Mei Li suddenly lost all strength and knelt down in the middle of the stone flower core.
Those little creatures who called themselves moon fairies looked harmless and beautiful, like blooming lily of the valley, but they were actually very dangerous. Hesha had mentioned moon fairies before when she talked to her about the monsters in fairy tales.
According to Hesha's description, the Moon Fairy is a monster that leads humans into the forest and makes them lost in the forest.
They especially like to confuse children, because children are more innocent. So people keep their children away from the big forest where the moon fairies may live, for fear that they will be taken away by the moon fairies.
Once taken away by the moonlit fairies and they get tired of playing, children lost in the forest will end up in the belly of wild beasts.
Mei Li didn't expect that she would receive such treatment.
She is too old to be a magical girl.
Not far away, when they crossed the swamp, Mei Li stood up and shouted to the swamp monster, "Thank you."
As a result, the swamp monster who had been walking forward with his back hunched over heard her voice, raised his head and looked in her direction, then suddenly changed direction and walked towards her.
“… No need to come over, I just want to say hello and thank you, my friend, there’s really no need…”
The hillside under his feet became moist, and it felt like stepping on mud. Mei Li closed his mouth dryly and watched the swamp monster get closer and closer, and put its head in front of him.
Well, what does this mean
Mei Li looked at the wet gray hair in front of him and fell into deep thought. I don't know if this swamp monster is autistic and doesn't want to talk or can't talk. How can we communicate like this
He didn't move, as if he was a math problem with no hints, which she had to solve on her own.
With this posture, could it be that he wants to touch my head
Mei Li tentatively put his hand on the head in front of him and touched it. Touching a hand of plaster with the smell of grass and soil, the swamp monster tilted his head but still did not move.
What does this mean
Mei Li touched the side of his head again.
The swamp monster looked up at her, his gray eyes were blank, just like Mei Li's blankness as if he was looking in a mirror. He may have finally realized that Mei Li didn't understand what he meant, so he slowly raised his hand to touch his head and pulled his hair apart.
As he moved slowly, Mei Li finally discovered that a small white mushroom had grown on the side of his head.
Mei Li: “…”
So is this the fish that slipped through the net before, or is it the offspring left by that large bunch of white mushrooms that has just grown out
"That's all. You really don't have to return it to me."
Mei Li held the thumb-sized white mushroom in her hand, a little worried that more white mushrooms would grow on the swamp monster. Wouldn't he have to come over every time to return the mushrooms? It made her seem like she was treating him like a mushroom growing bag.
My conscience is condemned.
Just like before, after returning the white mushroom to her, the swamp monster continued on its previous path, moving forward along the edge of the forest.
It seemed like she had nothing to do, but Mei Li hesitated for a moment, lifted her skirt and chased after him, walking beside the swamp monster at a distance of one meter.
It is said that wherever the swamp monster passes by, it will become a swamp. However, after careful observation, Mei Li found that when he passes by, the soil will become soft, and it will not turn into a swamp immediately. It will take a while to turn into a quagmire. If you want to turn the surrounding area into a swamp, you may need to stay longer.
She was led here by those moonlit fairies without wearing shoes, and her feet were hurt by the stones. Now, as she walked near the swamp monster, the soil under her feet became soft, and she felt very comfortable walking.
The soft and cold soil always has the damp smell of rain around me.
She followed for a while, and the swamp monster seemed to notice that she was following him. He turned his head to look at her, probably with confusion in his eyes.
But he didn't chase anyone away. He just took a look and walked away without caring.
Mei Li followed on impulse. Except for the night she chased Mrs. Peg, she had never walked so leisurely in the night, because the night in the strange world was scary, but tonight, she just felt very quiet and leisurely.
The swamp monster next to me scared away the Moon Fairy. The moonlight tonight is indeed beautiful, suitable for going out for a walk.
She played with the small white mushroom in her hand, put her hands behind her back, looked out at the forest and fields, took a deep breath, and felt her whole body relax.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
The swamp monster didn't react. He walked forward slowly and draggingly, without even looking at the road, just with his head down. Mei Li suspected that he was just walking around aimlessly.
Although I can't communicate with her, it's nice to take a quiet walk on the moonlit night.
"It's getting late. I'm going back."
"I was so scared when we first met that I hit you with a stick. I'm sorry. I dropped my lantern on the side of the road, and you helped me find it. And just now, thank you."
"I'm leaving. Bye."
She waved her hand, not caring whether the swamp monster would respond or not, and walked towards the house.
She was walking so fast that she didn't see the swamp monster stop and look at her back for a long moment.
In the night, the girl's white nightgown fluttered as she ran, and the hazy moonlight shone on her body.
"Merry!" Hertha called out to her from outside the garden, carrying a basket.
Mei Li was standing in the vegetable garden watering the fields with her sleeves and skirt rolled up. When she heard the sound, she put down her skirt and went to open the gate.
Hesha had come here several times and was now very familiar with the place. As soon as she entered the yard, she chirped, "Let's go pick berries. At this time of year in previous years, many berries in the woods are ripe."
"Okay." Mei Li was quite interested in the daily activities of the local girls.
Life here is too monotonous. If you don’t find something to do, it will be boring to stay at home every day.
It was not the first time for the two girls to go out together. This time, they walked hand in hand and chatted as they headed to the grove. Under Mei Li's conscious guidance, the content of the chat included many legends, which allowed her to accumulate a lot of relevant knowledge.
"… Another monster we often talk about is Rhodendor, a very ugly fairy. They will replace their own children with people's newborn babies in order to let humans raise their children. Therefore, some very ugly people are called 'Rhoden', which means the children of the Rhodendor fairy."
Hesha gave an example: "Isn't there a man in the market who often lies by the square and does nothing? He has a pig nose, big ears, small eyes, and protruding teeth. Everyone says he is also Ruoden'er."
Mei Li: "He's just an ordinary ugly guy, right?" At least she didn't notice anything wrong with that guy.
Hesha: "I don't know, I can't recognize him, but he is not only ugly but also lazy. Ruoden is also very lazy."
After discussing Ruoden'er, she talked about other monsters: "The Fairy Lis is the daughter of a fox. She will seduce young women. So if you go to the forest and see a red fox, you must ignore it. If you can't resist the temptation and talk to her, you will have to exchange identities with her."
Hesha is also a brave girl with a childlike adventurous nature deep in her heart. She knows all kinds of magical legends and weird fairy tales like the back of her hand.
She was telling stories, but Mei Li remembered them all. After all, she could see, and maybe she would encounter them all one day.
Regardless of whether it is true or not, it’s definitely a good idea to learn more about it.
In addition to these widely circulated monster legends, Hesha is more familiar with the surrounding woods. She knows exactly what delicious food is in each wood.
"There are many bushes in the grove over here, and the most berries. I know where the berries are the sweetest." Hesha boasted just now. However, when the two of them entered the grove, they found that there were not many ripe berries in it, as if they had already been picked.
"Ah, how could this happen? Someone picked them all first!" Hesha yelled unhappily, but soon she comforted Meili, "It's okay, I know another place where there are also many raspberries growing. Let's go there."
Hersha took her to a wild area she had never been to before. There were many thorn bushes there, and the road was difficult to walk on. Hersha told her on the way: "Children often play in the grove, so they must have picked the berries. But this side is close to the southern forest, and children don't often come here to play, so there must be a lot of berries."
What greeted them were empty branches and picked fruit stems.
Hesha was annoyed: "I brought you here specifically to pick berries, and now I haven't picked any at all."
"No! Let's go to another place!" She clenched her fists and walked towards another road angrily.
"Hersha, if we go any further we'll be in the forest."
"Yes, it's in the forest. Children are not allowed in the forest, so the berries in the forest must not have been picked!"
"Didn't you say there were a lot of goblins in the forest?"
"Never mind, that's just a lie for kids, I haven't seen it before. And we're only on the outskirts, we won't encounter any large wild animals, so there will definitely be no problem!"
Hesha was destined to be disappointed. When they entered the forest, the few raspberry bushes they found were all empty, with a few small yellow fruits that were obviously not ripe.
"What's going on? Have all the berries been picked this year?"
Hesha buried her head in the bushes, searching without giving up. Meili turned her head to the side, watching a red raspberry fall straight down from the branch beside her and be caught by a pair of chubby little hands.
The little thing that caught the raspberry looked a little different from the Moon Night Fairy. It was chubby and round, with its body wrapped in leaves.
A few of the little creatures hid behind the leaves, shaking the branches until the ripe fruits fell, and then they rushed forward to catch them. A single raspberry was as big as their entire heads.
The arrival of Hesha and Meili disturbed them. The little guys whispered a few words unhappily, and each of them disappeared from under the leaves holding a raspberry.
Mei Li squatted down and picked up a red raspberry they dropped, and heard them talking about "fairy party" before they left.
Hesha was still mumbling about why there were no ripe berries. Meili stood up and pulled her, saying seriously, "The berries were picked by the fairies in the forest. They are having a party."
Hesha was stunned, then she held onto the tree trunk and burst into laughter.
"Meli, you are joking~"