Chapter 51: Chapter 8: Golden Carp 2
"Give it to me!"
The Witch’s voice became somewhat irritable, like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
A layer of white frost began to spread from under Su Ziyu’s feet upward, the biting cold making his entire body feel rigid. This was a terrifying existence unlike anything he had encountered before; if he didn’t hand over the Golden Carp, he might truly die!
"Here you go." Su Ziyu followed his inner directive and handed over the Golden Carp.
Crack!
The mad Witch eagerly reached out and took the Golden Carp with her pale, slender fingers, hidden beneath a Black Cloak, with dark purple sharp nails. There seemed to be peculiar rune tattoos on the back of her hand, but they weren’t clear at a glance. The mad Witch lifted the Golden Carp to her mouth; it was hard to imagine how her cherry-like lips could open so wide, biting off half the carp in one go and chewing continuously, a sliver of satisfaction appearing on her bizarre yet beautiful face.
Crack!
The large Golden Carp was gobbled up in two bites, chewed into a pulp with bones and flesh together.
Pick, standing nearby, was so scared he was stupefied.
At this moment, Su Ziyu also found it difficult to look directly at her, for merely gazing at her evoked a suppression and fear akin to that experienced only before the Evil Gods’ statues and super Mutants.
"Is there more?" The mad Witch’s expression was somewhat unsatisfied as she licked the red corners of her mouth with a thin, long tongue and asked.
Su Ziyu placed his hand on the knife handle and gently shook his head.
Perhaps because she felt content, the mad Witch before him appeared not as dangerous as before. Tilting her head slightly blurred, she stared at Su Ziyu with a vague tone, "There’s a strange smell on you!... It doesn’t look tasty at all!..."
"Hmm!... What smell is it?... Why can’t I remember!..."
The Witch’s expression before him showed a hint of pain, mixed with a trace of madness. Her scarlet pupils seemed to emit a faint glow, and her sharp-nailed fingers ripped a blood-streaked strand of hair from her head.
Her emaciated body shivered lightly.
Moments later, she lifted her head to gaze at Su Ziyu, asking hauntingly, "Have you ever seen my sisters?"
"I’m looking for them."
"They’re missing!... I’m so hungry!..."
At that moment.
Su Ziyu felt his skin crawl, his expression stiffening slightly as he shook his head, his body tensing in readiness for battle.
The mad Witch appeared a bit disappointed.
She quietly glanced at Pick, who lay feigning death at Su Ziyu’s feet, then turned, transforming into a flurry of black snowflakes vanishing before them.
Gone, truly gone.
An utterly incomprehensible Supernatural Ability.
Su Ziyu heaved several breaths, finally feeling his stiffened body return to normal. He nudged Pick with his toe, murmuring, "She’s gone. You can get up now."
Shiver.
Pick, who had been playing dead on the ground, shakily rose, appearing similarly frozen and uttered with trembling lips, "Winter Witch."
"My god! We actually survived!"
Pick grabbed Su Ziyu and began walking away, not even caring about the fish on the ground.
The Witch spoke so oddly, genuinely seeming mad. In hindsight, what Jack said last night wasn’t wrong.
Su Ziyu lowered his voice to ask, "Tell me about the witches."
"What’s going on with her?"
Pick’s steps faltered briefly, his expression puzzled, before raising on tiptoe to motion Su Ziyu to crouch, stammering about the witches.
This is the Dream Forest.
For a long time, Great Elves had lived here, along with many other Elves, though some have now become unseen. The Witches are Guardians of the Dream Forest, initially said to be seven, but Pick had only heard of four; despite his youthful appearance, Pick is over a hundred years old.
These four Guardian Witches are sisters wielding the seasonal Powers, known among Elves as the Spring Witch, Summer Witch, Autumn Witch, and Winter Witch.
Each Witch appears in their corresponding season.
But at some point, anomalies began appearing on them.
They seemed to go mad.
The Spring Witch vanished first, followed by the Summer Witch and the Autumn Witch. Currently, only the Winter Witch appears; she’s the youngest of the four sisters and was usually the most mischievous and playful, possessing powers far surpassing her siblings. The mad Winter Witch is terrifying; she asks if anyone has seen her missing sisters, and anyone who encounters her ends up disappearing.
Pick shakily recounted much about the Witches, for instance, the Spring Witch being the gentlest, adored by all Elves, especially fond of flowers, particularly sunflowers. The Summer Witch was the most passionate, with a bold and boisterous nature, always eager to help others; her favorite is the Unicorn, sometimes seen riding it. The Autumn Witch was the most silent, typically appearing in the season of falling leaves, often holding a book; as long as she was not disturbed, there were no issues. She loved the laurel tree, and it was said a huge laurel tree deep in the Dream Forest housed her treehouse, filled with various books.
As for the last, the Winter Witch, Pick fell silent talking about her.
The Winter Witch was the most capricious. As the youngest sister, she had the strongest Magic Power. In the past, she had even extended winter for several months due to her whims. This Witch was somewhat unpredictable, and many Elves were afraid of her; she occasionally strolled across frozen rivers.
A time came when winter suddenly vanished.
After a lengthy fall, the Dream Forest abruptly saw spring, and one by one, the Witches went mad.
"How do you know so much? You seem familiar with these Witches!"
Su Ziyu had listened quietly. When Pick finished stammering all this, he suddenly switched topics, asking, "Have you really been to the Chessboard Realm?"
"How did you cross the Black Forest?"
"Isn’t it said to be very dangerous there? Did you go alone? Or with someone?"
Upon hearing Su Ziyu, Pick was dumbfounded for a moment; his lips trembled as he stammered, "I... I can’t remember!..."
A strange transformation appeared on him.
Pick’s visage aged rapidly to the naked eye, his skin shriveled becoming bony and emaciated; sharp teeth and blackened, sharp nails appeared. His current appearance had drastically changed, looking identical to Jack from last night.
Damn it!
He must have probed the wrong thing!
Just as Su Ziyu was at a loss, stepping back with his hand on the knife handle, a faint light emerged on Pick’s chest before his whole being gradually reverted to how he was.
"It’s getting dark!"
"Let’s go back and eat! We have a lot of delicious food tonight!"
Pick seemed to have forgotten everything just moments ago, lifting his head to chirp, "Su, let’s have grilled fish tonight."
"I’m a master at grilling fish."
"Do you know about the Golden Carp? They say catching one brings good luck!..."
Pick now seemed fully back to normal, but Su Ziyu felt an intense chill enveloping him, enveloping everything here!
.........