Covering the sky

"Don't talk nonsense. The copper coffin tipped over, and the coffin lid hasn't stabilized yet. There must have been some displacement just now," Lin Jia said calmly, stabilizing the emotions of those present.

The nine enormous dragon corpses, each over a hundred meters long, their scales gleaming with an eerie glow, lay not far off. The bronze coffin, twenty meters in length, was crushing the five-colored altar, causing a strong sense of unease.

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

"I agree, we should move as a group," another person said.

Many people agreed with this suggestion, clearly filled with fear. Almost no one wanted to stay any longer. Eventually, everyone unanimously agreed to move forward together to explore the light source.

The land around them was entirely made up of reddish-brown soil and gravel, vast and barren, with giant rocks scattered here and there.

When they passed the large stone they had climbed earlier, Liu Yunji, in surprise, spoke out, "There are inscriptions on that giant stone."

Walking around to the side of the rock facing the light source, they could clearly see two massive ancient characters carved into the stone. Each character was about five or six meters high, with strong and powerful strokes, resembling two enraged dragons coiling together.

Compared to today's intricate characters, these were much simpler, suggesting they were carved in ancient times, though no one knew how many years ago. The group gathered around the stone, staring at the two powerful ancient characters. Many people furrowed their brows, unable to decipher their meaning.

"This seems to be 'Zhong Ding' script. The first character should be 'Ying' (荧)," Zhou Yi recognized the first character and frowned, muttering to himself, "What kind of place have we come to?"

"Indeed, it is Zhong Ding script. These two characters are 'Ying Huo' (荧惑)," Ye Fan casually said after recognizing the characters. Though his tone was calm, the meaning of these words sent shockwaves through his heart.

Ying Huo, how could it be Ying Huo? He could hardly believe it, and he instinctively looked up at the sky. Though it was dark, there were still few stars visible.

"What does Ying Huo mean?"

"Is Ying Huo a place?"

Many people were confused and couldn't understand what the two characters meant.

After hearing the words "Ying Huo," Zhou Yi was shaken just like Ye Fan, his face turning pale. He said, "Ying ying firelight, disorderly confusion. We really… can't go back."

"What do you mean? Where are we?" People looked around in disbelief.

Wang Ziwen, upon hearing the words Ying Huo, also understood their meaning and explained to the group, "This may no longer be Earth. Ying ying firelight, an ancient term for Mars, often called the 'Huo Xing' or 'Fire Star,' was considered an ominous sign. In ancient times, Mars was called Ying Huo."

Long ago, the ancients had noticed that Mars appeared red and its brightness fluctuated, resembling a fire. It also moved across the sky, sometimes from west to east, sometimes from east to west. This confusion made it difficult to predict, leading to the term "Ying Huo."

In ancient times, emperors feared this so-called "disaster star," believing its appearance was a bad omen. Every time it appeared, it was either the prime minister being dismissed or the emperor dying. While such superstitions were no longer believed in modern times, they had left a lasting impact.

"Oh my God!" Cade, beside Li Xiaoman, struggled to comprehend the meaning of the term Ying Huo. Grabbing at the reddish-brown soil and striking the rocks, he kept observing the geology, shouting in astonishment.

"How is this possible?" Many people were dumbfounded, unable to accept the reality in front of them.

"The reddish-brown soil under our feet is… Mars? We're not on Earth anymore?!" Anyone who heard this conclusion would be stunned, as it made no logical sense.

Just half an hour ago, they were still on the top of Mount Tai, and now, half an hour later, they were standing on the ancient planet Ying Huo. It was truly surreal!

Lin Jia, with her slender and graceful figure, looked a bit pale. Her almond eyes glanced at the group as she said, "For now, all we have is this stone inscription. We can't be sure whether we're really on Ying Huo yet."

"But it is said that the surface of Mars is dry, with reddish-brown soil and gravel everywhere. Isn't what we're seeing right now exactly like that?" A female student said, her voice tinged with desperation.

Since the 1960s, humans had sent spacecraft to explore Mars, and in 1997, the "Mars Pathfinder" successfully landed on the Martian surface.

In the past few decades, humanity had gathered a wealth of knowledge about Mars, and people no longer were ignorant about it.

"The soil on Mars contains a large amount of iron oxide, and because of prolonged ultraviolet radiation, the entire Mars looks like a rusted world. What we're seeing now is exactly the same. Could it be… we really left Earth, and are standing on another planet?!" A male student clenched his fists, his knuckles turning pale.

"If we really are on Mars, then I don't think we could survive here. There's no oxygen, and the temperature isn't suitable…" Li Xiaoman said. Though her face was pale, her words gave others a glimmer of hope.

Meanwhile, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and a few others remained calm. They were sure they were no longer on Earth, and there couldn't be anything worse than this. Whatever happened next, it couldn't be worse than this situation.

The group lingered by the stone for a while, and eventually, they moved on, continuing toward the faint light in the distance. It didn't seem very far, but after walking for more than five hundred meters, they still hadn't reached it, indicating they would need to walk the same distance again.

The group was heavy-hearted and barely spoke, feeling tense as they feared that this last flicker of hope might vanish.

"Bang!"

Pang Bo kicked a small rock, sending dust flying. At that moment, he showed an expression of surprise. He noticed that the rock he had kicked seemed to be a broken tile.

"Really a tile!" When he picked up the half-broken tile, he immediately confirmed that it was a crude handmade tile.

Suddenly, everyone gathered around, excited by the discovery of the tile.

"Since there are tiles, there must be buildings. This land isn't just the simple five-colored altar. There are people living here."

"We're saved!"

"We can escape!"

The mood of despair began to lift, and a sense of joy began to spread as the group saw a glimmer of hope for survival.

By now, the sky had darkened, and the stars shone brightly.

Ye Fan looked up at the starry sky and noticed a dim, blurry disc hanging in the sky. It was about half the size of the Moon as seen from Earth, enough to confirm that they were not on Earth. In another direction, there was a small bright star, brighter than the usual stars, but dimmer than the small moon-like object. It was too bright to be a regular star, yet too small and faint to be called a moon.

Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and Liu Yunji stood nearby. They noticed Ye Fan's gaze and looked up at the sky. When they saw the two small moons hanging in the sky, their expressions immediately changed.