"No! I swear! I just went to give her the usual bowl of breakfast.", Liya cried with a stream of tears just on the brim of her eyes, ready to flow, on one other crashing word, from anyone standing in the village's central street.
"Girl! Calm down! Will you? You are acting like a culprit who got caught red-handed.", a lady screamed at her.
"Liya-yah! My Liya-ah!", her mother came running through the crowds and held her by the arms.
A worried look embraced her face.
"My Liya would never hurt anyone! Never! I witnessed her leaving the house this morning. She barely left for a couple of minutes, not enough for her to attack Grandma, God Forbid, even if she wanted to! Don't anyone dare blame her!", she said her arms spread in front of Liya's body like a shield.
"But how will you explain the handkerchief?", a woman standing with a little girl by her side, looked at Liya with a look of disgust.
"I just had it the other day— No! I used it just before I slept last night. I didn't check to see if I had it this morning", she claimed surrounded by a bunch of people fixing their judgemental eyes on her.
"How do we believe you? What if you killed her last night and were afraid to take a bloody handkerchief back with you?', a man in old farmer's clothes claimed.
Cries of agreement bellowed in the crowds.
Liya's face returned pale. It felt as if she was going to faint then and there.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO SPREAD A RUCKUS HERE ON PURPOSE!?", Liya's mother screamed at the man, "We have been living here for more than fifteen years and Grandma Mo has been our neighbor ever since! You expect Liya would do this after all these years!? Why? For what? My daughter has never held a grudge against anyone!"
"Mama...", Liya tried to hold her mother back.
"But—", Uncle Zhu, a respected elder of the village began but was cut off.
"If you want to hurt my daughter, I dare you to pass over my dead body!", he screamed.
"Then who else could have done it? No one visits the area at night. No one living in the village holds a grudge against Grandma!", a lady spoke.
"Yes! We have confirmed with many people in the village. No one visited Grandma the night or day before Liya!", the man standing next to her bellowed.
Tears began streaming down Liya's red cheek. She felt a strong sense of betrayal. After having lived with these people for so long, how could they blame her? How could people she considered her very own family not believe her!? How could they turn their back on her like this? Her mind went blank and the waterfall of tears didn't seem to end.
Liya felt a little tug near her shoulder. Her body suddenly felt so heavy that instead of turning around completely, she only chose to let her eyes wander around, only to see a little Miso looking up at her, with teary eyes.
Liya locked her eyes with Miso for a bare second and then gave her a slight smile as if to assure everything was going to be okay.
She took in a deep breath and then turned to look at all the eyes, that had already been stuck on her for long.
"I, Liya, shall find the culprit behind Grandma Mo's murderer myself", she said loud and clear. "If I am unable to do so, I shall accept any punishment the villagers think would fit correct".
Her voice cracked due to the lump of tears that had formed in her throat, but refused to come out.
Her mother's eyes widened.
"What are you saying!?", she exclaimed at her.
"I said what I said and I shall never step away from my words", she said not looking at her mother.
The girl who was now badly broken at heart gave a bow to all the villagers standing around her and made her way out of the crowd. A little Miso and many eyes followed her.
Each and every person standing there had a different expression. Some seemed to feel pity for her, some seemed consistent in their stance while some were still unable to decide what to choose as the right, according to what their mind inclined them to believe.
Liya's figure soon disappeared down the street and her mother ran behind her.