There was no news from Mrs. Frizzle for another two months, and Mei Li began to wonder if she had really given up.
Even if you often remind yourself to be alert, if you stay in a non-dangerous environment for too long, your vigilance will inevitably decrease. After all, it is impossible for a person to be in a tense state all the time.
Mei Li stayed near Gloria's house for the past two months and never went far away, but now she occasionally goes to farther places to pick mushrooms.
She learned magic well, and she always took the swamp monster with her whenever she went out, so that she could escape even if she encountered danger. Gloria did not restrict her actions, mainly because the lake here belonged to her territory. As long as she was still here, Furis would not dare to do anything openly.
But unfortunately, she received a letter from her relatives in her hometown.
Her brother passed away, and the younger generations in her family wrote to her asking her to go back to attend the funeral. She had to go this time, but because of the complicated family situation, she couldn't bring Mei Li with her.
"I have written a letter to Arthurnie. She will come to look after you for a few days." Before leaving, she still made good arrangements for Mei Li.
On the day Arthur arrived here, Mei Li and Arthur saw off their sad grandmother Gloria together.
Watching her leave in the carriage with iris patterns, Mei Li felt uneasy and stayed in the house for a few more days.
"No need to be so careful. It's been so long. That coward, Frizzy, must not dare to come anymore!" Arsene was lying on the rocking chair, holding the fruit wine she had found in Gloria's cellar. "If she had the guts, she would have come right after Gloria left!"
Mei Li was half-believing and half-doubting. She always felt that Mrs. Furis was not someone who would give up so easily. But the fact was that she had always been safe.
Seeing that Gloria was about to return, Mei Li relaxed a bit. She had seldom been outside with the swamp monster recently, and when she saw the bright sunshine outside, she suddenly wanted to see him.
The swamp monster usually stays in the swamp near the house. Mei Li went out and looked for it as usual. As a result, she saw him halfway, walking towards the house.
Mei Li smiled when she saw the tall and thin figure coming over from afar, and called him, "Cute!"
But for some reason, when the swamp monster saw her, it not only did not come over, but turned around and slowly walked into a nearby woods.
Mei Li was stunned. Didn't he come here specially to see her? Why did he leave again? Could it be that he was angry because she didn't see him these days
Mei Li was a little nervous. The swamp monster had changed a lot since the beginning, so it was normal for it to learn to get angry.
Or maybe he just wanted to take her to see something.
Mei Li thought of this and trotted after him, "Kwai, wait for me!"
On the other side of the swamp, the swamp monster that had bent itself into a bridge suddenly moved, raised its head and looked around blankly.
He heard her calling him.
Mei Li chased the swamp monster who was walking with his head down into the woods. Because he was not walking very fast, she caught up with him in no time. She took his wet big hand and said in a coaxing tone, "Kai'ai, what's wrong with you? Where are you going?"
She was still smiling when she was suddenly caught off guard by that big wet hand, and even her tilted neck was strangled by the other hand.
Mei Li was caught off guard and had his neck clamped by this force, and fell to the ground.
She was stunned for a moment and realized that something was wrong. The swamp monster would never treat her like this. This was not a swamp monster!
Mei Li's lips moved as her mind raced, and the wild flowers and weeds around her instantly grew vigorously, breaking free from the grip of the "swamp monster" while also binding him tightly.
Mei Li pointed her finger, and the trapped "swamp monster" blinked and revealed its true appearance - it was a straw man made of branches. The moment Mei Li saw it clearly, the weeds around her tore the straw man into pieces.
"I haven't seen you for three months. You've made some progress." The voice almost rang in her ears. Mei Li had no time to react. She felt a weight on her body and immediately fell to the ground.
There was a flickering light beneath her, and Mei Li saw a magic circle hidden in the bushes, only then did she realize that she had walked into a trap.
Mrs. Frizzle, whom she hadn't seen for several months, was standing opposite her, wearing a cloak and holding a sapphire necklace in her hand.
Here she comes, she finally comes.
At this moment, Mei Li felt strangely as if everything had settled.
Mei Li raised her head with all her might, trying to buy herself some time, "Mrs. Frizz, Gloria will be back soon."
Fres smiled and took action without making any villain declaration.
Silver light emanated from the necklace in her hand, creating a mysterious connection with the magic circle they were in.
Furis's movements were extremely fast and neat. While Meili was still trying to use magic to escape, her hand turned into a silver light and reached into her head.
Mei Li had experienced that dizzy feeling of detachment once before, when Mrs. Peg tried to extract her soul.
That time, she was able to escape because of the sudden appearance of the black cat Feicui.
However, because she had experienced it once before, she would not fall into the same trap twice.
It is originally very difficult to draw out a person's soul. Unfortunately, her soul and this body are not completely compatible, so Mei Li has asked Gloria for many methods during this period.
Every day, she would use a magic that could calm the soul and nail her soul firmly in this body. Although it was a little painful, at least now, Madam Frizzle could not easily pull out her soul unless she wanted to destroy this body together.
The feeling of detachment was slight, and Mrs. Frizzle also noticed the problem.
If she had enough time, spending a whole day or two, she could certainly strip off her soul, but she didn't have that much time now. Asini, who was nearby, might notice something was wrong at any time and come to disrupt her ceremony.
And that swamp monster is also a problem. We failed last time because we didn't pay attention to its existence.
Mei Li felt the situation was at a stalemate and forced a bright smile towards Furis.
Seeing her smile, Mrs. Frizzle twitched her red lips and suddenly smiled too.
Faced with such a difficult problem, she was not as flustered and crazy as Mrs. Peg, but remained calm. After just a moment, she made a decision, "Since I can't pull it out, I'll just swallow it."
Devouring other people's souls is also a very risky thing, and there are certain side effects.
"Alex, take care of my body." Fris' voice was soft but cold.
Alex, wearing a sword, walked out from behind the tree, his face solemn and his eyes affectionate, "I will protect you well, Furis."
Fres placed the blue gem in her hand on Meili's forehead, and a silver light emanated from her body. The silver light was like a layer of misty morning mist, surrounding her translucent soul and pounced on Meili's body.
Mei Li's body trembled violently and a hoarse sound came out of her throat.
Mr. Pollock, the owl standing in a tree far away, drooped his wings and sighed.
It is Fress's contracted messenger. Although it may occasionally do some small things behind her back, it cannot harm her under any circumstances.
Even though it did like the little girl Mary a little, it could only watch her being killed by Mrs. Frizzle.
Seeing the swamp monster passing under the tree, the owl moved its claws, but still closed its eyes without warning.
Mrs. Frizzle asked it to stand guard outside, but... Anyway, just pretend you didn't see it.
Alex stood outside the magic circle, his expression flickering under the light.
He watched and waited quietly, and saw overlapping green pupils appear in Mary's amber eyes.
The time was almost up. He stepped forward to stand in front of Madam Frizzle's body, drew the sword from his waist, and with a passionate look, pierced Madam Frizzle's heart without hesitation.
The heart is the source of power for a witch's body, and if a body's heart is destroyed, the witch can no longer use it.
His action was so sudden that even Mei Li, who was struggling in pain, paused for a moment.
She and Mrs. Frith were both shocked by the scene.
Because Mrs. Frizzle was trying to take over her body, at that moment Mei Li also felt Mrs. Frizzle's anger and disbelief.
After her anger subsided, Mrs. Frizzle's clear murderous intent also surged in her heart.
Mei Li: ... If you are so angry, then get out of my body and go find this bastard to settle the score!
Unfortunately, Mrs. Frizzle did not let her anger take away her sanity. When she found that her original body was destroyed, her first reaction was to take over Mary's body as soon as possible.
As for Alex, as long as she doesn't die, she can be dealt with sooner or later.
Alex smiled at the anger in Meili's green eyes and said, "Fris, of course I love you. There's no need to doubt it."
But loving her and wanting to kill her are not contradictory.
He took out an emerald necklace from his arms, threw it casually, and it landed directly on Mei Li.
In the pale golden light, the soul of Mrs. Peg, who should have been bitten to death by the goblins, actually came out. Although it was very thin and transparent, the madness and hideousness on her face were chilling.
"Fris! Fris!"
"You've been lying to me! You deliberately let me see that notebook!"
"You killed me!"
She also pounced on Meili and bit Furis's soul fiercely. The two sisters fought in an instant and forgot about Meili for a while.
Mei Li: “…”
Please, if you want to fight, go to the dance studio! You're squeezing them all into this body, I'm going to burst!
She was still trapped in Madam Ferris's magic circle and felt the soil beneath her grow moist.
I reached out my hand with difficulty and felt a handful of mud.
The swamp monster is coming!
Alex also saw the thin swamp monster. He stopped enjoying the fight between Frizzle and Mrs. Peg. He took two steps to Meili and stabbed her body with his sword again.
Since he wanted to kill Mrs. Frizzle, he would not let her succeed in taking over Mei Li's body. In this way, he might as well kill both Mei Li and Frizzle in her body.
At the critical moment, Mei Li leaned sideways to avoid the sword that was piercing his heart, but was pierced through the chest.
Along with the pain, not only did Asni's loud cursing from afar come closer, but there was also the sudden appearance of the black cat Jade.
It walked gracefully over her chest, and with a sweep of its long tail, the souls of Mrs. Frizzle and Mrs. Peg twisted into a ball and were pulled out of her body.
The mysterious black cat glanced at her and disappeared.
Mei Li felt a sharp pain in her chest, and saw blood pouring out of her body uncontrollably, spilling onto the ground. The soil beneath her quickly turned into a swamp, wrapping up her unable to move and dragging her into the depths of the swamp.
Before finally sinking into the mud, she saw Mrs. Peg's weak soul being devoured by Vesper, saw Arsene trap Vesper, and saw Alex turn and run away...
The mire overwhelmed her.
dark.
There is a very familiar smell in the darkness.
Rainwater and grass—the smell of swamp monsters.
Something soft brushed her cheek from time to time, and she woke up from a long, deep, sweet dream.
Curled up in the clear water, it is surrounded by green grass and scattered wild flowers, which are also soaked in the water, with their stems and leaves swaying.
Her long hair and skirt rippled in the water. She slowly turned over and found that in this egg-shaped space, there was only water and grass surrounding her. She couldn't tell the upside down, like a new world.
There was a little itchiness at the wound, but when I looked down, I saw that the wound had healed, leaving only a light pink mark with blisters gathered there, swaying upwards.
Mei Li looked up at the small bubble in a daze, and saw a gray hand reaching out from the dense and swaying water plants, and the small bubble hit his fingers.
Mei Li, who had just woken up, felt relieved when she saw the big hand and took the initiative to hold it.
The hand touched her cheek, like touching a newly born flower. Then he took her and lifted her up.
Breaking through the tiny "eggshell", she sprouted like a seed, with countless rapidly growing grass leaves and overlapping wild flowers on both sides, making rustling sounds. Raindrops dripped and rolled on the grass leaves and wild flowers, showing her a bizarre, yet vibrant and wonderful world.
It suddenly dawned on her that this was the world of swamp monsters.
“Crash—”
Breaking through the dirty mud, Mei Li was pulled out from the ground, but there was not a single stain of mud on her body, only a fresh scent of green grass.
The sun was shining brightly outside. The swamp monster was standing in a swamp with purple iris flowers in bloom. She held one of his hands. He slowly bent down, held her tightly with his overly long arms, and rested his head behind her.
—It was a very warm and firm hug.
Mei Li blinked, hugged him with her backhand, and saw Gloria with a look of relief and Asene with a look of relief not far away.
"You finally woke up, welcome back."