Chapter 63 Fire Black smoke hung above the flames, like the legendary demon...

“It’s nothing,” Jiu Su said lightly, “I’m just going to be away for a few days. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

How could Shu Qing not be worried? Although she had a general idea of ​​Jiu Su's fighting ability, she was unwilling to imagine Jiu Su facing a monster that might go out of control. She asked in a low voice, "Can I come with you?"

Her talent for calming little geckos might come in handy this time too.

Jiu Su glanced sideways; all the other colleagues had already discreetly moved away, leaving only the two of them in this corner.

He lowered his head and gently refused, saying, "No. This time the situation is different. The opponent is a very aggressive demon. If you rely on your talent, it will probably drain you dry. Besides, it's not safe either."

Shu Qing blinked and asked him, "Will you hurt me?"

“No,” Jiu Su said with a smile, “so I won’t let you go. Just stay in H City and wait for me to come back.” He paused slightly, then added, “Also, you’d better bring your aunt and uncle over as well.”

Shu Qing's pupils contracted slightly; he had actually thought the same thing as her. "Is it very dangerous?"

“If it gets out of control, it will be very dangerous,” Jiu Su said calmly. “Do you remember that fire-breathing flying squirrel that was at the top of the popularity charts before?”

The monster information that Shu Qing had been studying finally came in handy at this moment. She immediately realized, "Firelight Rat? Is this one too?"

“Yes,” Jiu Su said, “but it’s a Firelight Rat with an energy level of 7.2.”

"Is it similar to the type of guard dog Chen Minghui used to keep at home?"

"No...it has always been hidden in a remote, uninhabited area."

Shu Qing frowned, looked up at Jiu Su, and read something else in his eyes—it would be plausible to say there were some remote, uninhabited areas near H City. But land near the capital is incredibly expensive, with houses costing exorbitant prices. Where would you find so many deserted mountains where a powerful, undiscovered demon might be hiding?

A chill ran down her spine, and Shu Qing immediately understood why Jiu Su refused to take her. She broke free from Jiu Su's embrace, grabbed her phone, and without even checking the price, immediately booked tickets for Shu Tong and Zhao Yuqing for tonight and sent the information to her family group chat.

After buying the plane ticket, she breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at Jiu Su, and asked softly, "When are you leaving?"

“Now.” Jiu Su touched her hair. “This is urgent. We have to leave today. I was worried that I wouldn’t have time to go back and say goodbye to you, but thankfully, you came to find me.”

Shu Qing felt her eyes welling up with tears. Ever since Xiao Hong came to her side, she and Xiao Hong had only been apart during the week she was preparing for her exams; otherwise, they were inseparable. Later, her little snake transformed into Jiu Su, and the two became even more inseparable, never spending a single day apart.

But she wasn't one to shed tears over something like this. She blinked, holding back the tears welling up in her eyes, and asked, "How long will it take?"

"It won't be long. If all goes well, I might be back in two or three days; if not, I'll be busy for about a week, but I'll still be able to find some time to come back and see you."

Shu Qing silently prayed for "everything to go smoothly," then reluctantly touched his face and said somewhat cheekily, "You're so capable, it seems unnecessary to tell you to take care of yourself. But I still have to say it, so please just say it to put my mind at ease."

"Hmm." Jiu Su lowered her eyelashes and gazed at her, her eyes filled with a smile. "Since you've put it that way, how could I possibly refuse?"

He glanced back at the corner of the stairwell. At first glance, there was no one there, but every now and then, a corner of a coat would peek out from the corner. The others were already waiting there, tacitly giving them a little time to say goodbye.

Jiu Su knew she couldn't keep them waiting any longer, so she lowered her head and kissed Shu Qing's forehead, her voice soft and gentle, "I'm leaving."

"Okay," Shu Qing said with a smile, "I'll watch you leave."

She watched as Jiu Su's white clothes and hair disappeared around the corner, a silent emptiness filling her heart, and the forced smile on her face vanished completely. Dejected, she left the traffic control bureau, not wanting to go home. After wandering around for a while, she drove to the airport to pick up her parents.

Shu Tong and Zhao Yuqing had already received their plane tickets. The two elderly people trusted their daughters a lot, so without saying a word, they packed a few things and headed straight for the Capital Airport.

It wasn't until I got a taxi that I asked Shuqing about the specifics over the phone—there was no other way; if I had found out the situation first before setting off, I definitely wouldn't have made it in time for Shuqing's incredible ticket-buying spree.

While driving, Shu Qing hurried over the phone to relay the information Jiu Su had given her, omitting only the part about their "remote wilderness" speculation.

After saying that, she reassured them, "It should be fine. People from the traffic management bureau have all gone there. Just in case."

"Okay." Shu Tong reassured her in return, "Your dad and I are already at the airport. We'll check in right away and be there soon, don't worry."

Shu Qing forced a smile and said, "I'm not in a hurry," but her palms were already sweating, and she could barely hold the steering wheel.

She now realizes that sometimes the unknown is not necessarily a bad thing—you know that danger may come, but you don't know if it will come or when it will come, which is a kind of mental torture.

She drove to the airport with a heavy heart, her mind slowing her down. She watched several cars whiz past her, leaving only blurry afterimages.

When she arrived at the airport, she parked her car and randomly picked a restaurant to eat at. She ate so badly that she almost wanted to give the restaurant a bad review.

But she managed to resist leaving a bad review. She thought sadly that maybe she was no longer used to eating alone.

After tasting the last sip of soup, Shu Qing borrowed a power bank, found a place to sit down, and waited while scrolling through her phone.

She glanced at the time; her parents should have just boarded the plane and were probably busy arranging their luggage and seats. Calling them would only cause trouble. So she simply left a message, wishing them a safe journey, and reopened her chat window with Jiu Su.

Talking to Jiu Su made her mood less heavy. Two minutes earlier, Jiu Su had sent her eight photos of the scenery outside the window. It seemed that the Super Management Bureau's plane had already taken off.

I don't know how they managed to coordinate things. They left in such a hurry when they were leaving, and now they've only just set off.

The photos weren't accompanied by any text, but through this barrage of images, it's clear that Jiu Su is incredibly curious about flying.

Although Shu Qing was feeling heavy-hearted, she couldn't help but smile as she thought of Xiao Hong's first time on an airplane and asked him, "How was it? Was it fun?"

“Not really,” Jiu Su replied quickly, “I’m feeling a little unwell.”

Shu Qing genuinely laughed this time; she hadn't expected a monster to get airsick. Even through the screen, she could practically picture Jiu Su's slightly furrowed brow and a hint of grievance as she said those words.

She originally wanted to say, "Ask the flight attendant for something sour to calm him down," but then she thought that he didn't like sour food, so she deleted the suggestion. She wanted to suggest that he take some motion sickness medication, but she wasn't sure if a snake could eat that kind of medicine.

Before she could come up with any reliable advice, Jiu Su asked again, "How are your aunt and uncle? Have they boarded the plane?"

"They should be online by now," Shu Qing glanced at the family group chat box again and replied, "but they haven't replied to my message yet. Are you still upset?"

"Um."

With a crisp "Mmm," Shu Qing kindly suggested, "Stop playing on your phone, take a nap, and you'll feel fine when you wake up."

“No,” Jiu Su insisted, “I want to look out the window.”

This reaction is remarkably similar to his "little monster learning to be human" persona in front of the audience. It turns out that this is how he is when he encounters something he doesn't understand at all, no wonder he acted so convincingly.

Shu Qing glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then opened the voice message feature, softly hummed a lullaby, and sent it. She added, "Sweetie, go to sleep. I'll lull you to sleep~"

Jiu Su didn't reply. It's unclear whether she was truly lulled to sleep by her lullaby or was too airsick to bear and went to ask the flight attendant for medication.

Shu Qing's anxiety and heaviness eased considerably after being interrupted by him. She turned on her phone, switched the location to the capital, and casually checked the area around the capital for any unusual activity in the past few days.

Her farewell to Jiu Su was ultimately too hasty. She knew nothing about how she discovered the Firelight Rat was on the verge of going out of control, what the signs of that impending loss of control were, or how she planned to deal with it. Now, browsing these news articles is utterly pointless, absorbing a large amount of fragmented and ineffective information.

Shu Qing clicked refresh again without much hope, and suddenly, a notification with billowing smoke appeared abruptly.

"A fire suddenly broke out at Beijing Capital International Airport, with a massive explosion. [Images]"

The three images show raging flames, with large plumes of orange-red filling the entire scene. Black smoke hangs above the flames, like the wings of a demon from legend, covering the entire complex.

In the blink of an eye, a flood of comments appeared below: "May everyone be safe," "Holy crap, looks like the casualties won't be low," "[candle.jpg]"

For a period of time—maybe a second, maybe a minute—Shuqing did not respond.

Her mind and expression were blank. She didn't even realize her phone had fallen to the ground until someone in the nearby crowd screamed, which brought her back to consciousness.

"No way," she murmured, bending down frantically to pick up her phone. "At this time, it must have already taken off, it can't be..."

She grabbed the phone, but her hand was shaking so badly that she lost her grip and the phone crashed to the ground with a loud thud, the screen immediately cracking open with a long fissure.

Shu Qing ignored the crack and tapped the screenshot of the plane ticket with trembling hands. She glanced at it again: the ticket she bought was for a departure time of 18:21; the time the post about the airport fire was sent was... 18:27.

But who knows if the plane will be delayed by five or ten minutes? Even a five-minute delay wouldn't be considered a delay...

"Did your family also fly from the capital to H city?"

Which flight?

"Can we get in touch with them?"

Amidst the commotion, she dialed Shu Tong's number, only to find it was switched off. She then dialed Zhao Yuqing's number, which was also switched off. The chat window still displayed her last message, "Have a safe journey," hanging empty, still without a reply.

Shu Qing awkwardly opened the flight search website again, but this time the website was delayed for a while.

There was nothing there. The ubiquitous signals and data hadn't reacted yet, or perhaps the fire had destroyed some of the airport's equipment, making it impossible to communicate with the aviation network in a timely manner.

She dialed the number again, but the phone was still off... She tried sending messages in vain, but still received no reply...

The sound of phones ringing sporadically around her began... then came the sound of crying. Her phone started receiving messages from acquaintances at the Supermarket Management Bureau, such as Jin Wanli and Xie Heng...

The screen was filled with jumbled words and messages, but she had no interest in reading them. She waited in this chaos for an unknown amount of time before her phone rang.

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Author's note: Mom and Dad are both okay, what a scare! [doge emoji]

Ashu is a lucky baby in this life.