Suddenly realizing that mountain climbing is a very Daoist thing

A mountain is a strange life form that shares the same lifespan as heaven and earth. You step on stones, pass through bamboo groves, stay with a creature that has lived for billions of years, and exchange energy
When you first start climbing, your mind is full of everything:
Where am I? How much further? As you keep walking, these things disperse. It's not that you've figured it out, it's that you don't have the energy to think. After climbing for a long time, you enter a strange state. Your legs alternate, mechanically stepping forward.
Your limbs seem to have their own will, no longer needing your brain to command. You just need to walk. It's probably what Zhuangzi meant by "forgetting the body, discarding intelligence."
Gradually, the houses below become tiny dots, and the affairs below also shrink. At that moment, everything is worth it. But it's not that it's worth it; it's that the question of worth disappears. The mountain is there, and you are here, and that's enough. People might think climbing is about conquering, about reaching the summit, about taking photos for social media. But upon reaching the top, you realize that people come to be conquered by the mountain
While climbing, you mentally choose a peak to bury yourself. This one is too steep, that one is too far, this one is just right. Good sunlight, good wind, good view. If one day you have to choose a place to become soil, choose here. But the mountain doesn't care. It doesn't care that you came, nor that you left. But it will catch you. When you're tired, it gives you a rock to sit on. When you're out of breath, it gives you wind to breathe. When you shout, your voice disperses in the mountains, and only you can hear it
When descending, your legs start to shake. But your heart is full. You haven't loaded anything, or rather, you've loaded emptiness. In the empty space, wind can blow in, light can shine in. People and mountains exchange energy.
You give it your fatigue, anxiety, and distractions; it gives you wind, clouds, and stillness. People who love climbing probably love this
Immortal (xian) means a person in the mountains. When you reach the summit, you are an immortal. When you descend, you are still you, but a bit lighter. Like a breath exhaled by the mountain, slowly drifting back to the human world
Never tired of looking at each other—only the Jingting Mountain.
The mountain looks at you, you look at the mountain.
Neither spoke; nothing needed to be said