Chapter 63: The Bayek Family
"Curse ritual? World in danger?"
William raised an eyebrow.
Seeing that the priest didn't quite believe her, Sadie had to beg him to move her away from the cesspit first.
After breathing fresh air again, Sadie told the reason.
"I was born in Louisiana and only came to the West when I grew up..."
According to Sadie, she was born into a hunter family in the South.
From the time she could understand things, her parents told her that there was a special place near her hometown.
A plague occurred there many years ago, and many monsters appeared on that land because of it.
Water monsters, polluted livestock, even humans mutated.
The plague spread to the surroundings in a short time, causing many families to be ruined.
An ancient local tribe launched a curse ritual, which stopped the disaster from spreading further.
But the plague was not completely eliminated and still existed on that land until today.
Every ten years, the seal set by the curse would loosen.
And local hunter families like Sadie's naturally shouldered the responsibility of stopping the plague.
They had to go deep into that cursed land and find the source weakening the seal.
Only in this way could the ritual be reshaped, bringing the next ten years of peace to the people of Louisiana.
And that bottle of holy oil could protect them from harm.
"There are so many holy oils on the market; why must it be the one from the church?"
William rubbed his chin and asked the key question.
"Because..."
Sadie hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind.
"Only holy oil over a certain age is effective."
William understood immediately upon hearing this.
Like holy artifacts, the holy oil provided by Bishop Julius probably had been stored for a long time.
Seeing William's expression, Sadie guessed that he wouldn't agree easily.
This was also the reason for her initial hesitation.
Sadie said helplessly: "Father, I can help you find Sasha, and after it's done, I'm willing to pay a high price for it!"
"Not interested."
William refused decisively.
Now that he found the clue, he naturally wouldn't give it to others for free.
Asking so many questions was also because he suspected that this female demon hunter was commissioned to harm him.
Now that the misunderstanding was resolved, William didn't intend to waste time here.
Besides, America was full of evil spirits and demons now.
Did this place still need destruction?
Wasn't it already standing on ruins?
"This bottle of holy oil is really important to me! Hey!"
Seeing William preparing to leave, Sadie shouted hurriedly.
But the former didn't mean to stop at all.
"At least untie me!"
As soon as Sadie finished speaking, she saw the dagger sheath land in front of her.
And the priest had long disappeared.
"This guy! So rude."
...
After losing Sadie, William soon arrived at a small lumber yard.
Some small houses were scattered near the factory.
Further away was a dense forest; some trees were reduced to stumps, and uncut wood was piled on the clearing beside them.
He found a wooden house according to the address.
At this time, a man was chopping wood in the yard.
Seeing a stranger visiting, Hank stopped his work and came to the door with an ax.
"We have no plans to join the church for the time being," Hank said first.
Although he had some business dealings with the church, he was not a believer.
"Mr. Hank Bayek?"
William said the other party's name.
Hank sized up William: "Looking for Sister Sasha?"
"Oh? Someone has already been here before me?" William raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
"This was a few days ago; all merchants doing business with 'St. Jehovah' have been questioned."
Seeing that this priest also came to inquire about Sasha, Hank shrugged, turned around, and continued chopping wood.
"My answer is still the same as before. I only saw that nun when delivering wood."
Hank swung his ax to chop off a piece of wood, then continued:
"So I don't know where she went either."
"I heard from Renia that you mentioned hearing whispers in the dense forest nearby?"
William changed the subject upon seeing this.
Hank looked up in surprise upon hearing this.
"That's right, but it's a misunderstanding, probably the sound of wind passing through the forest."
"Did you mention this in front of Sister Sasha at that time?" William continued to ask.
"Hey, Father, are you interrogating me?"
Hank was a little dissatisfied.
"Oh, of course not. Sister Sasha has been missing for many days, and you have seen her."
William smiled slightly.
"We are all worried about the safety of such a weak girl getting lost."
The image of a petite girl appeared in Hank's mind, then he shook his head:
"I'm sorry for her accident, but I was busy moving things at that time and didn't have time for small talk."
"I see."
William took out a cloth bag from his pocket upon hearing this.
"You are an expert on trees. This is charcoal found in Sasha's room."
"I wonder if you can see the source of this thing?"
Seeing this, Hank put down the ax and walked curiously to William.
"Judging from the charred grain, it should be pine, likely transported from my place."
He pointed to the dense forest next to him.
"What's wrong with this wood?"
So, William told Hank about "the charcoal being related to Sister Sasha's disappearance" in appropriate words.
He also asked—Have the surrounding residents encountered strange things recently, such as falling ill suddenly?
Hank didn't understand how charcoal could be related to the disappearance case.
But hearing the last sentence, obvious hesitation appeared on his face.
William naturally observed this action.
"Providing condolences is also one of the Church's obligations," he said at the right time.
Hank sighed: "Follow me."
He took William into the house, then came to one of the bedrooms.
Opening the door, the place inside wasn't big.
A row of toys was placed by the window, all made of wood.
There was a bed against the wall, and a little boy was lying on it at this time.
Seeing him, William frowned.
The boy had many pustules on his skin surface, and the surrounding sheets were stained blood-red.
And the boy's breath was already weak.
Hank walked into the room and picked up a rough wooden ax on the table.
"Jude made this for me, of course, when he wasn't sick yet..."
According to Hank, this lumber yard was inherited from his father.
Originally, his father and several friends opened it in partnership.
To save costs, they were both bosses and workers.
This also allowed Hank to develop carpentry skills, often making toys for his son personally after marriage.
But due to increasingly heavy taxes, the profit of the wood business decreased year by year.
Forced by livelihood, Hank even started to undertake business like church wood procurement, which he looked down upon in the past.
But this indeed eased the turnover pressure of the factory.
He thought he could survive this period safely.
But Jude's sudden illness dragged the family into poverty instantly.
"I don't know what happened. One day when he came home, he suddenly vomited and had diarrhea, and his skin began to ulcerate..."
Hank took his son to major hospitals, but neither instrument checks nor drug treatments could find the cause.
Instead, Jude's physical condition worsened day by day.
Helpless, he could only take his son home.
And Hank's wife—Mrs. Alvina Knight, was originally a person who loved life, often planting various flowers near the house.
She also had smooth and thick long hair.
But to subsidize the household, Alvina secretly cut all her hair and sold it cheaply to a wig merchant.
Hank was sad about this.
"I have no choice."
He reached out and wiped his eyes.
"If there really is a God in the world, why does my child have to suffer such torture?"
William stood outside the door all the time and said upon hearing this:
"Evil gives people pain, and salvation is naturally left to the Holy Light."
At this moment in William's eyes, Jude was shrouded in an evil aura.
It came from the row of wooden toys by the window.
And this aura was exactly the same as the charcoal found in Sasha's room.
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