—"Where does humanity come from?" is an eternal philosophical question.
The expedition team had a fruitful harvest this time. They found more than 100 gold ornaments in the golden coffin, providing evidence that "Martians" had once lived in this cave in ancient times.

The Kua fu spaceship was on its way back to Earth. Yang Zhiyuan and Zhou Ke were sitting in the pilot and co-pilot seats.

"Engage the warp engine," Yang Zhiyuan gave the command.

The spaceship accelerated. At this point, human warp engine technology could propel the spaceship to a speed of one-tenth the speed of light.

Since the distance from Mars to Earth wasn't too far, after flying at this speed for a while, it was necessary to turn off the warp engine and decelerate.

"Disengage the warp engine, initiate the deceleration engine," Yang Zhiyuan issued the command again.

Afterward, the spaceship entered autopilot mode.

After dinner, the eight crew members were sitting around the dining table, idly chatting.

Zheng Ya, an anthropologist, was astounded by the exquisite level of the cave paintings on Mars and started a conversation about them. "In the same era thousands of years ago, Earth had the Altamira cave paintings in Spain and the Lascaux cave paintings in France. However, in terms of refinement, they are as far from the Mars cave paintings as Earth is from Mars."

As an archaeologist, Wang Yue was more interested in the text found in the Martian cave than in the paintings. "The cave paintings on Mars are exquisite, but the text is extraordinary. Ziqi, don't the text patterns on that golden coffin look a lot like the pictographs we have on Earth?"


Su Ziqi mused, "Sister Yue, it's absolutely pictographic. It's strange, when I first saw these characters, I felt a sense of déjà vu. I even recognized a few of them."

"Not only that, judging from the character shapes, the text on the golden coffin seems to be older than the cuneiform of the Sumerian civilization. I have this feeling that they might be connected in some way."

As one of the standout figures among the new generation of linguists in China, Su Ziqi has a natural sensitivity to characters. Her significant achievements in the study of Earth's ancient characters were a major reason why she was selected for the Mars expedition team.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yue was quite surprised. She didn't expect Su Ziqi to understand the text in the Martian cave paintings. "Huamei, please project the image of the three-eyed giant."

Huamei pressed a few buttons on her arm, and a 3D image appeared on the dining table.

Wang Yue pointed to a few lines of characters in the upper left corner of the cave painting, "Ziqi, do you recognize these characters?"

"I only recognize a few of them, especially one character whose meaning is quite clear. It is very close to the cuneiform of the Sumerian civilization, and it means 'God of Creation.'"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yue was even more surprised. "God of Creation? Could this three-eyed giant be a deity worshipped in the Martian religion?"


"Ziqi, in the 'Investiture of the Gods,' many immortals have a third eye on their forehead. It seems that the Martians, just like us earthlings, would also conjure up a celestial eye for their deities," Wang Yue suggested.

（Note: "Investiture of the Gods" "is a Chinese novel about gods and demons, in which one of the deities has an eye on its forehead.")

Su Ziqi disagreed with Wang Yue's view. "Sister Yue, the celestial eye is not made up. In fact, humans have a third eye in our brains. Hinduism believes that this eye in the human brain has the ability to foresee the future."

"Not only in India but in many Eastern religious rituals, humans are accustomed to drawing a third eye between the eyebrows to communicate directly with the universe. Sister Ya, as an anthropologist, you have authority on this."

Zheng Ya nodded, "Ziqi is right. Humans do have a third eye, the pineal gland, which appears two months into embryonic development and begins to regress after six years."

"Not only humans but some amphibians and reptiles also have a pineal gland. Studies have found that although the pineal gland in animals does not have imaging capabilities, it can sense ultrasonic waves, infrasound waves, and light waves. That's why reptiles are particularly sensitive to earthquakes, magnetic storms, and volcanic eruptions."

Sitting nearby, Professor Dong Yifeng, holding his teacup, joined the lively conversation. "When three women get together, they put on quite a show. You certainly liven up our otherwise dreary lives, haha... But speaking of the cave painting, I find it very peculiar as well."

Dong Yifeng had Huamei project all the cave paintings from the Martian cave. The paintings from the Martian cave, like frames of a film, appeared on the dining table.

Just then, Dong Yifeng called out, "Stop!" He pointed at one of the paintings and said, "Here it is, look at this. The creature in this painting is quite grotesque."

The painting depicted a creature with a human head and a serpent's body, its entire body covered in dark green, scale-like spots. Its eyes were red, its muscles prominent, and there was even a long tail trailing behind it. Besides this painting, there were also a few lines of text.

"Niece, do you recognize these lines of text?" Dong Yifeng asked Su Ziqi. He was good friends with Su Ziqi's father, hence he addressed her as "niece".

"Uncle Dong, these characters are quite abstruse. It seems to suggest that the creature in this painting is a 'God of Death.'"

"You're right, niece. Look, this creature closely resembles Godzilla. Referring to Godzilla as the God of Death wouldn't be far off. There's another painting that's quite peculiar. Huamei, continue the projection."

Dong Yifeng stopped at another painting. This one depicted two ordinary humans, a man and a woman.

"Niece, doesn't this woman in the painting look a bit like you? And this man bears a strange resemblance to Huamei," Dong Yifeng said half-jokingly, pointing at the man and woman in the painting.

"Professor Dong, you're not wrong. They really do bear some resemblance to them," Zheng Ya also joked.

"Uncle Dong, Sister Ya, don't jinx me!" Su Ziqi retorted.


"What do you mean by that?"

"I recognize the characters next to this painting. One of them means 'Messenger of the Underworld.' These two people are probably referring to the Black and White Impermanence, right?"

(Note：  The Black and White Impermanence, also known as Heibai Wuchang, are deities in Chinese folk religion who are tasked with guiding the souls of the deceased to the underworld. They are often portrayed as a pair of individuals, one black and one white, hence the name.）

"I see, so niece, you are the White Impermanence, and Huamei is the Black Impermanence. You two are planning to strike my name off the Book of Life and Death, huh? Haha..." Dong Yifeng burst into laughter.

"Niece, don't you find the religious beliefs of this Martian Lava Cave civilization peculiar? The God of Creation is a three-eyed giant, the God of Death is a Godzilla with dark green tattoos, and the Messengers of the Underworld, who should at least be grinning menacingly, or have the terrifying image of ox-headed and horse-faced deities, turn out to be in human form. It's incredible."

(Note：In Chinese mythology, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face (Niu Tou Ma Mian) are underworld deities who escort the spirits of the dead to the netherworld or hell.)

"Oh, and one more thing, niece. Look at the scepter that the three-eyed giant in that painting is holding. It strikes me as very similar to the one held by the Anunnaki in the Sumerian civilization."


"Uncle Dong, indeed. The Anunnaki in Sumerian civilization holds a scepter topped with a pinecone, exactly like this one," said Su Ziqi.

Bao Mingkai, sitting next to Dong Yifeng, expressed regret upon hearing this, "So it seems, this Martian civilization has numerous connections with Earth's Sumerian civilization, or perhaps even a direct lineage. Human civilization may have originated from Mars."

"Unfortunately, the bones in the golden coffin have oxidized into powder. It's been too long, and we can't extract any DNA information. As a professor of genetics, it feels like I've come for nothing!"

Upon hearing this, archaeologist Wang Yue was skeptical, "Professor Bao, how could that be? Darwin's theory of evolution clearly states that humans evolved from ancient apes. You're all experts in your respective fields, surely you don't believe human origins are related to extraterrestrials, do you?"