“Where exactly have we ended up? I want to go home…” Some of the female students couldn’t hold back their tears.
“Another Five-Colored Altar…” Pang Bo and Ye Fan stood side by side, the two exchanging a glance before both shaking their heads. They had been best friends since university and continued to meet frequently after graduating, knowing each other better than anyone else. Both now felt that the situation was grim and their companions’ predicament deeply worrying — the moment was filled with unknowns and uncertainty.
At this point, the others also withdrew their gazes from the vast desert and began looking around anxiously and frantically, taking in their surroundings.
The enormous Ancient Bronze Coffin lay overturned behind them, and beneath it was a grand Five-Colored Stone Altar, remarkably similar to the massive sacrificial altar they had seen on Mount Tai, constructed from five types of differently colored giant stones.
The Five-Colored Stone Altar covered an enormous expanse of ground — one could imagine that its construction must have been a colossal undertaking in its time. Yet after countless years of assault by wind and sand, the massive altar that should have risen high above the earth had been almost entirely swallowed underground, its top now flush with the reddish-brown gravel-covered ground.
Today, the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin had arrived and slammed heavily into the ground, shaking away the surrounding sand and gravel, revealing the altar’s rough outline. Not only did the enormous Ancient Bronze Coffin lie stretched across the sacrificial platform, but all nine massive Dragon Corpses were piled on top of it as well — one could easily imagine just how grand the Five-Colored Stone Altar truly was.
“We’re… lost. We can’t find our way back.” One fragile female student broke down sobbing, her body swaying so badly that had someone not been supporting her, she would have already collapsed to the ground.
Many had faces drained of color. In that moment, people’s minds raced through every possible scenario, and the sight before their eyes looked exactly like some foreign, alien world. No one was willing to accept this reality, but Mount Tai had vanished and a vast empty desert stretched before them — there was nothing left to say.
“Don’t panic. Don’t be afraid. There will be a way out,” Ye Fan called out loudly.
“How do we find a way out? How do we get back? How do we… escape this strange world?” Even some of the male students’ voices were trembling at this point, filled with intense dread and unease.
The unknown fills some people with awe and fear, while simultaneously stirring in others an urge to explore.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo skirted around the nine massive Dragon Corpses and walked forward, wanting to get a look at the surrounding area.
Li Xiaoman was not far away, seemingly feeling a chill, her arms wrapped around herself. Her beautiful face had gone somewhat pale, yet she still appeared remarkably composed — like an elegant lotus blooming in the dimness. As Ye Fan passed by, he took off his outer jacket and held it out to her, but she merely said a quiet thank you before shaking her head and declining.
Ye Fan said nothing more about it. He was not trying to win back anything. He put his jacket back on and continued walking forward with Pang Bo. Rounding the massive Dragon Corpses and the Ancient Bronze Coffin, they spotted Li Xiaoman’s American classmate Kai De also studying the surrounding area, intermittently letting out exclamations of “God.”
Not far from the Five-Colored Stone Altar stood a massive boulder lying on its side. Its height alone was over twenty meters, but its slope was not particularly steep — it could be climbed.
Ye Fan stood roughly one meter seventy-nine in height. Though his features gave him a quiet, gentle appearance, his body was in fact powerfully built. Back in his day he had been a starter on the university football team, frequently called a “savage” on the pitch.
Pang Bo, meanwhile, lived up to his name — there was a certain “overwhelming force” to him. But it was not fat, it was genuine strength. He was a towering, massively built man whose arms were nearly as thick as an ordinary person’s legs.
Both had exceptional physiques. They broke into a sprint toward the boulder with no caution for climbing, simply charging straight up. Standing atop the boulder and gazing into the distance, they spotted faint, flickering points of light glimmering through the dimness — which filled both of them with considerable astonishment.
“We most likely cannot go back,” Ye Fan said directly to his closest friend, holding nothing back, stating his deduction plainly: “This is certainly not the space and time we belong to.”
“This is indeed no longer the space and time we belong to.” Though Pang Bo was usually carefree and casual, he never joked about serious matters. He stared at the faint halo of light in the distance, furrowing his brow. “Do you think there really are gods in this world?”
Ye Fan was also gazing at the faintly shimmering glow in the distance. “We’ve already seen Dragon Corpses with our own eyes. I think even if a living deity appeared before us right now, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“A living deity appearing before our eyes… what would that even look like,” Pang Bo murmured.
A sound came from behind — Kai De, standing nearly one meter ninety tall, had also climbed up the boulder. The moment he spotted the distant glow, he let out a startled cry.
“Praise… merciful God, I… see light.” He said this in his imperfect Chinese, then turned and waved forcefully back toward the crowd, shouting loudly in the direction of Li Xiaoman: “I see… light!” He then climbed down from the boulder and rushed toward where Li Xiaoman was.
Kai De’s shout immediately threw the crowd into a flurry of noise, and a good number of people came running over.
Pang Bo glanced at Li Xiaoman and Kai De standing together not far away, then turned to Ye Fan: “Is that foreigner actually Li Xiaoman’s boyfriend?”
“How would I know.”
“You’re really just going to give up like that?” Pang Bo slanted a look at him.
“Some things, even if you could start over from the beginning, it’s very hard to return to where things first began. Even if it’s the same road you’ve walked twice in your lifetime, the feeling of the first time will never be there again. Those are things of the past now. People have to keep moving forward.” Ye Fan shook his head, then seemed to remember something and laughed. “Better to be like you — living the carefree life, your nights full of color.”
“I look down on you for that. When have your days ever been richer than mine.” Pang Bo glanced at Ye Fan, then at Li Xiaoman nearby. “Going by a man’s instinct, I keep getting this feeling that something is still going to happen between you two.”
“Stop tarnishing my reputation.” Ye Fan smiled. “Since when do you have a sixth sense like a woman?”
At this particular moment, these two were likely the only ones who could still manage to laugh. Neither was the kind to be pessimistic — no matter the circumstances, it was nearly impossible to find them wearing a gloomy face.
Before long, quite a few people had climbed up the great boulder and were gazing into the distance. The faint glow flickered like fireflies, cutting through the dimness and entering everyone’s line of sight. Though the light source was far from bright, it seemed to ignite hope in everyone’s hearts, and a number of the female students let out joyful cheers.
There was a faint light ahead. Though the unknowns remained, everyone wanted to press forward. Perhaps this was simply human nature — fearing the dark, longing for the light.
“Please, don’t let us down.”
“Let’s hope for a miracle.”
One by one, people climbed back down from the boulder and gathered before the Five-Colored Altar to discuss their plan.
“Everything here is unfamiliar to us. Even with that light ahead, it would be best to proceed carefully.” Wang Ziwen was cautious by nature and put forward this suggestion.
Zhou Yi had remained calm throughout. He nodded at the words. “Quite right. Let’s first send a small group ahead to scout. That glow doesn’t appear to be too far off anyway — just to be safe.”
The others all agreed. The road ahead was unknown, no one could predict anything, and in an unfamiliar environment it was wise to be careful about everything.
Boom!
Without warning, a powerful tremor rang out — the Bronze Coffin atop the Five-Colored Altar let out a metallic resonance.
“What happened?”
“I think the sound came from inside the Bronze Coffin.” The female student standing closest to the Bronze Coffin had gone white as a sheet as she said this.
Hearing those words, everyone’s expressions changed at once. They all knew perfectly well what lay inside the great coffin — a small Bronze Coffin housing a corpse.