Yunchen kept going, trying to stay as close as possible to the trail. Sometimes he had to take a detour when he found it blocked by fallen trees or outgrown underbrush. Along the way he picked berries, nuts and other fruits so the hunger crisis was solved for the time being. He discovered some scented herbs that appeared to be avoided by all the beasts. Those herbs was all that grew in the vast clearing. Even the trees seemed to keep their distance until about twenty meters from the outermost herb. He was up in a tree when he noticed a couple of massive wolves entering the clearing where the herbs were growing. He saw them stop, scenting the air then cautiously backing away.
Thinking about their behavior, he thought it was a good idea to use those herbs to keep the beasts at bay. So he got down the tree and started picking up the herbs. After picking about twenty of them, he found them enough. He took five of them and crushed them with a pair of rocks until they formed a paste with which he covered his body. The scent was strong but pleasant, of menthol. Another benefit he soon discovered was the act that it dulled his aches, leaving behind a soothing refreshing feeling.
He smiled feeling his body not being in pain anymore. He took his shirt and put it on the ground. Then he put the rest of the herbs on it, then he bound its corners in a bundle and carrying it over the shoulder, started walking further into the depths of the forest.
After that, every time he came close to a beast, it would simply run away in front of him, making him laugh at the panic and speed with which it ran. It was starting to get dark again. Even though outside the sun was still up in the sky, inside the forest the darkness came faster. He decided to take a rest early as the shadows became denser by the moment.
He climbed as usual up on a tree, where he closed his eyes laying comfortably on top of a criss-cross of branches. He was content with his progress during the day. Also, all his worries were starting to fade away from his mind. No more mocking, no pressure of any sort. He was happy for the first time in a long time. He started drifting to sleep when he felt his body starting to warm up. At first it was a pleasant experience. But as the temperature started to rise, it became uncomfortable. He stood up and opened his eyes. Then he jumped seeing his body covered in yellow flames. Seeing the flames covering his body made him register pain all over his body. He slapped at the flames, trying to put them out, but all he managed to do was fanning them to burn even fiercer than before. As he jumped trying to put out the flames, his right foot slipped and he tumbled down from the branch. Flailing his arms through the air trying to grasp onto something to grasp to stop his falling, he looked like a firebird. He couldn't find anything and when his back hit the ground, all the air came rushing out of his lungs in an explosive rush of air. He lost for a moment his consciousness, but he was soon waking up because of the burning pain. It felt like the flames had seeped into his body and now even his bones were starting to burn.
He howled in pain as he rolled on the ground in a futile attempt of putting out the flames this way. A few birds flew into the sky scared by the commotion he created.
But despite his tries, the flames were continuing with their work, slowly sapping away at his strength. When the strength to even moan in pain left him, he just stood laying there under the tree, the flames illuminating the night. Only the sound of the sizzling flesh and the crack of the bones as they congested under the intense could be heard in the area. A couple of hours before the coming of dawn the flames finally started to die down.
Yunchen lost his consciousness again, the pain imbueing every corner of his body. When the sun rose up in the sky, he was still out cold.
When the first rays of sunlight touched his body, the dark burnt flesh started dropping from his body. Once the contact of the dead flesh to the body ended, it sizzled until it became a dark mist that started drifting away.
But instead of bare bones where previously the flesh had fallen new flesh started to grow under the direct sunlight.
When Yunchen finally awoke and found himself basking in the sunlight in the nude, he jumped and tried to cover himself. Remembering he was alone in the middle of the wilderness, he relaxed somewhat. Then remembering the hell he went through during the night, he checked his body to look for any sign of wounds of burning, but he failed to find anything but bare flesh. Shaking his head at the weirdness of the situation, he put it behind him seeing that nothing was wrong with his body. Except his nudity. He climbed back in the tree and recovered his shirt that still had the remaining scented herbs.
Remembering the pleasant effect it had when he rubbed the paste on his body, decided to make another batch. Another five pieces were grinded into a paste and then he rubbed it all over his body, welcoming the balking effect it brought to him. Then he ripped the sleeves off the shirt and wrapped them around his groin, covering his nakedness. Then he started to walk again heading towards the mountains in front of him. He was thinking that the furthest away from humanity he got, the better he would feel about himself. After all, there was no more program for him to follow. All he had to do was avoid the humanity in its entirety.
As he walked, as yesterday, the beasts kept their distance from him. Another thing he noticed was that he didn't grow tired as he walked as the previous days. He attributed it to him becoming accustomed to the physical effort. So he kept increasing the pace of his walking almost to a run, but after an hour like that there was still no traces of fatigue yet. He marveled at that, but he kept going.
After two hours, he found a stream running across his path. He decided to take a rest beside it and drink some fresh water. The last couple of days, he depended on the juice from the berries to keep the thirst at bay.
He put the bundle of his shirt on the ground next to the water and knelt preparing to drink from the spring, but the reflection in the water made him stop in his tracks. For a moment he thought he wasn't alone, but when the reflection mimicked his action when he turned his head to look over his shoulder, he jumped back on his feet staring at it with mouth hanging open. He raised his right hand to his head, touching his hair. The reflection mimicked him once again, the fingers perusing through the white hair on his head. Then, with trembling fingers, he released his hair from the top of his head, letting it fall until it reached the middle of his back. Some white strands of hair enveloped his face, trembling in the breeze.
He kept staring at his own reflection, still in shock. Not even fifteen yet and his hair was already devoid of color, white as the snow. He felt like screaming, but he saw no purpose in that, so he kicked a stone in frustration and watched it open-mouthed as it flew in the distance without appearing to slow down. He heard a crack in the distance and he saw how a tree started falling slowly to the ground while birds took their flight and different animals scattered away from it in a panic.
He looked at his feet while his hands were on his head.
"Now, that's weird" he finally muttered to himself. "I didn't know I was this strong."
Letting his hands fall alongside his body he let himself fall back to his knees and started drinking. When he was done, he dipped his head into the water, in the attempt to clear his mind.
When he couldn't hold his breath anymore, he raised his head, puffing and spitting the water, while wiping his eyes.
Finally more clear-minded he reached the conclusion that it was not really a bad thing to trade the color of his hair for the strength.
At least he was hoping that was what really happened.