Chapter 12: Mars

"Don't talk nonsense. The bronze coffin overturned, and its lid hadn't settled. It must have shifted just now," Lin Jia said calmly, helping to stabilize everyone's emotions.

Nine massive dragon corpses, each a hundred meters long, lay nearby. Their scales were menacing, gleaming with dark light. The bronze coffin, twenty meters long, rested on the five-colored altar, causing a strong sense of unease among them.

"I think we should all go explore that light ahead," someone suggested."I agree, we should move together."Many people made similar suggestions, clearly out of fear; almost no one wanted to stay there any longer. Eventually, everyone unanimously agreed to move forward together to explore the light source.

The ground here was entirely composed of reddish-brown soil and gravel, vast and desolate, with only scattered large rocks.

As they passed the large rock from which they had previously surveyed the area, Liu Yunzhi exclaimed in surprise, "There are markings on that boulder!"

Circling to the side of the boulder facing the light source, they clearly saw two enormous ancient characters carved into its surface. Each character was five or six meters high, inscribed with powerful, sweeping strokes, grand and imposing, as if formed by two coiling dragons.

The script was far more complex than modern characters, likely carved in ancient times long ago, its age unknown. Everyone gathered before the stone wall, gazing at the two forceful ancient characters. Many furrowed their brows, struggling to decipher their meaning.

"This appears to be a form of bronze inscription script. The first character should be 'Ying' (荧)," Zhou Yi identified the first character, his brows furrowed as he murmured to himself, "What kind of place have we actually come to...?"

"They are indeed bronze inscription characters, and they read 'Ying Huo' (荧惑)," Ye Fan said casually after recognizing them. Though he appeared calm, the meaning represented by these two characters profoundly shook him.

Ying Huo? How could it be Ying Huo? He could barely believe any of this, and instinctively looked up at the sky. Though it was dim, only a few stars had appeared so far.

"Ying Huo, what does that mean?""Is Ying Huo a place?"Many were puzzled, not understanding the meaning of the two characters.

Upon hearing "Ying Huo," Zhou Yi, like Ye Fan, felt a profound shock. His face paled as he said, "Flickering like fire, confusing and unsettling. We truly... have no way back."

"What do you mean? Where is this?" Everyone was filled with doubt and alarm.

When Wang Ziwen heard "Ying Huo," he also understood its meaning and explained to the group: "This place is likely no longer Earth. 'Ying Ying' means flickering like fire. In ancient times, 'Ying Huo' was considered an ominous sign, and Mars was referred to as 'Ying Huo'."

Countless ages ago, ancient people had already noticed that Mars appeared red, its brightness frequently changed, flickering like fire. Moreover, its movement across the sky was complex and perplexing, sometimes moving from west to east, other times from east to west, hence the phrase "flickering fire, confusing and unsettling." In antiquity, it was called Ying Huo.

Ancient emperors were superstitious and feared this "disaster star," believing it portended ill omens. Whenever it appeared, either a prime minister would be dismissed or an emperor would die. Later generations, of course, did not believe such superstitious legends.

"Oh my god!" Kade, next to Li Xiaoman, was utterly astounded. After grasping the Chinese meaning of "Ying Huo," he frantically grabbed at the reddish-brown soil, knocked on rocks, and continuously examined the geology, exclaiming in shock.

"How is this possible?" Many were dumbfounded, utterly unable to believe the reality before them.

"This reddish-brown ground beneath our feet is... Mars? We're no longer on Earth?!" Anyone hearing this conclusion would be stunned, as it defied all logic.

Half an hour ago, they were on Mount Tai's summit; half an hour later, they stood on the ancient star Ying Huo. This was utterly fantastical!

Lin Jia, with her slender and graceful figure, now had a slightly pale face. Her phoenix eyes swept over the group as she said, "Right now, we've only seen this carving. We can't definitively confirm if we're truly on the star Ying Huo."

"But it's said that the dry surface of Mars is covered in red soil and gravel. Isn't that exactly what we're seeing?" a female student asked, her voice tinged with a sob.

Humans had already launched space probes to explore Mars as early as the 1960s, and in 1997, the "Mars Pathfinder" successfully landed on its surface.

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

"Martian soil contains a large amount of iron oxide. 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've truly left Earth and are now standing on another planet?!" A male student clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned blue.

"If we truly are on Mars, I don't think we could survive. There's not enough oxygen, no suitable temperature..." Li Xiaoman said. Although her face was very pale, her words still offered a glimmer of hope to many.

Throughout this, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and a few others remained remarkably calm. They were certain they were no longer on Earth. Could anything be worse than this? Whatever happened next, it wouldn't be much different.

The group lingered before the boulder for a long time before finally moving on, continuing towards the faint light source in the distance. It didn't seem very far, but even after walking more than five hundred meters, they still hadn't reached their destination. It appeared they would have to cover a similar distance again.

The group was burdened with worries, and few spoke, making the atmosphere heavy and somber. They feared that their last shred of hope ahead might also be extinguished.

"Thud."Pang Bo forcefully kicked a piece of gravel, sending up a cloud of dust. At that moment, a look of surprise crossed his face; he noticed that the kicked stone seemed to be a piece of tile.

"It really is a tile!" When he picked up the half-broken piece, he immediately confirmed it was a rough, man-made tile.

Immediately, a crowd gathered around, inspecting the broken tile. Many showed signs of excitement.

"If there are tiles, there must be buildings. People must live on this land; it's not just a simple five-colored altar.""We're saved!""We'll definitely get out of this!"The mood shifted from pessimism to increased joy; the group saw hope for survival.

By now, night had fallen, and the sky was dotted with stars.

Ye Fan gazed at the starry sky and spotted a faint, circular disk hanging near the horizon, about half the size of the moon seen from Earth, which strongly suggested they were not on Earth. In another direction, there was a bright, fist-sized star, much brighter than typical stars but dimmer than the smaller moon. It was too bright to be called a star, yet too small and dim to be called a moon.

Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and Liu Yunzhi stood nearby. Noticing Ye Fan's actions, they too couldn't help but look up at the sky. When they saw two small, delicate moons hanging in the sky, their expressions immediately changed.