"Yige!"

Xinxiu's voice snapped Zhengyi out of his thoughts.

"What is it?"

"We have to do this now, right?" Xinxiu glared at Zhengyi.

"Of course." Zhengyi smiled. "We don't have much time."

After that, exactly as planned, they prepared some of the things they would take to the station this afternoon. Zhengyi and Xinxiu put those items into their backpacks which were quite large. After packing their things, they went to the subway station straight away.

Right after they arrived at the highway, which was passed by many public transportation routes, Jenqyih suddenly stopped at a bus stop there. Then he sat looking to his right as if he was waiting for a bus to arrive.

"What are you doing?" Xinxiu raised his eyebrows. "Aren't we going to walk to the subway station?"

Zhengyi instantly pulled Xinxiu to sit beside him. "Just do as I did. Now we're sitting here waiting for the bus."

Although looking confused, Xinxiu obeyed Zhengyi's words.

"And don't act like a confused person," Zhengyi added after seeing the look on Xinxiu's face.

Soon a bus arrived. Zhengyi immediately got up and prepared to get on the bus. Xinxiu followed behind him.

The bus wasn't full at all. The existing seats were only about a quarter filled. Apart from Zhengyi and Xinxiu, five other people also got on from the stop. Zhengyi quickly moved to the back of the bus. He sat in the back seat. Xinxiu at once sat down to his right.

After the bus left, Zhengyi was still silent. The bus then arrived at the next stop, only about three hundred meters from the stop where they had boarded. Zhengyi had no intention of getting off the bus at the stop. Several passengers got off, but none got on. For about a minute, the bus stopped there. Zhengyi remained silent. When the bus then started again, Zhengyi still said nothing. He could only hope that Xinxiu could patiently wait for an explanation from him.

Xinxiu turned to Zhengyi. His brow furrowed.

"Keep looking ahead. Don't let people know we're talking," said Zhengyi. "You see those two people sitting on the right. Three rows ahead of us."

Just as Xinxiu was about to look over at it, Zhengyi said again, "Don't be too flashy. Don't let people around us notice that we're watching them."

Xinxiu seemed to understand what Zhengyi meant. He did not continue to turn his face towards those people. Instead, he looked down at his own lap.

Zhengyi continued his speech. "They've been following us since we left the house."

Xinxiu looked up. He looked straight ahead. Not looking at Zhengyi at all. Even though he only saw Xinxiu's face from the left, Zhengyi could see that his best friend's face had changed drastically. Now Xinxiu looked much paler. Zhengyi felt sorry for his friend. But, at that time, he could not calm his best friend. There were far more important things he had to do.

"Keep looking ahead. Don't look at me," Zhengyi begged when there was a hint that Xinxiu would turn his face towards him.

Xinxiu's body seemed to be glued to the chair. It was a bit ridiculous sitting position. So awkward. But Zhengyi refrained from laughing. It could make Xinxiu suffer even more.

"And people are sitting right in the chairs that are behind them," Zhengyi continued. "He is the one who followed the two of them!"

"How did you know?" Xinxiu continued to stare ahead.

"I have my own way," said Zhengyi shortly.

Indeed, Zhengyi has little knowledge about this. Back then, many years ago, when he had just graduated from University. There was a strange company trying to recruit him. On a whim, Zhengyi took the tests held at the company. The tests he took were quite bizarre. But even more strangely, even though Zhengyi felt like he failed every time he took part in the test, it turned out that he always passed to the next round. Until finally, he was accepted to work at the company. After only two months of working, Zhengyi was transferred to another place. There, Zhengyi was told that the company where Zhengyi worked was actually just a front company of a secret agency tasked with collecting intelligence data. They informed Zhengyi had to undergo some necessary training.

At that point, Zhengyi immediately refused to be assigned to the agency. With a firm determination, he decided to resign. One of them, who previously introduced himself as the manager, tried to convince Zhengyi not to do that. He persuaded Zhengyi to try to be there for at least half a year first. Since his attempts to resign proved futile, Zhengyi finally agreed to attend a short six-month training course. Since the position offered to Zhengyi was administrative, the training did not include training to improve physical endurance, so six months was sufficient for basic training. He would have to attend other training if he decided to continue to work in that company after six months.

Not even four months after Zhengyi's training, his father suddenly fell ill. Because his father's illness was quite severe, Zhengyi asked for permission to go home to visit his father. His request was granted. After a week at home, it turned out that Zhengyi didn't want to come back. In fact, for more than two weeks, he did not provide any report to the institution where he worked, as he had promised. This made several agents from the agency came to the house to pick up Zhengyi forcibly.

At the moment, Zhengyi was deliberately determined to do that so that he would be fired. But it turns out he only got a warning. They ordered Zhengyi to resume his training immediately.

Three weeks later, there was a big event on the training grounds. Zhengyi became a hero because somehow, he managed to do something that saved many people there. When the company was about to give him the award, Zhengyi only asked for one thing, namely, to be allowed to leave the institution. Because Zhengyi had insisted, they finally granted Zhengyi's request. On the condition that Zhengyi would never tell anyone about his involvement with the institution. The significant events that happened there should not be told to anyone at all. Therefore, until this moment, Zhengyi had never opened his mouth about this period of his life to other people. When someone asked, he just said that during that time, he worked in another branch of the first company where he worked. He immediately resigned a few months later because he felt he was not suited to work there. So far, everyone believed the story.

"So Yige guessed all these things from a long time ago?" Xinxiu's question made Zhengyi wake up from his past memories.

"Not really. What I still don't know is whether that person is in the same group as the two he trailed."

"If they are members of the same group, why does that person have to follow his two friends?"

"Maybe they are from the same group, but the two people don't know that they are being watched. This is a natural thing. In the past, when we were still working at the company in our hometown, wasn't there also a team in charge of supervising us? Sometimes we don't even know who was assigned to watch over us," said Zhengyi.

Xinxiu nodded. "But not necessarily they are from the same group."

"You're right. They don't necessarily belong to the same group. They could even be enemies."

"Then what should we do now?" Xinxiu's voice trembled slightly.

"First, we have to confirm that they are indeed following us."

"How to be sure?"

"Soon we will change buses. If they are still following, then we are indeed their target."

The bus then stopped at a stop. This time five passengers got on, but no one got off.

"We'll get off at the next stop," Zhengyi whispered.

Unlike the previous stops, which were close to each other, this time the bus stop was a bit far away. Six minutes later, the bus stopped at the next stop. The two of them stood up and prepared to get off. Several passengers also got off with them. Among the passengers who got off, it turned out that there were people following them. The two of them then sat on the bench at the stop to wait for another bus line that passed the stop. Only one of the two people following them got off at the stop. The other one remained on the bus. Meanwhile, the mysterious person who followed the two people also got off at the stop.

Just waited less than three minutes, there was a bus coming. This bus served a different route from the bus they previously rode. The route was a bit far. The size of the bus was also slightly bigger. Just like before, Zhengyi chose to sit in the back seat.

"We know that someone is following us. I think they have some experience with this. So, are they not aware that someone is following them?" Xinxiu whispered. Zhengyi could barely hear it.

Zhengyi sighed at Xinxiu's question. "The person following them is more experienced than the two of them." He was silent for a moment, then continued his speech. "Earlier, when he was sitting on the bus, he changed his appearance. Because he was sitting behind the two people he followed, they could not monitor his actions. He is now wearing glasses, changing his hat, turning over the jacket he is wearing. The jacket he is wearing is a reversible jacket. He even changed his bag. He was carrying two bags. The bag he was carrying now, was inside the bag he was carrying before. About the bag he was carrying before. He folded it up and put it in the bag he is carrying now."

Xinxiu did not comment on Zhengyi's analysis.

"Where are we going to get off?" asked Xinxiu about five minutes later.

"We need to lure them to stay as far away from our friends as possible. So I'm planning to get off at the last stop on this line. I hope this isn't a problem for you."

"Okay then. I'll follow all your plans."

Then the two of them sat in silence for the rest of the journey. Zhengyi tried to reanalyze the things he observed.

Is this problem as simple as I thought? What if it has nothing to do with Songfei at all? What if the target of these people is one of us? Or what if I was their actual target?