Indeed, she was not an ordinary person. Now, Sophia had probably already reincarnated.
But from what she said, it seemed she knew where this tattoo comes from.
"You know this tattoo?"
This was the mark I used to sign a contract with Howard. Its main function seemed to be summoning him, though it often failed. For now, it didn't seem dangerous.
The woman sneered. "Who is so cruel that they'd sacrifice you? They clearly don't want you to live."
I was stunned. Howard never mentioned this tattoo could be life-threatening.
"What do you mean? Can this thing take lives? But Howard said it was to protect me."
Seeing my completely clueless look, the woman chuckled lightly. "Looks like you really don't know anything about it..."
Before the woman could finish her sentence, a beam of blue light suddenly shot into the room, aiming straight at her face.
The woman quickly dodged and turned to escape.
But she was a second too late. A talisman suddenly appeared on the door, slamming her back into the ground.
She fell to the ground, looking up at the man who appeared in front of her, a cold glint in her eyes.
"Finally caught you." Howard snorted coldly. "You've taken so many lives, now it's time to pay with yours."
Howard raised his hand, about to kill her, and I quickly spoke up. "Wait! Don't kill her yet."
Hearing my words, Howard paused.
Wesley also walked in at this moment, placing a Novice Talisman on Amelia's head. She quickly woke up.
"What happened?" Amelia was still a bit confused.
She looked up at the woman under Howard's foot and, after a moment of shock, exclaimed excitedly, "Did we catch her?"
"Yeah, but we need answers. Why did you hurt people?" I couldn't wrap my head around it, even if the villagers had harmed her, why took it out on innocent tourists?
"Because they all deserve to die!"
The woman's words were filled with deep hatred as she recounted the events from over a decade ago.
Whispering Willow Village used to be a small, struggling place, stuck in poverty.. In recent years, thanks to government support for building a resort, it started to thrive.
Before that, the village was pretty backward, with a lot of single men around. This led to some dark stuff, like human trafficking. The girls who married into the village were either victims of trafficking or were traded among the villagers just to keep the population up.
Zara Jenkins, a college student with dreams, originally had a bright future.
Coming from a very poor family, and her parents worked tirelessly but still struggled to to make ends meet.. Zara couldn't bear to see her parents toil day and night so she wanted to help lighten their financial load.
One day, while she was working, she met a woman named Poppy Harrison. Poppy told her that picking herbs in the remote mountains could pay really well.
Tempted by the idea, Zara decided to follow Poppy. Little did she know, this choice would lead her down a path of suffering and despair.
When Zara arrived at the destination, she realized she had been deceived. The high-paying herb-picking job was a trap. She was sold to Whispering Willow Village, becoming a commodity. She endured inhumane treatment, trapped with no way to escape or seek help.
During her five years in Whispering Willow Village, Zara went through the darkest chapter of her life. She was sold four times. After giving birth to a child for the first buyer, she was callously sold off to the second buyer.
By the time she was sold to the fourth family, Zara had reached her breaking point. On her wedding day, wearing a dress symbolizing new beginnings, she chose to end her life in an extreme way—by jumping into the ancient, deep well in Whispering Willow Village.
After that tragic incident, Jeremy, in an effort to keep the peace in the village, forbade anyone from discussing it and invited a priest to perform rituals to suppress Zara's vengeful spirit.
A few years later, the government decided to turn Whispering Willow Village into a resort because of its stunning natural beauty and peaceful atmosphere.
As the resort was developed, the hidden secrets started to come to light. The talisman that had been suppressing Zara was removed, and she was finally freed.
"But even so, why did you harm those innocent girls?" I asked, confused. If Zara felt the villagers had ruined her, why not take revenge on them instead of the innocent girls?
Wesley repleid coldly, "Because she was scared. She feared those who had cruelly treated her, but those girls were different. They lived different lives. She thought that only by killing those innocent girls and dragging them down to her level of misery, she could finally calm her rage."
Amelia was furious and felt a deep sympathy for the girls. "You went through such terrible things, but instead of punishing the real villains, you viciously wanted others to suffer like you. You're too cruel."
If those girls hadn't died, they might have had better futures, but they encountered a malicious spirit.
Zara was clearly justs a bully, preying on the vulnerable.
No need to guess, those girls she captured were probably...
"I didn't do anything wrong..."
Before Zara could finish her sentence, Howard incinerated her with a fireball.
He shook his hand, his face blank, and spoke, "There is no point of discussing this with a creature like that."
After hearing Zara's story, although I felt sorry for her, I didn't think her actions of harming other girls were right. She was tragic, but also pathetic.
For the first time, I actually agreed with Howard’s harsh approach.
At dawn, we decided to say goodbye to Jeremy.
"Are you really leaving without sorting this out?" Jeremy was a bit anxious.
Knowing what Jeremy had done in the past, we all felt a bit uneasy about him.
Wesley unexpectedly spoke, "The bodies of the missing girls should be at the bottom of that well. Everything that happened in this village is because of the terrible things you did. You know that, don't you, Jeremy?"
"We can't solve this matter. Unless you confess to the police, this vengeful spirit will haunt you forever."
Although Zara was dealt with, the villagers' crimes weren't just going to disappear Not telling them meant they had to face their sins.
If they were unwilling to atone, then let them live in the shadow forever, never finding anypeace.