I lifted the curtain and walked to the front of the podium, shouting at the speakers, "Show yourself, you coward! Why hide like a despicable rat?!"

Right then, a bright light lit up, projecting an image onto the curtain. The crowd watched on in horror. Xiaotao and I took a few steps back to see the projection clearly. It was a group of children tied in a bus with a bomb. The bomb had an antenna on it which meant it was remote controlled!

Deng Chao's voice sounded from the speakers, "As you can see, these children are my hostages. I’d like to play an interesting game with you. All the teachers and students present must participate. If anyone breaks the rules, I will detonate this bomb and send these lovely children to heaven!"

The auditorium broke into a loud clamor. Most of the people present hadn’t even heard of Deng Chao but now they were cursing at him for being cruel and ruthless.

Deng Chao's voice drowned out everyone else’s, "The first rule is that no one of you are allowed to leave school without permission during the game. Song Yang, I'll give you ten minutes now to let your police friends evacuate the people outside the auditorium. I don't want to see any officers or other people on campus in ten minutes. The countdown starts now!"

Xiaotao stared in wide-eyed shock as the image on the curtain turned into a countdown. "I'm going to evacuate the other teachers and students!"

"Go with them,” I said.

"But..." Xiaotao hesitated.

"You have already identified yourself so you can’t stay,” I replied. “We must do as he says."

Xiaotao bit her lower lip and nodded, pointing to her ear and suggesting that I should contact her by radio.

After she left, I told the auditorium manager to take me to the control room which was located on the second floor at the back of the auditorium. I suspected Deng Chao was broadcasting from there. When we arrived, we saw the open control room door and a staff member lying on the console with a dagger in his back.

The manager gave a frightened shriek and faltered, "What the hell is going on? Why is this happening?"

"Can you operate this?" I asked.

The manager nodded so I instructed him to turn on the microphone for me. "Fellow students, please remain calm. I am Song Yang, an applied electronics student from the graduating class of 13’ and I’m also a police consultant. I’ve assisted the bureau in cracking several criminal cases! The person who spoke earlier is a criminal who committed homicide on campus last year. He escaped from prison a few months ago and is looking to retaliate against me and the university."

Upon hearing my words, a cacophony of voices sounded from below. I knew I would receive the bulk of the blame but I had no choice. Keeping everyone in the dark would only make the situation harder to control.

"The police are taking necessary actions now,” I continued. “Please listen to my instructions. Let’s try our best to deal with the criminal. I swear I won’t let him hurt you!"

However, the noise only grew louder and the auditorium manager looked at me blankly, "Is he targeting you? Can’t you negotiate with him?"

I smiled wryly. If Deng Chao told me to kneel and lick his shoes, I would do so as long as he could spare the others.

When I got back to the first floor, the students immediately poured in like a tide. Many of them demanded angrily, "Why did you involve us in your personal feud?"

"What do you think this school is? A place to hold a personal confrontation?"

"Why should we listen to you? Don't we have the right to choose?"

Looking at their angry faces, I was suddenly overcome with a deep sense of fragility and despair. What Deng Chao wanted was exactly this! At the time he was taken away by the police, the entire school watched on with contempt and mockery in their eyes. And now, I was given a taste of being targeted.

Seeing that I had nothing to say, a few boys charged towards me, ready to use their fists. Dali and a few of my close friends immediately stood in front of me, blocking them.

"Can’t you be reasonable?” shouted Dali. “Deng Chao’s the one who did all this. Why blame Song Yang?"

"But he isn’t here!” retorted a red-faced burly boy. “Who’s the cause of all this? He’s the culprit!"

The crowd echoed in succession, pushing forward but Dali and the others retaliated just as hard. Very quickly, the two sides got into a brawl.

I clenched my fist, helpless in stopping the situation from escalating. Then, a voice sounded from behind, "Stop it! Anyone who strikes again can say goodbye to your certificate!"

With that, the boys stopped fighting. At the sight of Dali's scratched and bruised face, I was filled with complex emotions.

The person who spoke out to maintain order was the dean, holding a megaphone in his hand. "Song Yang,” he beckoned. “Can we have a word?"

I headed to the back of the stage where the university leaders were sitting. "We roughly understand the situation. It’s nothing more than a criminal who wants to retaliate against you. It’s really unfair to blame you. But as you can see, our Headmaster Cao is already in his seventies. We don't know what will happen next. How can he stand the mental and physical stress? Can we discuss with the police to let some of the school leaders leave first?"

"Didn't you hear him?” I frowned. “If someone leaves, he’ll kill the hostages."

“I’m only asking you to let a few people go!" he smiled.

"I can't make the decision. I'm really sorry," I apologized.

One of the professors interrupted, "Let me put this bluntly. The hostages held by the criminal are just a bunch of children. We all understand that human life cannot be measured by numbers, but do you think he’ll really let anyone go? It’s impossible to save the children and more innocent lives will be taken. Isn’t this exactly what the criminal wants?"

The dean chimed in, "That’s right. In my opinion, we can't be weak when dealing with criminals. We have to be tough and we can't meet his demands. This will only indulge him! If he dares kill the hostages, there will naturally be legal sanctions."

At this point, I was already choking with rage. I couldn't listen to their hypocritical words any longer. "Alright, that’s enough!” I shouted. “You’ve said a lot but what you really mean is your life is worth more than the lives of others. What if your own children were kidnapped? I beg you, please cooperate with the police for the time being. I will do my best to protect everyone!"

"Protect us?” scoffed a professor. “You make it sound as if that’s possible. Do you take this to be your home so you can do whatever you want here?!" He turned to the dean, “Let’s just leave now!”

The school leaders got up and left. When the students saw this, they too followed them out. I was disheartened by the selfish nature of human beings. A few irrelevant children meant nothing to them.

Just as the crowd was clamoring to leave, a new image was projected onto the curtain–it was entrepreneur Bai Lei.

Deng Chao's voice came from the speakers, "Ladies and gentlemen, I forgot to mention that I have another hostage!"