Chapter 12: Death

After hearing the shouts, relying on their memory of the estate’s layout, they covered their mouths and noses, squinted, and rushed toward the source of the sound.

But the fire had already spread here.

The temperature around them rose sharply.

The ground was like asphalt under the scorching summer sun, and Luo Yun’s mother, barefoot, was in great pain.

“Mom! Xiao Rou!”

The voice came again.

Luo Yun was calling them, each shout more urgent but also quieter.

Her situation was not optimistic.

He Rou wanted to respond, but as soon as she opened her mouth, smoke filled her throat.

She bent over, coughing violently, tears and snot streaming down her face.

“Auntie…”

Luo Yun’s mother’s voice was steady.

Not the steadiness of being unafraid, but the steadiness of knowing that fear was useless and not wasting energy on it.

They turned a corner.

The corridor ahead was blocked by flames.

The entire passage was filled with fire from floor to ceiling.

The wooden pillars burned like candles, casting their long, distorted shadows on the wall behind them.

Luo Yun’s mother stopped.

She looked back at the way they came.

That path was also sealed by fire.

They were standing in a corner less than three meters long, with flames closing in from both ends.

He Rou’s legs were trembling.

Not from fear, but a tremor she couldn’t control, spreading from her knees to her ankles.

She gritted her teeth, trying to stop it, but couldn’t.

Luo Yun’s mother let go of her hand.

He Rou turned to look at her.

Luo Yun’s mother was looking at the wall behind her.

This wall was made of brick, unlike the surrounding wooden structure.

There was an open window on the wall, not large, but just big enough for someone with He Rou’s small build to climb through.

“Come here.”

She pulled He Rou under the window.

On the other side of the wall was the main hall.

If she could get through the hall, she could get out.

The estate’s main hall at least wasn’t made of wood.

Even though she didn’t know how the smoke was there, given the situation, this was the only way to try.

“Climb out. Run. Run as fast as you can. Don’t look back.”

With that, she supported He Rou’s waist and pushed her up toward the window.

“What about you?!”

“I can’t make it out. For your own sake, and for mine, run! Xiao Rou!”

He Rou grabbed the windowsill and climbed up, using both hands and feet.

The sill reached her chest.

She tried several times but couldn’t pull herself up, knocking her knees against the wall several times.

Then a pair of hands supported her feet.

She was lifted again, her upper body leaning out of the window.

Then He Rou got out.

She remembered what Luo Yun’s mother had said: run, run as hard as she could.

Smoke fiercely attacked her eyes.

Breathing became difficult, and she was out of breath.

But she ran fast.

Soon, she made it outside.

Back in the fire, Luo Yun’s mother’s feet were already a bloody mess.

Whether from burns or stepping on something, it hurt terribly.

“I shouldn’t have taken off my shoes…”

The flames around her kept closing in.

Her hair and the corner of her clothes had already caught a few sparks.

“Xiao Yun… Xiao Yun… wuwu… I… I don’t want to die, Xiao Yun. Mom doesn’t want to leave you. I… I really don’t want to die.”

After realizing her fate, this usually extremely gentle and virtuous mother couldn’t help but break down emotionally.

The burning sensation around her body grew stronger.

The thick smoke she had inhaled made her dizzy and disoriented.

Soon she collapsed.

For some reason, even after collapsing, she didn’t immediately lose consciousness.

The flames had already reached her feet.

Her already bloody soles became even more horrifying.

The thick smoke choked her, and she could no longer control her body.

Her limbs, her body, her head, her entire self.

She was completely engulfed in the sea of fire.

Outside in the safe zone, He Rou stared in despair at the raging fire behind her.

Her throat hurt terribly from inhaling so much smoke.

Her eyes were stinging and she couldn’t open them; tears flowed constantly.

She covered her eyes and crouched down, feeling helpless.

‘Is this a dream? Just like before…’

She couldn’t believe what had happened today.

Disaster, death… yes, the person who died died to save her.

No… she couldn’t die.

Didn’t books always say that good people are rewarded?

She was such a good person.

During the years she had spent with Luo Yun, Luo Yun’s mother had always been so gentle.

If she were willing to take her as her daughter, she would have agreed without hesitation.

Ever since her grandmother died, she had never experienced familial affection.

If… if she hadn’t met Luo Yun’s mother, she would have definitely thought the world was dark.

Only now did He Rou realize that the light of her life had come five years ago.

She could have endured the darkness, but the light had chosen to shine on her.

In the end, she didn’t know how she fainted, nor how she ended up in the hospital.

She only remembered that the light in front of her grew brighter and brighter—not firelight, but a white, blinding brightness.

Then someone was shouting, many hands were moving her body.

She wanted to say ‘Don’t touch me,’ but her mouth wouldn’t open.

Then she didn’t know anything else.

When she woke up again, the ceiling was white.

But the white was blurry.

He Rou stared at the ceiling for a long time, so long that she forgot to blink.

The smell of disinfectant entered her nose.

Everything was so unfamiliar.

“You’re awake.”

Someone was sitting beside her bed.

She didn’t recognize this person.

“Hey, she’s awake. Do you want to come see?”

This person picked up a communicator and sent a message to the other side.

“You go. I’ll come see.”

A cold female voice came from the communicator.

He Rou was very familiar with this voice. It was Luo Yun.

But this tone was one she rarely heard.

The woman sitting by He Rou’s bed stood up, glanced at He Rou, said nothing, and pushed the door open to leave.

The hospital room was left with only He Rou.

She stared at the door.

The door wasn’t closed tightly; there was a crack.

A thin strip of light from the hallway squeezed through, falling on the floor.

Footsteps approached from far away.

Very slow.

Step by step, as if counting something.

The door was pushed open.

Luo Yun stood at the door.

She was wearing a hospital gown, blue and white striped—just like He Rou’s.

Her hair was loose, untied.

Her face was small, her cheekbones protruding.

She looked like she had lost a lot of weight.

Luo Yun walked in.

She didn’t close the door.

She walked over to the bed, stood there, and looked down at He Rou.

He Rou looked up at her.

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

For some reason, everything she looked at now was blurry.

But she didn’t think much about it.

As for Luo Yun, there was nothing in her eyes.

Not calmness, but emptiness.

Soon, Luo Yun spoke first.

“My mom is dead. When they found her, she was an unrecognizable charred mass. It was only after DNA verification that they confirmed she was my mother.”

“…”

“Your parents too. I don’t know why they escaped only to go back into the fire, but they died. They were choked to death by smoke.”