Chapter 113: The Glance Back at That Moment

Everything in this tribe was good, and the people living here were tolerant and open-minded. The lines on everyone’s faces were soft at all times; there was no coldness and no gloom. This was simply an ideal nation that only existed in dreams.

People did not need to worry about food, nor did they grieve over death. In the eyes of the people in the tribe, death was merely returning to the embrace of the Mother Goddess, and it was something worth being happy about.

The World Tree was there at every moment, watching the lives of her people, but not a single person in the tribe had ever truly reached the foot of the World Tree. Therefore, in the eyes of the people, the Mother Goddess was the greatest and most mysterious existence in the world.

But there was one bad thing about the people here, or at least something Lin Lei was not satisfied with. Everyone here had an almost instinctive rejection of Lin Lei, who had black hair and black eyes.

No matter how happy the people in the tribe were the moment before, as soon as Lin Lei appeared, everyone would put away their smiles and walk away silently.

Lin Lei found this phenomenon very strange. He shouldn’t be that annoying, right? Could it be that his black hair naturally clashed with these people’s silver hair?

Puzzled, Lin Lei could only go ask the elders of the tribe.

This tall, thin old man did not immediately answer Lin Lei’s doubts. He just walked to the window, looked at the distant World Tree, and said, “Young man, can you tell me your views on our Mother Goddess?”

Of course, he had views, and many of them, but as soon as Lin Lei opened his mouth and the words reached his lips, he forced himself to swallow them back.

This old man was a believer, and it did not seem appropriate to arbitrarily comment on his god in front of him.

“It is fine, you may speak. Faith is my faith, and you have your freedom!” The old man smiled and dispelled Lin Lei’s hesitation.

Even so, Lin Lei still chose his words carefully. He pondered for a few minutes before saying, “She is a World Tree, full of the aesthetic beauty of natural order.”

The tribal elder laughed and said, “You are very cautious, but you have also stated the greatest characteristics of my Mother Goddess: nature, order, and balance. This is also the cause our tribe pursues all our lives.”

“The people of the tribe have very long lifespans. This is the care the Mother Goddess shows us. We can afford to wait hundreds of years. Hehe, look at me, I am just an old man, but I am already 734 years old. Even my granddaughter, Mona, has passed her hundredth birthday this year.”

“Our lifespans are too long, so some things are hard to forget. More than four hundred years ago, there was another young man who came here. He also had black eyes and black hair. He was powerful, more powerful than all the warriors in our tribe combined.”

Lin Lei was very interested in this. Judging by the tribe’s attitude toward him, that predecessor must have done something outrageous, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been remembered for hundreds of years.

“He was a strong man, but he did not have the heart of a strong man. He squandered his power at will and destroyed large areas of this forest.”

“Then why did he do that?” Lin Lei asked strangely. In his view, this had no meaning at all.

The old man shook his head, with a trace of pain in his eyes: “No one knows why he did that. In that disaster, countless people died. In our current tribe, most people have relatives or friends who died because of him. We do not fear death, but we hate the act of forcibly depriving others of their lives. So, you are not welcomed by the people in the tribe because you are implicated by that person from hundreds of years ago.”

Lin Lei did not feel very depressed. He was now interested in the person the old man mentioned. According to his understanding, anyone who dared to challenge the authority of a Pan-dimensional Creature should also be a Pan-dimensional Creature themselves.

Lin Lei had seen one Pan-dimensional Creature with black eyes, the Dark Saint was like that. His eyes were black enough, without even any whites.

“So, what happened later? Did that destroyer leave?”

“He left. The Mother Goddess personally took action and drove him out of this world, and she also healed the world’s wounds, but those memories of hatred remained.”

At this point, Lin Lei could confirm that that guy was a Pan-dimensional Creature. Even someone as powerful as the World Tree could only drive him away but could not destroy him. This was enough to show that the opponent was of equal status.

Thinking of this, Lin Lei’s desire to meet the World Tree became more urgent. He now had many doubts that needed answers, and he needed to thank this savior who had actually saved his life, no matter what.

“So, when will your Mother Goddess summon me? I do not belong to this world, and I do not want to stay here for too long.” Although Lin Lei knew the likelihood of the other party knowing this was small, he still asked with a glimmer of hope.

The old man turned back and said gently to Lin Lei, “You came at a very coincidental time. The annual Bonfire Festival will be held in half a month. People from thousands of kilometers around will rush to an open forest a hundred li away from here to celebrate the coming of the new year. Hundreds of thousands of people will sing and dance to their hearts’ content. Others may not know, but I know that for such a lively scene, the Mother Goddess will also send an incarnation to participate. At that time, whether you can meet her or not depends on your luck.”

Lin Lei listened in stunned silence for a long time. This Pan-dimensional powerhouse really knew how to have fun with the people. Based on what he had seen and heard these past few days, Lin Lei’s understanding of the World Tree had deepened.

This Pan-dimensional Creature was peaceful, tolerant, and adhered to her own path of nature. Her actions and the methods she adopted were relatively very gentle.

Just like now, she provided a comfortable living environment for all the people in the Forbidden Domain. Her kindness also affected every creature in the Forbidden Domain, even the wild beasts.

The people in the Forbidden Domain were just as Laozi said, without desires or demands. The social structure was also an unchanging primitive tribal form, with no development and no competition.

This Forbidden Domain world had been like this for millions of years. As long as the Pan-dimensional Creature continued to exist, there would be no change in the foreseeable future.

The World Tree possessed powerful strength but used it on this kind of self-amusement similar to children playing house. This way of thinking made Lin Lei feel it was hard to understand.

The Bonfire Festival between the tribes approached day by day amidst Lin Lei’s doubts. Finally, the tribe Lin Lei was in also began to set off.

But this setting off was not just simply walking. Since it was a Bonfire Festival, and given this world’s low productivity, the fuel for the bonfires could only be dry branches and withered leaves. Everyone patiently and carefully scavenged for dry branches along the way.

This was an annual cleanup. Removing these withered branches was considered clearing the burden from these big trees, and it also ensured the safety of people walking on the trees.

The location for the Bonfire Festival was not far, only a few hundred li, just a few hours’ journey. When everyone from the tribe arrived, they found that many people had already arrived at this open space in the forest.

As each tribe arrived, the tribe members immediately scattered and merged together. There were no barriers between them, and they greeted each other like old friends. Almost everyone could call out the others’ names. One had to know, this was not a small scene of dozens of people, but a grand festival of hundreds of thousands of people!

The tribal elder who had been by Lin Lei’s side smiled and explained Lin Lei’s confusion: “In our daily lives, besides picking fruits and hunting necessary wild beasts, everyone just chats together and visits each other. After hundreds of years, there are very few people who do not know each other. Coupled with the exchange at this annual festival, it is hard to stay strangers.”

In just half a day, this open space covering more than ten square kilometers was filled with people standing everywhere. The men of the tribe quickly lit the bonfires.

At this moment, the pale green light emitted by the World Tree slowly dimmed and finally disappeared. The bonfires in the venue became the only source of lighting at this time.

The people in the Forbidden Domain might have been used to this change and did not think it was strange, but Lin Lei witnessed the power of the Pan-dimensional Creature once again.

According to the tribal elder, the bonfire parties of all tribes in this world were held at the same moment. And for the Forbidden Domain spanning several Light Years, how many places were there with a radius of thousands of kilometers? And how many places were holding grand bonfire festivals?

The number was undoubtedly unimaginably huge. Yet, this World Tree could completely ignore the issue of the speed of light and carry out unified timing control, while also sending some kind of incarnation to every bonfire gathering. This ability was something Lin Lei could not hope to match.

In comparison, calling her a Deity seemed only natural. The more he understood about Pan-dimensional Creatures, the more incredible he felt they were.

In the open grounds, thousands of bonfires were lit at this moment, scattered across the square like stars.

Looking over, they were like shining orange stars, and among these stars, figures flickered, and singing rose and fell, ceaselessly ringing in the ears.

In this dim atmosphere, everyone’s faces became blurred, and everyone’s figures were hidden in the firelight. Lin Lei walked among them as if he were walking in blurred time. It was a very wonderful feeling.

At this moment, Lin Lei no longer cared about who the people around him were. He just followed the guidance of his intuition to shuttle through this carnival crowd. He passed through countless crowds and crossed countless bonfire piles, relying only on the hunch in his heart that felt like an impulse.

Finally, Lin Lei pushed aside the last group of people, revealing a cluster of bright bonfires. Lin Lei instinctively wanted to walk through and continue forward.

At the last moment, he stopped his figure and looked back. He saw a woman wearing a pale green silk dress standing quietly in the dim light of the bonfire. She had bright eyes and white teeth, a graceful figure, and was shrouded in infinite soft light.

She just stood there quietly, standing in that dimly lit place, looking at Lin Lei with a faint smile.

“World Tree…” Lin Lei’s heart was inexplicably filled with emotion, for this scene, for this gentle person, and for this miracle of life!