Chapter 082
Nangong Iren
Iren glanced at Chioujen. That kid was very smart. Maybe his thinking ability was equal, or perhaps even higher than Shannchyuan. All this time, Chioujen had always been obedient to Shannchyuan. Iren hoped that even this time Chioujen could restrain himself. In a situation like the one they were currently facing, cohesiveness was the main thing. It was the glue they needed most at that time.
Iren was grateful that so far Chioujen had not displayed a disappointing attitude or behavior. Just like Iren, Chioujen also sat in his chair and listened intently to Yihshyong's words. Even so, it seemed that he was also thinking about something. Of course, that's just Iren's estimation. But at least, Iren was ninety-five percent sure of the estimate he made.
"After that, on the way home, you guys stopped by the mall." Yihshyong continued his speech. "There happened an event that has not been explained until now. A mysterious event that is the second time that happened in that place. Dahge disappeared. Not only Dahge, Miss Liuchiou, who most likely went to the mall to meet Dahge, also disappeared. Although I don't have any evidence, I suspect that Miss Liuchiou disappeared along with Dahge."
"Can I say something?" Jenqyih interrupted Yihshyong's words while raising his right hand. Iren turned to Jenqyih. It was possible that Jenqyih would report his findings today regarding the victims of the incident.
"Later," said Yihshyong. "I'll finish what I said first. First, I want to describe the things that happened today chronologically. The development of those things you can report later."
Jenqyih nodded. He let Yihshyong continue his words.
"Meanwhile, we Jinqkang and I managed to trick the criminals by presenting the fake Duanmuh Shannchyuan. At least that's what I thought this afternoon. Right now, I'm not so sure anymore. It was possible that the thugs actually knew that the person they were talking to wasn't Dahge, but they didn't really mind that. As long as the one talking to them sounded like Dahge, that was enough for them. There was even a possibility that they were just messengers. The person who hired them was the one who instructed them to speak directly to Dahge."
Iren raised his hand. "Excuse me, does Shyongge have any evidence of that?"
Yihshyong was silent for a moment. Iren didn't know if Yihshyong had any objections that he had cut off Yihshyong's words, or if something else was on his mind.
"Nothing. It's just my intuition."
"Oh." Iren answered briefly.
Yihshyong took a deep breath. "After that, Tsaehorng's driver, namely Mr. Juger, his health condition suddenly deteriorated drastically. He had to be rushed to the hospital. Because his condition deteriorated when he was here, so, in a way, we were involved too. I hope Tsaehorng is willing to provide further information , as well as the latest news regarding Mr. Juger's condition."
Tsaehorng nodded. "Of course, Uncle."
Yihshyong continued his words. After that, something shocking happened. Jinqkang witnessed an accident that happened in front of the grocery store in front of our housing complex. At the scene, Jinqkang found the pen that Shinnshiow had brought from home when he was kidnapped. Although we suspect the pen has something to do with the people involved in the accident, but I think we should still consider other possibilities. It could have fallen off when Shinnshiow walked past that place."
Yihshyong paused for a moment once more. His style was similar to that of Shannchyuan. Iren realized that Shannchyuan's style had rubbed off on all of them. It's possible that in one year they would all become clones of Shannchyuan. Iren tried not to laugh when the thought crossed his mind.
"On the evening, Iren, Jinqkang,and I went to hand over the ransom items to the kidnappers. Once again, thank you very much to Tsaehorng for lending us the car and driver."
Tsaehorng nodded. "You're welcome, Uncle."
"On the way, Mr. Gongshi, Tsaehorng's driver, realized that someone was following us. According to Jinqkang, the car that was following us was exactly the same as the car that was involved in the accident in front of the grocery store in front of our housing complex. The one who brought the car at the time of the accident was a neighbor who lived in the house to the right of our house. Jinqkang wasn't sure that it was the same car. But we must consider the possibility that our neighbor is indeed very curious about our business."
Jenqyih raised his hand. "I think our neighbor is suspicious. It's not the only time or twice that we've caught him looking so curious about what we're doing."
Iren looked around. Jinqkang and Tsaehorng didn't know their neighbors, so it was only natural that their faces didn't show any expression. But Chioujen, who also didn't know the person, showed a different reaction. Among them, Chioujen was the one who rarely showed his emotions. So, Iren already understood that Chioujen's strange facial expression like that, he usually showed when there were things that really bothered his mind.
"We know little about our neighbor's background. I wish we could know more about him," Yihshyong said.
Tsaehorng raised his hand.
"What's wrong, Tsaehorng?" Yihshyong asked.
"What if I ask someone to help investigate Uncle's neighbors?"
Jenqyih looked at Tsaehorng. "You mean hiring a detective or something?"
"No, Uncle," said Tsaehorng. "Maybe it works like that, but they're not detectives. I don't have to pay them, anyway."
"No need to pay? Then what do they get in return?" Iren asked.
"Regarding that, all I can say is that they are indebted to my family," replied Tsaehorng.
"But their investigation will take time. Meanwhile, we must receive information as soon as possible," said Jenqyih.
"What do you think Shyongge?" Iren asked.
"In my opinion, if this really doesn't incriminate Tsaehorng, what's the harm in trying? Even if the investigation can't immediately obtain the information we need, we also have nothing to lose. Wouldn't it be that if there wasn't an investigation, then we wouldn't get any information?" Yihshyong said.
"Okay, Uncle! Later, when I get home from here, I will contact them immediately."
"Isn't it too late? Wouldn't they be mad if you just showed up at a time when everyone was supposed to be resting?" Jenqyih's voice was full of astonishment.
"I don't know," said Tsaehorng. "But this is an emergency. After I explain, I hope they will understand."
"Are you going to tell them everything?" Iren asked.
"Of course not," said Tsaehorng. "I know that there are things we shouldn't tell the other party. Don't worry about it."
"Thank you." Yihshyong bowed respectfully. "Now let's move on to the next thing."
Iren raised his hand again.
"What else?" Yihshyong asked.
"I'm thirsty. I'm going to the kitchen first to get a drink."
"Okay. I think our other friends are also thirsty. So please bring some drinks for our friends," said Yihshyong.
Unlike usual, this time there was not a single glass on their dining table. There were no plates, either. Earlier, before leaving, Yihshyong and friends had already cleaned up their dinner containers. The other friends also had dinner before going home or coming back to this house. Iren got up from his chair. He rushed to the kitchen. He soon returned with bottles and glasses for himself and his friends.
"Thank you," Yihshyong said after Iren put the glass in front of him.
Iren just chuckled.
"The accident we had was a bit strange. But then again, we can't jump to conclusions. It could have happened by chance. It's very possible that the driver was drunk or something like that. There is a link between the accident that we experienced and the Shinnnshiow kidnapping incident," Yihshyong said.
Yihshyong stopped talking for a while. He grabbed the glass in front of him. After taking a few sips of water, he resumed his speech.
The accident that happened to us was a bit strange. The kidnappers couldn't have planned an accident that would make them late in receiving the ransom items.
"Fortunately, then there is a neighbor who lives in the house on our left, namely Mr. Shiuander. He is kind enough to take us to our destination. Although Mr. Shiuander is a little strange, but this time, we must thank him."
Chioujen raised his hand.
"What is it, now?" Yihshyong asked.
"Shouldn't we also investigate him?"
"Are you suspicious of him?" Yihshyong asked.
"He just started living next door to us. I think everyone who has suddenly appeared around us in the last six months deserves our suspicion."
Iren turned to Tsaehorng. The young man seemed to want to say something.
"I think Uncle Jongharng is right. They suddenly appeared, most likely for some reason. So there's no harm in investigating that too," said Tsaehorng.
"In that case, we must also investigate our other neighbors," said Jenqyih.
"Eh?" Chioujen smiled faintly?"
"Besides the neighbors to the left and right of our house, the neighbors in the house right across the street are also new people," said Jenqyih.
"Right," Iren nodded. "It's not just them. The occupants of the houses to the right and left of the house in front of us are all new people. Even if I remember correctly, there are three or four other houses in our alley whose residents have lived there not long."
Tsaehorng looked surprised. His face was so weird. Under normal circumstances Iren would most likely laugh at a face like that. But in a situation like now if he laughed it might even look ridiculous and uncivilized. The young man opened his mouth. "So a lot of new people in this place."
Jenqyih nodded. "Now that I think about it, things like that are a bit suspicious. Won't your friends be bothered if they have to investigate all of them?"
"I think," Yihshyong said. "You ask your people to investigate several people, but focus on only two people, namely the neighbors to the right and left of this house."
"All right, Uncle!"
"Now I continue again," said Yihshyong. "Turns out the shock we've had is still not over. The criminals don't seem to have any intention of receiving the ransom there. They just want to send us a message. They must have realized that the police have been monitoring the messages they sent us all along. So this is a way to trick the police. There must have been a member of the kidnapping group in the park watching us. So I'm sure they know we did find the message they were hiding."
Iren and the others nodded.
"Now is the time to discuss more about the series of events that we experienced today," said Yihshyong.
"I think the police were late in examining Songfei's belongings and copying the writings and pictures inside. Is this just my feeling? Or do the police really think that Shinnshiow's case has nothing to do with Songfei's disappearance?" Chioujen said.
"The kidnappers demanded the items in the bag as ransom. So it’s almost certain the two cases are related. However, the police may feel there are things that are strange in this case. So I think, although this is a slim possibility, the police might consider that the kidnappers want to make us believe that Shinnshiow’s kidnapping is closely related to the case that Songfei is investigating,” Yihshyong said.
"It doesn’t even make sense!” Iren said. “What’s their purpose for making us think like that?"
Yihshyong shook his head. Like I said, it's just a slim possibility."
Chioujen looked straight at Yihshyong. "Do you think it was the Shinnshiow kidnappers who wanted the police to investigate the case that Songfei was investigating?"
"I'm not sure. But as small as the possibility. We must not rule this possibility," said Yihshyong.
Shyongge really tried to look as similiar as possible to Dahge. Even this way of thinking is Dahge's trade mark!
"If that's really what happened, then Shinnshiow's kidnappers are in the opposite camp from the people Songfei is investigating," said Iren.
"So, this is a case between one group of criminals against another group of criminals?" Jinqkang, who had been silent that night, opens his mouth.
"Not necessarily so," said Yihshyong. "It could be that one of these groups is a criminal while the others are people trying to uphold justice in their own way."
"Shyongge, do you mean like superhero characters or crime-fighting groups in stories?" Jenqyih asked.
"It's something like that. Maybe they feel that they inevitably have to involve the police. Kidnapping Shinnshiow is one of their ways to get the police to pay attention to the case that Songfei is investigating."
"Then what is Songfei's role here?" asked Chioujen.
"I don't know," Yihshyong replied. "But in my opinion, Songfei would absolutely not use these means to lure the police into participating in the investigation. What is more likely is that the Shinnshiow kidnapping group supplied Songfei with information in the hope that Songfei would help them. When Songfei turned out to be helpless, then they kidnapped Shinnshiow to force the police to interfere."
"It doesn't make sense," said Jenqyih. "Who exactly is Songfei? What made them believe in Songfei in the first place?"
"You asked me about who Songfei is." Yihshyong looked at Jenqyih. "But do we really know who Songfei is? Isn't it possible that there are certain reasons for a mysterious group to ask Songfei to investigate something?"
Jenqyih was silent. Iren agreed that Yihshyong's words are not wrong. None of them knew much about Songfei's background.
"It means the problem is much more complicated than we previously thought!" Iren sighed as he closed his eyes.
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