Chapter 452: Snail Woman?
Led by the two little boys, Alyssa pushed open the door.
The interior of the cave is very simple, with only a few daily necessities.
Under the dim kerosene lamp, a woman with a strange figure could be seen sitting cross-legged against the wall, busy with something.
The woman's back was bulging, and from a distance she looked like a hunchback.
The clothes were too small and could only cover half of the bulge, with the rest exposed to the air, reflecting a dim light under the kerosene lamp.
It was a huge snail shell.
The shape is a bit like snails, but the color is not as monotonous as that of snails, it is much more colorful.
When she heard the door open, the woman stopped what she was doing and immediately looked back.
His tired face was filled with fear.
"I, I've finished my work. I've chopped the firewood and cleaned the house..."
"Clothes, clothes are torn, they need to be mended, otherwise, they will become even more torn..."
After hearing these stuttering words, Alyssa hadn't spoken yet, but the two children who led the way spoke first:
"Our conch mother is not very smart and speaks incoherently."
"I often remember things incorrectly and make mistakes from time to time, and get a good beating from my dad!"
"Mother Conch is so stupid, hahaha, so stupid!"
"Bah, it's dirty and stupid, hahahaha..."
The two children talked nonsense and acted recklessly.
Alyssa frowned:
"She is your mother after all, how can you say that about her?"
"She is our mother, yes, but she is also the Conch Girl." The two children said in unison with a serious look on their faces:
"Daddy said that the conch girls are not human. They are tools sent by God to compensate the Conch Village!"
"You guys!" The good-tempered Alyssa was very angry and wanted to say something.
But the two children didn't give her a chance.
They each made a face and ran away grinning.
Only the cat-eared girl and the snail woman were left looking at each other.
After a long silence, Alyssa, who had adjusted her mood, tried to introduce herself:
"Hello, my name is Alyssa."
"Guest? It's a guest..." The snail woman had a confused look on her face and kept mumbling.
After a long while, he suddenly cried out:
"Oh no! It's a guest!"
"I'm sorry, sir. I'll pour you some tea right away..."
As she spoke, the snail woman threw away the clothes she was mending and struggled to get up from the ground.
"Uh, no thanks, just chat with me for a while."
Alyssa hurriedly stopped him and slowly walked into the house.
"Chat, chat... OK, OK..."
The snail woman took a long time to react before she forced a smile on her face.
She looked around nervously, and finally pulled out a small stool from the corner that looked pretty good.
But the four legs of this stool are of different lengths, so it is unstable when placed on the ground, and it is even more uncomfortable to sit on.
The stool creaked continuously if you moved slightly.
The snail woman looked embarrassed and wanted to change one for Alyssa.
But I searched the whole house and couldn't find a better stool.
"It's okay, this is good enough."
The cat-eared girl said softly.
I glanced at the strategy on the panel and got straight to the point:
"I am a female college student majoring in journalism. The main purpose of my visit to the Snail Village is to interview snail women like you."
"Before we begin, please tell me your name."
"Name?" The snail woman's cloudy eyes were filled with confusion.
"I don't know what my name is, it's been so long..."
“Forgot?” Alyssa was stunned.
Although she already had a basic understanding of the background story of [Conch Girl] through the strategy given by Lu Li on the data panel.
But when she learned that the snail woman in the village chief's family had even forgotten her own name, she was still shocked.
Even the Palu people, who have been slaves for generations, have their own names.
No matter how simple or perfunctory it is,
Yes, they all do.
"What does the village chief usually call you? There must be a nickname, right?" Alyssa asked.
"Oh, yes." The snail woman nodded woodenly and smiled embarrassedly:
"He usually calls me 'the pot cooker' or 'that aunt'."
"As soon as he called, I knew he was calling me."
“Okay…” Alyssa’s brows frowned even tighter.
She found that her brows had never relaxed since she entered the room and saw the snail woman.
"I didn't expect that even though you gave birth to seven children for the village chief, he still doesn't care about you."
It was a heartfelt sigh, but it instantly excited the dull snail woman:
"I, I gave birth to more than seven children for him!"
"It's been fifteen years, and I gave him fifteen children!"
"But, but... only seven survived, only seven!"
"Snail Woman Village, hehe, only those with a penis... only those who can carry on the family line are worthy of growing up..."
"The other eight are a waste of food if they are alive! It would be better for them to die and put an end to it all..."
“Fifteen…” Alyssa’s heart trembled, and she confirmed in disbelief:
"What about the other eight? Are they all dead?"
The snail woman did not answer, but kept repeating:
"It's all over, it's all over..."
Seeing that she couldn't get any information from the question, Alyssa could only change the question:
"I heard that the conch girl who didn't give birth would flee back to the conch pond. Do you still want to go back now?"
The snail woman shook her head slowly. Her smile was still the same, but the bitterness in it was more intense:
"I'm not going back. I can't go back... This is my fate. My life is so bitter..."
"My children are here, my home is here, why should I go back to Hailuotan..."
"But you were forced!" Alyssa finally couldn't bear it anymore and raised her voice:
"If I could take you back, would you?"
The snail woman raised her head mechanically, her mouth slightly open, like a fish that had been thirsty for years:
"Go back to Conch Pond?"
"Yes! Let's go back to Conch Pond!" Alyssa nodded heavily.
Next second,
Then he saw that the snail woman's expression was visibly filled with fear!
She shook her head desperately and kept shrinking back.
The shell on its back rubbed against the ground, making an unpleasant sound.
"I'm not going back, I'm not going back!"
"The Conch Pond is full of dead bodies, all of them are dead bodies of children!"
"Hehehe, there are also my eight children, they are all in the pond..."
"Yes! I was thrown in as soon as I was born and dedicated to the Snail God! Hahahaha..."
"I'm already very obedient... Don't force me, please, don't hit me anymore!!"
"I will be more obedient. I promise. Don't kill me. I don't want to become raw material..."
In the end, the snail woman huddled in the corner, talking incoherently.
No matter how Alyssa asked, she couldn't get anything out of her.
He has become a madman with no ability to communicate.
"Ugh……"
Alyssa's cat ears drooped, she stood up from the chair and looked around again.
I don’t know if it was the chat with the snail woman that triggered something.
At this moment, Alyssa only felt that the dim kerosene lamp was brighter.
Some details on the earth wall that were originally unclear now appeared before our eyes.
The deep and shallow scratches looked like they were made by fingernails in despair.
The whole wall is covered with crooked "escape"!
……
