The village mobilized many people to search all day, but there were no clues.

In the evening, everyone gathered in the village chief's yard.

They discussed today's search and gave suggestions.

My cousin and I remained silent and glanced at each other, then casually looked away.

At this time, someone suddenly suggested, "No one has searched the forest in our village yet. Let's go and take a look tomorrow."

I held my little sister's hand tightly.

She shook my hand and I looked down, seeing her bright smile.

"It's okay," I whispered to my little sister and to myself.

The village chief nodded, "We can go and check out the forest tomorrow. It's a bit far and large, just don't fall into the lake."

Someone said, "It's unlikely. Although he's foolish, he still has the instinct to survive, otherwise he wouldn't have lived to be this old."

"Has he ever gotten lost in the forest before? The forest is huge."

"A few times, but he never went deep into it. He just walked along the lake and it was easy to find him."

"It hasn't been this long before, and without eating or drinking for so many days."

"People have the instinct to survive. When they're hungry, they'll find food, and there are plenty of fruits in the forest. When they're thirsty, they can drink from the lake."

After a round of discussion, a proposal was made to search for him in the forest tomorrow. "Let's end it here for today, everyone go back to rest. We've all been working hard for the whole day. I am going to check the situation in the neighboring village later."

...

As I went to sleep that night, I felt that something was not quite right. Did someone really die on the third day of junior high school?

The room was dark, and the moonlight shone in through the window, silent and tranquil.

With my eyes open, I stared at the window and suddenly felt a shadow enveloping me.

A head suddenly appeared from outside the window, but I couldn't see it clearly. It should be the foolish one.

The simple-minded boy was tall, his hair was like a chicken coop, and his body was covered in mud mixed with blood.

He alternated between yelling "take my life" and "it hurts".

Watching the foolish boy get closer and closer, my whole body trembled like chaff.

"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it," I muttered under my breath.

I pulled the blanket over my head, curled up my body, and closed my eyes tightly.

For a long time, I didn't hear any more sounds.

Carefully, I poked my head out and, with determination, opened my eyes.

A large scarecrow came into view.

The scarecrow seemed to have the simple-minded boy's facial features, but he was no longer foolish-looking. Instead, his face was distorted with a fierce expression.

I waved my hands, trying to drive it away.

No matter what I did, it was like punching into thin air.

"Big brother...big brother..."

In a daze, it seemed like someone was calling my name.