18 – The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character of the Aristocratic Family
After a young man left the room next to Jiang Huai’s, a raging fire slowly ignited from the kitchen area inside, growing larger and larger.
The flames seemed to go mad, rapidly sweeping through curtains and bed sheets, spreading wildly and devouring everything in their path without restraint.
The crimson fire gradually seeped through the cracks of the door, following the electrical wires and wooden door, spreading into the corridor and engulfing the entire floor.
“Beep, beep, beep,” the fire alarm sounded.
Due to the electrical fire, Jiang Huai felt the power go out while she was showering. With her sharp hearing, she heard the alarm ringing outside.
She quickly dried herself, put on her pajamas, and stepped out of her room to find thick smoke already filling the air, blurring her vision.
Jiang Huai covered her nose and mouth with a wet towel and erected a transparent barrier of light waves around herself. She kicked open the powerless door, rushed into the corridor, and wondered—how could a fire have started so suddenly when everything was fine just moments ago?
This fire sparked a hint of suspicion in her heart.
It was now past two in the morning, and most people were already asleep. Suddenly hearing the fire alarm, they ignored their valuables and focused on saving their lives, wrapping themselves in damp quilts as they fled outside.
Instantly, the corridor outside descended into chaos. Amid the thick, billowing smoke and sea of flames, they hurried toward the emergency exit.
Jiang Huai followed the crowd, her long wet hair clinging to her back through her pajamas. If she weren’t afraid of arousing suspicion, she would have used her Divine Power to extinguish the fire. This situation felt utterly miserable.
For some reason, she sensed something fishy about this fire. After all, she had only been in the shower for a short while—how could it have spread so quickly?
People scrambled frantically toward the stairwell.
As Jiang Huai ran, she suddenly heard the sound of a child crying and pounding on a door. “Bang, bang, open the door… open the door, bang, bang… Linlin is still in here…”
Jiang Huai had no choice but to retract the barrier of light waves around her. Instantly, the raging flames seemed to target her, licking at the hem of her pants. She quickly channeled a surge of Divine Power and struck the lock, shattering the electronic mechanism, but the door still wouldn’t budge.
Jiang Huai frowned slightly, her expression growing anxious. She raised her voice as much as possible, shouting, “Little one, step back a bit. Let me kick the door open, okay?”
Inside the room, the girl less than a meter tall seemed to hear someone speaking. With all her strength, she cried out, “Save me… wuwu… save Linlin…”
Jiang Huai shouted urgently, “Don’t cry! Move aside quickly. I’m going to kick the door open!”
This time, the little girl understood what the person outside was saying. She glanced at the door in front of her, now engulfed in flames, and the inferno behind her that seemed eager to devour her like an abyss.
Wrapped in a damp sheet, she managed to keep the flames from spreading onto her body. The wooden cabinet beside her was also ablaze, and the thick smoke made it difficult for her to keep her eyes open. She quickly found a safe spot and dashed to the side of the wooden cabinet.
In her heart, she hoped the older sister could really kick the door open and rescue her.
With all her might, she shouted, “Sister, I’ve moved aside!”
Hearing the little girl’s voice, Jiang Huai took a step back, infused her foot with Divine Power, and kicked hard at the wooden door covered in crimson flames.
“Bang!” The door instantly collapsed. The little girl stared at the door lying beside her, trembling in fear as she huddled against the wooden cabinet.Jiang Huai rushed in and quickly picked up the little girl. Now that she was carrying someone, she couldn’t use the transparent light wave barrier anymore.
She grabbed the bedsheet from the girl and wrapped her up tightly.
Holding her, she desperately dashed outside.
Whenever flames spread toward her, she would extinguish them with her Divine Power.
“Boom!”
A massive lightning bolt flashed across the starless night sky, roaring as if ready to strike at any moment, right above the hotel.
The system urgently warned, “Host, stop using Divine Power! You’ve been using forces that don’t belong to this world too frequently and have been detected by the Heavenly Dao!”
By now, Jiang Huai had already reached the staircase, carrying the little girl as she hurried down from the fourth floor.
She had no mind to reply to the system.
Escaping the fourth floor was somewhat better, as the fire hadn’t yet spread to the staircase.
Gu Yunze had been resting in the luxury suite at Flow Moon Manor that night.
At two in the morning, he received a call from the bodyguard he had assigned to protect Huai Huai, reporting that a major fire had broken out in the hotel—specifically on the fourth floor.
Though he had been suffering from a hangover, he instantly sobered up, his face pale with panic.
He rushed downstairs, drove at 120 kilometers per hour, and arrived at the scene in just ten minutes.
By then, the ambulance had already arrived.
Hundreds of people crowded around the base of the hotel, all looking up at the fourth floor where the fire raged.
“Why did it catch fire? My money… My phone burned… If only I hadn’t charged it, I could have taken it… Wuwuwu…”
“I came here on a business trip, and I didn’t grab my documents… Luckily, I have backups. How could this hotel’s safety measures be so poor?”
“…”
Suddenly, a grief-stricken woman’s voice rose from the crowd. Several people held her back, preventing her from rushing inside.
“Ahhh! My daughter is still in there… Get away, all of you, get away!”
“Don’t go in! The fourth floor is completely engulfed in flames…”
“Chances are slim for anyone inside. Let the firefighters handle it, or you’ll just be throwing your life away…”
“No! My Linlin… I shouldn’t have locked you in there alone and gone out… Wuwuwu…” Hearing this, the woman collapsed helplessly to the ground, her face etched with sorrow as she wailed loudly.
“Oh, what a tragedy! She’ll be burned alive!”
“It’s truly a sin to lock a child alone in a hotel so late at night…”
Though others felt deep pity, no one dared to charge into the inferno—who would risk such a massive fire?
A black Rolls-Royce Phantom screeched to a rocket-like stop just outside the crowd in front of the hotel.
Gu Yunze’s brows were tightly furrowed, his heart gripped as if by a giant hand, leaving him breathless.
He had been calling Jiang Huai repeatedly on the way, but no one answered.
There was only one bodyguard; he had been smoking downstairs and, upon discovering the fire, immediately called the fire department and then contacted Master Yun.
Now, seeing Master Yun’s car arrive, he skirted the crowd and approached him.
“Sir, I haven’t seen Miss Jiang come down!” However, this bodyguard had clearly underestimated Gu Yunze’s concern for Jiang Huai.
Hearing this, Gu Yunze acted faster than he could think, charging straight into the hotel.
The bodyguard had assumed that Miss Jiang was merely someone Master Yun found somewhat interesting—otherwise, why hadn’t he spent lavishly to pursue her?
That’s why he hadn’t considered going in to rescue her earlier.The bodyguard stared in stunned disbelief at Gu Yunze’s gradually disappearing figure, his heart roiling with shock—how could the young master just charge in like that!