The man stretched out his hand. Yihshyong gasped. He tightly gripped Songfei's bag he was carrying.
"Where's the stuff?" The words slid out of the person's lips at high speed. But the volume was so low, it was almost a whisper. If Yihshyong hadn't been standing right in front of that person, he probably wouldn't have heard him.
"Where's the person?" Yihshyong asked back.
<>
"The people are safe. After we make sure you provide the right items, we will immediately deliver the person."
<
"You can't do that," Yihshyong said. "I have to see him first!"
The man looked surprised. His brow furrowed. Yihshyong didn't know the man was surprised because he insisted he wouldn't give the bag until the hostage was released or because the man realized he wasn't talking to Shannchyuan.
Panic began to hit Yihshyong again. He glanced around him. He hoped the police would show up soon to arrest the man. Or at least, show their presence so that Yihshyong was absolutely sure they would shadow the person to find where they were keeping Shinnshiow.
Jinqkang, who was sitting on the stone bench, looked at Yihshyong with a very tense expression on his face. He straightened his back. Looked like he's ready to move on. Yihshyong hoped that the young man could control himself. He's not a cop. If he was determined to step forward to ambush that person, he might even be injured.
At such a tense moment, from behind Jinqkang, someone came close. Yihshyong didn't know who it was. The mysterious person patted Jinqkang on the back from behind.
Jinqkang turned his head. The person then sat down next to Jinqkang. The man's lips began to move. It seemed that the person was saying something at a low volume. Jinqkang brought his head closer to the person's head. Maybe he wanted to hear more clearly what the person was saying.
<
The man standing in front of Yihshyong took a step back. This made Yihshyong panic even more. He guessed that the man thought that Yihshyong was communicating with the police.
<
Yihshyong looked far behind the man in front of him, at Jinqkang. He could clearly see that Jinqkang was making a strange move. The young man seemed to be throwing something away. Yihshyong instantly realized that the person who approached Jinqkang earlier was most likely the policeman who asked Jinqkang to signal Yihshyong to give the bag to the man in front of him.
Yihshyong dropped the bag he was carrying. Then he took a step back. The person came forward and picked up the bag right away. He then looked at Yihshyong. Just like before, the look in his eyes made Yihshyong's guts shrank.
"One hour from now!" The man raised his left hand. He held the bag in his right hand.
<
Yihshyong just stared at the person. He waited for the person to utter the next sentences. Sentences that have no other meaning.
But that didn't happen. The person took three steps back. After that, he turned around very quickly. After looking right and left, he started to walk away from Yihshyong.
<
Boom!
Suddenly, there was an explosion. It wasn't that loud, but it sounded quite clear.
Yihshyong was surprised. He dropped himself straight away. He lay down. Even though Yihshyong didn't know what it was, he didn't want to take the risk. He didn't want to be hit by a stray bullet or anything related to it. Yihshyong's body was on his stomach, but he lifted his head. He wanted to see what happened next.
The man who was carrying Songfei's bag also looked surprised. He stood still. He looked around him. When he looked back, the man saw Yihshyong lying down. His face suddenly turned pale. He seemed to have realized something.
Immediately, the man dropped the bag he was carrying. After that, he took a thousand steps. He ran as fast as lightning. Several people who had been sitting and standing around the pool then chased after him.
<
Jinqkang stood up. He ran towards Yihshyong, who still hadn't changed his posture.
"Are you all right?" The young man held out his hand.
"I am alright. Don't you worry." Yihshyong tried to get the words out in a normal tone of voice. He didn't want to look nervous.
Jinqkang helped Yihshyong up. Actually Yihshyong was a bit embarrassed to accept Jinqkang's hand. He wasn't that old. He and Shannchyuan couldn't be categorized as elderly yet, so their bodies were also still in good shape. But times like that were not the time to argue about the matter.
They shuffled to sit on the stone bench where Jinqkang had sat before. In fact, they could have sat on another bench. Because of the commotion, all the stone benches became empty.
The people who were there were running around irregularly. They panicked. Yihshyong didn't know how to calm them down. Even if he had known, he would probably have kept quiet. Calming people who are panicking was not a simple job. If he wasn't careful, he might end up getting hurt.
A moment later, someone came closer. Yihshyong could recognize him easily. That person was the one who had been sitting next to Jinqkang.
"Good evening Mr. Shimen." The person greeted him warmly. Even so, his tone was very firm.
"Good night," Yihshyong replied. "Did you catch that person? Did he put up a fight?"
"We've caught him." The man nodded. "He didn't fight back at all."
"What did he say?" Yihshyong asked.
"He has said nothing yet." The man shook his head quickly. "At the moment, we are taking him to a nearby building for us to question."
"You didn't take him to the police station?" Yihshyong asked.
"It's only temporary. Of course, after this, we will take the person to the police station for a more intensive examination. However, there are things we must know immediately."
Yihshyong nodded. "Now, what should we do?"
"We ask that you are willing to wait here for a while. It won't be long. Maybe only about fifteen minutes. We will dig further information from that person. We suspect he is not alone. His friends might still be around here."
"What was that sound?" Jinqkang opened his mouth. "Did any cops open fire?"
<
"No, Sir!" The policeman smiled. "It was a balloon explosion. Apparently, earlier, one balloon the children were holding exploded."
"How did it explode?" Yihshyong asked.
"Probably because it accidentally pierced one of the tree branches with a fairly sharp tip."
Jinqkang frowned. He seemed doubtful about the police's explanation. But the young man did not ask further.