Witch Forest
Mi continued wandering through the forest, where thick vines, as thick as fingers, twined around enormous trees. On these vines bloomed huge purple flowers, some with their stamens tightly closed, others in full bloom, revealing delicate white pistils. These flowers trembled slightly as Mi passed by, occasionally opening to reveal a tiny ball of light. When Mi turned to look, the light would retreat back inside. Sometimes, these balls of light would leave the flowers, silently following Mi, disappearing into another flower as she passed by.
Mi, who spent her days wandering the forest, gradually learned to control her speed, how to walk slowly through the forest, and how to teleport to wherever she wanted. Sometimes Mi felt like she was standing in front of a giant screen, her hands swiping the screen according to her will, which allowed her to see every detail of the forest. Her body was outside the screen; this was only what her line of sight could see. Now there was a problem: it seemed that she, along with her vision, was trapped in this forest.
Counting was Mi's only way to stay awake; she counted incessantly. She counted every giant tree growing in the forest, explored every corner of the woods. She was certain that there was no living creature, no life in the forest, like a world composed of still-life paintings. She couldn't feel the passage of time; she felt as if she were constantly walking through a painting. Now, she could almost describe every detail of the painting with her eyes closed.
Mi began to study the tiny flowers in the bushes. Small, white, rice-grain-like flowers adorned the tips, with a few slender leaves, somewhat resembling chives. Beside the chives, in the grass, were also small yellow flowers, as tiny as stars, each with five small, round leaves clustered together beneath it. The ground was covered with palm-length grass, its slender leaves resembling a field of wheat seedlings in spring. Mi couldn't determine her direction; she assumed the place where she found the chives was to the east, fortunately, this was the only patch of chives in the forest.
To the west of the forest, there grows slender, bluish-green flowers. From the center of these slender, bluish-green leaves grow tiny, gourd-shaped blossoms, along with clusters of tightly packed bluish-green berries, no bigger than a fingernail, surrounding a dozen or so tiny fruits barely larger than ants, resembling raspberries. What kind of berries are these? Mi tried to taste them, but failed again. Each failed attempt made Mi realize that she could only see everything in this forest, observe the smallest details, but could not touch, taste, or even smell them. All her senses here were reduced to sight. Sometimes Mi felt as if she were looking at a three-dimensional painting through a screen, viewed from various angles; she herself did not exist within it, the forest merely intercepting her gaze.
To the south of the forest, there are trumpet-shaped red flowers, tiny like a baby's finger. This place is peculiar; the grass is exceptionally low, dotted with numerous trumpet-shaped flowers, like countless tiny red bells scattered among the grass. These flowers and grasses are reflected on the water like a giant oil painting. This section of the river is the most beautiful in the entire stretch, vibrant red and lush green. The river, with the blue sky as its backdrop, paints a carpet of emerald green interspersed with bright red flowers, the clear water like a picture frame. This is the only truly magnificent spot in the forest, where Mihua lingers most of the time. The changing colors, the interplay of light and shadow on the water, and the occasional dark shadow swimming beneath the surface prevent Mihua from succumbing to the forest's eternal silence.
To the north of the forest, the opposite of south, there's nothing particularly special about it, just like the rest of the forest, with giant trees scattered across the meadows. While other places have shrubs and flowers, this place is unremarkable, with only giant trees scattered at different points. Some of these giant trees are entwined with brown vines, which seem to grow from within the trees. Upon closer inspection, one can see that the roots of the vines and the roots of the giant trees are intertwined, some buried underground and some exposed above ground. Some of these vines bear huge purple flowers. When Mi gets tired, she curls up inside these purple flower umbrellas. Every time she does this, Mi quickly falls into a deep sleep, as if she's already home. The petals of the purple flowers are like a soft Simmons mattress and a warm down comforter, always helping Mi drift off to sleep.
Since defining the directions (north, south, east, west) in the forest, Mi no longer gets lost. Sometimes Mi quickly traverses the entire forest, repeatedly moving from the east to the west; sometimes Mi wanders along the river, circling halfway around the north and returning to the south. Mi shuttles back and forth like this, until she tirelessly curls up on any giant tree or blade of grass. Mi gradually begins to doubt everything she sees. Is this an illusion or a dream? Where is she? Where is her body? Mi doesn't know whether she will find a way out first or lose her mind and go mad.
* * *
"Lord, all the cargo and passenger ships of the Flower Kingdom have been detained at the port of the Sea Kingdom." A soldier hurriedly walked in, holding a roll of mail.
"What's going on?" Billis, the 40th city lord of Lincheng, opened the letterbox, pulled out the parchment, and quickly read the contents of the letter: the Queen of the Sea Kingdom had run away from her wedding, and the King of the Sea Kingdom had sealed off the border to search for the bride.
Billis frowned in thought, pacing back and forth in the room for a while before finally looking up and ordering, "Notify Acropolis 40 to strengthen its defenses. Send men to increase patrols along the border, and detain all women. Also, find someone to find out what the new Queen of the Sea Kingdom looks like, and secretly search along the border with a portrait."
"Yes." The soldier came in a hurry and left in a hurry.
The city lord's wife came out from the back hall: "City lord, what do you plan to do?"
“The King of the Sea Kingdom is very wealthy. This time, I’ll make him bleed a lot.” Bilis revealed a calculating smile. “The Sea Kingdom and the Flower Kingdom are bordered by the Flower Kingdom. The King’s bride wants to escape the Sea Kingdom, so she can only enter the Flower Kingdom. Our daughter, Haina, is waiting for money. The King of the Sea Kingdom has seized my merchant ship, and he is the only one who can make up for this loss.”
"I wonder how Haina is doing in Sun City. I'm really worried about her." The city lord's wife looked worriedly in the direction of Sun City. She was voluptuous and beautiful with a curvaceous figure. Her melancholy eyes made her look even more pitiful and delicate.
"You don't need to worry. Every year I send her so much jewelry and money, and tutors. As long as she's not an idiot, she should have already captured Prince Ryan's heart." The city lord embraced his wife, also looking in the direction of Sun City, his eyes filled with calculation and smugness: "My daughter is as beautiful as you. The Billis family has never produced fools. If a miller's daughter can become a queen, why can't my daughter?"
* * *
Ever since Mi oriented the forest according to her wishes, she felt something had changed. She had a vague feeling of being watched, and she felt different gazes sweeping over her. She was puzzled; how could the people outside distinguish her from the air? She stared at the sky above the river, trying to communicate with those observing her, but she couldn't make a sound. She could only repeatedly ask in her mind, "Who are you? Can you see me? Why did you capture me? What do you want?"
The river flowed silently forever. Mi squatted on the riverbank, staring at the clear water. Suddenly, she reached out her hand, wanting to try and scoop up a handful of water. Mi found that an inexplicable force was blocking her way. Unlike the forest, the river could not enter her.
Mi tried to jump into the river again, just as she had done when she crossed the forest. This time, Mi discovered a dome surrounding the forest, which blocked her way. She was trapped in this silent forest.
Mi stopped again, trying to think, but ultimately found it all futile. She couldn't recall any book that described such a world. Suddenly, an absurd thought struck Mi: she seemed to have stepped into a nature documentary. Her consciousness had entered, but her body hadn't followed. The viewer had even turned off all sounds, music, and animals related to the documentary, leaving only the images. It was like a space within a television screen; she could even tap on the transparent screen. This transparent dome surrounding the forest was the first thing she could touch—unseen yet tangible.
Mi, who didn't know why she came to this forest, could move freely in the forest as long as she didn't try to cross the river. As long as she had a thought, she could reach anywhere in the forest. Mi didn't know how she stood at the top of the giant tree. As long as she could see it and had something to lean on, she could reach it.
Mi stopped observing everything in the forest; her mind began to wander. She thought about everything she had seen that resembled the forest, trying to find some similarity in the books she had read and the shows she had watched. Mi lingered by the riverbank, reaching out to feel the transparent dome. The dome was cold and seamless, like a piece of clear glass. Mi could feel the pressure. Standing on the riverbank, she leaned forward, her hands bracing against the dome. In a daze, Mi seemed to see her face distorted by the pressure, her teeth bared as she looked at the water. The water remained a serene natural image, without a distorted face.
* * *
On a small island in the southwestern part of the Sea Kingdom, El and Joe, fleeing from their pursuers, arrived at the most treacherous and perpetually uninhabited island in the Sea Kingdom. The king launched a massive manhunt throughout the kingdom; soldiers rudely pushed open every door, arresting every woman and girl as if they were criminals harboring the queen. Soldiers and guards' dark claws slid over the women's bodies, while their families, wielding angry oars, smashed open the city's prisons, setting fires raging from within. Angry shouts and women's cries filled the air, plunging the entire capital of the Sea Kingdom into chaos.
“El, what do we do now?” Joe looked at the flames rising in the capital and heard cries of agony. “We have brought disaster upon these women.”
“Joe, this wasn’t brought by you. It was the King of the Sea Kingdom. His greed and desire have caused all this.” El stood up from the sea, climbing up a high cliff. The salty sea breeze carried the stench of blood and smoke from the capital. She stared at the distant capital, revealing her figure. Her white robes were as striking as sails, fluttering in the sea breeze. El turned to Joe: “We need to lure the soldiers here.”
Joe, who had always followed El, also stood on the edge of the cliff. Her pink dress shone dazzlingly in the red sun, and two figures, one in red and one in white, appeared before everyone. The hunting dogs barked sharply, leading the patrolling soldiers toward the island; the king's palace gates were wide open, and the king rode his white horse toward the island; fishermen, carrying oars, helped their family members, rescued from prison, stagger toward the sea. The entire city watched the two beautiful women on the cliff.
The hunting dogs barked incessantly around the rocks, soldiers surrounded the entire cliff, and the king's white horse approached step by step. Everyone saw the two women, standing barefoot on the edge of the cliff. The minister, who had arrived before the king, was directing the soldiers to build ladders up the rocks. The minister cautiously called out to the women on the cliff, "Your Majesty, please come down."
A green light rose from El's hand, and the king shouted, "Quickly, stop them!" All the townspeople saw the two figures become transparent in the green light, and seabirds flew through their billowing skirts as if passing through air. Green specks of light scattered everywhere, the hunting dogs stopped barking, and the soldiers were stunned by the strange phenomenon before them. The king's white horse arrived at the bottom of the cliff, where no one had been seen, only the specks of green light, exuding the scent of grass and morning dew.
The king dismounted and reached out to catch the green light in the air. The green light circled around him and converged back onto the cliff, forming a star pattern. After the green light shone brightly, the cliff returned to calm, and seabirds perched on it, calling softly and preening their feathers.
* * *
Mi stood in the middle of the forest, on the only barren patch of land, staring at the motionless clouds overhead until her eyes ached before turning away. Mi lay down on the riverbed on the south bank of the forest, resting her head on her hands, admiring the drifting clouds above the river. She could even lift her invisible feet and dangle them; she thought it would be even better if she could wash them in the river—she hadn't bathed in so many days and they must stink terribly. Mi began spending more time on the riverbank confronting the observer outside the glass enclosure. From initial confusion to resolute determination, Mi repeatedly shouted in her mind: "Whoever you are, whatever you want, you will not get anything from me, never." "Who are you? Come out!" "You coward, you dared to bring me in, why don't you show yourself?"
In the forest opposite, El and Joe landed on the ground, their clothes tattered and covered in dust. They frantically tidied their hair. A flash of blue light, and El transformed back into her white-robed fairy form. Joe, also covered in dust, revealed her serene figure in a pink glow. They exchanged a glance, nodded approvingly, and, having tidied themselves, walked through the thick fog towards Mi.
"Hello, welcome to the Witch Forest." Accompanied by a gentle female voice, two women walked across the river; they were El and Joe.
"Y-you, hello." Mi sat up in surprise. She stood up hurriedly, not knowing how she could suddenly speak: "You can see me?" Mi ignored the two people who had just appeared and frantically turned around, trying to see where she was, how she could suddenly talk, how people appeared, and how people could see her.
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