People always have a lot of unrealistic fantasies, believing that they are important and have the power to change, and their minds are full of beautiful visions of the future and illusory and ethereal satisfaction, and the emotions that fill the heart are so real that people often forget that for the world, everything is just a passerby.

I looked helplessly in the direction of the stranger, but my gaze was only on the air between us, and I still didn't know how to react to his answer for a long time.

"Uh...... You okay? ”

Suddenly, the strange man dragged the wooden chair forward and asked a little keenly.

"Huh? What the? No, it's okay, I'm just a little ...... Never mind. ”

My heart is full of mixed feelings, doubts and sorrows are intertwined, and I am drifting in a wider confusion, whether it is for Jue, or the world, or even myself, it is the same, rootless confusion.

After all, I can't even live safely, so what's the point of thinking about it.

"Ahem, it's hard to see you like this...... Do you know him too? ”

I looked up, only to see the strange man grasping the broken armrest with his two fat palms, trembling and settling in a posture that was about to leap up.

"I can only say that I have seen it, but I can't talk about knowing it at all."

I honestly described my relationship with Jue, but omitted the part where I was threatened by him.

But after hearing this, the strange man's expression was much more messy than before, and he leaned down, squinted and cautiously approached. I stared at its blood-red eyes hidden in various ravines, and subconsciously ducked backwards, and the sudden shortening of the distance began to make me feel uncomfortable.

"What, what's wrong?"

I asked softly.

The strange man ignored my nervous look and a slightly shrill voice, and said,

"So, did he mention me? Or is it this place? ”

I thought about it carefully and shook my head cautiously,

"Nope."

"It's impossible to !!"

Suddenly, the weirdo roared! I jumped to the ground with all my might, and my huge palms were about to reach out to my shoulders!

I didn't know what he was excited about, but I was taken aback at the sight of such a misshapen, ugly creature rushing straight at me, and reflexively jumped upside down on the bed, staring at the strange man on the edge of the bed with his back against the wall.

The moment I fled, the strange man realized his gaffe, and it was nailed to the spot like a broken thread, its mouth slightly open, and its two half-raised arms stuck in the air like sculptures.

From top to bottom, I couldn't make out the strange man's expression, but I could still tell from behind my fingers that its eyes were gradually dimming from shock.

Half-loud, the lump on the strange man's face twitched unnaturally with the muscles, and it didn't say anything, and its strong body was as stiff as a candle in the wind. In a subtle silence, it looked at me as it slowly stepped back, and finally slumped back into its chair as if it had been completely deflated.

However, the funny thing is that the wooden chair that has been holding up for an unknown amount of time can no longer bear the weight of the strange man at this time, and it snaps into several pieces with a click. Of course, the strange man who had not yet sat down also fell to the ground in a twisted position, making a dull and loud noise.

"Ahem—"

After a muffled snort, the strange man quickly stopped his mouth, I don't know if it was because of embarrassment or simple detachment, it just lay on the ground, bowed its head and muttered,

"Please...... Don't be afraid. ”

Afraid, what?

It was at this moment that I realized my own vile side.

My heart began to struggle, and a voice sounded harshly in the depths of my soul, where did my fear come from during this time? Is it its disgusting appearance? It can only be said that it is not too much. If I were just a passerby, I would definitely have to rush away from such a hideous and terrifying monster, but the reality is that this so-called monster saved my life, no matter what objective factors are, I should not look at it with undisguised panic and disgust as I am now.

So, like a clown, I performed mime in my filthy and cluttered house, which no one appreciated. Guilt and helplessness climbed up my face in turn, and I tried to bend down to apologize or defend myself, but unfortunately I didn't do anything until the weirdo crawled from the ground and leaned against the wall, and maybe even my current expression was another insult to it.

"I'm sorry."

The apology came from the mouth of the stranger, and it put its hand on its forehead, and its voice was so small that it was almost inaudible.

"I forgot what I looked like."

The solidified white light outside the window crushed every inch of its gray-green skin, and the sinuous veins under the melted epidermis of the neck were clearly visible.

"He promised to heal me."

After a brief silence, not so much a confession as a complaint, the weirdo recounted the story that happened to him many years ago:

"I'm an outlier, a complete outlier. I've been a person since I was born, and I was picked up by an old gentleman who patrolled the forest in the depths of the jungle and raised me secretly. Although he didn't do much good to me, he did have some reliance, and besides, I don't blame him, after all, there was a famine during that time, and although there were patches of plants around, they were all highly poisonous without exception. ”

It snorted softly, reluctantly revealing an extremely ugly smile like self-deprecation,

"Of course, I am not included. They eat what will die, and I won't; I don't feel anything they are afraid of. When the old gentleman watched me eat the vines at the door, I felt that his eyes changed, as if he had seen a treasure, and even his saliva was about to remain, but I did not understand why he was so happy, and sat on the ground and laughed stupidly. ”

As he spoke, the strange man suddenly stopped, his eyes full of indescribable sadness, and he continued to preach after a long immersion,

"So from that day on, I never ate anything else, and before me were either spiky leaves or jagged weeds—all he had brought back with great pain, and he had never allowed me to go out alone. But every time I swallowed, he would sit by with a smile and look at me kindly, as if encouraging me to eat more! Eat more! It's all right, it's all useless weeds anyway! Of course I'm also very happy, I can fill my stomach and satisfy him, what's so bad? However, if the toxins accumulated too much, there will still be a reaction.

One night, maybe a long time later, I don't remember much. All I knew was that I was woken up by pain, and my face felt like it was going to be torn open. I was so frightened that I didn't know what to do, so I had to go to the old gentleman, but he was sleeping so soundly that I couldn't wake him up. So she curled up beside him, and after a long time, she fell asleep in a daze.

Until the next morning......"

It trembled and raised its hands in front of it, and its tone changed abruptly,

"He was woken up. I felt like I had been hit the ground, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the old gentleman holding a shovel and looking at me like a monster. What's going on? What's going on? I didn't understand it at first, until I followed his gaze and touched my own face. ”

The weirdo looked at me with its mouth half-open in despair, it didn't dare to continue, but I could probably guess what was going on. Just as I was desperately trying to squeeze out some words of comfort, it suddenly laughed, and the poignant laughter echoed in the cramped low room, which made my back chill uncontrollably,

"Haha! That's the kind of expression! Do you know how I managed to make him recognize who I was? That's right, just with the only thing I can do – eat grass! He also understood at once, because no one had this ability anymore. I have to say that the old gentleman did struggle for a long time after that, and the funny thing is that I thought he was thinking that he was thinking about whether to take me to the village doctor, and I comforted him and said that it was okay, maybe it would be fine in a few days, and there was no need to waste money. ”

The strange man shook his head in pain, and the defense line built by reason completely collapsed,

"Only then did I understand why he was raising me. Not because of kindness, or pity me, but because of ...... Famine. ”

It screamed like a dementia,

"I'm just an animal! Animals that don't waste food but only grow meat! Maybe he thought I was strong enough, or he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to eat if he waited any longer, but this time he couldn't get the strength anymore, picked up the shovel and slapped it! The first time I dodged, but the second and third hits all hit me solidly, and every blow was straight to the point, and every time I wanted to kill me directly! Thankfully, I'm a monster. ”

The strange man rose from the ground, and a torso with a severely uneven ratio of fat and muscle stood in the middle of the house.

"Sir is indeed old, and soon loses his strength. I lay next to him, beaten half to death, but still breathing a sigh of relief. When he let his guard down and came over to check if I had lost my breath, I jumped up! Reached out and snatched the shovel! The old gentleman was so frightened that he screamed and fell to the ground, and he couldn't even escape! Then I lifted the shovel over my head slowly, slowly, and again!! ”

The strange man said, his hands making the same motion as he slashed the air fiercely, and I swallowed, my legs a little limp.

"Alas...... How is that possible. ”

Just when I thought there was some terrible picture next, the strange man slowly lowered his hands and hung weakly at his sides, staring at the ground not far from his toes with empty eyes, as if the old man was sitting there.

"I just snapped the shovel and ran away without looking back."

As if sighing, as if lamenting, it suddenly sniffled and said casually,

"It's so dark in the jungle at night."

With that, the strange man sat down cross-legged on the floor again, and I slipped to the edge of the bed.

"How long has it been? I have to think about it, one season of leaves has passed, then another season of leaves, then another season of leaves, and this time I have stocked up on some food, so I will not be hungry for the next season. In this way, the sky in the jungle became blank and dark, black and white, and I became stronger and stronger day by day, and more and more ...... Ugly. ”

Suddenly, it turned to me and asked,

"Do you know what's the hardest?"

Without waiting for me to answer, the strange man continued to speak,

"It's loneliness. It would be nice if I had been living like this, but there was never an if. In the first few quarters, I would sneak over to see the old gentleman, who had no food to eat today? Or did you find a new vacant land and report it to the village? For a moment, I felt like we were still a family, and nothing had changed. But I knew it was just self-consolation, for all this time the old gentleman had never called me by name, not once.

I was so lost that I couldn't find a reason to live. Should the part that is 'human' be discarded like a beast? Or have I abandoned it? ”

It sat up straight and looked me squarely,

So I made a decision. Since everyone thinks of me as just a ration, let's be a ration! At least it's better than just stealing my life like this, at least let me see their genuine smiles when they see me, even for a while, and I'll be satisfied. ”

The strange man's waist suddenly bent down again,

"Ah, but I'm so stupid that I forgot what I've become. Maybe it was that day, when I was chased by the people in the village and escaped, I really became a 'monster', I will never forget, the first to run at that time was the old gentleman who had been with me for so long, and what was even more ironic was that he was still carrying half of the shovel I broke back then. ”

It laughed foolishly, and I looked at the strange man's back in disengagement, not making out what it was like to laugh.

"Perhaps...... I'm going to be a monster that everybody shouts and fights all the time......"

But the strange man's fierce words turned sharply, pointing in a direction I never expected,

"Until he found me."