The leader's gaze rested on Wenjie for a moment. "We specialize in art and archaeological artifacts. We are not human traffickers."

Zhijian breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Wenjie withdrew his hand. "That doesn't answer my question."

The man smiled. "You are very composed, despite your situation," he noted. "As expected from Zhuang Yaobai's son."

One of them had to keep his composure. It was of no use to his friends, if he panicked. As long as he knew they were safe, it didn't matter what happened to him. Wenjie looked directly at his counterpart without batting an eyelid. Even though the situation was really upsetting him inside. 

"You implied, it's not in your interest for us to fall into Xu Zhengqing's hands," he changed the subject.

The man laughed. Bitterness resonated in his tone. "Monsieur has betrayed us all. But you reshuffled the cards."

Wenjie remained silent, not breaking eye contact with him.

"You leaked information to the police. Now, the state museums own the cultural artifacts related to Luoshen and Tears of Moongoddess. You've done us a favor."

Wenjie understood. As long as the cultural artifacts were displayed in museums, any thief had the opportunity to steal them. If Xu Zhengqing had managed to get hold of them, he would have decided which paintings and artifacts were put into circulation. Under no circumstances would he have shared them with others. Instead, he had cleverly eliminated his potential rivals. 

Ding Shenghuo. Madame Hong. The entire management team of Undercurrent. They were all in prison. Unfortunately for Monsieur, he had missed out on the cultural artifacts. Thanks to Wenjie. But not only that.

"Ding Wei also had a part to play," he replied. 

"We didn't miss that." The man broke eye contact and turned to Xiao Dao. "Your lifestyle raises questions. You can only have one master."

Ding Wei leaned back. One arm lay casually across the backrest. "Blood is thicker than water." 

The elder smiled, glancing sideways at Wenjie. "And yet you are friends?" 

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Besides, the conflicts of the older generation are not ours. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Some challenges require unusual alliances."

Was this a clue to their backers? Wenjie assumed, the kidnappers were not the masterminds. They were just carrying out orders from another authority. Had Ding Shenghuo and Madame Hong joined forces in jail? 

A noise at the door diverted his attention. One of the other men on board lead Lin Zhiyue in. The conversation between Ding Wei and the leader of the kidnappers faded into the background.

Wenjie jumped up and ran towards her. Zhiyue was unharmed and, judging by her expression, more worried about him than about herself. 

"Wenjie." Her eyes wandered to the others. Then she looked at him uncertainly. "What are you all doing here? What do these men want?"

They obviously hadn't told her anything. He was tempted to squeeze her hand to encourage her. But he didn't want to give the kidnappers any reason to assume again, that there might be more than friendship between them. So, he just gave her a nod to sit with them.

"Are you all right?" Zhijian whispered as she sat down next to him. 

Zhiyue nodded. "I was worried about you."

"We're not brutes." The boss turned his gaze to Wenjie again, after they were all seated at the table. "Lin Zhiyue and Sun Zhijian can leave as soon as our business is done. Assuming your performance is up to scratch."

"No tricks, got it." Ding Wei snapped his fingers. "So, what do you want, and what should we do about Xu Zhengqing? He's expecting our call in the afternoon and has offered to help us." 

Zhijian gasped for breath. His hands were shaking. His backback almost slipped off his lap, but he managed to grab it in time. "Why are you telling them this?" Upset, he turned to Xiao Dao. 

The other shrugged his shoulders and remained calm. "Because they would have found out anyway. So we can clear the air now." He sat up straight again and put both arms on the table. "We've got ourselves into a dangerous game with him. And we know he'll betray us because he expects us to do the same."

The kidnappers were relatively unimpressed, but definitely interested. "Were you trying to play us off against each other?"

Wenjie swallowed. The air suddenly became thinner. The man's gaze rested on him for a moment, then wandered back to Xiao Dao. 

He remained relaxed. "Would you have done that in our place?" he countered. "I was just stalling him. The meeting with you had priority. As long as we didn't know whether Zhiyue was unharmed, what you wanted and which side you were on, we couldn't make any plans."

"Well, well..." There was a lurking undertone in his voice. "What makes you so sure that we're playing with open cards?"

Ding Wei grinned. "We could ask you the same thing." 

The boss laughed. "You are interesting fellows." Once again, his gaze swept over Wenjie. "I wonder if the rumors are true, that you want to escape the shadow of your fathers. Or is there still criminal energy in you?" Then he made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "So be it. You know, you have no choice but to play along. Just a little hint, before we move on to the rest of our little excursion. Xu Zhengqing's network is very extensive. I would advise you to lower your hopes in the police."

Xiao Dao sank back against the back of the chair. He tried to look as indifferent as possible. But Wenjie couldn't help noticing how quickly he pulled his hands away from the table. Just as if he had burned himself. Out of sight of the man, he clenched his hands into fists. 

The kidnapper's suggestion could be a bluff. But Wenjie believed Xu Zhengqing was capable of blackmailing or manipulating the police. Then they would be on their own again. 

"Very well. Now that you're all here. Your stay on board this ship will not be permanent," the man continued. He looked at his wristwatch. "We'll be far enough out in about half an hour. Then the transfer can take place. We'll reach our final destination by the afternoon. Then, as planned, you will hold the video conference with Xu Zhengqing. You'll receive detailed instructions when the time comes."

to be continued ...