silence

Chapter 28 The Witch Hunt Festival

The invitation tonight is from Eric Badman, the black sheriff of Dock Township. According to him, the last day of May in Dock Township is a very special festival. Gather in the plaza for an all-night revelry and celebration.

Chi Heng agreed at the time because he also considered that he should not be too withdrawn. If he walked alone and often bought things that people could not understand, then he would become a "weird" like the old uncle, which would cause trouble. He still thinks it's best to go there.

After packing up his things for a while, Chi Heng drove off before 17:[-] in the afternoon.

After driving for half an hour, Chi Heng arrived in Dock Town, and when he arrived in Dock Town, he saw many people walking on the street, heading in the same direction.

He parked the car on the side of the road and got out of the car. It was the first time he saw so many people in Dock Town, and he walked along the flow of people curiously. It turned out that the place to celebrate at night was in the beer plaza, which was right next to the park. , At this time, the square is crowded with people, not only the residents of Dock Town gather here, there are probably tourists from other towns here.

"Masquerade?"

To Chi Heng's surprise, if he wanted to enter the beer plaza, he had to buy a mask and a talisman at the entrance. Both sides of the entrance were full of various stalls and temporary shops, densely packed with many strange things. Strange gadgets, all kinds of masks are countless.

But the so-called talismans, although the styles are different, the symbols drawn on them are exactly the same.

Seeing Chi Heng looking down at the talisman, the middle-aged woman who set up the stall snorted, "Are you from outside?"

"Ah, I haven't been in Docktown long."

Chi Heng raised his head.

"Then you should not be familiar with our special festival here," said the woman shopkeeper wearing a clown mask, "Witch Hunting Festival, more than 300 years ago, the Salem witch incident affected us here, where we once executed a They were an evil witch, but afterwards people realized that they wronged the girl who was slandered as a witch. Unfortunately, it was too late. In order to avenge the residents of Dock Town, the girl turned into an evil spirit and killed many people. In order to prevent This evil spirit continues to kill people. The residents of Dock Town will gather at the place where the witch was once burned on May 5 every year to reenact the scene of the year to frighten the evil spirit. In order to prevent the evil spirit from retaliating, everyone must wear Mask, so that it cannot recognize your true identity."

The female shopkeeper said with a smile: "So the condition for entering is to buy a mask and an amulet that is said to come from the Indians."

It can be seen that the female shopkeeper does not believe in this kind of legend. There are quite a few similar myths and legends in all countries in the world. As time goes by, it has long become a festival in various places. For example, the traditional Chinese New Year in China is to drive away the Nian beast. Only use firecrackers.

But Chi Heng heard it very strange. According to the notes left by the old uncle, the "Moros Gate" was first discovered by the local Indians. Unfortunately, it was later killed by the invading white colonists. However, these whites now It is outrageous that the descendants actually use the culture of the Indians killed at the beginning as a talisman.

But no matter how shameful he felt in his heart, Chi Heng would not show it on the surface. He nodded and bought an eagle mask to wear on his head, and bought a good-looking talisman, which was also worn on his chest. Everyone here There is an Indian amulet on the chest, which has become the inspection document for entering the beer square.

Sure enough, after putting on the mask and amulet, he successfully passed the inspection at the door and walked into the beer plaza.

At this time, there were at least a thousand people in the beer plaza, including adults and children, and there were more people selling things than outside the plaza. It was more like a shopping festival than a witch hunt.

Chi Heng suddenly felt that with so many people, even if he didn't come, no one would know about it, right?
Just as he was thinking about it, Chi Heng was patted on the shoulder from behind. When he looked back, he found that it was a black sheriff—sheriff Badman wearing a fox mask.

"Sheriff Badman?"

Chi Heng was surprised: "You, how do you know it's me?"

He was clearly wearing a mask.

"Haha, don't forget, I'm the sheriff," Badman laughed, "Even if you wear a mask, your walking posture and body shape won't change."

Chi Heng suddenly realized, "Sheriff Badman, do I need to do something?"

"No, no, you don't need to do anything, just enjoy tonight's carnival." Badman paused, "When you're tired from playing, go back to the car and rest, and don't rush back to Lake Shea at night."

He seemed to mean something, but he didn't give Chi Heng a chance to continue talking, "I'll come to you later and introduce you to a few people, all of whom your uncle knew before."

Sergeant Badman said, clapped his hands, and left.

Chi Heng was taken aback for a moment, and when Badman walked into the crowd, he went for a stroll by himself without thinking too much.

In the center of the open-air beer square, people are carrying the firewood needed for tonight's bonfire. Obviously, this requires a lot of firewood, and the ignited fire will illuminate the entire square.

After taking a few glances, Chi Heng turned his gaze away and went to visit those stalls.

Not to mention, compared to any bonfire party, he prefers to visit these stalls selling all kinds of small commodities. Many people will sell things that they don't need at home, and the stalls are not only adults, but also many minors. child.

"David Moore?"

"What are you doing? Are you setting up a stall here?"

"Ha ha……"

Just as Chi Heng was wandering around, he suddenly heard the sound of ridicule coming from the booth next to him. When he turned his head, he saw several high school students wearing various animal masks, mocking another young man who was setting up the stall.

Among these high school students, there was a person Chi Heng was "familiar with"—Sarah Lopez, the girl who worked part-time as a cashier in a supermarket.

At this moment, the part-time cashier's girl was snuggling up beside a young man, who was the one who taunted her, followed by three other high school boys, obviously led by this young man.

School bullying?

Chi Heng just glanced at it and knew what was going on. This is very normal in American high schools. It seems that any public high school will have such bullies, otherwise it is not enough to prove that this is a "normal" school.And bullying incidents in schools are staged and emerge in endlessly every year, and even all kinds of news can't stop this kind of thing from happening.

"Let me see, what are you selling?"

The young man squatted down, picked up a doll, and shouted exaggeratedly: "Look what this is? I bet, your old carpenter must have made it for you, right? You gave it to you when you were wearing diapers." Did you do it? Or are you still wearing diapers?"

"Ha ha……"

The three followers on the side laughed.

(End of this chapter)