Ch. 11 - Light

"Where have we ended up? I just want to go home..." some female students couldn't hold back and began crying aloud.

"Another five-colored altar..." Pang Bo stood beside Ye Fan.

The two exchanged a glance and then both shook their heads.

They had been best friends since university and had continued to meet often after graduation, they knew each other best.

Now, both felt something was very wrong.

Everyone's situation was precarious, filled with uncertainty and unknowns.

At this moment, the others also withdrew their gaze from the vast desert, anxiously and frantically examining their surroundings.

The massive bronze coffin lay overturned behind them, and beneath it was a grand five-colored stone altar.

It looked very similar to the one they had seen on Mount Tai, built from massive stones of five different colors.

The five-colored stone altar covered a vast region.

It must have been a monumental project when first constructed.

But after years of wind and sand erosion, what should have stood tall above ground was now almost completely buried beneath the surface.

Now it was level with the reddish-brown gravel-covered earth.

Today, the nine dragons had drawn the coffin here and crashed down heavily, shaking away the surrounding sand and revealing the altar’s general outline.

Not only was the massive bronze coffin lying across the altar, even the nine gigantic dragon corpses were pressing down on it.

This gave some idea of the altar’s sheer scale.

"We're... lost. We can’t find our way back," a fragile female student cried, her body swaying.

If not for someone holding her up, she would have already collapsed to the ground.

Many people looked pale.

At this moment, countless possibilities ran through everyone’s mind.

The sight before them looked just like another world.

No one wanted to accept that truth, but Mount Tai was gone, and an empty wasteland lay before their eyes.

It forced them into silence.

"Don’t panic, don’t be afraid. There will be a way out!" Ye Fan shouted loudly.

"How do we get out? How can we return? How do we... leave this strange world?"

Even some male classmates now spoke with trembling voices, filled with fear and unease.

The unknown can fill some people with awe and fear, and others with the desire to explore.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo avoided the nine dragon corpses and walked forward, trying to assess the surrounding area.

Li Xiaoman stood not far away, seemingly cold, arms folded.

Her beautiful face looked pale, but she remained calm, like a quiet lotus blooming in the gloom.

As Ye Fan passed by, he took off his jacket and handed it to her.

She simply said thank you, then shook her head and refused.

Ye Fan didn’t say anything else.

He wasn’t trying to rekindle anything, he put the jacket back on and continued forward with Pang Bo.

They skirted around the massive dragon corpses and bronze coffin.

Not far away, they saw Li Xiaoman’s American classmate, Cade, also observing the surroundings.

He muttered words like “Jesus” from time to time in astonishment.

Not far from the five-colored stone altar was a huge rock lying sideways.

It stood over twenty meters tall, but the slope was gentle enough to climb.

Ye Fan was about 1.79 meters tall.

Though he looked quiet, he was actually very athletic.

He had been a core player on the college soccer team, often nicknamed “the savage” on the field.

Pang Bo, true to his name, had an imposing presence.

He wasn’t fat, he was solidly built, a true hulk of a man.

His arms were nearly as thick as an average person's legs.

Both had excellent physiques.

In front of the giant rock, they broke into a run, no cautious climbing, they charged straight up.

From the top, they looked out over the distance, and were stunned to see faint specks of light breaking through the darkness.

"We’re most likely not going back," Ye Fan said directly to his best friend, there were no secrets between them.

"This definitely isn’t the world we came from."

"This definitely isn’t the world we came from," Pang Bo echoed.

Although usually easygoing, he never joked when it came to serious matters.

He stared at that distant, faint glow and frowned.

“Do you think gods really exist in this world?”

Ye Fan also gazed at the distant glow and replied,

“We’ve already seen dragon corpses. Even if a living god appeared before me, I wouldn’t be surprised anymore.”

"A living god... what would that even look like?" Pang Bo muttered.

Behind them came a sound,

Cade, who was 1.9 meters tall, had climbed the giant rock as well.

When he saw the glow in the distance, he cried out in astonishment.

"Praise... merciful God. I... I see the light!" he said in broken Chinese.

Then he turned and waved energetically behind him, shouting to Li Xiaoman in the crowd:

“I see... the light!”

He then climbed down the rock and rushed toward her.

Cade’s shout stirred the crowd.

Many people ran toward the rock.

Pang Bo glanced at Cade and Li Xiaoman standing together, then said to Ye Fan:

“Is that foreigner really her boyfriend?”

“How would I know?”

“You’re really giving up just like that?” Pang Bo gave him a sideways glance.

“Some things, even if you start over, can’t return to where they began.” Ye Fan shook his head.

“Even if life brings you down the same path twice, it never feels the same. It’s all in the past. We have to keep moving forward.”

Then, as if recalling something, he smiled and added,

“You’re the one living it up, your nightlife is wild.”

“I despise you. Your life’s even more exciting than mine,” Pang Bo replied.

He looked at Ye Fan, then at Li Xiaoman in the distance, and said,

“Just a gut feeling, but I think something will still happen between you two.”

“Stop ruining my reputation.” Ye Fan chuckled.

“You sound like a woman now. Do you have a sixth sense too?”

At this moment, perhaps only the two of them could still manage to laugh.

Neither of them were pessimistic types, it was rare for them to be downcast, no matter the situation.

Soon, many others climbed the massive rock to look into the distance.

The faint glow flickered like fireflies, piercing through the darkness and reaching their eyes.

The light was dim, but it ignited hope.

Several female students cheered.

There was light ahead.

Though the path remained unknown, everyone wanted to move forward.

Maybe this was human nature, afraid of the dark, yearning for the light.

“Please don’t let us down.”

“Let there be a miracle.”

The crowd gradually climbed down the rock and gathered in front of the five-colored altar to discuss a plan.

“All of this is unfamiliar to us. Even if there’s light ahead, we need to stay cautious,” Wang Ziwen advised.

Zhou Yi, who had remained calm, nodded and said,

“Right. We should choose a few people to scout ahead.

That glow doesn’t seem too far, just in case.”

Everyone agreed.

With an unknown road ahead and unfamiliar terrain, caution was essential.

Bang!

Suddenly, a loud vibration shook the air.

The bronze coffin atop the five-colored altar gave off a metallic resonance.

“What happened?”

“I think... the sound came from inside the coffin.”

A female student closest to the coffin went pale as she spoke.

Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions changed.

After all, inside the giant coffin... was a smaller coffin meant to hold a corpse.

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