In the twenty-third year of the Republic of China, Chen Qingshan, a student in the Department of Geology, received a relic from his father before his disappearance: a blood-stained map of the northwest mining area.
In order to find out the truth, he was forced to join the "Northwest Geological Exploration Team" organized by the Nationalist Government, but he did not know that everyone in the team had different purposes behind him - the shrewd antique dealer Zhao Tiezhu was ordered by the warlord to find the treasure of the Dragon Vein of the former Qing Dynasty, the silent guide Shen Mo was branded with a mysterious totem that had protected the earth's veins for generations, and the accompanying Japanese geological consultant had a Kwantung Army Special Section certificate hidden in his waist.
What the exploration team discovered under the abandoned coal mine was not a mineral deposit, but a corpse pit of Japanese biological experiments and a bronze key engraved with ancient seal scripts. When team members died mysteriously one after another, Chen Qingshan spelled out the truth from the coded diary left by his father: the so-called "dragon veins" are actually three geological energy veins running through China, and the key is the only tool to unlock the leyline control device left by prehistoric civilization.
All forces broke through the disguise at the Yinshan Altar, and gunshots and ancient mechanisms rang out at the same time. Shaman murals reveal that once the ley lines are controlled by the Japanese army, the geological data of the entire East Asia will become a weapon of aggression. At the critical moment of life and death, Chen Qingshan must make a choice between detonating the device and dying together, or allowing the country's lifeline to be stolen.
The last record he wrote was only half a page: "March 17, rain. We decided to keep the secret buried underground forever. If you find this notebook, remember - there are some things that should not be owned by anyone."
On the last page of the note, someone lightly added a line with a pencil: "They are not dead. I have seen a group photo of the three of them in the archives of the Lanzhou Geological Bureau in 1956."
