Yixiong was sitting pensively on a chair in the dining room when he heard the clock on the wall chime. He looked at the object that made the sound. Without blinking, he stared at the antique clock hanging on their dining room wall. The clock showed five in the afternoon.

Three hours from now, we have to hand over the ransom. I don't know if everything will go smoothly.

So far, there had been no news regarding Shanquan's whereabouts. They left the television in the living room on. Everyone was waiting for news updates on television about the incident this afternoon, especially news about the victims.

What should we do now? The kidnappers wanted Dage to carry the items. If other people showed up there, maybe they will not take us seriously. Will that fact have a big effect on their treatment of Xinxiu?

Previously, in his entire life, Yixiong had never experienced such a thrilling event as this time. There were three truly memorable and terrible events in Yixiong's life, but all three of them were not as scary as the Xinxiu kidnapping incident. At least, that's how Yixiong felt. Indeed, that was a very subjective view. Events that have passed would certainly never be the same as events that were currently happening.

Of the three events, Yixiong could rank based on the potential danger he felt. Yixiong called those things the first event, the second event, and the third event. The first event was the least risky, while the third event was the most dangerous.

The first incident occurred when Yixiong was very young. At that time, he got lost in a fairground. Luckily, Shanquan was there to help him, so Yixiong didn't find it so scary. Yixiong didn't know if Shanquan had the same impression of the event as he did. Nevertheless, Yixiong was sure that Shanquan would never forget the incident.

About ten years ago, a second event occurred. At that time, Yixiong was lost in an area where wilderness still covered most of the surface. Whenever Yixiong remembered the incident, he almost always smiled and was amused because it all happened by chance. Yixiong had no plans to go there. He joined the group that went there because he had to replace a friend who at the last moment before departure had to cancel his departure because suddenly one of his family members was hospitalized due to a traffic accident. Yixiong's friend had to be in the hospital taking care of things.

What was even stranger was the fact that Yixiong's friend wasn't the one who was supposed to go to that wilderness, either. He also had to replace others. The person who originally had to go there was a friend of Yixiong's friend. Therefore, because Yixiong didn't know the person very well, he didn't know why he couldn't join the group.

Yixiong was actually very reluctant to go into the forest. He truly felt that such activities were a waste of time and energy. But Yixiong had no choice. He had to do that. Yixiong's friend said that if Yixiong agreed to replace him, then Yixiong's contract would be extended. Yixiong did work at a company where one executive was the friend.

The third event occurred long before the second event. Yixiong was very young then, in his mid-twenties. At that time, Yixiong took his father and mother to visit one of their distant relatives. Arriving there, the relative ordered Yixiong to deliver a wooden box that was tightly locked to a place which was actually not too far from where the relative lived. What made the place not so easy to reach was that it was on a small island in the middle of a fairly large lake. The small town where Yixiong's relatives live was located on the shore of the lake.

Yixiong couldn't understand why he had to deliver the box there. According to Yixiong's reasoning, it would be far more practical if they just sent the object by post. Yixiong's relatives insisted the object should be delivered there by a member of their family. Indeed, Yixiong was not alone in going to the island in the middle of the lake. There were two other people accompanying him. They were the two confidants of the Yixiong relative.

When Yixiong's relatives told Yixiong to do this, Yixiong's parents made no effort to stop him. They even supported it. Such circumstances made Yixiong suspect that, in fact, Yixiong's departure to the island was not just to deliver the wooden box. There was something else he had to do there. It's a shame that Yixiong doesn't know what exactly he should do because soon after that an event happened that made all plans change.

From a small port on the shores of the lake, Yixiong boarded a fairly large ferry. Since the lake was so vast, the trip to the island would take about three or four hours, depending on various factors. About an hour after they left the port, a group of armed men took over the ship. All passengers automatically became hostages.

The gang members turned out to be supporters of one candidate for the local chief on the island where Yixiong was going. It turned out that a few weeks earlier; the island had held a new chief election. When all the votes had been counted, there were parties who claim that fraud had occurred. Because it turned out that the authorities ignored this at all, finally a group of people hijacked the ship to attract wider public attention.

Soon, anti-terrorist troops surrounded the ship. But they did not storm into the ship right away. There were peace talks that lasted about forty-eight hours. When negotiations failed, then the troops charged in to free the hostages. The entire sequence of events was quite tense. However, because the armed gang had behaved politely during the hostage-taking incident, Yixiong and the other passengers were not so frightened.

Because the government immediately closed the entrance to and exit from the island in the middle of the lake, the ship had to return to the port on the shore of the lake. Yixiong failed to deliver the wooden box. His relatives said it was a sign that Yixiong was not the right person to deliver the box. Yixiong didn't ask any further, as he was relieved that he didn't have to. Yixiong then took his parents back to their city. Until this moment, Yixiong didn't know what he had supposed to do on the mysterious island.

The sound of the bedroom door opening broke Yixiong's thoughts. He turned towards the source of the voice straight away.

"Xiongge!" Yiren appeared out of one bedroom. "You better take a shower first!" He immediately sat next to Yixiong.

"Okay! After this, I'm going to take a shower. Now Jingkang is still in the bathroom."

"He didn't bring a change of clothes, did he?" said Yiren.

"I already gave him Xinxiu's clothes. They fit perfectly."

"You're right! I also thought that kid's stature was very similar to Xinxiu."

"Regarding this matter of Xinxiu, what do you think?" Yixiong looked at Yiren.

"I think it's clear now that Xiongge is the one who have to deliver the goods. I guess once we get to this point, it doesn't really matter who will deliver the ransom items there."

"I know. I was just thinking about what to tell them."

"Just tell them the truth."

"Tell them that Dage was one victim in the incident this afternoon?"

"Right. I think that's the best way."

"What if they don't believe it?"

"So far, we've been cooperative with whatever they want. So, we have no reason to lie about this. If they still don't believe it, there's nothing more we can do."

"Hmm..."

"I don't think they will have any other choice, either. In the end, they will accept whoever delivers the ransoms."