Section 16: The Swamp Witch
The bone-chilling cold woke Bruce from his stupor, his teeth chattering against each other, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a low thatched hut surrounded by the smell of mixed herbs.
"I, where am I?" Bruce sat up abruptly, he looked down at his palm, and realized that he was not dead, nor had he traveled back.
"Goo-goo-goo."
In the open space outside the shack, an iron tong pot hung on the bonfire, and the green liquid in the tong pot was boiling, and there was a strong smell of Chinese herbs in it.
"What is this place?" Bruce found himself topless, he got up from the thick straw mat and walked out of the shack, he got out of the low shack and looked around, and found himself standing in the center of a swamp, surrounded by moss, sticky swamp mire.
Bruce stepped forward and looked at the bubbling green liquid in the iron tong pot, and his brow couldn't help but wrinkle, this scene seems familiar!
"You're awake?" A hoarse voice sounded, and Bruce quickly turned around, and saw a human-like thing coming out of the back of the shack, his or her body was covered with black I don't know if it was an animal skin or a bird feather.
"What are you?" Startled by the monster, Bruce instinctively took a step back.
"I, I'm a swamp witch." The monster stretched out a pair of hands as rough as chicken claws, grasped a cane leaning against the side of the shack, and he/she staggered slowly towards Bruce.
"Stop, I'm Lord Glinton." Bruce warns the Swamp Witch that he immediately regrets it after blurting it out, and now he doesn't know whether this ugly monster is friend or foe, and he is afraid that he will be killed if he boldly reveals his identity.
"Lord?" The Swamp Witch heard Bruce's words, stopped, and slowly took a step back, her head lifted to peek out from under her filthy black hood, and a pair of eyes hidden in the darkness spied on Bruce.
"Uh, yes, by the way, I remember accidentally stepping into the swamp, did you save me?" Bruce touched the back of his head, he remembered that he had fallen into the mud and almost drowned, and finally it seemed that a beautiful angel had saved him, so he asked curiously.
"Sadistic, sad, sad, I would love to have this honor, my lord." The swamp witch let out a strange laugh from under the hood that covered her face, and the sound frightened the crows that flew away from the dead tree tops.
"Damn, that's ugly." Bruce couldn't help but cover his ears, and he frowned at the strange-looking swamp witch in front of him.
"It's a pity that it was my sister who saved you." The Swamp Witch laughed and said to Bruce.
"Your sister?" Bruce said in surprise, he didn't expect this monster to have a sister.
"Yes, she's happy with you!" The Swamp Witch looked Bruce up and down, and let out another weird laugh.
"What does that mean, by the way how can you get out of here, if you send me back to Greenton Village, I will reward you." Bruce could hear something was wrong from the swamp witch's words, and he had just looked around, and there was no way out of it.
"No, this is our home, and guests who come here are leaving unless we agree." The swamp witch said in a hoarse voice.
"No, I know how to go." Bruce snorted softly, and he walked over to the clothesline between the two large trees next to the shack, and picked up the clothes that were attached to it.
The Swamp Witch looked at Bruce with interest, she didn't believe that Bruce could really leave on his own, no one had ever been able to leave without their consent.
"Smack." Bruce shook his still wet shirt and put it on himself, he looked left and right and walked into the middle of several trees in this clearing, broke down many branches, and then found a rattan in the grass, peeled off the skin of the rattan, pulled out the tough tendons inside, and rubbed it into a few primitive ropes.
The swamp witch walked over to the iron tong pot and stirred the green liquid inside, she glanced at Bruce seemingly absently, although Bruce's strange behavior made her curious, she still didn't believe that Bruce really knew how to get out of the swamp, and the bottomless quagmire was the best defense here.
However, Bruce connected the sticks with vine tendons, and a raft-like thing gradually took shape, and the swamp witch stopped stirring her hands, and she looked at Bruce in disbelief.
"Ha, it's done, isn't it a swamp? As long as the bearing area is increased, the body will not sink downward. Bruce proudly picked up the raft and smiled at the swamp witch and said, "Can this kind of thing that he learned in junior high school physics be difficult for him?"
"This can't be, why do you know this magic?" The swamp witch's voice trembled, and she looked at Bruce in disbelief.
"Magic? It's science. Bruce shrugged his shoulders, and he stood up and said to the Swamp Witch.
But it was clear that the Swamp Witch didn't understand Bruce's words, and she blocked Bruce's path, seemingly not intending to just let Bruce go.
"Let me go, and I'll send someone to bring you food as a thank you for your rescue." Bruce ignored the monstrous swamp witch, he reached out and pushed the swamp witch away and said to her, in fact, Bruce also knew something about medieval witch culture, in fact, it was a group of female midwifery or abortion doctors, herbalists and women who thought they had mysterious powers.
Medieval fears of the unknown and the Church's efforts to create an imaginary enemy deepened the fear and exaggerated legends of witches, which were skillfully exploited by the weak women who longed for freedom.
"I can't let you go, or my sister will blame me." After the swamp witch was pushed away by Bruce, she let out a sharp sound, suddenly rubbed her hands in her burqa, and then blew on Bruce, and a sweet smell hit Bruce.
"What is, what is this?" Bruce smelled the sweet smell, and before he could react, he felt the sky spin around, and then his body fell heavily to the ground.
"Sister, what are you doing?" Just as Bruce fell, a sweet voice rang out, followed by hurried footsteps.
"I, I'm doing it for you." The swamp witch's voice panicked, like a child caught doing something bad.