They all went back into the house. While waiting for a call from the kidnappers, they sat in the living room and dining room. Anxiety radiated from their eyes. Even under normal circumstances, waiting was a tedious job. Especially now, when they didn't know for sure what would happen to their friend.

After about ten minutes, Shannchyuan stood up. He patted Jenqyih and Yihshyong's shoulders. They both stood up in a flash.

"You stand guard in the living room," Shannchyuan looked at Iren.

Even though his face showed disapproval, Iren still nodded. He forthwith lay down on the sofa.

Shannchyuan walked to the backyard. The other two friends followed him. Shannchyuan and Yihshyong then sat down on chairs on the kitchen terrace in the backyard. Jenqyih sat on the terrace floor.

"I want to talk about your friend." Shannchyuan faced Jenqyih. "What efforts have they made?"

"Before we came here, they had started an investigation. So I think they are a few steps ahead of the police," said Jenqyih.

"Do you think we were wrong or not?"

"About what?" Jenqyih asked.

"The police do not know that other agencies are also conducting investigations. What if this interferes with their performance?"

"We don't know for sure that the police don't know. It's not impossible that the police actually already know. Maybe something like this is a normal practice here," said Jenqyih.

"Competition between police agencies and secret agencies is commonplace?" Yihshyong looked at his two friends.

"Could be." Shannchyuan sighed.

"What's more important is that the agency my friend works for seems to have looked into this for a long time. They already know a lot more than we do. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually knew what the kidnappers wanted."

"So you suspect that your meeting with Jongli six months ago wasn't a coincidence at all?" Shannchyuan raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know if it was a coincidence or something he had planned. I also don't know when exactly they started investigating this. Maybe a year or six months ago, they had been after these people. But it could also be that this just started three or two months ago. To be sure, it didn't start in the last few days."

"Jongli said what?" Shannchyuan leaned forward.

"He didn't say anything specific. He just advised us not to act rashly. Even though they most likely won't harm Shinnshiow, still we shouldn't pretend to be heroes, wanting to settle this matter with our own hands. He asked us to just entrust this matter to be handled by the institution where he works, and also the police."

"Is that all? Did he say anything else?"

"Ah! He did say that they had found one of their hideouts. Their agents seem to be on their way. But he didn't know the mob had Shinnshiow locked up there or somewhere else."

Yihshyong gasped. He seemed to remember something important. "What about Songfei? Is your friend also investigating it?"

"They think these two things are related. So they are also investigating Songfei's current whereabouts. However, since Songfei told Dahge that he was hiding outside the city, Jongli said that other units are currently investigating his whereabouts. Songfei," Jenqyih replied.

"Other units in other cities?" Yihshyong asked.

"I don't know what my friend meant by other units in another city or other units in this city," Jenqyih said.

"What about you? What did you talk to the police about?" Shannchyuan looked at Yihshyong.

Yihshyong straightened his seat. "Exactly as we agreed. I'll tell them everything, except the parts related to Miss Liuchiou."

"Didn't the police ask for the things we found in Songfei's bag?" Jenqyih asked.

"Oh yeah, they said they had to check the contents of the bag," Yihshyong said.