Chapter 490 Mysterious Disappearance
Although the amount of money was not much, it was more than enough to buy the two large baskets of vegetables that the auntie was buying.
The aunt wavered, then furtively glanced at the clothes and accessories on the group. After a moment's hesitation, she finally gritted her teeth and said, "You really won't tell anyone?"
"What's there to tell outsiders? We're from out of town, and we'll only be staying here for a day or two at most. Even if we wanted to tell outsiders, who could we tell? Besides, judging from the reaction of the people in your village just now, their situation is probably already common knowledge in your village, so we don't need to publicize it. Are you afraid of us telling them?"
The aunt thought about it and agreed that it made sense, but she still hesitated: "But aren't you their child's friends?"
"Just because the two kids are friends doesn't mean they're friends with the rest of their families. Besides, kids this age don't always consider all aspects when making friends. How could they possibly know as much as you aunties who know people inside and out? Don't you think so?"
As Guan Xuefen listened to Ye Wanxi's words, she had a feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
In addition, she was genuinely curious about the situation of Cui Yuezhen's family, which was being "ostracized" by so many villagers, so she obediently stayed by Ye Wanxi's side without saying a word.
Ye Wanxi's age was not obvious because she was wearing a mask. The aunt thought she was older than Guan Xuefen because she spoke with an older voice and was worried that her younger sister would be deceived and hurt.
After hesitating for a moment, he still accepted the money and leaned closer, saying, "Then you absolutely must not tell anyone else, especially their family."
"Of course, we will keep it a secret."
The aunt breathed a sigh of relief: "It's not that their family is bad, it's just a bit eerie."
"Weird?"
Upon hearing those two words, the two Shi brothers instinctively perked up their ears.
“Everyone in our village is surnamed Cui. This family is all local. When their elders were still alive, they were a perfectly normal family. Later, their son, Cui Yuezhen’s father, went to work in another city. After a few years, he came back and became strange and eccentric. His face was always gloomy and scary. The old people in the village all said that he had been possessed by an evil spirit while he was away, and that something bad would happen to his family sooner or later.”
"That's what they said, but at first no one paid much attention. Unexpectedly, after a year or two, their elders passed away. After that, every three or four years, a relative of theirs would disappear."
The aunt couldn't help but look frightened as she spoke. Guan Xuefen frowned and couldn't help but interject, "What does this person's disappearance have to do with their family? You can't just throw someone away and blame it on them, can you?"
The aunt's face looked rather unpleasant, so Ye Wanxi quickly pulled her aside and comforted her, "Don't worry, let me tell you. I think you look so kind and gentle, you don't seem like the kind of person who would slander people so easily."
The aunt's expression softened a bit: "What this young girl said isn't wrong. There's no evidence in the village that they killed the people, but one of their two missing relatives told his family before he disappeared that he was going to visit them, and then he never came back. There's no trace of him, neither alive nor dead. Isn't that creepy?"
"After that, the relative didn't say he was going to their house, but the night before he disappeared, someone saw him walking towards their house from the city late at night. After that, they couldn't see him at all. Because of this, the relative's wife brought her family to their house and made a lot of trouble."
"The village chief was having a headache because of them. In addition, their family had been tinkering with some poisonous insects and herbs to sell. Some people living near their house were living in fear, afraid that one day those poisonous insects and snakes would come out and bite them, and they would lose their lives. Then there were those things that happened to their relatives. Once could be said to be a coincidence, but this was twice. Everyone had a knot in their hearts."
The aunt talked for a long time, but she didn't produce any concrete evidence that Cui Yuezhen's family had harmed others. It sounded like a village woman gossiping and spreading rumors.
However, everyone present felt a chill inexplicably. Guan Xuefen was still reluctant to believe that such a thing had happened in her friend's family. Her face was slightly somber, and she remained skeptical and offered no comment.
The two Shi brothers, however, connected the "poisonous insects and herbs" to something ominous. Their faces turned pale, and they began to understand why Ye Wanxi hadn't taken them directly to find someone after getting off the plane, but instead followed this little girl they had met along the way to this small mountain village.
Compared to them, Ye Wanxi was much calmer, and even asked in return, "You mean, they used to live in the village with everyone?"
“They used to live in the village, but after this incident, the village chief told them to move or move further away. They didn’t move, but they moved to the place at the foot of the mountain that I just told you about. That place is far from the village, and you don’t have to go through the village to get to the city market. Over time, everyone almost forgot about this family, until a few years ago, one night a police car suddenly drove into our village.”
Guan Xuefen's heart jumped: "And then?"
"Then they asked about their family situation, and drove all the way to their doorstep. At that time, quite a few people in the village ran to see what was going on, and they found out that a small business owner who collected things had also come looking for their family head, but he never came back and they still haven't found him. Everyone in the village knows about this, and I'm not just making this up."
Hearing this, even Guan Xuefen couldn't help but gasp. Even though she was unwilling to believe that her friend would be involved in such a thing, she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
"The police are here, have they found the small business owner?"
"It's even scarier that they couldn't find it. After investigating for several days, they found no evidence and the matter was dropped. But since then, no one has dared to go in that direction. Who knows if they'll ever come back?"
The aunt's lingering fear was so vivid that the others fell silent.
There's a saying that goes, "innocent until proven guilty." If the police conduct a thorough investigation but still can't find any evidence, then there are only two possibilities.
One possibility is that this matter is indeed unrelated to them, while another is that the other party did a very clean job, leaving no trace.
If it's the first scenario, that's fine, but if it's the second...
"Don't blame me for being blunt, but there's really something wrong with their family. It's better to be safe than sorry. Once it happens to you, it'll be too late."
The reason the aunt was willing to talk to Ye Wanxi and the others was not only because of the money Ye Wanxi gave her, but also because Guan Xuefen was about the same age as her own daughter.
Putting herself in her shoes, if it were her own daughter, she, as a mother, would never let her go to such a terrible and dangerous place.
If nothing happens, that's fine, but if something really does happen, how can parents bear such a change?
(End of this chapter)
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