Chapter 4: The Forest

It took a good ten minutes for Tian An to settle on a bare group of branches in the middle of a sparsely leafed tree. 

He was happy to figure out that climbing a tree wasn't much of a difference from clambering up the sides of walls.

The decision behind where he set himself up for the night was simple: first, he would be damned if he slept on the forested floor below him. His second reasoning was that the trees around him were close enough for him to jump to if the need arose. Finally, he chose this tree simply because of the lack of leaves and holes. It signaled to him that he wouldn't wake up to another inhabitant of the tree poking around him or leave him to deal with too many bite marks to deal with in the following morning.

Tian An quickly set up his empty leaf cups on a large branch connected to the grouping he chose to rest on and sat himself in the basic lotus position as he worked to clear his mind once more.

He was happy to attest that it only took him a minute and a half to fully delve into absolute silence.

Well, that was before he was brought out of it multiple times by the groaning of his fellow group members and their attempts to find a spot to rest for the night.

Tian An figured that was the next thing he had to work on.

That night went as smoothly as Tian An expected, which wasn't smooth at all. 

Throughout the night, those who slept on the floor were bullied by the inhabitants of the forest, as anything crawling, gliding, or running on its floors seeked to take a bite of the defenseless prey in front of them.

Even Tian An had jolted awake once to find a snake coiling around one of his legs.

In response to this, Tian An slowly reached his hand up under the guided light of the full moon to grasp the snake's head right under and above its jaw.

Just a moment before the snake attempted to jump out of Tian An's hand and towards his face, he twisted his fist upwards and whipped the snake's head back on itself, breaking its neck.

Tian An quickly unfurled the snake from his leg and threw the snake away from the tree and onto the ground, away from him and the moving bodies on the ground below.

While he could at some point find a sharp stick to pierce to try and cook the snake, Tian An felt he had a better chance of not getting poisoned or sick by eating a cooked rat than an unidentified snake.

Besides that instance, Tian An had a rather average night of sleep, which was only interrupted on the occasion of a passing large predator that stalked much too close to the group for anyone's liking.

When the sun rose and the day was to begin once more, Tian An clambered down his tree while putting the still empty makeshift cups on a loop of his pants and collected himself at the bottom of the tree's trunk.

He quickly stretched his body and made his way to the group of seniors that appeared to have arrived just a few moments ago, as they took stock of the children in front of them and made sure no one was critically injured.

Tian An took small sips from his half-filled canteen and steadied himself on a small rock next to the original place they stopped yesterday on their trek. 

Waking himself up further, Tian An took the brief hour that followed to find peace with himself, and instead of looking for silence, he instead sorted out his thoughts in the now very familiar lotus position.

Tian An realized that many of the other children his age were most likely struggling much worse than he was, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had a responsibility to help them considering they were his age.

In the end, Tian An came to the conclusion that he would truly help if things got desperate. But he also quickly and understandably figured out that he was barely in a better position than they were and that it wouldn't do much good to either party involved if he pursued helping everyone in the group.

Feeling more secure in how he wished to proceed, Tian An focused on clearing his mind for the rest of the hour. Letting his thoughts fly away and rejuvenating his mind and body by getting rid of any of the stressors waying down on him.

Once the hour finally brought itself to an end, Tian An picked himself up and carried his feet to the front of the gathering group once again, wishing to keep as close to his Seniors as possible and let his mind fall away from the many dangers of the forest.

The next few days were brutal on the children, as their minds and bodies lacked nutrients to rejuvenate their bodies every morning, and many were stuck feeling sore for hours on end.

Those who got injured or bruised were faced with prolonged sessions of inactive healing, as it took much longer for any damage to their bodies to go away.

Tian An was happy that the occasional rain blessed them on their seemingly random path through the dense forest to keep him sustained with fresh water. He even helped a few others in his group for the first time, as they became desperate enough to ask him for help on creating a few leaf cups of their own.

Although it seemed Tian An was the only one satisfied with drinking just water, many looked hungrily at passing insects and colored mushrooms that grew on the flourishing forest floor.

Three days had passed since the beginning of the second half of their journey, and in that time Tian An had slept in one other tree, on top of a rock formation, and on top of a squashed dead bush that he had to pick clean of any invading bugs.

While they weren't comfortable, Tian An still refused to directly sleep on the forest floor.

Over the evenings they spent resting, Tian An fell into the routine of doing the basic exercise of clearing his mind a lot more frequently and for longer periods. 

He even fell asleep on the second night in the lotus position, only coming to that realization after waking up to crossed legs and somewhat sore ankles.

Although the sore ankles could have been from walking for hours on end every day without fail,.

Regardless, Tian An thought that the exercise had quite a few advantages. Not only did his hunger and mild thirst drift away from his mind, but he swore even his stomach stopped growling when his thoughts cleared and his mind emptied.

What he couldn't figure out, however, was how this exercise was supposed to bring them to an understanding of what "dao" was and how it all relates.

But Tian An didn't want to seem even the least bit incompetent in the eyes of the Seniors in charge of them, so he dropped that and focused on just performing the exercise as fast and as long as he could. Trusting in his Seniors that they wouldn't just tell them to do something without reason.

Tian An was proud to say he could clear his mind in less than a minute now and was making significant progress in keeping his mind clear of distractions, even with the bustle of the forest around him.

While Tian An's progress was making bounds, it was also clear to him that it wasn't the same for the children around him. As it seemed, he was the only one to really find the usage of the exercise and use it whenever they could.

He had even gone up to some of the other children of his own volition and briefly explained the benefits of following through with the lotus exercise taught by their seniors.

Sadly, for some reason, it seemed the other children had a harder time ignoring the hunger pains in their stomachs, and it wasn't uncommon to see them fidget or be unable to sit still with their eyes closed in the forest that never seemed to rest.

On an even more unfortunate note, the group had significantly decreased in number. 

With a pitiful, resounding number of twenty-six still waking up every day and following in silence behind the seniors,. 

Most days became a dull affair as most now lacked the energy to speak carelessly and without reason.

Tian An had still yet to see what happened to the children, but he knew that based on what his Seniors said, it was most likely that they were quickly flown to the White Lotus Sect and taken care of there.

He was sure that based on the way they traveled into his city on the day of the aptitude assessment, they most likely swiftly took turns picking up the children and dropping them off at the sect when the rest of the group stayed resting.

What Tian An couldn't believe was how fast the numbers dropped in just three days.

Tian An wasn't sure how many would be left by the fourth week, but he was almost completely positive that it wouldn't get any easier from here.

That was a notion Tian An was correct about, as the much smaller group traveled into what seemed like an impossibly denser forest where the ground became covered in various bushes, saplings, and wildlife.

Not only was it harder for most to navigate through the thick foliage, but the ground had started curving upward, making it a slowly increasing climb up the forest floor.

While the change in setting did prove to be an upward battle, quite literally, Tian An was lucky to have already been tracing his Seniors footsteps for quite awhile and had become a bit proficient in copying and analyzing their footwork over the past two and a half weeks.

This made it easier for him to adapt to the climb, as he followed their decreased stride length as a sign to shorten his own steps and move more flat against the gradually inclining surface of the forest.

The nights where the Seniors once again mysteriously disappeared from the resting spot were full of stressed-out children, as many feared the worst would come for them each night.

Many, like Tian An, had finally started being forced to wake up at odd hours of the night to protect themselves from the increasingly large wildlife.

While the group was lucky to never directly stumble across a larger predator like the panther or tiger, they did often find themselves battling oversized beetles and other enlarged insects.

One such night, the small group was tormented by monkeys whose fur was as dark as night and who only had any interest in laughing at them rather than actually doing any harm to them.

That was the night that Tian An finally decided to keep himself in the lotus position when resting instead of putting his back to the ground while sleeping.

It was under the influence of the monkeys that he realized being in a sitting position instead of a resting one allowed him to be able to move at a much quicker rate.

This also helped him get past any false alarms that awoke him during the night, as he was able to look around him without moving his body. This let him clear his mind quickly, and eventually he unknowingly drifted off to sleep without much movement.

By the end of the third week, the days passed in absolute silence.

The group's numbers thinned at a much faster rate than before, and as the last day of the third week came to a close, only nine of them were left trudging along in the increasingly harsh environment.

Some came to spite the Seniors in front of them, as they always looked well fed and without as much as a smudge of dirt staining their white and gray robes.

Others hadn't found the energy to think much of anything else besides the need to eat and a desire to sleep.

In several of the participating children's minds, this type of treatment became borderline inhumane, and they thought it was too much just to be a sect trial.

On top of that, unlike the previous two weeks, the Seniors did not give any speeches or encouragement when they stopped for the day in another random location.

It almost seemed like they were closing themselves off from the remaining members of the group, causing relations between those in authority and those who felt subjected to it to worsen.

When the Seniors drifted away from the group, so did Tian An, as he saw that those who he had been traveling with over the last three weeks gained a not-so-pleasant look in their eyes as their hunger and lack of sleep turned into anger and aggression.

He recognized that state of mind to be familiar, as when something happens to those who are helpless against a seemingly unmountable force.

They push their anger elsewhere, away from the true underlying cause of their plight, and instead turn to easier targets to cull their frustrations.

Tian An would rather not get involved with the worsening moods of his fellow group mates, and instead he made sure to always keep up with the Seniors ahead of him and isolate himself when the night rolled around.

This had the unintended effect of both making him an easier and harder target in the eyes of the forest.

Since he lacked safety in numbers, he was subjected to further attacks by passing nocturnal critters. But on the other hand, he became mostly unnoticed by the larger inhabitants of the forest, as his stature left much to be desired, and he was always able to find better spots to hide in for the night when not trying to accommodate the larger group.

Week four was possibly the worst out of the entire journey to the sect.

The first day into the fourth week was greeted with a group of seven instead of a group of nine.

It came to light that the previous night, two of their group mates got into an argument over a grouping of edible mushrooms, and it ended with both of them being quickly flown to the sect for proper treatment.

Tian An noticed the group becoming distrustful of one another after that, as the other four members of the group rapidly darted their eyes at anyone who so much as looked in their direction.

By the third day of the fourth week, 'Tian An noted that everything seems to happen in pairs of three', and the pains of hunger became too much for the majority of the group to carry on trekking for hours on end.

This led the group to downsize to just two people.

One other kid with sunken eyes and matted-down brown hair, and Tian An.

Tian An surmised that it really couldn't be called a group anymore, more like a pair of two children following their Seniors.

On the fourth day of the week, Tian An was the only one to wake up and make his way to the path, ready for another day of traveling.

The previous night, Tian An had heard the other kid break down in wails as the kid decidedly couldn't take it anymore.

It was not a pleasant night, as it took an hour for one of the Seniors to finally come down and start comforting the child before taking them back to the sect themselves.

Tian An didn't comfort the recruit himself, as he didn't think his involvement would have any impact on his fellow pair.

This led to Tian An being the last child to follow the group of three disciples through the intense wilderness.

Although he was slightly amused when he thought of the imagery of three cultivators escorting one mortal child from the slums, he quickly stashed the thought away as he felt it was disrespectful to the Seniors in front of him.

Without anyone to distract him or entertain his thoughts, Tian An was only left with his own mind.

One that became noticeably more put-together and logical over the past few weeks.

Tian An wasn't sure to what extent the lotus exercise had changed his mind so far, but never in all his years of living has Tian An felt so hungry yet so unaffected by it.

It was like his mind overcame the thought of hunger as something illogical for his circumstances and quickly muted the sensation.

He also noted that most of his thoughts only followed logical reasoning instead of impulse decisions.

Something he noticed as part of his mind was improving since the first week. 

Yet now it seemed his impulses were not only controlled, but even instinctual traits started to become a logical choice for Tian An.

Just the other night, Tian An was awoken to the feeling of a spider on his face, and instead of flinching or wildly throwing himself off the ground, he was able to think and decide that the best course of action would be to grasp the spider with his hand and throw it away as quickly and silently as possible.

Beforehand, Tian An would think a spider on his face would warrant a quick instinctual scramble and patdown of his own body.

But now that impulse was thrown out in the face of experience and logical reasoning to determine how he could remove the spider with the least amount of harm to himself.

By the fifth day of the fourth week, Tian An was sure he had slept everywhere in a forest where one could possibly sleep.

From rock arches to muddy pits, he was quite sure that if he ever visited this forest again, he would feel right at home amongst the trees.

If that home was always trying to kill you and absorb your body into their mossy floors to sprout mushrooms from your nutrients,.

Beside the fierce reality of mother nature, Tian An's days went on in a surprising amount of boredom and monotony.

Sure, he had to fight for his life to stay alive every night, but that was only a few hours of the day. Most of the time, he spent watching the movements of the Seniors in front of him and trying to copy the sway of their hips or the way they stepped. 

Tian An will note that during part of one of their treks through the forest (which may as well be a jungle at this point), with his fellow seniors, they did hike near a clear pond next to their travel route.

Knowing that the Seniors in front of him wouldn't stop for anything, he quickly jumped into the small pond for a brief moment before quickly scurrying his way back to the group of Seniors who had yet to stop their pace.

Although that couldn't even compare to the last day of their long trek through the forest, it was probably the best one Tian An had throughout his whole trip.

This was partly because the sixth night of his trip, Tian An was doing the usual exercise of clearing his mind and noticed with a surprisingly great sense of wonder that small little specks of light floated around the seemingly empty void inside his mind.

His mind quickly reigned in his emotions, and Tian An carefully studied the small floating lights of the soft white lights with an impartial mind. 

Tian An quickly came to the conclusion that he hadn't a clue what it was and only opened his eyes after thoroughly analyzing that there was nothing he could think of in his mind to match up with the anomaly happening beneath his closed eyes.

But when Tian An opened his eyes, he was met with a sight that caused his mind to be unable to keep a complete grasp on his emotions.

Permeating throughout the darkened jungle were hundreds of tiny little silver lights; they floated seemingly weightless throughout the trees and into the night sky in large waves.

There seemed no end to their reaches, as the little rivers of light seemed to be anywhere he looked.

Tian An spent the whole night looking at the lights, examining them, appreciating their soft beauty, and studying their properties inside his head. 

He quickly learned two intriguing things about the little rivers of light. 

One, they floated through everything as if not affected by the physical world, and second, the lights came in various sizes and hues, as some were faint enough to barely see and others were bright enough to give Tian An some mild discomfort.

He also noted that the faint lights were much more common than the brighter ones.

Tian An was brought out of his trance by the sun giving light into the once dark forest. The sun quickly seemed to make all traces of the lights vanish in an instant as the forest once again looked completely average to his eyes.

Confused, Tian An tried closing his eyes and clearing his head, which, much to his relief, made the small waves of light appear in the dark void of his mind once again.

But when Tian An opened his eyes once more, the lights of the forest were still missing, making him wonder what happened to them.

Before Tian An could think further into the anomaly, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his three seniors were waiting for him a small distance away from the tree he was resting on.

Not warning them to delay them any further, he quickly climbed down to the base of the tree and ran up to the three Seniors waiting for him.

As soon as he made it to them, the three turned their backs to him and slowly made their way further into the forest.

Not wanting to be left behind, Tian An quickly followed in their steps, as for the first time in two days he felt like he had something to truly occupy his mind.

 The following hours of trekking through the decreasingly dense jungle gave Tian An the idea that this sect trial may come to a close soon. It seemed to happen all too fast as hours swiftly went by due to his occupied mind and decreasing need to stay on edge as he felt himself relax the further away from the dense jungle they got.