“Don’t let her escape!”

“Catch her!”

Jade packed her bags and wanted to run away after what happened, but when all the children in the whole town started turning into statues, obviously someone would notice. Considering the circumstances, especially after they broke down her door and saw the bloody mess in the living room, the poor girl was considered the sole target of public outrage.

She obviously fought back, but there were dozens of men and women with bows, crossbows, knives, spears and other weapons. She was a Sculptor and not a particularly powerful one either. It wasn’t long before she was beaten down, captured and tied up with ropes on her hands/ankles.

“She killed my baby!”

“She murdered her own father!”

“She killed my son and daughter!”

“Burn her! Burn the Witch!”

“No! I didn’t! It wasn’t me!”

“Liar! Burn her!”

“Hahahaha~!”

Aside from the screaming and crying, there were also people laughing and cheering as the little girl was tied to a big stake near the edge of the village. Then they piled up a lot of kindling and created a huge pyre.

“Aaaaaaah~! Aaaaaaah~!”

Jade screamed in agony as the fire ignited her ragged clothes and burned her hair off. Some people in the crowd threw rocks and other random things at hand. Causing even more damage to the young girl’s battered body. Then… Someone threw a torch.

“Hahahaha~!”

“Die!”

“Burn, Whore!”

“Wait, stop! Everyone stop!”

Some people in the crowd realized the problem. But it was a little too late. The forest and the village were engulfed in flames, while the people were running around, causing a small stampede. The middle-aged woman who cried about her baby was crushed to death in the chaos and quite a few other people inhaled too much smoke, passing out into the burning dry grass nearby.

“Ehah-ehah-haha-ehah~!” Jade watched everything that happened and couldn’t help laughing hysterically, “Wordless garbage! Ehah-ahehah~! Aaaaaah~!”

Of course it wasn’t long before she started screaming, coughing and choking again. As time went by, her charred skin turned from black to gray and her eyes glowed in the raging inferno like bright green crystals. She could still writhe around a bit at first, but soon enough, she was completely still.

The heat from the flames made her rocky flesh a little reddish at most. The wooden stake fell over into the dirt as the night went on…

The next day, the sun was obscured by the thick smoke from the burning mountainside. Eventually a big storm came and doused the flames. Jade was also buried in the mud, underneath the heavy charred black wooden stake…

Until one fateful night, when she cried out for help and a little white-haired boy happened to find a mysterious stone statue…