Chapter 37 Water and Fire
There are many things in this world that are unfair.
Wen Youqing was reborn as an official's daughter, and she had to endure the hard life of the common people, so she shouldn't complain.
Her morals weren't that high. Equality for all was just a cry from the lower class when equality wasn't possible, or a whitewash from the higher class. But the pressure from the aristocratic families made her a stepping stone for others.
So she complained, felt aggrieved, and resentful. If she were in Cui Junji's position, people like her would only use their power to the fullest.
Now, seeing the oasis she had worked so hard to build turned into ruins, she could see the fire whenever she closed her eyes. It was the only light in Xunyang City that night.
A thick, blood-red licked the dark blue sky, burning a gaping hole through the gloomy night. Scorching, choking smoke, swirling with scorching air, filled every street and corner of the city.
The once orderly streets were now a savage slumber. Timbers cracked and groaned in the flames, while the resounding crash of bricks and rubble echoed like the earth's painful spasms. Desperate cries, hoarse calls for help, the chaotic footsteps of fleeing... all sounds were crushed and devoured by the roar of the flames, blending into a heart-wrenching apocalyptic elegy.
At the heart of this infernal realm, the once elegant government office's backyard was now firmly gripped by the fire demon's claws. Doors and windows twisted and buckled under the intense heat, the carved window frames creaking in vain as they struggled under the weight.
The thick smoke was like a living poisonous snake, weaving in from every crack and every gap, filling and rolling in the room, carrying with it a breath of destruction.
The inner room, once a warm and peaceful delivery room, now felt as hot as red-hot iron sand, searing her lungs with every breath.
The midwife's face was a mixture of sweat, cigarette ash, and tears. Her skinny hands tightly grasped Wen Youqing's wrists, her nails almost digging into the flesh. Her voice was trembling: "Madam...pull harder! Hold on a little longer, hold on a little longer! The baby...the baby is coming out!"
Wen Youqing lay on her back on the sweat-soaked mattress, her body feeling as if it were being split apart by an invisible axe. Each contraction brought a soul-rending pain. She clenched her teeth, blood already seeping from her lower lip, which she swallowed back into her throat. Sweat soaked her hair, and strands of it clung to her pale cheeks.
My consciousness was floating in the severe pain and the suffocating feeling of thick smoke. Every breath was accompanied by burning pain, and my vision was blurred by tears, sweat and smoke.
However, when the midwife's crying voice pierced her eardrums, an indescribable force suddenly exploded from deep within her body, like the last and most tragic roar of a female beast forced into a desperate situation.
"ah--!"
Along with this cry that exhausted the source of life, a faint but extremely clear cry, like a horn of miracle, suddenly pierced the suffocating despair in the delivery room and the deafening roar of destruction outside the house.
"It's out! It's a boy! Mother and child are safe! God bless us! Let's leave here first." The midwife's voice suddenly rose, and with ecstasy of surviving a disaster, she trembled as she held the blood-stained, wrinkled little life in front of Wen Youqing.
Wen Youqing's scattered eyes struggled to focus. She looked at the tiny life crying hard in its cradle, like a newly born, weak flame.
The scalding tears finally burst forth, mingling with sweat. She stretched out her weakened arm, wanting to touch her son's warm cheek, but her fingertips trembled violently. At that moment, a deafening roar erupted overhead!
Boom!
The entire roof shook violently, and burning tiles and thick, sparking rafters came crashing down like meteorites! Sparks flew everywhere, and smoke and dust rose up.
"Madam!" The midwife screamed heart-wrenchingly and subconsciously used her body to block the falling rain of fire.
Wen Youqing's pupils suddenly constricted, her instinct for survival instantly overcoming her extreme weakness. In the instant before the flaming log fell, she unleashed a terrifying burst of strength from nowhere, tumbling violently into the bed! The heavy fire beam, scorching with heat and choking smoke, brushed past her back and crashed onto the edge of the bed, instantly igniting the curtains and sending tongues of flames voraciously shooting upwards!
"Go!" Wen Youqing screamed, her voice riven by smoke and excruciating pain. She grabbed the swaddling clothes and hugged them tightly, using all her strength to practically roll off the bed. The scorching floor burned her skin through her thin nightgown, but she felt nothing.
Si Shi led the way, kicked away the fallen obstacles, and supported Wen Youqing as they staggered towards the crumbling door that was licked by flames.
Just as he left the house, Wen Youqing said, "Go save the midwife!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the midwife's shrill screams behind him as she was engulfed by the raging fire, which was instantly swallowed up by the roar of the flames.
Wen Youqing didn't dare look back. All she could see was the door leading to an unknown life.
Sishi used her shoulder to slam open the burning door. The hot wood chips burned her skin, and a more violent gust of hot wind carrying sparks instantly blew her out the door.
The front yard of the government office was already a sea of fire and hell.
The plaque hanging high in the sky, which once symbolized order and governance, twisted and charred in the flames, and finally broke and fell, hitting the equally burning table, splashing a dazzling spark.
Wen Youqing, clutching her swaddling child, felt like a small boat in a storm, swept and jostled by the surging crowd. Everywhere were fleeing figures, desperate cries, and the sickening stench of burning bodies. She couldn't discern the direction, relying solely on instinct, as she stumbled toward the government gates she remembered.
The bricks beneath her feet were scorching hot, and every step felt like stepping on a red-hot iron. The thick smoke made her cough violently, and every breath she took felt like swallowing a scalding blade.
The child in her arms seemed to feel the overwhelming terror, and her crying became weak and intermittent.
Wen Youqing looked down at the wrinkled, cigarette-stained face in the swaddling clothes, her heart clenched tightly. She gritted her teeth and hugged the swaddling clothes tighter, using her body to shield her from the flying sparks and chaotic collisions as much as possible.
"Madam! This way! This way!" A familiar voice pierced through the noise. It was the old gatekeeper of the government office. Half of his face was burned, and he was waving his arms and pointing in the direction of the side door.
Wen Youqing's spirits lifted, and he didn't forget to guide the elderly, weak, and disabled as they ran in the direction indicated by the old gatekeeper. The side door led to a relatively narrow alley. The fire was slightly weaker, but the smoke was still thick.
Just as she was about to rush out of the side door and step into the narrow alley that seemed to lead to a way out, the scene outside the alley was like a basin of ice water, extinguishing the hope that had just been ignited.
In the open space outside the alley, flames shot up into the sky, illuminating the space as bright as day.
"Madam! Madam, hurry up! We can't hold on here!" The old doorman tugged at her sleeve in fear. Behind her, the doorframe of the government office's side door groaned in the flames for the last time, collapsing with a loud bang, completely blocking the way in. The scorching heat and choking smoke swept in even more frantically.
Wen Youqing shuddered, waking from her brief stupor. She no longer hesitated, clutching the faint flame of life in her arms. With the old doorman's support, she stumbled into the narrow alley leading to the unknown.
-
Compared to the purgatory at the government office's rear quarters, the fires raged even more fiercely in the granary area east of the city, as if the earth had opened its mouth to spew forth blazing flames. This was Xunyang's lifeblood, storing the grain that sustained the city, yet now it had become the most deadly source of the fire. Vast tongues of flame greedily licked the night sky, transforming the mountainous grain stacks into towering torches. The heat surged, forming scorching whirlwinds that carried burning grain and ash like a blizzard from hell, scattering the sky.
Shen Zijie rushed here as soon as possible.
He had long since shed his official robes, wearing only a coarse cotton shirt riddled with holes from sweat, dirt, and sparks. The once gentle and composed county magistrate now looked like a demon from hell. His face was stained with soot, stained with sweat, his lips chapped and bleeding. Only his eyes, illuminated by the firelight, shone frighteningly, burning with a near-mad will. His voice had been completely hoarse, and every sound carried the scent of blood.
"Water! Relay! Quick!" He waved his nearly exhausted arms, his voice hoarse as a broken gong, directing the equally beleaguered group of young men around him. People formed a long, crooked line, drawing water from the distant, still-dry karez. Using whatever containers they could find—barrels, clay pots, even helmets—they desperately passed the muddy water to the fire demon, which was trying to cross the isolation zone and devour more people.
"East! Block it! Cover it with sand! Don't let it burn over!" Shen Zijie suddenly pushed away a young man who was staggering due to the heat wave, grabbed a shovel, frantically scooped up the sand on the ground, mixed it with mud and water, and poured it hard at a fire.
Sparks splashed onto his bare arms, instantly forming a series of blisters, but he was oblivious. All he could see was the ever-expanding line of fire, and the densely packed civilian area behind the granary, where countless cries echoed. Behind every house lay the people he ruled, the home he and Wen Youqing had dedicated their lives to protecting.
Suddenly, a figure, whose body was charred and whose face was almost unrecognizable, rushed to him, rolling and crawling, and cried in a voice: "Sir! Sir! It's bad! The government office... the government office... Madam... Madam is in the government office..."
"boom!"
Shen Zijie felt as if something had exploded in his head! All the sounds—the roar of the flames, the shouts of the people, the crackling of the wood—quickly faded away from him. All that remained in the world were the broken words uttered by the charred figure: Government Office… Madam…
There are sunny days! And... children!
When he left, she was already having a contraction.
A cold fear instantly gripped his heart, more suffocating than the blazing flames before him. The shovel in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.
"She can protect herself. I left a lot of guards. It's okay." Shen Zijie comforted himself and picked up the shovel with numb hands.
"Sir! Sir, you can't go!" The guard next to him thought he was going to go back, and quickly hugged his waist tightly. "The fire is too strong! You can't go! If you go, you will die!"
Shen Zijie, who hadn't wanted to go, suddenly struggled and changed direction, throwing the yamen runner a few steps away. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the crimson sky in the direction of the government office, where thick smoke billowed like a ferocious beast.
The painful face of his wife when she was giving birth, the anxious urging of the midwife, and the little life that he had not yet met and was connected to him by blood... countless images instantly flooded his mind.
"Get out of the way!" He roared, his voice broken, and rushed towards the sea of death fire with desperate madness.
At this critical moment, a steady yet remarkably loud voice boomed behind him like thunder, drowning out the clamor of the fire scene:
"Lord Shen!"
Shen Zijie turned around suddenly.
In the firelight, Tian Xunsheng strode over at great speed. His shirt was scorched, and his face was covered in soot, making him look a bit disheveled. But his eyes were as sharp as an eagle, carrying an unquestionable determination.
Behind him followed a small group of swift and strong farmers.
"I'll go, I can help."
Shen Zijie looked at Tian Xunsheng deeply and bowed solemnly, "I leave my wife and children in your care."
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