Green leaves,yellowing leaves,and those already fallen…All lay before Li Yuan.
He sat quietly beneath an old tree,as leaves drifted down one by onelike time slowly unraveling itself.
There was no wind,yet the leaves still fell.There was no sound,yet the heart seemed to hear so much.
"Is this… also part of the question?"
Li Yuan opened his eyes slowly.Sunlight filtered through the canopy,casting specks of light upon the groundlike signs from something that cannot be explained…but can be understood.
The silence among the leaves was not emptiness.It was a gentle signala whisper of the natural world speaking.
He observed the differencebetween the green leavesand those beginning to yellow.
The change could not be stopped.And yet… none resisted.None mourned.
The leaves accepted,and fell not as an end,but as a process.
"If so, must I also learn to fall… without fear?"
A soft breeze stirred.The once-still leavesbegan to swirl gently through the air,circling Li Yuanas if responding to his question.
He reached out his hand.A single yellowing leaf settled in his palmdelicate, fragile…yet beautiful.
Silence does not mean emptiness.At times,silence is the moment nature uses to answer.
Li Yuan took a deep breath.And for a brief moment, he feltthe world does not wait for anyone.Yet it leaves no one behind either.
So long as you listen,so long as you are willing to feel,so long as you are present…then the world, too,will be present with you.
"I will continue this path," he whispered."But not to search for a way…""Rather, to understand how this world grows."
There it was...but without a name.Growing among roots and stones.No one had planted it,no one had given it a name.
Yet...it still bloomed.
Li Yuan observed the flower.It was small in size, soft in color.Not striking,but precisely because of that...it seemed calm,and full of meaning.
"If I don't give it a name...""Does that make it meaningless?"
Li Yuan stopped walking.He sat cross-legged before the flower,realizing something he'd never considered before.
Understanding doesn't always come from grand things.Sometimes... from something we don't even notice.That appears in silence.That endures even without praise.That exists... even if unknown.
"Does everything need to be named?""What happens to something... that isn't named?""Does it still live? Does it still hold meaning?"
Li Yuan touched the flower's petal with a gentle finger.The flower didn't respond.But in its silence,there was a faint vibration—as if it were saying:
"I live, not because of a name.""I grow, not to be known.""I exist... because that is my essence."
And in that moment,within the world inside Li Yuan,a spark of light emerged.Not from understanding form,not from understanding elements...
But from understanding existence without labels.From finding meaning in what often goes unnoticed.
"In that case...""I shall call you not by name...""But by understanding."
The flower needed no name.And perhaps,understanding doesn't always need to be explained.Sometimes, it is enough to feel it...and keep it within.
Li Yuan had been living in the forest for nearly two weeks.
No roof above his head,
only leaves and the night sky as his companions.
No bed,
only the earth, warm from the midday sun.
When he was hungry,
he hunted.
When he was thirsty,
he searched for springs or gathered morning dew.
There were no complaints.
Only silence, slowly becoming a part of him.
In this forest,
the days were not filled with human voices,
but with the whispers of wind and the crack of breaking branches.
Every sound from the rustling of leaves
to the cry of birds
felt more honest than human words.
"How long can I stay here?"
"Or… have I already become part of this forest?"
Sometimes, Li Yuan would simply sit,
watching the flowing water,
or observing how ants carried food back to their nest.
And within him,
understanding continued to grow
without needing to be pursued.
Not every place needs a name.
Not every moment needs a purpose.
There is a time to stay,
to be still,
and to listen.
The forest gradually became not just a shelter,
but a mirror for Li Yuan.
A mirror that did not reflect his face,
but reflected his truest self.
"Staying here is not about hiding from the world..."
"...but about recognizing the world through stillness."
In that long silence,
Li Yuan felt:
that understanding is not only about what he sees,
but also about what he feels
when he sees nothing at all..