Exchange

"Uncle... can I trade places with them?"

The moment he said this, whether bandits, hostages, or onlookers, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. A moment later, both Scarface and Triangle-eyed began laughing. "Ha, looks like we ran into a living saint today! What are you trying to do, kid? You already know how to play the hero and save the damsel at your age? Don't come any closer!"

Jiaming stopped and first pointed at Zhang Yahan. "Because she's my sister, and she..." He pointed at Lingjing, hesitating for a long while before finally blushing as he said, "She's my girlfriend. I can't let anything happen to them, so... Uncle, you want hostages, right? Trade them for me. Please..."

Though he deliberately mumbled the words "girlfriend," everyone still heard them clearly. Lingjing's eyes seemed to light up, and then she choked out, "Jiaming, don't come over..."

But Jiaming had already started walking forward again. He walked slowly, while the two bandits looked at each other, clearly unable to make up their minds. At that moment, Huang Haoyun, who had been cowering to one side, worked up the courage to say, "Y-you wait, I'm from the Huang Family..."

"Don't come over! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" A child was one thing, but an adult was another. The instant Huang Haoyun spoke, Scarface aimed his pistol at him, frightening him into hurriedly raising both hands and saying no more. Meanwhile, Jiaming had already approached them.

"Brother Dao," Triangle-eyed said, turning his head, "why not just trade the one in your hands for this kid? Bringing an adult along could cause trouble."

"Hmph, what trouble could there be?" Scarface glanced at the woman in his grasp, secretly hesitating. In truth, he had another consideration. Of all the people by the pond, this older girl was the prettiest woman. After robbing this money, they planned to hide out in the deep mountains for quite some time before leaving. If they had a woman with them, the days would be much easier. As he considered this, Zhang Yahan, who had heard their conversation, said, "No, I won't trade!"

"Fuck, do you think you get to call the shots here!?" Scarface shouted. He pressed the gun barrel to Jiaming's head and shoved Zhang Yahan away. Jiaming took Lingjing's hand and softly said, "It's okay. Don't worry." Lingjing nodded through her tears. "I'm not afraid..."

"Damn, the first hero I've ever seen in my life is actually a kid." Triangle-eyed sighed. Then the four of them began walking toward the mountain. At that moment, Liu Huaisha rushed out from behind them. "Let me trade places with Lingjing!"

Before the two bandits could react, Jiaming shouted, "Shasha, stop! Go call the police and get us out of here."

That made the little girl stop where she was, whimpering as she began to cry. Scarface patted Jiaming on the shoulder. "Hey, you know quite a lot, huh? Let me tell you, since we've done something like this, we're not afraid of you calling the police. Go ahead and report us!"

The four of them had gone more than ten meters and were about to enter the woods when Zhang Yahan suddenly rushed out again. As she ran closer, Scarface raised his gun and aimed it at her forehead. "What the fuck do you want now! Are you really trying to die? Do you think I don't dare kill you!?"

"I'm going with you!" she said, trembling all over, but her eyes showed no weakness. "I can't let two children go with you. Either trade me for them, or take me along too!"

"What's going on today..." Scarface stared at her in disbelief. "Every one of you wants to be some kind of saint? If they come any closer, I'll shoot!"

"Shoot." Zhang Yahan was clearly struggling fiercely with herself, yet she still stepped toward the gun barrel. "Either kill me or take me with you. I can't let the children go with you..."

Jiaming looked at the gun aimed at Zhang Yahan, then at the hunting knife at Scarface's waist. If he acted now, he was seventy percent sure he could kill Scarface before he fired. But Lingjing was beside him, and there were too many people here... After thinking it over, he cursed loudly, "Get lost, you stupid woman! Who wants you to save us? Go back and sleep with Huang Haoyun!"

Faced with such crude abuse, Zhang Yahan merely looked at him without saying anything. Murder was far more serious a crime than robbery and kidnapping, so Scarface did not dare fire carelessly. After backing away a few steps, he looked at the sky, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, you want to come along? Are those tents over there on the ground? Bring two over!"

He meant the travel backpacks with tents attached lying on the ground. Zhang Yahan nodded, ran back, and picked up Jiaming and Lingjing's bags. Then she said to the crying Liu Huaisha, "Remember to call the police." As she turned around, Huang Haoyun grabbed her hand. "Yahan, you can't go with them!"

"Get away from me!" Yahan flung his hand aside. "You're worse than a child!"

Leaving those words behind, she ran toward the four of them.

That afternoon, clouds began gathering in the sky. Looking up, it seemed as though it could start raining at any moment.

The five of them traveled through the mountain forest. Yahan walked in front with a backpack on her back, Scarface followed behind her, Jiaming also carried a travel bag and walked in the middle holding Lingjing's hand, while Triangle-eyed brought up the rear with a short gun in hand. As they walked, Jiaming ground his teeth in fury.

I really should just abandon that self-righteous, stupid woman! Originally, if it had only been him and Lingjing, there would surely have been plenty of chances along the way to kill the two robbers. Lingjing was young and familiar with him, so after showing her his abilities once, getting her to keep it secret would have been much easier. But now there was an unfamiliar person with them. Not only were the bandits more alert, but he also had to try his best to act without Zhang Yahan noticing. In that case, he probably would not get a chance to act until nighttime.

On the other hand, Lingjing, whose hand Jiaming held, felt a mixture of confusion and sweetness. Though she was only thirteen, she had already reached the age when romantic feelings began to bloom. Whenever she thought of what Jiaming had said earlier, her little hand and cheeks grew burning hot. Yet amid her wild thoughts, her fear of being kidnapped by bandits lessened considerably. Remembering the confidence and calmness in Jiaming's voice when he said, "It's okay," the little girl truly felt that as long as she was with Jiaming, nothing would happen. There was no need to be afraid.

Of the five, the two bandits kept urging them to hurry. Yahan gradually ran out of strength, but she still forced herself to keep up. Jiaming and Lingjing ran for exercise every day, so they had more stamina on mountain paths than ordinary adults. If they had wanted rescue, they should have walked more slowly to stall for time. But Jiaming placed no hopes on the police, so he followed at an unhurried pace. Later on, the two bandits came to admire him somewhat. They occasionally asked him questions, and Jiaming naturally put on a timid appearance, sometimes even answering with a sobbing tone.

"Hey, he's still just a kid after all," Triangle-eyed said at dusk. "But even though he's scared, he still came along. If my son had that kind of courage, I'd be satisfied. Don't worry, we're only after money. As long as we can get away, we won't kill anyone."

Jiaming thought, Then take your time being satisfied. Your sons are about to become orphans. But he said aloud, "If you want money, why not just ask Sister Yahan directly? Her family is the Jianghai Zhang Family. They're rich. A few tens of thousands is nothing to them."

The moment he said that, both bandits froze. Zhang Yahan turned around, her face deathly pale. Jiaming hurriedly waved his hands, pretending he had misspoken. "Ah, I... I... I just said it casually, it's not... not..."

"Ha, looks like we caught an important person!" Triangle-eyed said, staring at Zhang Yahan with shining eyes.

Scarface nodded, then turned back and said, "From the sound of it, she's not actually your sister."

Jiaming had only just answered, "My god-sister," when a huge clap of thunder tore across the sky, followed by a downpour of raindrops as large as beans.

Exchange.

Exchange

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