The man stretched out his hand. Yixiong gasped. He tightly gripped Songfei's bag he was carrying.

"Where's the stuff?" The words slid out of the person's lips at high speed. But the volume was so low, it was almost a whisper. If Yixiong hadn't been standing right in front of that person, he probably wouldn't have heard him.

"Where's the person?" Yixiong asked back.

I can't just give these things away. I should be able to force him to provide some information.

"The people are safe. After we make sure you provide the right items, we will immediately deliver the person."

So far, they have kept their word. But I have to make sure that Xinxiu is okay.

"You can't do that," Yixiong said. "I have to see him first!"

The man looked surprised. His brow furrowed. Yixiong didn't know the man was surprised because he insisted he wouldn't give the bag until the hostage was released or because the man realized he wasn't talking to Shanquan.

Panic began to hit Yixiong again. He glanced around him. He hoped the police would show up soon to arrest the man. Or at least, show their presence so that Yixiong was absolutely sure they would shadow the person to find where they were keeping Xinxiu.

Jingkang, who was sitting on the stone bench, looked at Yixiong with a very tense expression on his face. He straightened his back. Looked like he's ready to move on. Yixiong hoped that the young man could control himself. He's not a cop. If he was determined to step forward to ambush that person, he might even be injured.

At such a tense moment, from behind Jingkang, someone came close. Yixiong didn't know who it was. The mysterious person patted Jingkang on the back from behind.

Jingkang turned his head. The person then sat down next to Jingkang. The man's lips began to move. It seemed that the person was saying something at a low volume. Jingkang brought his head closer to the person's head. Maybe he wanted to hear more clearly what the person was saying.

Who is it? Is he also a member of the kidnapping group?

The man standing in front of Yixiong took a step back. This made Yixiong panic even more. He guessed that the man thought that Yixiong was communicating with the police.

Is he going to attack me?

Yixiong looked far behind the man in front of him, at Jingkang. He could clearly see that Jingkang was making a strange move. The young man seemed to be throwing something away. Yixiong instantly realized that the person who approached Jingkang earlier was most likely the policeman who asked Jingkang to signal Yixiong to give the bag to the man in front of him.

Yixiong dropped the bag he was carrying. Then he took a step back. The person came forward and picked up the bag right away. He then looked at Yixiong. Just like before, the look in his eyes made Yixiong's guts shrank.

"One hour from now!" The man raised his left hand. He held the bag in his right hand.

What does it mean? Will they only be releasing Xinxiu an hour from now? Or will they call us an hour from now? Why didn't he speak in more understandable words?

Yixiong just stared at the person. He waited for the person to utter the next sentences. Sentences that have no other meaning.

But that didn't happen. The person took three steps back. After that, he turned around very quickly. After looking right and left, he started to walk away from Yixiong.

Uh? He just left? What should I do now?

Boom!

Suddenly, there was an explosion. It wasn't that loud, but it sounded quite clear.

Yixiong was surprised. He dropped himself straight away. He lay down. Even though Yixiong didn't know what it was, he didn't want to take the risk. He didn't want to be hit by a stray bullet or anything related to it. Yixiong's body was on his stomach, but he lifted his head. He wanted to see what happened next.

The man who was carrying Songfei's bag also looked surprised. He stood still. He looked around him. When he looked back, the man saw Yixiong lying down. His face suddenly turned pale. He seemed to have realized something.

Immediately, the man dropped the bag he was carrying. After that, he took a thousand steps. He ran as fast as lightning. Several people who had been sitting and standing around the pool then chased after him.

Oh! They are the police!

Jingkang stood up. He ran towards Yixiong, who still hadn't changed his posture.

"Are you all right?" The young man held out his hand.

"I am alright. Don't you worry." Yixiong tried to get the words out in a normal tone of voice. He didn't want to look nervous.

Jingkang helped Yixiong up. Actually Yixiong was a bit embarrassed to accept Jingkang's hand. He wasn't that old. He and Shanquan couldn't be categorized as elderly yet, so their bodies were also still in good shape. But times like that were not the time to argue about the matter.

They shuffled to sit on the stone bench where Jingkang had sat before. In fact, they could have sat on another bench. Because of the commotion, all the stone benches became empty.

The people who were there were running around irregularly. They panicked. Yixiong didn't know how to calm them down. Even if he had known, he would probably have kept quiet. Calming people who are panicking was not a simple job. If he wasn't careful, he might end up getting hurt.

A moment later, someone came closer. Yixiong could recognize him easily. That person was the one who had been sitting next to Jingkang.

"Good evening Mr. Ximen." The person greeted him warmly. Even so, his tone was very firm.

"Good night," Yixiong replied. "Did you catch that person? Did he put up a fight?"

"We've caught him." The man nodded. "He didn't fight back at all."

"What did he say?" Yixiong asked.

"He has said nothing yet." The man shook his head quickly. "At the moment, we are taking him to a nearby building for us to question."

"You didn't take him to the police station?" Yixiong asked.

"It's only temporary. Of course, after this, we will take the person to the police station for a more intensive examination. However, there are things we must know immediately."

Yixiong nodded. "Now, what should we do?"

"We ask that you are willing to wait here for a while. It won't be long. Maybe only about fifteen minutes. We will dig further information from that person. We suspect he is not alone. His friends might still be around here."

"What was that sound?" Jingkang opened his mouth. "Did any cops open fire?"

Ah! I also want to know about it. I don't think there's any way the police would act so recklessly!

"No, Sir!" The policeman smiled. "It was a balloon explosion. Apparently, earlier, one balloon the children were holding exploded."

"How did it explode?" Yixiong asked.

"Probably because it accidentally pierced one of the tree branches with a fairly sharp tip."

Jingkang frowned. He seemed doubtful about the police's explanation. But the young man did not ask further.

Yixiong averted his gaze. He looked at the trees growing around the pond. Indeed, just behind some stone benches, there were trees whose branches grow wildly. What the cop had just said might not be entirely wrong.

The park management should pay more attention to things like this.

"I'll be back first, Sir. After receiving new information, I will immediately inform you."

Yixiong nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

The policeman rose from the stone bench. With quick steps, he left Yixiong and Jingkang.

The two people looked at each other.

"This is terrible, Sir!" Jingkang said.

"I know." Yixiong sighed. "If the kidnappers realize their comrade has been caught, things might turn out to be unfavorable for us."

"Mr. Beihai's safety may be in danger," said Jingkang.