Zhengyi and Yixiong stood at the exact spot the kidnappers had determined. Zhengyi repeatedly looked at his watch. By then, it was already ten minutes past the supposed time.

"Do you think they will delay the ransom delivery again?" Zhengyi said in a very low volume, almost whispering.

Yixiong shook his head. "I don't think so. I have a feeling they are serious this time. Now, their delay is probably only because they decided to be more careful. There's no guarantee that we didn't tell the police about this. I think, after making sure that things are really safe, then the criminals will appear to meet us."

"I didn't see the police at all." Zhengyi looked to the right and left. "Where are they?"

"Don't act like that," Yixiong whispered in a worried tone. "If those thugs are watching us, I'm afraid they'll get suspicious."

"Sorry!" Zhengyi patted Yixiong on the back. "Maybe I wasn't careful enough."

"We'll just have to wait. It's also possible that they're testing our patience."

"Are you sure they will release Xinxiu as soon as we hand over these things?"

"Indeed, I'm not one hundred percent sure. But we have to do this. You were the one who said that Xinxiu's voice sounded fine when she called us. So the kidnappers do not intend to harm him."

"Yes, at that time, his voice didn't sound like someone suffering. So maybe it's true that the kidnappers were kind to him. But what if, after that, the kidnappers realized Xinxiu had left the room and even managed to call us? Isn't it possible for the kidnappers to get angry and torture him?"

Yixiong laughed. "Don't overdo it. Except for telling us about the pen matter, Xinxiu didn't provide any other information that would be very useful to the police. Even if the kidnappers knew Xinxiu had called us, they wouldn't be too worried. The worst possible situation would be that they would immediately transfer Xinxiu to another place."

Zhengyi also laughed. "Perhaps you're right. What do you think caused the kidnappers to procrastinate like this?"

"Maybe they need a little more time to determine their next steps."

"What's the next step like?"

"For example, about how they escaped from the police encirclement. I'm sure they must have considered the possibility that the police have surrounded this place."

"Have the police thought so, too?" asked Zhengyi.

Yixiong looked up at the sky. He then turned to Zhengyi. "I don't know. But the police aren't stupid. If I can think like this, the police probably think so, too."

The situation then became silent. Zhengyi and Yixiong were busy with their own thoughts. For a few minutes, the two of them just stood there silently. Finally, at twenty past three, Zhengyi broke the silence.

"Let's take another look at the contents of the letter the kidnappers sent us. Maybe there are certain words that we didn't pay attention to before."

Yixiong took a deep breath. "Okay. Now let's try to double-check what the kidnapper wrote in the letter. Maybe there are things we missed."

Yixiong reached into his pocket. He took out two pieces of paper, copies of the original letter.

"Here, I brought a flashlight from home." Zhengyi held out the flashlight to Yixiong, who took it right away. Yixiong moved to a long bench near where they were standing. Arriving there, Yixiong instantly sat down and began to read the two sheets of paper.

"I found nothing that might be a secret clue from the kidnappers. How about you try to analyze these letters too?" He looked at Zhengyi after he finished rereading the two sheets of paper.

Zhengyi approached the bench. He sat down and took the two pieces of paper from Yixiong's hands. Zhengyi started to read the two letters. For about ten minutes, he read the writing on the two sheets of paper over and over again.

"I didn't find anything either." Finally, Zhengyi ended his efforts. He looked up at the sky above him. He didn't know what to do.

Yixiong sighed. "Now, let's just wait for them. There's always the possibility that they're testing us."

Half-past four and five minutes, they saw a man walking unsteadily. The person was holding a bottle of liquor in his right hand. Zhengyi could smell the strong wine smell.

The man sat on the long bench straight away. He sat right next to Zhengyi. Unexpectedly, he began to sing in a discordant voice.

Zhengyi watched the person. It looked like he was really drunk. After he finished singing, he uttered incoherent words. Zhengyi had a hard time understanding. After listening for a minute or two, he realized the person was reciting ancient poems.

The man put the bottle he was holding on the bench's surface. After staring at the bottle for a few seconds, he moved it to the ground. The person then tried to lie down on the bench. Luckily, the bench was very long, so there was still enough space for the person to lie down.

Yixiong poked Zhengyi. Just like Zhengyi, he also seemed suspicious of the man who had just arrived. But, so far, the drunk-looking person had done nothing to solidify their suspicions.

The person suddenly shouted loudly. Zhengyi almost fell over in shock when he heard the voice. The loud voice sounded much more audible in the silence of the night like that. After shouting loudly, the person got up and tried to sit up. He then bowed. His hands dangled straight to touch his shoes.

"Before going to bed, shoes must be removed!" The person spoke to himself in a loud voice.

Zhengyi saw the person take off his two shoes. After that, the drunken man threw one by one the two shoes into the bushes behind them.

"Shoes should be kept in the closet!" The man was still screaming. His voice was hoarse. After that, he lay back down on the extended bench.

At a quarter to four, Zhengyi heard the sound of a motorbike approaching them. It wasn't that loud, but because it was so quiet, it sounded deafening. Less than two minutes later, a motorbike stopped right in front of their sitting bench.

"Don't sleep here, Uncle." The motorcyclist screamed. He didn't take off the helmet he was wearing. His voice was heavy.

"Sorry, Sir, my uncle is really a bother." The driver nodded toward Yixiong and Zhengyi.

Yixiong smirked. "That's fine. We weren't bothered at all."

"Can you help me lift my uncle on my bike?"

Yixiong and Zhengyi stood up. The three of them picked up the drunken man. Yixiong and Zhengyi tried to seat the person on the motorbike. The motorcyclist held out a rope made of plastic to Yixiong and Zhengyi. The two men tied the drunk man to the motorbike he was riding. After that, they also tied the person to the driver's body, who was already sitting on the motorbike.

"Thank you, Sir!" The biker's deep voice sounded a little hoarse.

"You're welcome," Yixiong said.

The motorcyclist then started his motorbike. Zhengyi still stood staring at the motorbike until it was out of sight.

"Don't you think that person is strange?"

Yixiong, who had already sat back on the bench, snorted after hearing Zhengyi's question.

"Which one?"

"The biker."

"Of course, he's a freak. He didn't take his helmet off at all."

"Not only that," Zhengyi said, "his shoes are different."

Yixiong stood up promptly. He approached Zhengyi. "What do you mean by saying his shoes are different?"

"Didn't you notice? The shoes he was wearing were not the same. They did look a bit similar, but they weren't the same. The right one was bigger than the left one. The style was different too."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I thought you realized. It's possible that he was in a hurry when he set out to find his uncle, so he put the wrong shoes on. But maybe he was eccentric."

The two of them then sat back down on the bench. Like before, the two of them spent their time silent. Zhengyi refrained from saying something. He didn't want to say the wrong thing to arouse Yixiong's emotions.

Yixiong then took out the paper he had pocketed earlier. He started reading the letters again.

"Why didn't I think of this before?" Yixiong shouted loudly.

"What is it?"

"Here. Please read it." Yixiong pointed to a paragraph on the first sheet of paper.

In that paragraph, the kidnappers said they bought Xinxiu a pair of shoes. Xinxiu's shoes that he was wearing earlier fell apart during the kidnapping.

"It seems that the kidnappers want to direct us to things related to shoes," Zhengyi said.

Yixiong stood up in a flash. "The drunk man threw his shoes in the bush behind us!"

"Let us find the things!" Zhengyi jumped into the bushes at once.

The two of them then examined the bushes that were growing thickly.

"I found the right shoe!" Yixiong's scream was loud.

"You just look at that one first. I'm still looking for the other one."

A few minutes later, Zhengyi managed to find the left shoe. Speedily, he returned to the bench to examine the shoes.

"I found nothing inside this right shoe," Yixiong said. "Let's see the shoe you found."

Zhengyi put his hand into the shoe. He felt something on the toe of the shoe. Instantly, he pulled it out. It turned out to be a wad of paper. Besides that, he still felt something else on the toe of the shoe. Quickly, Zhengyi took out the thing.

"It's a letter," Zhengyi said. He gave the letter to Yixiong. "And here is a key."

"Where is the flashlight?" Yixiong's voice sounded impatient.

Zhengyi looked around for a while. It turned out that the flashlight was lying under the bench. Maybe the drunk guy had kicked the thing. "Here's the flashlight."

When he started reading the letter, Yixiong's face changed slightly.

"What's in it?"

"They want us to go to the Red Soil River. There, we have to give these ransom."

"Is there enough time? It's a bit far, isn't it?"

"They don't say what time we should be there. They just write that these things we carry must be in their hands before dawn."

"Let's not waste time. We have to get back to the car right now." This time, Zhengyi was a little panicked. He felt his heart beat faster.

The two of them ran towards the place where their driver had parked the car. The car park was about four hundred meters from where they had been standing, so it only took them about seven minutes to get there. When they got there, they found the car was running. The car was ready to go.

"How did you know we'd be here soon?" Yixiong asked that as soon as they jumped into the car.

The driver smiled. "Earlier, Mr. Mingzhu said that most likely, the kidnappers would tell you to go elsewhere. So Mr. Mingzhu told me not to turn off the car engine so that we can leave instantly when you come back here."

"So you haven't turned off the car since then?" Zhengyi, who was sitting next to the driver, could hardly believe the driver's words. Before getting into the car, he had held the car's hood. From the temperature on the surface of the hood, it was impossible that the car's engine had been running ever since.

"Mr. Mingzhu did say something like that. But I actually turned off the car's engine earlier because it turned out that you didn't come back here right away. Just five minutes ago, I started the engine again."

"Alright! Now let's go to the Red Soil River." Yixiong read the writing on the paper he was holding.

"The Red Soil River is quite long, Sir! Where are we headed?" The driver of the car seemed to clearly understand the ins and outs of the place they were going.

"It says here that we must go to the middle of the river." Yixiong brought the paper to his face so he could read more clearly.

"Ah! I know, Sir. That place is the widest part." Their driver said this in a very confident tone.

When he first set foot in this city, Zhengyi had visited the place. Although the name of the site is Red Soil River, it was not a river at all. It was a lake whose length-to-width ratio was enormous. The length of the lake was three kilometers, while the width was between fifty and one hundred and fifty meters. The bottom of the lake was overgrown with certain red plants so that from the surface, people could see the bottom of the river was red. Because of its red color and shape like a river, people call the lake the Red Soil River.

The journey to the place was quite time-consuming. It was already half-past five in the morning when the car arrived at the part of the lake the kidnappers were referring to. Yixiong and Zhengyi jumped out of the car quickly.

"You have to be alert. Don't turn off the car engine. There's a chance the kidnappers will tell us to go elsewhere!" Yixiong said in a firm voice.

"Yes, Sir!" The driver nodded.

Yixiong and Zhengyi immediately approached the shore of the lake. The place was right in the middle of the lake. A stone monument was erected there as a sign that this place was indeed in the middle of a long lake. The same stone monument was also on the other side. The distance from the point where they stood was one and a half kilometers from the end of the lake on the right and one and a half kilometers from the end of the lake on the left. Zhengyi looked across the lake. The opposite side of the lake was a hundred and fifty meters from the side they were currently on.

"Now, what?" Zhengyi looked at Yixiong.

"There must be another clue they're hiding around here."

The two of them started searching for places that might be where the kidnappers had hidden messages for them. The sun had not yet risen, so even though they used flashlights, they still had trouble seeing clearly.

Zhengyi stopped looking. He looked around the place. "It's a vast place. It's going to take some time to check everything. What if we can't find any further clues by sunrise?"

"Don't stop looking. Every second counts."

"How about we ask the driver to help us?"

"No. He has to stay in the car. After all, the kidnappers only allowed two people to deliver the ransom items."

"What if we find ourselves looking on the wrong side?" It occurred to Zhengyi that perhaps they should have looked on the other side. If it turned out that they were wrong, they would have to go around three kilometers to get to the other side.

Hearing Zhengyi's words, this time, Yixiong stopped his search. He walked over to Zhengyi.

"This is the letter you found in the shoe. Take a look. Maybe there are things I missed." Yixiong handed the paper to Zhengyi.

After receiving the paper, Zhengyi approached a bench by the lake. He sat down and began to read. Zhengyi repeatedly read the few paragraphs written on the paper. But like Yixiong, he found no additional clues.

By then, Yixiong was already sitting next to Zhengyi. The two of them then looked at the opposite side of the lake.

"Indeed, the kidnappers specified which side they were referring to. So we weren't wrong. But still, this place is too big. We need more people," Zhengyi said.

"Maybe that's why the kidnappers told us to come together. Just imagine if I had to come alone."

"Let's think about it again. Did the other two people we met give any other clues apart from the shoe issue?" Zhengyi tried to remember the drunkard and the motorcyclist who picked him up. But he still couldn't deduce anything from the memory fragments in his mind.

"The motorcyclist didn't take off his helmet at all. Could that be a clue?" Yixiong's question was more like a rhetorical question.

"Maybe that means something. But maybe it's because he's just in a hurry. If they stay there too long, they'll be afraid the police will surround them."

"So you think they already know that we didn't comply with their wish to deceive the police?"

Zhengyi took a deep breath. "They're not stupid. I think they've figured this all out. So they should be wary."

"There's no way the kidnappers didn't leave a clue. We just haven't noticed yet."

"What makes us think this place is the middle of this lake?"

"Of course, because there is a monument as a marker," answered Yixiong.

At the same time, they both looked at each other. Then quickly stood up and ran towards the monument that became the marker. There, they paid close attention to the monument. Zhengyi tried to find gaps where the kidnappers might have inserted the paper containing their next clue.

While they were busy looking for clues around the monument, Zhengyi saw their driver running over.

"What's wrong? Shouldn't you be on guard in the car?" Yixiong looked at their driver with a surprised look.

"Sorry, Sir! I have something important to tell you."

"Blurt it," Yixiong said.

"Earlier, while I was waiting in the car. An old man was doing his morning exercise, stopped and greeted me. He asked why I stopped there. I replied I was taking friends from out of town who wanted to see the midpoint of this lake. ."

The driver paused for a moment. It seemed that he was trying hard to organize the words he had to say.

"Then the old man said that sometimes some people come here because they want to see where the murder took place."

The words their driver had just said were not something to be taken lightly.

"What murder?" Zhengyi was surprised. He took a step back.

"That old man said there had been a murder of a family on a picnic at the midpoint of the site, which is the midpoint of this long lake."

"So this place is really famous, huh? I didn't know something like that had happened here. Zhengyi, didn't you tell me you were here a few years ago? Don't you know about the murder incident?" Yixiong looked at Zhengyi with a sharp gaze.

"I don't know. At that time, a friend brought me here. He just said that this place is unique. That's all."

Their car driver then added. "That's right, Sir! The old man said that the murder took place about fifty years ago. So, the younger generation like us may not know about it."

"I see," Yixiong said. "Then what made you rush over here to tell us? Can't you tell me about this later?"

"You see, Sir! The old man said that the location of the murder was not here?"

"Not here? You said this place was right in the middle of the long lake that runs from east to west?"

"That's right, Sir! But the shape and area of this lake are not exactly the same as that of the lake fifty years ago. So the old man said that the lake, which is now three kilometers long, was even longer. He said the original length was about three thousand and six. Therefore, the location of the murder is right at the midpoint, so it is about one thousand eight hundred meters from both ends of the lake. Because there is a part of the lake that had dried up, so now the length of the lake is only three thousand meters."

"But this monument?" Zhengyi pointed at the monument in front of him.

"It was only founded about fifteen years ago. After the long shrinking of this lake."

"Ah! So it's true that we were in the wrong place." Yixiong spoke those words out loud. Zhengyi felt Yixiong couldn't help but be disappointed.

"That's right, Sir," said the driver, "the actual place is about three hundred meters east of this place."

"Let's hurry over there. We've already lost a lot of time. I'm afraid we're too late," Yixiong said.

Zhengyi nodded. If it is too late, the kidnappers will most likely reschedule the delivery of the ransom items. This annoyed him even more. The three of them ran to the car and headed promptly to where they were supposed to be.

It didn't take long to reach a place only three hundred meters from the last place. As they had heard from the driver earlier, this place was indeed the scene of a murder fifty years ago. The width of this lake here was roughly the same as the previous width. A small monument, much smaller than the previous one, stood on the shore of the lake. Near the monument, there was a board similar to a notice board. There were a lot of papers stuck there.

"This is like a wall magazine in my schools," said Yixiong.

Zhengyi looked at the bulletin board. His eyes fell on an envelope stuck to the far right of the board.

"Look at that envelope." Zhengyi poked Yixiong to look at the dark-colored envelope.

"To Duanshan!" Yixiong read the writing written on the envelope.

Zhengyi looked up. Dawn had already broken. As he had predicted, they had little time left.

"Duanshan? Duanmu Shanquan?" Zhengyi exclaimed.

"Try to take the envelope. I could't reach." Yixiong ordered Zhengyi.

Zhengyi nodded. He knew that with a height well below 170 centimeters, Yixiong would definitely have a hard time reaching for the envelope stuck to the top right corner of the noticeboard.

Straightway, Zhengyi reached out his hand to take the envelope. Even though his height was 173 centimeters, he still had to stand on tiptoe so that his hands could touch the envelope.

As soon as he got the envelope, Zhengyi handed it to Yixiong, who opened it impatiently. Yixiong's brow furrowed as he read the instructions written on it.

"Now, what should we do?" asked Zhengyi.

"Follow me," Yixiong said. He ran to the shore of the lake. There was a canoe. The canoe was about one meter wide, while the length was about three meters. They could only see the two ends of the canoe because there was a blue cloth covering the middle of the canoe. Yixiong took the fabric covering the canoe. Now they could clearly see the things that were on the canoe.

"Should we take this canoe?" Zhengyi stared at the objects in the canoe.

Two pairs of linked oars on either side of the canoe. In addition, on top of the canoe was an iron anchor that looked very heavy and two orange life jackets.

Yixiong looked at Zhengyi. "You can swim, can't you?"

"I can't swim," Zhengyi replied.

"Neither do I. But there are two life jackets. At least we won't drown. It's not a flowing river, so we won't be carried away anywhere else."

"Okay! But wouldn't it be better if we called the driver over here? So, if something happens later, he can help right away. The important thing is that it's just the two of us getting on the canoe. So we don't break the rules the kidnappers set. "

After Yixiong nodded, Zhengyi raised his hand. He waved at their driver, who was ready to sit in the driver's seat. The driver seemed to have been looking at them. He instantly got out of the car and ran towards them.

"What's the matter, Sir?" The driver asked breathlessly.

"You can swim, can't you?" asked Zhengyi.

"Yes, Sir! I can."

"Good! Now we're going up to this canoe. So we want you to stay on guard here. I don't think anything terrible will happen to us. But if something goes wrong, I hope you can help us," Yixiong said.

"Yes, Sir!"

Zhengyi and Yixiong quickly put on the life jackets. After untying the rope that tied the canoe to the pole on the lake's shore, the two put the bags they had brought into the canoe. Finally, they both got into the canoe. The canoe could accommodate five people. Zhengyi and Yixiong sat in the first and last seats, respectively. They put the big bag they were carrying in the middle of the canoe.

"Now help us push this canoe," said Yixiong.

The driver pushed the canoe towards the middle of the lake. Yixiong and Zhengyi then started rowing. They were not used to rowing, so the canoe was tough to move forward. But in the end, they were able to do that. Slowly, they finally arrived in the middle of the lake.

Yixiong threw the anchor into the lake. The lake was not deep, maybe only a few meters. However, Zhengyi's mind was still worried. He was afraid that the canoe would lose its balance when the anchor was thrown into the lake. As he said, Zhengyi can't swim. The lake water this morning was freezing. In a tired and sleepy state like that, soaking in cold water was not a pleasant event.

Fortunately, Zhengyi's worries turned out to be unfounded. The canoe remained stable.

"What now?"

"I don't know," Yixiong said. The instructions only end here.

"Let's look in here. Maybe there are other things."

Zhengyi searched his surroundings. There isn't much hidden in there. He reached under the board where he was sitting. His hand felt there was a box there. He pulled out the box and placed it on his lap.

"Try to open the box," said Yixiong.

"This box is locked. Maybe the key which they gave was to open this box."

Yixiong reached into his pocket. He took out the key that Zhengyi had found along with the letter in the bag of a drunk person. After that, he held out the key to Zhengyi. The distance between them was more than a meter and a half. Zhengyi had to go to great lengths to retrieve the key. He did not dare to move too freely for fear of the boat being unbalanced so they could overturn on the lake.

After the key was in his hand, Zhengyi opened the box. It contained a letter. He took out a note from the box and showed it to Yixiong.

"You read the letter." Yixiong's face looked tired as he said that.

Without further ado, Zhengyi read the note. "The kidnapper asked us to fire a gun three times into the air!"

"What gun?" Yixiong's face changed at Zhengyi's words.

"This gun!" Zhengyi took out a flare gun from the box.

"After firing the gun, then what should we do?" Yixiong frowned.

"There will be a raft approaching us, and then we move this bag onto the raft."

"What else are there in the box?"

"There are two pairs of handcuffs. But no key."

"What are the handcuffs for?"

"To tie us to this oar hook."

"When should we handcuff ourselves?"

"Afte we put this big bag on the raft."

"Do you think it's harmless? What if the canoe loses balance and then capsizes? We could sink."

"We're wearing life jackets."

"But if we are handcuffed to this canoe, then we will not be able to go anywhere. If this canoe sinks, then we will drown, too."

"I don't think we have any other choice."

Yixiong sighed. "You're right. We've come this far. Like it or not, we have to continue."

"Now I give you a pair of handcuffs." Zhengyi took the things from the box and held it to Yixiong.

"When we get home, our hands and feet will definitely feel sore," said Yixiong. Once the handcuffs were in his grasp, he quickly attached one side of the handcuffs to the oar hook on the canoe.

Zhengyi also did the same. After that, Zhengyi took out three bullets from the box. He loaded one bullet into the flare gun.

"Are you ready? I'll start firing this flare gun." Zhengyi was ready. He was gripping the orange gun.

"Wait! Have you ever fired a flare gun?"

Zhengyi shook his head. "Of course not. But I know how to use it. I've read about how it works. Besides, I've seen people shoot it."

"You mean seeing on television?"

"Yes. I've only seen it on television. But I've seen it many times. So you could say I've studied it."

"Reading and seeing how to do something is definitely not the same as learning it."

"Reading and seeing is the definition of learning."

"You're right if you mean about the theory. But for a skill, it takes a lot of practice."

"Okay! I'll tell you a secret."

"What secret?"

"Decades ago, I learned to shoot. I've practiced shooting with both a long-barreled rifle and a short-barreled firearm."

"But it's a real gun. It's a flare gun."

"Shooting with a real gun is harder than shooting with a flare gun."

"Okay. But that's all a long time ago. Do you really remember?"

"Of course, I remember. Those things aren't easy to forget. So what? Would you rather I give this gun to you so you can do it?"

Yixiong thought for a while. But then he shook his head. "You do that."

"Okay! I'll count to three!"

"Wait a minute! Did the kidnappers also say when they will release Xinxiu?"

"They wrote that if all goes well, then after they confirm we deliver the genuine items, they will release Xinxiu without additional delay."

"Then it will take time. It might be a few hours before they will free Xinxiu."

"That's if they manage to get away with this stuff and then get out of here." Zhengyi didn't want to think negatively, but it still crossed his mind.

"I hope that whatever tricks they have prepared won't end in disappointment."

"We all hope that all this trouble is quickly resolved. Now I'm starting to count!"

"Eh! Wait a minute! I'll cover my ears."

"Ah! I almost forget. There are other things in this box." Zhengyi took out two pairs of earplugs from the box. He held out a couple of earplugs towards Yixiong.

"Why didn't you give it earlier?" Yixiong glared at Zhengyi. With difficulty, he reached out his hand to grab the earplug. After getting it, Yixiong put the pair of earplugs into both ears.

Zhengyi just laughed. He pointed the gun straight at the sky. He looked down and closed his eyes.

"One, two, three!"

Bang!

Even though he was wearing earplugs, he could still hear the popping sound coming from the gun. The sound wasn't loud. It's like the sound of a muffled gun. It was just that the sound of this flare gun was much weaker.

Zhengyi opened his eyes. He looked around. So obvious, Yixiong's face looked a little pale. Either because he was tired and sleepy or for other reasons. What surprised him was that people suddenly appeared on the shore of the lake on the other side. Zhengyi turned his head towards the shore of the lake where he had been standing. There were a lot of people there too. Most likely, they were policemen who had previously gone into hiding.

Zhengyi signaled to Yixiong. A sign that he will fire a second bullet. This time, even though Zhengyi lowered his head as he fired the gun, he did not close his eyes.

"One, two, three!"

Bang!

Zhengyi found firing a flare gun like that was quite a pleasure. Opportunities like that were scarce.

Yixiong looked calmer than he was after the first shot. He even looked like he was smiling. Zhengyi gestured again. This time, he was ready to fire the last bullet.

"One, two, three!"

Bang!

Zhengyi did not close his eyes like before. He didn't look down either. He shot while looking up at the sky.

Zhengyi removed the earplugs from his ears. Yixiong imitated what Zhengyi did. After that, they were both silents while waiting for what would happen next.

There were more and more police on both sides of the lake. But so far, they just stood there. Did nothing at all.

"Is this really the police plan?" Zhengyi looked at the people by the lake.

Yixiong sighed. "Of course not. At least, at the police station, they didn't even say they were going to act like this."

"The police have appeared like this. Do you think the criminals still dare to appear?" Zhengyi shouted while half groaning.

"If those thugs had been around here since a long time ago, I don't think there's any reason for them not to show up," Yixiong said.

"Seeing this kind of behavior, I suspect that all the roads nearby are already blocked." Zhengyi was really worried. "Do you think the kidnappers may decide not to show up and delay again like before?"

"I don't think they'll delay anymore. As we calculated, they must have devised a trick to escape. So I'm sure they will show up."

Suddenly, from the east, there was an object that moved quickly towards the canoe they were riding.

"What is that?" Yixiong's eyes widened.

"I think that's the raft they mentioned."

"There's no one on it."

"Maybe the raft was driven by remote control."

"It doesn't look like a raft."

Indeed, the raft was more like a box without a lid. Not too similar, actually, because the shape of the base of the raft was not a square or rectangle at all, but a regular hexagon.

While continuing to stare at the object, Zhengyi said, "perhaps modern rafts are indeed shaped like this. We have never researched about the various forms of rafts."

Once the raft was close enough, Zhengyi could hear a slow buzzing sound. The sound of the raft engine was very smooth. In an instant, the raft had stopped in front of them. Yixiong and Zhengyi lifted the bags they were carrying and transferred them to the raft. When it was done, the raft moved away a little from the canoe. Unlike before, the raft didn't make any sound at all. The raft then stopped at a distance of about three meters from the canoe.

"I think we should take the next step," Yixiong said.

The two of them then handcuffed their hands. In this state of being tied to a canoe like that, they had absolutely nowhere to go.

Zhengyi's eyes turned back to the strange raft. Then some layers came out of the six sides of the raft. The layer extended horizontally so that it completely covered the raft. Now, the raft looked exactly like a box whose base was a regular hexagon.

"What technology is this?" Yixiong shouted. His eyes did not blink at the raft.

"I think this is one of the secret technologies that came from the ancient ship that brought our ancestors to this new world," Zhengyi said. "To get something like this is definitely not easy. No wonder they delayed handing over this ransom item a few times."

"If they used this secret technology that must cost a lot of money like this, then the value of the ransom items we just gave you must be extraordinary."

Suddenly, there was a flash of light in the sky. Zhengyi also heard a slow popping sound. The flash of light came from somewhere on the other side. Although it was impossible to say for sure where the source of the flash of light was, Zhengyi estimated it was at least six hundred meters from their canoe.

"What is it?" Yixiong asked. He didn't see the flash because it was behind him.

Across this lake. Behind you. I think someone launched a rocket firecracker in there!"

Yixiong looked confused. "What rocket firecrackers? Early in the morning like this? What are they celebrating?" He then looked back to see more clearly.

The flash of light occurred once again.

"You're right! It's a rocket firecracker. What weirdo starts his day playing with firecrackers?" Yixiong shouted while laughing.

They then heard a very low buzzing sound. Zhengyi turned his head towards the raft, which was still about three meters away from them. From the sound of it, the raft looked like it was about to leave the place. And it turned out to be true. Slowly, the raft moved. The policemen on both sides then began to move, following the raft. But so far, they were only moving on the side of the lake. No one dared to enter the lake.

"We'll see how the kidnappers can get the things we gave us. This place is heavily guarded. I'm pretty sure the police are currently guarding both ends of the lake," Yixiong said.

"Wouldn't you prefer if the thugs got their hands on the stuff?" asked Zhengyi. "So after that, they will release Xinxiu."

"You're right. It's precisely that now I want to see what methods the kidnappers will use?"

Zhengyi's eyes returned to the raft. Right now, the raft was about a hundred meters away from them. Suddenly, the raft stopped. Then the raft began to climb upwards.

"That raft can fly!" Yixiong shouted.

The raft was now hovering about a meter above the surface of the lake water. For a few seconds, it stood there. Zhengyi turned his head to the two shores of the lake. The police looked panicked. Zhengyi realized they didn't know what to do either.

Zhengyi felt that the appearance of the police officers was also a fatal mistake. They shouldn't have appeared like that. Some transmitters they put in the bag could already represent the police. They just have to follow the signal emitted by the tool.

Even if it turned out that the tool did not work, all they had to do was to wait until someone came to pick up the goods on the raft. After that, then the police could follow the person secretly. Zhengyi sighed many times. What's done was done. Zhengyi could only hope that this would not put Xinxiu's safety at risk.

About fifteen seconds later, the raft was soaring higher and higher.

"What an advanced technology! The raft can fly so high," said Yixiong.

"Isn't that a drone? So it's nothing new at all," Zhengyi said.

Yixiong laughed. "But so far, I've never seen a drone that, after walking on water, then flies. After all, the drone was able to cover the top like that. It looks like the material for making drones is not something we've seen so often."

"Yes, it means that this is a super-advanced drone," Zhengyi said.

It was flying very high. At least the drone was already about a hundred meters above the ground. The drone stopped again.

"After walking a few dozen meters, it looks like it should stop for a while," Yixiong said. "Perhaps this is the thing's weakness."

After about fifteen seconds, it shot off towards the east. The thing flew quickly away from them.

Zhengyi and Yixiong stared at the object until it disappeared from their sight.

Yixiong took a deep breath. Then exhale slowly. "I hope the kidnappers keep their promise to release Xinxiu as soon as possible."