They fell into the coffin, and everything went pitch-black. Only then did the people inside believe what Jiang Xian and Ye Fan had said, and they began to panic.
"Help!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Ye Fan, you knew there was danger beforehand. Surely you can send us back?"
"Yes, and that boy who was beside Ye Fan earlier. You two must have a way, right?"
Some had already begun to break down and cry. Low sobs filled the coffin.
"Stop making so much noise. My name is Jiang Xian, and you'd better listen to me. Follow my instructions, and you won't be in any great danger," Jiang Xian said with a frown.
"Who are you? Why did you know things in advance? And why should we listen to you?" Liu Zhiyun demanded loudly, his expression dark.
"Listen or don't. If you die, so be it!" Jiang Xian couldn't be bothered to talk to an early-stage minor villain like him.
Jiang Xian discussed it with Ye Fan, wanting to find out how many people were inside the coffin, since quite a few had taken their advice and gone down the mountain early.
Ye Fan stepped out of the crowd and opened the group chat on his phone.
"Stop crying! I'm going to take a head count and see how many of us entered the Bronze Coffin. Answer 'here' when I call your name. And could two people turn on their phone flashlights?"
"Liu Yiyi."
"Here." A girl's voice came from a corner.
He called a few more names, but no one answered.
"Zhou Yi."
"Here!" came a steady male voice.
"Wang Ziwen."
"Here."
"Liu Yunzhi."
"Here."
"Li Xiaoman."
"Here."
"Pang Bo."
"I'm here."
Since Ye Fan had read the story, he knew Pang Bo was there too, so he called his name.
"Kaide." Ye Fan remembered that Kaide had been with Li Xiaoman, so he should have fallen in as well.
"I'm here, I'm here." The Chinese was not particularly fluent, but it was understandable.
"All right. Including me, Xu Qiong, and Jiang Xian, there are thirteen of us inside the coffin," Ye Fan told everyone after finishing the roll call.
That was less than half the number in the original story. In the original timeline, practically the entire class had come in.
"Pang Bo, why are you here too? How come I didn't see you along the way? You didn't even attend the class reunion!" Zhou Yi asked questioningly.
"I had something at home I hadn't taken care of, so I couldn't make it to the reunion on time. Then you all came to Mount Tai, so I rushed over. You didn't see me, and I happened to fall into this Bronze Coffin along with you," Pang Bo explained.
"What should we do now?" Li Xiaoman asked, her voice trembling.
Under the light of their phones, everyone turned their eyes toward Ye Fan and Jiang Xian.
Ye Fan and Jiang Xian exchanged a glance, and Jiang Xian stepped forward.
"Rest for a while first. This coffin is like a bus traveling through space, and it's taking us to another planet. Based on what we know, it should be the Big Dipper."
Everyone felt that Jiang Xian was no ordinary person, perhaps the successor of some hidden sect on Earth, and immediately quieted down.
The people inside the coffin divided into three small groups, huddling together for comfort.
Pang Bo also joined Jiang Xian and Ye Fan's group of three, and the four sat together. Ye Fan told Pang Bo that he and Jiang Xian belonged to the same sect, and that he just needed to follow their arrangements from now on.
"No need to be so reserved. You're Ye Fan's good friend, so just call me Brother Jiang, like he does," Jiang Xian told Pang Bo.
"Brother Jiang!" Pang Bo did not hesitate. Although he was a little puzzled as to why Ye Fan called Jiang Xian, who was younger than them, his brother, he felt Ye Fan must have his reasons.
Jiang Xian gave a knowing smile. Pang Bo really knew how to play along. He lightly patted Pang Bo on the shoulder and gave him a Resurrection Coin. In a voice only the two of them could hear, he explained what the Resurrection Coin did.
Giving someone a Resurrection Coin at their first meeting-who could resist that?
"Thank you, Brother Jiang!" Pang Bo said to Jiang Xian with some excitement. He felt he had really found a powerful backer.
Next, Ye Fan explained to Pang Bo why he called Jiang Xian his brother.
Pang Bo's fingers trembled slightly with excitement as he leaned against the coffin wall to rest.
After a while, everyone discovered a mysterious object by the light of their phones.
Another Bronze Coffin had been placed in the most important position within the Bronze Coffin.
This Bronze Coffin was not large, and it was covered in the marks of time.
"It's not that there's another coffin inside a coffin. The big one outside is an outer casing. This is the actual coffin, used to hold the body. Together, the two form an inner and outer coffin." Pang Bo was clearly the person among them who knew the most about coffins.
Hearing that this coffin held a corpse, quite a few people backed away.
The corner of Jiang Xian's mouth twitched at Pang Bo's words. As expected of someone with an affinity for coffins. He knows so much about them. There really is some major karma tied to this coffin! Pang Bo really went to town gnawing on coffins later on.
The Bronze Coffin was flying toward Mars when it suddenly shook violently. Everyone except Jiang Xian struggled to keep their footing. Ye Fan and Jiang Xian knew this meant they had reached Mars.
"Ding-dong~ Interstellar long-distance bus announcement: greetings, passengers. The Nine Dragons Interstellar Shuttle has now arrived at its midway stop-Yinghuo Ancient Star, the Mars service area.
"At this stop, passengers will undergo a fortune screening. Ordinary passengers with poor fortune will disembark here and leave, unable to continue on the shuttle to the final destination, the Big Dipper.
"Please safeguard your lives and do not wander away from the altar waiting area. Wild ferocious beasts roam the service area. We accept no responsibility if you run off~
"This stop is for a limited time only. The shuttle will depart again once the rest period is over, so please prepare for departure," Jiang Xian said playfully.
The corner of Ye Fan's mouth twitched. Jiang Xian really was someone who lived for amusement. Everyone else looked utterly bewildered.
Still, they understood the message: getting off was risky, and they would bear the consequences themselves.
The coffin lid slowly opened a crack, letting light into the pitch-black interior.
Jiang Xian said, "Ye Fan, let's go out and have a look. Pang Bo, Xu Qiong, you two stay inside the coffin."
"All right, Brother Jiang. Pang Bo, help me look after Xu Qiong. Jiang Xian and I will be right back," Ye Fan told the two of them.
"Be careful, both of you." Although Xu Qiong knew they could both resurrect, she was still a little worried.
Jiang Xian and Ye Fan agreed and prepared to leave. They glanced at the others inside the Bronze Coffin again.
"You'd better stay inside. Anyone who isn't afraid of dying can come out with us," Jiang Xian said, looking at the others with an unreadable expression.
Jiang Xian did not know whether these minor villains from the original story would follow them out. He would not show them mercy.
Once the two stepped outside, all they could see was reddish-brown land, filled with desolation.
Looking at Mars in Shrouding the Heavens, Jiang Xian felt that it had probably been modified by the Buddhists. Otherwise, ordinary people would die after only a short time on Mars.
Behind them, Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan discussed things for a while. Convinced that Jiang Xian and Ye Fan must know of some great opportunity here, they followed, hoping to get a share.
Everyone else stayed inside the coffin.
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