Council of Elders (1)

Before her were still green meadows and forests. Mi wondered if she was hallucinating, or perhaps the conversation she had just heard was something she imagined. She stared again at the two people who had drifted into the silent forest from the river. The forest barrier that had been blocking Mi had no effect on them; they flew in without any hindrance.

"Hello, I am El, your guiding witch," the silver-haired El spoke again.

"The Witch's Forest? The Guiding Witch?" Mi gave up trying to decipher the words of the person who called herself El. She looked up at the void, her hand still reaching for the barrier that blocked her way. Suddenly, she turned and left, her voice echoing from the depths of the forest: "Whatever you want from me, I tell you, it's impossible. I have nothing to give you." Mi hid behind the purple flower umbrella, pondering everything that had suddenly happened: "Who are they? Why are they here? How did they get through that barrier? Why can they see her?"

“She’s a very wary witch,” Al said, turning to Joe, who was half a step behind.

"She suspects you." Joe pursed his lips angrily.

“Joe, she’s just a novice witch and hasn’t learned any skills yet.”

“But I have never doubted you.” Joe looked at El with his round, cat-like eyes, which were filled with trust and affection.

“Oh, Joe,” Al laughed, “you don’t believe me because of the witch’s intuition; you just like my face.”

“I, I—no, that’s not true,” Joe blushed and mumbled, “Okay, I forgive her.”

"You'd be unhappy if she trusted me like you do," El said with a laugh. "Let's go take a look."

“El,” Joe stepped forward and grabbed her, “don’t fall in love with her.”

"Joe, you have to believe in yourself."

Mi quietly opened a petal and peeked out, watching the two people who had suddenly appeared walk together, one after the other, towards the center of the forest. The woman named Joe carefully held El's little finger, swaying it joyfully like a little daughter holding her mother's little finger.

This El looks like a foreigner, like a Greek sculpture, and you can't tell her age. How could she have such an Eastern daughter? Mi sat among the flowers, biting her finger, pondering. Could she be mixed-race? No, that woman in pink with black hair is clearly Asian; judging from her attire, she's probably Chinese. Mi continued to peer at the two women. El wore a white robe in the style of ancient Greece, like a beautiful priestess in a temple, dazzlingly beautiful; Qiao wore a modified Republic-era dress, a fitted pink top with a straight pleated skirt, shimmering with a pinkish-white light, and blue embroidered shoes peeking out from under the skirt. She followed gracefully behind El, like a lady from a wealthy family.

Mi felt a moment of disorientation. This Qiao seemed like a young Liu Xuehua who had stepped out of a Qiong Yao drama, except for Qiao's girlish attire and slightly old-fashioned double buns. El strode forward, and Qiao followed with light, quick steps. The two would stop from time to time to point at something and talk softly. Their voices reached Mi's ears, and she peeked out from among the flowers, wanting to get closer but afraid of being discovered.

At the heart of this forest stands an exceptionally enormous tree. Scattered among the ground are several stones, the only patch of bare earth in the entire forest. The black soil and scattered stones resemble the remnants of some mysterious ritual. Mi lingered here several times, trying to find traces of life in this peculiar place—the carvings on the stones, the patterns on their arrangement. Mi even considered digging up the soil to see why nothing grew here; above the stones, the gray sky and the outstretched branches of the giant tree beside it, its broad green leaves unable to conceal the gray clouds above the forest.

Al and Joe sat down on a large rock in the center of the forest, quietly waiting for Mi to appear. Mi quietly hid behind them. They had just glanced at the flowers where Mi was hiding. The flower bed was soft and comfortable. Mi yawned and fell asleep.

"El, what should we do?" Joe looked at the tightly closed flower.

“We’ll wait for her to come out.” El rested her head on her hand, looking somewhat tired. “Joe, I need to rest for a while.” El and Joe crawled into a huge purple flower, which immediately closed its petals, refusing to let anyone peek in.

"She's hiding from us. Are we too late?" Qiao Zhonghua poked her head out from among the flowers. She was surveying the forest, but apart from the tightly closed flowers, there was no one else in sight.

“It’s alright, she’ll come out.” El yawned sleepily, curled up in the heart of the flower, and fell into a deep sleep. Joe watched El sleep, stayed by her side for a while, and then peeked out to observe her. Joe couldn’t resist any longer. She stepped out and knocked open a purple flower stamen. A head with a full head of white hair peeked out, and a hoarse yet loving voice of an elderly person rang out: “Joe, welcome back.”

"Elder, where is the newborn witch?" Joe looked at the old man in front of her. The elder looked even more haggard than the last time she saw him. Had he not rested properly all these years?

“You’re asking about the newborn witch?” The elder smiled slightly. “A very lively witch has come to the forest. She’s very active and has woken me up too many times. But she’s too fast, and I don’t know where she is. Perhaps you can find her.”

“No, Elder.” Qiao blushed slightly. “El is her guiding witch.”

"El is back too?" The elder peeked his head out.

“We came back together. El is resting.” Joe thought for a moment and said honestly, “We were being chased outside. In order to get back, El burned a World Leaf. Burning the World Leaf consumed too much of El’s energy.”

"Joe, don't worry, El will be fine soon." The elder pulled his head back in. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, Elder, you should rest well." Qiao hesitated for a moment, then bid farewell to the Elder. She sat quietly above the forest, staring blankly at the gray clouds.

When Mi woke up again, El and Joe were no longer in the forest. She started sprinting again, back the way El and Joe had come in. Mi clearly remembered that the two of them had left ripples on the surface of the river like raindrops passing through water; that section of the canopy must have been the exit.

Mi began to retreat, crouching down to run and sprint, rushing towards the riverbank again and again, hoping that one time she could break through the barrier and enter the world outside the television screen, or fall into the river with a splash and be swept away by the current. Each time, Mi retreated further, ran faster, and jumped higher. But she was repeatedly blocked; she felt like a lump of dough thrown against a wall, slowly sliding to the ground. The soft grass on the riverbank gently caressed her body, comforting her futile efforts, until she was exhausted and could no longer try. Mi began to change direction, tirelessly rushing towards the river from different directions. One moment she felt she could never get up again, and the next she was standing in the middle of the forest, sprinting once more. If the barrier could make a sound of obstruction, the forest would be filled with a continuous series of "bang, bang, bang" crashes.

Finally, El, dressed in white, emerged from the flowers and sat down beside Joe. A bright line ran along the headband on El's chest. El placed the headband in Joe's hand, and Joe could finally see Mi's ceaseless running figure, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes stopping, sometimes moving, like a pendulum that would never stop.

Joe watched for a while before saying, "El, are we really not going down? She keeps running. No wonder the Elder said she keeps disturbing their rest; she's so energetic, she just can't stop for a moment. Why is she running in that direction?"

“That’s where we came in. Does she think we’ve gone out?” El was also looking at Mi. “Come on, let’s go down.” Once El and Joe were seated on the large rock in the center of the forest, Mi felt a force pulling her towards the heart of the forest. Mi tried to break free of this force but failed, and had to give up struggling, drifting with the pull to the rock opposite El. At this moment, Mi finally saw a cloud of mist condensing on the rock. Staring at the gray mist before her, Mi realized it was her body; she was no longer transparent. These rocks truly possessed magic. She had climbed these rocks countless times, never managing to stay on them before, but now, simply sitting on them, her form was revealed.

"Who are you? Did you come in from outside? Can you take me out? What do you want?" Mi heard herself asking one question after another. She lowered her head, trying to find her body. She raised her hand, wanting to touch the mouth that was speaking.

“As you can see, I am a witch.” El smiled gently at Mi. “This is the Witch Forest.”

"Am I alone here, or are there other people here, hmm, or the witch you mentioned?" Mi looked around. She saw El and Joe floating in from the river; they could fly. Mi looked at the invisible dome above the river, a secluded space. She looked up at the gray clouds in the sky, behind which many pairs of eyes were hidden.

"Elders, come out." As El spoke, a large group of people walked over. One, two, three, four... Mi looked at the suddenly appearing crowd, and everyone greeted her with smiles, "Hello, little witch." "Welcome, newborn."

The silent forest was suddenly filled with noise, a cacophony of sounds and a sense of crowding. Startled, Mi kicked her feet and climbed back up the giant tree, hiding behind the leaves. How could so many people suddenly appear in this forest? Were they all witches? No, there were men and women in the crowd below. Where did they come from? Why hadn't she seen them all these days?

Mi stared at the crowd below, counting them one by one. There were thirteen people in total, dressed in strange clothes, mostly robes, but some wore metallic armor and tight-fitting bodysuits. They took wine glasses from El and sat on the rocks, drinking and chatting as if they were old friends reunited, exchanging news.

"El, where did you go this time?" The speaker was an old man with a white beard. Mi stared at the crowd below who were starting to reminisce. These people were men and women, young and old, with black and white hair. The only thing they had in common was that they were all very beautiful, with clear and wise eyes, elegant manners, and charming demeanor. Not one of them looked like a strange witch.

“Elder, we went to the Sea Kingdom,” Joe replied from the side. “There are also long-lived species there.”

"Did you see the longevity species this time?" The elder handed a glass of wine to Qiao. Mi craned his neck to see if the wine was a dark liquid and if there were any long-legged insects in it.

“No,” Joe hesitated for a moment before saying, “El said that long-lived creatures only appear when they encounter specific people.” The wine glass in Joe’s hand had a beautiful pattern, and the orange-red liquid inside almost smelled sweet.

"I didn't see her this time either," the elder muttered regretfully. He looked up at Mi: "Little witch, are you coming down?"

"Little witch—are you talking about me?" Mi pondered to herself. "Although your white hair and long beard make you look old, I'm not young either." Mi hesitated for a moment, then opened her hand, letting a cloud of gray smoke fall like a parachute. The people made way for a rock, and Mi sat quietly on it, staring into their eyes. She wanted to know what she looked like in their eyes, because all she saw was a cloud of smoke, and their eyes were bright as stars, radiant with light.

"Have you always lived in this forest? Are you witches too?" Mi asked the group of people in front of her in a low voice.

“Yes, child, we are all witches,” a strikingly beautiful woman said with a smile. “We are the elders of the Witch Forest.” She pointed to an old man with a white beard and said, “That’s the eldest elder, I’m the second, this serious old man is the third, this scarred grandmother is the fourth, this red-haired warrior is the fifth, this noble queen is the sixth, this poor little white-haired man is the seventh… and this black-haired young man is the thirteenth.”

Mi looked around at the group of people. Apart from the white-haired old man and a black-haired boy who appeared to be men, everyone else was a woman. Mi glanced at the white-haired old man again and again, then secretly peeked at the black-haired boy for a long time, making sure both of them had Adam's apples, before whispering, "Are you really witches?"

"Second brother, don't tease her." A serious woman spoke up beside the beautiful woman. "This is the Forest of Witches. Witches are different from humans. Witches have no gender."

Mi looked at the people in front of her; there were clearly both men and women. She opened her mouth, unsure what to say. Al and Joe had walked in from outside the glass enclosure, so where had these thirteen people come from? Or had they been hiding in this forest, observing her?

“Child, don’t be deceived by her.” The beautiful woman chuckled. “Child, we were all once human. What you see is what we looked like as human beings. Child, are you a man or a woman? Do you want to be a male witch or a female witch?”