Chapter 143: Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex

The woman’s expression turned to shock. ’What does she mean, "that’s what they do"?’

Then, as if she had realized something, her expression grew exceptionally grave. "Don’t tell me... they’ve done this to other people before?"

Kim gave her a look that said, ’You’re a smart one.’

She glanced around again. After confirming no one was paying attention to them, she casually pulled the woman toward a more secluded corner, preparing to discuss some forbidden topics.

To gather more clues, Zoe Sawyer carefully maneuvered the remote-controlled car to follow them. She made sure to keep a safe distance—close enough to hear, but not so close as to be discovered.

Kim and the woman were indeed very cautious, constantly scanning the crowds passing by.

The moment anyone got near, they would immediately clam up and pretend nothing was happening.

But they completely overlooked the remote-controlled car at their feet, allowing Zoe and the others to hear the entire conversation.

"Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex went to work as laborers for a while, learned a few ’tricks of the trade’ from some old man nobody knows, and then came back here to arrange ghost marriages for men in the area who died young," Kim whispered to the woman, her eyes darting around cautiously.

At first, they had some semblance of morality.

The matches they made were between children who had both died young. The parents, grieving for their children, would ask Uncle Dex for help pairing them up so they could ’take care of each other’ in the afterlife.

Hearing this, the woman couldn’t help but interrupt Kim’s story. "How are two children who never reached adulthood supposed to take care of each other? Logically, shouldn’t their elders in the afterlife be the ones looking after them?"

’It feels like they’re just being carelessly thrown together.’

Kim, who was just getting into her story, clicked her tongue in annoyance at the interruption. ’How am I supposed to know what was going through their minds?!’

But then she remembered the woman was the only one around she could gossip with, and she was already on a roll.

So, she decided not to dwell on the interruption and continued her story.

Later, I don’t know how, but things took a dark turn.

Instead of both parties being deceased, one of them would be alive.

Or terminally ill, on the verge of death.

The bride’s family would receive an exorbitant bride price, essentially "selling" their daughter to the groom’s family, and then Uncle Dex would hold a wedding for them.

After the wedding, no one cared what happened to the bride.

In the better cases, she’d be kept around to work like a beast of burden, responsible for the family’s daily life and even working in the fields.

After all, they’d paid a huge bride price for her; they weren’t about to let that labor go to waste.

In the worse cases, the bride would disappear a few days after the "wedding".

The official story everyone gave was always that she’d left to find work.

The villagers around here didn’t have the guts to bury them alive. They could only take the person back home after the wedding and then... get rid of them, bit by bit.

"Didn’t anyone call the police?" the woman interrupted Kim again, her face etched with confusion. Her eyes couldn’t help but dart around, terrified someone might overhear them.

This time, Kim wasn’t angry at being cut off. Instead, she laughed, her tone strange. "What do you think of Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex’s situation? They seem pretty well-off, don’t they?"

The woman nodded. That was true.

Their family’s financial condition was arguably one of the best in the area.

"That’s a big part of it. To ensure their business could continue smoothly, they decided to pass on their ’skills.’ They’d let others learn the trade and then expand their operations elsewhere." Kim couldn’t help but snort derisively as she said this.

They were dragging everyone down with them, making them all accomplices.

If these people wanted to make money, they wouldn’t report them. They might even help cover for them.

Besides that, there was another very important reason.

The surrounding villages aren’t very big. A lot of people are related in one way or another.

They couldn’t bring themselves to turn in their own kin.

On top of all that, Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex "married off" their own two daughters the same way.

They used the money they earned to raise the son they had in their old age. But in the end, their son died anyway.

That’s why I said what happened to Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex’s family was karma.

After finishing, Kim gave the woman beside her a meaningful look. ’I wonder if she knows her own husband is one of them?’

And that he’d even offered Uncle Dex and Auntie Dex a benefit they couldn’t possibly refuse.

After hearing the whole story, it wasn’t just the woman; even Zoe Sawyer and the others behind the camera couldn’t help but rub their faces in disgust.

’This is sickening!’

Just as Zoe was about to shut down the feed and tell Evan Keller to contact the local police, the woman’s voice came through again.

"Who’s the bride this time? I don’t think I’ve heard anything about it."

Kim pointed a finger toward a small room in the corner, her voice cryptic. "She’s in there. Want to go take a look?"

A bad feeling washed over the woman, but her intense curiosity compelled her to walk over.

’I’ll go see what’s going on. If there’s really someone in there, I have to find a chance to get out and call the police.’

’Maybe I can save this new bride.’

Unlike the villagers who were all sinking into depravity together, the woman couldn’t bear to stand by and watch an innocent girl walk into a dark, hopeless future.

Lost in refining her plan, the woman naturally failed to notice the looks she was getting from the people around her.

Looks of greed, excitement, and thorough appraisal.

"She’s in danger!" Zoe, who had been using the remote-controlled car to monitor the atmosphere, immediately noticed the sudden change in the crowd’s expressions.

"I’m contacting the local station right now." Without a second thought, Evan Keller took out his phone and started calling the police there.

They could have gone over themselves, but the situation had developed too suddenly. Plus, they had been getting ready for bed.

They didn’t have their gear on them.

Rushing over recklessly would only create more trouble for their colleagues on-site.

So, after weighing the options, Evan decided it was best to let the local police handle it.

They didn’t just sit idly by, though. While saving the video feed, they communicated the current situation over the phone with their contacts.

At Kim’s gesture, the woman opened the small door. Her eyes met a dim and quiet room. It was empty except for a single wooden bed. There was no one inside, and certainly no sign of the bride Kim had mentioned.

Seeing the empty room, the woman turned to Kim in confusion and asked, "I don’t see anyone. Has the bride not arrived yet?"

As she asked, she glanced behind her, only to discover that the villagers, who had been busy with their tasks, had all stopped what they were doing and were slowly gathering around her.

Their eyes were strange, like they were about to eat her alive.

"The bride? Isn’t the bride right here?"