Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan leading an archaeological team organized by Shirley Yang into the depths of the desert to search for the ancient city of Jingjue. Hu Bayi, after being sent to the countryside for re-education, arrives at Ganggang Camp on the China-Mongolia border. He brings along the only book left in his home—The Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique—and, having nothing better to do, memorizes its contents thoroughly. Later, he enlists in the army and is sent to Tibet, where he survives an avalanche and falls into a giant ravine, escaping death using the techniques he learned from the book. After being discharged, Hu Bayi and his friend Wang Kaixuan join an archaeological team heading to Xinjiang. The group endures countless dangers as they finally arrive at the ruins of the ancient city of Jingjue in the Taklamakan Desert. They enter an underground "ghost cave" filled with deadly traps and mechanisms, seemingly controlled by a mysterious prophet.