"What do you say happened to my family?" a cold voice sounded as Wang Li stepped through the door with an enforcer behind him.
"We got a report from a friend of your sister that something might've happened to your family, so we came to check it out," the leading enforcer said as he explained for Wang Li, "it seems your family has been kidnapped and the culprit left a note with your name on it."
Walking to the severed arm lying on a pool of blood in front of him, Wang Li picked it up before inspecting it.
"It's dad's arm," he muttered as he verified the owner of the severed arm after a few seconds of inspection.
Keeping it in his storage ring, he picked up the paper with his name on it before reading it.
"I look straight at the boundless path
I hold dearly the dearest hearts
I give smile to the depressed soul
Without me the kingdom is lost"
The poem is the clue to saving your family. The faster you understand it, the sooner you save them from me.
!!
Squeezing the paper as hard as he can, Wang Li's expression was dark as he stared down at the pool of blood.
"Threatening me with the lives of my family," his voice was low and piercing cold as anger rose from within him, "whoever you are, pray the storm god doesn't let me see you."
"What did the paper say? Did it give out any clue that might help in rescuing your family?" the lead enforcer asked Wang Li.
"Sigh!" calming down as he exhaled deeply, Wang Li stopped squeezing the paper before passing it to the lead enforcer, "the clue to their whereabouts is in understanding the poem."
Reading the poem and the sentences that followed after, the lead enforcer had a bewildered expression on his face.
"I thought the paper might contain words of anger towards you that might lead us to knowing who the culprit is," he said as he looked at Wang Li, "but this, this is something else entirely. The poem and the sentences afterwards clearly show that the culprit wants you to find them. And from my experience, criminals who use such methods tend to be driven not by anger but by the thrill gotten from the chase."
"I don't care what drives them or the thrill they get from my response," Wang Li said as he looked at the lead enforcer, "I only care about saving my family and sending that bastard to death."
Acknowledging Wang Li's thought, the lead enforcer passed the wrinkled paper to his teammates, "see if you decipher the meaning within the poem."
"Got it," the other enforcers said as they began going through the poem written on the wrinkled paper.
"I look straight at the boundless path, what do they mean by that?" Wang Li thought as he brainstormed, seeking to understand the poem of a guy that strives for an interesting scenario to drift his focus away from the severe voices in his head.
"There are few things known as boundless," the lead enforcer thought as he tuned his brain to seek for an answer, "cultivation, the sky, the sea, the vast land, and mother nature. If I can know the specific one the criminal is referring to, I will definitely be able to crack his poem."
After no improvement for over five[5] minutes, the lead enforcer asked, "have any of you figured out anything?"
"I give smile to the depressed soul," the enforcer that left to inform Wang Li of his family's situation spoke out after his colleague asked a question, "I think he's referring to Flower Paradise. I can't think of anywhere more superior in making a man smile."
"I would like to agree with you and get all this over with, but I'll have to turn down your answer," the lead enforcer said to his colleague, "the Flower Paradise doesn't make a depressed heart smile. And even a downhearted man would only feel happy during and a few minutes after the act, making your answer incorrect.
"The poem reads depressed soul, meaning that it doesn't only refer to a single gender. And I know the Flower Paradise doesn't make a lady happy. Maybe except madam Ying," enforcer [2] said as he added his take to the conversation, restraining himself from smiling at his last words.
"If you all can't figure something out, why don't you call more of your colleagues to help out?" Wang Li sounded angry as he spoke to the enforcers.
"Alright," the lead enforcer said before walking out of the apartment and standing by the railing of the second floor before launching a fiery beacon to the sky.
"Any close by unit will get here within five[5] minutes," he said to Wang Li after entering back into the apartment.
After five[5] minutes since the lead enforcer sent out the signal for help, a group of three[3] enforcers arrived in front of Wang Li's home.
"What case could possibly make the famous Feng Bo seek for backup?" the leading enforcer of the newly arrived unit said as he looked at the lead enforcer of the first unit.
"Maybe you should get into action instead of wasting time asking questions!" Wang Li said as he snapped at the newly arrived lead enforcer.
"He's a disciple of the Flowing River Sect," Feng Bo transmitted his voice through his spiritual Qi to his colleague.
"And I was chosen by the alliance of the three[3] super powers of our town," the lead enforcer of the newly arrived unit transmitted back to Feng Bo as he walked towards Wang Li.
"I'm sure the Flowing River Sect doesn't nurture only ladies that boost on their mouths and not their battle strength," he said as he stood a foot and few inches from Wang Li.
"I don't mind playing with you right here and now, but my priority right now is to find the whereabouts of my family and save them from whoever is keeping them captive," Wang Li said as he looked straight at the lead enforcer of the newly arrived unit.
"I'll help in finding your family before coming back to get even with you," the lead enforcer of the newly arrived unit said before turning towards Feng Bo, "what's the situation?"
"A missing family. The culprit left a clue to finding them," Feng Bo said to the lead enforcer of the newly arrived unit.
"That isn't good," the lead enforcer said as after hearing Feng Bo's words, "what does the clue say?"
"We're still trying to figure it out," Feng Bo said as he passed the wrinkled paper to the lead enforcer, "it's in the form of a poem."
"How nice, an artistic deranged kidnapper. This would be fun," the lead enforcer sneered as he took the wrinkled paper from Feng Bo.
"Your sarcasm hasn't gotten better since the last time we were on a case together," Feng Bo said to the newly arrived lead enforcer.
"Neither has your habit of pointing that out," the newly arrived lead enforcer said before paying attention on the wrinkled paper.
Passing it to his unit's members after he was done reading it, he said, "your mention of clue is really a courteous mark. I can't even understand anything from that."
"If we can all come up with something close to the clue, then we might be able to get the real clue," Feng Bo said as he began thinking.
Reading the poem with his colleague beside him, enforcer [2] from the newly arrived unit said casually, "if I'm to choose the dearest hearts, I'll choose those fishermen and fisherwomen in the fishing community. They fish day and night to feed more than half of civilians in town."
Getting struck with a thought after hearing what his colleague said, Feng Bo said, "the fishing community faces the sea. And the sea is a ..."
"Boundless path!" one of Feng Bo's unit's members spoke out, finishing his words for him.
"I look straight at the boundless path," Wang Li said as he finally understood the line of the poem.
"And despite their poor living conditions, they still try their best to put a smile on their faces and the faces of their visitors," the other member from the newly arrived unit said as he deciphered the third line of the poem.
"Without me the kingdom is lost. I can't help but agree with this statement. Imagine more than half of the civilians in town having nothing to trade with from the merchants that come from other villages, towns, and cities," the lead enforcer of the newly arrived unit said as he spoke about the final line from the poem.
"Let's move out. To the fishing community," Feng Bo said as he hurriedly trailed behind Wang Li.
New Chapter.....
Have a great day.....
Put your hope in God and keep grinding.....
Thanks for your time and patience…," Author_X