Yinghuo Ancient Star (Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year)

Everyone huddled together in fear, but their terror did not lessen in the slightest.

"Don't come any closer!"

Just as Ji Hao began reminiscing as usual, the other people inside the bronze coffin had already begun wailing miserably.

"Why is there no signal here? I need to call the police! There's a monster here!"

"Stop yelling. The Mount Tai base stations were probably damaged. None of us has any signal. There's probably something inside the bronze coffin that blocks signals too."

"Don't panic, everyone. This happened on Mount Tai. The entire country must know about it by now—maybe even the whole world. There's no way there hasn't been any news. We just need to wait for rescue."

It was Zhou Yi who spoke. He was extremely composed, and his calm words instantly quieted some of them. Everyone felt considerably more reassured, though some of the female students were still secretly sobbing behind their hands.

"But the question is, can we hold out until the rescue team arrives? This guy isn't going to eat us, is he?"

Pang Bo spoke gloomily.

After a moment of silence, screams rang through the bronze coffin.

"Everyone, gather together. I heard monsters are afraid of yang energy," Lin Jia said, summoning her courage.

Everyone agreed with the suggestion and hurriedly pressed together, gathering beneath the faint light of their phones. Shadowy silhouettes illuminated their terrified faces.

Inside the bronze coffin, Ji Hao stood near its edge while Ye Fan and his classmates huddled together. No one was in the mood to wonder why Pang Bo, who should not have been here, had appeared inside this bronze coffin.

At that moment, Ji Hao, who had still been pondering his cheat, suddenly came back to his senses. Everyone screamed again.

Seeing them like this, the corners of his lips gradually curled upward into a wicked smile.

Ji Hao pulled out a high-powered flashlight and instantly lit up the dim bronze coffin.

At once, even the atmosphere became far less eerie. With the space now much brighter, the people crowded together stared wide-eyed at one another and awkwardly realized that some of them were practically face-to-face.

The previously bizarre atmosphere vanished without a trace in that instant.

"I already told you, I'm not some monster. Why don't you believe me?" Ji Hao sighed helplessly. "Where's the trust between people? You've truly disappointed me."

Ye Fan wore a strange expression as he looked at Ji Hao's disdainful face. His expression seemed to say that the kid had gone astray.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing he's not a monster."

"I told you, how could this little brother possibly be a monster?" Ye Fan said, also letting out a breath.

Then he looked at Ji Hao oddly. He had come to Mount Tai for sightseeing, yet he had brought such a huge flashlight. Was he here to travel or to prospect for mines?

Seemingly sensing everyone's gazes, Ji Hao smiled with interest. "As a tourist waiting for a ride, isn't it perfectly normal to carry a flashlight?"

Everyone suddenly understood. No wonder he had one in such a situation. Besides, the much brighter interior did make them feel more secure. After all, darkness most easily stirred up fear of the unknown.

"I was scared to death. It's all your fault for talking about monsters," Pang Bo said with a sigh of relief, patting his chest with an arm as thick as an ordinary person's thigh.

"By the way, what ride are you waiting for? You came all the way to Mount Tai to wait for it?" Pang Bo asked casually.

"Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, of course! I've been waiting for it for quite a while," Ji Hao said with interest.

"Oh, Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin. Brother, how long have you been waiting here... N-nine dragons pulling a coffin...!" Pang Bo suddenly choked on his words and fell silent.

The air instantly went quiet.

Only Ji Hao's voice continued to echo through the bronze coffin. "Not long, just five thousand years!"

At that moment, the ancient bronze coffin was so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could have been heard clearly.

Ji Hao dimmed the flashlight and held it beneath his chin. In the dark space, his pale, handsome face looked especially terrifying.

"Sigh, I've been waiting here for five thousand years. I'm so hungry from waiting. I haven't eaten anything in a long time," Ji Hao said, even rubbing his stomach as though it were true.

"Ahhh!"

The people opposite Ji Hao clung to one another and screamed.

"Hehehe!" Ji Hao watched them happily.

"Jingwei, Jingwei." Jingwei chirped unhappily on Ji Hao's shoulder and scratched his cheek with her tiny claws.

"All right, I won't joke with you anymore. I'm actually a cultivator. I know a little divination and calculated it," Ji Hao said indifferently.

Most of those present could not come into contact with things on the level of Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin. Besides, they knew absolutely nothing about the cultivation world. They were complete novices; he could tell them anything.

"You brat, you tricked us!" Liu Yunzhi said angrily. He had only caught Ji Hao's first few sentences and had not heard the rest at all.

"Yeah, so what if I tricked you?" Ji Hao said, clapping his hands.

"Ye Fan, move aside," Ji Hao said, pointing at Ye Fan.

"What is it?" Ye Fan asked, his mind full of question marks. He had yet to recover from the fright. Though he was quite bold, the emotional whiplash had been far too thrilling.

"I said get up. It won't hurt you. Move aside first—I have something to say to them," Ji Hao said seriously.

"Ye Fan!" Pang Bo said worriedly.

"It's fine. I believe he won't hurt me." With that, Ye Fan walked to one side.

"Mm, good!" Ji Hao nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Now I can say it. Everyone here is trash in my eyes, understand?"

An immense pressure burst forth from Ji Hao's body. The rushing sound of blood filled the air—the majesty belonging to the bloodline of a Great Emperor.

Clang!

Suddenly, everyone seemed to feel the bronze coffin tremble. It was as if it had fallen, only for an invisible force to dissipate the impact and set it down steadily.

Ji Hao no longer bothered with this group of extras.

(Pang Bo: I'm not an extra!)

"Have we arrived at Yinghuo Ancient Star?"

Ji Hao frowned. Yinghuo was no simple place. It was a dangerous region that suppressed a peerless fiend. Even the Immortal Emperor had been undergoing nirvana here all along. Even with his cheat, he had to proceed with utmost caution.

"Is the rescue team here to save us?"

"Oh my God, thank God!"

Everyone was overjoyed. A few people even began to cry, because the coffin lid had opened and light streamed in from outside, allowing them to see hope.

At that moment, everyone felt as though they had become light as well.

Everyone hurried out of the coffin, scrambling and crawling to escape.

But the scene before them left them stunned. The majestic, magnificent Mount Tai had vanished. The ground was as red as blood, dark and desolate, while enormous boulders stood like tombstones, making the place incomparably eerie.

Everyone followed the direction from which the light had come and discovered a massive rock ahead, engraved with large, vigorous characters.

"This seems to be bronze inscription script. The first character is 'Ying.'"

Zhou Yi spoke.

"It's Yinghuo—Mars!"

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