"Fire! Run!" Qin Xiaoyu had already sensed the danger and was the fastest to react.
Commander Zhou was a veteran of countless battles, so he had this much awareness. He grabbed Zhou Xingma with one hand and Hanhan with the other, and quickly moved towards the side door.
Qin Xiaoyu had also visually estimated that the side door was the shortest way out. Some viewers who had realized this were already moving, and soon the path to the back entrance would be blocked.
In the blink of an eye, the family had entered the hall through the side door, and the first wave of spectators who ran out screamed and rushed towards the door.
Qin Xiaoyu held Lisheng's hand in one hand and Xiaojin's hand in the other. These two were Deng's children, and she was responsible for them to the end once they were handed over to her.
Once outside the theater, I saw thick smoke billowing from the windows on the side of the building, indicating that the fire was quite large.
Wang Lei and A Lei were inside, while Tang Fengqin and Xiao Mei were backstage. Nobody knew what was going on inside.
"Aunt Wang, is there a back door to get into the backstage area?" Qin Xiaoyu was worried about her younger sister and was already panicking.
"Yes, where is she! I'm going too!" The cousin and his wife were so worried about their daughter that they stamped their feet anxiously.
“That small door is useless. It’s packed full inside. If a fire breaks out, people won’t be able to walk through it. They’ll be trampled to death!” Commander Wang was so anxious that tears were streaming down his face.
Qin Xiaoyu had just heard her talk about the theater's safety issues a few days ago, and unexpectedly, it actually came true.
She had been backstage before; the passageways were pitifully narrow, and many of the dressing rooms were partitioned off later using only plywood. If that stuff caught fire, it would be like a fire burning down the entire camp.
A siren blared, and fire trucks arrived one after another. Most of the audience had been evacuated from the theater, but only a portion of the actors emerged. Firefighters rushed in to begin rescuing them.
People anxiously searched for their loved ones in the crowd, their shouts echoing throughout.
Qin Xiaoyu handed the children over to Zhou Xing's mother and rushed into the crowd. She rushed over to look at any short person she saw, but neither her younger sister nor A Lei appeared.
"Little sister! A Lei!" Qin Xiaoyu cried out, her heart breaking.
Why isn't she backstage? Why did she leave her younger sister behind?
A Lei rushed directly onto the stage from below. When he arrived, the curtain had already burned to pieces. The velvet material was inherently flammable, and large clusters of flames descended from the sky.
He had never been backstage, but he knew the routine. As soon as he reached the stage entrance, he was pushed back by the crowd surging out from backstage.
The fire started from the back; by the time you saw the flames from the front, the fire was already raging fiercely at the back.
Knowing that the road ahead was narrow, all the actors wanted to escape from the front.
Time is precious now, and there's no time to wait for everyone to come out before going in. But the people in front of me are all crazy and have long lost their minds, so it's impossible to squeeze in.
A Lei suddenly remembered a place. He turned around, jumped off the stage, and rushed towards the side door.
Everyone rushed to one place, which was the main entrance; the area in front of the restrooms was quite empty.
He remembered that when he first came in, he went to the restroom with Wang Jian. There was a locked glass door next to it. The door was frosted glass, but judging from the sounds inside, it must have been a restroom used by internal staff.
That means there's a connection to the backend there.
A Lei walked to the door, picked up the mop next to him, and shoved it into the glass. With a crash, the glass shattered, and the air quality inside became even worse.
He didn't bother clearing away all the broken glass; he took off his coat, wrapped it around his head, and squeezed through the window. He had several cuts on his hands, and blood was dripping down.
Without even glancing at it, he took off running inside. As he passed the pool, he pulled off his sweater, splashed water on it, and held it in his hand. He then soaked his coat, put it over his head, and squeezed through the backstage door.
The inside was engulfed in flames, the wood crackling and popping as it burned, and every now and then something would explode.
After the last sound, all the lights in the room went out.
"Don't be afraid, we'll find the way soon." Someone spoke up ahead; the voice sounded familiar.
"Wang Lei?" A Lei called out.
"Ah Lei!" Wang Lei, carrying Tang Fengqin on his back, stumbled and rushed over.
"Quick, there's a door here, let's go. Have you seen Little Sister?" A Lei asked, directing Wang Lei to crawl out of the doorway.
"I didn't see it." Wang Lei said and rushed out. Tang Fengqin clung softly to his back, as if she was injured.
A Lei glanced at the fire, gritted his teeth, and crawled into the passage.
These people fled in such a hurry that many things were scattered in the aisle, some of which were already on fire. A-Lei was so focused on rushing forward that his trousers were already on fire. He patted them a few times with his sweater and quickly covered his mouth and nose.
The most deadly part of a fire is the thick smoke; many people die from suffocation.
"Little sister! Little sister!" he shouted.
Judging from what just happened, it's unlikely that the little girl escaped on her own. Such a young child, caught in such a terrible situation and unable to tell directions, would likely be trampled if she tried to run away.
A Lei kept bending over, calling out, hoping to hear a response.
But we were almost at the end of the road, and there was still no answer. A beam ahead had just burned down and was about to crash down.
Through the firelight, he saw two people lying motionless under the beam, presumably already dead.
If he didn't get out soon, he might never be able to leave. A Lei had no choice but to grit his teeth and turn back to walk outside.
"Help!" The little girl's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
A Lei's body jolted, and he stopped in his tracks. He tried to pinpoint the source of the sound, and realized it was coming from the right. He searched through two dressing rooms, both of which were sweltering.
He was afraid that the fire would spread and cause more trouble, so he had no choice but to close the door and start fighting the next room.
The third dressing room was sparsely furnished and almost devoid of any light. He glanced around and saw no one. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard his little sister call out, "Uncle!"
Overjoyed, Ah Lei then noticed a pool in the corner of the dressing room, with a young woman squatting underneath it, the tap running continuously, already filling the pool to overflowing.
He grabbed the younger girl, covered her face with his sweater, and rushed out...
When Wang Lei carried Tang Fengqin out, the police had already set up a police cordon. His face was covered in soot.
"Fengqin! Fengqin!" The cousin-in-law, with her sharp eyes, recognized the dress her daughter was wearing at a glance, and the crowd surged forward.
When Wang Lei saw his relatives, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.
"Quick, get him to the hospital!"
Tang Fengqin slid softly off his back. The ambulance was already on standby, and doctors and nurses rushed over.
"Ah Lei is looking for Little Sister inside." Wang Lei had barely finished speaking when an oxygen mask was pressed onto his mouth.
"What!" Qin Xiaoyu's head throbbed. She hadn't been able to find her little sister, so it seemed she really was inside. But judging from the fire, could these two people still get out?
Qin Xiaoyu ran up the steps like a madwoman, but was stopped by a firefighter.
"My daughter is inside! My daughter!" Qin Xiaoyu cried out.
"No one can get in inside!" The firefighters had just gone in to search once, but because the fire was too big, they couldn't get into the backstage area, so they had to give up the search.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
