Chapter 144 : Shimen Yihshyong

Yihshyong waited anxiously in the living room of their house. It was almost half-past twelve, yet Shannchyuan and the others had not yet returned. Indeed, there was still more than half an hour before the kidnappers called them. But before twelve o'clock, they should be ready. There was no way that Shannchyuan, as soon as he entered the house, immediately had to take a call.

"I've noticed that since a while ago, you seem very restless." Duanmuh Jinqkang opened his mouth. Just like Yihshyong, the young man was sitting in the living room.

Yihshyong turned to the young man. The young man's voice was indeed very similar to Shannchyuan's voice. With almost the same accent, if Yihshyong had not come face to face with the young man, he would not have known that it was not Shannchyuan speaking.

"Not just nervous. I'm really panicking right now." Yihshyong sighed once again. "Where have they been? It shouldn't take so long to give statements to the police. After all, even if it took the police a long time to extract information from them, Dahge could have gone home first. He didn't have to wait until it was over."

"Don't worry, Sir! I think they'll be at the door soon. I'm also sure they have good reasons not to hurry home."

Naturally, Yihshyong knew Jinqkang was trying to calm him down. One hundred percent, he realized he shouldn't make things more complicated. The restlessness he showed could have made the young man sitting near him feel uncomfortable. But Yihshyong was unable to hide what he felt. The thing that was happening was not an everyday event that he could take lightly.

He turned his gaze back to Duanmuh Jinqkang. The young man was amiable. For the past few hours, Yihshyong had spent conversing with the young man. Yihshyong was happy that he had someone to chat with. The young man also seemed delighted. Maybe because that day he didn't have to work.

Yihshyong concluded that the young man was very outgoing. He did not hesitate to talk at length about his background and family. Yihshyong was somewhat surprised to learn that the young man was actually from the same root clan as Shannchyuan, namely the Duanmuh family of the Nandao clan. He looked simple, far different from the image of the Duanmuh family, who came from the Nandao clan.

Yihshyong thought back to Shannchyuan's story about his family background. In the old world, where their ancestors came from, many clans bore the surname "Duanmuh." Of the many Duanmuh clans, there were five that were very prominent. The five clans were the great clans that were dominant in all aspects of life in society in the old world. The clans were Jongshan, Beeiguu, Shiya, Donghwu and Nandao.

Actually, not everyone was willing to leave the old world. The number of people willing to emigrate was far less than the population in the old world. The group that was willing to move was also divided into several social strata. Important people who hold control in society belong to the elite. Those people, all members of their families, servants, and family members of their servants, would get a prime place in every fleet that would sail through the sky in search of a new world. That prime place was in the first, second, third, and so on until the sixteenth ship in each fleet. The seventeenth ship to the last ship was filled with ordinary people.

The 21st Fleet, led by the Great Admiral Maajenq Baoher, was one of the many fleets transporting people who would emigrate to the new world. Like other fleets, the 21st Fleet was enormous. Comprising three hundred giant ships, each of which could carry an unusually large number of passengers.

Since the Jongshan, Beeiguu, Shiya, Donghwu, and Nandao Clans were important clans, all members of the Duanmuh family belonging to those five notable clans had priority on occupying the leading ships in the 21st Fleet. So it shouldn't be possible for Duanmuh's family members to be passengers on the less essential vessels of the 21st Fleet. However, plans were not always in line with reality.

There were twelve young men from the Duanmuh family who were late to the place where the giant ships were taking off. Five of the twelve youths surnamed Duanmuh were from the Nandao Clan. The other four youths were from the Jongshan, Beeiguu, Shiya, and Donghwu Clans, respectively. The other three, also surnamed Duanmuh, were from clans that were not among the elite. They could be together with the elite Duanmuhs because they were the servants of one of them.

The youth's reasoning made no sense to their family members, who had already boarded the main ships. The youths said they had to help the less fortunate people who wanted to join the colony's ships but couldn't because of various obstacles. Yihshyong did not know if the youths had succeeded in helping those poor people. Shannchyuan himself didn't seem to know any further about the fate of those less fortunate.

What Yihshyong knew, of course, from what Shannchyuan had said, was that the young men had finally boarded the last ship of the 21st Fleet. The giant ship was so big and roomy. The youths then found their life partner on the ship. Indeed, according to historical records, there were many single men and women on the ship. They then breed on the ship along the way.

The descendants of the five youths who came from the Nandao clan then divided their line into five clans. Each clan was descended from each of the five youths. The splinter clans of the Nandao Clan were Jongnandao, Beeinandao, Shinandao, Dongnandao, and Tiannandao.

There were also members of the Nandao Clan who refused to join any of the new five clans. Those who insisted on it still declared themselves to be members of the one and undivided Nandao Clan. The members of the new five splinter clans referred to them as Jennandao.

Their descendants became important figures during the migration from the old world to the new world. Duanmuh Jinqkang was a member of the Jongnandao clan. Meanwhile, Duanmuh Shannchyuan was a member of the Tiannandao Clan. Even though they were split into five different clans or six clans, if the root clan was counted, the relationship between those clans was very close. Such circumstances made it difficult for the other clans to shake the influence of the Nandao Clan and its five splinter clans.

The Duanmuh family, who settled in the new world, consisted entirely of sixteen clans. They were the five main Duanmuh clans, namely Jongshan, Beeiguu, Shiya, Donghwu, and Nandao. Then the five new clans that previously were part of the Nandao Clan. The last six clans were the less important Duanmuh clans in the old world.

In short time, the people from the six Duanmuh Clans, namely the Nandao Clan and its five splinter clans, or rather the Duanmuh Clan from the last ship in the 21st Fleet, dominated the new world. It could be said that they were the rulers of the new world. The family members belonging to the six clans received extraordinary privileges.

Family members from the other four Duanmuh clans, who belong to the elite group, although not in power, still got some privileges. The rest, the six insignificant Duanmuh clans, were about the same standing as the other commoners. The difference was that sometimes they get a bit of ease when trouble or disaster befell them.

The new world was vast. Thousands of times larger than their old world. In addition, the composition of land and water in the new world was inversely proportional to the composition of land and water in the old world. However, during the first two thousand years there, the human community only dared to stay around where their ancestors landed, which was about five hundred kilometers east of this gigantic city. After they felt ready, they ventured to move forward in all directions. They valiantly spread to all corners of the new world.

Like the other families, the sixteen clans were also scattered throughout the new world. Although the distribution was not evenly distributed. Most of Duanmuh was concentrated in the central region. Duanmuh family members were infrequent in areas far from the center of power, for example, in Yeuandong. The Duanmuh family in Yueandong was one of the few Duanmuhs living there. Yihshyong had heard Shannchyuan say that his family had lived in Yeuandong for more than twenty generations.

Yihshyong's musings were interrupted when suddenly there was a sound from one of the Huahshiangs lying on the small table where their phone was. The sound of the small box was similar to the sound of Yihshyong's alarm clock. Yihshyong walked over to the small table where the box lay. Then he put earphones to his ears.

"Good afternoon!" There was a voice from the other end.

"Good afternoon," Yihshyong said.

"We are from the police. My name is Chioulin Shinnjaang. Who am I talking to?"

Shannchyuan had already told Yihshyong about the policeman who spoke to him last night. Chioulin Shinnjaang's voice was not as heavy as Yihshyong had initially imagined.

"I am Shimen Yihshyong. Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Chioulin?"

"Has Mr. Duanmuh arrived home yet?"

"Not yet, Sir! I've also been waiting for him to come home. Has he been back from there for a long time?"

Yihshyong shook his head. He did not know where the police were monitoring this case. But he knew the distance between him and Chioulin should be quite close. But Yihshyong's friends had to resort to a trick to go to a place not far from their house.

<<What's even weirder is why did he even ask me? Shouldn't he have known better about when Dahge and the others had left?>>

"They have been away from this place for a long time. So, they had transited at the mall near Jongharng Station, both on their way here and on their way home."

"Then I think they must have had lunch at the mall first. Ouch! I hope they don't linger there."

Yihshyong's anxiety rose again when he learned his friends had left the monitoring house long ago. Shannchyuan and the other friends were very careful. It was almost impossible for them to linger deliberately at the mall at such times.

<<It seems impossible for Dahge to act recklessly like that. Even if that happened, surely Jenqyih or Chioujen would remind him.>>

"Listen, Sir! I have something to say." Chioulin's voice sounded a little odd.

"Please, Sir!"

Yihshyong's feelings were getting worse. Chioulin's tone was exactly like that of the police officers in Yeuandong when they intercepted people for suspecting something of that person. Things like that in Yeuandong usually end badly.

"Something happened at the mall building!"

Chioulin's words made Yihshyong even more restless. Even though he was getting ready to receive bad news, there was still a part of him that wasn't easy to calm down.

"What happened there, Sir?"

"We have reports that the incident three days ago just happened again!"

"Are you referring to a flash of light that could temporarily blind the eye?"

"That's right, Mr. Shimen."

"Could you explain in more detail?"

"At this point, that's all we can say. We haven't received any further detailed information yet."

<<Why did it have to happen again today? It's really weird!>>

Yihshyong began to feel cold sweat dripping from his forehead and palms. He turned when he heard someone open the door of one bedroom. It turned out that Juger Chiouwoei, who had been sleeping all this time, had woken up. His face still looked pale. He didn't seem to know what to do now. Yihshyong gestured for Jinqkang to help Juger. He was worried that Juger was still weak, so he couldn't stand for long.

"Then what about what we're dealing with here soon? I mean, about the kidnappers calling here?"

"Inevitably, Mr. Shimen had to replace Mr. Duanmuh to receive the call."

<<The thing I feared happened!>>

"No problem, Sir!"

"Mr. Shimen, please don't worry too much. We are always on standby to monitor everything that happens."

"Thank you, Sir!"

After that, Chioulin hung up the phone.