Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 455: Chapter 216: The Old Tree

In Tao Yuanming’s ”The Tale of the Peach Blossom Spring,” a wonderful environment is recounted where people live in isolated seclusion deep in the ancient forests, self-sufficient, and each finding joy in their own way.

Like today, Li Yelai also saw a tranquil and harmonious human village inside the dangerous Extreme Cold Mountain Range.

This made him unable to understand how, under such lethal conditions as Great Snow Mountain, any creatures could survive?

Li Yelai did not recklessly approach, but observed attentively those villagers in the fields from within the jungle.

Clearly, they were all pure humans, with no deformities on their bodies, not the Forbidden Zone Humans corrupted by the restricted area order.

And their clothing, while some wore hemp garments, occasionally one could see items with obvious industrial traces. But those clothes seemed to have been worn for a very long time, worn quite severely.

This made Li Yelai even more stunned; the pure human village inside of Great Snow Mountain had had an industrial level...

”Could these people possibly be the descendants of the once strongest humans?” Li Yelai’s heart trembled, yet this possibility came to mind.

After all, Great Snow Mountain itself was the last battlefield of the strongest humans.

They were swallowed by the Disaster Fog, awakened Spiritual Energy within it, and grew through prolonged combat, giving birth to humans with extreme combat strength, who aggressively besieged the Catastrophe Fog Master.

If victorious, they could conquer the Disaster Fog and bring their kin back to the Physical World.

But in the end, they were defeated, the Forbidden Zone was formed, and all surviving humans were corrupted by the restricted area order, becoming Forbidden Zone Humans.

Perhaps, during the great war of that time, a portion of the humans survived and lived on in this special valley. As of now, it seems there is only this possibility.

If it really is so, Giant City might need to find a way to get them out of here.

Ah... the descendants of the sages. Even though their ancestors were defeated, it cannot cover up their bravery.

However, what Li Ye continued to be concerned about was the dead pregnant woman.

Was she also from this village?

Why would her Achilles tendon be severed? Why was there a non-human presence in her abdomen? And in the end, why did she commit suicide?

”And the Life Material I’m seeking, could it be related to this village?” Li Yelai pondered in his heart, unsure of whether to contact them.

Although he speculated they might be descendants of the sages, the pregnant woman’s corpse and the severed backpack cautioned Li Yelai that this village was definitely not simple.

Fortunately, Li Yelai’s physical strength was sufficient, and even from a great distance, he could easily observe the villagers.

Thus, Li Yelai continued to hide in the jungle, peering from afar at the movements of the villagers.

The village wasn’t large, but it also had around a hundred people.

Their faces were ruddy, and both men and women seemed very content and satisfied, always wearing smiles on their faces.

Apparently without any worries, which indeed they wouldn’t have in such an environment. Without the development of civilization, as long as they could eat and drink their fill, they were content.

Without work, without danger, without any life pressures—truly a rich environment. It really was like the Taoyuan...

But strangely, Li Yelai did not see any elderly people. Were they inside their houses? Or was it because, in this special environment, humans aged exceptionally slowly?

And as time passed, the sunset fell, and the villagers also headed towards the center of the village.

Li Yelai, after a brief hesitation, followed them in the cover of night.

At the center of the village was a large tree, voluminous enough to require a dozen people to encircle.

The tree’s trunk was tinged with red, and its elaborate branches had no leaves at all.

And in the middle of the trunk, there was a sizable hollow.

At this moment, the villagers gathered under the ancient tree, worshiping it as if the tree were a deity.

Li Yelai looked at the ancient tree and pondered, ”Is the temperature in this valley normal because of this red tree?”

It was at this time that Li Yelai, from a distance, saw an older man, seemingly just over fifty years old. His clothing was noticeably more delicate, wearing a black cloak with black feathers draping down. He was holding a red Wooden Stick, moving it around under the tree as if conducting some sort of ritual.

And those villagers were kneeling on the ground, looking eagerly and expectantly at the man.

As the man’s Wooden Stick pointed towards an elderly man with graying temples within the crowd, all the villagers erupted into joyful shouts.

The graying man also stood up excitedly and knelt in front of the man in black.

The man in black tapped the man’s head with the red staff and nodded slightly.

Subsequently, the gray-templed man stood up, earnestly climbing the red ancient tree.

Seeing this, Li Yelai frowned slightly, unclear as to the purpose of this act.

But then he saw the man struggle to climb the tree, inching closer to the hollow in the middle. Finally, he actually squeezed his entire body into the hollow.

Whether it was the angle or some other construction within the tree, Li Yelai could no longer see the man.

And all the villagers also held their breath and concentrated, staring at the ancient tree.

Minutes later, a muscular arm emerged from the hollow, followed by a figure climbing out.

It was indeed the previously entered gray-templed man. No, it should now be said he is a young man.

Previously his temples were graying, but now they were pitch-black, and all the wrinkles on his face had disappeared. His somewhat hunched body was now perfectly upright, and his mature face had become somewhat youthful.

Were it not for the familiarity in his facial features, Li Yelai would have thought he was another person altogether.