The end of a meaningless new year. For Shezishu, such a special festival did not make her feel that it was any different from usual. Maybe it’s because there are more sounds of firecrackers and there are more red colors on the streets. Couplets, lanterns, children's cotton-padded jackets... everything is fiery red. Walking through such red, her thin clothes were no longer so eye-catching.
She felt a vague sense of intimacy, perhaps because of the color. Those bright things convey a different kind of enthusiasm. They were like fire, but no different from water, washing away the complicated and confusing dust in her heart. Like water, fire can purify everything.
This place is already close to the south. If there is a speck of white floating in the sky, it will amaze the locals for a long time. For such a remote water town, many people will never go further in their lifetime. Even if you can sail down the river in a boat and reach a more distant and developed city soon, no one seems to want to leave. People are self-sufficient and rely on a piece of water and soil to support themselves.
It's so lively, but everything has nothing to do with me. Even though she has been here for the whole New Year, even though the children here like her very much. Until now, she has passed through many villages, large and small, and has seen many interesting things that she has never seen before. No matter how you say this kind of journey is done alone, she can't say it's good or bad, but she just feels that it's a lot different from the days she spent with the other girls. But she couldn't tell what the difference was.
Her perception is too poor, maybe monsters are different from humans after all. At the end of autumn, it was not too cold around here, and unknown birds were still hatching their eggs. Before coming to this water town, she found a nest of eggs among the water plants by the river. She didn't know what kind of bird it was, but she just felt it was abnormal - but she thought it wouldn't be very cold in the south. Although she couldn't feel it, she had some "common sense" at least. When those birds broke out of their shells, one or two of them were dangling, and the life inside was trying hard to break free. She Zishu didn't do anything, just watched quietly. She felt a subtle emotion rising and falling in her heart.
Now think about it, where did the real mothers of these water birds go? Maybe it's because someone is nearby and it doesn't dare to get closer. Even if she left at that time and was contaminated by the breath of others - monsters, it might be difficult for the mother bird to accept them. It's a bit pitiful to think that it lost its child like this. It was just too tired and wanted to take a free walk, or it was too hungry and couldn't help but go looking for food. But there's no use thinking about it that much. It's not with the children at the most important moments.
So, they mistakenly thought that She Zishu, who was watching the excitement, was their mother, and they followed her until now.
It was so bizarre that She Zishu couldn't figure it out. She didn't know whether she should let it go. But no matter what, it is really cruel to have a life die in front of your eyes. So she fed the birds grass seeds, fruits, and small fish scalded in hot water, and they actually grew up like this. Even now, they are the size of ordinary waterfowl - they grow very fast, but their fur is still fluffy and has not transformed into hard feathers.
"This kind of fluff can help them survive the winter better." The old man from the water town told her, "Only in spring will they put on the feathers like big birds and start to learn to fly. They really like you. Ah, you must be a very good person."
Shezi didn't know how to answer. Those fluffy waterfowl, each of which happened to be held in both hands, nestled next to her and slept. She felt that there should be no warmth on her body, but they still did it, maybe because the fabric was warmer. There are four such birds in total. There were originally six, which sounded auspicious. Only one didn't break the shell, and the other one was picked up by the raptor. Its speed was so fast that Zishu couldn't react. In a blink of an eye, it took the bird and flew to a place that was out of reach. She had nothing to do. But then I thought, forget it, maybe this way the descendants of the raptor will not starve in this slightly cold winter. All she could do was protect the few remaining birds.
"The babies of many animals will follow the first living thing they see after they are born, and regard them as their mothers. Many of their habits in the future will also follow the mothers they think of. I am afraid that these bird babies now, You might think you are a human being, hahahahahahaha..."
In this place where she lives temporarily, there are only elderly monogamous couples. The old lady was a bit deaf and always spoke loudly to them, but that didn't mean she was irritable. The old man was a cheerful and good-natured man, smiling at everyone, even though his face was full of wrinkles. They are all very nice people. However, these words still gave She Zishu an unspeakable feeling. This is not the old man's fault.
She initially thought she was a human being, and then... she became what she is now. Perhaps she saw her own shadow in these little birds. Even though the life and death of a group of birds had nothing to do with her, she still didn't want to let them die so easily. Could it be that something unexpected happened? Do you blame yourself for looking at them too much?
It can't be calculated like this...
Can't?
In this place, as a cover, Zishu didn't stay too long, but she liked it here. Perhaps it is the kind old people, the unpretentious young residents, and the lively children. However, there have been many places like this in the past, and this time it may be enhanced by the booming New Year atmosphere. In the previous places, she couldn't stay too long due to various reasons.
Various reasons.
Maybe this isn't the place she wants to stay for a long time, but if possible, she wants to stay as long as possible. Every time she stayed in one place for more than seven days, and the local people were simple and warm, she would come up with the idea of "Maybe this is not bad, there is no need to find the so-called truth or find out the so-called life experience", about Lord Xueyue's advice to her to go to the Death Shadow Pavilion to decipher the secrets can also be put behind her. She is a monster and has a longer and more abundant time than humans.
She gently touched the head of a water bird in her arms. It was sleeping deeply, between her crossed knees and beside the warm stove, its gray fluffy fur glowed with a layer of warm light. Their mouths are still black, like their legs, but I heard that once the down is replaced, their mouths will turn bright red. It is said that when a flock of birds gathers in the shallows, when viewed from a distance, their beaks look like sparkling waves illuminated by the sun on the water.
The old lady came from the kitchen and handed her a lotus leaf cake. She said thank you. The old man once told her that they once had a lovely granddaughter who, if still alive, would be as old as her. In front of the old lady, the old man said that their granddaughter was too playful and did not go home after dark, so she fell into the water and drowned. The parents were so distraught that they moved away from the water town where they lived... to the village of my wife's natal family. But for the two elderly people, there are too many memories of the past here. Even if their granddaughter lost her life here, she can't just let go of it.
But while the old lady was sleeping, the old man said this again.
"It was the water ghost who captured her as a scapegoat." In the dark night, the eyes of the old man with poor eyesight seemed to be filled with an indescribable watery light. "Our children here are all proficient in water skills since they were young, so they will not get into trouble... Just downstream of the main river, two miles away from the village, there is a 'Yin River' that intersects with it. Even large ships have to pass there. Be cautious. That’s why people here don’t like to travel far, and they are not willing to do business with others. There are also bold businessmen, but in the end either something happened or they changed careers, and none of them kept doing it.”
It has always been safe here, with no monsters intruding. The only troublesome thing is the waterway. But if you don't actively cause trouble, nothing big will happen, so people don't leave slowly. But for people in the water town, water ghosts are their biggest enemies - logically speaking, they can also be regarded as a kind of monsters. How people distinguish ghosts and demons varies in different places.
She Zishu stayed here with a mentality close to luck. She was neither a ghost nor a human, but at least she looked very human, and no one could recognize her. Here, there should be no "enthusiastic" Taoist priests passing by to help the villagers subjugate demons. She thought that at least once these birds had moulted, learned to fly, and become more proficient in hunting skills...then if something unexpected happened and forced her to leave, it would be okay, she would be able to accept it calmly. Just like when children grow up, although parents cannot completely relax, at least they no longer worry about their children all day long.
At night, Zishu lay quietly on the bed, and the birds huddled in the corner of the bed. She doesn't seem to need sleep very often, at least less than humans do. Are all monsters so energetic? She didn't know, she had only seen a few monsters. She silently thought about everything she had experienced since coming to this village. As elsewhere, she can help everyone with whatever work she can. She made up some decent stories about herself, but all the information about her identity was unified into "a witch". Witches always have some magic power on their bodies, so it is understandable that they are so thinly dressed, and it is even more understandable that they can use some magic. Her little spells - or sorcery, can always help people solve some minor troubles. Soon, people will admire her and love her. These were also little tricks she picked up slowly along the way...the harmless kind.
She often thinks of Yin Hu.
That kid was different. She is speechless and cannot solve troubles with convenient lies like herself. It became increasingly difficult for her to imagine how she had come here alone before walking with Chenxing.
It was even more unimaginable how she would walk alone in the future.
