Jeremy was shocked when he heard this.
He gave us a once-over. "Just you guys? Can you really handle this? How unreliable is Mr. Martinez? What's the point of sending you here? Why didn't he come himself?"
His words were full of doubt and distrust, his brows furrowed, and he seemed a bit anxious.
Seeing that he didn't believe us, Wesley frowned in displeasure and voicced coldly, "My teacher doesn't have time. If you don't believe us, we can leave now and not waste your time."
His tone revealed a hint of impatience, clearly unhappy with Jeremy's skepticism.
Seeing this, Jeremy quickly reached out to stop us. "You've come all this way, you can't just leave like that."
Realizing his attitude might have been too harsh, he hurriedly tried to salvage the situation. "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that you look too young. How can you handle those things with such little experience?"
Wesley looked at him coldly. "Aren't you worried we're unreliable? If you judge by appearances, there's no need for us to stay here and waste time. You should find someone you think is reliable."
His voice carried a hint of sarcasm, and his tone was particularly harsh.
Someone behind Jeremy hurriedly whispered in his ear, "Jeremy, no one else is willing to take on this tricky job. Why not let them try? See what they can do first, and if they can't handle it, we can find someone else later."
Jeremy pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. He looked up, his gaze sweeping over our young faces. "I'm really sorry, everyone. Don't be mad. I didn't mean anything by it. You must be hungry after coming all this way. We've prepared some food inside. Let's go in and talk."
We were warmly invited inside, and seeing the table full of delicious food, we couldn't help but swallow.
We were indeed hungry, having rushed here without eating, and it was now noon. It would take another two hours to get back to town, and we'd be starving in the meantime.
I pulled Amelia to sit across from Jeremy, trying to appear calm and composed. "Jeremy, could you please tell us the details of what happened again? That way, we can better understand the situation and make a plan."
"Of course." Jeremy cleared his throat and began to recount. "This all started a few months ago..."
He began to describe a series of strange events that had happened a few months ago, which had plunged the entire village into panic and unease.
Whispering Willow Village, a picturesque place, was known for its unique charm.
Since the resort was planned and built here, the once peaceful Whispering Willow Village had become lively.
Tourists flocked to the village, and business in Whispering Willow Village thrived.
However, on a quiet night two months ago, something horrifying happened in Whispering Willow Village.
A young college student in her twenties came to the resort with a few classmates during their vacation.
However, the next morning, the young college student suddenly disappeared. Her belongings were neatly placed in her room at Whispering Willow Village, but she was nowhere to be found.
Her classmates were terrified when they discovered she was missing and immediately called the police.
The police quickly arrived at the scene and began a search. They questioned the residents of Whispering Willow Village, checked the resort's surveillance footage, and even searched the nearby woods, but unfortunately, the college student was still missing.
The student's parents, upon hearing the news, rushed to Whispering Willow Village, desperate to find their daughter.
Due to the student's disappearance, Whispering Willow Village was shrouded in tension and unease. Despite the police's best efforts, they couldn't find any trace of her.
Just when people thought the incident would gradually fade from memory, another shocking event happened in Whispering Willow Village.
Another young girl mysteriously disappeared in Whispering Willow Village. She was also young, enjoying her vacation, but vanished overnight.
As time went on, more and more young girls started disappearing in the village. According to records, over a dozen girls aged between their teens and twenties had mysteriously disappeared in Whispering Willow Village.
The way they disappeared varied. Some vanished silently at night, even with companions sleeping right next to them who didn't notice a thing; others disappeared during daytime outings, never to return.
These disappearances caused panic and concern among the villagers. They began to suspect that Whispering Willow Village might have attracted something it shouldn't have.
The village elders gathered and decided to invite a priest for help.
But that didn’t change anything—girls kept disappearing. The once peaceful and harmonious Whispering Willow Village was now shrouded in a mysterious and uneasy shadow.
The police initially suspected that there might be a human trafficking ring operating in the village. They acted quickly, placing the whole village under strict surveillance. However, after days of observation, the cameras didn't pick up anything suspicious. It was like the missing people just vanished like ghosts, leaving no trace.
The whole situation quickly grabbed public attention, and the news spread like wildfire.
At first, only a few people discussed it, but soon, the news spread throughout the region and even further.
People began to fear and doubt Whispering Willow Village. What used to be a bustling tourist spot became deserted, with the visitor numbers dropping sharplyplummeting, and almost no one dared to step into the picturesque village.
The drop in tourism hit the villagers hard. Those who depended on tourists saw their businesses tank, their incomes took a nosedive, and life got really tough.
The villagers gathered to express their concerns and dissatisfaction to Jeremy, urgently hoping he could take effective measures to solve the problem and revive tourism.
Jeremy, facing the villagers' demands, appeared very helpless and heartbroken.
Choking up, he spoke, "My own granddaughter is among the missing. She disappeared not long ago, only 16 years old, still a child. I beg you, please find those missing girls, whether they are alive or dead, we need an answer."
As I carefully recalled what Jeremy had said, I noticed a disturbing pattern: almost all the missing were young girls.