Not long after the words fell, footsteps sounded from upstairs. A man in a suit strode over and sat down opposite the two brothers.
"Zhan, we've been waiting for you two for a long time."
Facing the person in front of him, Zhan Mohan didn't sense any hint of friendliness from him. Therefore, he merely nodded slightly, "We are here to pick someone up."
He made his purpose clear, not wanting to get entangled with the other party too much. However, it was evident that the person had summoned them there with impure intentions. Otherwise, why wouldn't they have brought Mu Linjing out immediately?
As expected, the other party avoided the matter of picking someone up. "I've long heard of Mr. Zhan's reputation. It's indeed an honor to meet you today. You are quite a distinguished individual."
Zhan Mohan forced a smile and asked, "I wonder what we should address you as, sir?"
"Ji Tong."
Zhan Mohan seemed to have some impression of the name, but couldn't recall it for the moment, so he let it go.
Zhan Yichen, sitting beside him, felt that Ji Tong might have indeed tricked them and became somewhat impatient.
"Mr. Ji, didn't you call us to pick someone up? We've arrived, and the person should be handed over to us now. When we return, you will be greatly rewarded."
Seeing this, Ji Tong slowly stood up, "The young lady you are looking for is resting upstairs. I will take you to see her."
With that, the two of them also stood up. Led by the butler from before, Ji Tong followed behind them.
Just as they were about to ascend the stairs, Zhan Mohan suddenly exerted force and held Zhan Yichen's shoulder. Both of them bent down simultaneously. At that moment, a gunshot rang out in the room. The butler, who was in front of them, took the shot for them.
"Go!"
He forcefully pushed Zhan Yichen towards the door and then drew a weapon from his waist, retreating while firing. Zhan Yichen rolled to the door and quickly rushed out to open it.
On the ships docked near the island, Fang Xun immediately led a surge of people. With this firepower covering them, Zhan Mohan successfully escaped.
After boarding the ship, they immediately set sail and sped away from the area.
Only when they were out of the island's firing range did they lower their weapons.
Zhan Yichen let out a heavy sigh, "Brother, thankfully you were here. Otherwise, I would definitely be riddled with bullets right now."
Recalling the danger they had just faced, he was still shaken. If Zhan Mohan hadn't warned him beforehand that things might go wrong, they wouldn't have escaped so easily.
Zhan Mohan patted his shoulder, "Brothers don't need to talk about such things. We'll switch boats when Fang Xun and the others catch up."
As he spoke, Fang Xun's boat quickly approached their side. The two of them leaped across, landing on the deck of another ship, and rapidly increased the distance from their previous vessel. Not long after, they heard explosions from behind.
Staring at the flames behind them, Zhan Mohan finally let out a breath of relief.
"These people really wanted to kill us. They even planted explosives on our boat?"
Zhan Yichen had never expected this. If Zhan Mohan hadn't pulled him off the boat, he would have lost his life today.
Zhan Mohan had initially felt something was suspicious. Since they knew he was looking for Mu Linjing, if they truly wanted to help, they would have simply sent her back. But the other party had insisted he pick her up in person over the phone.
Especially when the location was a private island, and they had no idea of its layout. The risk was too high.
However, he also feared that the other party genuinely had Mu Linjing in their possession, as her disappearance was too peculiar. To be safe, even with the risk, he had to investigate.
Fearing the danger of this trip, he had arranged for Fang Xun to follow his boat with men and weapons. If not for this arrangement, they would have surely perished here today.
"Ji Tong."
Zhan Mohan pondered the name, finding it more and more familiar. "Fang Xun, investigate when we get back. Who is Ji Tong?"
"In that case, Lin Jing is still missing."
Zhan Yichen looked at the sea and murmured to himself. After all this effort, it turned out to be a ruse, and he still had no news of Mu Linjing.
Zhan Mohan felt a pang of guilt about this. He had promised Zhan Yichen and Wei Yumeng that he would find Mu Linjing's whereabouts. But now, not only was there no news, but he had also almost cost Zhan Yichen his life.
No one spoke on the boat, and they returned empty-handed.
As the boat neared the dock, Zhan Mohan instructed, "Don't let Yumeng know about this, so she doesn't worry."
In the previous hail of bullets, everyone was somewhat disheveled. To avoid worrying their families, they first went to Zhan Yichen's home to tidy up, while Fang Xun went to investigate Ji Tong.
The person who came to report had a face full of doubt, "Zhan, you must know this Ji Tong, but..."
Zhan Mohan still couldn't recall who Ji Tong was, so he gestured for him to elaborate.
"This person attended the same middle school as you, but he was later imprisoned for a few years for theft and dropped out of school. However, when I investigated, I learned that he wasn't released after serving his full sentence. Instead, he died of a serious illness in the second year of his imprisonment."
Zhan Mohan then remembered the person. He was indeed his classmate, and the victim of the theft Ji Tong was accused of was himself.
Ji Tong had stolen his belongings back then, which led to his imprisonment.
He had forgotten about this person for so many years and was unaware of his death in prison.
Zhan Yichen, hearing this, was confused. "If that's the case, Ji Tong is already dead. Then why did that person claim to be Ji Tong today?"
Now, the possibility of a different person with the same name could be completely ruled out. Since the other party had lured them to that island, it was to ensure their demise there. Therefore, when they thought they had everything under control, they revealed their name.
This implied that this Ji Tong must be the one Zhan Mohan knew, and someone must have lied.
However, so many years had passed, and it was not easy to verify Ji Tong's life or death.
Zhan Mohan pondered for a while, thinking that since the other party had already alerted them, they would surely devise further plans to deal with them. But now they had no clues, and the search for Mu Linjing and Wen Yulan could not be stopped. At present, besides carefully looking after himself and his family, there was no other course of action.
"I will continue to investigate whether the Ji Tong from back then is alive or dead. Yichen, you continue to search for the people we need to find. As for the family, I will arrange for someone to protect Grandpa and Yumeng."
After making a simple plan, Zhan Mohan looked at the time and stood up to go home.
He hadn't told Wei Yumeng about going to the island today, so she had no idea what kind of danger they had experienced.
Thinking of this, he felt a slight sense of relief. However, as soon as he entered the door, Wei Yumeng rushed over, as if something major had happened.