Chapter 26 Landing on the Island
Hikigaya found himself in the midst of a vast valley, looking around in a daze.
The enormous valley was majestic and awe-inspiring, surrounded by steep, blade-like mountain peaks that rose high into the sky. Under the sunlight, they shimmered with dazzling brilliance.
Hot mountain springs flowed everywhere throughout the valley. These springs converged into a vast body of water in the valley, with a calm and rippleless surface. From the center of this water body, intense light and heat radiated outward. Some unknown entity was recklessly spreading light and warmth throughout this world.
Following this force, he crossed the valley and the steaming lake, feeling the increasing intensity of light and heat around him, continuing forward until he saw that thing—a towering, majestic tree rising from the surface of the water.
More accurately, two towering trees intertwined and climbed together, spewing flames from their lush branches, releasing dazzling halos of light that dyed the surrounding waters a golden-red hue. The overwhelming light and heat cascaded from the great trees like waterfalls, and in the blink of an eye, Hikigaya's figure was completely engulfed.
Then Hikigaya woke up.
He was still on the ferry. There was no sun in the sky now, only a canopy of stars. The bright moonlight and starlight spilled down from the heavens, illuminating the deck.
Apparently, Yomi had done a perfect job in line with his request. Before falling asleep, he had clearly stated that he wanted to be a peaceful and quiet pretty boy.
Now, under the silent night sky, Hikigaya was alone here. In his ears were only the sounds of the ferry moving and the waves lapping against the hull.
"Fusang, huh…"
Hikigaya sat up and looked up at the sky.
The sun, the tree, the water, and the valley—Hikigaya had reason to believe that the divine power he had seized from Di Jun would be fundamentally different from any power he had obtained before.
Never before since killing gods had he encountered such a situation.
In the pre-literate era, modern humans could only interpret information from that time through the pictures carved or painted by ancient humans on rocks or cave walls. These rock paintings revealed the ways of life, spiritual pursuits, and aesthetic tendencies of prehistoric human society. They were a means by which prehistoric people tried to reflect, explain, and transform the world—and were also the earliest pictorial records of humanity's struggle for survival.
A typical motif in China's Helan Mountain rock paintings is the Sun God, and on a piece of pottery from the Longshan culture in Shandong, there is a symbol of the sun shining over the mountain. In particular, the symbol of Mount Juci represents the sun rising from a valley—an early depiction of the mythical "Tang Valley" where the sun rises.
Hikigaya had no doubt that his dream was of the Tang Valley from mythology—the bathing place of the ten suns. The massive tree he had seen was the Fusang Tree, the start and end point of the sun's journey in Chinese solar mythology.
The sun, water, and tree—these three significant elements present together in the dream and integrated as one—reminded Hikigaya of many things.
In ancient times, water was seen as the mother of the sun—it was water that birthed the sun.
The ancient Chinese myths of "the sun rising from Tang Valley" and "setting in Yuyuan" reveal the idea that water is the origin of the sun. In ancient Chinese thinking, this was also linked to their views on life and death. The place where the sun sets was also thought to be the underworld. The Chinese underworld was once called "Huangquan" or "Jiuyuan." The ancients believed that if one could accompany the sun, they could cross the waters of death and attain eternal life.
Flames connected the sun and the tree—wood gives birth to fire, and fire conceals wood. Fire was the incarnation of the sun on Earth, and the tree that harbors fire is the Divine Solar Tree. Through the mythological imagery of "sun—fire—wood," the solar divine tree became the symbol of all three. It was not only the Tree of the Sun, but also the World Tree and Tree of Life. It ignited, influenced, and controlled the sun's rising and setting. At the same time, it was the source of life, bringing fertility and abundance to all things.
Hikigaya had imagined many possibilities, but he never thought the divine power he obtained from Di Jun would be this legendary tree deity from Chinese mythology.
He also hadn't expected the power to awaken in such a way.
"Looks like I was triggered by something…" He chuckled softly, stood up, and his body vanished from where he was, reappearing above the sea.
His feet seemed to step on solid ground.
The next moment, he vanished again. When he reappeared, the ferry was no longer in sight—he had shifted an unknown distance.
This was Set's power.
"Hmm, it's over there…" Eyes closed, Hikigaya quietly sensed the surroundings.
He seemed to hear the rustling of the sacred tree's branches and leaves. From the darkness of the north came a "scent" that only beings from the realm of life and immortality possessed.
It was the aura of a god.
It was also the aura of light, abundance, and reproduction.
Hikigaya couldn't help but murmur in his heart, "What the hell, Di Jun, what kind of divine power is this…"
Not elegant at all!!!
Silently roasting him in his thoughts, Hikigaya continued moving forward.
Since it was his first time using this power, he was very cautious.
He didn't know how much time had passed when a beam of light rose from the surface of the sea—the newborn sun was gradually revealing itself.
The light burst from the sea into the clouds and radiated over the ocean.
Bathed in the morning glow, Hikigaya walked leisurely on the boundless sea, showing no signs of fatigue.
Then he saw the horizon.
At first it was just a monotonous black line, but it quickly grew fuller—the outline of land began to take shape.
It appeared to be a bay, filled with countless islands and reefs—but there was also a city here.
As Hikigaya approached the dock, the reefs disappeared from sight. Many yachts were moored at the dock, and looking along the pier, he could see vast leisure plazas.
What caught Hikigaya's attention even more was that, despite being on the outskirts of the city, the seawater here was so clear it was transparent, showing no trace of pollution.
Hikigaya didn't know what was wrong with him lately—he was finding it harder and harder to tolerate places contaminated by industrial pollution. Every time he saw such a place, he just wanted to summon a flood to calm himself down…
This place was wonderful—he didn't want to flood it at all.
In a good mood, Hikigaya followed the flow of water, stepped onto the dock, and walked toward the city.
It was still early—around seven o'clock—and everything was dark. There were barely any cars on the street, let alone pedestrians.
On the road from the dock to the city, Hikigaya noticed how beautiful the place was. He also saw his first local resident—a man setting up a tripod to take pictures of the sunrise.
However, their encounter wasn't very pleasant. When the man, who seemed to have a refined appreciation for life, saw Hikigaya, his expression was as if he had seen a ghost…
Clearly, Hikigaya had no idea what he looked like right now—he was blindingly radiant, and behind him appeared a halo in the shape of a giant bird in flight…