To pay off their online loans, Han Qian, Liu Yun, and Sun Hao venture into the Three Realms Pass, a forbidden land in western Yunnan. They hope to find antiques to sell, but instead stumble upon a giant red-crowned serpent and a strange stone statue. By sheer accident, they uncover a hidden compartment beneath the statue and get drawn into a secret spanning a thousand years: a fictional royal tomb from the Northern and Southern Dynasties lies hidden inside a mountain, the giant serpent is its guardian beast, and the villagers of Heiyan Stockade live alongside snakes, offering human sacrifices to the “Snake Mother.”
From the sacrificial bronze cauldron in the underground palace to the miasma-filled maze in the primeval forest, the three must evade the reanimated tomb owner, man-eating fish, and the pursuing foot-snatcher beast, while also exposing the snake stockade’s schemes. A jade pendant, a bronze cauldron, and a tattered map connect the clues. Every step brings them to the edge of life and death, and deeper within the Three Realms Pass, an even more terrifying truth seems to be waiting in the fog.
