Death Valley, a Forbidden Zone for Humans

three days later.

Golmud, Tibetan region.

This is the last checkpoint on the way to Kunlun Mountain. The air is thin, and the cold wind cuts like knives on your face.

Jiang Han sat in the back seat of a dilapidated military green SUV, holding the long knife wrapped in black cloth in his arms, and closed his eyes to rest.

Outside the car window stretched a desolate, undulating Gobi Desert, with towering snow-capped mountains in the distance, seemingly connecting to the heavens.

The driver was a dark-skinned Tibetan man who kept glancing at the strange passenger through the rearview mirror while driving.

This young man is so strange.

Dressed in thin clothes and without an oxygen tank, he didn't even pant when he reached an altitude of over 4,000 meters, and his face was unusually rosy.

Most importantly, he has a certain aura about him.

It makes people afraid to approach, just like the snow wolf king of this plateau.

"Young man, the outer edge of Death Valley is just ahead."

The driver couldn't help but advise, "Take my advice, just take some pictures outside. It's really creepy in there. A few foreign adventurers went in last month and they still haven't come out. They haven't even found their bodies."

Jiang Han slowly opened her eyes.

Those eyes were frighteningly deep.

"I'm not looking for corpses," he said calmly. "I'm looking for the things that made the corpses."

driver:"……"

Well, another crazy person who doesn't care about their life.

Jiang Han ignored the driver and activated the system with a thought.

[Sky Eye - God-level Tracking Ball, activated.]

A black metal sphere, no bigger than a billiard ball, silently appeared in mid-air, its stealth mode activated, and the camera precisely locked onto him.

Live stream started.

The title remains that outrageously arrogant statement: "If I can't get in, I die; if I get in, God dies."

Because of the public outcry over the past few days, coupled with that "death omen," the live stream's popularity skyrocketed as soon as it started.

Five thousand people...ten thousand people...fifty thousand people!

The screen was filled with a dense barrage of negative comments.

"Hey! It's come back to life? I thought the streamer was already dead and being cremated!"

"Where is this background? Is it a green screen keying? It looks pretty convincing."

"This is Kunlun Mountain? Hilarious! They just pick some random, desolate place and call it a restricted area?"

"Why is the anchor's face so red? Did she get an adrenaline rush before her last burst of energy?"

"Would you risk your life for fame? I suggest you just jump off a cliff; that would be even more entertaining!"

Jiang Han glanced at the comments and a mocking sneer curled at the corner of his mouth.

He faced the camera and said only one sentence:

"Open your dog eyes and see clearly."

"This is the last pure land on earth. It is also the only chance you will have in your lifetime to see the truth."

After saying that, he ignored the screen full of "show-offs," adjusted his posture, and continued to close his eyes to rest.

Just then, the SUV suddenly jolted and came to a stop.

"Get in! Sharing a ride!" the driver shouted.

The car door opened, and a cold, pungent scent of perfume mixed with the smell of gunpowder wafted in.

Jiang Han tilted her head slightly.

A woman got on the bus.

And it's an absolute gem.

Her long, golden hair was tied in a high ponytail, and her facial features were three-dimensional and deep, typical of the Russian people.

She wore a tight-fitting tactical vest, camouflage cargo pants that hugged her long, powerful legs, and military boots.

Most notably, she had a tactical knife strapped to the outside of her thigh and a professional climbing axe hanging from her backpack.

This woman is a trained fighter.

As soon as Natasha got into the car, her eyes were fixed on Jiang Han in the back seat.

There's no way around it, this man's charisma is just too outstanding.

On this oxygen-deprived plateau, everyone looked disheveled, but he alone remained as quiet as a piece of ancient ice.

Especially the long, thin object he was holding in his arms.

That's... a knife?

A hint of curiosity flashed in Natasha's blue eyes.

She tentatively asked in broken Chinese, "Hello? Going on an adventure?"

Jiang Han didn't even lift his eyelids, as if he hadn't heard.

The live stream chat immediately erupted in chaos.

"Holy crap! A stunning foreign woman! Absolutely gorgeous!"

"That figure is amazing! The streamer is so lucky!"

"Haha, why are you acting all high and mighty when a beautiful woman is talking to you? Are you not understanding?"

"Streamer: I'd die if I didn't show off."

Natasha wasn't angry that he ignored her; instead, her interest grew even stronger.

She observed Jiang Han's hands.

The hand resting on the black cloth had long, slender fingers, but thick calluses on the base of the thumb.

Those are marks left from years of wielding weapons.

Moreover, his breathing rate...

too slow.

It's abnormally slow.

He only took a few breaths a minute, long and deep.

"A master."

Natasha made her decision in her mind.

She had heard that in this mysterious land of China, there were some reclusive forest rangers or ancient guides, all with eccentric personalities.

This man is definitely not an ordinary tourist.

The car continued its bumpy journey, and the atmosphere became somewhat eerie.

Just then.

"squeak--!!!"

The driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching as they rubbed against the gravel road, and the car swerved violently, almost flipping into the ditch beside it.

"Fuck!" Natasha cursed under her breath, leaning forward to regain her balance, her hand instinctively reaching for the dagger on her thigh.

"What's going on?!" she asked sharply.

The driver was deathly pale. Pointing to the road ahead, he stammered, barely able to speak, "The road...the road is gone..."

The once clear dirt road ahead had been swallowed up by a thick, impenetrable white fog.

The fog was extremely strange; it didn't come down from the sky, but rather rose up from the ground.

Moreover, all electronic devices malfunctioned at that moment.

The car navigation screen turned into static, and the instrument panel spun erratically.

"It's a ghost wall...it's a ghost wall!" the driver shouted in terror. "I told you we couldn't come! The mountain god won't let us in!"

Natasha frowned as she looked at the white mist, her expression grave: "It's an abnormal magnetic field. The magnetic field strength here is at least ten times above the standard."

Just as everyone on the bus was in a state of panic.

Jiang Han, who had been keeping his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

A faint golden light flickered deep within his pupils.

Through the white mist that mortals could not see through, he could clearly see that deep within the mist, a huge, twisted black shadow was slowly rising upright.

It looked like a giant snake, or something even more terrifying.

It is waiting for its prey.

Jiang Han tapped the blade lightly with his fingers, a smile that sent chills down Natasha's spine.

"It's not a ghost wall."

He spoke softly, his voice unusually clear in the deathly silent carriage.

"Something is hungry and has come out to 'greet guests'."

Meanwhile, the live stream continued uninterrupted.

The system's Sky Eye Sphere ignores magnetic field interference.

Tens of thousands of spectators watched in disbelief as two scarlet "lanterns" flashed through the white fog outside the car window the instant Jiang Han finished speaking.

That's not a lantern at all.

Those were eyes!

Huge eyes!