"What do you think?"
Yan Jing walked on the corridor, stroking the gloomy wall with strange reliefs next to it. He raised his head at the entrance and looked at the huge broken hole on the top of the palace. The bright skylight fell, illuminating the dust floating in the air, making him This dark and silent space adds a mysterious and quiet atmosphere.
"We have indeed arrived on another planet, right?"
Looking around, everything you see is filled with colors that are unimaginable on earth. Buildings with flesh-like shapes and colors, as if the entire palace is a huge living creature...
In front of this huge, silent object, he felt an indescribable shock, muttering to himself, as if seeking recognition from the other two companions.
"I think so..." Ji Chunzao, like him, raised his head and looked up at the sky, "We must have succeeded."
"Where does the light in the sky come from? Is it day or night now? Is there a sun on this planet?"
Once he accepted the fact of success, a lot of questions about the real world and the laws of physics came to his mind, even though he was only a junior high school student.
"This is not necessarily true. Maybe other stars are shining and heating."
Xie Yuzhi said that she spread her palms to try to catch the dust in the air.
"What I'm more concerned about is that we can breathe well now and don't feel any discomfort. I was originally worried about not bringing the oxygen bottle, but now it seems that it is all unfounded."
Could it be said that the types and proportions of gases in the air on this planet are similar to those on Earth, making it suitable for human survival? Or is it the palace ruins itself that is special?
"We don't know how big this place is, and we don't know what is hidden. Everyone should be careful."
"Yeah, after all, this is our first exploration, and..."
Yan Jingxing hesitated for a moment. He didn't know whether to bring up a certain topic.
After the initial shock gradually subsided, the first question that came to his mind was:
How should we go back?
This is actually an issue that should be considered from the beginning of the adventure plan, but this "first transfer" was simply an accident that no one expected.
Yan Jingxing thought to himself that it was not so much because of recklessness, but because they never thought they would succeed in one go.
In fact, before taking the UFO ride, Miss Xie had already expressed that she did not believe from the bottom of her heart that this machine had the magical function of transporting people to another planet.
In fact, even Yan Jingxing, of course he was willing to believe in the guidance provided by the ghost astronaut, but... just sitting in like "him", and actually doing it directly, in such an easy way, still surprised him and.
He had been pondering for a long time. Xie Yuzhi seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. She suggested:
"How about this. Let's consider going back first. We can try to see if it can send us back to Earth if we sit back in the pitcher plant device again."
——What if it can’t be done?
After Yan Jingxing imagined it for a moment, he felt his chest became tight, and a bottomless fear seized his heart.
He began to regret and thought that if it really couldn't be done, the three of us would have to stay on this planet and try our best to survive...
Can it really be done?
Accompanying them was only a huge and empty palace.
"No, there's no need to worry..." he said quickly, "It's still enough to go back after a little exploration."
"Yes, yes, this place is a real alien ruin. I haven't seen enough yet." Ji Chunzao echoed loudly from the side.
Xie Yuzhi raised her head and glanced at him seriously. After that, the girl said nothing more and just nodded slightly.
"good."
Yan Jingxing sighed, feeling that his inner worries had been seen through.
However, precisely because Xie Yuzhi, who thought of the same thing as him, acted calmly enough, he was able to be equally calm——
While Yan Jingxing was collecting his thoughts, he suddenly felt his sleeve being pulled.
"Don't worry, we can go back. This adventure will go smoothly."
Ji Chunzao smiled at him and said.
"I have a hunch."
…Of course, there is also Chun Zao’s optimism.
"I know."
He smiled again.
*
In the only luggage bag brought over by Xie Yuzhi, in addition to thermal underwear, there were several packets of sugar, chocolate and mineral water, which could last for one or two days.
In addition, there are heaters, flashlights, batteries, etc. They use these tools to explore step by step in the palace.
"Speaking of which, are these reliefs left by humans?"
On the walls painted with flesh and blood, reliefs and murals can be seen everywhere. They are full of all kinds of weird and strange landscapes and creatures, telling the history of a certain group of intelligent beings opening up the world, fighting aliens, and establishing settlements. The outlines are fine. It's like a living thing is embedded in it.
"This is an alien planet, in other words..."
Xie Yuzhi's pupils were still bright in the dim environment. She stared at the mural attentively, her eyes bursting with interest.
"It was left behind by the aliens who built this palace."
She was feeling excited.
Yan Jingxing could understand her mood.
They had indeed encountered real alien creatures, but they were monsters that seemed impossible to communicate with at first glance.
Either too disgusting or too scary.
But the real aliens should be people who, like humans on earth, dominate the planet with wisdom and advanced technology.
"Judging from human history, the ability to produce such lifelike and surprising 'art' shows that alien civilization has reached a highly developed level."
"So, the faces of the... 'people' on these reliefs are the faces of aliens, right?"
Ji Chunzao stared at one of them, stood up on tiptoes with great interest, and tried to poke its eyes. This action made Yan Jingxing's heart beat with fear.
Because the appearance of the statues was so realistic, and the weird metal material used as the base, he was afraid that they would come to life like in horror movies.
These statues are all similar in height, between two and a half to three meters, and their appearance is similar to that of humans, but their limbs are slimmer and longer than humans on Earth.
"It doesn't look that different from us humans..." Yan Jingxing murmured.
"Convergent evolution." A word that was unfamiliar to junior high school students suddenly popped out of Xie Yuzhi's mouth.
"...Ah, what?"
Xie Yuzhi quickly explained:
“Even different organisms, unrelated species, those organisms that are far apart in evolution, if they are allowed to live in the same environment, they may also produce morphological structures with the same or very similar functions to adapt to the natural evolution. condition."
"Since aliens can develop civilization, it means that they have brains as developed as humans; if they need to use tools, they will evolve flexible hands... Even on different planets, life similar to humans may be born. "
Of course, the convergence in this situation only refers to body shape and limbs. In terms of detailed appearance, aliens and humans are still very different.
For example, although aliens have organs that look like eyes, their positions are completely different from humans. As for their noses and mouths, they are completely invisible, and they have no hair on their bodies.
From a human aesthetic point of view, each of their heads is bald, and their faces are like toys made by naughty children;
In addition, they do not appear to have skin like humans, but are instead wrapped in a layer of bones, muscles, and membranes.
"This is...a real alien."
Yan Jingxing took a deep breath.
Precisely because "them" were very similar to humans in body shape, but completely different in some features, he felt an indescribable horror.
Terrified, he couldn't help but look away, unwilling to look any further.
"If our findings were made public, it would definitely shock the world."
Ji Chunzao didn't seem to feel this kind of terror at all. She always had a big heart, but she smiled happily.
"Are we going to win that or something...the Nobel Prize?"
"The Nobel Prize has nothing to do with this kind of thing."
Yan Jingxing complained.
"Hey, you can't get this great discovery that is destined to shock the world? I still want to leave my name in history!"
"Then don't worry, it will definitely be better than Nobel. I think about it, if you want to use an analogy, it should be similar to Columbus's discovery of the New World in history, becoming the pioneer of geographical discovery... No, discovering a planet with highly developed intelligence. The historical significance of alien planets with traces of civilization is even much greater than that.”
"...Really? It would be great if that were the case."
Miss Xie shook her head, her expression was serious after bringing up this topic.
"I won't ask you not to tell anyone about it."
Yan Jingxing and Ji Chunzao looked at each other, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.
"……Any questions?"
"Of course there is a problem. That cave is now our secret base, but don't forget, someone has already entered it before."
Xie Yuzhi explained.
"Except for the ghost astronaut who was only seen by Jing Xing, the iron door, radio, bed, and the materials that are still in my home can all prove that someone stayed in that place for a long time; on the other hand, when did the UFO What about the one who appeared in the cave?"
"You mean, there are people like us who use UFOs to visit this planet?"
"The possibility is nine out of ten. After all, it seems that the machine is very easy to use at present, without any restrictions or requirements. However, the world has not changed because of this, has it?"
"If the alien thing is really exposed to the outside world, I won't be suspected all the time..."
Ji Chunzao muttered.
"Well. In other words, the news has been covered up, or it has not been exposed for more special reasons; and we know nothing about the reasons behind it. In this case, the only conservative strategy we can adopt is It can also be concealed, right?"
"...Yes, right..."
"you're right."
Faced with Miss Xie's thoughtful consideration, all the remaining two people could do was dryly agree.
…
Most of the rooms in the palace ruins were suppressed by collapsed buildings. They found some statues and metal containers, but they were of no use.
In addition, there are various strange devices:
There were telescopic arms that seemed to be made of the arms of more than a dozen people; there were also two huge trembling lungs hanging from the ceiling, covered with a thick layer of dust, and seemed to be some kind of air purification device.
All they could do was go around cautiously.
On the contrary, the murals and sculptures along the way do carry all kinds of important and novel information about alien civilizations, which is eye-opening.
When they came to the central hall, they saw the most magnificent mural so far; and judging from the coherent clues, it seemed to be about an epic that occupied an important historical position for this civilization.
The mural in the center is of three aliens with different looks and costumes in the forest; countless towering trees surround them, and in the middle of them is a long pillar that reaches the sky and the earth and is covered with eyes.
Judging from the texture, this long column feels like it is made of "meat", like some giant organism that humans cannot understand how to survive.
"so weird……"
Yan Jingxing thought to himself.
Next, they dug out three things from the flesh column. Two of them held a bloody eyeball in their hands, while the remaining person held a string of thorn-like long bones in his hand - probably spine.
At the end of the mural, the pillar of flesh collapsed, replaced by endless lightning all over the sky, which together with the landslides and earth cracks formed an apocalyptic scene...
"This mural seems to be talking about the significance of this palace." Xie Yuzhi pondered, "Considering that the role of murals in human civilization is often related to religion, could it be said that they are worshiping something... strange ?”
The huge living thing surrounded by the aliens looked strange and indescribable. She could only call it a "strange thing".
"No, looking at their attitude, it doesn't look like they are treating gods at all. You see, these three different aliens took three organs from that thing and collapsed it."
"Well, is it some kind of prophecy or mythological creation? It warns people not to be greedy or destructive."
"It might be true," Ji Chunzao interrupted at this time, "We have all seen the huge alien creature in the cloud! Maybe one day, we can also encounter the monster on the mural?"
"..."
Xie Yuzhi's expression became strange and he looked at her face intently. After a while, the eldest lady softly said with some emotion:
"Chun Zao, you are really fearless."
