★The Talented Master of Suspense and Adventure, Lai Er, presents his representative work, taking you into the eerie and mysterious world of gold prospecting.
★Blood brings prosperity—only the fittest survive. No bloodshed, no gold rush! No deaths, no fortune! I am a gold hunter, the kind who stakes his life on it.
★A mind-bending mix of time dislocation, parallel universes, peculiar geological phenomena, and a legendary gold mine... This book blends adventure, suspense, horror, and sci-fi into one gripping tale, delivering relentless tension, layered mysteries, and shocking twists at every turn.
★The highly anticipated drama adaptation is coming soon, meticulously produced by iQIYI's "Mist Theater", starring Liao Fan and Chen Feiyu.

In the 1980s, the Chinese government lifted the ban on private gold mining, and within a few years, hundreds of thousands of prospectors, driven by dreams of striking it rich, flooded into the Altai Mountains of northern Xinjiang. This region had long been famed for its gold, earning the nickname "Golden Mountains." Deep within these mysterious peaks, tales of overnight fortunes were never in short supply. Yet, as veteran prospectors warned: "No bloodshed, no gold rush; no deaths, no fortune." Gold and blood had always been inseparable.

In 1986, after being expelled from university, the protagonist follows his older brother to the Altai Mountains in search of gold. Upon arrival, they hastily team up with a few other prospectors and venture deep into the mountains. But from the very beginning, strange occurrences plague their journey—a sheep with human-like eyes, eerie stone figures—casting an ominous shadow over their expedition.

Their first mining site, the Karaergu Valley, is devastated by a sudden flash flood, forcing them deeper into the treacherous heart of the Altai. At the Sisters’ Lakes, an abandoned goldfield, they encounter even more inexplicable phenomena: headless stone figures, an iron hut and electrical towers of unknown origin, a mysterious bleeding sickness, hallucinations, distorted time and space, and companions mysteriously burned to death in the night… The prospectors are dragged into a bottomless abyss of enigmas. After a series of life-and-death trials, the truth begins to unravel—only to reveal an unfathomable structure of time and space, plunging everyone into an even deeper, more inescapable abyss of confusion…

Lai Er

My real name is Chen Dong, a writer and screenwriter. Due to his long-term research in history, geography, and humanities, his works have rich cultural heritage, as well as unique regional characteristics and sci-fi colors. The plot of his novel is full of ups and downs, thrilling and exciting, using meticulous logical thinking, imaginative imagination, and concise and vivid language to construct a magnificent and legendary world. His main works include the novel "Gold Rush" and the short story "Nightmare".

Prologue 1: What Happened in the World in 1986

Prologue 2: We Prepared to Go Gold Mining in Xinjiang

I. The Karaergu River Valley
The sheep’s eye was distinctly black and white—even the small red flesh at the corner was clearly visible. That was impossible for a sheep. It wasn’t the eye of an animal. That kind of eye belonged only to a human. In other words, the sheep had a human eye!

II. The Sisters’ Lakes Goldfield
I used the tip of my knife to poke through the entrails and found severe adhesions in the abdominal cavity. As I examined each organ, I noticed that the gizzard behind the duck’s stomach seemed unusually heavy. Puzzled, I cut it open—and a shower of tiny golden grains spilled out. It was gold sand.

III. Ghost Fire on the Iron Tower
Suddenly, a bright blue-white flame burst from the barrel of my hunting rifle. I don’t know how to describe the scene except to say that the fire looked sinister, coiling around the gun like a specter. It flickered and danced, now long, now short, like a glowing wisp of pale blue smoke, stark against the darkness.

IV. The Thunder God’s Script
The old man stumbled back two steps, pointing at the garish patterns on Alyosha’s body. Trembling, he said this was the Thunder God’s Script—that this Russian must have committed too many sins, and Heaven had sent lightning to claim him. When a man is struck by lightning, his corpse bears celestial writing, detailing his crimes in divine script, unreadable to mortal eyes.

V. The Phantom Army
Legend says that when too many soldiers die in battle, flooding the underworld faster than Yama can process them, their ghosts wander the battlefield in hordes. When the wind howls and thunder rolls, nearby villagers hear the clang of weapons and the roar of battle—sometimes even glimpsing the specters themselves. This phenomenon occurs nationwide, especially in ancient battlefields across Jiangsu, Henan, Xinjiang, and Yunnan.

VI. The Passenger in the Wrong Carriage
"Our world is like a speeding train. Every carriage looks nearly identical, yet each is subtly different. What the Soviets tried to do was alter the train’s schedule. But as for me… I’m just an unlucky passenger who boarded the wrong carriage. I’m sitting in someone else’s seat, and the luggage beneath me doesn’t belong to me at all."

In early spring in the western region, the cold wind is still piercing, and the tractor drives forward along the gravel road on the Gobi Desert, with wind blowing all the way, like a small knife on the face. A few of us, wearing cotton jackets and pants, squeezed onto the swaying carriage, hunching our necks and copying our sleeves, constantly running our noses. Wu Jianchao loves to drink alcohol, so he took out the wine skin bag he carried with him and gave us a few sips to drive away the cold.
A young man from Henan was so excited that he said he would buy a tractor like this when he made money from gold mining. The mechanization level of agriculture in the western region has always been high, while in the rural areas of the inland at that time, there were only one or two tractors in communes with tens of thousands of people, and land was allocated to households. Even wealthy families could only buy a small donkey at most, no wonder he was envious.
The Gobi Desert may seem empty, but the transportation routes are actually quite fixed. The gravel road we took was a pasture stepped on by cattle and sheep, so we encountered many Kazakh herders with their families rushing their herds to move along the way. I studied animal husbandry and veterinary medicine in college. Although I didn't graduate, I still find it interesting to see this nomadic lifestyle that has lasted for thousands of years.
The tractor's speed is not fast, and it only completes half of the journey when it gets dark. It has to continue driving at night and can only reach the valley where gold is being mined the next morning. In fact, the western region is quite dangerous, and locals are quite averse to driving at night. However, the tractor driver has no choice. If he doesn't leave in the afternoon and waits until morning to take us to our destination during the day, he will have to drive back alone at night. It's safer to walk at night with seven or eight people, at least with more people to take care of him.
The driver was afraid that we might fall asleep and fall off the car at night, so he said he brought a radio for us to listen to. But when he took out the radio, we were all scared, thinking that what Westerners use is fierce. This is not a radio, it's just a military receiver, just connected to the battery and an external speaker. With a flick of the knob, the power was turned on with a "pop" sound. The channel was originally found, but with a slight adjustment, the music of "Three Sets of Cars" came out from inside.
Mercedes Benz is driving on the desolate Gobi Desert, drinking the cold wind, eating dry food, and enjoying the long and profound Soviet folk songs, which have a unique flavor. One song after another, just as I was listening intently, suddenly there was no sound. After a moment of silence, amidst the sudden engine noise, a low female voice slowly said, "This is Moscow Radio, this is Moscow Radio."
Upon hearing these words, I quickly spat out the dry food from my mouth, coughing and cursing, "Damn it, Moscow, Soviet radio?"
To the north of Taishan is the Soviet Union, and the power of the military receiver is strong, so it is not surprising to receive Soviet radio stations. Since the deterioration of Sino Soviet relations, Soviet radio stations have been considered enemy stations, especially Chinese language radio stations targeting China.
Just as the tractor was lost in thought, it took a big turn and entered a small hill. Suddenly, it tilted its head and came to a sudden stop with a sudden brake. I was absent-minded and almost got thrown off the car by a huge inertia. Everyone else was the same, cursing and asking what was going on. But when everyone looked up, they were stunned by the scene in front of them——
Sheep, all sheep. On the small path not far ahead, a crowded area is filled with sheep. Under the dim yellow headlights of the tractor, there were layers of sheep heads and backs, almost impossible to see at a glance.
I haven't heard of anyone blocking the road by driving sheep in the middle of the night. The tractor driver turned off the fire, jumped out of the car in a fit of anger, lit his flashlight, and pushed away the sheep to the front to find someone to argue with. As soon as the engine stopped, the sound of sheep barking came over, mixed with a few dog barks, because there were too many sheep, and the intermittent "baa baa" sound became a whole.
Following closely behind was a strong smell of lamb, and everyone almost simultaneously covered their noses, frowning and looking at each other, momentarily lost in thought. Wu Jianchao took a sip of his drink and muttered, "This is not right."
Actually, not only him, but everyone would feel that something is wrong. I have learned this before, so I know that sheep have poor eyesight at night and are easily lost, so no one will graze them at night. At that time, it was already 10 o'clock at night (with a two-hour time difference between the western region and the mainland), and the migrating herdsmen should have found a place to build temporary felt tents to rest. There could never have been so many sheep on the pasture. Moreover, these sheep are all crowded together and not leaving, which is even more strange.
In no time, the driver came back with a strong smell and was covered in wool. Tell us that there are several thousand sheep from three or four herders blocking ahead. I don't know why, but since before the sun sets, no matter whose sheep come here, they stand still like soldiers being shouted "stand still", with their heads facing east and their backs facing away from the sun, shouting and screaming, no matter how hard they try, they won't leave. Horses and camels are the same, dogs don't listen either, they're all in chaos.
What should we do if we ask? The driver said he didn't know what to do, and the herdsmen had never encountered such a situation before. They were all foolish, but fortunately, all the sheep were standing there, not a single one running around, so there was no need to worry about losing them.
The sheep not only blocked the road tightly, but also filled the slopes on both sides, making it impossible for the tractor to drive through and forcing it to wait. I followed the headlights and noticed that each sheep was indeed facing east, with white breath and bleating in their mouths, and I didn't know what kind of nerves they were emitting.
Before coming to the west, I had heard people say that this place was haunted. At first, I didn't believe it, but I didn't expect to encounter this strange thing myself. A few people were still discussing in the car, but the tractor driver seemed to be acting out and took out a stack of yellow paper from somewhere, squatting by the side of the car and burning it.
Later on, I found out that many local drivers had incense, candles, paper money, and other items in their cars. As they put it, even though the Gobi Desert was flat with nothing, there were actually many things, but we couldn't see them. Sometimes the car gets stuck somewhere for no reason, no matter how hard it is repaired, but once the paper burns, the car will leave.
However, in my opinion at that time, this was undoubtedly a practice of feudal superstition, because even though the pile of paper had been burned, the situation had not changed. We all sat on the tractor for half a day, feeling stiff and cold all over. Since we couldn't move forward for a while, we jumped off the car and moved our hands and feet. Others smoke and chat, but this time in the West, everything is fresh, so I took the driver's flashlight and walked a few steps away to see the surroundings.
I didn't expect to just take a casual look and actually see something unusual.
On the nearby hillside, there stands a very unnatural small hill. I was just aimlessly shining around with my flashlight, but when the beam of light swept over that area, I couldn't help but stop.
That mountain seems to have grown hard from the ground, surrounded by relatively flat slopes, with only it standing alone and appearing abrupt. It is also a pointed triangle, which is not in line with the round headed bald mountains in this area.
I was about to get closer and see what was going on, but Wu Jianchao stopped me from behind, saying that it was not peaceful at night and not to run around. I said the small hill looked quite strange and asked him if he knew what was going on. He followed my flashlight and chuckled, saying that it wasn't some kind of hill, it was a pile of stones that could be seen clearly at dawn.
I asked again if it was the Mongolian Ao Bao, and I have heard of 'Meeting Ao Bao' before. He shook his head and said that although Aobao was also a pile of stones, it was not that big, and there was a banner on top. After finishing speaking, he grabbed the flashlight and pointed to several farther places for me to see. The light is very weak, but it can still be distinguished that they are several standing long rectangular stones, standing crookedly on the hillside.
I said it's just a few stones, what's wrong? But he told me that those were actually stone figures, with carved faces and clothes on them, along with the large stone pile. Similar stone figures and stone piles are not only found in the western region, but he has also seen them in Inner Mongolia before. It is said that there are also many in Outer Mongolia and the Soviet Union. It should be something left by ancient ethnic minorities, but its purpose is unknown.
I wanted to get closer and take a closer look, but Wu Jianchao pulled me back and said that whenever he went to a place like this where there were stone people, he would feel uncomfortable and constantly feel like something was going to happen. He told me not to run around blindly.
I saw that he also had good intentions, so I obediently didn't go. Returning to the tractor, I handed him a cigarette, but he pushed it away and said he only drinks and doesn't smoke. I asked him again if the sheep were all stuck there and not leaving, could it also be related to these stone people? He was a little skeptical, but shook his head and said he wouldn't. In the spring of the western region, sheep drive snow, and herdsmen have to take this road to transition between spring and autumn. He had never heard of such a thing before.
I wanted to say more, but suddenly he gestured at me, meaning to keep quiet. I followed for a moment, then suddenly realized that the atmosphere around me was very different.
Because just now, besides the two of us, there wasn't anyone else talking around.
Many people have had the experience of a group of people who were chatting in a lively manner, but for some reason, suddenly quieted down.
My feeling at that time was similar, everyone seemed to have closed their mouths at the same time, only the radio was still singing the song without interest. After almost half a minute of silence, I heard a friend say softly, "Did you hear that? Sheep, it seems like they're not barking anymore
He just revealed the facts that everyone had discovered. Not only did the chaotic chirping of the sheep stop, but the dogs also fell silent. Plus, the rest of us, as if we had made an appointment, also quieted down. Even the music on the radio is gone, only the sizzling sound of electricity.
That person's words probably scared him too, and he whispered, "What, what's wrong? Why aren't you talking?" But no one answered him except for the sizzling radio. Everyone held their breath and stood still, as if waiting for something to happen, but no one knew what would happen.
Time seemed to slow down, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. I could clearly hear the sound of people around me swallowing saliva due to nervousness. Suddenly, a gust of chilly wind blew through, and the originally calm static sound on the radio turned into the piercing noise of "chirping and pulling" when adjusting the channel. The tune twisted up and down, as if someone was holding a knob and flipping it back and forth.
The sound wasn't too loud, but it made people feel uneasy and their scalp tingle. Sweat involuntarily seeped out of my forehead. Wu Jianchao's face looked very unpleasant. He said he was going to close that thing, but no one around dared to move.
The sound was chaotic for about two minutes and gradually became clear again. But when I really heard it clearly, the hair at the base of my neck immediately stood up. A companion said "Oh my god" and his leg softened, causing him to sit down on the ground.
The surroundings seemed to have become quieter, and all that came out of the loudspeaker was the sound of sheep meowing.
Is it a radio crossover? No radio station would include the sound of sheep in their programs. For a moment, everyone was dumbfounded and looked at each other, trying to find answers from others. However, in the pitch black night, it was impossible to see each other's faces clearly.
Listening to the trembling and distorted sheep's calls on the radio, goosebumps kept popping up all over my body, but suddenly a thought came to my mind that made my spine shiver: maybe, in fact, those sheep were still screaming desperately, but the sound they made could only be played through the radio.
Seeing that no one had moved, I gritted my teeth and climbed onto the car, but just as I reached out to turn off the radio, the sound suddenly stopped. My hand was hanging in mid air, and I didn't know what to do for a moment.
Just then, the direction of the sheep suddenly "booed" again. Wu Jianchao reacted quickly, flashed a flashlight and shouted quickly: "Get on the bus quickly, the sheep are coming!"
The chaotic sound of hooves approached from afar, and several people standing on the ground hurriedly climbed onto the car. In just a moment, the flock of sheep rushed forward, split in half in front of the tractor, and then rushed away like a torrent. The surroundings turned into a sea of sheep, while the cart bucket we stood on was an isolated island.
However, what is truly frightening is that we still haven't heard a single sheep's cry. Those animals that usually like to bark twice when they have nothing to do now all look like mute, only knowing to run forward silently. Some of them, due to their fast speed, even collided with the tractor's bucket, causing a chaotic "bang bang bang bang" sound and making people's hearts beat wildly.
A few people gathered around the elderly Wu Jianchao and asked what was going on? Wu Jianchao scolded, "Why do you ask me? I don't know his mother!"
Watching the sheep silently run away, a strange feeling arose in my heart, thinking that these things may not even be considered animals anymore. They not only lack emotions and thoughts, but also have lost their instincts and nature, only standing and running unconsciously.
When I first thought of this, a sheep was squeezed by other sheep and almost jumped onto the car. I was filled with disgust and kicked it off with one foot. However, when my leg was confiscated, I was suddenly stunned because just now, the sheep turned its head gently and gave me a faint glance.
I don't know how to describe my feelings at that time, I only know that it was the first time in my more than twenty years of life that I realized the sheep's eyes were terrifying.
That's a feeling of familiarity, like in the rush hour crowds of people commuting to and from big cities, or on crowded buses, if you accidentally bump into someone and they turn to look at you with that kind of gaze.