I was the Heavenly Emperor in ancient times

Chapter 10 The Second Journey to the Ancient Wilderness
When Lu finally found Li Jun, it was outside the peach grove in the center of the island.

This is the source of all the anomalies, and at this very moment, it is also the place on the entire island that has become most distorted.

Li Jun stood motionless outside the woods.

When Lu Gang found him, he was actually upside down on top of Lu Gang's head. From his perspective, the peach orchard seemed to grow in the sky, and the light deep in the peach orchard was like the sun in the sky.

Looking back from Li Jun's position, the road connecting to the city behind him spiraled outwards like a spiral, and the light source deep in the peach grove was like a black hole and vortex, trying to suck everything outside in.

Lu Gang circled the spiral-shaped street again and again, finally approaching Li Jun.

Lu Gang felt dizzy and breathless as he spoke to Li Jun.

"Something's wrong with this island. The islanders outside have already started to evacuate, but those wooden people and those whose bodies have been mutated don't seem to be able to completely leave this place."

"Li Jun, we should go too."

Although not much time has passed, Lu Gang feels that he has been through so much and realizes that the other person is incredibly important.

Therefore, even at great risk, he was determined to come here to find the other party.

but.

Lu Gang did not notice that Li Jun's figure had changed again.

He seems to be younger than before.

Li Jun shook his head: "I can't leave yet."

Lu Gang didn't understand: "Why?"

Li Jun gazed at the light deep within the peach grove, as if looking at a mystery.

"The problem has not been solved yet."

Lu Gang knew, of course, that the problem was not yet solved. He understood that this was just the beginning. The matter of Taoshan Island seemed to have come to an end, but they could not understand the power and source behind the anomaly on Taoshan Island.

at this point.

Just looking at the distorted space before your eyes is enough to prove it.

Everything here is beyond their imagination and control.

Although they rescued most of the people on the island, they were still unable to stop the strange changes.

At this moment.

Lu Gang's mindset is completely different now than when he first came in. He has accepted the mythology and anomalies of this world and is vaguely preparing for the major crisis he will face.

Lu Gang sounded anxious, and this urgency was evident in his words: "Where are you going?"

"Li Jun, the problem here is too serious."

"It's so serious that there's nothing we can do to solve it, do you understand?"

Lu Gang took a deep breath and earnestly advised him.

"Li Jun, come with me!"

"We need your strength."

Li Jun pointed deep into the peach grove: "I want to go in there; perhaps I can find the answer inside."

He wanted to solve the problems here, uncover the secrets, and thus learn more to unravel the mystery surrounding him.

But at this moment, those words took on a different meaning in Lu Gang's ears.

The other party felt that going out into the outside world to resolve one abnormal event after another would not salvage anything; only by delving into the most dangerous root cause and getting close to the most dangerous place could they make a difference.

Only then can the problem be solved.

"Li Jun is willing to sacrifice himself and stay behind to resolve the trouble here."

In Lu Gang's eyes, the figure standing outside the peach grove suddenly appeared tall and imposing.

In an instant, he wanted to speak again, to say what he had wanted to say every time he faced a crisis he couldn't confront.

"As long as the green hills remain, there's no worry about running out of firewood!"

But at that moment, his words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say them.

Because it was precisely because the other side repeatedly rushed towards those enemies that he seemed invincible, repeatedly engaging in actions that, in his eyes, were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot or a moth flying into a flame.

Ultimately, this led to the current situation.

Otherwise, Lu Gang could hardly imagine how badly the situation on the island would have deteriorated.

What if Tao Yougen continued to send the wooden figures out into the outside world, spreading this strange power to other cities?
What if monsters like the Tao Tree were everywhere, running rampant and doing whatever they pleased?
He was terrified just thinking about it.

In silence.

The light in the depths of the peach grove in the distance grew brighter and brighter, as if the sun was gradually rising from the morning sun towards noon.

Li Jun started moving, walking deeper into the peach grove towards the light.

As Lu Gang gazed at Li Jun's figure, an image flashed before his eyes, like a moth drawn to a candle flame.

He opened his mouth but couldn't stop the other person from stopping. The big man's eyes reddened, and he took off his glasses to wipe them.

Looking at those old documents alone, he found it difficult to truly understand what kind of person Li Jun was.

But as the saying goes, don't look at what others say, but look at what they do.

In Lu Gang's view.

Despite suffering from serious illness and facing death, Li Jun never gave up, even when he was all alone.

The Changsheng Guan and Zhou Shentong used him and so many people to conduct experiments, using them as consumables to achieve their evil goals. An ordinary person experiencing such a thing would probably immediately develop a strong resentment towards everything around them, but the other party did not.

When faced with a powerful enemy and disaster, Li Jun was the first to step forward. He lured the enemy outside and then eliminated these potentially harmful wooden men one by one.

Upon learning of the crisis on Taoshan Island, he rushed there, braving danger and death to confront the terrifying enemy, no matter how powerful and frightening they were.

"Although he was taciturn, he seemed to be a cold and rational person."

"But he must be an incredibly strong and brave person, and he also has a heart that cares about and loves others. Otherwise, why would he face the most terrible dangers time and time again when he didn't have to go that far?"

He asked Li Jun, "Is there anything you want to say to the people outside?"

Li Jun paused for a moment, then continued forward.

"I have nothing to say."

Lu Gang thought so.

This is the most carefree sentence I've ever heard in my life.

He no longer felt that Li Jun was being pretentious. When someone is willing to give up the real world for others and fall into the abyss along with Taoshan Island, which is about to collapse into an unknown direction.

They were able to face life-or-death dangers and the greatest unknown terrors with such composure.

He felt that no amount of praise was too much.

Lu Gang finally said, "Thank you."

Lu Gang's gratitude wasn't just about thanking Li Jun for saving his life—he certainly wouldn't have survived without Li Jun's help—but also about expressing gratitude on behalf of everyone present for Li Jun's selfless act.

At last.

Li Jun quietly walked into the peach blossoms, his figure passing through the gaps between the peach trees.

Lu Gang watched him from behind until he completely disappeared.

They stood there for a long time.

Lu just walked outside.

He walked through that distorted space, through that alienated city, and out along the street.

We finally reached the shore.

Behind him was a thick fog, while outside he shone with brilliant light.

At that moment, a large number of ships were crisscrossing the sea, and a helicopter approached him; his companions had come to pick him up.

Most of the survivors on the island have been rescued, and now he is the only one left.

He boarded the helicopter and looked down at the island from above. Through the lens, he watched as the light in the deepest part of Taoshan Island twisted and swallowed the entire island bit by bit, watching the huge island gradually sink into nothingness, slowly but irresistibly falling into another unknown space.

The people around him gasped in surprise, but Lu Gang remained unusually calm and silent this time.
-
After everything is over.

Lu Gang was so busy that he had no time to catch his breath.

Research reports on the Muke virus, further research on the double pupil virus and its adaptor capabilities, and reports on the Taoshan Island anomaly.

His participation is needed for research on the forms of demons and so on.

He pushed open the door with a stack of documents in his hand and came to the director.

"I believe that the anomalies of this Taoshan Island incident all stem from that unknown divine tree, which is a kind of demon recorded in myths and legends, and is very likely the peach tree in ancient myths."

"According to our investigation, the unusual phenomena on the island can be divided into three stages."

"The first stage is parasitism. The people on the island will be parasitized by the roots of a plant, and then they will lose their senses and cognitive abilities, and their perception of the surrounding space will fall into chaos."

"In the second stage of alienation, the islanders further lose their perception and cognitive abilities, become unable to fix their physical form, and their bodies begin to alienate or even lose their bodies, eventually becoming a special life form similar to a plant called Muke."

"The third stage of possession is what Tao Yougen is in. He must have formed an extremely close connection with that divine tree that does not exist in this world. He gave up the outside world, everything about himself as a human being, and even his own will, entrusting everything to a void. In the end, he distorted the boundary between reality and void, and even dragged the entire Taoshan Island into the void, losing itself in this world."

"But all of this is just the appearance we observe; it is the power of that sacred tree hidden beneath everything, a glimpse of its power emerging from the water."

"Perhaps it wasn't until the third stage that the true essence of this demonic power was initially revealed."

"space!"

"However, its specific capabilities are mostly still just speculation at present."

Lu Gang put down the document and looked at the director who was listening attentively.

"Director, you're right."

"Demons may not actually be a single species, or their origins may not be limited to a single species."

"Although the demon that appeared on Taoshan Island looks like a tree, I think its essence might be something like a rule. Its so-called appearance is actually just a superficial representation that can be changed at will."

"However, it may also be related to something this demon has experienced or gone through."

Director: "You discovered this?"

Lu Gang: "Not entirely. Most of it was what Li Jun told me, and some of it was my own guess."

The director was very satisfied, and then told Lu Gang about a location with a very high level of secrecy.

There, he will attend a meeting.

"Go to this meeting and prepare your presentation."

“Next, I may give you some heavier responsibilities.”

The level of this meeting was so high that someone of Lu Gang's rank simply couldn't participate.

However, Lu Gang became the protagonist.

He stood at the top, narrating the entire course of events on the big screen. No one understood the situation better than him, having been a participant from beginning to end.

This incident.

From the initial attack on the hospital to the appearance of the Woodman.

Later, Li Jun, a person with double pupils, appeared. He transformed into the Feathered People and Wood People from the Classic of Mountains and Seas to fight a great battle and defeated them.

Lu Gang's expression was solemn and serious, and his glasses gave him a professional air.

"However, according to research, it is very difficult to truly kill such beings as the Muke."

"They are based in that strange region of Taoshan Island. After they are killed, they are very likely to be recreated there."

Then came the Taoshan Island incident.

But regardless of the origin of all these things—the Double Pupil Virus, the later-appearing Wood Guest Virus, the demons that are like mythical rules, and everything that happened on Taoshan Island.

All of these are inextricably linked to a key figure named Li Jun, but at this moment, this person has disappeared.

End of the meeting.

Luo Zhen, the commander-in-chief of the Taoshan Island incident, caught up with Lu Gang and chatted about other things for a while.

Then he suddenly asked Lu Gang, "What kind of person do you think Li Jun is? Will he come back?"

Lu Gang thought for a moment: "It might be a bit of an exaggeration, but in my eyes, he seems like a lone hero."

Luo Zhen: "With the addition of 'lone wolf,' it's hard to say whether your evaluation is good or bad."

Lu Gang returned home and saw his daughter, who had just started her vacation, sitting on the sofa with several classmates, watching videos of the Muke incident on their phones.

"real or fake?"

"Look!"

"Isn't it amazing?"

"Have you heard? Taoshan Island has disappeared. They say it's related to this matter?"

"That's too unbelievable. Even if someone is incredibly powerful, how could they make such a large island disappear?"

"I heard that there might be some secret base on the island, so it was sealed off."

"Exactly. If superhumans really existed, how could they be so low-key? If I had superpowers, I could do whatever I wanted."

"Homelander, right!"

"Hahahaha!"

As Lu Gang passed behind the sofa, watching the video of Li Jun fighting against a group of wooden craftsmen, he was reminded of what had happened on the island.

Lu Gang picked up his water glass and fell into deep thought.

"Can Li Jun, who disappeared along with Taoshan Island, really come back?"
-
The light in the distance grew increasingly blinding.

The surrounding space became increasingly distorted and abnormal. Li Jun walked through the peach grove and gradually approached the light.

"Is that the Peach Blossom Spring in that depths?"

"And what is Peach Blossom Spring?"

Suddenly, Li Jun felt a strong wave of drowsiness wash over him.

Li Jun's gaze began to overlap: one was the light he was looking at deep within the peach grove, and the other was a view from a high place overlooking the earth.

Since it wasn't the first time he'd experienced something like this, Li Jun naturally knew what was about to happen.

Why did they come at this time?

There wasn't even a sign.

Li Jun found a tree, sat down under the peach tree, and fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, he was transported back to the ancient, barbaric era.

He stood atop the Kunlun Mountains once again.

Looking down the mountain, the wind blows for thousands of miles; looking at the vast expanse of clouds in the sky.

He turned his gaze slightly and saw the large tree beside him, which had been transformed from a human. It was much more lush and taller than when he left.

He carefully observed the trees.

Sure enough, it was somewhat similar to the sacred tree we saw on Taoshan Island.

However, that sacred tree was much larger than this tree, and its strangeness and power were many times greater.

He had many mysteries to solve, but he couldn't just ask the tree and expect it to tell him the answers.

at this time.

The tree suddenly spoke.

"emperor!"

"You are awake."

(End of this chapter)