Ying Xiaoman carried Zhi as she searched for people around the fire scene.
The crowd of onlookers pointed at the great fire, while women who had narrowly escaped huddled with their children, sobbing. The fire had started suddenly in the night. The eastern part of the alley was still okay, but in the five or six households on the western side, almost every family had members who hadn't managed to escape in time.
Shen Junqing's cries and curses still echoed intermittently on the wind.
Zhi also sensed something was wrong. Rubbing her eyes that had turned red from the thick smoke, she looked around and asked, "Where's Auntie?"
Ying Xiaoman searched the entire crowd, but there was no sign of her adoptive mother anywhere.
She called out loudly, "Mother!" Many women in the crowd turned in response, but among the many faces showing various emotions of joy and sorrow, none belonged to her adoptive mother.
With a loud wail, Zhi burst into tears: "Auntie! Auntie is in the fire!"
Amidst the waves of heat coming from the fire, cold sweat broke out on Ying Xiaoman's forehead.
Faced with this catastrophe, she was forced to remain calm. Carrying Zhi, she quickly walked to where Shen Junqing was still crying out loudly, and grabbed him forcefully by the shoulder, pulling him over.
This move was so powerful that even the two guards holding Shen Junqing couldn't restrain him. Shen Junqing's cries stopped for a moment. "...Miss Xiaoman?"
"Stop wailing," Ying Xiaoman said, placing Zhi in Shen Junqing's arms. "Hold the little one tight. I'm going back to check."
Shen Junqing stood dumbfounded, holding the sobbing little girl.
Go back where to check?...
He suddenly realized with shock, "Miss Xiaoman? Miss Xiaoman?! Don't go!"
But at the smoke-filled entrance of the alley, the young woman who had been standing in front of him talking just moments ago had already vanished.
Dozens of firefighters rushed about to fight the fire. Sacks filled with thirty jin of soil were carried into the fire scene one after another.
Thick smoke rolled everywhere, with every household in the alley on fire. From the front came a loud shout, "The fire is too fierce, don't enter the houses, beware of collapse!"
"Oil has been poured to start the fire, water is useless! Bring in more wet soil to block the fire's spread!"
A slender shoulder carried a sack of soil into the alley. The heavy sack covered the face, and as the fire chief ran past in the thick smoke, he couldn't see the figure clearly, only a large sack coming towards him. He praised, "Well done! Put the soil down at the front. We can't stop the fire now, just block it from spreading. Let the whole alley burn out on its own."
The slim figure carrying the sack headed straight for the front, disappearing into the thick smoke of the deep alley in moments.
*
"Cough, cough, cough, cough."
The wet cloth couldn't keep out the thick smoke. Ying Xiaoman coughed violently as she felt her way to the doorway of her home where flames were leaping up, and shouted, "Mother!"
There was no response.
Before she had gone in to look for Zhi, she had clearly led her adoptive mother out the door. The fire had spread from the west, and under normal circumstances, her adoptive mother should have already run out to the east end of the alley.
Now that she wasn't among the crowd at the alley entrance, something must have gone wrong along the way. Shen's wife hadn't made it out either...
In a flash of insight, a thought crossed her mind.
Ying Xiaoman turned and ran towards the neighboring Shen household, shouting: "Mother! Are you at the Shen's?"
The small courtyard of the Shen house was already engulfed in black smoke and flames. The doorstep was crackling as it burned in the flames. Without hesitation, Ying Xiaoman leaped over it, running towards the main room of the Shen house, "Mother!"
If nothing unexpected had happened, her adoptive mother should have already left the alley.
Unless she had heard Shen's wife calling for help halfway. She and Shen's wife were good friends, and she definitely wouldn't have left her to die. She must have turned back halfway to save her...
Ying Xiaoman kicked open the half-closed door of the main room.
Inside, thick smoke billowed, fire had started everywhere, a wave of scorching heat rushed out of the room, the floor was so hot it burned the soles of her feet, she couldn't see anything in front of her, she coughed violently as she called out in all directions, "Mother, Mrs. Shen, are you here?"
A faint response came from the east.
Behind the burning wooden door, someone weakly called out, "The door won't open..."
*
The sound of horse hooves suddenly stopped at the entrance of the burning alley.
Several officials from the Shuntian Prefecture hurried forward to greet the arrival.
"Young Master Yan." "The fire is so big, it actually alarmed Young Master Yan to come in person."
"We've already sealed off the entire alley to prevent the fire from spreading. Rest assured, Young Master Yan, Changle Alley is safe..."
The surrounding bright torches illuminated the face of the newcomer.
The pair of peach blossom eyes that were usually clear and smiling were now sharp as they looked around, interrupting the polite greetings, "How are the injuries? Have all the residents in the alley been rescued?"
The officials sighed and pointed towards the raging fire illuminating the night sky in the alley.
"Today's fire was deliberately set by someone who poured oil at the home of the criminal official Zhou in Seven Scholars Lane. Oil is everywhere on the ground, it's impossible to extinguish with human power, we can only wait for it to burn out. As for the alley residents, those who could be saved have been rescued. Young Master Yan, please look, they're all gathered here. As for those still trapped in the fire, we're powerless to save them now..."
Following the official's gesture, Yan Seventh Young Master turned around, his gaze sweeping over the gathered crowd.
Among the many soft crying voices, a little girl's sharp cries were particularly clear, "Sister, I want my sister!"
Shen Junqing's face was covered in soot as he crouched on the ground, crying with Zhi, "Stop crying, little girl, my ears are going deaf, mother... wah, Miss Xiaoman..."
"Where is Xiaoman?" A clear voice asked nearby.
Shen Junqing looked up in surprise to see a young government official wearing a vermilion official robe, illuminated by the surrounding torches.
The official in vermilion was asking him, but his eyes were fixed on the little girl crying in his arms. "Zhi, where is your sister?"
Zhi, who had been crying non-stop since her sister left, suddenly stopped and reached out her hands, sniffling, "Seventh Young Master, sister is gone."
Shen Junqing's eyes widened in shock. Seventh Young Master?
The Seventh Young Master who wrote the calligraphy for Miss Xiaoman's butcher shop?!
Yan Seventh Young Master picked up Zhi, gently patting her back a few times, his eyes fixed on Shen Junqing as he asked again: "Where did Zhi's sister go?"
Shen Junqing wiped the soot from his face and looked towards the deep alley where flames were rising.
"My mother couldn't escape, and it seems Miss Xiaoman's mother couldn't get out either. She handed Zhi to me, said 'going back to check,' and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared. I'm not sure if she went back into the alley to look for people..."
Yan Seventh Young Master took a deep breath, his chest and lungs aching subtly.
"If she couldn't find her mother, she must have gone back into the alley to look."
The fire was too big, and the dozens of firefighters from the North Fire Tower were far from enough. Yan Seventh Young Master instructed several officials from the Ministry of Justice who had come with him:
"Send urgent reports by fast horse to all fire towers across the city. This fire in Seven Scholars Lane is related to the major case of military equipment trafficking and collusion with the enemy that the Three Departments are jointly investigating. In the name of the Ministry of Justice, urgently dispatch firefighters from all over the city to put out the fire and save people with all efforts."
As he spoke, he walked towards the large water vats placed at the alley entrance for firefighting, scooping up a large ladle of water and pouring it over himself.
Several officials from Shuntian Prefecture hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "The fire is urgent, Young Master Yan, please take care of yourself! Going into the alley now, I'm afraid you won't be able to save anyone, and will only harm yourself—"
"Your approach is correct," Yan Seventh Young Master said in an extremely calm tone. "If I were in charge, I would also stop people from entering the alley. But you don't need to stop me."
*
The burning, deformed wooden door crackled in the fire.
Ying Xiaoman kicked open the wooden door and felt her way into the pitch-dark east room, covering her mouth and nose with a wet cloth. Fortunately, the layout of the houses in Seven Scholars Lane was all similar. She coughed and shouted loudly: "Mother!"
Shen's wife had collapsed by the door. She had inhaled too much smoke and was already unconscious.
Her adoptive mother had fallen next to Shen's wife. She was struggling between semi-consciousness and semi-lucidity, but her body was completely weak, unable to get up.
"Shen's wife hurriedly injured her leg and was trapped under a wooden cabinet, unable to escape. I pushed the cabinet away for her, but by the time I had supported her up, the door couldn't be opened anymore."
Her adoptive mother said weakly, "I also knew I was like a clay Buddha crossing a river, I shouldn't have meddled in others' affairs. But hearing her cry out again and again, if I had abandoned her, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself for the rest of my life..."
"Don't blame yourself, Mother," Ying Xiaoman said, supporting her by the arm to help her up. "Saving people is never wrong."
With the unconscious Shen's wife on her back, Ying Xiaoman supported her mother with one hand and passed her the wet cloth: "Cover your mouth and nose, don't be afraid of the fire at the door, just close your eyes and rush out."
Her adoptive mother covered her mouth and nose: "Child, what about you?"
"I still have one. Mother, you go first, I'll watch the back."
Her daughter's hand steadily supported her back, pushing her forward.
Her adoptive mother stumbled ahead, passing by the fiercely burning doors and windows, the courtyard filled with scorching heat. Something unknown happened outside the alley, and suddenly there was a loud boom at the courtyard gate where small fires had been creeping around. The flames shot up high, and the half-closed wooden doors instantly burned into gates of fire.
Her adoptive mother cried out in terror, "Child!"
"Mother, don't be afraid. Close your eyes and rush through. The fire looks fierce when it first starts, but you can get through it quickly," Ying Xiaoman urged from behind. "Mother, close your eyes and run forward. Once we're out the door, we'll be fine."
Facing the Shen family's gate that had become a wall of fire, her daughter's hands pushed her forward urgently from behind. The adoptive mother screwed her eyes shut, covered her mouth and nose with a wet cloth, and rushed through the fiery gate on unsteady feet.
As expected, they made it through the freshly burning wooden door in one swift dash.
The alley was still filled with rolling waves of heat and thick smoke, but compared to the courtyard ablaze on all sides and the scorching fire gate, at least one could catch their breath here.
The adoptive mother staggered a few steps, rushed past a mound of fire-blocking soil, rolled a few times to extinguish the small flames flickering on her body, and collapsed beside the dirt pile.
"Child..."
But no one followed behind her.
The adoptive mother's mind went blank, and with a sudden burst of strength from who knows where, she hurriedly propped herself up and looked back.
The burning oil on the ground to the west was slowly flowing eastward, spreading the fire wherever it went. A large pool of oil had already flowed to the front of the Shen family's gate.
In that brief moment when the adoptive mother had closed her eyes and rushed out, the oil pooled in front of the Shen family's gate had gone from gathering to igniting to its final explosive breath. In the blink of an eye, the large pool of oil at the Shen family's gate had erupted into a raging inferno.
The massive wall of fire blocked the doorway.
Ying Xiaoman, carrying the Shen's Wife on her back, was trapped inside.
The adoptive mother cried out in panic: "Child!"
*
Ying Xiaoman's throat burned fiercely. Having inhaled too much thick smoke and with her eyes stinging, she saw stars dancing before her eyes.
She could actually hear her adoptive mother's shouts. She waved her hand towards the roaring fire at the doorway, not knowing if the old woman could see her.
But the unconscious Shen's Wife was sliding down her back. She felt the heavy weight behind her and groped to support her, accidentally touching a burning piece of wood nearby. Her hand was scalded, and without support, Shen's Wife slumped softly to the ground. She quickly propped her up.
The raging fire burned before her eyes. She wasn't afraid, supporting Shen's Wife, ready to dash out at any moment. But her feet were burning hot, and the thick smoke was choking her severely. She could barely stand.
It seemed people had arrived in the alley and were talking to her adoptive mother.
All she could hear was the crackling of the flames and the occasional thunderous sound of collapsing structures. She couldn't make out what was being said outside, only hearing her adoptive mother shouting:
"...Shen family! Behind the Shen family's fire gate!"
Many footsteps came rushing over.
Ying Xiaoman's vision was blurred by smoke and fire, her eyes stinging so badly she could barely open them. But just from the heat and the blurry shape of the flames in front of her, she could sense that the towering fire over three meters high at the Shen family's gate had noticeably diminished.
Someone was throwing wet mud and rammed earth onto the burning oil.
As soon as the fire died down a bit, someone rushed through the burning gate and scooped up the swaying Ying Xiaoman in one swift motion.
Her face, scorched by the fire, suddenly pressed against an ice-cold, soaking wet collar. The sensation was more refreshing than eating a bowl of shaved ice on a hot summer day, and she instinctively clung to it for the moisture.
Her eyes still burned too much to open, but she felt someone piling wet mud on her face and body, quickly extinguishing the small flames on her, and then applying thick wet mud to her burned palms.
A familiar voice called anxiously from outside the gate, "Young Master, the burning oil is spreading everywhere on the ground. Don't linger, hurry!"
Someone took Shen's Wife from her back, and the heavy burden disappeared.
Strong hands supported her as she stood up, gauged her weight, and then simply lifted her into a horizontal carry. Her entire face pressed against the ice-cold, soaking wet collar.
"Let's go," said the familiar voice from above her head.
Scorching heat rolled in from all directions, and many voices shouted loudly around them. She was carried swiftly out for a stretch, the burning, suffocating feeling subsided, and their pace slowed down.
"Mother, follow us," said Ying Xiaoman, rubbing her stinging eyes.
Actually, from the moment someone had rushed through the fire gate, she had guessed who it was from the blurry outline she saw. When Sui Miao called out "Young Master" from beyond the gate, she had smiled.
"Your mother is following us," the young master carrying her finally spoke a full sentence. It was indeed Yan Seventh Young Master.
Her eyes were too irritated to open, so Ying Xiaoman simply kept them closed, groping to extend her arms and wrap them around the young master's neck and shoulders, alternately rubbing her scorching hot cheeks against his wet collar.
It was still hot around them, but the choking smoke began to gradually decrease. They were quickly leaving the center of the fire.
"Your hair and clothes are all wet," Ying Xiaoman mumbled, feeling around with her eyes closed. "You're soaked through."
Yan Seventh Young Master's voice came from above her head. The urgency from his earlier brief "Let's go" had disappeared, returning to his usual composure.
"Not just soaked through," he calmly joked with her. "I've also had my neck smeared with a thick layer of wet mud for burn prevention by a little lady escaping from a sea of fire."
"..." Ying Xiaoman quickly withdrew her hands.
She rubbed her fingertips together, and sure enough, her palms and the backs of her hands were covered in thick, wet mud.
The seventh young master, who usually kept himself neat and tidy, now had soaking wet clothes and hair, with mud on his neck. Who knows what he looked like now.
She hastily raised her hand and tried to wipe here and there with her sleeve. "Is your neck clean now?"
Yan Seventh Young Master let her wipe as she pleased. When she was mostly done, he leisurely replied: "You've wiped off a layer of mud from my neck, only to replace it with a new layer of soot from your sleeve."
Ying Xiaoman: "..."
Puff! She buried her face in his damp collar, muffling her laughter.
In the time it took to exchange these few words, the scorching heat around them had gradually subsided, and faint voices could be heard from ahead.
Nearby, she heard her adoptive mother's choked cries: "Child, has my child come out..."
"Mother, I'm fine!" Ying Xiaoman raised her voice to shout: "Seventh Young Master rushed through the fire gate and helped me out."
Her adoptive mother's excited sobs reached her ears, crying and laughing at the same time.
Ying Xiaoman's voice was already hoarse, but she just couldn't stop smiling.
The voices ahead grew louder, and she could faintly hear Zhi's cries.
The little girl's shrill cries mixed with Shen Junqing's intermittent sobs, carried far by the night wind. This odd pair, one big and one small, were still crouched at the entrance of the alley, sobbing their hearts out.
They were very close to the crowd gathered at the alley entrance now.
Ying Xiaoman suddenly realized she was still being carried in Yan Seventh Young Master's arms and struggled to get down. Unable to dissuade her, Yan Seventh Young Master compromised by half-supporting, half-carrying her:
"Your eyes are irritated by the smoke and you can't see clearly. There's no need to force yourself. I'll support you as we go out—"
Several hurried footsteps approached.
The fire had alarmed various parties, and the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture had rushed over from his home in the middle of the night. Surrounded by several chief officials of the Shuntian Prefecture, he hurriedly came forward to apologize:
"This lowly official just heard that Young Lord Yan risked danger in the fire, and was terrified. Fortunately, heaven protects the worthy! Young Lord Yan made a decisive judgment in the moment of crisis and bravely rescued the common people from the sea of fire. This official will certainly write Young Lord Yan's heroic deed from tonight into a memorial to be submitted to the imperial court—"
Several officials from the Ministry of Justice who had been dispatched to relay urgent orders had also just returned. One of them hurriedly approached, stopped in front of Yan Seventh Young Master, and reported:
"Young Lord Yan, we subordinates have already followed orders and urgently commanded the fire watchtowers throughout the city to send aid. Two of them have already arrived to fight the fire! Two more are about to arrive!"
The chief officials of the two fire watchtowers that had already arrived stepped forward at the same time, stopping in front of Yan Seventh Young Master and vying to report:
"This official is the chief of the Eastern City Fire Watchtower. Following the orders of Young Lord Yan of the Ministry of Justice, I have brought 88 firefighters to help extinguish the fire!"
"This official is the chief of the Western City Fire Watchtower. Following the orders of Young Lord Yan of the Ministry of Justice, I have brought 120 firefighters to help extinguish the fire!"
Yan Seventh Young Master: "..."
Ying Xiaoman: "..."
Yan Seventh Young Master couldn't cover so many mouths at once. His sharp, restraining gaze had barely swept over one or two people in front of him when calls of "Young Lord Yan" rang out from all directions.
"..." He was speechless for a moment, then looked down at the young lady he was half-supporting, half-carrying.
Having just emerged from the fire, Ying Xiaoman stood rigidly in place, her ears filled with "Young Lord Yan of the Ministry of Justice." After a long moment, she said in a daze, "Huh...?"
Young Lord Yan what? What Young Lord of the Ministry of Justice? Who was calling Seventh Young Master the Young Lord of the Ministry of Justice?
Huh? Huh?!!