SWDnovel Chapter 74 Encirclement
Chapter 74 Encirclement
"Fire! The accounting office is on fire!"
Batu's voice instantly shattered the false tranquility of the third-floor corridor of Juxianju.
His throat was almost hoarse from shouting; his voice was both shrill and hoarse.
He ran and shouted, waving his hands wildly in the air.
His robes were stained with black ash, and the cuffs had a hole burned in them by the fire, the edges charred and still emitting wisps of smoke.
His face was covered in sweat, which was mixed with black ash.
A door opened.
Another door opened.
One by one, the tightly closed wooden doors carved with flowers, birds, fish and insects on both sides of the corridor were pulled open from the inside.
"Where is the fire?" someone asked first.
Batu ran from the other end of the corridor, stumbling and falling.
As he ran, he pointed behind him, his finger scribbling randomly in the air.
"It's...it's over there! The accounting office! The fire is raging! Run! Run!"
His voice was trembling, and it wasn't an act; it was genuinely trembling.
He didn't need to act, because he had just set the fire himself, and he knew how fast and how fierce it burned.
That was no longer an "accident"; it was a spreading disaster.
The people in the corridor were stunned.
They looked at Batu's face, blackened by smoke, and at the tattered hole in his robe that was still smoking.
Then, a pungent smell of smoke drifted over.
"Run!"
I don't know who shouted it first.
Then, like a flood bursting its banks, everyone moved at the same instant.
Those guests who had been sitting quietly in the private rooms, sipping tea, talking, and gambling, suddenly swarmed out of their rooms like a disturbed hornet's nest.
Their faces had lost their usual composure and reserve, replaced by undisguised fear.
They were all rich and powerful, and they were always surrounded by followers when they walked down the street. They were all arrogant and thought that no matter what happened, someone would hold up the sky for them.
But at this moment, they are no different from ordinary people in the city. No one cares about dignity, status, or airs anymore.
Survival is the most important thing.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
"Don't push! Don't push!"
"My hat! My hat fell off!"
"Forget about hats! Life is more important!"
The corridor was instantly packed with people.
Some ran to the left, some ran to the right, and some stood still, bewildered, being pushed forward by the crowd and staggering a few steps, almost falling.
A fat man in a moon-white robe was pushed against the wall by the crowd. His face was pressed against the wall, and he frantically pounded on the wall with both hands, shouting, "Stop pushing! Stop pushing!" But no one paid any attention to him.
Batu stood at the corner of the corridor, leaning against the wall, panting heavily.
He watched the people running past him, their panicked faces, and a strange, inexplicable sense of pleasure welled up inside him.
But he didn't have time to appreciate the scene.
Although the fire at the accounting office is large, it may still be extinguished if someone brings buckets of water and organizes people to fight it in time.
The Tenth Master had already instructed him not to set just one fire.
One fire may be extinguished; but many fires are needed to burn it completely.
Multiple points of attack make it difficult for those fighting the fire to attend to all the issues.
He took out another porcelain bottle from his pocket and held it in his hand.
He then took out a tinderbox from his sleeve, opened the lid, and blew it into his mouth to light it.
He pushed open the door to an empty private room and went inside.
There was still some unfinished tea on the table.
A robe was draped over a chair by the window; the owner had left in such a hurry that he had forgotten to take it with him.
Batu poured the kerosene from the porcelain bottle onto the tablecloth, and then threw the tinder onto the tablecloth.
"laugh!"
The tablecloth caught fire.
The flames shot up instantly.
He turned and left without closing the door.
Another one.
Another room.
From the accounting room on the west side, to the private room in the middle of the corridor, to the storage room at the east end.
The fire raged wildly on the third floor of Juxianju, devouring everything that could burn.
The wooden beams creaked and groaned in the fire;
Batu stood at the top of the stairs and glanced back.
The corridor was empty except for the fire.
Those distinguished guests who were just standing at the door looking around, hesitating and wavering, have all run away now.
The heatwave stung his face, and the thick smoke stung his eyes, so he turned and ran down the stairs.
The people on the second floor have already started running.
It was a little later than the third floor, but the panic spread faster than the fire.
The tables on the second floor were empty; the dominoes table was crooked, dice were scattered all over the floor, and the wine jug had rolled to the corner, spilling wine everywhere.
When Batu ran down the stairs, there were hardly any people left on the second floor.
Just as he was about to continue running down the stairs, he suddenly saw two people standing at the top of the stairs.
Gao Mengyuan and Xiao Guoxing.
Gao Mengyuan stood in the center of the stairwell, his hands behind his back, his back ramrod straight.
His signature gentle smile was gone; his eyes, like two knives, were fixed on Batu.
Xiao Guoxing stood half a step behind Gao Mengyuan, his face ashen.
The three of them just stared at each other.
Then, Gao Mengyuan smiled.
"Young Master, what ruthless methods! Burning down my building, killing my men. What benefits did the Tenth Master promise you?"
"Tenth Master? What Tenth Master? You fucking tricked me and ruined me, and I'm not even allowed to get revenge on you?"
Batu knew that he absolutely could not reveal the Tenth Master's identity, as that would truly cost him his life.
"You think you can escape?" Gao Mengyuan took a step forward.
His body blocked the stairwell, leaving Batu with nowhere to go.
"Ball!" Gao Mengyuan called out without turning his head.
A huge figure emerged from behind Gao Mengyuan.
Batu recognized him; he was the burly man in black who stopped him at the top of the stairs on the third floor.
His face was expressionless, his eyes coldly fixed on Batu.
"Kill him."
Gao Mengyuan pointed at Batu with his finger, then turned around, grabbed Xiao Guoxing's sleeve, and walked towards the gate.
The area outside Juxianju was already crowded with people.
The guests who had escaped from the building stood in twos and threes on the street, some patting their chests and panting heavily.
Some were squatting on the ground coughing, while others were bent over, holding their knees, their faces ashen.
Their clothes were in disarray; some had lost their hats, some had lost their shoes, and some had several footprints on their robes.
They looked up at the third floor, where thick smoke was billowing from the windows, and the firelight flickered in and out of the smoke.
"Thank goodness, if we had been any later we wouldn't have made it out." A middle-aged man in a dark brown silk robe wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, his voice still trembling.
"That's right, I was playing Pai Gow, and I was halfway through when they started shouting outside."
"I didn't even have time to collect the money before I ran away." A tall, thin man next to him chimed in, his tone tinged with concern.
"What's money? Life is more important." An old man with a white beard said shakily, leaning on his cane. "I've lived for over sixty years, and this is the first time I've run so fast."
Some people in the crowd laughed, their laughter filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and the joy of escaping death.
One young man even laughed out loud a few times, patted his friend on the shoulder, and said, "A narrow escape from death is sure to bring good fortune! Tomorrow it's my treat, to Zui Xiang Lou!"