After hanging up the phone, Jenqyih sat for a while on the bench near the pay phone. His hand reached into his trouser pocket. He took out his wallet and quickly opened it. He pulled a piece of paper out of the dark brown leather wallet. The paper was the piece given to him yesterday by his friend. He knew Shannchyuan had warned himself to be careful, but it was an emergency. They really need help from any party. Even help from people they don't trust would mean a lot.
Jenqyih stood up again. He steadfastly walked over to the pay phone he had just left.
"Hello," Jenqyih said in a loud voice when the phone line was connected.
"Hello! Ah, it's you, Jenqyih." The person on the other end immediately recognized Jenqyih's voice.
"Right, it's me."
"How are you? Do you want to come to my house again?"
"It's a good thing you're still home. I was worried before that you had left for work or something. I have something important to tell you."
"I was just about to leave the house. Can you call back this afternoon?"
"I can't. It's an emergency."
"What's wrong? Your voice sounds so weird. Are you still being followed?"
"That's not what I wanted to say. There's one thing that's far more serious."
"What is the problem?"
"One of my friends was kidnapped."
"Where are you now?"
Jenqyih said the name of the station where she was now. The distance between the station and the station near the friend's house is not far. Only fifteen minutes away by train. Traveling by motorbike will, of course, take a little longer.
<>
"Stay there. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Where should I wait for you? Inside the station or outside the station?"
"We'd better meet outside the station. The waiting room inside is too wide and scattered. It'll take a long time because I have to look for you."
"Okay. I'll be waiting near the entrance."
"Which entrance?"
"The main entrance. It's the easiest place to get to from the highway."
"Okay! Be careful. Don't stay away from the crowd."
Jenqyih then hung up the phone. Twenty minutes wasn't a long time, but it wasn't a short time either. One clear thing was that there wasn't enough time to go to lunch at one of the nearby stalls. He remembered the original purpose he came to that place. Jenqyih stepped into the luggage storage area. At first, after picking up the backpack he had put there yesterday, Jenqyih would immediately leave the station. But, the hunger that was so excruciating made him change his plans a little.
Jenqyih then stopped at a bakery. He bought some bread. Some he ate right away, some he put in the bag he carried on his back. Then Jenqyih rose to the surface speedily and waited near the door where he entered the station last night.
Jenqyih's friend came just at the time he promised. He rode the motorbike he rode with Jenqyih yesterday.
"What is that?" The friend pointed at the giant backpack that Jenqyih was carrying.
"Just a few things I left yesterday here."
"Okay. Don't waste any more time. We have to hurry."
<
"Come up!" Jenqyih's friend seemed impatient when he saw the frozen Jenqyih. He held out a helmet.
Jenqyih nodded. After receiving the helmet, he put it on right away and jumped onto the motorbike.
"Are you ready?" The friend said.
"Where are we going?" Jenqyih patted his friend's shoulder.
"Don't ask too many questions. Please, just come along. Later, there, I'll explain!"
The motorbike was traveling at high speed. Jenqyih's friend took the vehicle through roads that Jenqyih did not know well. It could be said that Jenqyih had absolutely no idea where they were. After about twenty minutes, the motorbike they rode into the garage of a beautiful house. The garage door closed automatically when the vehicle they were riding had stopped in the garage.
"Just put your backpack here first." Jenqyih's friend pointed to the floor to their left.
"Whose house is this?" Jenqyih looked left and right as he got off the motorcycle.
Jenqyih's friend did not answer. Instead, he opened the door that connected the garage to another room in the house. The two of them soon entered the house through the door. Jenqyih followed his friend, who, without stopping, continued to walk deep into the house. It turned out to be an enormous house. From the outside, one could only see that the width of the house was only about twenty meters. But apparently, when people went inside, they would realize that the house was really long. They passed a garden, which Jenqyih estimated was in the center of the house. Behind the garden, there was a relatively large hall. A man sat behind a large table at the end of the hall. He wore an expensive-looking suit and a black hat, which also looked luxurious.
When the two of them arrived right in front of the table, the person stood up. He took off his hat. Jenqyih could see the person's face clearly.
"Instructor Shentwu!" Jenqyih nodded respectfully.
"How are you Dongfang!" The man smiled faintly.
Shentwu Jongyih was one instructor who trained Jenqyih when he joined a secret society decades ago. Among some instructors who were there. It was this person who left the deepest impression on Jenqyih's mind.
"I'm fine, Sir!" Jenqyih saluted once again. "You look old."
The person laughed at Jenqyih's words. "Of course I look old. Decades have passed. If I still looked the same as before, wouldn't it be scary?"
Shentwu Jongyih was an instructor figure that was very frightening to everyone who underwent training there. At least that's what stuck in Jenqyih's mind. Jenqyih never felt comfortable at all when that person was around him. Even now, when that person looked old, his appearance was still so frightening and scary.
"That's right, Sir! I mean, you look very dignified right now!" Answered Jenqyih.
The man laughed again. In the past, when that person stood in front of her, Jenqyih always trembled. After decades, Jenqyih thought he could control himself. But unexpectedly, he was still shaking. It turned out that there were things that were very difficult to change.
"Both of you, please have a seat," Shentwu said.
"Thank you, Sir." Jenqyih sat down straightway. In the slightest, he didn't want to delay doing what Shentwu said. His friend also did the same. The two of them sat on the same side of the table.
"I've heard the things that happened to you and your friends. Jongli has told me everything so clearly."
<
Jongli Jyhren, the friend who brought Jenqyih to the house, nodded respectfully at Instructor Shentwu. Jenqyih could only remain silent. His tongue was numb. Erratically, he didn't know what to say. Shentwu Jongyih must have known everything. It seemed there was nothing more to add.
"What should we do now, Sir?" Finally, a sentence came out of Jenqyih's mouth.
"Of course you have to call the police!" Shentwu Jongyih said.
"What about my friend's safety?"
"Your friend wasn't the target of the thugs. So it's very likely that he won't be harmed. Besides, the police will definitely act professionally."
Jenqyih was not at all convinced that it was the best way. The criminals didn't want a ransom. Most likely, they need information about something. Something they didn't know yet. Explaining this to the police might not be a simple matter.
"Do you want us to interfere in this case?"
Shentwu Jongyih's question sounded a little strange to Jenqyih's ears. He was almost one hundred percent certain that the agency must have interfered in the matter. Either since Jenqyih met Jongli Jyhren yesterday, or it could be long before that.
"What are we really into, sir?" Jenqyih ventured to dig up further information.
"Do you think we know more than you?" Shentwu asked.
Jenqyih did not answer right away. He knew Shentwu had not finished speaking.
"We don't have the proper facilities and infrastructure that we can use to conduct a proper investigation." Shentwu laughed again.
"But I think you must know about what happened," said Jenqyih. "At least a little more than we know."
"Okay. You're right. Regarding this matter, we do know a little more than you guys. But still many things are not clear to us. It's like seeing a snake. We only saw the tail."
"Director Shentwu, I don't think we should be too rigid about this." Jongli Jhyren, who had been silent all this time, started to open his mouth.
<
Jenqyih turned to Jongli Jhyren. His friend's face was tense. Perhaps, just like Jenqyih, Shentwu's presence also made him feel intimidated.
"I'll help you guys," Director Shentwu said. "But as usual, I don't want the police to know that we are involved in investigating this."
Jenqyih looked at Director Shentwu. At first, he didn't understand what the man meant. It occurred to Jenqyih that they had to trick the police. The secret service might set up traps to trick the police into barking at the wrong tree. The working method between the police and the secret service was entirely different. So the presence of the police might actually interfere with the course of their investigation. But then he understood that they just shouldn't mention the involvement of other agencies when talking to the police.
"Can your friend be trusted?" Director Shentwu asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Duanmuh Shannchyuan. Do you think he would be willing to cooperate with us?"
"Do you know him?" Jenqyih tried his best not to sound strange in his tone.
<
"If I told you I knew him, would you be surprised?" Director Shentwu stared with sharp eyes.
Jenqyih would not be surprised. So many mysterious things he felt from his dahge. Among them, perhaps the one who knew the most about Shannchyuan was Chioujen. He had known Shannchyuan since he was little. He was even friends with one of Shannchyuan's relatives, so Jenqyih felt it was only natural that the contact between Shannchyuan and Chioujen was more intense than the contact between Shannchyuan and the other friends.
Director Shentwu was still glaring at Jenqyih. His gaze was sharper than the razor Jenqyih used to clean his chin. It seemed that the old man was still waiting for Jenqyih's answer.
"I don't know if I should be surprised or not." This time Jenqyih did something that she had never thought of before. He returned Director Shentwu's gaze. Although his gaze was not as sharp as the old man's gaze. "There are many mysterious things about him."
"Alright. But do you think Duanmuh Shannchyuan would be willing to cooperate with us?"
<
"There are indeed many things about Duanmuh Shannchyuan that I do not know. But there is one thing that I am absolutely sure of." Jenqyih stopped talking for a while. "Duanmuh Shannchyuan is a very loyal friend. He will definitely not hesitate to cooperate with you for the safety of our kidnapped friend."
<>
"Good," said Director Shentwu. "Jongli. Now you take Dongfang back to Pyngyuan. After that, you have a little talk with Duanmuh."
"Okay Sir," replied Jongli Jhyren in a firm voice.
Without wasting much time, Jenqyih and Jhyren returned to the garage in a flash.
"Don't forget your backpack," said Jongli.
Jenqyih just smiled a little.
They then rode the motorbike to Jenqyih's residence in Pyngyuan.