Leaving (1)

In the Fallen Leaf Valley, Mi found a tree trunk perfect for making bows and arrows—it was both flexible and strong. She also stole two deer sinews from Karin's runaway bride's storeroom and crafted a small bow. After stealing the sinews, Mi secretly observed Karin for several days, discovering that Karin hadn't noticed anything missing from her storeroom. Karin almost subconsciously hoarded supplies, never thinking to check her inventory. Perhaps due to her long period of solitude, Karin couldn't imagine that someone (a witch) would covet her two unused deer sinews.

The climate in Fallen Leaf Valley is pleasant, with indistinct seasons. It's never too cold—Mi has never seen snow—nor too hot—and there are almost no violent storms. The vegetables Karin plants sprout in a few days, have tender seedlings in half a month, and are ready for harvest in a month. Karin doesn't need to worry about food; as long as she keeps planting, she'll keep reaping the harvest. Sometimes Karin carries a vine basket into the Misty Forest. It's here that Mi finally discovers why Karin collects deer tendons: to avoid getting lost, she uses deer tendons to create a path home. The path is marked with chisels and axe marks to prevent it from being covered by weeds after a long period of inactivity. Karin obtains the vines and hemp she needs for clothing from the Misty Forest. She has also learned dyeing; the Misty Forest's resources are sufficient for her needs.

Mi peeled a piece of rock off a pile of stones in the Fallen Leaf Valley and used it to polish a dozen small arrows. Sometimes Mi would stop what she was doing and say to El and Joe, who were watching her, "This is how primitive people moved from the jungle to the plains. Now I will also move towards the world in the same way."

El thought for a moment and asked, "How did you come up with the idea to do this?"

"What else should we do?"

"Huh?" El was stunned. She had left the Misty Forest with the guide. The forest was full of herbs, seeds, and fruits, so she had no worries about supplies. There were also large animals in the forest, but as long as the shaman concealed herself, these animals wouldn't be able to find them. El realized she had fallen into a mistake, or had given Mi the wrong guidance: "You can come with us to the outside world. We were all led out by the guide."

“No need. I think being a primitive person is fine too. If I have the chance to try it myself, why not take this opportunity?” Mi raised his head. “Since it was the shaman who made it possible for people to leave their habitat, then I should repeat the path my ancestors walked.”

"You should know that the path you are about to take is not the path that humans have taken before."

“What does it matter?” Mi stopped what she was doing and examined the polished stone flake against the light. She squinted and said, “I think Karin’s stone knife was polished in the same way. Over there—” Mi pointed to the cliff outside the valley, “the stones there are particularly useful. I can even make a stone axe from them. These stones must contain some kind of mineral, making them strong and sharp.”

El and Joe looked at the bow and arrow, stone knife and axe that Mi had made and told her, "You can take out and use everything in the witch's headband."

"I don't know why you two stare at me like I'm in a circus every day?" Ever since Mi started making handicrafts, El and Joe have been following her around all day, studying the various things she makes.

“Mi, it’s my responsibility to get you out of here.” El looked at the ever-increasing amount of supplies piled up in front of the valley; Mi had no way to take these things with her.

“No way,” Mi glanced at Qiao and said meaningfully, “I’m afraid I’ll get a sty if I follow behind you two.”

"What nonsense are you spouting now?" Qiao said embarrassedly. "Young lady—" She started to speak but then realized her mistake and quickly changed her tone. "Young lady, you need to broaden your horizons so you won't be fooled."

“Oh ho—” Mi drawled, “Little girl, you should broaden your horizons! How many people have you met? I,” Mi looked down at herself and smiled, “Although I haven’t met many people, I’m a bit older than you, so I’m definitely more experienced than you. I’m more than capable of teaching you.”

"You know, back in my day, there were films specifically made for this kind of thing, like the porn movies you're thinking of. Real sex, whatever flavor you wanted, whatever pose you wanted, whatever race you wanted. They say Europeans have really big...things. Have you seen them in France? The French are so romantic, you know."

Mi lowered her head and continued her work, thinking to herself that Joe had traveled halfway around the world, so why was he still so childish? Not to mention, what hadn't he seen while following El? The Second Elder had taught him many bedroom arts, but those were all for pleasing men. Teaching women to be weak and unbearable was far more effective than teaching a young girl's fragility and adoration; it aroused a man's sense of accomplishment and conquest more than a little girl. Joe, perhaps influenced by the Second Elder, acted like a little girl all the time, which was completely against El's taste.

"Ugh, what are you saying? What are you saying?" Joe, his face flushed and furious, dragged El away, leaving Mi standing there laughing.

"Hey Joe, do you really not want to learn from me? I know beatboxing," Mi shouted, enticing Joe as he hurried away. "Don't you want to know how to please El even more?"

Joe fled in panic. When El saw Mi again, her expression was somewhat complicated. She said to Mi, "The witch no longer has a body, so don't use human methods."

While working, Mi laughed and replied, "I'm not a child, how could I not know what's going on?" El could only shake his head and leave. Much later, Mi finally understood what El's shake of the head meant. After becoming a witch, all her feelings were given to her by others; Mi didn't know if this could be considered a punishment for her long life.

When Karin, who had run away from her marriage, was harvesting oats again, Mi carried the bag he had prepared for a long time: a water bag made of deerskin that he had taken from Karin, a deerskin bag that he had slung across his shoulder, a bow and arrow made of wood that he had picked in the Fallen Leaf Valley, straw sandals made of grass that he had pulled from the grass in the witch forest, and dried tomatoes that he had stolen from Karin's yard.

While Karin was asleep, Mi used her pot to boil a pot of water from the Lost River, let it cool, and put it into a water bag, preparing it little by little like ants carrying food.

Mi cut his hair short, and the ear-length bob made him look younger and more handsome. After many days of diligent practice, Mi felt that he had gained a lot of muscle and was much stronger than when he was on Earth.

“You can adjust the length of your hair yourself,” El couldn’t help but remind Mi as she cut her hair with a stone knife, making it look like it had been chewed by a dog.

“I have to adapt eventually. Can I change the length of my hair freely when I’m outside?” Mi watched as the falling hair slowly clumped together, then turned into smoke and wrapped around her again: “Once a person develops laziness, it slowly becomes a habit.”

Al pondered Mi's words quietly before walking away with Joe. Mi continued taking things from Karin's storeroom: coarse hemp thread, fine linen, and whole pieces of lambskin. Mi made a hammock out of hemp rope, and Joe helped tie the knots. Once the hammock was finished, Al moved it to the Witch Forest and hung it between two trees of thought. Al and Joe both eagerly climbed up, like two children fighting over a toy.

When Mi returned from her work, she would see El and Joe sleeping peacefully in the hammock. Mi sighed, went to Karin's warehouse, and got another ball of twine. She then dutifully remade a hammock. Mi's hammock was simple and practical, with two detachable rope ends left at each of the four corners.

Al and Joe's hammock grew increasingly ornate. Joe tied countless different Chinese knots and hung small decorations around it. For some reason, Mi suddenly recalled the scene in "The Story of the Jade Bracelet" where Xue Xiangling was meticulously choosing her embroidered shoes. Joe decorated the hammock with the same care and attention to detail as if she were embroidering shoes, ultimately arranging it perfectly, making it exquisite, ingenious, and magnificent. Al and Joe, lying on it, looked even more like two delicate porcelain dolls.

Mi made herself a loose-fitting top, a pair of neat trousers, a sturdy and durable leather belt, and a pair of sheepskin boots. Mi's craftsmanship was getting better and better, and she was becoming more and more like a hunter.

After finishing setting up the hammock, Joe followed Mi to learn how to sew. Mi's skills—well, let's not even go there—were good at it. Luckily, Mi was clever; she first conjured a set on herself, then took it off, laid it on linen, and cut it out with a stone knife. Joe felt embarrassed by Mi's honesty and quietly turned and left. El, on the other hand, followed Mi the whole time, even making two loose robes for herself and Joe. Joe happily changed into the robes and showed them off in front of Mi. Mi was busy sewing, seemingly oblivious to Joe's efforts. El laughed at Joe, saying that her "pretty eyes" were just for show. Mi stopped what she was doing, sighed, and said, "What kind of nonsense have you learned from Joe? You can't just use 'pretty eyes' like that."

El tidied up the scraps of fabric that Mi had cut off and helped Mi sew a button: "Joe will miss you."

"You guys?" Mi lowered her head and continued sewing the sleeves. "Didn't you say there was danger outside? How come Qiao is still so naive? Aren't you afraid she'll be sold out and still be counting the money for the seller?"

“He,” El thought for a moment, “I understand. I’ve always taken on things myself in the past, but I won’t anymore. I think there was something wrong with the way we traveled before. We should learn to be human before we learn to be witches.”

Sometimes Mi would take his bow and arrows to hunt in the Misty Forest. After catching a rabbit, he would steal seasonings from Karin, who had run away from her arranged marriage, and roast it in Fallen Leaf Valley. El and Joe watched silently as Mi casually took and used Karin's belongings while they ate.

“Next time we’ll go to the forest with you,” El stopped Mi from taking things from Karin again and again. “You should also learn some herbal medicine and how to identify minerals.”

“Okay, okay,” Mi surrendered, holding up the rabbit leg. “I’ll learn, I’ll learn, alright?” She sighed. “El, will all this stuff you’re talking about be useful outside? Don’t protect Karin like a mother protecting her cub. Have you seen how much she’s collected that’s practically overflowing? Instead of focusing on me taking her things, you should be concerned about her mental health.” Mi stopped. “Karin is collecting resources almost pathologically now. This isn’t right, El, this is very wrong.”

“Karin will get old and unable to move one day. What will we do if we don’t collect more then?” Joe clearly agreed with Karin’s decision to elope.

“Joe, Karin has never stopped to rest,” Mi sighed. Joe was still too young. “The weather in Fallen Leaf Valley is particularly comfortable, without storms or snow that force Karin to rest. As the old saying goes, spring sowing, summer growth, autumn harvest, and winter storage. Karin has been working all the time, which is not right. People can’t live without rest.”

“You’re right,” El looked up at Karin’s cabin, “but no one can help her if she doesn’t want to go out. Karin came here with deep fear and a sense of loneliness; she felt she had nowhere to go.”

“This damned world,” Mi complained, “how come there are situations in every world that leave women with no way out?”

“Mi, it’s not just women who are struggling in this world, but everyone is,” Joe tried to comfort her.

"Oh, when I complain about how unfair the world is to women, you, as a man, had better not say a word." Mi didn't want to pay any attention to Qiao, even though Qiao was dressed in a gentle, sweet, and cute way.

Each time Mi emerged from the Witch Forest, she would gaze at the sky above the forest, wondering what lay beyond that high, unreachable horizon. Now that the barrier that had impeded her was gone, Mi felt a pang of nostalgia. If the barrier were still there, she could have climbed along it from the outside all the way to the top of the forest; that shell had once been both an obstacle and a boundary. Now, it felt more like she was entering a larger, more expansive experimental chamber from a smaller one, and this time, Mi had to figure it out on her own.

"Mi, don't think about returning to your sea of ​​consciousness," El warned Mi when he noticed her staring at the sky above the forest once again.

Mi withdrew her gaze and said to El and Joe, "There was a great scientist on Earth who said—when science reaches its limit, we will find that God has been waiting there for thousands of years." She looked into the void again and said softly, "One day we will meet. How will God greet us then, or will we be armed and knocking on God's door?"