I am the savior, but I am being asked by Alicia and the others to pay me back.

I cry for you to redeem me

The drawing has been marked

Don't tell anyone else about this.

Otherwise, the master will die.

"..."

"Is this... a kidnapping ransom letter?"

Ye Ming read it several times before he understood the purpose of the letter.

"There are so many complaints that I don't know how to complain."

The kidnapping of Hu Tao was a far-fetched enough incident, but who would be so bored as to write a ransom note using limericks? !

Just write doggerel, you forgot to ask for a ransom!

You just emphasized that I can go alone, but you didn't tell me what I should use to redeem you?

"No, before that..."

"Why did you print the official seal of Wangshengtang on the blackmail letter? You are used to it, right?"

651. Your kidnapping case is not interesting.

Looking at the official seal of Wangsheng Hall on the letter paper and the big character "Hu" on it, Ye Ming really couldn't hold it in any longer.

He even imagined a scene in his mind where Walnut was just checking the rhyme of the limerick carefully after writing the letter...

The official seal that I printed casually was not noticed, and when I checked it, it turned out to be a hammer.

"That's ok, at least you didn't sign it, so I think you tried your best."

Just when Ye Ming didn't know how to deal with this blackmail letter, Zhongli suddenly knocked on the door of the villa.

"Emperor...Mr. Zhongli? Is there anything wrong?" Ganyu looked curious.

"Oh, I have something important to discuss with Ye Ming."

"Why are you looking for Ye Ming again?"

A-Ci, Ying and other old friends couldn't help but want to complain:

"We are all a little worried about you now."

Not to mention those people of the same generation, even Ganyu and Keqing cast wary glances at Zhongli.

"Well, this time is different, it's considered serious business."

Instead of clearing the suspicion, Zhongli's answer made everyone more suspicious:

"You mean... you didn't come to see Ye Ming for serious matters before?"

"..."

Zhongli was silent for a moment, then said:

"I have no intention of engaging in verbal debate. This matter is urgent. Let me discuss it with Ye Ming first."

Although he said the word "urgent", Zhongli's expression was very calm, and he didn't even frown.

·············

"What do you find me for?"

"Oh, Hall Master Hu has disappeared for two or three days. He is not in the Hall of Rebirth, nor has he come back to you. I think he may be in danger."

"..."

"Ye Ming, have you received any letters in the past two days? I'm worried that the hall master has been kidnapped."

"..."

Should I cooperate with Zhongli's performance? But Zhongli didn't seem to be planning to act well at all!

After thinking it over again and again, Ye Ming still dealt with it:

"Well, I got it, I'll deal with it."

"Oh, that's good."

After explaining the matter in a few words, Zhongli showed no intention of leaving.

"You... aren't going back?"

"It's been a long time since we last met. I want to catch up with you."

As he spoke, Zhongli looked at his watch and saw that it was still half an hour before dinner time.

"You don't want to chat with me until dinner time, and then stay for lunch, right?"

"Haha, you are indeed the one who can always guess what I am thinking."

"Are you not going to act anymore?"

The leader of our family was kidnapped, and is waiting to come to my place for dinner, right?

"It's embarrassing to say this, but Miss Mei and Ms. Fu Hua... oh, and that Miss Rita, their cooking skills are really to my taste."

"The three of them have completely different cooking styles, but their cooking skills are not inferior to Xiangling's. It really makes people think about it day and night."

At this point, Zhongli could not help but feel sad:

"Recently, a type of cuisine called pre-prepared meals has become popular, which has really damaged the reputation of cuisine."

“It no longer requires the skills of a chef, it’s even lacking in nutrition, and it even has to be sold at the same price as regular dishes…”

"I just hope that Marcosius doesn't know about this, otherwise he might be disappointed."

In order to get a meal from Ye Ming, Zhongli tried to persuade him with both emotion and reason, commenting on current affairs and reminiscing about the past. Naturally, Ye Ming couldn't refuse.

"Okay, okay, you just stay. As for me... I'll go find Walnut after lunch?"

"That's great. The Hall Master's matter... is not urgent."

"..."

Although I don’t know what Hu Tao is thinking, according to Zhongli’s ranking, the importance should be after lunch.

·············

"The kidnapping location is... an abandoned wooden furniture factory? Is there such a place?"

Ye Ming rode his electric donkey all the way to the location agreed in the ransom letter.

The journey was actually not far, and it was also outside the sparsely populated Third Ring Road. However, Ye Ming had lived here for so long and had no idea there was such a place.

"It's quite empty, there's no one..."

After entering the abandoned wooden furniture factory, Ye Ming felt the quiet atmosphere around him and couldn't help but chuckle:

"Putting everything else aside, this location is... pretty reasonable."

Immediately afterwards, Ye Ming began to look for traces of walnut in this wooden furniture factory.

After all, I just came here after lunch, and maybe Hu Tao also went out to eat and hasn't come back yet.

"Kumuro~~If you're here, make a sound."

"If all else fails, just give me a call and block my number."

"Even if you're kidnapped, you can still make whining noises. It doesn't count as destroying your character."

After shouting for a long time, there was still no sign of Hu Tao. Ye Ming thought:

Either Hu Tao hasn't come back yet, or Hu Tao is hiding on purpose.

"Let me say this first."

Ye Ming was too lazy to look for it, so he shouted out the most important thing first:

"Don't suddenly attack me from behind! If I get startled and lose control of my strength, something terrible will happen."

"!"

After hearing Ye Ming's ultimatum, there was indeed some movement in the shadows not far away.

"Ahem, I didn't expect you to actually dare to come alone. Very good."

Wearing a black robe and a black mask, Kurumi appeared as a kidnapper.

I only heard her trying to lower her voice and forcing herself to speak in a deep tone:

"I suggest you don't resist, otherwise, I can't guarantee the safety of that little girl."

"Then can you let me see the hostage first?"

"Oh?" The girl's bell-like voice was accompanied by panic.

Realizing that he was almost exposed, Kurumi quickly cleared his throat and said in a low voice:

"No, you have to meet my conditions first, then I will take you to see her."

"No, you've never been a kidnapper and you haven't watched a police movie, right? I have to make sure the hostages are safe first, right?"

"Ye Ming...you are actually teasing me, right?"

Hu Tao, who couldn't continue acting, didn't want to play anymore, so she simply pulled off her mask with a look of grievance.

"Well... although I did want to tease you, it's not my fault if you messed up."

Ye Ming complained:

"Your script is so bad. I am in character and my requests are in line with the setting. Why can't you continue?"

After being criticized by Ye Ming, Hu Tao seemed even more unconvinced.

"This hall master has already arranged it! It's you who didn't play by the rules."

"Me? How did I go against the rules?"

"You said I couldn't attack you from behind, and that it would be dangerous if you got startled."

"So you're planning to attack me from behind?"

"Isn't this often played out in movies? A man comes alone to rescue a hostage, gets ambushed, and is hit on the back of the head with a brick and passes out."

"Are you still going to hit me with a brick?"

It won't hurt though.

"I was just making a metaphor. How could I bear to hit you?"

652. Walnut's Secret

"What if the person who came is Qiqi?"

"..." Kurumi looked away guiltily.

If you think about it carefully, Hu Tao must have done a lot of things to Qiqi, such as kidnapping and abduction, in Liyue back then.

The bloodline of the previous life has awakened.

"However, with your level, I'm afraid you can't even fool Qiqi."

Looking back at this farce full of loopholes, Ye Ming suddenly felt a little strange.

Although Hu Tao is as careless as Kiana before, she is the hall master after all, so she shouldn't be so stupid.

"I did it on purpose~~ If I made it too realistic, it would be bad if it made you worry."

"Calling the police is troublesome enough. If you get excited and come at me in a rage, I'm afraid I'll die on the spot before I can even explain myself."

But if he was deliberately exposing himself and didn't want to make a big deal out of it, Ye Ming had a new question: