Chapter 012: The Planet of Trouble

"Do not speak idly, the bronze coffin has overturned, and the lid has not yet stabilized; it must have shifted just now," Lin Jia said calmly, steadying the emotions of those present.

Nine enormous dragon carcasses, each a hundred meters long with scales that were stark and gleaming, lay sprawled not far away. The bronze coffin, twenty meters in length, loomed over the multicolored altar, casting a sense of intense unease.

"I think we should all collectively explore the light ahead," someone suggested.

"I agree, we should all act together," another chimed in.

Many shared this sentiment, clearly fearful and with little desire to remain in their current location. Eventually, everyone unanimously agreed to move forward and investigate the light source.

The landscape was made up of reddish-brown soil and gravel, stretching out vast and desolate, with only an occasional boulder to break the monotony.

As they passed the boulder from which they had previously gazed into the distance, Liu Yunzhi exclaimed in surprise, "There are characters on this boulder."

Circumventing the boulder to the side facing the light source, two enormous ancient characters were clearly etched into the stone, each about five to six meters tall. The strokes were bold and vigorous, like two dragons coiled and ready to spring into action.

The characters were much more complex than modern script and likely dated back to ancient times, their age unknown. The group gathered before the stone wall, gazing at the two imposing ancient characters, many furrowing their brows in confusion, unable to decipher their meaning.

"It seems to be a form of bronze inscription; the first character is probably 'ying'," Zhou Yi identified the first character, furrowing his brow as he muttered to himself, "What kind of place have we arrived at..."

"Indeed, it is a bronze inscription; these two characters read 'yinghuo'," Ye Fan recognized the characters and spoke them aloud casually, his exterior calm, but the significance of the words causing a great stir within him.

Yinghuo—how could it be yinghuo? He could hardly believe it and looked up at the sky, but although it was dim, only a few stars had appeared.

"What does 'yinghuo' mean?"

"Is 'yinghuo' a place?"

Many were puzzled, not understanding the meaning of these two characters.

Upon hearing "yinghuo," Zhou Yi also experienced a shock similar to Ye Fan's, his face turning pale as he said, "The flickering fire, the chaotic confusion. We really... have no way back."

"What do you mean, where are we?" The crowd was filled with alarm and uncertainty.

Wang Ziwen, upon hearing the word "yinghuo," also understood its meaning and explained to the group, "We are probably no longer on Earth. 'Yingying' like fire, in ancient times referred to as 'yinghuo,' a sign of ill omen. In ancient times, Mars was called 'yinghuo.'"

In the endless eons past, ancient people had already noted that Mars appeared red and its brightness often changed, flickering like fire. Its movement across the sky was complex, sometimes from west to east, sometimes from east to west, causing confusion. "The flickering fire, the chaotic confusion," thus it was called 'yinghuo' in ancient times.

Ancient emperors were superstitious, fearing this ominous star, believing it foretold disaster. Whenever it appeared, it was believed that either a chancellor would be dismissed or the emperor would die. Such superstitious tales would not be believed by later generations.

"Oh My God!" Li Xiaoman's companion, Kade, after understanding the meaning of "yinghuo" in Chinese, was in a state of disbelief, grabbing at the reddish-brown soil and knocking on rocks, observing the geology and exclaiming in amazement.

"How is this possible?" Many were left speechless, unable to accept the reality before them.

"The reddish-brown ground beneath our feet is... Mars, we are no longer on Earth?!" Anyone hearing this would be stunned, as it made no sense at all.

Half an hour ago, they were on the summit of Mount Tai, and half an hour later, they stood on the ancient planet of yinghuo—this was simply a tale from the Arabian Nights!

Lin Jia, with her slender and graceful figure, her beautiful face somewhat pale at the moment, glanced at the others and said, "Now, we have only seen this stone carving; we cannot truly confirm whether we are indeed on the planet yinghuo."

"But it is said that the dry surface of Mars is covered with red soil and gravel, and isn't that exactly what we see before us?" A female classmate asked, her voice choked with tears.

Humanity had sent space probes to explore Mars as early as the 1960s, and in 1997, the "Mars Pathfinder" successfully landed on the Martian surface.

Through decades of exploration, humanity was no longer ignorant about Mars, having obtained a wealth of valuable information.

"The Martian soil contains a large amount of iron oxide, and due to long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the entire planet resembles a rusted world, exactly like what we see before us. Could it be... that we have truly left Earth and are now standing on another planet?!" A male classmate clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned blue.

"If we are indeed standing on Mars, I think we would not survive; there is not enough oxygen, and the temperature is not suitable..." Li Xiaoman said, her face pale but her words still bringing a glimmer of hope to many.

Throughout this process, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and a few others remained calm, confident that they were no longer on Earth. Could there be anything worse than this? Whatever happened next would be just as bearable.

The group lingered for a long time in front of the boulder before eventually leaving, continuing towards the faint light in the distance. It seemed not far away, but after walking more than five hundred meters, they had not yet reached their destination, and it appeared they would have to walk the same distance again.

Heavy-hearted, few spoke, and the atmosphere was gloomy, for fear that the last glimmer of hope ahead would vanish.

"Bang!"

Pang Bo kicked a piece of debris with force, sending up a cloud of dust. At that moment, he looked surprised; the debris he had kicked seemed to be a tile.

"A tile indeed!" Upon picking up the broken piece of tile, he immediately confirmed it was a coarse, man-made tile.

Instantly, the group gathered around, examining the shattered tile, many showing signs of excitement.

"Since there are tiles, there must be buildings. There are people living on this land, and it's not as simple as just a five-colored altar."

"We are saved!"

"We will definitely escape this predicament!"

The pessimistic mood lessened, and the joy increased as the group saw hope for survival.

At that moment, the sky had darkened, and the stars were twinkling in the heavens.

Ye Fan looked up at the starry sky and noticed a blurry disc hanging on the horizon, about half the size of the moon as seen from Earth, which was enough to confirm that this place was not Earth. In another direction, there was a bright star the size of a fist, much brighter than ordinary stars but dimmer than the smaller moon, too bright to be called a star, too small and dim to be called a moon.

Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and Liu Yunzhi were standing not far away; they noticed Ye Fan's actions and couldn't help but look up at the sky as well. When they saw the two small moons hanging on the horizon, their faces changed dramatically.