Chapter Four: The Golden Hall

Shen Lie felt his body yanked fiercely by a mysterious force, and the scene before his eyes changed in an instant. As soon as the dizziness subsided, he quickly surveyed his surroundings, only to realize he was no longer at the cramped bottom of the cave. Instead, he had appeared in a vast, expansive space.

“Could this be a teleportation array?” Shen Lie glanced at the patterns beneath his feet, and a term from a fantasy novel surfaced in his mind.

Yet that was not what concerned him most at the moment, so he set the thought aside. Whether it was a teleportation array or a magic circle, as long as he escaped that damned cave bottom, it was enough. His immediate priority was to figure out where he was—underground or above, in an alternate dimension or still on Earth. Everything else could wait.

Before him stretched a colossal golden hall, so immense its far end was invisible. Yet the hall had collapsed into a heap of ruins. It was hard to imagine what kind of force could have brought such a majestic structure to this state. Even a giant excavator would be incapable, for the building was simply too tall, too vast, and too thick.

“Could it have been an explosion?”

Shen Lie considered the possibility, but dismissed it. The architectural style was unmistakably ancient. If this were Earth, such a structure would be a heritage site of the highest order, fiercely protected rather than demolished. Furthermore, judging by its age, the destruction must have happened long ago. The entire ruin exuded a sense of desolation.

Suddenly, Shen Lie remembered something and looked up. The sky overhead was pitch black, with neither one sun nor two, nor moon or stars.

“But why is this space so bright?” Shen Lie was puzzled. He sensed he was still in that alternate dimension, but if such a building existed here, did that mean humans lived in the world of the spider monsters? What kind of world was this, and how was it connected to Earth?

With a complicated feeling in his heart, Shen Lie slowly approached the ruined structure. He gently touched a broken pillar, and his expression changed dramatically.

The pillar was made of gold!

In disbelief, Shen Lie touched it again, examined it closely for a while, and, unwilling to accept it, even bit the broken end. He had worked in a gold shop during school holidays, and he could confirm without doubt—the pillar was made of solid gold. Such a gigantic column, forged from gold, was utterly shocking!

Just how heavy was it? Surely measured in tons. If he could take this half-broken pillar back, he would instantly become wealthy beyond imagination. Even a small chunk would suffice for years of comfortable living.

But Shen Lie sighed helplessly. He had no idea if he would ever return to Earth; what use was a mountain of gold to him now? Better to focus on finding an exit.

Carefully, Shen Lie moved forward, alertly scanning the surroundings. If this was another world, there could be monsters like the spider creature. Even one would leave him no chance of escape, so he had to be cautious.

Soon, Shen Lie discovered something even more astonishing—the entire hall was crafted from gold. A golden palace, inconceivable in its extravagance. He had no words for it, and his curiosity about the hall’s owner grew intensely.

He observed for a long time but found no trace of life, living or dead—no spider monsters, no sign of former inhabitants, not even a bone or a blade of grass. There was nothing but gold, cold and lifeless.

A growl of hunger rose from his stomach. Shen Lie wordlessly rubbed it. Though he had escaped the jaws of the spider monsters and left the cramped cave, he still faced the problem of food and water. The vast space offered nothing to eat, and without an exit, death was inevitable.

So many disasters in succession had numbed him. Shen Lie glanced around, chose a direction at random, and set off, instinctively heading for the best-preserved part of the building complex.

He walked for over half an hour, traversing nothing but golden ruins. Despite his dire situation, he could not suppress his shock—he even began to doubt his own judgment. How could such an enormous cluster of buildings be made entirely of gold? Even the national gold reserves of China would be insufficient.

But now was not the time to ponder that. Finding an exit was paramount. Shen Lie halted before a relatively intact building. From his observations, this seemed to be the center of the complex, vast and imposing—likely its core.

There was another reason for his suspicion: this was the only complete structure, its doors tightly shut, and above hung a plaque with bizarre characters, unlike any script he knew.

Driven by boundless curiosity and the hope of survival, Shen Lie slowly approached the door and stretched out his hand.

Contrary to his expectations, the door, which should have been heavy, opened easily with a gentle push, revealing a crack. A gust of wind, carrying the scent of decay, rushed out.

Shen Lie was not frightened but delighted. If there was wind, there must be air circulation—a possible route to the outside. With this thought, his mood grew anxious, and he hurried inside.

The moment he stepped into the hall, Shen Lie let out a terrified scream, his scalp tingling. The scene before him made him tremble all over, his face pale, nerves flooded with horror.

Heads. The entire floor was covered with heads!

No limbs, only heads—similar to humans but subtly different. Each head’s eyes stared wide open, filled with unwillingness, as if freshly severed. They seemed deliberately arranged in a pattern, all gazes fixed on the hall’s entrance. As soon as Shen Lie entered, hundreds of eyes landed on him. It was a miracle he did not faint.

Swallowing hard, Shen Lie backed away, barely holding himself upright, instinctively wanting to flee.

Then he noticed something—the hall had not a trace of blood. Though the heads looked freshly severed, the golden floor was spotless. Evidently, these heads, despite their appearance, had existed here for centuries, perhaps millennia.

Realizing this, Shen Lie forced himself to stop. He suppressed his terror and scanned the hall, searching for the source of the airflow—his best hope for escape.

He avoided looking at the heads, focusing on the surroundings. Suddenly, his eyes brightened: on one side inside the hall, there was a passage leading downward. The airflow came from there. Most astonishingly, the passage was white—not gold like everything else!

This change filled Shen Lie with hope. The terror of the heads faded. Change meant a turning point; if there was any chance of escape, it lay here. Outside was nothing but cold golden architecture, with no way out. Even if the passage led to hell, he had no choice.

Calming his panic, Shen Lie took a deep breath and silently repeated, “No heads, no heads,” before stepping toward the passage.

But just then, all the heads suddenly blinked in unison.

A chill surged from the base of Shen Lie’s spine. He shrieked and bolted, racing out of the hall like an arrow!

He fled far beyond the entrance, stopping only when exhaustion forced him to his knees. “This place is cursed—damned cursed! What kind of hell is this?” Seeing the heads had not pursued him, Shen Lie’s nerves settled a little, and he muttered softly.

After a brief rest, Shen Lie stood up. The appearance of those strange heads shattered his assumption that the place was safe. He’d thought food and water were his greatest enemies, but now it was uncertain whether he’d survive long enough to face hunger.

Although the stone steps in that hall were the only non-metal structure he’d found, Shen Lie dared not return and could only continue exploring elsewhere.

The space was not small, though by ordinary standards it was only three or four kilometers across. Shen Lie walked until his body was drained and his throat burned, finally surveying it all.

He found no exit.

Around the space lay an invisible barrier; approaching it, he felt a strange resistance, unable to move further. At the center was the golden hall complex, obviously the reason the space existed.

Shen Lie sat atop a golden block, staring helplessly at the ruins. Aside from the hall filled with heads, not a single intact building remained. All was destroyed, and nowhere else did he find even a fingernail-sized piece of non-metal.

“Must I go there?” Shen Lie swallowed. He knew he had no choice. Hunger and thirst had pushed him to the brink. Food was secondary; without water, he would soon lose consciousness—and waking again would be impossible.

Entering might offer a sliver of hope; not entering meant certain death. There was no real choice. Shen Lie took a deep breath, repeated his silent mantra—“no heads, no heads”—and, gritting his teeth, began to move toward the hall.

Suddenly, the space around him trembled, and a low rumbling echoed through the air. He thought it was a hallucination brought on by hunger and thirst, but when he turned, his face reflected utter shock and terror.