Volume One, Chapter 4: Duan Xiaoqiu Accuses Li Shu He of Arson

He felt that Duan Xia Dong’s brain had been burned clean along with the fire.

The smoke grew thicker and thicker, until the figure opposite could no longer be seen clearly. Duan Xia Dong did not linger. Carrying Duan Xiao Qiu in his arms, he ran toward the exit.

"If you don’t want to die, get out now."

With its searing breath, the flames encircled Li Shu He completely. Waves of heat battered her body again and again, yet they could never warm her heart.

Though she had long known what a coldhearted man Duan Xia Dong was, at this moment Li Shu He still felt a chill for the one within "her." At the very least, that soul had treated Duan Xia Dong with genuine sincerity.

The instinct to survive drove Li Shu He to endure the pain and struggle upright.

Without the support of that beam, the roof had collapsed and blocked the way out.

With the only exit sealed, Li Shu He silently turned and went into the restroom.

She shut the door to slow the fire’s spread, turned on the tap, soaked her sleeves, and pressed them over her nose.

Thick smoke had already blurred her vision.

The way back was absolutely impossible. Li Shu He raised her dark eyes and looked straight up at the tiny window overhead.

Now this was her only path to survival.

At the cinema exit, the crowd surged like a tide, fear and panic hanging thick in the air.

Duan Xia Dong carried Duan Xiao Qiu and successfully burst through the wall of fire.

His chest heaved violently, breath ragged, heartbeat pounding like a drum. Then he thought of the person he had left behind.

He whirled around in haste, trying to find her in the chaos, but the only thing in sight was a crowd in panic, nothing else.

His heart lurched hard. A terrible premonition swept over him. He had thought Li Shu He would run out after him.

Duan Xia Dong’s face went pale. Without a second thought, he was about to rush back into the fire.

Duan Xiao Qiu, sprawled on the ground, had been watching him all along. Almost by instinct, she reached out and clutched his leg tightly.

"Brother! It’s dangerous! Don’t go. Li Shu He has always been lucky—she won’t be in trouble. She survived that terrible car crash, didn’t she? She’ll be fine!"

At Duan Xiao Qiu’s words, Duan Xia Dong’s pupils contracted.

The balance in his heart tipped in an instant, and the desire to live finally overcame whatever feelings he had for Li Shu He.

Li Shu He had always been lucky. Five years ago, he had crashed into her with the clear intent to kill her, and yet she had been thrown ten meters and still lived, leaving no aftereffects at all. For a fire of this degree, she would surely survive as well.

Duan Xia Dong thought this almost in a daze.

The cinema manager began taking a headcount.

Police sirens grew nearer and nearer. The fire engines finally arrived.

Once the vehicles stopped, the firefighters poured out one after another.

"How many people are still trapped inside?"

"About twenty!"

Duan Xia Dong’s ears twitched at the exchange between the firefighters and the manager.

He rushed up to a firefighter, seized the front of the man’s uniform, and said in a shattered, desperate voice, "My fiancee is still inside. She’s in the restroom. Please, you have to save her!"

The firefighter pried Duan Xia Dong’s hand away. "I understand how you feel, sir. Rest assured, we will not abandon a single life. Please do not interfere with our rescue operation."

The firefighters moved swiftly, fully equipped, and charged into the blaze.

Duan Xia Dong let out a breath of relief. Since the firefighters were in there, Li Shu He would surely be fine.

Minute by minute, time passed. Duan Xia Dong stared fixedly at every person carried out.

Not her.

Not her either.

His eyes had turned bloodshot, his heartbeat racing furiously.

Behind him, Duan Xiao Qiu, entirely unharmed, found the fire chief.

"I’m sure it was Li Shu He who set the cinema on fire!"

Her voice was loud and fearless.

The fire had been extinguished, the survivors rescued, and Li Shu He was not among them.

With the dead unable to speak, no one would question her words.

"When I was running out, I fell to the ground, and she helped me up. I saw a lighter on her!"

"It had to be her!"

Duan Xiao Qiu described it with vivid detail. The people nearby were swayed by her emotions and believed her.

"Young lady, thank you for providing this clue. We have taken down what you said. This matter is extremely serious, and we will investigate it thoroughly and give the public the truth."

The fire chief walked up to Duan Xiao Qiu, his expression stern. "At the same time, you must take responsibility for your words."

"Y-yes, of course."

Duan Xiao Qiu looked at the helmet that revealed nothing of the fire chief’s face, and for some reason her confidence weakened. She felt a little uneasy, but since the words were already spoken, she could not take them back. She could only pray they would not uncover the truth.

"My sister never lies."

Hearing the commotion behind him, Duan Xia Dong stepped in front of Duan Xiao Qiu and blocked the fire chief’s line of sight.

The fire chief did not have time to waste on them. He turned and led his team away without another glance.

For some reason, Li Shu He’s pleading eyes surfaced in Duan Xia Dong’s mind.

His face darkened. Looking at Duan Xiao Qiu’s perfectly intact feet, his thoughts became a tangled mess, and he kept repeating that same line.

"My sister doesn’t lie."

"Doesn’t lie."

He had only wanted to teach Li Shu He a lesson. He had never truly meant to let her die.

Five years ago, when he saw Li Shu He and Fang Shen Zhai both admitted to Harbor University, he had truly wanted to kill her. But over these five years, Li Shu He had chosen him, and he had firmly bested Fang Shen Zhai. He no longer wanted Li Shu He dead.

Li Shu He was simply far too ungrateful. If she had not been so petulant, always competing with Xiao Qiu over everything, how could he have left her alone in the fire?

It was all Li Shu He’s fault. Her death could not be blamed on him.

Duan Xia Dong felt much better after that.

On the main road where the cinema stood, traffic had been restricted, and only one ambulance after another could be seen passing through.

"Deputy Director Fang, something seems to have happened up ahead. Shall we..."

"Take the side streets."

Fang Shen Zhai’s gaze remained fixed on a letter his subordinate had just delivered to him. Looking at the urgent sealed directive on it, he coldly uttered three words: "Move faster."

"Right away!" Wang Yuan Shan had been waiting for exactly that. He slammed the accelerator, turned the wheel hard, and sped into the alley.

"Deputy Director Fang, so it’s a fire. This blaze is huge indeed. It’ll take time to put out."

Watching the thick smoke growing nearer ahead, Wang Yuan Shan sighed.

"Hey, who’s that? Climbing out from such a high window. Even if the fire doesn’t kill them, the fall surely will."

Fang Shen Zhai followed his gaze and looked up. His pupils widened in an instant. He removed his thin-rimmed glasses with one hand, his aura dark and dangerous.

"Stop the car!"

Before the words had even finished, he was already opening the door first.

Wang Yuan Shan was startled and slammed hard on the brakes.

"Deputy Director! Do you want to die? Why are you jumping out of the car!"

Fang Shen Zhai coldly tossed the letter to him. Before the car had even come to a complete stop, his long leg had already stepped out in urgency. As the door shut behind him, he left one sentence behind.

"You handle this first. Don’t disappoint me."

Wang Yuan Shan caught the letter and looked at the black hem of Fang Shen Zhai’s coat lifted by the wind. He was somewhat dazed. The deputy director was not usually such a warmhearted man.

With no time to think further, this was a task of such importance handed to him by the deputy director, a sign of trust he could not fail. Wang Yuan Shan stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward again.

Fang Shen Zhai crouched beside Li Shu He, took off his leather gloves, and with trembling fingertips checked her breath.

There was breath. She was alive.

He brushed the disheveled hair from her face and patted her cheek. "Shu He?"

Getting no response, Fang Shen Zhai pressed his lips together and quickly examined her injuries.

There was a large smear of blood on the side of her head. His gaze moved downward from Li Shu He’s face. Her exposed palms and arms were severely abraded, and her ankle was swollen red.

He lifted Li Shu He into his arms, holding her close, silently feeling the unnaturally high warmth of her back. His deep eyes had darkened to the brink of abyss.