When the figure stuck in the mud raised his head and looked at her in a slightly twisted posture, Mei Li realized that this person was ridiculously tall, or rather, his body was a little scary. If you counted the half of his body buried in the mud, he was at least two and a half meters tall! This was completely beyond her imagination.
Moreover, the hands of this thin and tall figure were strangely shaped and seemed out of proportion with the body. These two hands alone were at least 1.7 to 1.8 meters long.
She just grabbed the hand of such a thing, and Mei Li's body reacted instantly - goose bumps appeared on her skin, and she felt cold from her heels to the back of her head.
She loosened her hands stiffly, having difficulty breathing, and watched as the thing seemed to be attracted to her, bending down and moving its head closer, and a shadow instantly enveloped her.
In the unclear darkness, Mei Li raised her head, unable to see his face clearly.
"Pah." It seemed as if some wet mud dripped from the creature's hair and hit her face. Mei Li shuddered, and at the same time, the stiffness of her body caused by fear disappeared. She suppressed her scream and raised the stick in her hand without saying a word to hit the creature that was approaching.
After one blow, the stick broke, and she lifted her skirt without a care, turned around and ran away.
Run faster! Run faster!
That thing is not a human at all! It may be a ghost from this world, or it may be something else, but it absolutely cannot be a human!
The moon had disappeared into the clouds again, and everything around was dark. Mei Li stepped on the mud, and was splashed with mud because of her crazy running.
There was silence behind me, and that thing didn't seem to be chasing me.
Mei Li couldn't help but turn her head and look back, and found that the thing stopped there, hunched over, like a dead tree standing in the water, looking at her from afar.
Mei Li stopped panting and saw that thing slowly, slowly buried its head in the mud again, returning to its original position, with its entire body bent into a U shape.
Mei Li: “…”
So... aren't you going to catch up
After watching for a few seconds, Mei Li turned around and ran again, getting farther and farther away from the swamp. The clouds in the sky were heavy, and the wind was getting stronger and stronger. She walked in the vast grass, swaying left and right in the wind.
Fortunately, she accidentally found her way back to the previous path and walked towards the lonely, dark house in a dishevel. Mei Li was thinking about where Mrs. Peg had gone and how to find her, and at the same time, she was thinking about the inhuman monster she had just met.
Is there such a thing in this world
She walked into the house with a restless heart. As soon as she entered, she saw a pair of green eyes in the darkness, and she was startled again.
It was the black cat Feicui, lying on a tall cabinet and looking down at her.
"Emerald, you're here."
Well, at least the cat was still there, and she was not the only living thing in the house, which made people feel a little relieved. Mei Li frowned and scooped water to wash her feet. When washing her hands, she found a thin layer of plaster on her hands, which was the hand she had used to catch the monster.
"Splash—" He put his hands into the cold water and rubbed them vigorously twice.
Walking upstairs with a damp body, Mei Li suddenly saw that Mrs. Peg's door, which was originally wide open, was closed. Was it closed by the wind? She hesitated for a moment, then walked forward and turned the door. The room was still filled with a dull atmosphere. The bed was covered with a quilt, revealing Mrs. Peg's long red hair. The sound of the door opening startled the sleeping person, and Mrs. Peg's somewhat hoarse voice came from the bed.
"What are you doing so late?"
Mei Li stood at the door, looking somewhat stunned. Didn't Mrs. Peg run to the wilderness and she failed to catch up with her? Why was she lying here now
"Did you go out just now?" Mei Li realized something and asked uncertainly.
Mrs. Peg woke up from her sleep and said coldly: "What are you talking about?"
"I just saw you running out." Mei Li was still trying to describe what had just happened.
Mrs. Peg said coldly: "Okay, you're grown up now. Don't come and disturb me because of nightmares." Then she coughed twice.
Mei Li said nothing more and closed the door.
Mrs. Peg was very ill. She had hardly seen her go to the fields in the few days since she came here. So when she saw her running to the wilderness before, she felt very strange because the figure ran too fast and didn't look like a patient. She didn't think too much about it at the time, but now when she thinks back, it seems like she really had a nightmare.
Mrs. Peg who suddenly disappeared and reappeared, the monster in the wilderness...
She returned to her room, took off her pajamas that were stained with mud and water, and crawled into the quilt. Her shivering body finally regained warmth. There was a faint fragrance in the quilt, which was a dried rose petal sachet made by the former Meili.
Unconsciously, Mei Li rubbed her cheek, rubbing off some dried mud.
Holding the mud, Mei Li suddenly remembered that it was at that time! The long monster in the swamp dripped mud on her face. She actually forgot that there was mud on her face and didn't even wash it off.
After rubbing it twice, Mei Li smelled a mixture of soil and grass from between her fingers, which was clean and fresh, like tender sprouts growing in the soil.
She fell asleep unknowingly and had a light dream in which she could smell the scent of grass and soil.
The next day, she was awakened by rumbling thunder and heavy rain. The sky outside the window was dark and covered with dark clouds, and occasionally lightning pierced through the clouds and exploded in the tops of the distant woods, bringing a moment of light.
She reached for her small pocket watch at the bedside and saw that it was already ten in the morning. She got up in a hurry and made breakfast, just like she did every day. If her nightgown and shoes were not covered with grass and mud, she would have suspected that she had dreamed last night.
The rain was heavy and did not stop until the afternoon. It was the first time that Meili had seen such heavy rain since she came to this world. The heavy rain washed away the mud she had stepped into the yard yesterday. Smelling the fresh air after the rain, Meili put on her leather boots and took her basket to a small market town not far from here.
We walked down the hill and passed a low wall made of white stone. This low wall was built long ago and is now abandoned. The low wall is covered with green grass and moss.
Beyond this low wall is a small stone bridge. Standing on the bridge, you can see the market town opposite. No one knows why Mary and her daughter live in such a remote place away from the crowd.
"Merry!"
As soon as she stepped onto the muddy path in front of the small town, a girl with brown curly hair carrying a basket waved at her on the side of the road.
"Hesha." Mei Li walked over to greet her and heard her ask enthusiastically: "Meili, why did you come to the market town again today? You only came once every two weeks before, but recently you have come three times."
"I agreed with hunter Jody yesterday that I would come over today to get the game we had ordered." Mei Li changed the subject naturally. "What about you? What are you going to do with the basket?"
Hesha really forgot her previous doubts and said distressedly, "It rained heavily yesterday. I think there must be a lot of white mushrooms growing in the bushes to the south. I want to pick some and make mushroom soup, but everyone is busy today and no one will go with me."
As she spoke, she looked at Meili hesitantly and tried to ask, "Meili, will you come with me? It's not far, we can be back before dusk, and the white mushroom soup is especially delicious. I have a secret recipe for white mushroom soup that I can teach you!"
Mei Li agreed directly. She was unfamiliar with this world and needed to communicate with the people here. Hesha was a good candidate, carefree and simple, young and gullible... uh, cute.
Seeing her agree, Hesha smiled brightly, took her arm intimately, and said happily: "You are much more lively after your illness. You no longer wear that big hat and scarf. You are willing to talk and accompany me to pick white mushrooms. This is great! Come on, I will take you to find hunter Jody to get the prey, and then we will go directly to the south woods!"
After walking through the muddy and bumpy streets of the town and taking a hare from the hunter, the two girls walked hand in hand down a path. After walking for a while, a woman hanging clothes in a hut on the side of the road saw them and called out, "Hersha, where are you going?"
"Aunt Maggie, let's go to the bush."
"It just rained heavily. Don't run too far. Stay away from the swamp. Don't run into swamp monsters."
"I know~"
The two quickened their pace. Mei Li thought of the thing he saw last night and turned to ask the little girl beside him, "Swamp... monster?"
Hersa stuck out her tongue. "It's the adults who scare the children. Aunt Maggie still treats me as a child. There are swamp monsters that swallow people into the swamp, moonlit night goblins that make people lost in the forest, Hegs that can bring nightmares to people, and rotten elk that will be cursed when you see it... There are many such stories. Didn't you hear them when you were a child?"
Mei Li lied calmly, "You know, I didn't talk to anyone before, and my mother didn't tell me stories."
Hesha immediately showed a sympathetic look, pulled her to comfort her: "Don't be sad, we will be friends from now on, you can ask me if you have any questions." She was a little embarrassed, "Actually, I have been curious about you for a long time, but you ignored me before."
Mei Li: "I can invite you to my house later."
Hersha: "Ah! Really? That's great!"
She jumped happily and took the initiative to tell her new friend the stories that the children in the market town were familiar with. "The swamp monster is a monster that wanders in the swamps and wastelands. Wherever it goes, the place will slowly become a swamp. The swamp will devour forests and animals, and it will also devour humans. It likes heavy rain, so it will appear at night before the heavy rain. If someone encounters it, they will be dragged into the swamp..."
Mei Li thought of the tall and thin figure she saw last night and tightened her grip on the basket. "What does the swamp monster look like?"
"I don't know about that. No one has seen it with their own eyes. But I think it should be covered with mud, like a mud monster, very ugly and scary." She suddenly became interested and pulled Mei Li to the other side of the path.
Mei Li followed her footsteps, and the hems of their skirts fluttered over the clusters of golden wild flowers on the roadside.
"Where are you going?"
Hesha smiled and pulled her to run for a while, until they came to a sparse forest. She pointed to the area covered with green moss in front of her and said, "Look, this is the swamp closest to us. If there really is a swamp monster, it will definitely appear here."
Children are curious about strange things, so when she was a child, she used to play and explore with her friends, looking for legendary non-human creatures, but unfortunately they found nothing.
After the heavy rain stopped, the sun reappeared, and the bright sunlight shone on the fresh grass leaves washed by the rain. Everything was clean and clear.
Mei Li stood beside the weeds, listening to Hesha talking in her ear, her eyes fixed on the swamp not far away.
There was a figure there! It was the tall and thin monster she had seen last night!
"Meili, what's wrong with you?" Seeing that she hadn't said anything for a long time, Hesha looked in the direction she was looking at, then turned her head away in surprise, "What are you looking at?"
Mei Li looked at the figure buried in the swamp and said in a strange tone, "Can't you see? There is a person there."
Even though they were so close, Hesha didn't react at all.
"No way? There's nothing. Are you trying to scare me? I'm not afraid!" Hesha still thought she was joking.
Mei Li took a deep breath, retracted his gaze, and dragged Hesha back with him, walking hurriedly, "What a pity, I can't trick you. Let's go pick white mushrooms and see who picks more."
When Hesha heard this, she rushed ahead of her and said, "I will definitely win!"
After they left, the tall and thin figure in the swamp raised his head and looked at their backs, like a strange gray sculpture, without moving for a long time.