The Gate, We Will All Die

Zhuanghe is from Harbin City, living in the Harbin Cotton Mill staff dormitory.

The Harbin Cotton Mill no longer exists. At that time, many old state-owned enterprises like it went bankrupt due to poor management. Some were restructured and sold to private owners, while others simply went bankrupt and closed down.

The Harbin Cotton Mill went bankrupt and closed, and all the employees were laid off to find their own way.

Those who were doing a bit better had already moved out of the cotton mill. They rented their apartments to young people who came from the countryside to work hard in the city. Therefore, very few people from the cotton mill now live in the dormitory.

Either it's some people who couldn't make it elsewhere, or it's some elderly people who are no longer able to work.

So, the residential area of the cotton mill is now very mixed. Coupled with several urban renovations in Harbin City, this place has become an urban-rural fringe, making the population composition even more complex.

Wu Lun drove while introducing us to the situation of the cotton mill.

"The Zhuanghe you are looking for is a child of the cotton mill. His father was once the Chief Engineer of the cotton mill, second only to the Factory Director in status. In the past, such enterprises mostly had one director, two deputy directors, and one chief engineer. The director managed everything, one deputy director managed production and operations, the other managed administration and logistics, and the chief engineer was responsible for technical management."

Wu Lun had done his homework. With his explanation, Xu Qiuyan and I roughly understood.

Xu Qiuyan asked curiously, "By the way, Old Du said your nickname is Half-Immortal. Can you really predict things?"

Wu Lun glanced at Xu Qiuyan in the rearview mirror. "How could I predict anything? I just like to fool people."

I asked, "Does Zhuanghe have a job?"

"No, he mostly travels around outside. But I heard him say that he always has sponsors for his trips." The one who answered this question was Gu Song. He had the right to speak on this matter.

Wu Lun nodded. "That's right. Zhuanghe doesn't have a proper job. His hobby is traveling. However, as far as I know, his travels are not ordinary tourism. They are all expeditions with specific purposes. The so-called sponsorships are actually rewards. Because he accepts his expedition missions on a website, he gets paid a sum of money, enough for all the expenses of the expedition. If he completes the mission, the employer will give generous bonus rewards. He's in a business where he doesn't get a job for three years, but when he does, it sustains him for three years."

I looked at Gu Song. Gu Song shook his head, indicating he didn't know about this.

Wu Lun continued, "That website is very famous, but its name is not very pleasant. It seems to be called Donkey Egg Net. I've been on it. It should be an overseas website, with all sorts of strange travel missions, mostly chasing after elusive treasures."

I smiled. "So, many missions are just wishful thinking?"

"Probably. Like Zhuanghe's last mission was to enter Lop Nur to find the Twin Fish Jade Pendant. How could such a thing possibly exist? But people believe it, and the bounty offered by the mission publisher was also terrifying. Do you know how much it was?"

I shook my head, but I was shocked.

I didn't expect Wu Lun to know so much, even inquiring clearly about Zhuanghe's last mission. However, this contradicted what Gu Song said. Gu Song said they entered Lop Nur because of a post on a forum, while Wu Lun said Zhuanghe accepted the mission from Donkey Egg Net to find the Twin Fish Jade Pendant.

Gu Song said helplessly, "I don't know much about this matter. Zhuanghe and I are not very familiar. I didn't even know him before going to Lop Nur. It was Xiao Tang who was more familiar with him, and he contacted Xiao Tang proactively. He also told Xiao Tang about the forum. But there really was such a post on the forum. I saw that post, and Xiao Tang and I decided to go after reading it."

I believe Gu Song wasn't lying. That post did exist, but it was very likely written by Zhuanghe himself. Zhuanghe accepted missions on Donkey Egg Net, but he couldn't go deep into Lop Nur alone. He needed to find some helpers who had certain wilderness survival skills, as well as certain abilities in artifact appraisal and archaeology, and even knowledge of feng shui.

But Zhuanghe didn't want them to know about Donkey Egg Net, because he wanted to pocket the bounty himself.

Wu Lun said the reward was twenty million.

Gu Song gasped, "That much?"

Wu Lun laughed. "Is it a lot? Not at all. If he really found it, people would fight over it for ten or eight hundred million."

Wu Lun was right. The Twin Fish Jade Pendant could no longer be measured by money.

Even those so-called national treasures would pale in comparison to it.

I glanced at Wu Lun with a wicked amusement, then reached out and touched the jade pendant I had hidden on my body, thinking that if he knew the thing he was talking about was in my hands, he would be utterly shocked.

But I didn't do that. It would only bring me a lot of trouble.

I knew the principle of "possessing a treasure brings disaster."

Besides, I was already being targeted by the Island Nation's Onmyoji. I didn't know if they would track me to Harbin.

The car stopped.

"He lives on the fourth floor, room 404. He's alone at home now. His parents passed away several years ago. He's already in his forties and still unmarried. But it's not surprising. How could someone like him, who wanders around all day, be willing to be tied down? I won't accompany you upstairs. I'll leave the car for you. Here are the hotel room cards."

Wu Lun handed me the room cards, three in total.

"The hotel is not far from here. You can easily find it with navigation."

I nodded.

He looked at me and said, "You guys are really impatient. Can't you settle down at the hotel before starting work?"

I didn't speak, just smiled at him.

I was indeed impatient, worried that Zhuanghe might be in danger.

Moreover, Gu Song had said that Zhuanghe had also experienced some problems after returning, similar to that team member and Xie Xiaotang, as if he were possessed.

That's why I wanted to see Zhuanghe as soon as possible.

Wu Lun left by taxi. This Buick business car was left for us to use temporarily in Harbin.

"Let's go, we're going up."

Gu Song glanced at Yin Wuyu in the car. The kid had fallen asleep.

"What about him?"

I said, "Let him sleep for a while. This kid played games all night last night."

As soon as I finished speaking, Yin Wuyu opened his eyes. "Boss, I don't want to stay in the car alone. I'm scared!"

He habitually bit his finger when he spoke. The scene was somewhat incongruous. A young man who looked seventeen or eighteen had such a childish gesture.

However, I didn't laugh. I reached out and patted his head. "Alright, let's go up together."

This is an old-fashioned family building. Although it's divided into units, it's a walk-up.

We reached the fourth floor and found apartment 404.

I knocked on the door, but there was no response.

Xu Qiuyan knocked a few more times, but she knocked very hard.

The door opened.

The door opened right after she finished knocking.

But we couldn't see who opened it.

I glanced at Xu Qiuyan suspiciously, and she also found it strange.

I pushed the door open and walked in. There was indeed no one in the living room.

The room was a mess, with the table covered in empty wrappers of junk food and more than a dozen beer cans.

Dirty clothes and smelly socks occupied almost the entire sofa.

I frowned. Is this a place where people live?

"Cough, cough!" A coughing sound came from inside the room. Xu Qiuyan and I walked ahead and arrived at the doorway of a bedroom. It wasn't much better than the living room.

A person was sitting on the bed, wrapped tightly in a quilt.

His face was sallow, and his hair was very long, clearly not having been taken care of for a long time.

There was also a pungent odor in the bedroom, a smell I couldn't quite place.

He saw us too and showed a look of terror on his face: "Who are you? How did you get into my house?"

I squinted my eyes. I could see the deep fear in his eyes when he saw us.

Another strange thing was that the door was clearly tightly shut just now, but it opened after Xu Qiuyan banged on it forcefully. It was obvious that the person who opened the door wasn't this man in front of us. So, who was it?

If nothing unexpected happened, the person on the bed should be Zhuanghe.

I glanced at Gu Song. Gu Song nodded and stepped forward: "Zhuanghe, do you still recognize me?"

Zhuanghe's eyes were fixed on Gu Song, as if he were scrutinizing him.

"You're Xie Xiaotang's man, that university professor! Why are you here? Has Xie Xiaotang already died?"

Gu Song's expression changed slightly upon hearing this: "How did you know?"

Zhuanghe smiled, a very eerie smile: "We will all die, all die. No one can escape."