The Misty Forest (The End)
Mi didn't know how long she had wandered in the Misty Forest, going through pair after pair of straw sandals, but she still couldn't find her way out. Time didn't flow in the Witch's Forest, and Mi hadn't kept track of time since entering the Misty Forest. Upon entering, Mi was exhausted by the countless consciousnesses flowing through the forest, and it took her a long time to learn how to disconnect her consciousness. Her senses and consciousness belonged to two different channels. Mi pondered her witch body again, discovering that what she saw and what she felt were two different operating systems.
Mi severed her connection with the entire forest, disappearing into thin air. A bird returning to its nest flew straight over and crashed into Mi's protective shield. The bird, disoriented, struggled to take off again, only to be blocked once more in mid-air. Mi opened her eyes and watched the frantic bird repeatedly crashing into her shield. Suddenly, she understood what the shield that had been blocking her in the Witch Forest was.
Mi built a small treehouse in the tall tree above where the doe gave birth. During the day, he would find food for the doe and help her fend off predators. At night, Mi would climb to the top of the tree to try to find his way. The stars above were brilliant. Mi had already drawn several star charts. No star stayed in a fixed position; these stars, like the blue moon, moved according to rules that Mi did not understand.
“Mi, the stars will guide you.” El’s voice kept echoing in Mi’s ears as she repeatedly asked how to use the guiding stone. Mi didn’t understand what this meant. She had started observing the stars on her first day in the Misty Forest, but the stars here were so dense and numerous that she couldn’t distinguish any of them, nor could she find a single star to determine her direction.
During the day, Mi would also look for some identifiable herbs according to the booklet El gave her, and spread the herbs on the roof of the treehouse to dry when the sun was shining. In her spare time, she would sit in the tree and observe the world around her.
Scattered among the nearby trees were various bird nests, each containing eggs with different patterns. Mi saw a brightly colored male bird fly in from afar, carrying two small insects in its beak. The female bird was dozing in the nest. The sound of the male bird flapping its wings startled her. The female bird opened her eyes, glanced at the nest, then lowered her head again, becoming increasingly drowsy. Suddenly, she looked up. The male bird stood beside the nest, put down the insects, and nuzzled the female bird's head. The female bird chirped twice, lowered her head, and pecked at the insects a couple of times. She didn't want to eat them. The male bird continued to nuzzle the female bird's head until finally, the female bird ate the insects and crawled out of the nest. The male bird quickly moved in, taking the female's place. Inside the nest were five beautifully patterned eggs; so they were incubating them.
The female bird flapped its wings and flew away. Mi couldn't resist releasing a silken thread to follow her, wanting to see what this expectant mother was up to after leaving her nest. The female bird went to the stream to drink water, ate some black berries from the bushes along the riverbank, and finally took flight, circling and calling out loudly. She changed her posture, circling, soaring, and swooping in the air. She flew for a long time before finally stopping at the water's edge again, drinking and preening her feathers. Another female bird landed beside her, and the two looked at each other and began to chatter. Mi couldn't help but think of her mother at home taking care of her children. Finally, someone had taken over the care of the babies, and she could go out alone to drink milk tea, get beauty treatments, watch movies, and meet friends.
The female bird reeled in the silk thread, while the male remained in the nest. Sometimes he would look down at the eggs beneath him and chirp softly. Sometimes he would shift his body and fold his wings to ensure each egg was safely under him. More often, he would stare at the spot where the female had left, searching for her silhouette in the air. In another tree, in a nest, there was another male bird. He called twice to the male staring at the sky. The two males exchanged a few chirps, then both fixed their gazes on the sky, like two steadfast stones yearning for their wives.
Mi withdrew her gaze. The Misty Forest was teeming with birds, especially noisy during the breeding season. The males vied for attention, feathers falling everywhere. Mi had already collected a large bag of feathers and made a bulging feather pillow. The females always observed from the sidelines, either openly or from behind the grass. When the victor displayed his flaunting dance, the females would emerge from the side and join the male's courtship dance.
"That's wonderful." Mi put her hands under her head. Birds are the most supportive couples, and the sky is the freest place. Every bird has to flap its wings desperately to ensure it can fly. Birds also fight, tearing at each other with their beaks and claws. Finally, a feather drifts down from the sky, and the two sides go their separate ways. Birds with wings are heroes that can never be conquered.
Mi sat up, moved her head to her back and began to ponder how to grow a pair of wings. Her shoulder blades began to protrude, and the water inside sloshed and made a sound. Mi seemed to hear Al and Joe's laughter again: "Even if you're like a bird, you still need to find an anchor point for yourself. Where is your anchor point?"
Mi slapped her protruding shoulder blade back down, lay down, and began to think about her anchor point. She didn't want to go back to the Witch Forest. She had many Boundary Leaves, which could take her to many places. The world was so big, and Mi wanted to see it too.
Anchor Point—Mi thought she was definitely going back to Blue Star; Blue Star was her anchor point. Mi lay down again. Above the Misty Forest was a vast and boundless sky, with white clouds, gray clouds, and clouds edged with gold marching across it in formation. Sometimes they formed continuous cloud mountains, sometimes they stretched into thin veils, and sometimes they lined up in neat little squares. Even the clouds seemed to have a destination, but Mi didn't know where she was going. She smiled at the sky: "Aren't you all curious about where I'm going?" Mi imagined those observers, those who started the experiment, those who captured her—they must be anxiously waiting with pens in hand to record where Mi was headed.
No one disturbed Mi. The animals in the forest were busy breeding the next generation, and the green light of life was everywhere. The flowers were brighter than ever before, and the plants were working hard to take root, sprout, and grow. When the first chick hatched, the area where Mi lived became truly noisy. The chick opened its beak and cried out for help. The male and female birds couldn't stop. Without releasing any spiritual threads, Mi knew that the forest was filled with sounds of "hungry, hungry, hungry" and "tired, tired, tired."
The temporary peace brought Mi a stable life and routine. She rose early like a bird and went to sleep as night fell. Every day, Mi would watch over the fawns for a while before going to find food for the mother. The tender shoots and water plants by the river, still moist, were the best food, containing plenty of water to help the mother deer produce milk. Sometimes Mi felt that this mother and fawn were clinging to her. The mother deer wasn't seriously injured, and Mi had carefully avoided the mother's vital areas, so why didn't she get up to find food? She didn't even leave with her fawn. Didn't she know how dangerous this forest was? What fighting ability could a mother deer that had just given birth have against a tender newborn fawn?
This was, after all, the first time Mi had personally delivered a fawn. At the moment the mother deer gave birth, Mi felt as if she were that mother deer struggling in pain. The pain kept Mi conscious, and the vines binding the mother deer's legs kept her safe. The moment Mi took the fawn out, immense joy filled her mind, and the pain vanished in an instant. Mi felt as if she were holding the whole world in her hands, a brand new world.
Mi had no choice but to become the mother deer's caretaker, taking on the responsibility of looking after her. She provided her with food and water daily, and thankfully, the mother deer showed no signs of postpartum discomfort. As soon as the fawn was born, the mother deer licked it clean with her tongue. When the fawn nursed, the mother would gently lick it. Mi even secretly observed whether the mother deer had enough milk for the fawn while it nursed. Perhaps because Mi helped the mother deer give birth, or perhaps because the mother deer trusted this human who brought her fresh wild grass every day, Mi reached out and poked her nipple, even parting the fawn's mouth to nurse. Watching the snow-white milk fill the fawn's mouth, the mother deer was very docile, not kicking Mi even a few times. The fawn would even lick Mi's hand, as if Mi were its mother too.
Mi built a simple stove in the clearing in front of the mother deer and fired simple earthenware pots and bowls, brewing fruit tea with berries from the forest. The mischievous fawn would always peek over and try to eat from the bowl. So Mi fired a very large bowl for the fawn and poured it full of fruit tea. The fawn tentatively stuck out its tongue, but before it could even take a couple of sips, the mother deer had already opened her mouth and eaten all the fruit. The fawn looked at its mother with wet eyes, and Mi watched the mother and fawn fighting over the food by the stove. At that moment, she felt completely satisfied.
Rice gathered more vines and grass to make the treehouse sturdier and more durable. Rice found large leaves to cover the roof of the treehouse, then layered vines and branches on top. Rice also fired a shovel that was barely recognizable, and kneaded a large pile of yellow mud, covering the roof of the treehouse with the sticky mud. While shoveling mud from a basin, Rice said to the mother deer under the treehouse, "You keep loitering with me, I'm going to fire some tiles to build a real house." The mother deer continued to eat the tender grass and the fruit Rice had gathered, completely ignoring Rice's incessant grumbling.
The Misty Forest was filled with flowers and fruit. Watching the new life constantly emerging and the fruits ripening, Mi figured spring was over. She wondered what summer was like in the Misty Forest. Still clinging to the idea that summer was approaching, Mi searched for more fragrant herbs. The scent of the deer was particularly appealing. The mother deer lingered there, and the mosquitoes were multiplying. Every day, Mi had to burn a large patch of herbs. She even made a wooden shovel and dug a dung pit for the mother deer some distance away. Cleaning up the dung every day was a huge task.
Mi would spend half a day hunting. Since it was difficult to start a fire in the forest, she forgot about the large pieces of meat, only cutting off the tenderest cuts of lamb shoulder and beef tenderloin. She also skinned lambskin or bison hides to make boots and clothes for herself. Mi's straw sandals were eventually exhausted in the misty forest. She cut the lamb shoulder and beef tenderloin into finger-length strips and roasted them on the stove to make jerky. Curious deer would always peek out and sniff the jerky. Remembering that deer are herbivores, Mi went back into the forest to gather many fruits and roast them into jerky as well.
The Misty Forest is filled with fine, long, and resilient grasses. Mi gathers a lot and weaves them into mats, curtains, and door curtains. The fawn grows bigger every day, and Mi's treehouse is increasingly filled with various household items, becoming more and more like a neat little home. Different flowers always bloom in the forest, and every time Mi goes out, she picks a handful to decorate her treehouse.
And so she stayed with the mother deer and her fawn until they left. Mi still didn't know which way to go. The guiding stone on the witch's headband remained motionless; no matter which way the headband turned, the tip of the water droplet always pointed towards the sky above the forest, without any change. Mi couldn't fly up into the sky, and she was completely confused by this guiding stone. Mi looked up at the deep night sky. Behind the countless stars, was there another pair of eyes mocking Mi's whimsical thoughts? Mi lowered her head, a mysterious smile appearing on her face. Come, let us look forward to the day we meet again.
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