me, what was that sound just now?"

[AI System: I am very helpless~ Zhuzi, that was just the sound formed by the wind blowing through a small crack in the canyon wall that leads outside, echoing in the gap, okay? I'm truly speechless...]

"But I really felt like I couldn't breathe, like my heart was being gripped tightly by a giant hand." Li Xin said with lingering fear.

[That was just because you were overly frightened~]

"Hehehe~ Alright!" Li Xin scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Continue Extraction."

The progress jumped to 27%.

Suddenly, the sound from before appeared again, getting higher and higher, turning into a sharp shriek.

White mist began to emerge from the cave entrance—not water vapor, but ice crystals. Tiny ice particles sprayed out from the cave, scattered by the wind, flashing in the morning light, as if someone had lit a huge ice pillar inside the rock mass, letting out cold air.

[Currently 29%. Stable.]

The progress jumped to 34%. The sound stopped suddenly.

The canyon was as quiet as a grave. Even the subtle rock vibrations from earlier were gone; Li Xin even suspected he had tinnitus.

He waited for about ten seconds.

No sound. No white mist. No cold wind. The morning light hit the opposite rock wall, golden and bright; an eagle circled in the sky, its shadow gliding over the rock wall.

"Why did it stop on its own?"

[Unable to determine. Geomagnetic fluctuation has subsided.]

The progress jumped to 43%.

Someone was talking in the direction of the canyon entrance. Three men in camouflage, carrying shotguns and leading two hunting dogs, walked out of the morning mist. The dogs discovered him first and charged over, barking wildly.

One hunter called the dogs back and looked up at Li Xin. He shouted in Kazakh: "What are you doing up there?"

"The scenery here is too beautiful, I came up to take some photos." Li Xin didn't stand up.

The hunter stared at him for a few seconds, then looked at the rock wall behind him. "You can't go in there. It's an archaeological restricted area."

"Okay, thank you! I'll just take a few shots here and leave."

The hunter spoke a few words to his companions in a low voice; it wasn't loud, but the canyon was so quiet that Li Xin could hear it clearly.

"Another tourist."

"They'll leave after taking photos."

"That cave... the older generation said we can't go near it."

"Do you believe it?"

"Why wouldn't I? My grandmother said she heard singing in the cave when she was young."

"The wind is strong in the rock crevices; you can hear all sorts of sounds."

The three men walked along the canyon floor. The dogs were still barking, being dragged away.

The progress jumped to 56%.

Li Xin took a water bottle out of his backpack and took a sip. The water was cool, sliding down his throat and sending a shiver through him. He stared at the system panel; the progress bar was jumping slowly, and the load was stable at just over thirty.

"AI System, that hunter's grandmother said she heard singing in the cave. This was also caused by that crack, right?"

[It's possible, but sometimes the frequency bands of sound waves generated by geological activity can overlap with the human hearing range. The ancients lacked scientific explanations and deified it. But—]

"But?"

[The system cannot rule out other possibilities. Because the system itself cannot fully analyze the energy field here.]

"Alright! Alright!" Li Xin was slightly puzzled, but he didn't delve into it.

The progress jumped to 68%.

The wind came again. This time it wasn't blowing out from the cave entrance; it was rolling in from the depths of the canyon. Carrying sand and dust, it swirled, sweeping the dry leaves on the ground into mid-air. The temperature began to drop again, and a layer of thin frost formed on Li Xin's jacket.

[Load increased to 42%.]

[AI System: Zhuzi~ A car is coming from the direction of the canyon entrance; it will be here in about ten minutes.]

Li Xin turned his head and glanced. In the direction of the canyon entrance, a military green off-road vehicle was driving in along the dirt road; there were no lights on the roof, and no markings on the side of the vehicle. It wasn't a military vehicle, nor did it look like a police car.

The off-road vehicle stopped at the foot of the mountain. Two people got out, wearing plain clothes, gray jackets, and dark trousers. One person held a walkie-talkie in his hand, and the other carried a long, narrow bag on his back. They didn't come up the mountain; they walked west along the canyon floor.

Li Xin withdrew his gaze.

The progress jumped to 79%.

[Load 37%. Stable.]

The temperature began to rise. The frost melted, turning into water droplets that dripped from his cuffs. Sunlight shone straight down from the cliff top onto the rock wall, and the grayish-white stones glowed with a warm light.

The progress jumped to 88%.

[Ding—Extraction complete. Priestess's Secret Vault: 16.2 tons of gold, including 1 gold crown, 9 divine bird gold ornaments, 4 pairs of sacrificial gold vessels, several Spirit-Calling Gold Sheets (no ability to summon wind and snow), and 16.1 tons of gold ingots and blocks. Total valuation is approximately 489 million USD. Current load 30%.]

[Cumulative gold refined: 2085.2057 tons.]

Li Xin stood up and brushed the dust and frost off his body.

He turned and walked down.

When passing the canyon floor, the three hunters were still sitting by the stream. The dogs were lying on the ground; seeing him, their ears pricked up, but they didn't bark.

"Little brother, finished taking photos?" one hunter asked.

"Yes, the scenery is just too beautiful." Li Xin shook his camera.

The hunter nodded. Another, older one stared at him for a few seconds and suddenly said: "You didn't go into that cave to take anything, did you? The things in that cave cannot be taken."

Li Xin's footsteps paused. "I didn't go in!"

"That's good." The old man turned away and continued smoking.

Li Xin walked out of the canyon entrance and looked back. The morning mist had dissipated, and the cave on the rock wall was obscured by the mountain's shadow, making it hard to see. The system panel flickered before his eyes, with the last line of red text: Geomagnetic anomaly · An unknown energy field exists in this area.

He got in the car and started the engine.

On the dashboard, the system popped up a new notification.

[Stability dropped to 27%. Reason: Strong geomagnetic interference exceeds the normal range. Suggested cooling time: 72 hours.]

Li Xin stared at this number for a moment. It was 29 before he came, and now it's 27. Sixteen tons, and it dropped two points; when will it ever recover?

He stepped on the gas pedal.

Next stop, Issyk Valley.