Yan Fan crossed his legs and gave Ma Xiang and Gao Panying a look, whispering, "Learn from him."
Ma Xiang responded in an equally low voice: "We know you two are good friends. Stop showing off."
Gao Panying, more straightforward, asked, "Obsession? What kind of situation could that be, Landor Advisor?"
Jiang Ting kept his eyes half-closed and slightly tilted his head back against the chair, remaining motionless.
"Landor Advisor?"
"…"
Everyone’s gaze was intense. From the far end, the soft voice of Mr. Landor Advisor slowly echoed: "There are many possibilities. Perhaps classmates have heard some stories about Tianzong Mountain, or maybe an important family member has been there before… or perhaps…"
He suddenly opened the car window with a loud hiss.
Everyone: "? ? ?"
Yan Fan’s suspicion grew as he was about to step forward to check when Jiang Ting quickly stuck his head out of the window. Then:
"Ah—"
Everyone: "…"
The usually refined and composed Mr. Landor Advisor was finally knocked down by car sickness.
---
In the farmhouse courtyard, a breakfast hall converted into a temporary command center.
"I really have no idea about anything. Are you sure my niece has been kidnapped?"
A well-dressed, fat man sat across from two policemen; his face was covered in sweat, and he kept wiping it with a handkerchief, but more kept appearing:
"No, I didn’t receive any ransom messages—Yes, I haven't seen her since the day before yesterday. But I'm usually out of town, only talking to her on the phone once a week. I’m not even her biological father! What are you saying the kidnappers want 200 million yuan? I swear, that’s too much for me, 200,000 yuan is more than enough—No, no! —Ransom killing? No, officer, you don’t understand. I'm not her legal guardian; I’m just paying her tuition fees, and that’s already quite generous…"
Squeak—
The door suddenly opened, and the two policemen immediately stood up as Ma Xiang hurriedly entered: "Water? Water! Quickly bring some cold water! Hurry!"
Ma Xiang led the way in a rush, Gao Panying following behind fanning him, while Yan Fan personally helped the pale Mr. Landor Advisor sit down. They looked like they had just picked up a wild panda during their return trip and were now surrounding Jiang Ting.
"Why isn’t it cold enough?" Ma Xiang took the water offered by the police officer and passed it to Yan Fan. The notorious thorn in the side of the public security system, Deputy Branch Chief Yan, quickly rolled his sleeves and personally served the water to Jiang Ting.
The police officer carefully inquired: "What’s wrong?"
"Car sickness," Ma Xiang whispered half-covered, “Mr. Yan's personal advisor is the intelligence driver for this case. He hit a dead end halfway through the analysis and can’t even finish the last sentence he was saying.”
"Oh…" The police officer had an air of awed respect.
Jiang Ting weakly waved his hand to indicate that he didn't want any more, rubbing his temples tiredly.
Yan Fan finally screwed on the water bottle cap and signaled Ma Xiang to bring a standing fan and blow it directly at Jiang Ting until Mr. Landor Advisor was fully recovered to catch the kidnappers in one fell swoop amidst the vast mountainous wilderness. Only then did he have time to ask the police officer, "What’s going on?"
"Deputy Yan!" The police officer saluted and pointed at the well-dressed fat man: "This is Ms. Bu Wei's uncle, Wang Xingye. The city bureau sent him here just now."
In other words, apart from the crying Shen family parents, this was another critical family member involved in the case.
Yan Fan exchanged pleasantries and was about to shake hands when suddenly, something seemed off with Wang Xingye.
—His hand froze mid-air as his gaze passed Yan Fan, directly fixed on Jiang Ting a few feet away; for an instant, his eyes appeared to have seen a ghost.
Without warning, Yan Fan’s heart sank slightly before he tightly grasped Wang Xingye's hand:
"Mister Wang?"
"Ah… Ah? Officer?"
Yan Fan stared at him silently and softly asked after a long moment: "What are you looking at?"