Yixiong looked alternately at the two people sitting with him on the stone bench. The two of them looked back at Yixiong with a look of astonishment in their eyes.

"Do you have a reasonable guess as to the real reason the criminals put on a show like this?" Jingkang said.

Yixiong nodded. "What if this is their way of getting the police out of here?" He let out those words at a slow tempo.

"You mean, the criminals hope the police conclude that tonight the real criminals will not come? After the police left, then those people show their present?" Jingkang looked straight at Yixiong.

"That's exactly what I meant." Yixiong said excitedly. "Is that not possible?"

"The possibility is always there." Jingkang nodded. But his face revealed a hint of doubt. "But, what if things don't go the way they want? If you believed what the police said earlier and then you went home, wouldn't the plans of the criminals fall apart?"

Yixiong scratched his head. "What if they are sure that I won't be home so soon?"

"How can they be so sure?" Jingkang raised his eyebrows.

"Because they know how Xiongge thinks," said Yiren.

Jingkang nodded. "It means that they, or at least one of them, are familiar with Mr. Ximen."

Yixiong nodded. "That's probably the case."

"One member of the kidnapping group is someone who knows your character. Does that mean that person is quite close to you?" Jingkang said.

"I don't know how close that person is to me," Yixiong said. "Maybe he knows a lot about me, but I don't know much about him."

"Do you have many friends in this city?"

"I've only been living in this city since a year ago. I don't feel like I made friends with many people."

"What about the people where you come from?"

"I didn't have many friends there either."

"If you don't have many friends, then maybe things will be easier for us," said Jingkang. "There aren't too many people we have to do background checks on."

"Not necessarily. I said earlier that I don't necessarily know much about people who know a lot about me." Yixiong sighed. "This really pisses me off."

"I guess." Yiren also opened his mouth. "That person not only knows you, but knows all of us. So we just need to check the people we know in this town."

"Maybe you're right," Yixiong said. "The number of people who know all of us is not so much."

"We live in the same house. This can be a strong clue, right?" said Yiren.

"You mean, that person lives in a place not far from your place," asked Jingkang.

"Do you have any idea who that person is?" Yixiong looked at Yiren.

Yiren shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea about it. We don't hang out with our neighbors much."

"That's just one possibility," said Jingkang. "Mr. Ximen, let's talk about your friends first."

Yixiong instantly cut off Jingkang's words. "Even though I'm not a person who has many friends, I still have a hard time understanding all of my friends."

"There is another possibility," said Jingkang. "It could be that that person is not your friend. But someone who has the opportunity to learn about your personality and traits."

"We return to the initial discussion," said Yiren. "That person believes that Xiongge can't just go home. If so, we should just wait for the kidnappers now. Like Xiongge said, maybe they will only appear after the police withdraw," said Yiren.

Yixiong didn't answer. He took out a paper from his coat pocket. The paper was a copy of the original message written by the kidnappers. He looked at the message again.

"I didn't have time to pay attention to the pictures," said Yiren. Turned out he was peeking as Yixiong looked at the things written on the paper.

"I, who copied these pictures, didn't really understand either," Yixiong replied. "This smaller pentagon may represent the pool in front of us. The larger pentagon represents the surface of the ground we are on."

"Then what do these other pictures, according to Xiongge, represent?" Yiren pointed at various other shapes painted on the paper.

"What if we now try to solve this?" Jingkang said. "Who knows? Maybe these pictures are the real clues."

Yixiong looked at the strange shapes. He really regretted that earlier, when he copied the message, he had just drawn it. Many details of the pictures he did not copy. If Jingkang was right that the pictures were the actual message, then it was likely that they would never be able to decipher the riddle.

Apart from the two pentagons, there were five other pictures. The five shapes were located at the bottom of the paper.

"Xiongge, what kind of pictures are these?" Yiren asked as he began to pay attention to the shapes painted on the paper.

Yixiong looked at the pictures once more. He wished he could remember the details of the pictures in the original message so he could explain it to Yiren and Jingkang.

"The pictures that are painted here are a little strange. Maybe because I didn't copy it well," Yixiong said.

"Is this a picture of a house, Sir?" Jingkang pointed to one picture on the paper.

"You're right," Yixiong said. "I've tried to draw it as closely as possible. Earlier I also thought that the picture I copied was a picture of a house. If you think this is indeed a picture of a house, then I had not guessed wrong."

"Then, this one," Yiren tried to guess, "is this a drink bottle?"

"That's right," Yixiong laughed. My drawing skills are indeed on a par with elementary school children's drawing skills.

"Then this one is a table," said Jingkang.

"This is like a picture of a stove," guessed Yiren, pointing to another picture.

Yixiong smiled widely. "Apparently, the picture I made was quite clear. The proof is that you guessed correctly."

"Then what is this?" Yiren asked. The last picture did look abstract.

Jingkang brought his eyes closer to the paper. Yixiong laughed. Jingkang was funny. No matter how close he looked at the picture, if it wasn't an excellent picture, he wouldn't be able to recognize it.

"I don't know what this picture is," said Jingkang. "Maybe you don't know either."

"I don't know for sure, but I have a strong impression that this is a crowbar. Or at least iron-related tools," Yixiong said.

"Is this a crowbar?" Yiren was wide-eyed. "From what angle does this look like a crowbar?"

Yixiong laughed again. "Right!"

"I know now!" Jingkang suddenly shouted.

"Know about what?" Yiren's voice sounded hopeful.

"These five objects represent the five elements. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water."