Leaving (complete)
Once again, Mi packed her bags and prepared to leave again. El plucked two World Grasses for her: "There are ten World Leaves here, enough for you to wander outside for a very long time."
"Why don't you want me to come back?" There was also a Boundary Grass in Mi's package, with five leaves on it. She took the Boundary Grass and put it in her package.
Seeing that she had just casually tossed the Boundary Grass away, El couldn't help but say, "Keep the Boundary Grass safe. It's essential for your journey through worlds. Without it, you'll be weak and sickly when you return to Earth. There are no dormant flowers outside to help you recover."
“Okay.” Mi took out the witch’s hairband, folded it a few times to make a small sachet, put the boundary grass inside, and then tossed the witch’s hairband into the package: “That way there won’t be any problem, the witch’s hairband won’t separate from me.”
“This time I’m really leaving.” Mi waved her hand and called out to the elders in the Witch Forest, “Elders, I’m leaving. You all get some rest.” Several heads peeked out from the dormant flowers and waved to Mi, finally seeing off this newborn witch.
Before re-entering the Misty Forest, Mi detoured to check on Karin. The commotion she caused last time had kept Karin holed up in the house for days. Since there hadn't been another huge explosion, Karin and Little Dot had gradually returned to normal. Karin was still busily working, like a tireless worker bee. Little Dot looked much older than when Mi first saw her. Mi didn't know what she could do. Everyone has their own confusion and obsessions. Mi decided to wander, while Karin had firmly locked herself into this anchor point.
Mi silently turned and left Karin's cabin, walking along the path Karin had cleared into the Misty Forest. The path Karin had cleared was winding and full of things she needed. Berry bushes were on the left side of the path, already laden with pink berries, with one or two dark purple berries occasionally appearing on the branches, only to be eaten by birds or deer that flew by.
Beyond the berry bushes lay a vast expanse of vibrant flowers, their leaves exceptionally plump. Mi plucked a few leaves, revealing different juices within—these were the sap Karin used for dyeing. Nearby was a large patch of henna; Karin not only dyed her own nails, but also wrapped her dog Dotdot's toes in crushed henna—that was Karin's only time to rest.
Further on, the weeds thickened, and Karin's traces were gradually covered by the forest. The ground was covered with moss, and trees of all sizes grew intertwined. Pieces of light pierced through the gaps in the branches and leaves, making the entire forest dim. The deeper one went, the more humid it became. Moss also grew on the tree trunks, clumps of it crowding the entire trunk, and various fungi thrived beneath the trees. The ground began to soften, and fallen leaves and decaying matter mixed with the soil emitted an indescribable smell—a little sweet, a little sour.
Mi followed the path Karin had cleared into the depths of the forest, where trees of varying heights stood side by side, along with low shrubs, low grasses with serrated leaves, and mottled moss. Completely disoriented, Mi wielded her axe, felled a large tree, and built a wooden hut, intending to rest there for a while and explore the forest thoroughly.
Mi wrapped her clothes in the wooden house and laid them out. She lay down, and her entire body transformed into a black veil once more, spreading outwards from the treehouse. In the nests among the leaves, the baby birds touched the veil, pecked at the air with their beaks, and their mother bird stretched her head over, nuzzling them. The baby birds stopped fussing and fell asleep. The veil weaved through the trees, nests, and tree holes, and a cacophony of sounds arose: "So thirsty!" "So itchy!" "So hungry!" "Bite!" "Eat!" "Mama!"... The most frequent sound was "Mama," and the entire forest cried out for her, the waves of sound making Mi dizzy.
The forest glowed strangely in her eyes, each point of light carrying a sound. For the first time, Mi clearly saw the flow of consciousness. The birds were pinkish-yellow orbs of light, the trees were silky green threads, and there were running red orbs of light—cheetahs chasing their prey. Tender affection, tense anxiety, and various other emotions surged forth, and Mi became a web of emotions. She became the forest, became every life within it, and so many sounds and emotions almost overwhelmed her.
Mi gently turned her head, raised the net, and extended it along the top of the forest. After passing through a broadleaf forest, the terrain leveled out, revealing a clearing with slightly withered grass. The grass, unshaded by trees, was flat and dry, with ants crawling across it and rabbits leaping by. The net continued forward, the reddish-brown soil thickening, the soil varying in shades of yellow, gray, and brown, piled up into mountains, with continuous cliffs connecting one another. Finally, Mi exhausted herself, the net slowly rolled back, and Mi fell into a deep sleep.
The woods were particularly noisy in the morning. The crisp chirping of birds, the running of animals, and the squeaking of conversations woke Mi from her slumber. A little squirrel and two owls appeared outside the treehouse. The squirrel peeked out from a branch, while the owls looked at the newly appeared treehouse with suspicion. Mi rolled up the netting she was taking in, but suddenly she stopped. There was a little mouse under the netting. Mi gently shooed the mouse away, and one owl immediately swooped down, snatched the mouse in its mouth, and the other owl followed closely behind. A sense of pleasure welled up in Mi's mind—the owls' delight at seeing the mouse and their eagerness to find a place to eat after catching it. Mi looked expressionlessly at the netting, now with a large hole torn in it by the owl, and then rolled the netting up completely again.
Once the netting was completely retracted, Mi finally emerged from the forest. She understood what Joe meant by "very noisy"; she also began to understand what El meant by "you'll get lost in the Misty Forest." All night, Mi felt like she was everything in the forest—one moment a tree, the next a bird; one moment cold, the next hungry; one moment tense, the next content; her thoughts were a chaotic jumble. If she experienced a few more nights like this, Mi thought she would probably get lost, lost in this forest, becoming a part of it.
Mi stepped out of the cabin and came face to face with a squirrel peeking out from outside. The squirrel was glowing green and asked her, "Who are you? Where did you come from? Your burrow is very big!"
"Are you talking to me?" Mi was extremely surprised. She could tell what the little squirrel was thinking. The little squirrel wasn't afraid; it was more interested in knowing how many nuts such a large treehouse could hold, and it even wanted to live in that treehouse. The little squirrel was startled by Mi's question. It looked longingly at the little wooden house for a moment, then quickly darted from one branch to another and disappeared among the leaves.
"Don't go!" Mi called out, her hand hovering in mid-air, towards the direction where the squirrel had disappeared. "Once I leave, this cabin will be yours." Mi's shout startled a flock of birds, and a rustling sound of wings flapping filled the air. Black, white, green, and red birds flew through the forest, their nimble movements barely concealed by the dense foliage.
Mi jumped out of the treehouse and sat on the tree stump left on the ground, bright light streaming in from above. The thick fog in the forest began to dissipate, and various sounds and thoughts emerged indistinctly, like a noisy morning market—the sound was immense, yet no single word could be clearly heard. Mi raised her hands to cover her ears, but the sounds still seeped in: "Mommy, Mommy," "Move aside, move aside," "I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty," "It hurts," "You're pressing on me, you're pressing on me."
Mi lowered her head and lifted her foot. Beneath her foot was a snail. The snail retracted its antennae and wobbled forward, its body propelled by the snail's bite. It stopped in front of a small mushroom. "Ouch—ouch," Mi heard a faint sound again. A yellowish, sticky liquid oozed from the bite mark on the mushroom. The snail finally stopped eating. "Bitter, not tasty," it wobbled and continued on its way. Mi froze. She turned to look at the snail, then at the mushroom with the missing piece: "Were you two talking just now?"
A few drops of water dripped from the branch. Mi looked up and saw tiny water droplets gathering under the leaves of the large leaves above the wooden house, scattering a light drizzle around the house. "Delicious, delicious!" "Thank you, Mom!" A soft, baby-like voice rang out again. Mi squatted down and found two saplings next to the mushrooms. They were stretching out their branches and leaves, their curled buds reaching upwards. Suddenly, with a "bang," the leaves burst open, startling Mi so much that she plopped down on the ground. She had heard the sound of plants growing!
Mi reached out her netting to touch the newly sprouted saplings. "Giggle," "Hee-hee," "Itchy"—the soft, rustling sounds rang out again. Startled, Mi scrambled back into the cabin. She didn't know if the forest had come to life or if she was hallucinating; all the creatures in the forest could talk. Mi felt she had to leave the Misty Forest as soon as possible.
After resting for half a day, Mi explored the Misty Forest once more. This time, she changed her strategy. Instead of using a thin veil, she focused on a direction, letting a thin rope dart out, wandering through the forest. She avoided a pile of fresh droppings, swerved around half-eaten prey, and noticed a tree branch laden with bright red berries, their color so vibrant that even small birds flew away from them. Suddenly, Mi stopped in an open area. There, she saw withered yellow grass and brownish-yellow mounds. Above the mounds stretched a continuous mountain range. Mi had to turn her gaze away; the Misty Forest was too vast for her to explore entirely.
The misty forest was dark and damp, filled with the chirping of insects and the scurrying of animals. The forest echoed with the clear calls of birds, the mournful whispers of the wind, and the unique rustling of leaves and branches. All of this made Mi feel truly alive, no longer like a wandering soul being imprisoned and observed. Mi trudged through the soft earth, occasionally encountering twigs and stones that would sting her. She forcefully broke off branches and sank stones deeper into the soil. She exhaled softly, then looked up at the sky through the dense foliage. Slivers of light filtered through the leaves, making the misty forest appear even more dark and mysterious.
Mi lightly leaped onto a branch, surveying her surroundings from above the forest. Above the forest was a clear, azure sky, without a single cloud, and a crimson sun. Mi blinked again to confirm; the blood-red sun hung on the horizon. As the sun set at the edge of the forest, Mi returned to the forest top. A deep blue moon hung in the night sky. This was a completely unfamiliar place. Mi was certain that this wasn't any corner of Earth; this wasn't someone's prank; this was a real and bewildering journey.
The Witch Forest had vanished into the mist, the ever-present fog now only a blurry shadow. Mi looked back at the place that had imprisoned her for countless years; the Witch Forest, shrouded in smoke, had disappeared from sight. Mi turned to look ahead; the dense jungle, the towering trees, the lush greenery—again, the path ahead was obscured. What Mi didn't know was that when she blasted a large hole in the misty forest, the air surged and churned, and the misty forest experienced more than just a hailstorm. The star map that had slumbered above the forest for over two hundred years began to turn again; the gears of fate quietly began to turn; the threads of destiny began to tighten; the twisted text on the ancient parchment scrolls began to burn in the air; a script already written was about to unfold.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
