135: Chapter 135 Snowfield Eagle's Nest (Part 1)

Li Xin did not stop after leaving Kermanshah.

He traveled northwest along the mountain road, the altitude climbing higher and higher, and the weather growing colder.

The mountains on both sides of the road were covered in a layer of white frost, looking freezing, but fortunately, the Gold Search and Refining System 2.0 could maintain a constant temperature for him, so he didn't feel much of it.

The further north he went, the worse the road became. There were no more smooth asphalt roads; what lay ahead were only gravel roads, full of potholes and incredibly difficult to traverse.

In most places, ice had formed, causing the wheels to constantly slip and the steering wheel to shake in his hands.

He didn't dare to drive too fast, slowing down to thirty yards, and continued forward nervously all the way.

It took a long time of driving before he saw a village. There were few people here; the entire village consisted of only a dozen households, with houses built of stone and roofs covered in thick snow.

The small shop at the entrance of the village was still open, with a dim yellow light shining from inside.

Li Xin stopped at the shop and opened the car door. A cold wind rushed at him; it was over ten degrees below zero. His breath instantly turned into white mist. He shrank his neck and walked into the shop.

Inside, there was a middle-aged man wrapped in an old cotton robe, sitting by a stove watching TV. Seeing him enter, the man lifted his eyelids.

"What are you buying?"

"I'm looking for some hot water and want to buy something to eat."

The old man pointed to the thermos and biscuits on the counter. Li Xin took them, paid, and stood by the stove to warm his hands.

"Sir, is there still a road if I go north?" he asked.

"Yes," the man said, lighting a cigarette. "It's just not easy to travel, and the snow is heavy right now."

"Can I reach the Caspian Sea?"

The man looked at him. "Yes, you can, but you'll need to take a detour. Hmm, if you go around from the east, it might be over a hundred kilometers longer."

Li Xin nodded and took a sip of the hot water. The warm water burned all the way from his throat to his stomach, making his whole body feel warm. Even though the system maintained a constant temperature for him, he still had to act like a normal person.

After eating, he chatted idly with the man for a while, then got back in the car and continued heading north.

The man was right; the road was indeed difficult. Some sections were blocked by snow, leaving only a narrow rut. On both sides were vast, white snowy fields, making it impossible to distinguish between the road and the ditch. He could only drive slowly, following the ruts, praying not to get stuck.

In the afternoon, he arrived at a mountain pass. On both sides were steep cliff walls, and in the middle was a narrow road that could only accommodate one vehicle. The road was covered in ice, and the wheels were slipping badly. He engaged the four-wheel drive, gritted his teeth, and inched forward bit by bit.

After passing through the pass, his view opened up. In the distance, he could see the Caspian Sea, a grayish-blue color, blending with the sky so that the boundary was indistinguishable. There was a green strip along the coastline, which was a forest.

He found a place to park by the side of the road, parked the car, and took out his phone to check the map. This was already Mazandaran Province, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. To the east lay the Alborz Mountains.

He found those three standing peaks. On the satellite map, he could see the three mountains lined up, with the middle one being the highest and the ones on the sides slightly shorter. The mountaintops were covered in snow, a vast expanse of white.

"This is the place," he muttered to himself.

Early the next morning, he drove into the mountains. The road became narrower and narrower, flanked by dense forests. Tree branches reached out and scraped against the car doors, making scratching sounds. There was snow on the ground, but it wasn't thick, and the wheels crunched as they drove over it.

After driving for nearly two hours, a village appeared ahead. The village was not big, with a few dozen households; the houses were built of stone with tiled roofs. At the entrance of the village was a small square, where a few old men were sitting in the sun.

He parked the car by the edge of the square and got out.

An old man walked over, wrapped in a cotton robe and wearing a fur hat. He glanced at Li Xin and asked in Persian, "Who are you looking for?"

"I want to go into the mountains and take a look." Li Xin pointed to the distant mountains. "Is there a road over there?"

The old man shook his head. "There is no road. It's even harder to travel in winter."

"Can I walk there?"

"Walk there?" The old man frowned. "It's far. You are alone, don't go."

"I'm just going to take a look. I won't go too far."

The old man stared at him for a few seconds, said nothing more, and turned to walk away.

Li Xin didn't stay in the village long. He parked the car in a hidden spot, put it into his space, shouldered his bag, and walked into the mountains.

There was indeed no road. There was only a narrow, winding path covered in snow, making it impossible to see the direction. He followed the contours of the hillside, detouring when he encountered steep spots, and stepping carefully when he encountered icy surfaces.

After walking for nearly two hours, a valley appeared ahead. On both sides of the valley were steep cliff walls, grayish-black in color, with ice hanging from them. At the bottom of the valley was a small stream that had frozen over; he could hear the sound of water flowing beneath the ice.

He stood by the stream, took out his phone, and opened the satellite map. The three peaks were directly in front of him, the middle one the highest, its top buried in the clouds and invisible.

"AI System, Scan this area. Depth of one hundred to three hundred meters. Focus the Scan on natural cave structures."

"Scanning. Current detection range: 27,990 meters radius. Covering target area. It will take a few minutes."

He crouched by the stream and waited. The wind blew over, as cold as a knife cutting his face. He pulled his scarf up to cover half of his face.

"Scan complete. Approximately 16 kilometers due north of the current location, at an altitude of about 1950 meters, a natural cave has been detected. The cave entrance is located in the middle-upper part of the cliff face, irregular oval shape, major axis about 3.5 meters, minor axis about 2 meters. Behind the entrance is a water curtain structure, with water flowing through."

"A water curtain? A waterfall?"

"Yes. There is a seasonal stream above the cliff face that flows down from above the entrance, forming a water curtain about 12 meters high. The entrance cannot be seen from the outside at all. The interior of the cave is divided into front, middle, and rear chambers, with a total depth of about 85 meters. A large number of metal signals have been detected inside the rear chamber. Estimated amount of gold is about 260 tons."

"There is special magnetic field interference here; you can only perform the Extraction after entering the cave."

"Damn it... are you kidding me? I have to go inside? Doesn't that mean I have to climb a long way? In this hellish weather, this is really difficult for me. Is there no other way?"

"No. You can only perform the Extraction by going in yourself, and you cannot refuse, otherwise, you will bear the consequences."

"Fine~ since I can't resist, I might as well enjoy it! By the way, 260 tons is less than I imagined!" Li Xin frowned.

"Yes. Judging from the distribution characteristics, the front chamber is mainly weapons, the middle chamber is mainly gold artifacts, and the rear chamber is mainly armor and jewelry. Traces of artificial traps—pits, rock-fall devices, etc.—have been detected at the front of the cave, most of which are already ineffective."

Li Xin stood up and patted the snow off his knees. 16 kilometers; it would take three or four hours to walk the mountain path. He checked the sky; it was past two in the afternoon. If he set off now, he could reach the foot of the mountain before dark. But climbing up would take time, and he still had to find a route.

He thought about it and decided to wait until tomorrow.

Returning to the village, he found a house at the entrance to stay in. The owner was a teenager; the adults in the family had gone out to work, leaving him alone. Li Xin gave him ten dollars to stay at his place temporarily. If it weren't for the fact that staying in a tent in this weather was a bit dangerous, he would have preferred to camp in the wilderness.

Li Xin lay on the hard bed, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow he had to climb the mountain; the altitude was nearly two thousand meters, it was over ten degrees below zero, and there was snow accumulation. He had climbing equipment in his space—crampons, ropes, warm clothing—but the problem was, he couldn't be seen by anyone.

There was a border guard post at the foot of the mountain; people patrolled during the day, and drones would fly too. He had to find a hidden route up the mountain.

At 3:30 in the morning, the alarm went off.

Li Xin got up in the dark, packed his things, and left the village.

After walking for nearly two hours, the sky began to brighten. On the eastern horizon, there was a grayish-white light that outlined the silhouette of the mountains. The three peaks appeared in the morning light, the middle one the highest, with its top covered in thick snow.

He found a hidden position—a crevice behind a large rock, invisible from the outside. He took the crampons out of his space and put them on his shoes. He also took out thermal clothing to wear, with a white down jacket over it.

"AI System, in which direction is the cave entrance?"

"Due north, straight-line distance of about 11 kilometers. Altitude 1950 meters. It is recommended to walk along the ridgeline to avoid patrol routes."

Li Xin began to climb up.

The slope was steep, and under the snow was nothing but loose gravel. The crampons made a harsh sound when stepping on the rocks. He grabbed onto shrub branches and inched his way up. After walking less than two hundred meters, his back was already sweating.

Climbing to the ridge, the view opened up. Looking north, the Caspian Sea was gray and hazy; he couldn't see the opposite shore. Looking south, the mountains stretched endlessly, their snow-capped peaks reflecting the sunlight.

He crouched down, took binoculars out of his space, and looked down the mountain. The border guard post was on a flat piece of land at the foot of the mountain, with gray houses surrounded by barbed wire. Two military vehicles were parked in the yard, and people were walking around.

He put down the binoculars and continued walking forward.

He walked along the ridge for nearly three hours. By noon, he arrived at the bottom of the cliff face where the cave was located. Looking up, the cliff was steep, almost vertical. Ice hung from it, sparkling in the sunlight.

The entrance was slightly higher up; he estimated it was at least forty or fifty meters from the ground. The entrance couldn't be seen from below; he could only see a hanging icicle drooping down from the cliff wall.

"AI System, confirm the location of the entrance?"

"Directly above the current coordinates, vertical distance about 55 meters. There is a waterfall behind the entrance, but it is currently the freezing season, the waterfall flow is very small, and most of it is frozen. You can climb up from the left cliff face."

Li Xin looked at the cliff face. It was covered in ice, but there were protruding rocks he could use as handholds. He took the rope and pitons out of his space and tied them to his waist.

He began to climb.

His crampons stepped onto the ice, and with every step, he had to tap it with his ice axe to confirm if it could bear weight. His hands gripped the rocks, his fingertips frozen purple. The wind poured up from the valley, blowing the rope back and forth.

After climbing for nearly an hour, he reached the entrance. Twice, his feet slipped, and he hung on the rope, swaying for a few seconds, his back covered in cold sweat.

The entrance was bigger than he had imagined. It was oval-shaped, with a major axis of three or four meters and a minor axis of over two meters. There was a layer of ice curtain at the entrance—formed by the frozen waterfall—which was translucent, allowing him to see the darkness behind it.

He used his ice axe to break through the ice curtain and crawled inside.

The cave was dark and damp. He took off his headlamp and turned on his flashlight. The beam of light shone ahead—it was a passage two meters wide and less than two and a half meters high. However, the floor of the passage was very smooth; this was not naturally formed, as there were traces of manual excavation.

He continued walking inside, and the passage gradually widened. After walking about thirty meters, the space ahead suddenly opened up—the front chamber had been reached.

The beam of the flashlight swept across, and he saw various weapons scattered on the ground—iron swords, bronze spears, bows and arrows, all covered in rust. Leaning against the wall was a row of wooden shields, but most had already rotted away, leaving only the metal rims. There were also a few suits of armor on the ground, piled together and covered in dust.