Moreover, those men looked simple and honest, but when their eyes fell on the women, it was obviously strange and greedy, as if they were staring at their prey.
Eric hadn’t left yet. He followed Thelma over, looking at her with a shocked expression, and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”
“We need to leave here immediately!”
Thelma hurriedly walked ahead. She took out her phone to check, but there was no signal at all.
When Thelma returned to the village, she saw several large round tables set up in the courtyard, with villagers serving dishes. The filming crew had already returned, and everyone had washed their hands and sat down at the table to chat with the villagers, looking quite cheerful.
Thelma scanned the area but didn’t see Connor. She found Presley and pulled her aside, saying, “We need to leave here quickly.”
Presley was a bit confused by her serious expression and asked, “What happened?”
Thelma said, “Do you remember Sharon? The girl who debuted around the same time as you, Connor’s girlfriend.”
“I remember. What’s wrong?”
“The silly daughter-in-law we just saw, the village chief’s daughter-in-law, is her.”
“…”
Presley clearly had a look of disbelief.
“I’ve seen Sharon’s photo. She has a butterfly-shaped birthmark on her hand, a very distinctive birthmark. Just now, I saw the exact same birthmark in the same spot on that silly daughter-in-law’s arm.”
“Really?” Presley’s expression gradually became serious.
Thelma nodded, “I suspect that she was abducted and brought here when she went missing. It’s possible that the people in this village are the traffickers who brought her here. In any case, it’s good to be cautious. We should leave as soon as possible.”
Presley’s expression turned grave as she thought for a moment, then nodded at Thelma.
The two quickly discussed it, and Presley stepped forward to the plump woman, saying, “I’m feeling a bit unwell and want to go down the mountain first. You all can eat without waiting for us.”
The plump woman, who had been smiling and chatting warmly, frowned upon hearing Presley’s words and asked, “What’s wrong? Aren’t there doctors with you?”
Presley replied, “Even though there are doctors, the medicine isn’t very complete, so I need to go down the mountain to buy some.”
Thelma added, “We’ll be back soon. Girls are generally more delicate.” She tried to keep her expression natural and signaled to Mira, ” Mira, let’s go together.”
The girls were the ones most at risk of being threatened, so they planned to take the girls down the mountain first and then call the police.
Mira didn’t ask further and nodded, walking over to Thelma. Presley also called over the other two female stars she had brought. However, in any group, there are bound to be troublesome teammates.
“Presley, weren’t you fine just now? Why are you suddenly unwell? The villagers have prepared the food; isn’t it a bit rude to leave at this time?” Ava made a face of difficulty, “Thelma, are you dissatisfied with the food the villagers made? Presley was fine just now, and after you said a few words to her, she started shouting to leave. It’s understandable; you’re now a wealthy lady, used to fine dining, so it’s reasonable that you look down on the simple food here.”
Ava probably really disliked her, always wanting to pick a fight with her no matter the occasion. Presley probably thought Ava was a foolish pig; she shot her a glare, gestured at her, and then spoke kindly to the plump woman and others, “Don’t misunderstand. I’m really feeling unwell and need to go down the mountain.”
But the plump woman said, “Then why are you bringing them all with you? You don’t need so many people just to buy some medicine, right? I can send my son to help you buy it; just tell me what medicine you need.”
Presley’s mouth twitched, “No need to trouble you. We’ll go ourselves.”
The plump woman insisted, “There’s no rush. The food is ready. You can eat first and then go down. Besides, you were fine just now; it doesn’t make sense to suddenly feel unwell, right?”
Thelma and Presley exchanged glances, and it was clear they both sensed that the plump woman didn’t want them to go down the mountain. Thelma suddenly had a bad premonition.
Unexpectedly, the troublesome teammate Ava deliberately put on a sympathetic expression and said, “Everyone came here to shoot, so they should be prepared to endure hardships. This is already the best the villagers can offer us. Shouldn’t we be grateful? We work alongside the villagers in front of the camera, but once the camera is off, we complain about this and that. Isn’t that too hurtful?”
By saying this, it seemed to make Thelma and the others appear unreasonable. The several cameramen at another table had already started eating, and they probably didn’t understand Thelma and the others’ behavior.
