The existence of witches, like the legends of various fairies and monsters, exists in people's imagination, and almost no one has seen what they look like with their own eyes.
It's just that in all kinds of rumors, they are extremely terrible.
Mei Li carried a basket to the market to buy things and found that there were always people staring at her secretly along the way. When she looked over, those people would immediately look away in an attempt to hide their gaze. This strange attitude was really suspicious.
In the past, when she came to the market, few people would talk to her and would keep their distance from her. But this time, the feeling of being excluded was too obvious.
In such an uncomfortable atmosphere, Mei Li quickly bought something and prepared to leave.
But before she walked out of the market, she was stopped by someone. A young man holding a knife glared at her with red eyes.
It was Aunt Maggie's son Julian.
"Did you kill my mother?" he asked as he rushed up.
Mei Li was startled by him and looked at the knife in his hand warily, a little worried that this man was in a bad mental state and would attack him directly.
"What are you talking about? How could I kill Aunt Maggie?"
She couldn't help but wonder in her heart, could it be that he saw her fish out Aunt Maggie's body from the swamp before, so he misunderstood
"You are a nasty witch, and your mother is also a witch. If it wasn't you who did it, then who did it?"
Hearing this answer, Mei Li felt it was ridiculous. Without any evidence, they could come up with a knife to stop people based on suspicion alone. Should we say that young people of this age are impulsive and brainless, or that this world lacks laws
Many people gathered around to watch, pointing and talking, but no one spoke. They all looked at her with fear and suspicion.
Mei Li originally wanted to remain calm, but then she changed her mind and pursed her lips to reveal a frightened expression. Her eyes turned red and she started crying on the spot, "What right do you have to slander me!"
She was also a pretty little beauty, and she looked particularly pitiful when she cried with such a frightened expression. Compared with Julian who was holding a knife, she looked even weaker and more helpless.
Seeing Julian move, Mei Li took a step back in panic and shouted, "What are you going to do? I'm not a witch at all. You are the terrible murderer!"
As she stepped back, the people watching behind her also stepped back. One auntie couldn't help but said, "Julian, put down the knife first."
"Yes, yes, a little girl was scared to tears by you."
Another middle-aged woman rolled up her sleeves and stood out, shouting, "Don't take what others say seriously. You came out so impulsively. Do you really want to kill someone?"
Julian had heard too many speculations and gossips in the past few days and was immersed in the grief of his mother's murder. He ran over to question on impulse, but now after hearing what the people around him said, he was shaken again. His angry expression subsided a lot and he stood there not knowing what to do.
—People are always like this, easily lost in rumors, like a boat swaying in the wind.
Mei Li was still crying. She raised her eyes and looked at him fearfully. "I... I have no grudge against your family. Why would I kill Aunt Maggie for no reason? Besides, I don't even dare to kill a rabbit, so how could I kill someone? You just casually smeared my reputation. How can I live like this in the future? I, I won't live anymore!"
As she spoke, she burst into tears, and the only sound echoing in the whole area was her crying.
The crowd of onlookers looked at each other in bewilderment, and many of them looked embarrassed.
Everyone here has made some casual guesses about Aunt Maggie's death.
When it comes to rumors, everyone spreads them casually, just following the crowd and saying a few words, and no one thinks it's a big deal.
What evidence do we need to have for suspicion? Suspicion is just a prejudice in people's minds.
But now, a little girl was made to cry in public because of gossip, which is not a good look.
Mei Li also risked her life, crying, "You just think that I am a little girl who is easy to bully because my parents are both dead. I know you are sad about Aunt Maggie's death, but just because you are sad, does that mean you can bully others at will?"
She didn't involve anyone else and only targeted Julian.
In this world, people who look more miserable are always more sympathetic. Suddenly, the situation changed.
Many people also felt that, although gossip was just gossip, it was immoral to bully a little girl with a knife, so they stood up to condemn Julian.
"Julian, you are really going too far."
"Yeah, you're a grown man now, it's no big deal for you to bully a little girl."
"Go back quickly and stop making trouble. How can you be so reckless?"
Julian's face turned purple as he glared at these people. Obviously, many of them swore that Mary and her daughter were witches, but now they were denying it and were condemning him!
These people... these people!
He felt so wronged and angry that he yelled, turned around and ran out of the crowd.
A group of people were startled by his shouting. A woman covered her chest and said unhappily, "I didn't know Julian was such a person before. He has such a bad temper."
"Yeah, he suddenly yelled and scared me. Could he be upset by Maggie's death?"
"Maybe. He hasn't been interested in hanging out lately, talking or laughing. I'm afraid there's something wrong."
"He's getting more and more gloomy. Not to mention, he's a bit scary. He even carries a knife with him."
"His father never takes care of him."
In a blink of an eye, rumors began to spread among these people again.
These rumors are like the wind, blowing through everyone and never stopping.
Hesha heard the news after everything was over and hurried over. Seeing Mary still crying silently, she quickly stepped forward to support her and led her out of the crowd.
She carefully said a few words of comfort and even took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
The two of them sat on the road outside the market. Mei Li held her handkerchief, her emotions calm, only her eyes were still a little red. She was pretending, so of course she recovered quickly.
"Are you okay, Mellie?"
"It's all right."
"How could Julian do this to you? He is such a fool!"
"Forget it... Hesha, everyone says I'm a witch, do you think so too?" Mei Li only realized now why his friends seemed to be hesitant and worried when they came to play with him last time. He was afraid that he had heard those rumors.
Hesha waved her hands and shook her head, "No! I don't think so, they are all talking nonsense, I believe you!"
Mei Li looked at her and her expression softened. "Thank you, Hesha."
In fact, she didn't care about those rumors. She had experienced too many such things in her previous life.
At the beginning, it was because of her father. After her father was killed, the bad things he had done were found out and disclosed on the Internet. She and her mother were insulted because of this. She was very young at that time and did not understand much. She only remembered that her mother, who was already sensitive, was greatly stimulated by this and became increasingly depressed.
Later, this incident was constantly mentioned when she was in elementary school, but no one wanted to pay attention to her, the daughter of a rapist.
Before her mother passed away, she had mental problems and often went in and out of mental illness treatment centers. People who knew them would tell others with pity or sarcasm that her mother was a psychopath.
She was in junior high school, and her classmates also spread rumors that she had inherited mental illness from her mother.
She suffered and resented it, and learned to show weakness to make herself feel better. When she appeared as a victim or a weak person, there would always be sympathetic people who stood up to speak for her. However, after watching too many verbal lawsuits, it seemed meaningless regardless of winning or losing.
When she grew up and became a little more mature, she gradually learned not to care about these things under the guidance of Mrs. Qin.
But there were some aftereffects. She became less sociable and did not like living among people. She would rather be alone.
Perhaps this is why she fell in love with the swamp monster—he had no human qualities, and she felt so peaceful when she was with him, and she wouldn't get hurt even if she got close to him.
After crying, she felt a little depressed. She walked on the path, staring at the light blue sky in a daze.
The silhouette of the swamp monster suddenly appeared from the other end of the path, and its silhouette became thicker and thicker under the light blue sky.
Mei Li's mood slowly rose again, her slightly heavy footsteps became lighter, and every step she took towards the swamp monster seemed like stepping on the wind. She ran towards him, and slowed down when she got close.
The swamp monster extended his hand to her, and Mei Li hung the basket on it.
Then she ran behind the swamp monster, jumped up with a sprint, and hung her whole body on his back.
"Ah - I'm tired, you carry me back -"
Mei Li grabbed his neck and hung on him, swinging her legs.
With a basket and a chestnut hanging from his body, the swamp monster turned and moved toward the forest.
Mei Li got tired after hanging for a while, so he jumped down and continued walking while holding one of the swamp monster's hands.
Although there are bad things, life is still good, Mei Li thought as she looked at the tall man beside her.
What happened at the market was not pleasant, and it did not cause any serious consequences. Mei Li did not take it to heart and continued to live her life as usual.
However, Julian, whose mother was suspected to have been murdered by a witch, did not let it go so easily.
The scenes of being refuted and blamed in the market tortured him repeatedly. The more those people said he was wrong, the more he refused to accept it and he had to prove that he was not wrong.
The moonlight shining into the room was dim. He lay in bed unable to fall asleep. He clenched his fists and pounded hard on the bed.
I heard my father coughing from next door. Since my mother died, my father has aged a lot.
All kinds of complicated emotions were pounding in his chest, and he couldn't find a way out. He suddenly sat up from the bed, picked up the knife beside the bed, and quietly walked out of the room.
He was curious about the house near the forest, and he had explored nearby with his friends before. Taking advantage of the night, he walked along the path leading to the house.
There was a rustling sound in the woods. He felt a gaze on him and when he looked towards the woods, he saw a pair of shining eyes.
"What is that!" He raised the knife.
"Coo-coo--" An owl flew up and flew over his head.
The shadows of the trees swayed, and when blown by the wind it looked like there were people standing behind the trees.
Julian was extremely nervous. He walked all the way to the house with a garden. The impulse in his heart had disappeared and he began to hesitate again.
He wandered outside the house for a while, finally gritted his teeth, grasped the knife, and flipped into the yard.